The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Lutz since 1964 and Pasco since 1981.
Proud to be independently owned.

Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce

Zephyrhills councilwoman bullish on town’s outlook

By

Zephyrhills City councilwoman Jodi Wilkeson has closely observed the evolution of the small-town East Pasco community over the past three decades.

The elected official and longtime resident is pleased, overall, with the current situation in the municipality — amid a period of rampant growth, development, infrastructure enhancements and other changes.

Some of the city’s major tackling points of late include:

  • The addition of thousands of new homes throughout city limits
  • Multimillion dollar expansions to the city’s wastewater treatment plant, municipal airport and municipal tennis center
  • Myriad roadwork projects, such as U.S. 301/Pretty Pond Road signalized intersection and paving of Simons Road
  • Work to revitalize the historic downtown district

This imminent progress can be traced to comprehensive plans solidified some 20 years ago, Wilkeson said during an East Pasco Networking Group meeting last month at IHOP in Dade City.

Zephyrhills City councilwoman Jodi Wilkeson (File)

Wilkeson, who is the founder and president of an architecture and interior design firm in Tampa, credits the city’s “history of success” to “a series of elected leaders who’ve helped move Zephyrhills forward.”

“All of this is possible,” she added, “because we had a plan.”

Unopposed in this year’s municipal election, Wilkeson is set to embark on her fourth term — in total — of serving on the City Council. She was elected to a three-year term in April 2018 and previously served from 2008 to 2014. She also serves as board president of the Zephyrhills Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA).

Wilkeson’s gateway into local volunteerism public service began as a concerned Zephyrhills citizen about 20 years ago when she responded to a mail-in survey regarding city utilities and services, then writing a detailed note to city administration and leadership.

Wilkeson joked that the conscientious letter was “a fatal error,” as she was asked to meet with then longtime city manager Steve Spina and planning director Todd Vande Berg to gain the resident’s perspective on municipal operations and other happenings in the city. “The moment I wrote that note, they said, ‘Oh, she’s smart and she knows what we’re doing, we need to get her in here,” Wilkeson recalled during the March 9 breakfast meeting.

She subsequently was urged to serve on the citizen-led Zephyrhills Planning Commission beginning in 2002, given her expertise as an interior architect, and ability to decipher building plans and drawings.

Later, she served on the Zephyrhills Historic Preservation Board, from 2004 to 2008. She also was a volunteer board member for Main Street Zephyrhills Inc. — organizing parades, events promoting local CRA district businesses and otherwise helping preserve the city’s unique charm.

She was acknowledged for her contributions by the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce who named her “Volunteer of the Year” in 2007.

While serving on the city’s planning commission, Wilkeson discovered Zephyrhills and surrounding Pasco County previously had been — as described — “giving away the farm.” In other words, the area had been receiving less than favorable or beneficial returns on utilities, properties, land deals and so on.

Since then, however, the town has undergone a more proactive shift.

She credits the city’s planners and public works team.

“We really raised the bar in terms of fees and accessibility, and that’s why these developers continue to want to come to our city, because they can get in front of somebody that knows what they’re talking about, and now we don’t give away the farm anymore, and it’s transforming the way our community looks. There are no more metal buildings on (U.S.) 301, (and) we have invested millions of dollars in our downtown district, and the Main Street and CRA,” she said.

As CRA board president, Wilkeson told the breakfast crowd about some of the enhancements to the city’s historic CRA district —  which is a  special taxing district that spans roughly 500 acres through the center spine of Zephyrhills.

In that district, future revenues from increased property values are set aside in a trust fund to support economic development and redevelopment projects within the designated CRA area.

Wilkeson detailed how these funds have been allocated toward business and residential façade grants, landscaping beautification, and maintaining the historical architecture of the area via special light fixtures, wayfinding signage and so on.

One program involves providing $5,000 grants to encourage the purchase of a single-family home within the CRA District. The idea is to spur purchases within distressed neighborhoods and to improve the owner-occupancy rate within the district. It also is meant to encourage a neighborhood friendly walkable community.

This initiative and other changes, Wilkeson said, have spurred Tampa Bay area families “who want to be able to roll their kids down in a stroller and watch a parade through downtown Main Street,” to purchase homes within the city’s CRA district. “These are people who are coming in from Tampa and St. Pete and saying, ‘We love the charm of your little community’ and they buy houses in the historic district,” she said.

Previously, Wilkeson said, “we were not reinvesting in this community and we had these older homes that were rentals, and they were a crime problem and a code enforcement problem.”

Wilkeson also expressed confidence in the city’s direction under the leadership of Zephyrhills City Manager Billy Poe.

Poe was named Zephyrhills assistant city manager in November 2018, then stepped up to replace the retiring Spina come July 2019.

Poe, born and raised in Zephyrhills, began his career as an intern with city administration, then spent several years working as an assistant city planner. Poe went on to land a city manager role with Dade City in 2008, a position he held for over a decade.

Wilkeson was part of the committee that ultimately selected Poe as Spina’s successor a couple years ago.

“Billy was a natural choice,” Wilkeson said. “He knew the city. He had 11 years (of) experience in Dade City as a city manager. It was a great launching pad for him to come to the city. He had a transition period with Steve Spina that helped him get everything up to speed and take over, and it’s been a nearly seamless transition.”

Published April 14, 2021

Florida’s outlook bullish despite pandemic, legislators say

By

Florida’s 2021 budget is expected to be lower than it was in 2020 — due to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, but incoming Senate President Wilton Simpson remains optimistic about the state’s prospects.

Those were two takeaways from Simpson’s remarks at the annual Zephyrhills Economic Summit held on Oct. 12, and organized by the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.

Simpson, a Republican from Trilby, predicted that 2021 will be “a very challenging budget year.”

He estimated that the state budget will be between $2 billion and $5 billion less in 2021 than its $93 billion budget last year.

Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson, a Republican from Trilby, offered an overview of Florida business and the state’s pandemic response, during the Zephyrhills summit. (File)

“We have a lot of work do this year,” said Simpson, who was first elected in 2012 and represents Florida’s 10th district, which includes Citrus, Hernando and a portion of Pasco County.

He told those attending the summit that this will be the first time since he became a state lawmaker that the state’s budget will be lower in the coming year than in the previous year.

Despite the economic setback, Florida is well-positioned for the long-term because, for the past decade, it has been investing in infrastructure and cultivating a business-friendly environment, Simpson said.

For instance, the state has not skimped on investing in deepwater ports, and other transportation and roadway improvements. It also has slashed sales taxes on manufacturing equipment — to attract large firms and higher-wage jobs.

The state has paid off about $10 billion in debt during the last decade, bringing total debt to around $20 billion. And, it has reduced taxes by a corresponding amount, he said.

Moreover, the state boasts a AAA credit rating from all three credit reporting agencies – TransUnion, Equifax and Experian, he said.

To put it into perspective, Simpson noted a similarly populated state like New York is “eight, nine notches down from a AAA credit rating.

“When you think about Florida, we’re one of the lowest tax states in the union, and there’s certain states we could probably never win because we don’t have an oil reserve here to where we can give dollars away, but other than that, we have no state income tax. From a regulatory structure, we have one of the best states to do business in,” explained Simpson.

New York, which has a population of about 19.5 million, has a budget of about $200 billion, Simpson said. By comparison, Florida’s population is about 22 million, and its budget is less than $100 billion.

“We extract half of the taxes that they extract from their system to run their government, versus our government,” Simpson said.

On a related note, Simpson said about 1,000 people move into the Sunshine State every day. The state’s population is predicted to reach about 27 million by 2035.

Taxes and regulations are two of the reasons people are moving here, Simpson said.

He observed: “What’s happening is all of your high-tax states, all of your overregulated states, those folks are voting with their feet. They’re moving to Florida.”

But, Florida has issues it must address, including the funding of the Florida Retirement System, he said. That system’s unfunded liability now stands at about $25 billion.

That situation “will keep the state of Florida restricted on how much dollars we can spend in the future,” Simpson said.

On the topic of COVID-19, Simpson praised the country’s ever-improving therapeutic medicines and pharmaceutical industry for advancing with vaccine options and trials. The lawmaker hopes an approved vaccine is produced by the beginning of 2021, then widely available by the middle of the year.

With health and safety guidelines now widely known and followed, Simpson said Florida “should not be in a situation where we have to re-shut down. The more serious we take it, the more our economy will flourish.”

Meantime, Simpson said the state’s economy “is picking up,” and showing signs of recovery since about 30% of it was shut down for two-plus months in the wake of COVID-19.

It could’ve been an even larger hit, Simpson said, if not for the state’s robust agriculture industry and other central businesses, including first responders, health care providers, education, and truck drivers and delivery services.

Simpson, himself an owner of a regional egg farm operation, put it like this: “You don’t have farmers taking any days off. You have a farmer take a day off, grocery stores are gonna run out of groceries.”

State Rep. Randy Maggard weighs in on Florida’s future
State Rep. Randy Maggard, a Republican from Dade City, another speaker at the summit, echoed much of Simpson’s sentiments on Florida’s outlook in 2021 and beyond.

State Rep. Randy Maggard, a Republican from Dade City, discussed some Florida legislative priorities for 2021.

The lawmaker said he’s looking forward to the coming legislative session, but cautioned tough decisions lie ahead, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Going forward, it will be a little bit challenging on appropriations and money,” said Maggard, who’s district 38 covers most of Pasco County east of U.S. 41. “You heard the senator (Wilton Simpson). We’re gonna be down. When you have that much of your businesses not producing revenue, something’s gotta give, but I think we can do it,” he said.

“At the end of the day, Florida will come out of this extremely well, just because of how it’s been ran. The legislators before me were always planning for the ‘what if,’ whether it’s a hurricane, a pandemic, but we were able to absorb a lot of that,” he said.

Maggard also addressed the state’s failures in providing timely unemployment benefits through the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO).

In defense of the program, Maggard pointed out the DEO system was never designed to handle the influx of financial assistance requests brought about by the coronavirus, particularly between March and May.

Maggard made an analogy of the state’s unemployment system with his own career, where for 30 years he’s been vice president of Sonny’s Discount Appliances in Dade City.

“I can deliver 20 items a day, I’m set up for that. But, if I have to deliver 1,000 the next day, I got a problem. Well, we had a problem, because it was millions (of people), not thousands that we were dealing with,” he explained.

Maggard added he and his colleagues have “learned a lot” from the DEO malfunctions, noting the faults should be addressed in upcoming sessions.

“The pandemic really caught all of us a little off-guard,” said Maggard, who won a special election in 2019 to finish out the seat vacated by former Rep. Danny Burgess.

“If you were not an essential (worker), it was really rough. Our office held many, many phone calls and emails trying to help individuals who lost their job, to get state funding; and, it was overwhelming. It was very humbling to see what happens to your neighbors and friends here, and we all know the system didn’t work exactly like it’s supposed to,” he said.

Published November 11, 2020

Summit speaker shares optimism about Pasco’s prospects

By

From manufacturing hubs and roadway improvements, to myriad residential developments on tap — Pasco County has much to be thankful for during these unique and challenging times.

That was the overarching message put forth by Pasco County Commissioner Ron Oakley at the annual Zephyrhills Economic Summit, held in October at Zephyrhills City Hall.

Pasco County Commissioner Ron Oakley was a guest speaker at the annual Zephyrhills Economic Summit last month. (File)

The county commissioner was among featured speakers during the event organized by the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.

Oakley exuded optimism about Pasco’s future, from the moment he stepped up to the microphone: “Goodness gracious, you couldn’t ask for a busier county, and a busier East Pasco county,” he said.

He’s particularly bullish on an influx of manufacturing opportunities throughout East Pasco.

One case in point: A new industrial park in Lacoochee, headlined by a 25-acre precast concrete plant, with room for additional tenants.

The little town just north of Dade City has struggled to find development for decades — since Cummer’s lumber mill closed back in 1959.

Upgrades to Cummer Road and Bower Road in the area, plus workforce housing opportunities, provide “improvements we need for that manufacturing going there,” Oakley said.

There’s other potential boons, too, such as the 99-acre wastewater spray field on Old Pasco Road in Wesley Chapel that’s being developed as a commercial park by the Atlanta-based Rooker Company.

Oakley also mentioned two warehouses that, taken together, total more than 900,000 square feet, and are set to be developed along State Road 52 and Interstate 75.

“Most people haven’t heard about them, but they’re coming. I’ve been told by the developer that they’re coming. They’re going to provide 600 to 800 jobs,” Oakley said.

People moving to the area for work are going to need places to live, of course.

That’s no problem, as the area continues to add to its residential options.

Oakley pointed to thousands of new homes that are underway, or will be, in large subdivisions in Zephyrhills, and in master-planned developments, including Mirada in San Antonio, and Connected City and WaterGrass in Wesley Chapel.

Oakley also highlighted some major transportation improvements.

Those projects include:

  • Widening County Road 54
  • Improving the intersection at State Road 54 and Eiland Boulevard/Morris Bridge Road
  • Creating the diverging diamond at Interstate 75 and State Road 56
  • Building a new interchange at I-75 and Overpass Road
  • Realigning the intersection at U.S. 301/U.S. 98/Clinton Avenue
  • Widening State Road 50, from North Pasco across the Hernando County line
  • Paving projects on Eighth Avenue and on Jerome Road

Oakley underscored the significance of improving the roadways and transportation connections — in the quest to boost the region’s economy.

Pasco County is poised to be home to some manufacturing hubs, major roadway improvements and a slew of large-scale residential developments.

“You connect all these roads, and you look at the transportation value you have in the roads, and moving of people and products across our county, and with manufacturing and being able to move out from this area to other parts, and come into this area.

“Think about all the road projects, and if they get done. What a change that’ll be to our county and the way we move traffic,” the commissioner said.

In summation, the area’s complementary blend of infrastructure, industrial jobs and housing opportunities signal more positive economic times ahead for the region, Oakley reasoned.

“You’ve got everything that’s going to make this economy boom. You’re talking about a stimulus where, ‘You build and they’ll come.’ People are coming. People are coming from the north, from other areas into this area.

“It’s just amazing what’s going to happen in our area, and it’s a change. Think about three or four years down the road, how these things come about, so it’s great things to look forward to,” Oakley said.

He also pointed to the county’s efforts to reduce bureaucratic red tape that can hamper progress.

Besides being a commissioner, Oakley’s experience includes working in his family’s citrus and agriculture business with his brother and father, and serving as vice president of the family’s transportation company, Oakley Transport, which hauls liquid food commodities in stainless steel tanks.

He understands the need for government efficiency.

“I’ve had my hand in a lot of different businesses and all. I know what we don’t want to see when we go to get a permit, and what we do want to see is a happy face and, ‘Here’s how you get through the process.’ We try to streamline things and make things better for everyone,” Oakley said.

Published November 11, 2020

How local hospitals have responded to COVID-19

By

Just like COVID-19 has done with so many other industries, hospital and medical care systems also have needed to bob and weave, since the entire world changed around March.

AdventHealth Zephyrhills and AdventHealth Dade City president/CEO Amanda Maggard outlined the medical community’s COVID-10 response — and what the future may hold for the pair of East Pasco hospitals that are part of one of the nation’s largest nonprofit health care systems.

“It has definitely been an interesting year, hasn’t it? 2020 is a year I don’t think we’ll soon forget,” Maggard said, as the opening speaker at the Zephyrhills Economic Summit, held on Oct. 14.

Hospitals staffers have had to be utilized in different ways amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as elective surgeries and procedures were postponed for months. (Courtesy of AdventHealth Zephyrhills)

The hospital administrator detailed many of the initial challenges when COVID-19 cases spiked in March, during the event organized by the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce, and convened at Zephyrhills City Hall.

A major issue involved procuring as much personal protective equipment (PPE) as possible.

“We have had a lot of PPE to serve, but COVID really escalated the amount and types of PPE that we needed,” the hospital executive said.

As a result, the hospital supply chain system has been forever altered. Now, it emphasizes partnerships on domestically produced PPE, while moving away from a just-in-time delivery model for such equipment and inventory, she explained.

In short, the pandemic offered “lessons learned” on how health care conglomerates handle and manage workforce, products, equipment and so on.

“We will never go back to operating our supply chain the way we did before COVID,” said Maggard, who’s had her role since 2017. “We have much more of an inventory across our system today than we did before, and that will stay.”

Since the pandemic touched down in the spring, hospitals have stopped many elective surgeries and procedures, including outpatient physical therapy.

Instead of laying  off those employees, workers were re-deployed in any and every way possible. Some tasks included handling temperature checks, child care services, cafeteria and nutritional services, and even organizing fun activities for other team members, Maggard said.

“I’m so proud of the work that our team has done during this time,” she added.

Local hospitals are “continuing to learn and apply the latest clinical, evidence-based best practices, so we’re taking lessons from all of AdventHealth and around the country, and trying to apply those to make sure that we’re giving the best possible care to patients with COVID,” the hospital CEO said.

For example, the hospital is using Remdesivir, convalescent plasma therapy and “a number of other treatments, as we continue to learn and evolve,” Maggard said.

Remdesivir is a broad-spectrum antiviral medication; convalescent plasma therapy involves using blood from people who’ve recovered from an illness to help others recover.

Best practices to attack and treat COVID-19 have likewise involved ongoing learning because it began and still remains a relative unknown virus to the medical industry, Maggard said.

“We’ve been learning new things every day, and every week and every month,” she said, adding  “guidance has changed, as the science has changed and evolved.”

The entire AdventHealth system actively monitors the volumes of COVID-19 cases throughout its various hospitals. The “biggest surge” of cases was seen in mid-July, Maggard said, adding: “It’s declined since then, (but) we saw a little bump up recently.”

Going forward, the hospital system is continuing its myriad health and safety protocols — such as markers on the floor to remind people to maintain six feet of social distance;  temperature checks and screening everyone who enters the facilities every day; requiring masks; and regular deep cleanings throughout entire facilities, as well as other measures.

All patients who are COVID-19 positive, or suspected of being positive, are kept in a separate space — away from other patients — “to try to keep everyone safe,” she said.

Long-term health care consequences
A noteworthy consequence of the pandemic, Maggard said, is how many people have delayed routine or more serious health care issues — largely out of fear of going out to a public hospital or medical facility.

Between March and April, emergency rooms saw a 30% to 40% reduction in visits pertaining to heart attacks and strokes, Maggard said.

Amanda Maggard is president/CEO of AdventHealth Zephyrhills and AdventHealth Dade City. She was a guest speaker at the annual Zephyrhills Economic Summit, organized each October by the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce. (File)

“The truth is, people were still having the same amount of heart attacks and strokes, but they were waiting and not coming to the ER,” Maggard said.

Because of those fear-driven consumer behavior changes, people who recently have been coming back to the hospital have more serious clinical issues, because they chose to delay care.

The same goes for routine screenings, primary care visits and procedures, such as colonoscopies, she added.

“My concern long-term with COVID is not just the immediate impact of COVID, but what is going to be the impact of health of folks around our country and around the world over the next few years, when we may have started to put off that routine care because we’re afraid to go be seen,” said Maggard.

“Don’t put your health care on hold. We want to continue to be here and not see your long-term health suffer because of not getting some of the screenings or preventative care that you may need today.

“If you’re experiencing any of those symptoms, you want to get into the hospital. We want to assure people that we are a safe place to be, we have a number of precautions in place to keep you safe, and we don’t want you to delay that care.”

Another related question is how newly jobless people will get their needed preventative services if they’ve been laid off and therefore lose their employer-sponsored health insurance.

“With the impact to the economy and the number of jobs being lost, what impact will that have in the coming 12 to 24 to 26 months?,” Maggard said.

Another looming question is how the hospital system’s financial losses amid the pandemic — due to postponing elective surgeries and decreased emergency room visits — will impact available capital in coming years. As a nonprofit, Maggard explained such capital would otherwise would be reinvested into the facilities for operating room expansions and technology and equipment upgrades to adequately serve in a growing community, such as East Pasco.

“There have been a number of financial losses,” Maggard said, “and that is something that we’re struggling with right now, is (how) our financial impact due to COVID is going to restrict the amount of capital we have available in these coming years,” she said.

Perhaps one of the positive developments in result of the pandemic is the increased accessibility and availability of telehealth services for physicians, primary care and even specialists.

Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies, allowing for long-distance patient and clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, monitoring, and remote admissions.

Simply, it allows patients to virtually see a physician or specialists without having to physically visit a hospital or medical office.

Telehealth, Maggard said, is “really, truly a positive thing in health care that could increase access for a number of folks.”

“That’s actually one of the really great things that has come out of COVID,” Maggard said. “The number of guidelines and allowances that came out from CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) are allowing more telehealth than we were able to do before, and we get reimbursed for that. I hope that’s something that stays out of COVID.”

Published November 04, 2020

Chambers in East Pasco considering merger

By

Chambers of commerce representing the business communities in Zephyrhills and Dade City are beginning to explore the possibility of merging into a single chamber.

The boards for the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce have approved the formation of a task force to look into the logistics and possible benefits of merging the two organizations.

Melonie Monson, the CEO of the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce, and John Moors, executive director of the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce, recently told The Laker/Lutz News that it is unclear how long it will be before a merger, if one occurs, will happen.

“All we’re looking at is the opportunity to be able to put options on the table,” Moors said.

The idea of a merger is not new.

He explained why combining forces is being considered.

“(The) No. 1 reason is that we feel that a larger chamber — in my perspective, in any case — would better represent businesses in the eastern Pasco area,” Moors said.

“With the influx of residential, we know that commercial is following that, that this area continues to grow and grow and spread, as we’ve seen in Wesley Chapel. We’re not suggesting that’s a great thing. We’re not suggesting it’s not,” he said.

However, Moors added: “We would be better prepared as a chamber, to service our business members, if we were somewhat prepared for that growth.”

Monson noted: “We’ve seen successful mergers of other chambers in Pasco County and the strength that that can bring in numbers. So, we felt that this was the opportune time, to look at this more closely right now.”

She also noted that impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic have affected the timing of the discussion.

“With all that everyone is going through, due to the pandemic, we felt that it was time to revisit it,” Monson said.

The task force will be made up of people from both communities, including businesses and larger organizations.

The task force will look at such things as: “What are the benefits of this? Will it strengthen each community? Will it strengthen each chamber? Will it expand advocacy?” Monson said.

The task force also will consider potential obstacles, as well as how to preserve the identities of each community, if a merger occurs, she added.

It also will explore: “Is this something we need to do?” she added.

Zephyrhills is among the largest municipalities in the county, if not the largest municipality, and Dade City is the county seat, Monson said.

Does it make sense to join forces to come together with one voice for advocacy and economic development, she asked.

Once the task force completes its due diligence, it will bring a recommendation to the boards.

Input from members will be sought, too, she said.

Moors said he has no speculation of the future structure of the chamber because that would come out of the task force.

“There’s really nothing for sure. All we’re really doing is forming a task force and looking at the combination, and at what best practices there might be, in a joint chamber,” he said.

One question that will be asked is: “What should the focus of the organization be?” Moors said.

The effort is being made to make sure the chambers are doing the best they can to remain sustainable and continue serving their members, he said.

Besides creating a more powerful voice, by merging memberships, there also might be a reduction in overhead, both chamber leaders said.

“There’s an economy of scale,” Moors said. “If there’s an opportunity to be able to maximize their economies of scale, then in most cases, businesses will do that. It’s only good fiduciary responsibility,” Moors said.

“Primarily, people join a chamber of commerce because they want to network and they want to interact with people of like minds, from a business perspective. And, they want to have a voice in initiatives that are moving forward in their area both from a political point of view and from business associations, and that sort of thing,” Moors said.

Work is expected to get started on naming a task force and studying the issues, Monson said.

It’s hard to say how quickly that work will be done, the recommendations will be made and whether the chambers will decide to move forward with a merger — or drop the idea.

A merger between the Zephyrhills and Dade City chambers would be the third merger of its type among Pasco County chambers.

The North Tampa Bay Chamber is made up of chambers that previously represented Wesley Chapel, New Tampa, Trinity and Odessa.

The Greater Pasco Chamber of Commerce resulted from a merger between the West Pasco  and Central Pasco chambers.

Published October 07, 2020

Chambers adapt to new circumstances

By

Small businesses are struggling to reopen amid the uncertainties wrought by the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Chambers of commerce are right there with them on the front line.

They are dealing with staff layoffs in some cases. They’ve been working from home. They have fewer resources.

And, even as chambers begin reopening their offices, the priority is the economic recovery of member businesses.

Ribbon cuttings, for a while, are on hold.

“We had to pivot,” said Hope Kennedy, president of The North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce.

From Day One of the shutdown, there was an urgency to how chambers should respond. They had to rethink what it means to network and provide services that would help businesses stay solvent and resilient.

To be sure, there were phone calls. Lots of them.

But, the new virtual world meant rethinking social media and technology. Zoom meetings and virtual town halls blossomed.

Websites became clearinghouses for grants and forgivable loans, and the latest information businesses needed to survive, and now to reopen, safely.

“We’ve done a lot of individual communicating with our members,” Kennedy said.

Initially, the focus was on helping business owners apply for financial aid, either locally or from the federal Payroll Protection Program.

Chambers partnered with Pasco County and the Pasco Economic Development Council to coordinate efforts to deliver financial aid to distressed businesses and residents.

Kennedy heard from business owners who told her, “if we had not had all this information on our website, they wouldn’t have gotten them.”

As businesses reopen, she added, “We’ve turned into a repository for businesses that need to rehire.”

Chambers are taking one step at a time, as lights turn back on at businesses.

“Cautiously optimistic is what we are,” said Melanie Monson, executive director of The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.

She believes people are following the protocols to make sure the situation does not get worse.

As the shutdown approached, Monson said her staff checked in with business owners to prepare them.

About 100 business owners needed to create plans to get through the crisis and to guide them once reopened.

“Most are prepared and ready to jump back in,” Monson said. “Are there going to be some who don’t open doors? Absolutely.”

But, she added, “I feel like there is enough help that businesses will recover. It will take a while. We’re optimistic that we’ll make it through the process. It’s not a light switch. It’s going to take a little bit of a process. Businesses in it for the long haul will make it.”

Like the businesses they serve, chambers also are reopening —  slowly and with safety protocols.

The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce started with one person each day at the office, behind a locked door. Visitors needed to wear masks, as did employees. Social distancing was required. Within the next weeks, the chamber anticipates “ramping up a little,” said John Moors, chamber executive director.

During the shutdown, work continued from home to keep business owners up to date on available aid and resources.

Renewal rates on memberships were discounted, and e-blasts and advertising were provided free, Moors said.

“It’s important that we bring connectivity and continue to offer support for our businesses,” he said. “We are resilient, very creative. We’ll figure this thing out.”

Pasco County and cities, such as Dade City, did their part.

Dade City officials, for instance, sent out fliers to 6,000 households about products and services available from area businesses.

The city also relaxed requirements for outdoor seating to allow restaurants to serve more customers.

Dade City, and its chamber, thrive on annual events including a seminar at Saint Leo University and a golf tournament.

The fate of the chamber’s biggest event of the year – the Kumquat Festival – is unclear, even though it typically is held in February.

“We’re not sure it’s going on the same as it has been,” Moors said.

The festival is the chamber’s most reliable fundraising event, bringing thousands into downtown Dade City.

North Tampa Bay chamber scheduled a movie night for May 16, featuring “Jumanji – Next Level” at The Groves at Wesley Chapel. Sponsorships made the showing  possible.

Every chamber is facing budget losses. And, even as chambers helped its members file for financial aid, nothing similar was available for chambers.

If more aid is approved by Congress, Kennedy hopes to see the chambers included this time.

“We’ve been advocates for that from Day One,” she said. She has spoken with Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, and U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis. “There’s been a little bit of traction the last couple of days,” she said.

Kelly Marsh, member care specialist for The Greater Pasco Chamber of Commerce, agrees that chambers need help, too.

“Fingers crossed on that,” she said.

Last week, the chamber hosted a Zoom meeting for a Land O’ Lakes Brochure Exchange. Owners could virtually promote their services and find out what other owners are doing.

“It hasn’t been as easy to reach people,” said Marsh. Social media and technology are taking on larger roles in networking, she said.

There is a concern especially for the ‘mom and pop’ shops and restaurants, and the toll the long shutdown took on their incomes.

It appears that most people are just “trying to get through it (the pandemic),” she said.

Published May 20, 2020

Some news you can use

By

Prevent the spread
Help prevent the spread of COVID-19:

  • Stay home when you are sick, except to get medical care.
  • Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
  • Clean frequently touched surfaces and objects daily.

Source: Florida Department of Health

Get lawn and garden advice
Working on the yard? Expert advice for lawn or garden issues is now just a click away thanks to new Virtual Plant Clinics with UF/IFAS Pasco County Cooperative Extension Service. Meet online with a master gardener on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at bit.ly/pascoplantclinic. Master Gardeners can help with pest identification, weed control, spring growing tips and more.

Don’t cause plumbing headaches
If you’re using wipes to clean surfaces in your home and office, be sure not to flush them.

Flushing wipes, even those labeled as “flushable,” can create a costly plumbing mishap in your home later. Visit HCFLGov.net/DontFlush for more information.

Food pickup points
The YMCAs of the Tampa Bay are teaming up with community partners to feed families and fight food insecurity during these unprecedented times. The Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA, YMCA of the Suncoast and YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg are working with Feeding Tampa Bay, local school districts and other organizations to help provide fresh food to families across Greater Tampa Bay.

FEEDING TAMPA BAY MOBILE PANTRY
Anyone can receive a free pre-packaged box of groceries in a drive-thru type model.
Mondays, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the James P. Gills Family YMCA, 8411 Photonics Drive, Trinity.

PASCO COUNTY SCHOOLS
School buses deliver free bags of food, which include breakfast and lunch for five days for each student.
East Pasco Family YMCA, 37301 Chapel Hill Loop, Zephyrhills
Tuesdays, 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
For additional food pickup locations and information, visit the Pasco County Schools website (Pasco.k12.fl.us) and the Hillsborough County Schools website (SDHC.k12.fl.us).

Top scams
Con artists are trying to take advantage of the uncertainty and anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Better Business Bureau urges you to protect yourself from these common scams:

  • Phony cures and fake masks: The BBB Scam Tracker has received numerous reports of people receiving emails and messages claiming that, for a price, they can buy products the government is supposedly keeping secret – ways to prevent or cure coronavirus. Medical experts are working hard to find a coronavirus vaccine, but none currently exists.
  • Economic impact payment (Stimulus Check) scams
    As soon as stimulus packages were announced and approved, scammers quickly got to work sending out fake economic impact checks and asking consumers to pay fees to get their money earlier than what the IRS has promised. These claims are false and open consumers to the risk of identity theft and outright theft of the funds in their bank account.
  • Phishing Scams
    As more people work from home, con artists have stepped up phishing scams. They may claim to be from an official department of the employer to offer IT support or claim the company issued computer has a virus. They may use scare tactics, stating the computer will crash if you don’t act immediately, all in an attempt to gain access to your computer remotely, or to your personal or company’s information.
  • Government Impersonation
    Another common phishing scam brought on by the coronavirus pandemic is fake emails and text messages claiming the government needs you to take an “online coronavirus test” by clicking a link they provide. No such test currently exists, but if you click on the link, scammers can download malware onto your computer and gain access to your sensitive personal information.
  • Employment Scams
    Many people are looking for work online in the wake of coronavirus shutdowns. Fraudsters find ways to take advantage of this by posting phony work-from-home jobs promising remote work with good pay and no interview required. These cons often use real company names and can be convincing.

After you are “hired,” the company may charge you upfront for “training.” You may need to provide your personal and banking information to run a credit check or set up direct deposit. You may be “accidentally” overpaid with a fake check, and asked to deposit the check and wire back the difference. Or, you are asked to buy expensive equipment and supplies to work at home.

  • Shortage Scams (price gouging)
    Supplies such as hand sanitizer, face masks and toilet paper are selling out in stores across the U.S. and Canada. Scammers take advantage of this situation and stockpile items in high demand. Then, they seek out potential clients, online and in person, and sell the products at extremely high prices. Price gouging is illegal and high demands for products can lead to con artists selling products that are used, defective or otherwise mishandled. In some cases, scammers will con people out of their money by accepting payments for products that don’t exist.

This has been an issue with face masks. Masks are sold out in most local stores and major online sellers. Instead, consumers are turning to unfamiliar online shops. Unfortunately, phony sellers abound. These scam online retailers take shoppers’ money – as well as personal information – and never deliver the masks.

Prevent mosquitoes
As people spend more time at home and outdoors, during the pandemic, these tips from Hillsborough County’s Management Services, may be useful. Following them can help reduce the population of mosquitoes on a property, and reduce the potential for being bit. Here are the pointers:

  • Empty water containers at least once per week
  • Wear long sleeves, long pants, and light-colored, loose-fitting clothing
  • Properly apply an approved repellent, such as DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon-eucalyptus or any other EPA-registered repellent

For more information about mosquito protection and breeding prevention, visit HCFLGov.net/Mosquito.

These websites offer a wealth of information:
Pasco Economic Development Council Inc.: PascoEDC.com
North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce: NorthTampaBayChamber.com
Greater Pasco Chamber of Commerce: GreaterPasco.com
Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce: ZephyrhillsChamber.org
Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce: DadeCityChamber.org
Hillsborough County government: HillsboroughCounty.org
Pasco County government: PascoCountyFl.net
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: CDC.gov
Florida Department of Health: FloridaHealthCovid19.gov
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity: FloridaJobs.org
U.S. Small Business Administration: SBA.gov
Pasco County Schools: Pasco.k12.fl.us
Hillsborough County Schools: SDHC.k12.fl.us

Published April 15, 2020

Zephyrhills economic summit highlights industrial hub

By

It may now be famous for its crystal clear water and skydiving but, someday, the City of Zephyrhills also wants to be known for its industrial offerings and high-wage jobs.

The third annual Zephyrhills Economic Summit, held earlier this month, focused on the need to maximize both the use of the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport and the development potential of adjacent industrial property.

The event, at Zephyrhills City Hall, was presented by the Zephyrhills Economic Development Coalition (ZEDC) in partnership with the City of Zephyrhills and Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.

The third annual Zephyrhills Economic Summit focused on the importance of developing an industrial corridor and cultivating high-wage jobs. Shown here speaking is Zephyrhills planning director Todd Vande Berg. (Kevin Weiss)

City officials are developing a 20-year master plan known as the Zephyrhills Industrial Corridor Plan.

The proposed industrial development hub encompasses approximately 9.76 square miles (6,248 acres) of land in the southeast portion of the city, around the Chancey Road corridor and municipal airport.

Roughly a third of the property is within city limits and the remainder in unincorporated Pasco County — representing the largest aggregation of industrial lands in the county.

Within that area is 442 divisible acres of what’s known as the Zephyrhills Airport Industrial Park, a build-ready site equipped with water, sewer and electric utilities, and accessible to natural gas.

While the corridor is still in preliminary stages, it ultimately will set the city up for long-term growth and economic sustainability, said Zephyrhills planning director Todd Vande Berg.

Possible targeted industries could include aerospace, aviation and defense; advanced manufacturing; light manufacturing; electronics and technology; logistics and distribution; life sciences and medical technology; telecom/data hosting centers; research and development; showroom; refrigeration/cold storage and other uses.

Vande Berg explained a built-out industrial corridor will yield more revenues for the city and create a better jobs-to-housing balance. He also noted industrial manufacturing uses less services — police, fire, water, sewer— compared to, say, residential or commercial land use.

All that, he said, will ultimately “raise the bar in quality of life” for Zephyrhills residents, allowing funds to be steered toward downtown redevelopment, recreational amenities and other community uses.

“We want to be economically diverse. We don’t just want to have family residential, we want to have a mix of uses,” Vande Berg said.

“If we bring in industrial, we’re going to be more fiscally solvent, and that ties in with being resilient. If we have the industrial there, we feel like we’re in a better position with the city.”

The city planner expressed confidence the corridor’s utility offerings and centralized proximity to Orlando, Lakeland and Tampa makes it an attractive spot for companies looking to relocate or set up shop.

“We’ve got a great location we feel like,” he said. “We have such an asset out there in the southeast quadrant of the city.”

The entire planning area is generally bound by Melrose Avenue to the north, the CSX Transportation railroad and U.S. 301 to the west, Pattie Road to the south, and Barry Road and the Upper Hillsborough Wildlife Management Area to the east.

Two CSX mainline railroads traverse the area and it is accessible to Port Tampa Bay and the CSX Central Florida Intermodal Logistics Center.

The local airport also is undergoing a $5.9 million runway extension and roadway improvements to accommodate larger commercial aircraft, and encourage aviation and industrial development.

Moving forward, Vande Berg said ongoing collaboration is vital between the city, county and state officials to have a coordinated plan on zoning and land use, and “to continue to improve transportation accessibility to this industrial corridor.”

He mentioned a more near-term priority is working with the Florida Department of Transportation to extend State Road 56 east of U.S. 301 to connect to Chancey Road. “Transportation’s huge, like anywhere,” he said.

Aside from transportation and infrastructure boosts to draw companies in, other speakers said the city needs more workforce development programs to develop skilled labor employees and then keep them in the area.

It’s already something holding back existing industrial businesses in the city, said Dr. Randy Stovall, president of the Zephyrhills chamber.

“They can’t find those people they want to hire,” Stovall said. “They want to hire them, but there’s not enough of them, so that is a challenge. We’ve had that (issue) for some time.”

Tom Ryan, economic development manager for Pasco Economic Development Council Inc.,  said having training programs and a baseline of skilled labor in place is “a huge component” for luring large companies to a particular area.

“We’ve got to have (workforce) inventory,” Ryan said. “We’ve got to have a plan to tell those companies, ‘Look, we want your jobs here, and we have a plan to help you bring those jobs here.’”

Pasco County Commission Chairman Ron Oakley pointed out that Zephyrhills and the East Pasco area are working to position the area to do just that.

Pasco County Schools plans to build a technical high school by 2022 near the intersection of Curley Road and Kiefer Road in Wesley Chapel that will hold nearly 900 students.

Meanwhile, Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative (WREC) plans to construct a 4,000-square-foot facility for AmSkills to teach manufacturing jobs.

Also, local business owner Kevin Bahr of Bahr’s Propane Gas & A/C is starting a teaching school to train propane service and HVAC technicians.

“The county is working very hard for jobs,” Oakley said. “Our county’s growing. We need jobs, and we need to teach them (the necessary skills).”

Elsewhere during the summit, State Rep. Randy Maggard commended Zephyrhills “for thinking ahead of schedule” in regards to its future and planned industrial hub.

Maggard, a Republican representing District 38, specifically applauded city leaders for this year putting a $2 million septic to sewer project at the top of their state appropriations request list.

The project includes decommissioning existing septic tanks to a residential subdivision and homes along Sixth Avenue and Armstrong Street, with potential for sewer expansion to additional properties in the future.

The project aims to prevent springs from dying because of nitrates from septic tanks.

“At the end of the day, if we don’t have water, none of this matters,” Maggard said. “We can talk about infrastructure, we can talk about a lot of things, but if we can’t provide water, it doesn’t matter at all.”

The elected official also gave this piece of advice for the city going forward: “You need to tell us where you want to go, and we need to help you get there in the long-term planning, funding, whatever it takes for us to be able to do that.”

Other summit speakers included Mohsen Mohammadi, chief operations officer for American Infrastructure Development; David Gwynn, District 7 secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT); and Danielle Ruiz, economic development manager for Duke Energy.

Published October 23, 2019

Economic summit to focus on industrial hub

By

Local business and government leaders in Zephyrhills will join together for an event that will spotlight the city’s industrial corridor and ongoing efforts to cultivate high-wage manufacturing jobs.

The third annual Zephyrhills Economic Summit is scheduled for Oct. 9 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Zephyrhills City Hall, 5335 Eighth St., in Zephyrhills.

The summit primarily will focus on the city’s forthcoming industrial corridor master plan and Zephyrhills Municipal Airport runway extension, according to a press release from the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.

Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce executive director Melonie Monson is organizing the third annual Zephyrhills Economic Summit.

Other topics will broach infrastructure and the East Pasco roadway network, plus updates on various state and county intergovernmental collaboration projects in the region.

The event is presented by the Zephyrhills Economic Development Coalition (ZEDC) in partnership with the City of Zephyrhills and the Zephyrhills chamber.

Registration is $10 and will include lunch and continental breakfast.

The summit will feature interactive discussions and presentations from the following speakers:

  • Billy Poe, Zephyrhills city manager Billy Poe
  • Dr. Randy Stovall, Zephyrhills chamber president
  • Todd Vande Berg, city planning director
  • Mohsen Mohammadi, chief operations officer for American Infrastructure Development
  • David Gwynn, District 7 secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)
  • Randy Maggard, State Rep. District 38
  • Ron Oakley, chairman of the Pasco County Commission
  • Tom Ryan, economic development manager for Pasco Economic Development Council, Inc.
  • Danielle Ruiz, economic development manager for Duke Energy

Zephyrhills’ proposed industrial development hub focuses on a large grouping of industrial properties and adjacent areas within the Chancey Road corridor and municipal airport.

The planning area is generally bound by Melrose Avenue to the north, the CSX Transportation railroad and U.S. 301 to the west, Pattie Road to the south, and Barry Road and the Upper Hillsborough Wildlife Management Area to the east. That encompasses approximately 9.76 square miles (6,248 acres), including 33% within Zephyrhills and the remainder in unincorporated Pasco County — representing the largest aggregation of industrial lands in Pasco.

Zephyrhills chamber executive director Melonie Monson, who’s organizing the summit, underscored the need to build out the industrial corridor, to recruit employment-generating manufacturing companies and to develop a middle-class workforce in Zephyrhills.

The city is pining for a “medium-sized industrial manufacturer,” Monson said, to give local high school graduates a place to work, so they can remain in the community.

The chamber director believes that Zephyrhills could attract such a company soon. She cited the city’s recent efforts to partner with Pasco County to spend millions of dollars to extend water and sewer to the industrial site.

“It’s just ready for industry, it just is,” she said.

Monson put it this way: “We’re excited the city’s being proactive instead of reactive, so when that big person hits and says, ‘I want to come here,’ we’ll be ready for that and say, ‘Here’s your spot, this is what we have, these are the incentives, this is your workforce.’

“That’s what we’re working toward, to put all those pieces together to make sure that we get what we want here,” Monson said.

She said the industrial corridor also could pave the way for other companies in distribution, light manufacturing, aviation and so on.

“I believe it’s going to have a lot of different textures to it,” the chamber executive said.

She is encouraged by the city’s direction in recent years of attracting younger families and groups to live, work and play.

She mentioned the downtown area alone has added a brewery, a billiards hall and axe-throwing venue, and other things to do.

Zephyrhills also is in the midst of getting a state-of-the-art tennis center and thousands of new homes and apartments.

The city recently landed its first Starbucks and Wawa. A Chick-Fil-A in the works.

Other notable businesses set to come online include Aldi Supermarket, PetSmart, Marriott Fairfield Hotel and Dollar General.

“We’re getting there. In the last three or four years you’ve just seen this huge spur of development,” Monson said.

Previous Zephyrhills economic summits focused on the medical community and education. Monson said next year’s will likely be geared around workforce development.

The summits encourage stakeholders to collaborate to help move Zephyrhills forward as a viable community.

“We’re the only community in Pasco County that’s doing something like this — where we have a coalition that really focuses on pro-business, pro-education, trying to make our community stand out in the midst of all of the other communities.

“We just every year want to make sure that we let people know what we really have here and what we’re doing and why you might want to come and be a part of the Zephyrhills community,” Monson said.

For information and to register for the summit, contact Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce director Melonie Monson at (813) 782-1913 or

Published October 2, 2019

 

 

Zephyrhills Police chief talks crime, initiatives and more

By

Arrests are up in Zephyrhills, but overall crime trends are down citywide.

That’s according to Zephyrhills Police Department Chief Derek Brewer, who was the featured guest speaker at the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce July breakfast meeting.

Brewer said arrests in Zephyrhills have increased each of the last three years, topping out at 1,077 in 2018.

Zephyrhills Police Department Chief Derek was the featured guest speaker at the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce July breakfast meeting. (Kevin Weiss)

That’s up from 1,047 arrests in 2017 and 942 in 2016, respectively.

Many of the agency’s arrests are related to narcotics and property crimes, Brewer said, noting those crimes “go hand in hand” and are where a majority of the problems are in the city.

There were 288 narcotics arrests and 268 property crimes arrests in 2018 alone.

Brewer explained many of those arrests have been initiated by the department’s street crimes unit — a special response team tasked with “attacking some of the problems in the city” on a daily basis, whether its traffic complaints, narcotics, burglaries, thefts and so on.

“A lot of our attention has been on narcotics and property crimes. If we can attack the narcotics problem, a lot of times property crimes will be reduced,” said Brewer, an 18-year veteran of the department who’s served as chief for about two years.

Brewer stated an added emphasis on narcotics and property crimes has led to a reduction in Zephyrhills’ overall crime rate (total number of crimes of offenses reported) in each of the past four years. The city experienced its biggest crime rate reduction of 19.2 percent last year, he said.

“Our crime trends are continuing to go down, our strategy seems to be working,” Brewer said.

“I know people will see certain individuals in town and will say, ‘Boy, we still have a drug problem,’ but I’m telling you we’re attacking it, and it is making a difference in our crime reduction.”

Aside from crime prevention and reduction efforts, Brewer highlighted some ongoing initiatives within the police department.

For instance, the agency recently implemented a citizen volunteer crossing guard program at West Zephyrhills Elementary School, with plans to expand it to Woodland Elementary School in the near future. The department is looking for more volunteers, who will be trained and then deployed at local schools.

So far, the crossing guard program has gotten “amazing feedback” from the West Zephyrhills Elementary community, Brewer said.

“We have noticed since we put the crossing guard program in West (Zephyrhills Elementary), people are slowing down a lot more, and we certainly feel better about providing more safety for the kids,” he added.

Brewer emphasized that the department has heightened its community involvement efforts, particularly in terms of youth outreach programs.

One such initiative, called “Operation Chill,” involves police officers giving children a Slurpee drink coupon when seen in public “doing the right thing.”

Officers also are involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters “Bigs in Blue” mentorship program, where they spend one-to-one time mentoring a child at a neighborhood school.

“We’re in front of our youth frequently,” Brewer said. The agency’s goal is to be “highly visible” and “make the community pro-police and the police to be pro-community.”

The chief also discussed the impact of body cameras, since the agency required all officers to wear them about a year ago.

The Axon Body 2 cameras are installed on all Zephyrhills police officers and patrol cars. They activate automatically whenever an officer’s taser or firearm is deployed.

Brewer said the body camera program has been “incredibly helpful” for evidence collection, and also for dismissing frivolous citizen complaints against officers.

“In my opinion, it’s been a great program,” Brewer said. “I know that some people are against the body cameras, including officers, but I think even the officers that were against it, they’re starting to come around because they’re seeing that these complaints are getting squashed pretty quickly.”

The department also is exploring the possibility of police academy training sponsorships to attract more police officers. The department currently has 34 sworn police officers and 16 civilian employees.

There has been turnover in recent years, Brewer acknowledged. It also is becoming increasingly difficult to find qualified officers and people interested in law enforcement careers, he said.

“I just don’t think people want to be police officers anymore, just because of all the stuff that comes with it,” Brewer said.

Published July 17, 2019