The Tampa Bay Rays have added six full-time employees to their front office and scouting staff, highlighted by retired outfielder Denard Span being named a special assistant for baseball operations. After spending the first five seasons of his 11-year Major League Baseball career with the Minnesota Twins, Span, a Tampa native, played for the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants before joining the Rays in 2018. The Rays also hired Allison DeKuiper as a performance science assistant; Rigo De Los Santos as Dominican Republic regional crosschecker and area scout; Carlos Herazo as pro scout; Jonah McElwee as major league food services assistant; and Isha Rahman as minor league operations assistant.
A fleet of 100 electric bikes has been added to Coast Bike Share in St. Pete. The addition of electric bikes was made possible through a public-private partnership between the City of St. Petersburg and HOPR. Riders will be able to unlock and ride the e-bikes by scanning a QR code via the HOPR Transit app. The same app and membership can be used to access the bikes in Tampa as well. E-bikes will be available to rent on a pay-per-ride; $1.25 to unlock and $0.35 per minute. Monthly or annual membership can also be purchased starting at $25 per month. Discounted passes are available for students and through Coast Bikes equity program. For more information, visit gohopr.com or download the HOPR Transit app.
St. Petersburg-based First Home Bank set new earnings records in both the fourth quarter of 2020 and the entire year, driven by mortgage banking income and loan origination fees and interest income associated with the Paycheck Protection Program. Fourth quarter net income was $5.61 million, a 79 percent increase over the same period in 2019, when net income was $1.17 million. Total net income for 2020 was $12.70 million, compared to $4.48 million in 2019 — an increase of nearly 65 percent. Total assets grew to $1.54 billion, up from $1.01 billion in 2019.
The Florida Department of Health reported another 414 cases of Covid-19 in Pinellas County Tuesday and one additional death, bringing the cumulative county total since March to 60,130 cases and 1,305 deaths. The two-week percent positivity rate now stands at 7.43 percent. As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 298 people hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of Covid-19 in Pinellas County's acute-care hospitals, with 21.3 percent of adult ICU beds available. More than 78,000 people have been vaccinated against the virus countywide. To view an interactive ZIP code map of Covid cases in Pinellas County, click here.
Starting today, Tampa International Airport will enforce the federal face mask order that authorizes penalties for travelers and other airport users who decline to wear a face covering. According to a statement posted on the TIA website, airport police and other law enforcement officials can remove and deny re-entry to people who refuse to comply with the order. Individuals without a mask will be asked to put one on, while people who don’t have a mask will be provided one free of charge.
IMCS Group, a St. Petersburg-based provider of telehealth services for cases involving workers’ compensation treatment and recovery, has named Aimee Peters its new chief clinical innovations officer and tasked her with heading up all strategic clinical initiatives. According to a news release, prior to joining IMCS, Peters was chief clinical officer at AbleTo Inc., a pioneer in providing technology-enabled behavioral health care services to many large U.S. health insurers. “Throughout her career, Aimee has pioneered virtual behavioral health care,” IMCS CEO Lori Daugherty stated in the release. “I look forward to having her expertise as we build the first, best and only behavioral health platform focused on the workers’ compensation market.”
Celeste Davis has been named the new executive director of the Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture & the Arts (TBBCA). Througth partnerships and sustainable programs, the nonprofit TBBCA unites area businesses to champion arts and culture. Davis is program director and curator for the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum.
The Florida Department of Health reported another 241 cases of Covid-19 in Pinellas County Monday and 15 additional deaths, bringing the cumulative county total since March to 59,716 cases and 1,304 deaths. The two-week percent positivity rate now stands at 7.62 percent. As of Monday afternoon, there were 301 people hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of Covid-19 in Pinellas County's acute-care hospitals, with 20.7 percent of adult ICU beds available. More than 75,000 people have been vaccinated against the virus countywide. To view an interactive ZIP code map of Covid cases in Pinellas County, click here.
In light of the pandemic, the St. Anthony’s Triathlon has decided to reschedule the weekend of events for the 38th annual race to October 1-3, 2021. The 2020 event was cancelled due to the Covid and the April 2021 dates were tentatively scheduled pending pandemic status. While refunds will not be offered for registrations made for either the 2020 or April 2021 dates, deferrals can be made to the 2022 event. Everyone who has registered for this year’s race or has claimed their deferral from 2020 is already set for the October dates. For more information and to sign up, click here.
With the unveiling of four new electric buses Monday, about half of Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority’s fleet are now electric or hybrid. PSTA now has a total of six electric buses that are battery powered and produce no emissions. The agency also has 88 hybrid buses. Electric buses cost less to run than diesel, are easier to maintain and each one saves 135 tons of carbon emissions per year that the diesel bus it replaces produced. Additionally, these buses average 180 miles, or about 14 hours, of operating time on a single charge. PSTA will save about $20,000 a year in diesel fuel costs with each electric bus and hopes to eliminate all diesel buses from its fleet within the next decade.
Seacoast Bank has promoted Tampa Bay Market President Allen Brinkman to executive vice president and middle-market executive, in addition to hiring Ron York as executive vice president and treasury management executive. Both moves are effective immediately. Last year, Stuart-based Seacoast Bank acquired St. Petersburg-based Freedom Bank, leaving First Home Bank as the lone community bank headquartered in St. Pete. Brinkman has served as Seacoast’s Tampa Bay market president and head of commercial banking for the Tampa Bay area since August 2018. He has also held corporate finance and middle market leadership roles at SunTrust Bank and Wachovia Bank.
Tampa-based ConnectWise has acquired Service Leadership Inc., a leading consulting firm for technology service providers (TSPs). The Plano, Texas-based company created the Service Leadership Index, a long-running, highly accurate benchmark for TSP financial performance, operational maturity and value creation. According to a press release, Service Leadership CEO Paul Dippell and his team will join ConnectWise and report to Chris Timms, executive vice president of growth; however, Dippell will continue to lead Service Leadership.
