Colleen Fischer
From row, from left, Nikki Taylor (Martin House Brewing), Colleen Fischer (Genius House Media), Keely Peden Morales (Cowtown Cycle Party), Marco Morales (Cowtown Cycle Party), Jason Eggenburger (97w Architects), and Steven Halliday (97w Architects). Back, from left, John “Beef” Laughman (Martin House Brewing), Shugg Cole (Martin House Brewing), Cody Martin (Martin House Brewing), and Adam Fischer (Genius House Media).
Four local businesses are throwing a party to celebrate a major milestone: a decade of keeping their doors open. And Fort Worth-based Studio 97w, Cowtown Cycle Party, Genius House Media, and Martin House Brewing Company are crediting their collaborative environment and close-knit community for their collective staying power.
“Being in a supportive and vibrant community has allowed us to grow and thrive,” says Colleen Fischer of Genius House Media. “We are so proud of the 10-year milestone and sharing this anniversary with other local business owners is an honor.”
Studio 97w, an architecture firm, was founded in 2013 by Jason Eggenburger and Steven Halliday, co-workers at a corporate firm. They have helped make dreams come true for local entrepreneurs while also breathing new life into underutilized buildings and urban in-fill lots.
Studio 97w designed Cowtown Cycle Party’s headquarters building and new garage. The firm’s co-founders are also good friends with the husband-and-wife team of Adam and Colleen Fischer of Genius House Media, a full-service video production company whose offices are in Studio 97w’s building.
“Steven, Jason, and their team have built an incredible local presence and are just the coolest neighbors,” Fischer says. “They are the type of community-minded leaders that offered to forgive months of our rent during the pandemic shutdown, have hired us for multiple projects, and are always happy to share after-work cocktails from their beverage cart.”
Genius Media House created 97w’s website video.
Launching Cowtown Cycle Party required Vicki Peden and her daughter, Keely Peden-Morales, to do some convincing. They needed the city of Fort Worth to agree to create a “Group Cycle Ordinance” that allowed their party “bikes” on the street.
The dream was to start a family-owned business that served downtown Fort Worth.
Vicki’s husband Neal had read about 16-person, Dutch-made bar cycles in a magazine.
“We all fell in love with the idea of working together as a family,” says Peden.
Cowtown Cycle Party’s pedal-powered “bikes” can seat between six and 16 people.
It’s BYOB, if that’s the two-hour tour you prefer. Each are led by a Cowtown Cycle Party captain, a “Beerless Leader.”
The company started with just one party bike but have expanded to four. “We originally focused on a pub-crawl experience downtown,” says Peden. “Now that we've expanded, we are able to offer a Fort Worth Murals Tour, an expanded Scenic/Historic Tour, and we can even make stops at coffee shops, restaurants, and local retailers. A lot of our customers are out-of-town visitors, and they love to see all our city has to offer.”
Genius House Media, which offers a wide range of services, from high-quality brand videos to social media content, has also collaborated with Martin House Brewing Company. The brewery was founded by Cody Martin and Adam Myers.
Among the projects the two companies have worked on was an infomercial-style video.
“When both companies turned 10,” says Fischer, “we decided to have some more fun and produce a ‘mockumentary’ about the collaborative beer they were brewing for us. They provided numerous cases of beer for our anniversary party, and once again, there were tons of laughs throughout the filming process with our buddies.”
Says Cody Martin: “The support from our neighbors, including Genius House, Studio 97, and Cowtown Cycle Party, has been invaluable. We've celebrated each other's successes, collaborated on various projects, and leaned on one another during challenging times. This sense of camaraderie is what makes our community so special and has played a pivotal role in our growth.”