The Laker-Wesley Chapel/New Tampa-October 19, 2016

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Wiregrass Ranch names COO By Kathy Steele

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Scott Sheridan is a familiar face at Wiregrass Ranch. As senior vice president of King Engineering Associates Inc., he has been involved from the start in the master-planned community’s development. Since 2004, he has taken on various roles with the planning, engineering and permitting of the project. Sheridan now is putting on a new hat for the Wiregrass Ranch development company Locust Branch LLC. He is the company’s first chief operating officer, according to a news release from the development company. His goals as chief operating officer will be

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The global impact of cyber crimes is likely to skyrocket over the next several years, Sri Sridharan, a cyber security expert predicts. Sridharan, managing director and chief executive officer of the Florida Center for Cybersecurity at the University of South Florida, was the keynote speaker during the Cybersecurity Symposium at PascoHernando State College, on Oct. 11. Hacking, he said, continues to be a “serious problem” in the realm of cyber security. “It’s a huge crime that’s taking place on a daily basis,” Sridharan said.“There’s lots of people wanting to steal your personal information, and steal intellectual property.” The latest statistics related to cyber crime are staggering. According to a recent study by Juniper Research, the global impact on cyber crimes was about $400 billion in 2015. By 2019, the market research organization projects the impact will be approximately $2.1 trillion. “In my opinion, that number is going to be even higher,” Sridharan said.“Every second, at least 22 records are breached.That’s about 2 million (records) per day.” Sridharan said hackers often focus on high-value industries — healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services — to access and modify information. “No longer is this a backdoor problem,” he said.“It’s moved to boardrooms of corpo-

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Sri Sridharan is the managing director and chief executive officer of the Florida Center for Cybersecurity at the University of South Florida.

rations. Boards of directors now have a fiscal responsibility to make sure the information they have is well protected. Otherwise, they can get sued.” Yet, many organizations haven’t put safety measures in place to protect against such threats. A 2016 global economic crime survey by the consulting firm PricewaterHouseCooper (PwC) found that 32 percent of organizations were affected by cyber crime last year. Moreover, the survey found only 37 percent of organizations have a cohesive plan in response to cyber incident, or breach. “Organizations need to have a plan.That’s

extremely important,” Sridaran said. That starts with practicing what Sridharan refers to as “good cyber hygiene.” For businesses, that encompasses several steps: use a secure ecommerce platform; deploy SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption; and utilize firewalls, multi-factor authentication and site backups. “Don’t just have (employees) use a password to get into the system. Have them go through one or two more steps to make...it very difficult for the bad guys to penetrate your system,” Sridharan explained. See CYBER, page 11A

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COURTESY OF LOCUST BRANCH LLC

Scott Sheridan is the new chief operating officer for Locust Branch LLC, the development company for Wiregrass Ranch.

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to oversee the upcoming growth at Wiregrass Ranch, as it moves into a new phase of development. “Under (Scott’s) leadership and expertise, we are confident that Wiregrass Ranch will thrive as the region’s premier master-planned development,” Bill Porter, president of Wiregrass Ranch, said in the release. The construction of the satellite campus of Raymond James Financial is among the future projects in the development of regional impact. The financial services company closed on a land deal in September to buy 65 acres of ranch property from the Porter family. The Fortune 500 financial giant could

Cyber threats on the rise, expert says

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Pasco County’s Development Review Committee has given its first stamp of approval to a pilot program to create a futuristic, technology-based network of communities across more than 7,800 acres in northeast Pasco County. But that’s just one step in the review process. State legislators approved the Connected City in 2015, and selected Pasco as the site for the project. The Pasco County Commission also gave the concept for Connected City its OK, via a resolution. The county’s Development Review Committee voted on Oct. 13 to recommend changes to the county’s long-range land use planning and development codes to lay out the legal framework for Connected City. Additional votes by the review committee will be needed on a range, including financial and road plans. Those issues are expected to considered in November. But those are actions are merely recommendations.The Pasco County Commission has the final word. If Connected City gains needed approvals, it is expected to have considerable impact on the county. It is projected to have about 96,000 employees, and about 37,000 homes and apartments when it is entirely built out, which expected to take about 50 years. “In the long run, this is going to make Pasco a premier county,” said Ernest Monaco, the county’s assistant planning and development director. Not everyone agrees with that vision. Some residents who live within the district worry about losing the rural lifestyle of northeast Pasco to Connected City’s urgan lifestyle. “I’m not willing to give up my slice of

ruralness,” said Jennifer McCarthy, who lives on Kenton Road. McCarthy opposes plans to turn Kenton into a four-lane paved roadway, that she says likely will turn a local road into a heavily travelled thoroughfare. There also will be harm done to wildlife in habitats on both sides of Kenton, she said. “Wildlife is not going to be able to pass through here,” McCarthy said. “It doesn’t make sense to ruin conservation areas to make it a pass through for all the subdivisions to the north.” County officials suggested a willingness to look at the issue. “Let’s explore it and find the answers,” said Pasco County Administrator Michele Baker. Connected City has its fans, too. Margaret Tingley, president of Tingley Systems, Inc. in San Antonio, described Connected City as “a dream come true.” “You’re centrally located to all of Pasco County. It’s a great place to show what you can become,” she said.“Technology is the wave of the future. The new Connected City is the wave of the future.” Efforts to craft a master plan have taken about 17 months. “I’m actually proud we spent 17 months trying to do something different,” said attorney Joel Tew, who represents Metro Development Group.“This was not an accident. We purposely selected Pasco County over competing counties.” Connected City is expected to become the first gigabit community in the nation that is built from the ground up. Metro Development is partnering with Pasco County on the first neighborhoods that will be built in the Connected City network. Boundaries generally are Interstate 75, State Road 52, Overpass Road and Curley See CONNECTED, page 11A

By Kathy Steele

ksteele@lakerlutznews.com

Tourism in Pasco County is on a launching pad, as county officials prepare for what they hope to be an explosion of visitors — sampling the county’s shops, malls, restaurants, hotels and future sports complexes. County commissioners are reviewing proposals for a sports complex at Wiregrass Ranch, with about an $8.5 million investment. Florida Hospital Center Ice is expected to open in early 2017, and to become a draw for local, state and national sports competitions. Bed tax revenues are estimated to push past the $1 million mark in 2016.And, under a tourism master plan, county officials anticipate the 2 percent bed tax rate to increase to 5 percent by 2019, with revenues reaching nearly $3 million. To tackle upcoming challenges from this record growth, Pasco is looking to reorganize the tourism office, and hire a tourism director. “It’s growing to a pretty big operation,” said Richard Gehring, the county’s strategic policy administrator.“We’re going to be on another plateau as we compete in the Tampa Bay region.This is the next step up.” Two to three candidates were identified and interviewed. County officials now are making an offer, and negotiating salary and benefits. The issue came up at the County Commission’s Oct. 11 meeting. Pasco County Commissioner Mike Wells See TOURISM, page 11A


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