David Flatt has been named the new executive director of St. Petersburg's Imagine Museum, replacing Jane Buckman. Most recently, the Illinois native was the director of the California Auto Museum in Sacramento. He has a Masters in History from St. Louis University, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in anthropology from Australia's Flinders University.
The City of St. Petersburg has enacted dry weather protocols to conserve the city’s reclaimed water supply. The change is effective immediately, and residents will notice lower reclaimed water pressure from sprinklers between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. For more information on proper watering times and methods, visit the website here.
A recently released report by the United Way Suncoast states that a family of four in Tampa Bay must make at least $88,000 annually to afford the cost of living. Data compiled by the nonprofit’s research partner, United for ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Restrained and Employed), showed that Florida ranks 44th out of the 50 states for households lacking financial security. According to the report, 615,627 people in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto Counties struggle to afford the basics.
St. Petersburg-based Dynasty Financial Partners is launching an investment bank, which will leverage Dynasty's merger and acquisitions and capital strategies capabilities to offer buy and sell-side advice for independent wealth management firms, according to Dynasty's Monday announcement. "Whether a CEO desires to acquire an RIA or tuck-in a group of advisors, want to explore selling their business, or are seeking a valuation to understand the value of their equity, RIA management teams seek high quality and objective advice. With our deep expertise and years of experience working with hundreds of leading advisors, we are well-positioned to offer RIAs a wide range of investment banking capabilities in this ever-complicated market," Dynasty CEO Shirl Penney said in a statement.
Tampa-based Genesis Systems, a tech company that aims to solve global water scarcity by creating water of thin air though its WaterCube product, announced it has acquired Molecule Inc., an innovator in the materials science space. The acquisition creates the largest intellectual property portfolio of renewable water supply and water related special materials technologies in the world, along with the most experienced team of water engineers and scientists with expertise in utility-scale water-from-air technologies, according to the Monday announcement.
The 2023 postseason ended early for the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Six of the first round Saturday night at Amalie Arena. Like several other games in the best-of-seven series, the Lightning outplayed Toronto before failing to make plays at the most critical points. The overtime loss at home was Tampa Bay's third in the best-of-seven series.
A recent report by the National Association of Realtors states that Tampa Bay homes sales declined by 15.4% in March compared to 2022. While the region’s median sale price - $395,000 - represents a 1.3% year-over-year increase, the average listing spent 30 more days on the market. National home sales plummeted by 22% from March 2022 to March 2023.
Jenna Byrne, founder of the Water Warrior Alliance, has inspired the City of Madeira Beach to convert its public lighting to an amber hue that mitigates light pollution’s impact on nesting sea turtles. Redington Beach, Redington Shores and North Redington Beach switched over the past year. Several local government and environmental officials joined Byrne for an Earth Day event April 22 that resulted in volunteers collecting 116 pounds of trash from the Redington Shores beach.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch is expanding the city's 10-year Housing Opportunities for All Plan to include support for renters and financial assistance for residence to preserve existing affordable housing, according to the city's Thursday announcement. The goal is to make properties livable for longer, and leverage incentives and strategic funding to produce more affordable units in St. Pete. Welch said the city has allocated more than $40 million dollars this fiscal year to build new affordable housing units. Three years into the plan, the city has increased the number of new units for anticipated production by more than 1,000 units. The updated plan now includes an additional 1,050 units, bumping up the total to nearly 8,000 affordable housing units.
Amalie Arena will host at least one more game as the Tampa Bay Lighting avoided a first-round playoff exit by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 Thursday night. Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded 28 saves in the road victory, while Mikey Eyssimont and Anthony Cirelli each contributed a goal and assist. Tampa Bay faces another must-win game Saturday.
According to the digital real estate platform Ownerly, St. Petersburg-based Duke Energy Florida’s revenues increased by 13.09% in 2022. Meanwhile, customers’ electric bills rose 10.58%, despite usage increasing by 2.04%. Tampa Electric revenues soared 20.48% last year, and customers paid 17.76% more for a .63% uptick in usage.
St. Petersburg-based Raymond James Financial reported today, April 27, that it has reached record net revenues of $2.87 billion and net income available to common shareholders of $425 million. The record quarterly net revenues in the second quarter increased 7% over the prior second quarter, according to Raymond James' earnings release. Domestic private client group net new assets grew to $21.5 billion this quarter.
