SPOTLIGHT
Since 1984, the nonprofit Guadalupe Center has provided educational support for low-income families in Immokalee, where about 60% of adults 25 and older haven’t completed high school. Now, the nonprofit’s new Resilience, Inspiration, Support and Empowerment — or RISE — program will expand the center’s programming to middle school students, filling a gap in the community.
The free after-school program at Immokalee Middle School provides peer-to-peer mentorship and a carefully curated curriculum for professional and personal development. Students will research careers, prep for standardized tests and develop skills like work ethic and good studying habits.
Thirty-nine sixth and eighth-grade students are enrolled during RISE’s pilot phase in the 2024-25 school year. The Guadalupe Center plans to add seventh graders to the mix next year. Members will feed directly into the Guadalupe Center’s existing Tutor Corps program, which helps Immokalee High School students prepare for college and access scholarship and paid tutoring opportunities.
“The challenge that I’ve been seeing the last few years is that a lot of our students entering high school are not ready for high school,” says Guadalupe Center President and CEO Dawn Montecalvo. “They don’t have the skill sets, the confidence, the emotional and social skills. ... We have to start that younger, because sometimes in high school it’s a little too late.”
SPORTS
- The city of Pinellas Park will launch the Sprowls Horizon Sports Park in the summer of 2025. The state-of-the-art complex — which will be designed, constructed and operated by Clearwater-based Sports Facilities Cos. — will feature six baseball fields, a full-size soccer field, an outdoor roller hockey rink and a community plaza. Named after former Florida Speaker of the House Chris Sprowls, it’s partially funded by state grants.
HEALTH CARE
- For $2.49 billion in cash, Texas-based pharmaceutical and health care company McKesson Corp. acquired a 70% interest in the Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute’s Core Ventures unit in Tampa. Through the deal, the physician-owned oncology provider also joined McKesson’s US Oncology Network.
- Clearwater-based BayCare Health System has paid $12 million for 15.7 acres of Epperson, a master-planned community near Wesley Chapel, where it plans to build one of its HealthHubs. The facility will complement the nearby 86-bed BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel and will include a freestanding emergency department, a health technology coach, and acute and primary services.
- Orlando Health has announced that its Neuroscience Institute-Bayfront will anchor the St. Petersburg Innovation District’s Orlando Health Medical Pavilion-Institute Square upon its completion in 2025. The institute will partner with local neurosurgeons and epilepsy experts to offer services for patients with neurological disorders, from headaches to dementia, and house a research department.
TRANSPORTATION
- Tampa International Airport will receive more than $5 million in federal infrastructure grants for taxiway and runway grading improvements and a temporary flood barrier. The airport is also gaining a narrow-body size Sheltair Aviation hangar, bringing the company’s total hangar count there to 11.
DEFENSE
- Global aerospace and defense company General Dynamics has acquired Tampa Bay-based defense contractor Iron EagleX, gaining its $430-million, 10-year contract with U.S. Special Operations Command that started in late 2022.
HIGHER EDUCATION
- Thanks to a $500,000 donation from Tampa-based tech entrepreneur Arnie Bellini, Saint Leo University launched an online, self-paced cybersecurity certification program in October.
- The University of South Florida has launched the USF Health Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy facility, where researchers will study if the therapy eases traumatic brain injuries for Florida’s military and veteran communities. The study is being funded with $28 million from the state. The university also opened the USF Health Functional MRI Research Core facility, which will measure brain activity to research Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and other serious brain diseases.
ENTERTAINMENT
- The Shell Factory, an 86-year-old roadside fixture in North Fort Myers, shuttered its doors in September. The 18-acre attraction once offered a 4.5-acre nature park, 50,000 square feet of gift shops, hundreds of animals, two restaurants, ziplines, mini golf and more. Owner Pam Cronin cited costly maintenance and repairs in the decision to close.
HOUSING
- The St. Petersburg Housing Authority is turning the former Edward White Hospital, which closed in 2014, into 71 low-income senior housing units. The six-story senior living community will also house the housing authority’s headquarters and an Evara Health doctor’s office.
REAL ESTATE
- New York-based asset manager Blackstone has purchased the 286- key Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa from Westmont Hospitality Group for at least $137 million. The total sales price could reach $200 million when including the property’s furniture, fixtures and equipment.