The Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network, Florida's statutorily designated principal provider of business assistance, has been awarded accreditation from the Association of America's SBDCs (ASBDC). The ASBDC Accreditation Committee announced its award of accreditation without conditions - the highest standard of award and most successful accreditation the network has achieved in its 40-year history - to the Florida SBDC on Friday. "Accreditation without conditions is a significant achievement and testament to our leadership and staff for their unwavering focus and commitment to continuous improvement and performance excellence," said Michael W. Myhre, Florida SBDC CEO and Network State Director. "Accreditation is an important part of our commitment to ensure that the public investment we are entrusted with from our federal, state, and local partners continues to add value, create meaningful impact and generate strong returns for Florida's economy."
0 Comments
Two commercial real estate professionals with Crosby & Associates, Inc. of Winter Haven, FL took home significant awards at the REALTORS® Land Institute 2017 National Land Conference in Charlotte, NC March 30. Caleb McDow earned the REALTORS® Land Institute Rising Star Award. This award is a special recognition of a land professional who has demonstrated promise. The Award recognizes a member approaching a mid-level in their career who is on their way to making significant contributions to the land profession and to the Institute. Additional criteria for the award include demonstrated integrity, inspirational behavior, and a commitment to advancing the land profession through innovative work and leadership. During CityWorks (X)po Florida 2017 Jeff Donalson, partner at Tom Wolf Co, told the story of how he and his business partners decided to move forward with the development of a downtown boutique hotel.
Jeff cited several economic studies done in partnership with Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing and the WHEDC regarding the need for hotel rooms in Winter Haven. He also consulted with several experienced boutique hotel developers. While he didn't publicly reveal the name and flag of the hotel, he did provide several details on the property:
We'll have to wait a little longer for more details, but he hopes to start renovation and restoration of the historic building in the next 30 days! The property is located on the corner of Central Ave and 3rd St SW and includes both the 6 story building and the "Haven Center" corner building. Baycare Health System acquired Winter Haven Hospital almost 4 years ago. They recently released a study by The Washington Economics Group, Inc. (WEG) outlining the economic impact the group has had on our area. Read more specifics below the infographic.
Confetti fireworks shot into the sky as kids performed a lively beach-blanket-bingo-esque routine officially ushering in the grand opening of the LEGOLAND Beach Retreat.
LEGOLAND Florida Resort's newest accommodation further cements the attraction as a multi-day resort. The resort includes 166 rooms in the form of 83 duplex-bungalows within 13 coves. Each U-shaped cove includes lake views and a playground. The central feature of the resort is the pool area which is full fenced off and includes a beach play area. (The lake is fenced off from the resort) Breakfast is included in your room rate (which will be lower than the LEGOLAND Hotel average daily rates) and is served at the Sandy's Castle Restaurant which seats 300. Lunch and dinner is also served. You also do not have leave your beach chair to enjoy a bite from Bricks Beach Bar, with a menu of made-to-order food, drinks and creative cocktails. Last year Adrian Jones, General Manager of LEGOLAND Florida Resort announced the results of an economic impact study which found that the attraction, water park and hotel had had over a $1 Billion impact on the Polk County community and the surrounding region. Come visit us in Winter Haven! LEGOLAND Beach Retreat - where summer vacation lasts all year long.
Chamber members got a sneak preview of the event on Monday, April 3rd. Check out the photos here:
Additional coverage of the opening below:
Polk State Music instructor and Juilliard-trained guitarist Ben Pila, who has entertained three presidents and Pope Francis, will perform at Polk State’s Winter Haven Fine Arts Theatre on April 20. Students from Pila’s newly created Classical Guitar Ensemble course will be his opening act. “The students have worked very hard this semester. I wanted to give them the opportunity to play their music in public, and I wanted the public to have the chance to enjoy their talents,” Pila said. Since 2003, CareerSource Polk has recognized the Best Places to Work award in Polk County through a competitive application process that honors employers who exemplify best practices in their workplace and who are committed to improving the quality of life for their employees. The Central Florida Media Group will host the Central Florida Farm Tour on Saturday, April 22 between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. For local families looking to have an adventure or seeking a nice recreational day in the great outdoors, the Central Florida Farm Tour offers that and more. Ten area farms and ranches located throughout Polk County will open their barn doors to attendees. This opportunity allows for participants to see a special side of farming that is not always open to the public. The Hunger Education and Resource Training (H.E.A.R.T.) center located behind Warner University will be participating in this year’s farm tour. H.E.A.R.T., is one of Polk’s best kept secrets. At H.E.A.R.T., students prepare for missionary work and learn how to survive off the land. H.E.A.R.T. provides extensive agricultural training, designed to prepare the individual students to grow food while in a third-world countries. The 6th Annual International Cuban Sandwich Art and Food Festival took place this past weekend in Ybor City, Tampa, birthplace of the iconic Cuban Sandwich. The main event, the Cuban Sandwich Smackdown, took place on Sunday. More than 50 competitors, including a participant from Seoul, South Korea, put forward their best creation of the classic Cuban sandwich. Chef James Lazaros from Polk County’s own La Flor de España Bakery & Restaurant (La Flor) took home second (2nd) place in the main and most coveted category of Traditional/World’s Best Cuban Sandwich. La Flor’s Cuban sandwich is made with their signature house-made Puerto Rican style water bread (Pan de Agua), which is very similar to Cuban Bread, house-made mojo marinated Roasted Pork Leg, house-made Sweet Ham, Kosher Pickles, Swiss cheese, and house-made Mustard. La Flor is currently located at 200 Post Ave SW, Winter Haven and will be relocating to Downtown Lakeland later this year. Faith can play a critical role when a person is facing a crisis. Having someone to minister spiritual guidance can provide tremendous comfort. Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care is offering ministers of all faiths (pastors, priests, rabbis, imams and others) a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) course that will train participants to lead supervised encounters with people in crisis. Founded on April 6th, 1927 by financial guru, industrialist, and economist Roger Babson (who also founded Babson College in Massachusetts), Webber International University in Babson Park, Florida will be celebrating its 90th anniversary on Wednesday, April 5th, 2017 at noon with an open to the public picnic lunch. Babson, together with his wife Grace Knight, founded the private, not-for-profit, SACSCOC accredited college as the first school chartered under Florida’s then new educational and charitable laws, and was one of the first colleges of business for women in the nation. Vince Evans, a seasoned healthcare marketing and communications professional has joined Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care as Regional Partnership Development Manager. Evans assumed his new role in January and oversees the team responsible for developing relationships with medical providers and community partners throughout Polk, Hardee and Highlands counties.
Patrouille de FranceThe SUN ‘n FUN International Fly- In & Expo presented by VISIT FLORIDA and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association honors French and United States history on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 as the French National Jet Team, the Patrouille de France performs during the airshow. The team has an energetic show with nine Alpha Jets and one A-400M airlifter, which are light attack and advanced trainer aircraft. Their display involves both formation and solo maneuvers. The team is based at Salon Air Force Base in France.
Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center Announces New Freestanding ER for Four Corners Community3/30/2017 Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center has purchased land on the northwest corner of US 192 and CR 545 for a freestanding emergency department. The ER will serve the communities of the Four Corners area of Osceola, Orange, Polk, and Lake Counties. A freestanding ER offers a convenient, local healthcare access point to the region. “Heart of Florida has served the Four Corners community for several years. We are pleased to expand services to Four Corners with a freestanding emergency department to better serve the healthcare needs of residents choosing to live and visit this growing area,” said Ann Barnhart, CEO of Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center. Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine has earned awards as a Center of Distinction and a Center of Excellence for 2016. As a Center of Distinction, Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine has achieved outstanding clinical outcomes for 12 consecutive months, including patient satisfaction higher than 92 percent, and a wound healing rate of at least 91 percent in less than 31 median days.
The Center of Excellence award, called the Healogics Robert A. Warriner III Center of Excellence award, is reserved for Wound Care Centers® that have achieved 2 or more years as a Center of Distinction. “These recognitions demonstrate our commitment to maintaining high quality standards year over year,” said Adelor Zamora, M.D., Medical Director of Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine. “Our team strives to do what’s right for every patient that comes through our doors.” Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate has made some exciting announcements about new changes to their staff. Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate is a leading full-service residential real estate brokerage company with more than 85 offices and 5,000 sales associates serving the communities of Central Florida, Flagler, Brevard, Palm Beach, Southeast Florida, Southwest Florida, Tampa Bay and the Panhandle. Worldwide, the Coldwell Banker network includes 3,000 offices with nearly 85,000 sales associates. The Winter Haven Hospital Foundation is pleased to announce a new $20,000 contribution from the Lewis Family Cancer Fund (LFCF) within the GiveWell Community Foundation. With this recent donation, the LFCF has granted a total of $145,000 over the past seven years to the Foundation. Part of this year’s grant will go directly to support the Winter Haven Hospital Cassidy Cancer Center with the remaining dollars of the grant to be utilized to underwrite a Winter Haven Hospital Foundation feasibility study that is examining the establishment of a Family Medicine Residency program. This residency program will help improve and aide in the local quality of healthcare and early diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other chronic illness for the citizens of Polk County.
On February 23, 2017, the Winter Haven Optimist Club hosted its 30th annual Youth Appreciation Program at First Baptist Church in Winter Haven. 35 kids from 18 schools were recognized for their academic, social and good citizenship achievements. There were approximately 140 persons in attendance which included 15 teachers or school staff, 12 club members along with parents, grandparents and other family members. On Friday, March 3, eighteen-year-old Jade Tankersley of Haines City had her dream-come-true as the keys of her grandfather's newly renovated Chevy Silverado were handed over to her. Jane was diagnosed with a series of life-threatening illnesses beginning in 2008 and has been battling them ever since. Despite her diagnoses, Jade excelled in high school under the Hospital Homebound program and now currently attends Johnson and Wales University in North Miami, Florida. Here she pursues her passion for cooking; however, she is often interrupted by frequent trips home for treatment. THE AMISH PROJECT has been awarded Best Play, Best Actress and 6 Outstanding Achievement awards at the 2017 Southeastern Theatre Conference Community Theatre Festival. Theatre Winter Haven will be representing the Southeastern United States at the national festival in June.
2017 Southeastern Theatre Conference Community Theatre Festival: Best Play Outstanding Achievement in Directing: Katrina Ploof Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition: Philip King Outstanding Achievement in Set Design Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Outstanding Achievement in Ensemble Outstanding Achievement in acting: Cerriah Delgado Best Actress: Sara Catherine Barnes Congratulations to the entire cast & crew! Champions Soccer League USA (CSLUSA) is excited to announce that Together We Are 1, a Florida based team, will be joining the southeast division of the league for 2017. "We are very excited to add another central Florida team, especially one with such a fantastic mission and vision. If recent success of their youth program is any indication of potential talent at the semi-pro level, we could be looking at exceptional outcomes coming from this club" CSLUSA President Kevin Hickling said.
The Florida Citrus Building, otherwise known as Nora Mayo Hall, has been vacant since the fall of 2014 after the Florida Department of Agriculture moved to smaller office space at the Bartow Air Base. Since that time the building has been overseen by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (or DEP) . After at least 2 rounds of bidding for the building in which the City offered first $1M and then $500K for the building, was the only bidder, and the bid was declined by the state, it looks like there may be some hope. Last week the City was approached with a potential lease agreement from the state. The proposed terms are $300 per year for 50 years. Currently the City is reviewing the potential lease. It goes without saying that there is work that needs to be done on the building and the City is currently evaluating what costs of renovation and maintenance will be to the building. From a community perspective it has been very difficult for those who need larger event space to find a home in Winter Haven since Nora Mayo Hall shuttered. We are still 18 months to a year away, by conservative estimates, from the construction of the field house, which will primarily be used for sports, but could have the ability to hold large meetings, expos, conventions and events. Nora Mayo Hall could be a good compliment to that space, knowing that not everyone would need 6 basketball courts worth of space. On Friday, February 17, the announcement was made that Martin Federal Credit Union’s membership voted overwhelmingly to merge with MIDFLORIDA Credit Union, with 90 percent of the votes cast in favor of the merger. “We are very happy with the results of the membership vote,” stated Kevin Jones, President and CEO of MIDFLORIDA. “It solidifies our confidence in this merger as a mutually beneficial move, offering significant value to the blended membership as a whole.” The merge of assets will take place on March 1, 2017. The merge of account records, which will allow Martin members access to MIDFLORIDA’s products and services, will not take place until later this year.
Steven Elias, PE, division manager of Pennoni’s Winter Haven, FL office has been named Engineer of the Year by the Florida Engineering Society (FES). Founded in 1916, FES promotes and defends the professional interests of all engineers in the state of Florida. Elias is recognized as Engineer of the Year in the FES Ridge Chapter, which includes Florida’s Hardee and Polk counties. |
Upcoming Events |
|