Presence, the campus engagement and advisory platform founded in 2014 by Reuben Pressman, has been acquired by Modern Campus. Presence is a software company in St. Petersburg that helps higher educational institutions collect and understand data and take action to increase co-curricular student engagement, success and workforce readiness. Modern Campus empowers higher education institutions to thrive when radical change is required to successfully respond to lower student enrollments and revenue, rising costs, crushing student debt and even school closures.
Siesta Key Beach has been named the top-rated beach in Florida for summer travel in 2021 in a report from Holidu, a German-based vacation home rental search engine. The sugar sand beach that boasts and turquoise waters helped when it the top spot as well as reviews from Google, which the beach had an average rating of 4.8. Meanwhile, Clearwater Beach ranked as No. 5 on the list.
A new report indicates a rise in Florida's unemployment numbers, showing that more Floridians are looking for jobs. On Wednesday, Chief Economist of the Florida Chamber Foundation Jerry Parrish released the June edition of Florida By the Numbers economic update. Florida has been facing a workforce crisis with 512,900 jobs. The new data shows that since April 2020, Florida has recovered 814,800 jobs. The financial-related industry is the first Florida industry to recover to pre-Covid activity levels while construction is expected to be Florida's next industry to recover. However, the hospitality and leisure industry is still lagging as many workers have not returned.
The state Agency for Health Care Administration has approved additional hospice programs as a response to the state's need to increase need for more of these programs. In Pinellas County, the agency approved Hernando-Pasco Hospice Inc.’s certificate of need application. However, the state denied applications for hospice programs in Pinellas County from Caretenders Visiting Services of Pinellas County Inc., Cornerstone Hospice & Palliative Care Inc. and VITAS Healthcare Corp.
After an initial denial earlier this month, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge will be lit up in rainbow colors over the next week in celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month. Pinellas, Hillsborough and Manatee counties all petitioned the Florida Department of Transportation to allow the lighting after the agency ordered Jacksonville’s Acosta Bridge to dim its rainbow hues and revert to standard blue lighting. DOT came under fire for that move and quickly reversed course. Sarasota’s Ringling Causeway will also be lit in rainbow colors.
The latest red tide outbreak is beginning to plague Clearwater Beach, Honeymoon Island and Fred Howard Park as it moves northward along the coast, Pinellas County officials reported on Wednesday. Water-testing teams found low to very low concentrations of K brevis, the organism that causes red tide, south of Clearwater, although medium concentrations were found at Fort De Soto Park, which officials attribute to red tide blooms in Tampa Bay. Click here for the latest conditions at county beaches.
The Florida Blockchain Business Association (FBBA) mission is to represent and unite the blockchain community. Catalyst publisher Joe Hamilton has joined as the St. Petersburg Community Leader. "Now is a critical inflection point where the future is being minted," Hamilton said. "I support the Florida Blockchain Business Association in raising awareness about the fundamental changes trustless decentralization will cause in the fabric of how we conduct our businesses, our cities and our lives." Miami has recently become a hub for blockchain development and cryptocurrency, and the Tampa Bay region has its own promising group of blockchain startups.
The annual program run by Social Venture Partners, with support from the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, provides a 16-week program. Participating organizations get lessons on operations, marketing, finance, law and the art of storytelling. Fast Pitch culminates with an event in November where participants share their story with audience members, and judges, who award cash grants to top performers. The 2021 participants are: Reach St. Pete, Florida Holocaust Museum, 360 Eats, Boys & Girls Club of Tampa Bay, Girls Inc. of Pinellas County, Healthy Start Coalition, Academy Prep of St. Pete, Cultured Books and Florida 1.27. To learn more about the organizations mentioned, read the the press release here.
Got an idea for how to improve transportation in St. Petersburg? Forward Pinellas, the City of St. Petersburg and the Florida Department of Transportation want to hear from you and are holding two virtual public meeting this week to gather data for a downtown St. Pete mobility study. Public input will help guide the agencies as they seek to develop projects such as improvements to the I-175 and I-375 interstate highway spurs that will better connect South St. Peter to downtown. The sessions are free but registration is required. The first one is on Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. and the second is on Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m. Anyone not able to attend is welcome to submit online responses to a mobility survey.
St. Petersburg College's Dental Hygiene clinic is offering Five Dollar Fridays for children and teenagers, ages 5–17, throughout the summer. This includes an exam by a doctor, X-rays, a cleaning and fluoride for $5, provided the appointment is scheduled on a Friday. The clinic is located at the SPC Health Education Center, 7200 66th St N, Pinellas Park. Learn more here.
The Wander Franco era began on Monday when the Tampa Bay Rays called up the 20-year-old shortstop from Triple-A Durham. Franco signed with the Rays in July 2017 and entered the 2021 season ranked by Baseball America and MLB.com as Major League Baseball’s No. 1 overall prospect for a second straight year. At Durham this season, Franco slugged seven home runs, six triples and 11 doubles with a batting average of .315, 35 RBI and five stolen bases. He will wear No. 5 for the Rays.
The Warehouse Arts District Association is looking for member art for Hoopla, a July exhibition celebrating the re-opening of the full ArtsXchange campus, one of the most popular spots during the city's monthly Second Saturday Artwalk. The work will be displayed in the Tully-Levine Gallery. Deadline for submissions is June 28.
