The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded two grants, totaling $689,094, to Pinellas County and the Community Health Centers of Pinellas. The new funding follows a $1.1 million award earlier this summer to ramp up Covid-19 testing. Community Health Centers currently serve as one of the main Covid-19 testing sites for Pinellas residents. "While Covid-19 positivity rates are declining in Pinellas, the virus is very much still with us, with the worst impacts disproportionately impacting low-income communities and people of color ... Community Health Centers are responding to this disparity by providing Covid-19 tests free of charge to all who need them," said Rep. Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg, in an announcement about the new grants.
Florida bars and breweries have until the end of the year to renew their liquor licenses. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order Friday that his office said is designed to help businesses adversely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The order delays the existing renewal deadline through Dec. 31, 2020 for the holder of any license, permit, registration, or certificate issued by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, for the purposes of engaging in the manufacturing, sale, or distribution of alcoholic beverages in Florida. Bars and breweries that don't serve food were ordered shut down earlier this year to control the spread of Covid-19, while establishments with liquor licenses that also serve food are limited to 50 percent capacity.
Two St. Petersburg companies are among the best employers in Florida, according to a new list from Forbes. Raymond James Financial (NYSE: RJF) placed No. 4 on the "best employers by state 2020" list, and Jabil (NYSE: JBL) is No. 23. BayCare Health System, headquartered in Clearwater, was the only other Pinellas County company on the list, at No. 72. Several Tampa employers also made the list: Moffitt Cancer Center (No. 8), Tampa General Hospital (No. 14), Bloomin' Brands (Nasdaq: BLMN) (No. 26), Rooms to Go (No. 75) and Hillsborough Community College (No. 98). Publix, headquartered in Lakeland and one of the largest employers in St Petersburg, ranked No. 34. Forbes partnered with market research company Statista to survey 80,000 Americans working for companies with 500 employees or more on criteria such as safety of work environment, competitiveness of compensation, opportunities for advancement and openness to telecommuting. See the full list here.
The City of St. Petersburg, the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, the Florida Council of Churches, The Connection Partners and a team of other organizations are collaborating to select and train up to 50 citizen leaders in the art of hosting conversations that matter. The goal is to create a culture of conversational leadership by hosting opportunities to increase understanding, empathy and build an atmosphere conducive to transformational growth and positive change. Led by Amy Lenzo, Director of Learning Programs at The World Café Community Foundation and senior World Café host Frances Baldwin, this free 11-week online course is open to anyone 18 or older who lives, works, studies or volunteers in St. Pete. Applications are due September 7 and can be found by clicking here.
The Adi Dassler International Family Office LLC recently launched U.S. operations in Tampa and in Miami. The privately owned, independent, multi-family office is a wealth advisory firm co-founded by three grandsons of Adi Dassler, founder of Adidas, a German company that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. Julian “Brad” Bradham, who is CEO, and the Adi Dassler family, along with fellow founding partner Allen Johnson, formerly of Alex Brown, recently restructured the office and relocated the headquarters to Miami from the Bahamas, a news release said. ADIFO also has partnered with Apollon Wealth Management LLC, a registered investment advisor backed by Merchant Investment Management, to provide financial planning, technology, client support, and business platform services.
St. Petersburg ranks No. 4 on a new list of best cities for women entrepreneurs. The list was compiled by Fundera, an online financial resource for small businesses, and based on factors such as the percent of self-employed women, the earnings gap between men and women business owners, housing costs and job growth. St. Petersburg is affordable because there is no state income tax, housing costs are low and the earnings gap is less than 10 percent, Fundera said. Women business owners in St. Petersburg earn 91 percent of their male counterparts and housing costs are 26.1 percent of earnings, according to Fundera. Seattle ranked No. 1 on the list, and overall Arizona and Florida are described as "very women entrepreneur friendly," while California cities are not kind to women entrepreneurs. See the full report here.
There's a new date for the upcoming St. Petersburg Power and Sailboat Show and a permanent calendar switch for the annual event. The next show will now take place from Jan. 14 to Jan. 17, 2021. Informa, which owns and operates the event, said the four-day show will now be held in January permanently. The boat show previously took place in early December. It's the largest and longest running boat show on the west coast of Florida, according to Informa, and is expected to include more than 400 power and sailboats, nearly 250 exhibitors and more than 60 cruising and sailing seminars and educational workshops. For more information about the St. Petersburg Power and Sailboat Show, visit the website: www.stpeteboatshow.com.
A new partnership between two well-known St. Petersburg marketing firms is designed to better target consumers while cutting marketing expenses. Direct mailer Valpak is partnering with Catalina, a technology company that collects and analyzes shopping trends, to help brands leverage point of sale loyalty insights, a news release said. The partnership follows a technology initiative Valpak unveiled earlier this month, called household select, that allows for in-zone targeting at the household level. That allowed Valpak to become the first shared mailer to allow advertisers to select only the households they want to reach while still achieving the postal efficiency of shared mail, the news release said. The partnership with Catalina will allow Valpak's envelopes to further be targeted based on known purchases, preferences and shopper behaviors.
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority will receive a $120,000 grant from the Department of Transportation to boost current efforts to drive innovation in financing, system design and service, Representative Charlie Crist announced Wednesday. This new funding follows a $1.2 million grant to help secure to upgrade the PSTA bus fleet, $21.8 million for the construction of the SunRunner Bus Rapid Transit Line and $40 million in CARES Act funding for Covid-19 response and recovery.
Clearwater High School, Carwise Middle School and the Pinellas Academy of Math and Science Charter each reported one student testing positive for Covid-19 Tuesday. At Clearwater High School, no quarantine orders were issued by the Department of Health as the student had not been on campus. At Carwise, seven classrooms received quarantine orders, while Pinellas Academy of Math and Science issued quarantine orders for four classrooms. As of Wednesday, eight students and three staff members have tested positive for Covid-19 at Pinellas County Schools.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity will submit the state's application to participate in the Lost Wages Assistance Program. This program provides additional temporary benefits for individuals who are eligible for reemployment assistance for weeks of unemployment ending on or after Aug. 1, 2020. Pending federal approval, the program will allow Florida to offer an additional $300 per week to eligible reemployment assistance claimants. To be eligible for this benefit, claimants must be currently receiving at least $100 in an approved reemployment assistance program weekly benefit amount and must certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to the disruptions caused by Covid-19. If approved, payments will be retroactive to August 1, 2020. No additional application is required.
(ISC)² has named Clar Rosso as CEO, effective Oct. 1. Rosso succeeds outgoing CEO David Shearer at (ISC)², based in Clearwater and the world’s largest nonprofit membership association of certified cybersecurity professionals. Shearer will remain with (ISC)² in an advisory role through the end of the year to help with the transition and ensure the organization’s 2020 goals are accomplished, a news release said. Shearer will lead strategy and budget planning for 2021 after she joins. Rosso joins (ISC)² from the AICPA & CIMA, where she is executive vice president of engagement and learning innovation. Learn more about Rosso here.
