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Doug McDonald Returns to Plano as Economic Development Director

Doug McDonald is returning to the City of Plano to serve our community as Director of Economic Development.

Doug worked for the City of Plano from 2013 to 2018 as Comprehensive Planning Manager and Senior Planner, before leaving to work at the City of Richardson.

His accomplishments in Richardson are numerous and outstanding. Doug has been acting as interim Executive Director for the Richardson Economic Development Partnership in addition to his position as Managing Director for the city’s Office of Innovation. He has been instrumental in the creation of the Richardson Innovation Quarter as well as their transit oriented development/redevelopment efforts along the DART red-line. Most recently, he has worked with UT Dallas and other entrepreneur-supported entities on new programs to support Richardson’s startups and small businesses. 

A native North Texan, Doug’s extensive experience in local municipal government spans nearly 15 years, including positions in Arlington and Keller. His wide array of management experience includes overseeing economic development, project management, long range and neighborhood planning, historic preservation, and cross-sector partnerships focused on shared business development efforts.

Doug has a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech, two masters from University of Texas at Arlington in Urban Planning and Public Administration, and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute. He is a former president of the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Doug will start his new position on September 26. We enthusiastically welcome Doug back to Team Plano.

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Match Group Appoints Linda Kim as Chief Operating Officer of Hyperconnect

Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH) today announced that Linda Kim will serve as Chief Operating Officer of Hyperconnect, its leading social discovery and video technology company, effective October 3. At Hyperconnect, Ms. Kim will partner closely with the current leadership to oversee all Hyperconnect’s business operations, with a focus on growth and new initiatives, driving further integration of Hyperconnect’s technologies throughout the Match Group brands. 

Ms. Kim most recently served as Chief Operating Officer and a founding member at HAUS LABS by Lady Gaga, where she helped raise Series A funding, ran direct-to-consumer and Amazon sales channels, designed and implemented new product development processes and operating procedures, managed worldwide logistics, and more. She has also spent significant time in leading roles at The Honest Company, Zynga, Apple, and Nokia.

“Linda has deep experience working closely with mobile app developers and creating new features as the apps grow and evolve,” said Bernard Kim, CEO of Match Group.  “We are poised for some exciting growth at Hyperconnect and across our portfolio and Linda will be a key leader to help us execute our plans for more integration opportunities between Match Group and Hyperconnect.”

In the coming quarters, Hyperconnect is aiming to bolster the international growth of its core products, Azar and Hakuna. Match Group has recently integrated Hyperconnect’s audio and video technologies into several of its brands, including Meetic, Match and Pairs.

“Linda has a remarkable track record of driving growth for companies across numerous industries, and we’re thrilled to have her join the team,” said Sam Ahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Hyperconnect. “Her experience in building mobile apps coupled with running business operations will be huge assets to help us achieve our short and long-term goals.”

Ms. Kim holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

About Hyperconnect

Based in South Korea, Hyperconnect employs more than 400 people, of which approximately half are top-tier engineers, and operates two social discovery apps: Azar® and Hakuna Live™. Azar® offers 1:1 live video and voice chat with a strong presence across Asia and growing in Europe. Hakuna Live™, which launched in 2019, provides one to many or group live video and audio with a highly engaged user base in South Korea, Japan and other markets across Asia.

About Match Group

Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH), through its portfolio companies, is a leading provider of digital technologies designed to help people make meaningful connections. Our global portfolio of brands includes Tinder®, Match®, Hinge®, Meetic®, OkCupid®, Pairs™, PlentyOfFish®, OurTime®, Azar®, Hakuna Live™, and more, each built to increase our users’ likelihood of connecting with others. Through our trusted brands, we provide tailored services to meet the varying preferences of our users. Our services are available in over 40 languages to our users all over the world.

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Paul Hagerty joins vcfo Dallas HR Team

The vcfo Dallas team has expanded to include Paul Hagerty, PHR, SHRM-SCP. An HR professional with more than twenty years of experience, Paul will serve vcfo clients as a strategic HR advisor.

He specializes in developing and executing effective strategies that drive retention, quality talent acquisition, and improve the overall employee experience. His professional experience ranges from rapidly growing startups to large, nationwide companies, where he partners with key leadership to identify pain points and offer solutions that help build long-term, sustainable growth.

At vcfo, Paul works as a Senior People Operations/ Human Resources Consultant. One of his greatest strengths is his ability to relate to and communicate with members of the team at all levels within the organization, which in turn opens up communication channels between field employees and senior leadership.

Paul’s experience ranges from daily implementation, including best practices, developing policies and procedures, and defining KPIs, to building an HR department from the ground up, leading multiple HR teams, and developing a stay interview process to improve talent retention. His work has reduced staffing costs by $150,000, cut turnover of field personnel by 22%, and lowered employee benefit premiums 30%, saving employees significant expense. Paul is both a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and an SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SCP). He is currently the member engagement volunteer with DallasHR, a nonprofit professional association.

 

About vcfo

vcfo provides an integrated suite of finance, HR and recruiting support, including outsourcing and consulting solutions that improve operational performance and optimize productivity. Founded in 1996, vcfo pioneered the concept of the “Virtual CFO” with its original core offering of fractional or part-time CFO solutions. For 25 years, we have worked with more than 5,000 clients, evolving our service offerings and geographical footprint to meet new industry and market needs—expanding what we offer, the value we provide and the way we deliver it. At vcfo, our mission is always to make your company stronger.

 
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DALLAS LAW FIRM PATEL LAW GROUP CONTINUES GROWING ITS CORPORATE, SECURITIES, AND M&A PRACTICE GROUP

Patel Law Group (“PLG”), a leading Texas-based boutique law firm, today announced the coming addition of Kamden Florence-Crawford to its corporate, securities, and M&A team in the firm’s Dallas office.

Kamden recently graduated from SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas. She was the president of the real estate law association and involved in the corporate counsel externship program and the corporate law association. She will focus her practice on advising corporate and business clients regarding mergers, acquisitions, corporate formations, and securities offerings. 

“We are excited to continue our growth in the corporate, securities, and M&A practices. We continuously strive to achieve the highest levels of client satisfaction, further growing on the firm’s already stellar reputation and growth in the real estate transactional industry, specifically multi-family residential”, said Chris Barsness, who leads the corporate and securities practice group at PLG.

With over 20 years of experience, Chris is a corporate and securities lawyer that focuses his practice on corporate transactions, complex financings, fund formation, and securities matters. Chris has worked on a wide range of securities matters for both private and public companies, including hundreds of debt, equity, and hybrid Reg. D private offerings. Chris also served as an adjunct professor of securities law at the University of California – Irvine School of Law and is a local member of the Association of Corporate Growth’s Dallas/Fort Worth chapter. He has worked on the buy-side and sell-side on M&A transactions as the lead counsel in deals from under $1 million to $162 million. 

About Patel Law Group

Patel Law Group is a full-service law firm providing efficient, results‑driven legal to local, regional, and international clients. From our locations in Dallas and Houston, we leverage broad experience and extensive relationships to deliver results for clients nationwide. With a rolled‑up‑sleeves attitude, we partner with clients of all sizes — individuals, start-ups and established companies — to achieve their objectives in Immigration, Real Estate, Litigation and Corporate law. We take pride in our work and customer service to our clients. We strive everyday to make our firm motto a reality – “Experience. Relationships. Results.”