April 26, 2024
Feature
The Reluctant Developer
Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay sometimes feels like he's running “a training ground for police.” Young recruits come to work in the Florida Keys, but too many leave for other jurisdictions after a few years, unable to afford a place to live even with salaries starting at $58,689.
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Published on 1/22/2024
Barely Getting By
The headlines for Florida's economy have been sunny and bright: Hundreds of people move here every day, drawn by a business-friendly environment and a vibrant lifestyle. The unemployment rate is at historic lows, below 3%. Every hour Florida gains an additional $4.48 million in net income as wealthy people from the Northeast, Midwest and even California arrive, the Internal Revenue Service reports.
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Published on 1/19/2024
Florida Icon: Annetta Wilson
President of Speak With Ease, a Florida company specializing in communication skills for executives; former prime time television anchor in Central Florida, Lake Mary; age 66.
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Published on 1/11/2024
Game On
Kyle Morrand's game development studio is using augmented reality, virtual reality and other technologies to solve real world problems across a range of industries.
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Published on 1/10/2024
Shredding Jobs
Taylor County and city of Perry officials are scrambling to find a buyer for the Georgia-Pacific paper mill that abruptly closed in September eliminating approximately 525 jobs. Known as the Foley Cellulose mill, the paper manufacturer near Perry was the largest single employer in Taylor County.
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Published on 12/31/2023
Monitoring Indoor Crops
Despite its promise, the vertical farming industry is facing a range of challenges. While indoor farms don't have to contend with weeds, pests and unpredictable weather conditions, the industry lacks the technology needed to maximize smaller footprints because of outsized power demands. That's making it difficult to turn a profit while scaling smaller operations upward.
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Published on 12/31/2023
Shells for Shorelines
Tampa Bay Watch, a non-profit focused on marine and wetland environments of the Tampa Bay estuary, is launching Shells for Shorelines, a recycling program that turns discarded oyster shells from restaurants into reefs.
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Published on 12/31/2023
Branching Out
UF Health ushered in a big change to Northeast Florida health care when it completed its acquisition of Flagler Health+ in early September.
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Published on 12/31/2023
A Hospital Reborn
This month, Memorial Healthcare, the south Broward public health district, marks significant progress in its $88-million renovation of 70-year-old Memorial Regional Hospital, the system's flagship hospital.
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Published on 12/31/2023
Historic Expansion
Pensacola-based Baptist Health Care's new $650-million hospital campus opened in late September. It is the largest single capital investment in a health care facility in Northwest Florida history.
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Published on 12/29/2023
Emergency Upgrade
Emergency departments often serve as something of a front door for a hospital. They represent the first impression and experience that many patients will have with the institution.
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Published on 12/21/2023
Pitbullish on Jai Alai
Armando Christian Pérez, aka Pitbull — aka Mr. 305 and Mr. Worldwide — has taken an equity ownership role in the World Jai-Alai League operating at the Magic City Casino.
The move “is not just business,” he says, “it's about celebrating Miami's culture and history. We're going to redefine the game and reach a new generation of fans.”
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Published on 12/20/2023
Florida's First Orthopedic Hospital
It's the first stand-alone orthopedic hospital in the southeastern United States. And when the Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute opened in August, it marked the beginning of a new era of orthopedic care in Florida.
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Published on 12/20/2023
Beating the Heat
Was it hot enough for you this summer? One researcher at the University of Florida wants to get a better understanding of how to make popular tourist areas around the state more comfortable during the hottest times.
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Published on 12/19/2023
TGH and Tampa's Next Big Thing
At times, John Couris, the president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital, sounds more like a chamber of commerce pitchman than the president and CEO of a growing hospital network.
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Published on 12/18/2023
Leaps and Bounds
Hong Potomski is named after Hong Kong, the place where she was born while her parents were living in a refugee camp. They had to flee Vietnam as Communists were taking over at the end of the Vietnam War.
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Published on 12/18/2023
Courting Success
Chanel T. Rowe is the high achiever you remember from high school — she was in the pre-law magnet program, worked in retail, was a varsity cheerleader for the Flying L's of Fort Lauderdale High and graduated a year early. She just never slowed down.
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Published on 12/15/2023
A Sweet Spot
Austin Gappelberg, a 22-year-old recent graduate of the University of Tampa, and his 20-year-old brother, Grant, took an early interest in entrepreneurship, beginning with small door-to-door jobs before they started first grade. The sons of entrepreneurial parents, the brothers worked at the family's chocolate shop in New York's Hamptons, and by the time they were teenagers they'd worked their way up to managing the shop in the summer. “Our dad always used to say, ‘You guys are amazing. Together, you're unbeatable,'” Austin says.
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Published on 12/15/2023
Taxing Gig
Richard Laviña initially followed the traditional career path of accounting majors and newly minted CPAs. He learned the ropes at Miami CPA firms and then landed at PwC, one of the Big Four.
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Published on 12/14/2023
Streamlining School Spending
Jamie Rosenberg, the founder of AdoptAClassroom.org, came to realize funneling money to teachers to buy supplies was difficult. Whether it's teachers buying school supplies or grant recipients of government programs, the compliance requirements to ensure funds are used for the right purpose create friction and thwart the speedy implementation of good intentions.
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Published on 12/13/2023
Entrepreneurial Itch
When opportunity knocked, Sherrel Sampson opened the door, unlocking a new passion, career direction and business of her own.
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Published on 12/13/2023
Building Success
What's the single biggest challenge facing the construction industry right now? Mandy Weitknecht knows the answer: a serious shortage of skilled workers.
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Published on 12/12/2023
Under One Roof
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is expanding clinical research, graduate medical education programs and is launching a new simulation center for hands-on training in a $75-million Research and Education Institute under construction.
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Published on 12/11/2023
Kumbaya
St. Johns County is celebrating the history and achievements of the Gullah Geechee community, along with a decade of its annual festival. Over more than 450 years, the West and Central African influence on the communities of Spuds, Elkton and Armstrong, located in southwestern St. Johns County, helped shape the region's culture and economy.
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Published on 12/11/2023
Reimagining Racetracks
The nearly century-old Hialeah Park thoroughbred racetrack has hosted luminaries Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, Jackie Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor — along with the iconic flock of American flamingos seen in the opening credits of Miami Vice in the 1980s.
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Published on 12/8/2023
