Wesley Chapel/New Tampa News

Rick Scott visits to honor local veterans

September 11, 2013 By Michael Hinman

His first real exposure to heroism came when his mother married a man who served with the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II.

“I don’t think he believed he would come back alive,” Gov. Rick Scott told local veterans last week of his stepfather. “In the Navy, no one shot at me, and I didn’t have to jump out of perfectly good airplanes like he did.” But it’s because of his stepfather Scott said he realized that “America will remain the land of the free only so long as it remains the home of the brave.”

Florida’s First Lady Ann Scott awards a medal to one of the residents of Baldomero Lopez State Veterans’ Nursing Home in Land O’ Lakes during a ceremony last week as her husband, Gov. Rick Scott, looks on. Scott has been giving his Veterans Service Award medals to veterans across the state. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

Scott visited with veterans last week at the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans’ Home on Parkway Boulevard, sharing stories, and handing out his Veterans Service Awards medals.

“It’s so important that we honor and give thanks to our American veterans, our heroes,” Scott said. “It is important that we don’t wait just for the holidays to thank our men and women, we must take every opportunity to thank them.”

The medal Scott and his wife Ann gave to veterans in Land O’ Lakes last week has the Florida state seal on front, and the five seals representing the different branches of the armed forces on the back.

Scott singled out one resident during his speech, Sgt. First Class Angel Torres-Mendez, who served between 1947 and 1974, completing 18 missions — many of them solo missions — in Vietnam.

“He’s proud of his accomplishments, not his medal,” Scott said. “Like many of our residents here, his heart is as patriotic as it was when he joined the service many years ago.”

A total of 136 veterans were honored with the medal during last Thursday’s ceremony, honoring whom Sen. John Legg described as “super.” Legg, R-Lutz, shared a conversation he said he had with his 5-year-old son that morning about where he was going.

“’I am going to go stand and talk to some heroes,’ and his eyes got real big, ‘Are you going to meet Superman?’” Legg said. “I am going to see some super men and super women who, in our nation’s darkest hour, stood in front of tyranny, stood in front of those things that seemed hopeless, and brought light into the world.”

Maj. Gen. Emmett R. Titshaw Jr., who has served as the adjutant general of Florida for the last three years, said the state’s 12,000-soldier strong National Guard is “focused on the future, and our horizons.”

“But we have a deep appreciation of our heritage, and that heritage you contributed to and built,” Titshaw said. “We literally stand upon your shoulders and accomplishments, taking over the nation you provided to us, safe and secure.”

Wesley Chapel seminar to promote women’s health

September 11, 2013 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Women who want to hear a lecture on heart health, watch a cooking demonstration or get a bit of pampering can get those things and more at the Women’s Health & Wellness Day at Saddlebrook Resort Tampa, off SR 54 in Wesley Chapel.

The free half-day seminar, sponsored by Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, will be on Sept. 21 from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The seminar will feature six breakout sessions, giving women a chance to hear from some of the area’s most respected physicians discussing heart health, breast cancer risk factors, pregnancy, healthy aging and other wellness topics.

Women who are pregnant or are thinking of having a baby can talk with a lactation consultant.

The event will also feature a women’s health panel, with experts fielding questions about primary health care, internal medicine, geriatric medicine, obstetrics and gynecology.

There will also be a cooking demonstration and free screenings for blood pressure, blood glucose, BMI and others. There will be pampering opportunities, too, and giveaways.

The event will feature a women’s health panel, answering questions about primary health care, internal medicine, geriatric medicine, obstetrics and gynecology.

Send questions in advance to .

Space for the seminar is limited and reservations are required.

To register, call (813) 929-5432.

Dade City artist makes a worldwide impression

September 4, 2013 By B.C. Manion

Long before Pat Weaver began pursuing her passion for art, she was known as a businesswoman and politician in Dade City.

“I had retail stores downtown. I had Tricia’s. Then, I had Church Street Gallery. Then, I had Pat-e-cat’s,” said Weaver, who also served the community as both a city commissioner and later a mayor for Dade City.

She enjoyed politics and retailing, but was always drawn to art.

About four decades ago, Weaver began taking periodic trips to Scottsdale to take classes from accomplished artists.

Pat Weaver stands in front a picture window in her studio, surrounded by a few of her many works of art. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

“I would save up money and go out there and rent an apartment and stay two weeks at a time and study,” Weaver said. “Then, I’d come home for a year or two and save up my money and go back again.”

She stayed with retail, as she honed her artistic technique. Then, she began offering classes on the side.

“I started teaching locally, day classes and night classes,” Weaver said. “I also traveled to Lakeland and Plant City. That’s where I kind of cut my teeth on teaching.”

Initially, she painted with oils.

“About 20 years ago, I went into transparent watercolor. I just fell in love with the medium and decided I wanted to try it. It was an instant love affair with watercolor,” said Weaver.

Since teaching herself watercolor, she has gone on to write books about the art form, and offers workshops around the country. In fact, “I am better known away from Dade City than I am here,” said Weaver, whose book “Watercolor Simplified” is available through Amazon.com.

“I like to paint with a lot of energy and see things develop quickly,” Weaver said. “Watercolor allows for that, much more than any other medium does.”

Weaver teaches about 20 workshops a year, generally booked two to three years out. She’s taught in Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia, San Diego and Arizona.

She’s shared her knowledge in other countries, too.

“I’ve taught in the Bahamas and in Mexico, Italy, Spain, England, France,” Weaver said. Most of the students in her international classes have traveled from the United States to take part.

She lines up most of the work through art associations, watercolor societies and other organizations that sponsor her workshops. She handles her own travel arrangements.

“It just evolved over many years,” said Weaver, who has a home studio on the 36 acres she shares with her husband, Glenn.

Weaver said she gained considerable exposure about 15 years ago, when she was elected president of the Florida Watercolor Society. But her love for art dates back to childhood. She credits her mother for nurturing her creative spirit.

“She’s the one who instilled that desire in me to do art,” Weaver said.

Her seventh-grade teacher, Myra O’ Berry, was a positive influence, too.

“She would just assign me a special project and tell me to go down to the teachers’ lounge to draw it,” Weaver said. “She saw my gift.”

She pays forward that encouragement to her students while challenging them at the same time.

“I want them to be knowledgeable,” Weaver said.

They also need to know that excellence requires commitment, she said.

“The only way you can become good at anything is by doing it over and over and over,” Weaver said. “You have to be persistent and be willing to practice and apply what you learn. You can’t go and take three days of lessons and then go home and not paint until you decide to go back and take another workshop. There are no shortcuts to getting there.

Weaver said she doesn’t try to shape an artist’s style or point-of-view, but she seeks to broaden their knowledge and help them improve their techniques.

When she’s teaching or creating art, she’s absorbed by the work.

“When you are really into painting, you’re oblivious to anything else,” Weaver said.

She has a spontaneous approach to painting. She completes her artworks in one sitting.

She said her favorite type of art tends to be whatever she’s working on at the moment. But she does acknowledge a special fondness for doing commissioned portraits of dogs.

“As long as I get to paint, I’m happy,” Weaver said.

On a typical day she heads out to her studio about 10 a.m. and paints until about 4 p.m., with a break for lunch. Her days go longer when she’s on the road teaching.

She enjoys sharing what she knows.

“I love to see people learn and get excited about what they are doing,” she said. “They begin to see things differently than they ever saw them before.

“Most people don’t pay any attention to the light outdoors, or the colors, or the values. When you start painting, you become very aware of things.”

One of the things she loves about painting is that people can do it at any age.

“As long as your eyes are good and your hands are pretty steady, you can paint into late years. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to do,” she said.

Over the years, being an artist has had its satisfactions and its setbacks. Not every painting comes out the way she would like, but when they don’t, she just picks up another piece of watercolor paper and gets busy again.

That approach has yielded a rich life, filled with wonderful experiences and good friends, Weaver said.

“It’s taken me a very, very long time to get to the point that I am now,” she said. “But I’ve enjoyed the journey.”

To learn more about Pat Weaver and her art, visit www.patweaver.net.

Dogsledding in Florida? It’s a pastime with some bite

September 4, 2013 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

“Hike, Hike!” Peggy Wright loudly calls out to the group of dogs in front of her, spurring them to start running.

At her command, the dogs bolt, pulling a two-wheeled sled that she’s standing on. As they move, each time she approaches a bend on the paved trail outlining the placid lake, Wright yells “Gee!” to direct the dogs right, or “Ha!” to send them to the left.

Boisterous, 6-year-old Kyra howls and barks as she sprints along with the rest of the pack, burning pent-up energy and thriving in the company of other huskies, malamutes, Akitas, and other sled dog breeds.

Peggy Wright, foreground, leashes her two huskies, Minka on the left and Bear on the right, prepping them for a sled run in Freedom Lake Park. Behind them, Matt Aamold is with his female husky mix, Bianca. (Photo courtesy of Peggy Wright)

This isn’t the harsh snows of the Arctic Circle. Instead, it’s Freedom Lake Park on a brisk Sunday afternoon in Florida, filled with plenty of trees, calm waters and grassy pastures.

Kyra is one of three Siberian huskies belonging to Carol Robinson, a massage therapist from Lutz, who is a member of the Sandy Paws Dog Sled Club in Pinellas Park.

“These dogs are strong and fast,” said Robinson, who joined the club in 2011 and regularly attends its monthly meetings. “It’s a little difficult sometimes to contain them because they get so excited, (but) they’re working as a team.”

Robinson and some of the other dog owners flank the pack, running about a mile with them around the lake. Without the owners at their side, the pack can run up to 20 miles an hour with a 150-pound sled and two people on it.

“Halt!” Wright booms. The command causes the dogs to come to a complete stop after their first lap. Before taking their second or even third cycle on the trail, the dogs and their owners take a break to mingle, rest and drink lots of water.

Wright started the dog sled club about four years ago with four of her friends. All five had Siberian huskies. Northern dogs like these huskies are naturally very active, and they can be destructive if they’re not strenuously engaged.

“By having this group, we’re able to teach people how to keep their dogs out of trouble,” Wright said. “When dogs are disciplined and correctly exercised, they are much happier and healthier.”

Wright and her friends wanted to open the club to everyone with Siberian huskies and similar breeds, so they created a website and used social networking sites like Meetup and Facebook. The club went from five to more than 170 members from all over the Tampa Bay area.

The sledding get-togethers happen monthly, except during the summer when it’s too hot for the dogs to run. Wright said the gatherings generally draw about 30 to 50 members at a time. The club gives her a chance to meet with other dog owners, while the dogs themselves play with each other.

“When we’re all together in a group, we can share stories or ideas,” Robinson said. “What’s the best brush to get that undercoat out? What food are you using to keep their coat?”

Robinson also likes to spread the word about pet adoptions because of her involvement with a dog rescue center.

“Sometimes we bring some of our dogs there and say if anyone’s looking to adopt, we have this one or that one,” she said. “We’ve had some successful adoptions through just networking.”

While Robinson greets and talks with the other owners, Kyra, with her pale blue eyes and soft thick black-and-white fur, joins in with her fellow dogs. Before they get ready to pull a sled, the dogs socialize by howling, sniffing and jumping on each other.

But because of their high energy levels, their owners keep them leashed.

Siberian huskies like Kyra were initially bred in the Arctic climates of northeastern Asia — mainly to serve as transportation for nomadic tribes, which didn’t have horses, donkeys and camels to rely on.

“For the original tribes, they would load up the sled with all their personal belongings,” Robinson said. “They were putting their housing, their tents, their blankets — everything went on these sleds. It was the dog’s job to pull it to the next location.”

Huskies have built-in stamina, lots of energy and strong stocky bodies. They were bred to run long distances in cold weather, and they also love to be around other dogs and people.

The dog sled club outings serve as an outlet for all their natural inclinations.

The club’s next outing is Sept. 22 at Freedom Lake Park, 9990 46th St. in Pinellas Park, for the group’s first real sledding event since last May.

For more information on the group, visit sandypawssleddogclub.com.

By Marie Abramov

Local man has winning idea

September 4, 2013 By B.C. Manion

A quick and inexpensive meal, with a view

James Doyle was scanning an online discussion board on Slickdeals.net when he saw a posting about the Build Your Own Virtual Subway Global Challenge.

Being both a fan of Subway sandwiches and of online challenges, Doyle decided to put his skills to the test.

So the Wesley Chapel 24-year-old got busy building his own virtual Subway store, calling his marketing concept “Fastview.”

“It involves rebranding some of the Subway stores they have now, and also creating new Subway stores and using the brand, Fastview,” Doyle said. And Fastview is “eating fast food with a view.”

For his “virtual” location, Doyle chose the St. Petersburg Pier — which was still open when the contest was running. However, Doyle said his concept could work anywhere where there’s a great view.

James Doyle stands in front of a placard featuring his photo as one of the grand-prize winners in the Build Your Own Virtual Subway Global Challenge. (Photo courtesy of Subway)

Normally, places that offer a good view are too pricey for restaurants offering an inexpensive dining option. But there are deals to be had in this challenging economy, and there may be some great sites available, said Doyle, an information technology graduate of University of South Florida who minted in entrepreneurship.

The judges liked his marketing idea, said Doyle, who also credited his experience as an online entrepreneur for helping him to be one of five grand-prize winners in the competition. That was out of 1,600 contestants from 90 countries around the globe.

Doyle was the sole U.S. winner. Other winners were a Ph.D. candidate from Austria, a social media consultant from India, an industrial design student from Brazil, and an architect and Internet entrepreneur from Greece.

“My whole goal was to get traffic to my site,” Doyle said. “I’ve been an entrepreneur online for awhile. I know how to get my links out there.”

Doyle has been buying and selling domain names, and was also a high-volume seller on eBay in his teens. His online know-how helped him earn and save enough money to buy the house he owns in Wesley Chapel.

For the Subway challenge, he racked up more than $100,000 in virtual sales, with some of those sales reflecting rewards he received for successfully completing business challenges. The rest was for selling “virtual” sandwiches, he said.

Although he was at the top of the leaderboard in terms of sales, Doyle said that was just one of the criteria that judges used to select winners.

“They wanted different ideas, different concepts. They wanted something creative,” he said.

By being in the top five, Doyle won a trip to New York City and Washington, D.C., where he saw such sites as Ground Zero, the Empire State Building, the Lincoln Memorial and the White House. He even saw President Barack Obama’s motorcade pass by.

He also made a daylong visit to Milford, Conn., the headquarters of Subway, where they had the chance to meet company executives, learn how Subway’s franchise operation works, see how the stores are designed and even visit the test kitchen.

There’s one company perk that Doyle said he knows he’d enjoy.

“At lunch time, they have a free lunch for everyone, all of the time, every day,” Doyle said. “You can just fix your own sub. They have all the meats laid out. They have different bread.”

He typically eats a Subway sandwich once or twice a week. It’s always a ham foot-long, with all of the fixings but the peppers.

When he wants to switch things up, he varies the bread and the sauces.

Winning the competition and visiting Subway’s headquarters gave Doyle a new appreciation for the company.

“Beforehand, I knew I loved their subs,” he said. “Did I know any of the background behind Subway? Not so much.”

He was impressed, especially, by the people he met.

“It was more family-oriented than I expected,” Doyle said. “Everyone there was so warm and welcoming.”

Public has chance to weigh in on taxes

September 4, 2013 By B.C. Manion

The public will have a chance to tell Pasco County commissioners what they think about a proposed property tax hike and a nickel-a-gallon gas tax at a public hearing on Sept. 10.

Commissioners are likely to get an earful.

The county’s proposed property tax rate is 7.49 mills, up from last year’s rate of 6.86 mills. Its proposed municipal fire rate is 1.71 mills, up from 1.54 mills last year.

Each mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value. That means the owner of a $100,000 house, assuming a $50,000 homestead exemption, would pay $33 a year more.

The 5-cent tax would affect anyone who buys gas in Pasco County.

Commission Chairman Ted Schrader and commissioners Pat Mulieri, Kathryn Starkey and Jack Mariano voted in favor of advertising the proposed tax rate in July. Commissioner Henry Wilson voted against it, and said recently that he was still trying to find places to cut the budget.

The proposed property tax hike has drawn criticism from taxpayers who think the county should cut its spending, as well as pleadings from people who don’t want commissioners to cut their programs.

Commissioners have also heard from opponents to the proposed gas tax hike.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Chris Nocco has not given up on his bid to seek more money in his budget. On Aug. 27, however, commissioners passed a resolution allowing a portion of the Penny for Pasco to be spent on unmarked detective cars and other vehicles for the Sheriff’s office. They took that action because the language included in the Penny for Pasco referenced marked cars, but did not specify unmarked cars could be purchased with the tax proceeds.

Commissioners are set to have their public hearing on the taxes at their 6:30 p.m. meeting on Sept. 10 at the Dade City Historic Courthouse, 37918 Meridian Ave. in Dade City.

The board will cast its final vote on the property tax rate at its 6:30 p.m. meeting on Sept. 24 at the government center in New Port Richey, 8731 Citizens Drive in New Port Richey.

The secret to 60 years of marriage: Love and Jesus

September 4, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Ask Jack Bailey to open his wallet, and he’ll show you a picture of his wife Pat, beautifully adorned in the wedding dress her mother made.

It was taken the day Jack and Pat Bailey were married on Aug. 14, 1953. When Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. When the No. 1 song on the charts was “Vaya con Dios (May God Be With You)” from Les Paul and Mary Ford. And the same day a father created a light plastic ball for his 12-year-old son, and called it a Wiffle ball.

Yet, this photo, perfectly preserved in his wallet, is the only picture Jack has from that special day 60 years ago. A flash flood in the mid-1970s claimed the couple’s wedding mementos, taking away both pictures and the dress Pat’s mom made for her trip down the aisle.

Jack and Pat Bailey accomplished what less than a handful of couples ever do —reaching the 60-year milestone of wedded bliss. They credit their faith, their family, and their unwavering love, for the longevity of their relationship. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

But as beautiful as Pat was on her wedding day, Jack says she’s even more beautiful now as they celebrate their diamond anniversary.

“I love her to death,” Jack said, without taking his eyes off Pat, sitting just across the living room in their Wesley Chapel home. “For a woman who is 79-and-a-half, she is one of the most attractive women in the world.”

A small smile cracks through Pat’s tough exterior, but then she waves him off.

“He is going to get every last month in there until I turn 80,” she said. “But I guess as I always say, you hit middle age at 93.”

The Bailey home is filled with everything they love — pictures of their two children, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. And pieces of Scripture they hold dear from The Holy Bible.
“Jesus Christ is our savior,” Jack said. “He is the leader of our home, and for the last 20 years, he has been No. 1 in our relationship. I just wish every couple could have what we got.”

Jack said he made a promise to Christ when he was 12 years old and growing up in Tampa. While other boys were praying for pickup trucks, all he wanted was a good wife and a good son.

Two years later, he would meet Pat for the first time.

“We lived about two blocks apart,” Pat said. “It was impossible for us to miss each other.”

Jack said he was intrigued by the fact she never wore shorts, and never enticed the boys to look at her.

“She was with her mother and two sisters visiting someone across the street from me, and I saw her for the first time,” Jack said. “That memory is embedded in my head. I can’t bring up in my mind what happened yesterday, but that image will never leave me.”

The two started to date, but the relationship was hardly storybook perfect. In fact, over their three-year courtship, they did nothing but fight. However, after Jack served his country in the U.S. Navy, he returned home and proposed to Pat. And when they were married soon after, Jack discovered a pleasant surprise.

“She pulled a total reverse on me,” he said. “She was 100 percent wife, and when she said, ‘I do,’ she meant it.”

Jack and Pat started their family immediately, staying in Tampa. Pat took on a job at the American Can Co. on 22nd Street, and Jack found himself going into business with his father, starting a company that would become Florida Boiler Sales & Service, which his son Jack Bailey Jr. — or Denny Bailey to his friends — still runs today. The company serviced steam generators primarily, which help create power.

Jack himself didn’t retire until four years ago. And while he misses the work, he doesn’t miss spending more time with Pat, and the congregation they’ve frequented for the last two decades, Faith Baptist Church of Seffner.

Jack is the associate pastor there, serving under Pastor J.W. Carr, who founded the church more than 50 years ago. Jack devotes his life to his faith, always acknowledging the 20-year period in his life when he strayed from the church before suffering a heart attack in the early 1990s.

It took that brush with death — when he was just 60 — to remind him the promise he made at 12. Jesus had held up his part of the bargain, and Jack realized he was not holding up his.

He cites the popular biblical story of Abraham ready to sacrifice his son Isaac simply because God asked him. It was a test of Abraham’s devotion, but not to prove it to God, but instead to prove it to Abraham himself, Jack said.

“God already knows all things, and here this was God telling Abraham that ‘now I know that you know,’ and that makes all the difference in the world,” Jack said. Turning to Pat, “I know how much she loves me, and I don’t have to worry about that. The love is strong, and it will carry us through everything in life.

“And she also knows that I love her, and I would defend her with my last breath. And that is what makes life so good.”

Family and friends from the present and past gathered to celebrate Jack and Pat Bailey’s anniversary last month with a special dinner and party. They did stop to remember those who had joined them a decade before for their Golden Anniversary, but were no longer with them to celebrate this one.

And despite their vitality, Jack and Pat know the odds are against them to be doing it all again for their 70th anniversary in 2023.

But that doesn’t faze them.

“I tell her I’m going to die tomorrow all the time, just to make sure she’s going to miss me,” Jack said. “And there is no doubt.”

Business Digest

September 4, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Wesley Chapel Chamber mixer
The Laker/Lutz News is partnering with the Tampa North Flight Center to host the September business mixer for the Greater Wesley Chamber of Commerce. The event will be on Sept. 12 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Tampa North Flight Center, 4241 Birdsong Blvd. in Lutz. The event will feature food, fun and networking, and will give people a chance to check out the flight center’s new food and beverage area, The Happy Hangar Café.

Zephyrhills chamber breakfast
The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce will have a chamber business breakfast Sept. 5 from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., at the Golden Corral, 6855 Gall Blvd. It is sponsored by Florida Hospital Zephyrhills. Networking is from 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., followed by a $7 breakfast buffet.

Dancing with our Stars
The Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring “Dancing with our Stars 2013,” with proceeds to benefit the art of dance in Central Pasco and the chamber. This year’s event is set for Sept. 21. Go to www.biddingforgood.com/CPCC to provide an auction item, bid on an item, purchase tickets or make a donation.

Big Lots unveils remodeled stores
Closeout retailer Big Lots has remodeled 15 of its stores, including its location in Land O’ Lakes and another in North Tampa. The Land O’ Lakes store is at 2414 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., while the North Tampa store is at 14948 N. Florida Ave. in Tampa. Big Lots also has a location in Zephyrhills at 4840 Allen Road.

Barb Conrad joins Cooper Financial Services
Insurance specialist Barb Conrad has joined the staff of Cooper Financial Services. Conrad specializes in long-term care insurance, life insurance and disability insurance. Cooper Financial Services has offered financial planning, insurance and investment services in the Tampa Bay area since 1994. For more information about its services, visit www.cooper-financial.com, or call (813) 996-6100.

Lennar promotes Randall Smith
Lennar’s Central Florida division has promoted Randall Smith to director of construction in the Tampa region. Smith, who has 30 years of experience, joined Lennar last year as a construction manager. Before that, he was a vice president for another construction company. In his new role, he will work with the construction team on schedules, prioritizing work activities, maintaining customer and trade partner relations, inspection of home for quality compliance, construction documents, recruiting hiring, and supervising the construction staff.

Florida fishing industry is boon to state economy
The Florida fishing industry contributes an estimated $5 billion to the state economy, according to the latest economics commentary report from Florida TaxWatch, an independent taxpayer research institute. More than 1.2 million visitors to Florida fished during 2013, according to TaxWatch. Besides attracting anglers from around the globe, the state also hosts boating and fishing expositions throughout the year, which draws visitors and their money to the state. “Florida’s unique location and variety of fishing opportunities position the state as the world leader in sport fishing tourism,” said Dominic M. Calabro, president and chief executive officer of Florida TaxWatch, in a release.

East Pasco Networking Group
The East Pasco Networking Group has scheduled several speakers for the coming months. The group meets every other week at the Village Inn at 5214 Gall Blvd. in Zephyrhills. Networking begins at 8 a.m., with the meeting starting at 8:30 a.m. Here’s the group’s slate of upcoming speakers:
–Sept. 10: Faith Knight, chief operations officer for Apollo Group
–Sept. 24: Maureen Moore, director of communications for Saint Leo University
–Oct. 8: Danny Burgess, mayor of Zephyrhills, and Minerva “Minnie” Diaz, candidate for the District 38 state House of Representatives seat
–Oct. 22: Paul Stonebridge, teen services manager of Pasco County library, and Cheryl A. Pollock, business development director Premier Community HealthCare Group, Inc.
–Nov. 12: Gary Loman, professional education manager for Rasmussen College
–Nov. 26: Tom Jackson, columnist for The Tampa Tribune

Hillsborough County technology grants
The Hillsborough County Economic Development Innovative Initiative has awarded more than $300,000 to 23 programs during its first round of grant awards. The county’s economic development department launched the program, known as EDI2, in June. It aims to build a vibrant and sustainable startup community, centered on the use of technology and innovation. Several grants went to programs designed to build better community forums for exchange of ideas and increase connections between established businesses and startups.
Among the grant recipients:
– Learning is for Everyone Inc. received $18,250 for Robocon Tampa Bay 2013, an event slated for October
– New Market Partners received $4,150 for its Grow the Bay, scheduled in October
– Tampa Bay Technology Forum received $2,000 for the Engine Peer Network, scheduled in October
— Startup Weekend Tampa Bay received $9,437 for Startup Weekend Tampa Bay 2013, scheduled in November
– MOSI received $4,500 for STEAM Professional Leadership Forum, slated in October 2013
EDI2 aims to support the technology entrepreneurship ecosystem in Hillsborough County. It has a $2 million budget, to be distributed over three years.
Applications for the grants are expected to be available early this month. The deadline to apply for its second funding cycle is Nov. 15.
Additional program and application information is available online at www.HillsboroughCounty.org/EDI2.
For more information about EDI2, contact Stephanie Cvetetic with Hillsborough County’s economic development department at (813) 272-6217.

Publix and Walgreens getting new look in north Tampa
Cuhaci & Peterson Architects, based in Orlando’s Baldwin Park, designed the redevelopment plans for the 47,000-square-foot Publix Super Markets location and the 13,000-square-foot Walgreens drug store at South Village on North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa. Construction is expected to be completed this fall. Regency Centers of Jacksonville is the developer of South Village.

Rotary golf tournament
The Rotary Club of Zephyrhills Daybreak is hosting the 21st annual Fall Businessman’s Breakaway Golf Tournament on Oct. 4, with a shotgun start at 1 p.m. at the Scotland Yard Golf Club, 8900 Wire Road in Dade City. For more information, contact Chris Robin at (813) 715-0565, or Theresa Sommers at (813) 788-3369.

Wesley Chapel hospital exceeding expectations in first year

August 28, 2013 By B.C. Manion

When Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel was preparing to open its doors last October, it expected to have 400 employees.

Less than a year later, it has 600.

“For the 600 jobs that we have, we had over 25,000 applicants,” hospital chief executive Brian Adams said last week. “Not all of those applicants, of course, were qualified for roles in health care. But even in nursing, for every one job, we had more than 10 applicants.”

A look at the interior of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel. (File photo)

Adams was sharing the news with the economic development committee of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. Having so many applicants means the hospital can really be selective, and focus purely on talent. The Wesley Chapel hospital, for example, has an average of 10 years experience.

And the hospital has outpaced projections in other areas as well. Its 26,000 emergency room visits and 380 baby deliveries are roughly double original expectations, Adams said. Other first-year figures include 3,800 admissions and 1,800 surgeries.

Business owners may wonder if people will travel into Wesley Chapel to get health care, and the answer to that is that they do, Adams said.

“The economic development piece of having a business that not only employs 600 people in the community, but also attracts people into Wesley Chapel, is a real benefit,” he said. “Many of the individuals who now come to Wesley Chapel for care were traveling out of the county for care, so they were going down into Hillsborough County, which means they see physicians in Hillsborough County, which means they stop for lunch on their way to see those physicians in Hillsborough.”

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel sits on 52 acres on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, west of SR 56. It has 83 beds, with the capability expanding to 299.

The hospital itself is three stories now, but can rise to six when the hospital needs more room to handle increasing health care needs, Adams said. And it might be sooner rather than later. Figures by the hospital show population growth in the area between 2.9 percent and 4 percent by 2017.

There are other factors to consider as well beyond just population growth, and that’s something the Wesley Chapel hospital stays cognizant of, Adams said. One is how much health care people are using.

“In this community, it’s going down, mainly because of the shift of cost from employer-based health plans to individual-based health plans,” Adams said.

The age of the population also figures in. In a community like Wesley Chapel, where the population is growing younger, the amount of healthcare used is lower than in a community like Zephyrhills, where the population is older.

The hospital is working to be a good neighbor, and may even reach out to Pasco-Hernando Community College after it opens its Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch in January. The college is taking shape on a site near the intersection of SR 56 and Mansfield Boulevard, not far from the hospital.

“Having PHCC in the community will only benefit all of us,” Adams said. “I’ve had a number of conversations with the leadership at PHCC, and we believe part of our role is to create opportunities for students to learn and grow in a real-life setting.”

That’s common in the medical field, especially in the nursing field, he said. Having PHCC offer a transition to bachelor’s-level nursing can only help surrounding hospitals like Wesley Chapel’s.

Finally, with the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act on the horizon, Adams was optimistic that many pieces of the federal plan will benefit the community.

“People having access to the health care, at the primary care level, is probably the best way to best reduce our overall healthcare spend,” he said. “The most expensive time to care for a patient is when they have reached a point in their health where the intervention takes heavy resources.”

It also means taking steps now to prevent more serious health problems in the future.

“If you can help someone who didn’t have insurance to go to a physician and get their diabetes under control before that diabetes wreaked havoc on their heart, it’s a totally different approach,” Adams said.

But there will also be changes in the way employers handle insurance, by some employers no longer covering spouses that can get insurance elsewhere, and the proliferation of high-deductible health plans as companies try to offer affordable insurance to low-wage employees.

Ultimately, Adams thinks that consumers will drive the need for quality care, especially if they are paying the first $10,000 of their health care costs out-of-pocket due to high deductibles in their insurance plans.

Habitat for Humanity helps woman who helps others

August 28, 2013 By Michael Hinman

Tiffany Porter is accustomed to helping other people. But she never expected the tables to be turned, courtesy of Habitat for Humanity.

Porter, a compassion ministry director for Victorious Life Church in Wesley Chapel, is the area’s newest Habitat homeowner, receiving the keys earlier this month for the home at 15054 Gainesville Road.

“I had no idea that Habitat even did this for people like me,” Porter said. “I thought they only helped single moms, or people who were destitute and homeless.”

Volunteers through Habitat for Humanity’s National Women Build Week program put up a wall for Tiffany Porter’s house during its construction in north Land O’ Lakes. Porter, who dedicates her time to helping others through her church, moved in earlier this month. (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Black)

In fact, Porter was trying to help a family get a Habitat home, and realized through the process that she actually qualified.

“So I said, ‘what the heck, let’s try this thing,’” she said. “My best friends kept telling me that all they could do is say no. And they didn’t.”

Porter, 29, grew up in New Mexico, but realized at a young age she wanted to be a pastor. But it was while she was in seminary, she discovered an even more direct calling.

“I wanted to be more hands-on and see people’s lives improve,” she said. “VLC gave me the opportunity to do that.”

Porter started as an intern at the church in 2003, and since 2005 has served as the compassion ministry director. She runs the church-owned Lily of the Valley food pantry outreach center in Wesley Chapel, where she not only helps feed those who are hungry, but provides other help when they need it.

That includes even her home, where she has served as a foster mother for teenagers who need a home.

“With my budget, I was not able to find a place that was able to foster a young child,” Porter said. Just before moving into her new home, she was living in a mother-in-law suite that was not in the best living conditions.

But now she can apply to take in younger children, thanks to having a safe home in a safe neighborhood.

And while Habitat’s mission is to provide homeownership for those who may not have had it otherwise, it’s certainly not a handout, said Stephanie Black, director of development and public relations for Habitat for Humanity of East and Central Pasco County.

“I think the biggest misconception is that Habitat gives away homes, but they don’t,” Black said. “We provide a zero-interest, no-profit mortgage, but it’s still a mortgage.”

Candidates for home ownership have to meet certain income levels ranging from between $11,950 to $31,850 annually for one person, to between $21,150 and $56,400 for a family of seven.

Families have to demonstrate a need for affordable housing and currently live in a substandard home. However, they also have to prove they can make mortgage payments, and have a steady job with no recent bankruptcies or court judgments.

“Most of our home payments are less than what people are paying for rent,” Black said. “That includes their taxes and their insurance.”

And while Habitat is always looking for volunteers, their biggest need recently has been qualified candidates.

Porter’s home was the 117th Habitat home built in East and Central Pasco County. It was constructed over a seven-month period, and was a women-built project. The entire construction crew was female, part of an international campaign to encourage more women to join construction teams typically dominated by men.

All of that is just a bonus for Porter, who is enjoying her new home with plans to stay in it for quite a while.
“I didn’t grow up here, but I just love this area,” she said. “I never know what might happen next, but right now, I don’t plan on living anywhere else.”

For more information on how to apply for a Habitat home, call (352) 567-1444, or visit www.ephabitat.org.