Pet Protection

Led by founder Gustav Ray, Tallahassee-based Baycom Diagnostics has developed a kit for monitoring and testing for diabetes in dogs and cats via mailedin blood samples. Currently, veterinarians use hand-held glucose meters to test pets. Although the current devices are effective for humans, Ray says they do not perform well with small animals and require testing several times a day. Baycom’s A1Care test kit gives veterinarians faster access to accurate sugar levels. While the kits cost $99, meters run about $150, plus another $50 for test strips and additional visits to the vet.

Ray, Baycom’s sole proprietor, says the company is profitable.

BUSINESS Briefs

CRESTVIEW

• Okaloosa County’s lease of the Eglin Air Force Base land that includes the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport has been extended 25 years to 2063, according to county officials. Okaloosa County began leasing airport land from Eglin AFB in 1957.
• Allegiant Air has established twice-weekly nonstop service from Nashville to Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY

• Escambia County commissioners have approved an $8-million contract with Panhandle Grading and Paving to complete the final phase of construction on the 600-acre Navy helicopter training field in Santa Rosa County now owned by Escambia County. Completion of the new Santa Rosa training field will allow Escambia County to swap the site for a similarsized training field in the Beulah community, adjacent to the 300-acre Navy Federal Credit Union campus. Escambia County plans to develop the Beulah site as a commerce park.

GULF BREEZE

• Cybersecurity company AppRiver has acquired Canadian email security firm Roaring Penguin Software.

PANAMA CITY

• Port Panama City has applied for $10 million in funding from the Triumph Gulf Coast program to help pay for its East Terminal Expansion project.
• The Bay County Tourist Development Council has approved spending up to $37.4 million for a sports park and stadium complex in Panama City Beach.

PENSACOLA

• Sacred Heart Health System’s $85-million Studer Family Children’s Hospital, under construction, has been “topped off” and is on track for completion in spring 2019, says Henry Stovall, president of Sacred Heart Hospital.

PERRY

• Construction is underway on a $13.4-million wastewater treatment plant. Amrouch Snacks has completed the purchase of the former Snyder’s-Lance plant in Perry, which closed in the fall of 2017.

TALLAHASSEE

• Site preparation is underway on Firestone/ Bloxham annex properties for the $150-million Cascades Park project that includes a complex of apartments, restaurants, shops and a hotel. Tallahassee city commissioners have agreed to sell the Old City Waterworks to North American Properties, lead developers of the project, for $408,000.
• The Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce has established a task force to identify steps that could lead to consolidating city and county governments.

PLAYERS

• Charles E. “Chuck” Adcock III is the new president and CEO of FSU Credit Union. Adcock was the credit union’s executive vice president for the past 14 years.
• Michael Tentnowski is the first director of entrepreneurship for Innovation Park of Tallahassee.

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Tags: Northwest