FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 21, 2012

This June on KERA’s CEO with Lee Cullum

DALLAS/FORT WORTH – On the June episode of KERA’s CEO, Craig and Kathryn Walt Hall join Lee Cullum to discuss their varied business ventures, from crafting award-winning wines in Napa Valley to building a vast office park in Frisco. Craig states, “It’s been a terrific market…because it’s part of the greater region. We’re honored and thrilled to be in Frisco.” But for the Halls, it is the upcoming Hall Arts Center in the Dallas Arts District that is taking center stage. Learn how a volatile market delayed Hall Financial Group in developing the long abandoned lot. Craig remarks, “It’s taken until now to get the market to a position to where we can build. The Arts District has always been in my heart, and I want to see this project turn out to be really great.”

KERA’s CEO features insightful discussions with successful North Texas business leaders from the corporate and not-for-profit sectors about what it takes to make a company successful in today’s global marketplace and changing economy. The June episode featuring Craig and Kathryn Hall airs at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 29, 2012, on KERA TV with rebroadcasts at noon Sunday, July 1, and at 10:30 p.m. Monday, July 2, 2012. CEO also can be heard at 5 p.m. Sunday, July 1, 2012, on KERA FM. Following the initial on-air broadcast, the half-hour program will be available on www.kera.org/ceo. Previous CEO episodes are available on demand at www.kera.org/ceo.

CEO is sponsored by Southwest Securities, the Executive Education Center at The University of Texas at Dallas, The Berry Firm and Sewell Automotive Companies.

ABOUT CRAIG AND KATHRYN HALL

Craig Hall’s successful career in business and as an author, civic leader and philanthropist reflects the highest qualities of entrepreneurship. He formed Hall Financial Group in 1968 at age 18 with $4,000 saved from small ventures begun at age 10. The company’s interests today range from real estate to oil and gas, and from lending to the vineyard and winery business. Hall’s philanthropic involvement focuses on the arts, education and entrepreneurship. He is the recipient of numerous honors including the Ernst & Young Real Estate Entrepreneur of the Year Award; he was inducted into the Ring of Honor by the Entrepreneur Foundation of North Texas; and he was named a member of the Horatio Algers Association for Distinguished Americans.

Kathryn Walt Hall has enjoyed a distinguished career as a businesswoman, community activist, and philanthropist and as the United States Ambassador to Austria. She and her family have been involved in the California wine industry since first purchasing a vineyard 30 years ago. Continuing her family’s tradition, she maintains a strong emotional attachment to the vineyards, wine and the wine country. As vintner, she has worked to create and manage the award-winning HALL wine brand and most recently launched a second label, WALT Wines. Long committed to social issues, Kathryn has served on numerous nonprofit and institutional boards and continues to be actively involved in civic and social issues. Kathryn earned an A.B. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of Law.

ABOUT CEO

Host Lee Cullum conducts insightful discussions with successful North Texas business leaders from the corporate and not-for-profit sectors about what it takes to make a company successful in today’s global marketplace and changing economy. CEO episodes are available on-demand at www.kera.org/ceo.

ABOUT KERA

KERA is a not-for-profit public media organization that serves the people of North Texas. The station broadcasts to the fourth-largest population area in the United States. KERA produces original multimedia content, carries the best in national and international public television and radio programs, and provides online resources at www.kera.org. The station’s extensive coverage of the arts can be found at www.artandseek.org. KERA-TV broadcasts on Channel 13.1. KERA WORLD broadcasts on 13.2. KERA-FM broadcasts on 90.1 in Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton, 88.3 in Wichita Falls, 100.1 in Tyler and 99.3 in Sherman. The music station KXT 91.7 FM is also streamed online at www.kxt.org.

###