Jan. 15--The Dallas Regional Chamber's 2009 annual meeting Friday will celebrate 100 years of leadership in public policy and economic development and look ahead to the challenges of a new year.

The luncheon at the Fairmont Hotel Dallas will feature remarks by Rich Templeton, chairman, president and chief executive of Texas Instruments Inc. TI is the presenting sponsor of this year's meeting.

The celebration recognizes the chamber's contributions to the growth of the region and "the people behind it who, through a demonstrated commitment to excellence and continuous improvement, give reason for great optimism for a bright future for North Texans."

Robert A. Chereck, the chamber's 2008 chairman, and 2009 chairman Robert W. Best will speak at the meeting.

Chereck will present the Chairman's Award in recognition of superlative service by a chamber volunteer or group.

Sponsorships and tickets, which are $70, are still available. Contact Gloria Dukes at gdukes@dallaschamber.org or 214-746-6712. To register, visit www.dallaschamber.org.

This year's sponsors are:

$25,000: Texas Instruments.

$5,000: Atmos Energy, Baker Botts LLP, Bank of America, Capital One Bank, Dallas Business Journal, Exxon Mobil Corp., Hawk Electronics/a TeleTouch company, Hunt Consolidated Inc./Hunt Oil Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co.

$2,500: Alon USA, AT&T Inc., Austin Industries Inc., Bank of Texas, Baylor Health Care System, Cigna Healthcare, Citi, Ernst & Young LLP, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, Haynes and Boone LLP, HKS Architects, Research In Motion/BlackBerry, Texas Health Resources/Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, University of Texas at Arlington and Wells Fargo.

Cisneros to speak

Henry Cisneros, chairman of CityView and former mayor of San Antonio, will deliver the luncheon address at the 10th annual North Texas Housing Coalition summit.

CityView works with homebuilders to create housing targeted toward average families. It's a partner in building 40 communities with more than 7,000 homes in 12 states.

The event is 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 23.

Eleven coalition founders will be honored, and a breakfast panel of North Texas mayors will discuss the necessity of a regional housing strategy.

Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck will lead the discussion, with messages from Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief.

The panel moderator will be Dr. Kimberly A. Aaron, director of the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Admission is $150. Visit www.nthcinc.org or call 214-946-3500 for more information or to register.

Sponsors include Countrywide Bank, Chase, Citi, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo.

-----

To see more of The Dallas Morning News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dallasnews.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Dallas Morning News

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NYSE:TXN, NYSE:ATO, NYSE:BAC, NYSE:XOM, OTC-PINK:TLLE, NYSE:LMT, NYSE:RTN, NYSE:T, NASDAQ-NMS:RIMM, NYSE:WFC, NASDAQ-OTCBB:CTVWF, NYSE:WM,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.