“Intimate, light, and fun” were the goals for Methodist Health System Foundation’s second Eagle Society event. The Foundation created the group in 2018 as a reunion of its family: board members, donors, doctors, and friends, for two events a year that are interesting and entertaining.
The Eagle Society’s second event, “Cocktails and Conversation: Dallas After Amazon” was held on January 30 at the Mansion at Turtle Creek. Attendees including Carolyn and David Miller, Debbie and Jim Francis, Kathy and Larry Helm, Pierce and Allie Beth Allman, Beth and Chuck Thoele, Nancy Bierman, Jimmy Westcott, Carol Seay, and Julie Yarbrough all heard “why Methodist is special”, outlined by Methodist Health System Foundation President Jim Johnston and Methodist Health System CEO Dr. Stephen Mansfield.
The reception’s featured speaker was Dale Petroskey, president and CEO of the Dallas Regional Chamber, who enlightened the audience about his own diverse career and the process of luring Amazon to Dallas. In the eighties, Petroskey worked in the Reagan White House as an assistant press secretary, and shared a funny story about sleeping at Camp David on a bed previously used by the President and Mrs. Reagan. After his time on Pennsylvania Avenue, he transitioned to working at National Geographic and running the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, before coming to Dallas.
“When I saw the Wall Street Journal article a week before the announcement that Dallas was in the top three, I told our staff, ‘we’ve already won’,” he said. “Days after Amazon picked Crystal City, Virginia, and Long Island, New York, the country’s sixth largest company (McKesson) announced they’re moving the corporate headquarters to the Dallas region. Amazon is the eighth largest company, and we got the sixth.”
He added that in the past eight years, 156 companies have moved their corporate headquarters to this region, and 100,000 jobs have been added each year.
“There is so much prosperity in Dallas, you just can’t believe it, and the expectation is that it will continue. It is better to wake up and go to work every day in Dallas than it is anywhere else in the country.”
Articles from this Eagle Society event
My Sweet Charity: click HERE
For information on becoming a member of the Eagle Society, please contact foundation@mhd.com or 214-947-4555.
