84R12768 JH-D
 
  By: Button H.R. No. 746
 
 
 
R E S O L U T I O N
         WHEREAS, Members of the Garland Chamber of Commerce are
  visiting the State Capitol, and this occasion provides a welcome
  opportunity to pay tribute to this outstanding community
  organization and the city it serves; and
         WHEREAS, For more than 120 years, the Garland chamber has
  worked to ensure the economic vitality of Garland; when the city
  needed to broaden its economic base beyond agriculture in the
  mid-20th century, the chamber recruited a variety of companies that
  have since expanded to become such world-famous enterprises as
  General Dynamics Corporation, Raytheon Company, Hatco Corporation,
  and Kraft Foods Group, Inc., and KARLEE and Garrett Metal
  Detectors, which grew from shops in garages to internationally
  renowned industry leaders, and are among the nearly 400
  manufacturing enterprises located in Garland today; and
         WHEREAS, The Garland chamber is the creator of a variety of
  programs to support small businesses, manufacturing companies,
  retail firms, and the local education system, acting on the
  principle that success in each of these areas depends on success in
  all of them; the chamber is the founder of the Garland Education
  Foundation and the first chamber of commerce to host an office of
  the Small Business Development Center, and it has actively
  participated in the development of the Dallas County Manufacturers'
  Association, the Women's Business E-nitiative, and Leadership
  Garland; and
         WHEREAS, Garland has become the fifth largest city in the
  Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and one of the fastest growing regions
  in the nation, home to nearly 235,000 residents and rated among the
  top 100 best places in the country in which to live by CNN and Money
  magazine in 2008; the chamber is an essential member of the Garland
  Economic Development Partnership, which has been responsible for
  the creation and retention of more than 18,000 jobs and a $1.8
  billion tax base in the city; and
         WHEREAS, Operating under the acronym PRIDE, for Passion,
  Respect, Integrity, Discipline, and Excellence, the Garland
  Chamber of Commerce has been a dynamic and inspiring "connecting
  source" in its community, and it is indeed deserving of recognition
  for the vital role it has played in this Lone Star success story;
  now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas
  Legislature hereby recognize Garland Chamber of Commerce Day at the
  State Capitol and extend to the visiting delegation sincere best
  wishes for a meaningful and memorable visit to Austin.