Tucker Carlson headlines Saint Leo conference
Television commentator Tucker Carlson will deliver the keynote address at Saint Leo University’s Fifth International Business Conference, taking place Feb. 19-21 at the university.
Carlson will appear Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Student Community Center’s Greenfelder-Denlinger Boardrooms. Admission to the talk is free and open to the public, but tickets are required to reserve seating. That is available by calling (352) 588-8837, or emailing .
Carlson is host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” and is a former anchor with CNN’s “Crossfire.”
The Donald R. Tapia School of Business at Saint Leo is organizing the event, with the theme of “innovation and internationalization.” It will include attendees from 14 countries, with some programs geared toward academic audiences and business researchers, and others focused on the experience of professionals and executives in the business world.
Registration is available at SaintLeo.edu/ibc2014. The school is located at 33701 State Road 52 in St. Leo.
HR meeting at SmartStart
Dade City’s business incubator SmartStart will host a session addressing human resources Feb. 11 beginning at noon at the facility, located at 15000 Citrus Country Drive in Dade City.
Speaker will be Kelley Rexroad, chief executive of Krex Consulting.
Participants are asked to bring their own lunch.
To RSVP, email Krista Covey at , or call (352) 437-4861.
Gulf Coast Medical gets boost from Fifth Third
Fifth Third Bank has extended more than $10.6 billion in new and renewed credit to business customers late last year, locally benefitting Gulf Coast Medical Center and Florida Institute for Advanced Diagnostic Imaging.
The facility is a multi-specialty outpatient diagnostic medical center with locations in Spring Hill and Port Richey.
Gulf Coast received two commercial mortgages and a line of credit from the bank to realign debt and improve access to working capital for future capital expenditures, according to a release.
Lawmakers try to raise state minimum wage
Two Democrats in the Florida Legislature have introduced a bill that would eliminate the tip credit and raise the minimum wage to $10.10 for tipped and non-tipped workers in the state.
The current minimum wage for tipped workers is $4.91, with the expectation the remaining income would come from tips. However, State Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Cutler Bay, and State Rep. Cynthia Stafford, D-Miami, say they have research that indicates servers use food stamps at double the rate of the rest of the U.S. work force, and are three times as likely to live in poverty.
There is a federal effort underway to raise the minimum wage, but even if that were to be successful, tipped workers would only be required to get a base pay of 70 percent of the new minimum wage.
Both the senate and house bills have been referred to committees, but it’s not clear how strong the chances are they would be passed in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Upcoming SCORE seminars
The Pasco-Hernando Chapter of SCORE, which historically stands for Service Corps of Retired Executives, will host the following upcoming free seminars:
• E-Marketing Concepts at Centennial Park Branch Library, 5730 Moog Road, Holiday, Feb. 4 at 5:15 p.m. Attendees will learn about e-marketing technologies and how they may help to enhance the ability of small business to reach customers and communicate their brand, products and services.
Cell phones donated to domestic violence victims
The Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections has donated 1,100 cell phones used during the last election by employees of the department to the domestic violence shelter program The Spring of Tampa Bay.
The cell phones were used by nearly 4,000 poll workers at 340 precincts. They are being replaced through a new contract that includes new phones at no additional charge.
“The period between elections is all about planning and making sure we’ll have everything we need to run an election cost-effectively and efficiently,” said Craig Latimer, Hillsborough County’s supervisor of elections, in a release. “In this case, we could get new cell phones at no cost to taxpayers, and be able to donate the older ones to those who need some help. It’s good for our voters, and good for our community.”
The county’s next elections are set for the primaries Aug. 26, with the mid-term general elections set for Nov. 4.
