St. Pete-based Dynasty Financial Partners announced it has signed three of the up-and-coming baseball stars– Wander Franco, Julio Rodriguez, and Bobby Witt Jr.; The players are among the top 10 prospects in Major League Baseball. The number one prospect, Franco, was recently called up to Majors to play for the Tampa Bay Rays. The partnerships of all three professional athletes along with the company's existing athletes in tennis, golf and Indy car racing allows the company to further leverage the Dynasty brand to magnify the benefits of receiving truly independent financial advice and of working with Dynasty advisors, according to Dynasty's announcement on Tuesday.
Suzanne McCormick will become the new CEO of the YMCA USA division, making it the first time the organization has tapped a female as its leader. McCormick most recently served as U.S. president of United Way Worldwide. She previously served as president and CEO of United Way Suncoast in Tampa. She will begin at the YMCA in September. McCormick will be replacing Kevin Washington, the organization's first Black CEO. The YMCA is a 170-year-old organization whose brand is valued at $8.9 billion, according to the release.
The Aug. 27-29 Unlock You Future Tampa Bay event will be fully virtual. Conference founder Allen Clary cited the rise of Covid cases for the change, adding that the virtual format will allow for more interaction with speakers as well as a new pricing structure starting at $39.
Skipper's Smokehouse, the iconic North Tampa restaurant and music venue is closed this weekend, after an employee tested positive for Covid-19. After "deep cleaning" and additional medical testing, operators said in a Facebook post, the venue - which re-opened last month after nearly a year of closure - will resume operations Aug. 8. "We knew reopening in this pandemic ridden world would be a bit of a roller coaster," said the social media message, "but, we have our hands up, smiles on our faces, and we are buckled in for the long ride. We can’t wait to return to serving you after our staff has tested negative and our establishment has been deep cleaned."
The St. Petersburg Opera Company’s 16th season will include Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte (Oct. 15, 17 and 19); Handel’s Semele (Feb. 4, 6 and 8) and Donizetti’s Daughter of the Regiment (June 3, 5 and 8). The full opera productions are staged at the Palladium Theater. Tickets are available here, as well as tickets and information about additional St. Pete Opera concert and stage events at other venues.
CareSpot Urgent Care now manages a Bayfront Health St. Petersburg urgent care clinic in the Fossil Park neighborhood. The urgent care is at 7000 4th Street North, Suite A. The urgent care center is now called the CareSpot Urgent Care of St. Petersburg Northeast. CareSpot currently operates more than 40 clinics across Florida. This location is its first in the St. Petersburg area, operating as part of its joint venture partnership with Orlando Health, which acquired Bayfront Health St. Petersburg in October 2020, according to the release. As of this week, the urgent care center has extended hours, including nights and weekends from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
AdventHealth is ceasing non-emergency procedures at its Pinellas campuses due to the rapid surge of Covid-19 cases. The hospital system initially halted non-urgent overnight procedures at its Wesley Chapel campus, but the policy now applies to the North Pinellas campus and the AdventHealth Carrollwood campus. Patients will be notified directly if their procedure will be rescheduled. The AdventHealth West Florida Division hospital locations will continue to perform same-day procedures that do not require an overnight stay.
Mayor Rick Kriseman announced Wednesday afternoon that in response to rising Covid-19 cases, city government would again mandate all employees to wear face masks. As of now, the mandate applies inside city facility common areas and within six feet of others. Kriseman said officials will continue to think through all other mitigation strategies. The announcement comes after Kriseman vowed, on Monday, to review city policies around vaccinations and masks. In that announcement, Kriseman thanked those in the private sector for prioritizing health through mandatory vaccinations or mask requirements.
Axogen Inc. (NASDAQ: AXGN), a provider of innovative surgical solutions for peripheral nerve injuries, reported net revenue of $33.6 million during the second quarter, which is a 52% increase compared to the previous second quarter 2020 revenue of $22.1 million. Axogen's labs are based in Alachua, but the company has a second campus in Tampa. “Surgeon demand for our products continued to increase as we drove deeper penetration in our customer accounts. Despite the ongoing impact of the pandemic, the success of our commercial strategy, supported by our ten-year investment in meaningful clinical data, provides us with increasing confidence in the long-term growth outlook for our business," Axogen CEO and President Karen Zaderej said in a prepared statement. The company expects the full-year revenue to be in the range of $134.5 million to $137.5 million versus the prior range of $133.0 million to $136.0 million, according to the Q2 report.
The Aug. 27 performance by comedian Randy Rainbow at Ruth Eckerd Hall - referenced in the Catalyst story The month of August in the arts - has been rescheduled for Jan. 28.
A stormwater application was filed for a proposed skilled nursing project dubbed Pinellas Palms. The project entails the construction of a 32,300-square-foot skilled nursing facility on 2.77 acres of the northern portion of the Beachside Village development located at 1205 66th St N. in St. Petersburg. The first phase of the Beachside Village development was recently completed this year and included roughly 85,000 square feet of building space for memory care, assisted living and independent living, according to the application.
Tampa-based cybersecurity firm ReliaQuest has named three new executives to its team. It's named Brian Foster as Vice President of Product, Paul Kraus as Vice President of Engineering and Dan Wire as Vice President of Brand and Communications. Foster and Kraus bring deep security product experience and are focused on expanding the ReliaQuest GreyMatter Open XDR platform. Wire brings more than 15 years of security marketing and communications experience to drive brand awareness and growth, according to the company's announcement.
