CP Communications, which provides live event broadcasts, has opened Red House Streaming Studios in St. Petersburg. The 600-square-foot professional studios and network operations center will serve as the company’s base for in-house production business, a report in TVTechnology.com said. Red House is a CP Communications brand that focuses on IP, cloud and bonded cellular technology. The new studios will be the central production hub for CP broadcast and AV clients and the network operations center will enable remote management of production and content delivery.
The Tampa Bay Rays selected Mobilitie as their long-term wireless solution provider. Mobilitie will deploy a network upgrade to support top wireless carriers and 5G capabilities throughout Tropicana Field, using more than 15,000 feet of fiber, 138 remotes and 276 antennas. It offers improved network speeds, capacity and cell reception throughout the Trop, so that spectators can freely text and make calls, take and share pictures and video, and use data-heavy apps, a news release said. Mobilitie, headquartered in Newport Beach, California, is the largest privately-held telecommunications infrastructure company in the United States. The company also has done projects and upgrades with LA’s Staples Center and Charlotte’s Spectrum Center.
Kathleen Shanahan has been named CEO of Turtle & Hughes, a national industrial distribution leader in Linden, New Jersey. Shanahan is the first non-family CEO in the company's almost 100-year history. She has been co-CEO for the past two years. Prior to joining Turtle & Hughes, Shanahan was CEO and chairman of Ground Works Solutions in Lakeland and served as CEO and chairman of WRSCompass, an environmental engineering and construction company in Tampa. She also has worked in politics and in public service including as chief of staff for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
An additional $2 million in Pinellas CARES funding is now supporting a new CareerSource Pinellas training program for local workers who lost their jobs due to Covid-19. The PinellasWorks program provide on-the-job training opportunities, direct job placement, short-term occupational skills training certifications and other services. It also offers qualifying businesses 100 percent reimbursement for costs of training new employees. For more information, visit www.careersourcepinellas.com/pinellasworks.
The University of South Florida has announced the appointment of William Montrose "Monty" Graham as the new director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography. Hosted by USF, FIO serves as the state of Florida’s hub of oceanographic research and coastal stewardship and as an education and research resource for schools across the State University System. Graham was recruited from the University of Southern Mississippi, where he has served as a tenured professor of marine science and the founding director of the School of Ocean Science and Engineering. Throughout his career, Graham has authored or co-authored more than 85 peer-reviewed scientific articles, mostly in biological oceanography, focusing on jellyfish behavior and the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the Gulf Coast region. He begins his new role Jan. 4, 2021.
Nielsen Holdings, one of the largest technology employers in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, has agreed to sell part of its business to private equity investor Advent International, in a partnership with James "Jim" Peck, former CEO of TransUnion. Advent and Peck will buy the Nielsen Global Connect business for $2.7 billion, a news release said. Nielsen Global Connect will become a private company and in early 2021, be renamed NielsenIQ. Nielsen has a Global Technology and Innovation Center in Oldsmar, with nearly 2,500 employees in teams focused on engineering and technology, application development, operations, customer service, survey research and project management. Most of those workers are in Nielsen's Global Media business. "As we commented last year, real estate optimization is one of the workstreams we had in place as we worked towards separating our two businesses," a spokesperson for Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) told the St. Pete Catalyst Monday. "Over the past several months we have worked to ensure that both Media and Connect have the office space needed. For locations where we have shared offices, like our facility in Oldsmar, we have ensured that both businesses can operate independently."
Superior Group of Companies has filed a prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a $120 million mixed shelf offering. The Seminole-based company, with divisions focused on uniforms and apparel, promotional products and call centers, said proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes, including increasing working capital, reducing debt, or buying or investing in complementary businesses, products and services. Superior (Nasdaq: SGC) also launched a secondary stock offering, and plans to sell 750,000 shares. The offerings follow increases in both sales and earnings in the third quarter of 2020.
PTM Partners, a Miami-based real estate investment and development firm, has launched a second fund designed to focus on qualified opportunity zones. The PTM Partners Opportunity Zone Fund II has raised $40 million and is targeting $250 million in capital for opportunity zone developments across the United States, a news release said. PTM is developing The Edge Collective in St. Petersburg from its first Opportunity Zone Fund, which raised nearly $100 million of capital. Opportunity Zones are a community investment tool established as part of the JOBS Act of 2017 to encourage long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide.
The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed two more lives in Pinellas County. The county's death toll due to Covid stood at 821 people as of Friday and the the cumulative case count was at 25,921. An additional 247 cases were reported overnight, according to the Florida Department of Health. The percent of people testing positive for the virus on Thursday was 5.26 percent. The positivity rate has averaged 4.92 percent over the past 14 days. As of Friday, 128 people are hospitalized in Pinellas County with a primary diagnosis of Covid-19, data from the state's Agency for Health Care Administration shows. Hospitals in Pinellas County have an overall bed capacity of 29.8 percent with a wide range between individual hospitals. Bayfront Health St. Petersburg and St. Petersburg General Hospital each have a 46 percent available bed capacity, while St. Anthony's Hospital has 4.4 percent available capacity and Northside Hospital has 1.64 percent available capacity.
Concerned Residents of Carillon, a group opposed to a planned Topgolf driving range and restaurant in their neighborhood, has given notice of a Nov. 10 mediation in its lawsuit against Topgolf and the city of St. Petersburg. The residents group filed suit nearly a year ago in Pinellas County Circuit Court, saying the project would irreparably harm its members and that the city improperly approved the project without public input. Topgolf separately has moved for a summary judgment in the case, saying the city acted within its authority. The court action comes as Topgolf Entertainment Group agreed to a merger with Callaway (NYSE:ELY) in an all-stock deal that values Topgolf at about $2 billion. That deal is expected to be completed in early 2021. In addition to the planned St. Petersburg location, Topgolf has a site in Brandon in Hillsborough County.
The Gulfport Merchants Chamber, SIK Promotions and LocalShops1 are collaborating for Small Business Saturday’s Shop Small Holiday Market on Saturday, Nov. 28. The event will feature about 100 local makers and small businesses. It will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. along Beach Boulevard in downtown Gulfport. In keeping with the Gulfport STRONG safety awareness campaign, vendors will be socially distanced and wear masks, and guests are encouraged to wear masks. Admission and parking are free. It's the same weekend that LocalShops1 typically would host Shopapalooza in downtown St. Petersburg, but that event has been postponed until next year.
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. will serve as co-presenter and official partner of the new LPGA Tour event to be played at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair. The Pelican Women’s Championship presented by DEX Imaging & Konica Minolta will be held Nov. 19 - Nov. 22 and feature the world’s best female golfers competing over 72 holes for a share of the $1.5 million purse. While Konica Minolta has supported women’s golf on a local level, the Pelican Women’s Championship marks its first foray into advancing women’s golf on a national scale, a news release said. Dan Doyle Jr. is owner of Pelican Golf Club and CEO of Dex Imaging, a Tampa company that is the largest independent dealer of Kyocera, Konica Minolta and Canon document imaging equipment in the United States
