Health

Tampa Bike Shop Opens New Location On Downtown Riverwalk

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May 4, 2010

City Bike Tampa recently opened its second location on the Riverwalk at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina. Their first location, at 212 E. Cass Street, opened less than a year ago. When asked what the secret of their success is, owner Kellie Cyr says she and her husband Jason didn't do it alone. "It's been a lot of work but we've had a lot of support from our community like the downtown Partnership and the chamber — organizations like that." The business is a full -service specialty bicycle shop focused on rentals, tours, sales and service that targets cyclists and those looking to explore bicycling as a new part of their active lifestyle. The couple acquired the small space from the Marriott and put up their own fencing around the 10-by-20-foot rental hut. A friend contributed artwork. "We just love the area," says Cyr. "We believe in the different things that Tampa is trying to do here like the light rail. We live here as well as run our businesses here in downtown and love the urban life. We have no family here but we love the people and feel rooted anyway. And, of course, the weather is beautiful." The grand opening celebration coincided with the city's annual International Dragon Boat Races, which the business participated in as part of the TIBA (Tampa Independent Business Alliance) team. Writer: Missy KavanaughSource: Kellie Cyr, City Bike Tampa

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Largo Seeks Resurgence Through Redevelopment Of Downtown Core

By Missy Kavanaugh

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Diversity & Equity

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April 27, 2010

The city of Largo's primary goal in seeking to shape the city's future is to increase density in the traditional downtown district. "We're not trying to recreate ourselves as a downtown St. Petersburg or Tampa," explains Teresa Brydon, economic development manager for the city of Largo. "We recognize our residents want moderate density. So what we're looking at is six-story buildings designed for mixed use; businesses with housing mixed in. "This process has been going on for a couple of years," Brydon continues. "We'd already started doing things before the plan was finalized. We added a Holiday Inn Express and a diagnostic clinic as part of the Largo Medical Center campus. So things have already started." According to Brydon, Largo is nurturing a medical community surrounding the hospital, its clinic and St. Michael's Eye & Laser Institute. But she says that whatever plans the city considers will ultimately be dictated by transit. "That will play a huge role in what we do." Brydon also shares that the city is attempting to attract the interest of developers, such as those attending this year's International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), which will hold an annual conference in Florida this year. "We're central," Brydon explains. "We're less than 10 minutes from the nicer beaches and the areas where most business employment is. The airports are close by. There's a lot going on and our downtown is the center of it all. We want to build a quality of life for all ages so they can work and live in the same area or catch a train to Tampa or wherever else they need to go to do business."Writer: Missy KavanaughSource: Teresa Brydon, City of Largo

Federal Grant Funds USF Move To Electronic Medical Records, 100 Jobs

By Brad Stager

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Education

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April 27, 2010

It is often said that one benefit of using digital documentation in place of paper is the saving of trees. Now a $6 million federal grant awarded to the University of South Florida to fund a project called PaperFree Florida, is touted as having the potential to save lives as well as create jobs. The grant is expected to fund more than 100 jobs, with most of them being what USF Health CEO Stephen Klasko refers to as "electronic health care ambassadors." People filling these jobs will help physicians in a 20-county area transition to an electronic system of prescribing drugs and maintaining medical records. USF Health has set up a PaperFree Florida website which provides information about the project. The jobs will be phased in, says Project Director Dr. Jay Wolfson. "These jobs will be the result of recruitment, training and placement of qualified individuals over a four-year period," Wolfson says. PaperFree Florida expects to hire its first electronic health ambassadors by June. People who are hired will then undergo training, which should take between 60 and 90 days. The initial funding for the jobs is substantial, but as a grant the dollars allocated are finite. However, Wolfson sees a long-term need for electronic health ambassadors in the rapidly changing healthcare industry. "This is a very cool project designed to create a new component of the health workforce, e-health ambassadors, who will play a permanent role facilitating the meaningful use of health information at the community level in order to improve quality, safety, access to appropriate care and reduce costs," he says. The federal grant is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.Writer: Brad StagerSource: Susanna Martinez Tarokh, USF Health

USF Polytechnic In Lakeland Requests More Funding For Pharmacy School

By Matt Spencer

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Buzz

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April 20, 2010

Preparations for construction of the University of South Florida Polytechnic's new pharmacy school are well underway, according to a recent article in The Ledger. The school's board unanimously voted to seek approval from the main USF board of trustees for an additional $25 million in funding for the new science and technology building. The school will be located in Lakeland along Interstate 4. Read the complete story.

Magnetic Research Facility Moves To Clearwater

By Missy Kavanaugh

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Economic Development

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April 20, 2010

Pico-Tesla Magnetic Therapies opened a Clearwater office in April to facilitate its research for Parkinson's and Type II Diabetes. The location, at 4500 140th Ave. N., was chosen for some interesting reasons. "Certainly demographics played a part," explains Allen Braswell, Pico's CEO. "The St. Petersburg Clearwater Airport puts us in the middle of those demographics. If you want to pull people from Tampa as well as Clearwater and St. Pete, this location is perfect for that." Once the geographic location was settled, a building that fit the company's unique requirements needed to be found. Because the company houses magnetic equipment, the building's position was critical. Hallmark Development of Florida stepped in to help. Paul Engelhardt, Hallmark VP, describes how interesting the experience was for him. "When I was first contacted by Allen, he said his treatment rooms needed to be positioned so they run north to south. He was originally interested in another property, but it was diagonally positioned, so I knew that wouldn't work. But this property I knew would work. " However, Braswell makes it clear demographics and building position weren't the only deciding factors. Braswell grew up in Clearwater. "I grew up here and am familiar with the area and the people," he says. "In some ways I feel like I never left. My father and I started a business that is now part of Jabil Circuit, which was the Tampa Bay Chamber's Business of the Year in 1993." Braswell is also happy to be back for other reasons. His favorite hangout is Capogna's Dugout, just down the street from his alma mater, Clearwater High School. When asked why Capogna's, he replies, "You've never had their pizza if you have to ask that question."Writer: Missy KavanaughSources: Allen Braswell, Pico-Tesla; Paul Engelhardt, Hallmark Development of Florida.

Tampa Bay Region Receives $16.9M In HHS Funding

By Matt Spencer

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Buzz

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April 13, 2010

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services recently awarded the Tampa Bay region $16.9 million in the second round of funding provided to centers expanding their health information technology. The two Tampa Bay organizations receiving a portion of the $276.6 million in HHS funding are the University of South Florida and the Community Health Centers Alliance, Inc. in St. Petersburg. The funding will provide thousands of jobs for nurses, pharmacy technicians and training.Read the complete story.

Sarasota, Gainesville Innovators Go High-Tech To Detect Clean Hands

By Nancy Vaughn

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Economic Development

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April 13, 2010

The HyGreen Intelligent Hand Hygiene System, a tripartite defense against Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI), has been selected as a winner in the 2010 Medical Design Excellence Awards competition.Xhale Innovations, Inc., a subsidiary of Xhale, Inc. with corporate headquarters in Gainesville, teamed up with ROBRADY of Sarasota to make this award-winning device. "Choosing ROBRADY has been one of the best decisions we've made," says Richard Allen, chief executive officer of Xhale. "They did an outstanding job of helping us with ideation, and integrated the design concepts with customer-driven ergonomics and our unique engineering requirements."What's the big deal? Let's start with the device can help eliminate the spread of germs, which is critical in a hospital environment. According to the Centers for Disease Control, HAI is the fourth-leading disease killer behind cancer, heart disease and stroke. The HyGreen Intelligent Hand Hygiene System uses vapor technology that alerts patients and staff about unclean hands. "It's a real intelligent system, but it's also a non-encumbering system," says Rob Brady, CEO and design director for ROBRADY. "The hospital now has a literal way of tracking to make sure that people are abiding by CDC standards for handwashing. It's a great tool for measuring because the hospital can show the data, and the insurance company that governs the hospital can be assured that the hospital is living up to compliance."The medical industry is the first to see this type of device, but it has great potential for the restaurant industry and other businesses that consider cleanliness a critical component of their mission.The MDEA is one of the most prestigious awards in the medical device industry, and this year will mark the second year that ROBRADY has won an award. A formal presentation will be made June 9 in New York City to Jeff Nichols, program manager for the HyGreen project and Steve MacFarlane, lead mechanical designer.Writer: Nancy VaughnSource: Rob Brady, ROBRADY

Tampa Software Company Continues Steady Growth, Adds Jobs

By Missy Kavanaugh

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Diversity & Equity

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April 13, 2010

Pilgrim Software, an international company headquartered in Tampa, is expanding its operations, which will require it to double its local workforce within the next two years."Our infrastructure is continuing to expand," explains Prashanth Rajendran, Pilgrim's COO. "Although we have expanded in Europe and Asia, the company itself has focused on Tampa as the hub. We plan to double in size here in Tampa in the next year or so."The company's growth is due to its global partner strategy and its software-as-a-service product. "As we continue to bring in partners to resell our products, we need more staff to accommodate that growth," says Rajendran. "It's the same thing with software-as-a-service. We take the IT burden away for the customer, but we need the staff to handle it."Partners include Microsoft Certified, CinCom, PSC, HCL and CDC Software. Software-as-a-service, a relatively new service on the IT landscape, provides on-demand software online as opposed to the traditional model that requires software be loaded onto a hard drive.The company's leadership is diverse, led by President and CEO Ami Utji. The original team came together to form Pilgrim largely due to their shared alma mater, the University of South Florida. "The people who started the company had a common ideology," says Rajendran. The company's vision statement is "to be the world's most innovative and trusted provider of compliance and quality management solutions for regulated industries."Pilgrim specializes in providing software solutions to businesses that serve life sciences as well as manufacturers in the automotive, aerospace and other related industries.

Attention Gen X, Gen Y: Want To Make Money? Capitalize On Boomers

By Nancy Vaughn

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Diversity & Equity

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April 13, 2010

Reinventing Life After 50, the second annual Florida Boomer Lifestyle Conference, will be held on April 15 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. The conference is geared toward Baby Boomers, those born between 1946-1964, and anyone who wants to gain greater insight and capitalize on this huge demographic market that consists of 78 million people."In the wake of the recession, Boomers have really been hit on multiple fronts: personally, physically, professionally and spiritually. Our conference will address all of those aspects of reinvention," says Michelle Bauer, founder and chief strategist at Common Language.Attendees will have an opportunity to learn about research trends in healthcare, marketing, employment and entrepreneurship, and hear more from 33 speakers from across the country. Bauer says that Boomer entrepreneurship and franchise ownership are two hot trends for the next decade that will help jumpstart the economy. This year's conference also ]will unveil a study conducted by Schwartz Research in March 2010 asking Boomers about the economy and their impact on it. Among the findings: • 72% of the respondents purchased vitamins or nutritional supplements in the last year• 40% purchased organic food• 25% purchased diet books and exercise DVDs."If you are a 25-year-old entrepreneur and you are looking for a business to get into that is recession proof and that is going to continually grow over the next two decades, looking at the Boomers and what they are facing is going to be your ticket to getting rich," says Bauer.The conference will also address issues facing Boomers, such as caring for elderly parents, helping adult children and working with multiple generations of co-workers.Registration information for the conference, which is being produced by ChappellRoberts and Common Language, is available online by visiting Florida Boomer Lifestyle Conference.Writer: Nancy VaughnSource: Michelle Bauer, Common Language

Pasco County Looks To Entrepreneurs For Growth In Florida’s Economy

By Missy Kavanaugh

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Economic Development

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April 6, 2010

If recent statistics are correct, Pasco County is becoming a haven for the entrepreneurial spirit. According to data released by YourEconomy.org, businesses employing fewer than 100 employees increased nearly 36 percent throughout Pasco County, and contributed to a 31 percent increase in employment between 2005 and 2007. Given that a recent report by the Small Business Administration indicates that small businesses and entrepreneurs will play important roles in the nation's economic recovery, this may be good news for the expanding communities of Pasco County. Pasco's leading employers are in the retail and health industries. As in communities throughout the U.S., too many people living in Pasco found themselves out of work as the economy began to slide downward. John Hagen, president and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council, attributes the spark in small business to displaced workers starting businesses to replace previous employment as hourly workers for bigger companies. "We have a strong network of hospitals and other health care providers," says Hagen. "But we have an interesting niche in environmental firms that has spun out of the construction business. We think we could play a key role in clean water, environmental remediation and clean energy." While it's impossible to predict what will transpire in the next five years, Hagen says he feels optimistic. "We feel a strong upward momentum developing. The public and private sectors are really joining together in an unprecedented way here in Pasco. It is a very positive economic environment at the moment, despite the negative national and international business environment."Writer: Missy KavanaughSource: John Hagen, Pasco Economic Development Council