The Impact Council is a collection of carefully selected thought leaders who are pushing the boundaries of local community impact. As a member of the Impact Council the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg will connect with fellow community leaders to drive awareness of and engagement in the issues covered by local charities and community projects. The Impact Council serves as a think tank to work together to envision solutions that we can share with the community. The YMCA is deeply rooted in our community across many demographic spectrums. We look forward to learning together from the insight and experience of this timeless community partner.
Sprouts Farmers Market, a specialty grocery store chain headquartered in Phoenix, has been rapidly expanding in the Tampa Bay region and has more new stores in the works for Brandon and Tampa, according to a news release. Sprouts currently operates 23 stores in Florida, including a location in Seminole that opened last summer. It plans to open 10 new stores in the Sunshine State in 2021, the release stated, though specific opening dates for the Brandon and Tampa stores were not disclosed. Sprouts also plans to open a distribution center in Orlando later this year.
U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell has sentenced Largo resident Asa Nall to 10 years in federal prison for attempted enticement of a child. Nall, 50, was investigated by the FBI and Largo Police Department. According to a news release about the case, he communicated online and via text messages with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, but the person was an undercover law enforcement agent. Nall repeatedly asked the “child” to produce sexually explicit images and urged her to skip school and meet him for sex. A meeting was arranged for Oct. 16, 2019, which is when officers arrested Nall. He was found guilty by a jury on Oct. 29, 2020.
United Way Suncoast's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is available at Childs Park YMCA Mondays and Wednesdays through April 12. IRS-certified volunteers provide free basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing. Pre-qualification is required - click here or call (813) 419-3918.
Mike Sutton and team have grown Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties substantially over the last several years. The organization's innovation and excellence in operation are a welcome addition to the group.
REI Co-op will open a 23,000-square-foot store at Midtown Tampa on March 5. The store will join the co-op’s four existing Florida stores in Jacksonville, Winter Park, Gainesville and Boca Raton. REI, which offers a wide assortment of quality outdoor gear for hiking, camping, paddling and more, is the first store to open at Midtown Tampa, a $500 million, 23-acre mixed-use project at I-275 and Dale Mabry Highway developed by Bromley Companies. As part of the Tampa opening, REI said it would invest a total of $10,000 in two local outdoor nonprofits, through a $5,000 grant to the Friends of Alafia and a second to Florida State Parks to support Hillsborough River State Park.
Tampa Bay Wave is now accepting applications for its 2021 TechDiversity Accelerator program. Companies in the United States and around the world are welcome to apply to be part of the cohort. If accepted into the program, TechDiversity Accelerator participants will, over a 90-day period, receive executive coaching, comprehensive mentoring from industry experts, strategic introductions and preparation for investor meetings. Applicants should be early-stage companies that are at least 51 percent owned, controlled and operated by black, indigenous and people of color or other underrepresented entrepreneurs, minorities, women, veterans, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities or some combination thereof.
Jabil Healthcare has secured exclusive rights to develop a high-volume reusable auto-injector after entering a strategic collaboration agreement with global drug delivery device company E3D. The agreement allows Jabil Healthcare to further develop connected auto-injectors for a range of dosing volumes and patient-centric benefits, ultimately creating a platform of devices, a news release said. Jabil Healthcare is a division of Jabil (NYSE: JBL), the largest publicly traded company headquartered in St. Petersburg and in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.
Clearwater-based cybersecurity company KnowBe4 has acquired MediaPRO, a compliance, security and privacy training solutions firm headquartered in Bothell, Wash. According to a news release, MediaPro provides highly customizable training modules to Fortune 1,000 companies. Its customers will now have access to KnowBe4’s security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, which is used by more than 35,000 organizations worldwide. The acquisition, KnowBe4 CEO Stu Sjouwerman stated in the release, “presents KnowBe4 with a great opportunity to provide our customers with an abundance of engaging privacy and compliance training content that will benefit their organizations.”
Pinellas County has extended its state of local emergency for Covid-19 through March 12. The extension was issued Wednesday by County Administrator Barry Burton by delegated authority from the Board of County Commissioners. It keeps in effect a county ordinance requiring face coverings within public places and requiring restaurants and bars to serve only patrons who are seated. As of Wednesday, there were a cumulative total of 67,061 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Pinellas County and 1,463 deaths. The seven-day average of new cases was 203.9 and the seven-day positivity rate — or percentage of people who take a test and test positive — was 5.29 percent. Both are statistics county officials closely monitor.
The Tampa Police Department has confiscated a 2017 Mercedes-Benz E300 sedan and $3,119 in cash from Mylik Webb, suspected of selling counterfeit Super Bowl merchandise at a pop-up shop outside a gas station on Nebraska Avenue in Tampa just days before the big game. Webb, 46, is a resident of Cambridge, Mass., and CEO of a New York business called Pretty in Pink Store Inc. He faces a felony charge of forging or counterfeiting private labels in violation of Florida law. According to documents filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, the Tampa Police Department seeks permanent forfeiture of Webb’s vehicle and cash under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act. The Catalyst has reached out to Webb’s attorney, Barry Taracks, for comment.
Airports Council International, in its annual Airport Service Quality awards, has recognized Tampa International Airport as one of North America’s most hygienic airports. The awards are based on passenger surveys; TIA was one of only 33 airports in the world and five in North America to win the inaugural Best Hygiene Measures award. In October, TIA, thanks to a partnership with BayCare, became the first airport in the country to offer two types of Covid-19 tests for both arriving and departing passengers.
