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Commercial Real Estate
A 4-page section that is a quarterly SWFL Commercial Real Estate market overview.
Edison Awards
Section 2 previews this year’s event coming to Fort Myers from April 19-21.
Submitted by
Karen P. Moore, PublisherIt’s certainly been quite a ride for Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers the past five months, and in many ways, the work is just beginning.
When it was pointed out to him the view of the future Fort Myers Beach shared recently by TPI Hospitality, the developer of Margaritaville, appears to be different from his and the Town
Council’s view, he replied, “I wouldn’t say that we’re on opposite ends of the spectrum. I think we’re saying the same thing, just in different ways.”
“Margaritaville did originally come out with that first grandiose plan and it ended up like a turd in a punch bowl, pardon my language,” he said. “And they got immediate backlash. But what they did learn, and if you ask Mr. (Thomas) Torgerson or Mr. (John) Dammermann this, is that before they
More than five months after Hurricane Ian decimated parts of Florida, 25 small businesses in the region are continuing their recovery efforts with some help from a partnership between Verizon Business and two non-profits.
Verizon has donated $250,000 to Collaboratory, a local nonprofit community problem-solving organization in Southwest Florida, and Florida TaxWatch, a nonprofit that promotes economic development across the state that serves as the ‘eyes and ears’ of Florida taxpayers.
Collaboratory and Florida TaxWatch worked with community leaders to select the final 25 small businesses
The Disaster Recovery Center at the Mt. Olive A.M.E Church in Fort Myers permanently closed on Feb. 17. Although the deadline to apply for assistance for damage from Hurricane Ian has passed, survivors who were affected by the storm can still:
• Get help understanding FEMA decision or request for information letters.
• Check the status of your FEMA
application.
• Get information about help with rental assistance or other basic needs.
• Get referrals to agencies or non-profits that may offer resources FEMA is not able to provide.
• Meet with a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) representative.
• Meet with a mitigation specialist about protecting your home and property from future natural disasters.
DISASTER See page 3
– ranging from family-owned coffee shops and bait and tackle businesses to a floral truck and wedding venue. Each received a $10,000 grant in December 2022.
The funds come at an important moment after Hurricane Ian, which is estimated to be one of the costliest natural disasters of 2022, left many businesses destroyed or without the resources to rebuild. According to some estimates, up to 25 percent of small and midsize businesses could be forced to permanently close without immediate financial support.
FUNDS See page 15
do anything further, they’re going to listen to the community. They’re going to find out, what does the community have the backbone for?”
He told a room of commercial real estate agents, “Nobody, I don’t think there’s anybody in this room, that likes to be pushed around. So having communication with everyday people that come there, residents, tourists, I think that gets you to a plan. If you can get
See page 15
Special to SWFBT
Submitted by Jacob Ogles, Editor
Insurance companies and trial attorneys for years have fought over what causes premiums in Florida to rise. Carriers blame lawsuit abuse. Plaintiff lawyers see corporate greed playing a role.
Decades of battle between the two sides comes to head in Tallahassee this year as lawmakers consider a major tort reform bill that could eliminate or dramatically restructure one-way attorney fees and change Florida into a “contributory negligence standard” state. The legislation as filed ahead of Session would re-imagine requirements on property owners to secure locations from crime, and it would change what information ultimately can be considered by juries when they calculate long-term damages.
Senate Bill 236, carried by state Sen. Travis Hutson, and House Bill 837, sponsored by state Rep. Tommy Gregory, tackles more than a half dozen areas of statute dealing with civil litigation. Gregory, R-Sarasota, said the bill will “bring balance to the civil justice system.”
How successfully it achieves that goal varies on which lobby analyzes the bill’s consequences. Michael Carlson, executive director of Personal Insurance Federation of Florida, said the legislation takes a solid run at addressing the true costs of insurance.
TORT See page 15
Moore About Business Kick off your business week with “Moore About Business”! Tune in to SWFL PBS and National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate, WGCU radio at 90.1 FM, during Morning Edition and All Things Considered to hear SWFBT founder, owner and publisher Karen P. Moore share information and insights for and about our local business community. Listen to past segments at https://news.wgcu.org/tags/ moore-about-business
Hurricane Ian SBA Loans Available to SWFL Businesses
Business owners have until June 29, to submit a SBA application for an economic injury disaster loan to help with financial recovery from Hurricane Ian. Call (800) 659-2955 or go to sba.gov/disaster.
SWFBT News Updates
The Cloud is a current buzz word in the technology space. Everything seems to be “in the cloud,” or perhaps should be, but is that true?
The answer is, it depends. Let’s dig a little deeper.
In a basic sense, “the cloud” means anything that runs on the internet. In most cases we have all been using the could in some form or fashion for many years now. From the first time we fired up a dial up modem to send an email, stream music or movies or even log into a server or computer that exists completely on an internet service, we were using the cloud. The real question might then be, just how much of the cloud should we be using.
The answer is going to lie in what type of business you run and the way you want to work. One of the greatest benefits of using more cloud services is resiliency and freedom. We saw this during the pandemic when many were forced to work from home. Companies that were heavier into cloud products were able to transition and be productive with much less effort and expense. We also experienced this in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Cloud users were able to work from alternate locations where electricity and internet were available when business offices were still uninhabitable. In today’s work force and work flow, employees and business owners in the cloud benefit from being able work from anywhere as if they were on the computer in their office.
On the other side of the coin, the cloud does have a couple of significant drawbacks, the first being cost. Each cloud service has a monthly charge and some of those are quite large. The second is all those services require a secure and stable internet. When working with software that runs on physical devices only, an internet
outage may be inconvenient but, it doesn’t create a work stoppage. In addition, some businesses like manufacturing and medical have operating machinery that must be run locally.
Why do cloud services incur monthly costs?
Lee County launched the Ian Progress Report, a data-driven site dedicated to updating the community on the fiscal needs, progress and opportunities with state and federal partners as Lee County moves forward after the hurricane.
The report is available at ianprogress.leegov.com and provides easy access to the following:
• A snapshot of initial damage assessment
• FEMA individual assistance
• Survivor housing
• Disaster recovery dollars
• Parks and beaches updates
BY CHRIS COUSE Guest ColumnistHave you heard of HaaS, SaaS, Saas? Each stands for [something] as a service; Hardware as a Service, Software as a Service, Security as a service. These services replace physical, one-time purchases and most are more expensive than just buying computers and software to run in the office. Instead, the service is provided and maintained by the vendor. The benefits include not owning equipment, not being responsible for diagnosis or repair/replacement, and having support for any issues. Ultimately, money is saved through efficiency – no downtime and the ability to transition quickly through changes in staff and systems.
Business owners have a decision to make when considering cloud services. Services may have a higher monthly price tag but may pay dividends in productivity, resiliency, and freedom. When technology is done right, it pays you back. If you are considering moving more of your systems to the cloud, make sure to strategize with your trusted IT partner.
Chris Couse has worked in the IT space for over 25 years and is now the co-owner and CTO of MashGrape Technologies. He has a passion for providing world-class IT support. Contact cpc@mashgrape.com or (239) 990-3121.
• Public works projects
Initial damage assessments show Ian caused more than $7.3 billion in damage to residential and commercial structures. It impacted every county beach, all county parks, every traffic signal and generated about 12 million cubic yards of debris, with 6 million of that collected roadside in unincorporated areas. The storm left more than 130,000 in need of housing assistance.
The information presented focuses on unincorporated Lee County, meaning the areas within the geographic boundary of Lee County that have not incorporated into municipalities. This site primarily addresses the facilities, services and programs for areas other than City of Fort Myers, City of Cape Coral, City of Bonita Springs, City of Sanibel, Village of Estero or Town of Fort Myers Beach. Links to municipalities are provided from the site. Data on the site will be updated monthly.
The Ian Progress Report reflects the Lee Board of County Commissioners commitment to Strategic Priorities, which include Community Engagement. Commissioners are committed to building communications strategies on multiple platforms and developing interactive tools to allow easy access to information for quality of life and for board policies. Other such projects include Our Water Story, the Resident Information Tool and the Our Hurricane Ian Debris Story. Visit www.leegov.com/tools for more information.
Founded in Naples in 2018 by residents and entrepreneurs, COOL-BINZ is the first and only portable storage company that features fully insulated, air-conditioned storage containers with climate control. The patent-pending design was locally engineered in Naples by COOL-BINZ founders and husband-and-wife business partners, Kathryn and Ernie Padalino.
Bins are 8-by-16-feet or 8-by-20-feet and showcase barn-style doors and marine-grade wood flooring. COOL-BINZ works best at protecting belongings in a climate like Southwest Florida’s and is designed for long-term storage needs. These bins protect the contents from exposure to harmful outside elements like humidity and pests. In addition, COOL-BINZ is the only company industry wide that offers a full line up of insulated and cooled storage containers, including refrigerated and freezer bins. For those not in need of climatecontrolled storage, COOL-BINZ also offers traditional, non-AC bins.
Businesses and homeowners alike can benefit from COOL-BINZ’ advanced storage technology, and to date, the company’s diverse client base has included home builders and remodelers, moving companies, flooring com-
panies, airports, florists, restaurants, realtors, food and beverage companies and more.
Tom Houghton, owner of La Ola Surfside Restaurant, which was destroyed by Hurricane Ian on Fort Myers Beach, is working with Allan Development Group to place shipping containers – modified to become a temporary restaurant – on trailers to keep them mobile because of FEMA requirements.
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Town Manager Keith Wilkins to build a plan, which included the trailers. They will provide the mobility that allows La Ola Surfside Restaurant to operate.
BY KATHRYN PADALINO Guest Columnist
COOL-BINZ has the ability to accommodate a variety of specialized customer needs and requests – many of the company’s clients have even utilized a COOLBINZ AC unit as a home office.
With convenience and safety at the forefront of the design, bins can easily be plugged into a standard home’s 110V outlet and can be transported to homes or worksites through the company’s unique delivery system. Alternatively, bins can be parked at the company’s on-site facility in Naples, where clients have 24-hour access to their belongings.
Kathryn Padalino is the co-founder and COO of COOL-BINZ. Her entrepreneurial spirit and problem-solver mindset inspired the technology behind COOL-BINZ. Contact (239) 370-2332.
Work began on Feb. 28 at the site of the La Ola Surfside Restaurant on Estero Boulevard.
Because Fort Myers Beach is in a V designation flood zone, the users of the containers must prove they are mobile, and a plan is in place should an evacuation be needed. Scott Allan, president of Allan Development Group, and Houghton called for a meeting with Fort Myers Beach Building Official Steve Poposki, Planning Director Jason Smalley and
You do not need to go to a DRC to get assistance. You can contact FEMA or update your application the following ways:
• Online at DisasterAssistance.gov
• Call the FEMA Helpline at (800)
Allan Development Group brought two Lowboy trailers – provided by Brad Grafe (a part-time beach resident) from Valley Transportation in Minnesota - to the site. A crane will then lift the containers onto the trailers, which will be connected ADG carpenters, who also will build decking, stairs and a railing system for employees and customers to access the containers. Fort Myers Beach building official Steve Poposki will then inspect the new temporary restaurant.
621-3362. Calls are accepted daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET. Help is available in most languages.
For the latest information on Florida’s recovery from Hurricane Ian, visit floridadisaster.org/info and fema.gov/disaster/4673. Follow FEMA Region 4 (@femaregion4) / Twitter and at facebook.com/fema.
Following months work, the commemorative artwork “Mosaic of Memories: The Naples Pier Project,” was officially unveiled during a public celebration. Artwork depicts the historic Naples Pier and is an art-driven fundraiser to benefit local first responders and rebuilding of the pier in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
Emillions Art, a Naples-based art gallery and consultancy, partnered with photo-mosaic artist Robin Austin to create the iconographic masterpiece of the Naples Pier in a limited edition as a fundraising medium. This unique masterpiece was created using over 1,600 photographs submitted by the community to form the mosaic “tiles” for this artwork.
During the unveiling, two of the very first limited-edition prints were presented to Naples City Council for display in Naples City Hall and to First Responders for Fire & Rescue Station #1 near Cambier Park. There also were speeches from city officials and the artist.
“We are delighted to gift these commemorative pieces to the city and to our first responders,” said Marlissa Gardner, president of Emillions Art. “We also have a select few that we are selling to the community with part of the proceeds going to great causes.”
In all, just 100 Limited Edition prints (35 x 65) will be produced, with
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80 of them being sold and 20% of the proceeds going to the Collier County 100 Club to support the families of local first responders through these difficult times following the hurricane as well as the City of Naples for community restoration efforts, including the Naples Pier.
Another 20 of the prints will be auctioned off during a series of public events with a floor price of $5,000 each and 100 percent of those proceeds going directly toward the cause.
As they are produced to order, buy-
ers can arrange to have their copy personalized by providing additional photos to be included by the artist along with the over 1,600 individual photos already in the piece. The inclusion of up to 20 of their own photos will not change the overall artwork itself, but might make all the difference to them and their family or their clients and business when they visit and see it on display.
All versions of the prints will be accompanied with a booklet consisting of a one-page history of the Naples Pier,
a profile of the artist and the names of everyone who has a photo included within the mosaic artwork. In addition to purchasing the artworks, individuals will have the opportunity to provide a monetary contribution as a donation.
Initially constructed in 1889 to service a newly built hotel, the original Naples Pier spanned 600 feet and was used primarily for loading and unloading passengers and freight as there were no roads at the time. The pier remained in use until a hurricane in 1910. The pier was rebuilt, 100 feet longer, and stood firm until a cigarette fire in 1922. The pier was once again severely damaged by another hurricane in 1926, and repairs held firm, even though the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, until the hurricane of 1944. The repeated damage brought on stricter building standards by which the pier was rebuilt.
In 1960, Hurricane Donna destroyed the pier and the hotel. The hotel never reopened, but the pier came back – as the icon of Naples that it had always been.
The process of creating the artwork fell with Austin. A respected English artist, Austin is known for his photographic mosaic artwork and digital art which reflect his love and devotion to storytelling. Among those he has immortalized are Mick Jagger, the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Nelson Mandela.
...is what keeps you and your business
Hodges University President Dr. John Meyer announced Adrian Kerr as a vice president.
He will lead multiple workforce and quick training initiatives at Hodges University. The programs offered will align with the workforce needs of the Southwest Florida region. He will be working with organizations of all sizes to offer training that will provide their employees with the additional knowledge and skills needed to advance their careers. Studies have shown one of the most effective ways to retain employees is to offer professional development.
Kerr“Adrian brings proven expertise in the area of workforce training, and that’s where our focus as a university is,” said Meyer. “As the needs of professional education and quick training evolve and grow, we’re ready to answer that call.”
Kerr brings more than 12 years of experience working directly with the state of Florida, local employers and CaereerSource SWFL in the area of continuing professional education.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in management and engineering from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. Currently, he serves as a director on the Workforce Board. He also published two books, “Ancient Egypt and the US,” and “KV 63 the New Tomb in the Valley of the Kings.”
Hodges University, a regionally accredited, private nonprofit institution founded in 1990, prepares students to leverage higher learning in their personal, professional and civic endeavors. Hodges is recognized for developing programs uniquely designed and delivered to serve a diverse adult learner population.
A survey of 1,420 global IT leaders by Rackspace Technology, a leading end-to-end, multicloud technology solutions company, finds a growing number of organizations, 69%, rank artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) as a high priority, an increase of 15 percentage points compared to 2021. The study polled IT professionals across industries, including financial services, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, government and health care, to understand the dynamics of AI/ML uptake amid growing economic uncertainty.
Almost a third of respondents started to launch AI/ML projects within the past year. In comparison, 17% say they began implementing AI/ML two years ago, 11% three years ago and just 11% five years ago. Though most respondents said AI/ML is a high priority, only 41% say they have realized substantial benefits. In comparison, 33% have seen modest benefits, and 26% say it’s too early to tell. Moreover, 62% of respondents say there has been internal pushback to the degree of adoption of AI/ML within their organizations.
“As AI and machine learning mature and projects mature, we are seeing it expand across the organization and become more ubiquitous, advancing in its importance, visibility, and usage,” said Jeff DeVerter, Rockspace’s chief technology evangelist. “The fact that almost a third of respondents began their AI/ML journey within the past year is striking and points to the fact that these technologies are seen as the key to driving efficiencies in uncertain economic times. At the same time, the research clarifies that many organizations are still struggling to understand or realize the technologies’ full benefits of AI/ML, and many face internal resistance to adoption. All of this traction doesn’t consider the meteoric pace of AI attention in recent weeks with the explosion of ChatGPT, which has given AI a front-row seat in every business planning meeting.”
More organizations are leveraging AI/ML to improve the speed and efficiency of existing processes, with 67% of organizations saying it is an area of focus versus just 52% in 2022. Other popular focus areas include predicting business performance/industry trends (60%) and reducing risk (53%). In ad-
dition, AI/ML is used by organizations in an increasingly wide variety of contexts, including hiring/recruiting new talent, increasing understanding of business and customers and increasing innovation and productivity. In addition to internally improving organizations’ productivity, AI/ML has been used by 60% of respondents to meet sustainability targets by improving worker safety/security, 54% of respondents to monitor energy consumption management and 47% of respondents for predictive analytics.
“According to 67% of respondents globally, IT and business leaders are using AI/ML to improve business operations with low innovation due to moving into an uncertain economic climate,” said Nirmal Ranganathan, Rackspace’s chief architect of Data & AI.
The principal barriers to organizations’ ability to effectively draw actionable insights from AI/ML include the inability to collate, structure and integrate data meaningfully and the need for capabilities or talent to manage data effectively. 82% of respondents tried recruiting employees with AI/ML skills in the past 12 months, while 86% grew their AI/ML workforce in the past 12 months. In many cases, AI/ML replaces work formerly performed by humans, with 62% of respondents saying AI/ML implementation has led to a reduced headcount within their organization.
“Organizations that are struggling with AI/ML also tend to be organizations that have immature data cultures, low levels of data literacy, and poor data governance structures because any AI/ML project is only as good as the data being used,” said Ben Blanquera, Rockspace’s vice president, evangelist and senior architect. “For more projects to be successful and for organizations to derive long-term value, there needs to be a focus on data quality.”
Despite data concerns and internal resistance, trust in the output of AI/ ML projects remains high among IT decision-makers, with 73% saying they have confidence in the answers provided by AI/ML. 72% say sufficient checks and balances are in place to avoid negative consequences from using AI/ML, while 80% do not think AI/ML answers require additional human interpretation.
The Southwest Regional Manufacturers Association will be the leading resource in the manufacturing sector of the Southwest Florida Equitable Jobs Pipeline, a part of the American Rescue Plan Good Jobs Challenge. Working under the direction of FutureMakers Coalition at Collaboratory, the SRMA will conduct inperson skills gap surveys with the manufacturers of Southwest Florida.
Florida Gulf Coast University, in partnership with FutureMakers Coalition at Collaboratory, was recently awarded a $22.9M investment to develop industry specific education, training and career development programs. FutureMakers Coalition aims to transform Southwest Florida’s workforce by increasing the proportion of working age adults with college degrees, workforce certifi cates, industry certifications, and other high-quality credentials to 55 percent by 2025.
“We are extremely excited to be a part of this effort,” said Rob Harris, Executive Director of the SRMA. “The fact that manufacturing is recognized as one of the four major economic drivers in our region, and that the EDA recognizes the major labor shortage of skilled workers, validates the purpose of the SRMA. This col-
laboration is a natural fit towards our mission of growth within the manufacturing sector and increased productivity at the company level.”
At a minimum, the SRMA will conduct 40 in-person skills gap surveys and host four roundtable discussions throughout Southwest Florida. FutureMakers Coalition will then work with educational entities in the region to create necessary training programs and get SWFL residents credentialed with the appropriate skills. The SRMA will encourage manufacturers to hire the newly skilled candidates generated through the program. Outreach efforts have already begun. To participate in a one-on-one survey, or to join a roundtable discussion, visit www. srma.net/skills.
“We are looking to leverage relationships with employers to understand the skills they need in employees so our education partners can provide training and we can connect local talent to wellpaying jobs in manufacturing,” said Tessa LeSage, FutureMakers Coalition at Collaboratory director, the backbone organization for FutureMakers Coalition. “We are thrilled to partner with SRMA to engage and strengthen the manufacturing sector in Southwest Florida
If you own a website that has Universal Google Analytics, you’re likely receiving lots of email warnings from Google about something called Google Analytics 4 (or GA4 for short). What does it mean and why should you be concerned?
For decades, Google has offered a powerful free service for website owners called Universal Google Analytics. The tool provides valuable data about your website traffic, where it comes from, types of devices and browsers being used, the geographic sources of website visitors, goal setup and tracking for lead generation, keyword search info and much more.
There is both a desktop and mobile app version of Google Analytics. If you do not have the free app on your phone, you can easily download it for free right now. Just search on Google Analytics in your app store.
It has been easy to integrate Google Analytics to a website. It’s literally one line of software code that gets added to a website to make it operate and then sends regularly scheduled reports about your website activity to the Gmail address associated with your website.
But all that is changing in 2023. If you do not take action now, you will lose Google Analytics in
mid-2023. Universal Analytics will stop processing data on July 1.
Yes, On July 1, Universal Analytics will stop processing new hits, leaving you blind to the performance of your website.
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now to get it properly set up. It is not a quick, easy process. Businesses with websites should begin collecting data in Google Analytics 4 as soon as possible to build the necessary historical data before Universal Analytics stops processing new hits.
BY RANDY MITCHELSON Guest Columnist
In its place, Google has launched Google Analytics 4 (GA4), its next-generation measurement solution. GA4 is available right now. Here’s how Google describes it’s new reporting platform, “With its flexible event-based data model, Google Analytics 4 allows you to see unified user journeys across your website and apps. It uses Google’s machine learning to bridge gaps in your data with modeled insights and predictive capabilities that you can use to get better results and grow your business. And it’s built to keep up with a changing ecosystem because it does not rely exclusively on cookies, so you can learn about your customers even with gaps in your data.”
The good news is that GA4 is still free. The bad news is website owners must spend some resources
Unfortunately, this is not a quick, simple process. Your website administrator must be engaged and even they may stumble to get GA4 accurately integrated. It takes a significant amount of hours to learn GA4 and configuration.
If you operate a website and need help getting GA4 properly set up you should contact your website administrator or a qualified website developer to set your website up for success going forward.
Randy Mitchelson is vice president of sales, marketing and public relations at M&M Multimedia, providing creative and cost-effective video production, website development and digital advertising solutions for marketing and public relations campaigns. Contact (239) 234-1734 or randym@mandmmultimedia.com.
Naples Pickleball Center Owner Bob Strommen has become a founding team owner in the National Pickleball League, a nationwide team competition for Champions Division (50+) professional pickleball players. The announcement was made during a press and community conference on Feb. 15 at the NPC’s East Naples Community Park pickleball campus.
Strommen became managing
partner of Naples Pickleball Center in 2020 and continues to build local and national interest in the fastest growing sport in America and around the globe.
“I look forward to helping lead the charge as a founding team owner for the NPL league. With more than 34.5 million pickleball players in the US, it is clear that pickleball is here to stay and this league gives both players and fans
an exciting team sport to follow.”
The Naples Pickleball Center is one of the premier pickleball facilities in the U.S. with resources and programs designed for tourists, NPC members and the Southwest Florida Community.
Including two locations, the NPC campus is the largest Pickleball facility in the country with a membership of 2,250 and hosts more than 15,000 annual visitors
from all over the country - and world - and includes 80 courts (66 at the East Naples campus and 14 at the Veteran’s Park site).
“I’m proud to be representing our team as part of the Naples pickleball community as we travel and play around the country. Naples is the Pickleball Capital of the World and we look forward to maintaining that reputation.” Strommen said.
For the first on-island Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce business lunch since Hurricane Ian, ‘Tween Waters Island Resort hosted a Feb. 22 event at its Old Captiva House restaurant, with sponsorship from Offshore Sailing School. Following the meeting, ‘Tween Waters conducted tours of the construction site for two new restaurants. The Chamber held a ribbon-cutting for Offshore Sailing at the marina.
“Despite the destruction, in 2022 we had the best year ever,” said Doug Babcock, president and CEO of Sanibel Captiva Beach Resorts, which manages ‘Tween Waters and three other properties and vacation rentals on Sanibel and Captiva. Although SCBR lost use of many of its units, Old Captiva House and other ‘Tween Waters facilities fared well. “It was almost like there’s a bubble over this property.”
Babcock talked about the resort’s improvements that began before the hurricane and are going forward. ‘Tween Waters is adding a second floor to the original Crow’s Nest restaurant. The Shipyard will occupy the first floor with a wharf theme, possibly serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner; that hasn’t been conclusively decided. The new Crow’s Nest upstairs will serve as a fine-dining steakhouse, sushi bar, and whiskey bar with gulf views and reservations-only seating for dinner. Both venues are set to open April 1.
As far as other SCBR properties, West Wind Inn hopes to open 104 rooms by January 2026. The firm is in the early planning stage for the next generation of Castaways and Beachview cottage resorts.
“We are optimistic about the future,” Babcock said. “We are committed to being part of the recovery.”
In 2021, SCBR contributed more than $175 mil-
lion to the local economy. He and Chairman Tony Lapi attribute SCBR’s success to its strong and loyal employee base and to long-seated traditions.
Lapi led a Traditions & Trivia game session at the luncheon, awarding prizes to attending chamber members who could recall tidbits of ‘Tween Waters history.
“Tony himself is an important part of island history, having acquired the then ‘Tween Waters Inn back in the mid-1970s,” said John Lai, chamber president and CEO. “’Tween Waters has supported the chamber for 15 years. We can’t do what we do without them. We really tip our hats to Tony and Doug.”
Seagate Development Group has completed the interior tear-out, remodel and exterior improvements of Isles Luxury Storage, an approximately 20,000-square-foot facility just minutes from the Punta Gorda Airport in the premier community of Punta Gorda Isles.
At the corner of Aqui Esta Drive and Bal Harbor Boulevard, this fully climate-controlled build in the Bal Harbor Plaza includes 136 units ranging from 5-by-5-feet to 10-by-17.5feet. It involves the adaptive use of many of the structure’s preexisting features, along with first-class upgrades in lighting, HVAC and security. It is equipped with a fully enclosed drive-through loading area
for customers.
The lean construction project was completed ahead of schedule, due to the Seagate commercial team and their partnership with PDS Architecture, Energy Concepts of Southwest Florida, Select Structural and Broadway Shoppes, an entity led by Chad Commers.
“Our ability to couple talent with diligence allows us to complete projects with any scope of work and timeframe on budget and schedule – exceeding client expectations and setting a new standard in renowned construction for Charlotte County and beyond,” said Matt Price, CEO and partner of Seagate Development Group.
Lai announced that Islands Night will return on May 3 and presented Robbie Roepstorff, president of Bank of the Islands, with a special award acknowledging the bank’s strong role in supporting the chamber post-hurricane with a $15,000 contribution to its SanCap Strong shirt fundraiser. He presented her with a Lighthouse Member award, an encased brick recovered from the site where the historic Sanibel lighthouse keeper’s cottages were washed away in the storm.
“Offshore Sailing has been another of our superstrong supporters through the years,” said Lai. “We are thrilled they were able to move their Captiva sailing school from South Seas Island Resort as it rebuilds, to find a new home at ‘Tween.”
The nearly 60-year-old sailing school will have two Colgate 26 sailboats and a new Jeanneau 440 monohull yacht based at ‘Tween Waters starting March 1, with possible additions in the future. It will teach a three-day Learn to Sail course, Performance Sailing course, and a weeklong Fast Track to Cruising course to earn certification to skipper a boat up to 50 feet. Certification courses are available with or without a lodging package.
“Offshore Sailing School has offered sailing courses to adults and families on Captiva Island for decades, and we’re delighted to return to Captiva Island with our new resort partner, ‘Tween Waters Island Resort & Spa,” said CEO and President Doris Colgate. “We especially appreciate the guidance and support the Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce has provided to us and so many other area small businesses. This chamber leadership, staff, and board of directors continue to make a significant impact on our business’ success and the quality of our lives in Southwest Florida.”
239-265-2628 theresa@ccim.net www.sperrycga.com
A look at commercial real estate trends & topics in Southwest Florida
If you are a CCIM-SWFL Chapter Designee, as a benefit, you are eligible to participate in this section. Contact 2023 CCIM-SWFL President Theresa Blauch for details at theresa@ccim.net
2019 CCIM-SWFL President Ron Struthers said:
“This ad got me listings. It works!”
A look at commercial real estate trends & topics in Southwest Florida
will be made in the best interest of their investment objectives. When assembling a commercial real estate investment team, start with a CCIM.
CCIM is the most prestigious designation commercial real estate professionals can achieve within the industry. Graduate-level education, coupled with industry-leading technology tools, practical proven experience, and in-depth knowledge of their local markets, gives CCIMs the ability and the credibility to conduct business confidently and successfully. By partnering with a CCIM, you effectively utilize the top-level, most reliable performers in the industry: with an average of 19 years of experience, 70% of CCIM members hold executive-level positions and 90% of members refer clients to other business services. When you use a CCIM, you choose the most credible professional in the business.
Today there are CCIMs in every state, across Canada and Mexico, and in more than 30 countries around the world. Domestically, the network encompasses more than 1,000 markets, from large metropolitan ar-
eas to small cities and towns. A truly global network, CCIMs are a powerful force in markets large and small. When you use a CCIM, you choose a trusted community of real estate professionals that are consistently sought for their dependability, intelligence, success and confidence.
CCIM designees are bound to the strictest ethical guidelines and standards of practice in the industry today. In addition, each CCIM has successfully completed a graduate level program comprised of 160 hours of education. If you ask around the industry, you’ll learn that companies and other real estate professionals are more likely to seek out experts who possess the CCIM designation, as they know CCIM stands for trust, knowledge and reliability. When you use a CCIM, you choose experts with integrity.
Overall, CCIM’s global network enables members
to close thousands of transactions annually, representing more than $200 billion in value. But closing transactions is only part of what CCIMs can do. In addition to holding dealmaking occupations in every property sector, CCIMs are also found in’ leasing, asset management, development, lending, financing, property management, site selection and corporate real estate positions. So, whatever assistance your real estate project requires, a CCIM can help you achieve a better result. In fact, only 6 percent of all commercial real estate practitioners hold the elite CCIM designation, which reflects not only the caliber of the program, but why it is one of the most respected designations in the industry. When you use a CCIM, you choose a professional who produces measurable results.
The CCIM designation is conferred by the Chicagobased CCIM Institute, a commercial real estate affiliate of the National Association of REALTORS. Learn more about the value of working with a CCIM at www.flccim.com/districts/southwest-district.
The Southwest Florida CCIM District is a chapter of the CCIM Institute, Commercial Real Estate’s Global Standard for Professional Development. The CCIM Institute was established in 1954 to give practitioners of Commercial Real Estate the valuable opportunity to further their business practices through focused education and networking opportunities. Today, with the addition of advanced technology resources, CCIM is the Global leader in Commercial and Investment Real Estate education and services. The Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation is recognized as the hallmark of professional competency. Belonging to CCIM means being part of an ethical and knowledgeable network that fosters lasting relationships based on mutual respect.
GMA Architects & Planners has completed work for Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida Inc. for a new retail store in Naples Park.
The 19,000-square-foot freestanding store is in a former Office Deport location on Tamiami Trail North, between 104th and 105th Avenue North in North Naples. It opened in early February.
This project was a conversion of an old Office Depot, which included bringing the site up to code and creat-
ing a cavaliered drop off structure. The project included upgrading all the exterior and interior lighting, as well as creating a back of house storage for merchandise donations. The floors were stripped and polished exposed concrete, and the exterior paint colors were upgraded, along with decorative security gates.
GMA Architects & Planners’ partners on the project included Steven Bowen as the contractor, Burgess Brandt Engineers and Select Structural.
Paul Fleming Restaurants, led by nationally acclaimed restaurateur Paul Fleming and wife Jody Goodenough-Fleming, announced the opening of a new restaurant concept, PJK Neighborhood Chinese, in Downtown Naples. A Grand Opening celebration took place March 14.
Located on Fourth Avenue South, steps from the world-famous Fifth Avenue South shopping and dining district, PJK Neighborhood Chinese specializes in scratch-made coastal Chinese. Specialty dishes showcase a mix of traditional and modern Asian flavors with all dishes and sauces being prepared daily using fresh, locally sourced ingredients.
“Our Chef Partner Kayla Pfeiffer is passionate about the culinary arts. Her cooking showcases the bold flavors of authentic Chinese cuisine that we all know and love as well as her
own modern interpretations and fresh seasonal features,” said Jody Fleming, CEO of Paul Fleming Restaurants.
The restaurant features 152 seats with a casual coastal vibe that connects comfortable outdoor patio spaces with the contemporary, yet warm and inviting main dining room. It is envisioned that PJK will provide a vibrant take-out business, with a separate entrance and dedicated parking in the rear for those on the way home from work or the beach.
“We are extremely excited to introduce PJK to the Naples community and view this as an opportunity to launch a brand-new concept that provides a twist on the traditional neighborhood Chinese restaurant,” said Paul Fleming. “Our goal is to eventually roll out this new restaurant concept into other parts of Florida.”
Paul Fleming is no stranger to the industry having developed a number of restaurant chains, including P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Pei Wei Asian Diner, Z’Tejas Grills and Paul Martin’s American Grill.
In addition to PJK, the Flemings have strategic growth plans for other emerging concepts in Florida. This includes the couple’s partnership in developing the popular Lake Park Diner by Smith Organics with new locations coming to Bonita Springs and North Naples.
Paul and Jody Fleming currently reside in Southwest Florida where they are active members of the community and are involved with a variety of charitable organizations, including the Naples Children & Education Foundation and Naples Winter Wine Festival.
its top producers
The company announced: Top Residential Sales is Mike McNamara; Top Residential Sales Team is The Horvath Team; Top Residential Sales Team Member is Ernie Horvath; Top Commercial Sales is Pam Wittenauer-Bratton, CCIM; Top Residential Listings is Steve Fisher; Top Residential Listings Team is The Horvath Team; and Top Commercial Listings is Andy Bauman.
RE/MAX Realty Group congratulated the following agents for reaching new club levels and celebrating anniversaries with RE/MAX: The 100% Club member is Mona Burke; The Platinum Club member is Jeannie Steidel; Lifetime Achievement Award recipient is Erica Stehouwer; Sandra Watkins celebrated 40 years; and Carol vonZittwitz completed 5 years.
SVN Commercial Partners recently represented the tenant, Paradise Vintage Market, to secure a lease for a future antique mall in the North Fort Myers Center on North Cleveland Avenue between Hancock Bridge Parkway and Pondella Road.
The SVN Commercial Partners Site Selection Team, led by agent Tiffany Luongo, was able to find the location to cover the needs of Paradise Vintage Market, which will use the 31,529 square feet of space to rent to dealers who sell vintage antiques and collectable items. Luongo was able to identify the area
and negotiate the off-market lease transaction with LandQwest Commercial’s Jessica McEvoy and Tom Strauss who represented the landlord. The property closed in December.
Paradise Vintage Market, which has been in business three years, sustained significant damage at their previous location because of Hurricane Ian and needed another location to reopen the business. Tenant Beth Meyer said Luongo found the ideal space and location. Meyer hopes to open in the next two months.
“Tiffany was so helpful because, quite frankly, we
were having a hard time finding anyone to help us,” Meyer said. “She was referred to us through a friend in New York. We really appreciate everything that she did.”
Meyer said she is working with Luongo to help them find a second location in Lee County.
“Ian displaced a lot of business owners, and we thrive on finding locations that will meet their business needs,” Luongo said. “We are so happy that we were able to assist Paradise Vintage Market and find the right location for them.”
In the past 15 years, digital advertising has become the fastest-growing media player in delivering impressions, engagement and revenue generation. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, digital advertising revenue will overtake television and newspaper for the first time this year with 2021 seeing a 35% increase over 2020. Imagine that. Even after lockdown restrictions lifted, digital still saw hefty increases.
If everyone is streaming content, why is it that television, print and magazines are still around? The digital revolution is still in its adolescence. Many people still love destination television, newspaper crossword puzzles and even reading a magazine in the doctor’s office. Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, or reality television shows like The Voice or The Bachelor, are great examples of how traditional advertising is alive and well.
Let’s use a digital component to target those viewers and follow them through the purchase funnel. There is the sweet spot for advertisers and digital offers so many tools to do this; connected TV, targeted display, native ads, SEM, email marketing, digital radio, social media marketing and more.
We live in a digital mixing bowl. Take NFL football fans, this is an easier target as most of them are checking
scores online or looking for hours of their favorite place to watch the game. Target them throughout their digital journey and with multiple ads for products and services that align with their team. In the early years of digital advertising, we waited for them to come to us. Now, digital marketers follow consumers across the internet.
help with that. too.
Case studies are available on campaigns that have worked with other companies in your category. The first step is finding the right partner to work with. Almost anyone can get your ads on the exchanges and target your audience. What will make them effective is the story. The connection is the answer to why traditional media is still thrives. Digital can get to the target better one-on-one, but traditional media connects to their emotions by using storytelling more effectively.
BY TIM HENNESSY Guest Commentary
One challenge of advertising campaign development is where to allocate budget. It isn’t easy. Almost any medium can work for almost any industry depending on the budget. How do you know which to use, digital or traditional? Simple, both. Think about yourself as a user of Media. Check your iPhone stats and see how long you are on it per day and then think about how much television you are watching or which ads you have seen and where. Beware— you may not be the best person to ask. Find your ideal customer and ask them to help with a little test. You may be surprised. If you are, it is time to research your audience. We can
The perfect campaign doesn’t exist, but the most effective ones use the best research, experience, media, targeting, and most importantly...the story that will connect your brand to your audience. Want to learn more? Drop me a line.
Tim Hennessy spent 25 years in broadcast television and is currently vice president and partner at Rivet Brands. Founded in 2019, Rivet is a full-service branding and advertising agency serving a diverse client base of innovative companies, change-making nonprofits, and entrepreneurial start-ups from its offices in Babcock Ranchand Ann Arbor, Michigan. Visit rivetingbrands.com. contact hi@rivetingbrands.com or (239) 671-7984.
Employment scams rose from third riskiest in 2021 to second riskiest in 2022, according to a new report from the Better Business Bureau. Employment scam reports submitted to BBB Scam Tracker rose 23.1% from 2021. People also lost more money to this scam type in 2022, up 66.7% from 2021 ($900) to 2022 ($1,500). The median dollar loss for employment scams ($1,500) was significantly higher than that of $171 for all scam types.
Online purchase (shopping) scams remained the No. 1 riskiest scam type in 2022. Online purchase scams comprised 31.9% of all scams reported to BBB Scam Tracker in 2022, with 74% of people reporting that they lost money.
Cryptocurrency scams dropped from second to third riskiest due to a drop in reported scams, susceptibility (percentage of those who lose money to a scam) and median dollar loss.
“Employment scams, which peaked at #1 on our list in 2019, are seeing a resurgence,” said Melissa Lanning Trumpower, executive director of the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust, which produced the 2022 BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report. “This is a hightouch scam in which perpetrators spend more time with their targets in the hope of stealing more money from each target. Employment scams tied for the highest median dollar loss of
all scam types.”
More people reported losing money when targeted by websites, social media and email than other contact methods.
Those who were targeted in person reported losing the most significant amount of money ($715), followed by text messages ($579) and phone ($550). Scams perpetrated by text messages increased by 39.6%, from 9.1% in 2021 to 12.7% in 2022.
According to a 2022 report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Crypto romance scammers conned victims out of $139 million last year.
But that’s just one type of scam of many. The FTC also found that more than 46,000 consumers reported losing more than $1 billion in crypto between Jan. 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022. And that might be just the tip of the iceberg—there are likely more victims out there who didn’t report their incidents.
The scammers begin by starting a romantic relationship with a target.
Eventually, they convince their mark to make investments in cryptocurrency, touting crypto as a safe way to earn money. The scammers then gain access to the accounts and steal all the assets before ghosting their target.
40% of people who said they lost money to a romance scam last year said the contact started on social media; 19% said it started on a website or app.
“Cryptocurrencies have the potential to be a safe and valuable alternative to traditional banking and credit
cards,” says Monica Eaton, founder of the world’s first chargeback remediation company, Chargebacks911. “But the lack of regulation leaves consumers with nowhere to turn when they’re scammed. A credit card holder can report misuse and initiate chargebacks on fraudulent purchases. A crypto account holder doesn’t have those protections.”
Eaton advocates strongly for crypto firms to adopt a chargeback mechanism to protect consumers. Consumer protections and dispute management capabilities must be the next step in the
crypto industry, whether companies voluntarily create them, or regulators demand them.
Chargebacks911 is the global leader in chargeback prevention and remediation technology. As a provider or supplier to financial technology companies, Chargebacks911 helps safeguard more than 2.4 billion transactions per year on behalf of clients in 87 countries around the world.
Visit chargebacks911.com or call (877) 634-9808.
Restore Hyper Wellness, the nation’s leading provider of proactive wellness services, opened in Estero. Owned and operated by area residents Nicholas Christiano and Winston Heibner, Restore is located on Estero Town Commons Place.
Restore spotlights the fastest growing segments of wellness, helping people manage persistent pain, decrease signs of aging, improve sleep and focus, boost athletic performance, and strengthen the body’s natural defenses. No matter what your “do more goal” is, Restore has a service to help you care for your body and mind. With expert guidance and on-site Registered Nurses, Restore serves everyone from the fiercely athletic, to those simply looking for affordable and convenient ways to feel their best.
Naples resident Christiano and Sarasota native Heibner are best friends who have traveled the world together, sharing a love for active sports such as skiing and mountain biking. After a long day on the slopes in Utah, Christiano took Heibner to the nearby Restore Hyper Wellness location in order to help them recover from skiing and prepare for their next adventure.
“I was truly amazed that I could feel the impact immediately of the Cryotherapy, Compression, and other services we tried at Restore that day,” Heibner said. “When Nick mentioned wanting to open his own locations in Southwest Florida, I knew I wanted to be part of making these benefits accessible to anyone seeking to do more of what they love.”
Christiano opened his first location in Naples in 2020. When Heibner jumped on board, they opened the Sarasota-University Town Center location in Fall 2021. The entrepreneur duo then acquired two Tampa locations in Westchase and Carrollwood in August of 2022 and have plans to expand with at least 15 locations between Tampa and Southwest Florida in the coming years.
Estero General Manager, Lauren Marshall, sought a place to continue accessing sauna services when she moved from Massachusetts to Naples. She soon discovered Restore Hyper Wellness and, when she learned about the new location opening, she knew her own experience in retail management and fitness would be an asset to the business.
“For me, Restore is about more than the services
we provide – it’s about a certain atmosphere you sense when you step inside – it’s a welcoming community focused on wellness for everyone,” Marshall said. “We’re thrilled to share these resources with everyone in Estero – from active athletes and weekend warriors, to busy moms and seniors seeking to continue living their best lives.”
One of the many cutting-edge services offered at Restore Hyper Wellness is Whole Body Cryotherapy - a cold therapy which immerses the body in temperatures as low as-220 degrees F for up to three minutes. This modality may help the body to promote healing, boost mood and energy, optimize sleep, and defy the signs of aging. Other services offered include: IV Therapy, Red Light Therapy, Biomarker Assessments, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Infrared Sauna, Compression, HydraFacials, Cryoskin treatments and more.
The 2,400 square-foot studio employs a variety of full- and part-time workers, including Hyper Wellness Representatives, Licensed Estheticians, and Registered Nurses under the oversight of independent physicians.
QUESTION: All the self-help books encourage me to develop a business plan. I believe I know how to run my business, so why should I go to the time and trouble of writing it down?
Pulte Homes demonstrated its firstof-a-kind collaboration with Ford Motor Company as the automaker’s new F-150® Lightning all-electric truck rolled into Babcock Ranch and powered the 3,654-square-foot Oakview innovation home.
Nearly 200 guests attended Pulte’s Innovation Under the Stars event previewed the Pulte-Ford collaboration, watching as the truck’s onboard Intelligent Backup Power feature used the vehicle battery to provide power to the two-story, fivebedroom home built with Ford+Sunrun’s home integration system and Ford’s Charge Station Pro technology.
The Oakview is a national Pulte-Ford test site and one of two Pulte test homes exploring cutting-edge technologies, innovations and advanced eco-friendly building systems for improved sustainability, energy and water efficiency, and healthier smarter homes on Innovation Way in Babcock Ranch, America’s first solar-powered town.
“Pulte is proud of our partnerships with Babcock Ranch, Ford and industry leaders in building homes of the future,” said Josh Graeve, president of Pulte’s Southwest Florida Division. “As a living laboratory, the Innovation Way neighborhood gives us the opportunity to test sustainability from different perspectives, including advanced electric vehicle technology as a solution for backup emergency power to homes. There’s incredible potential for creating a critical lifeline for homeowners during natural disasters.”
In additional to powering a home three days or more during an outage, the Ford F-150 Lightning all-electric can also optimize a home’s energy use when bidirectional power is combined with other lower-carbon energy sources to help reduce energy costs, increase use of renewable energy and manage consumption.
The Innovation Under the Stars event also provided a behind-the-scenes look at the latest advancements Pulte incorporated into the Oakview model and the neighboring 2,408-square-foot Cobblestone model. A collaboration between Babcock Ranch developer Kitson & Partners, FP&L, Pulte Homes and other national builders, Innovation Way debuted last spring and is nearly halfway through a two-year testing cycle by Florida Power & Light evaluating and comparing the homes’ energy consumption.
“The data collection and analysis of our Innovation Way homes will be instrumental in helping PulteGroup identify the most relevant and impactful innovations in sustainability for the homebuyers of tomorrow,” Graeve said. “We are always thinking, planning, and testing how our homeowners interact and live within their homes. At Innovation Way, we are making the future right at home with cutting-edge technology and homebuilding strategies that represent a new era of smart, comfortable, healthy, and sustainable living.”
Both innovation homes have Wi-Fi enabled lighting, load centers, thermostats, smart kitchen appliances and FPL backup batteries. Water-saving features include leak prevention systems with real-time monitoring, voice-activated faucets and shower controls, smart recirculating tankless water heaters which learn a household’s water use patterns and deliver faster hot water, and environmentally friendly artificial turf in backyards. The Oakview and Cobblestone feature low-e impact-resistant windows, smart panels monitoring energy use by circuit, face recognition security systems, Wi-Fi deadbolts, spray foam insulation reducing air leakage 83% and energy consumption 40%, and foam block with 6-inch poured solid concrete exterior walls.
ANSWER: Reflecting on my own experiences in growing my business I, too, felt I knew the steps necessary to ensure success. Organizations like SCORE, that offers free business counseling to aspiring entrepreneurs, did not exist at the time. I had my share of successes and failures learned in the “school of hard knocks.” Suffice to say, I would have had fewer failures had I taken the time to develop a strategic business and marketing plan in the beginning stages.
In addition to providing a road map to follow, the business plan is also a valuable document that potential investors and bankers want to see in considering your requests for funding. It’s not enough that you think you know how to run your business, they want to see your thoughts in a concise, well written form. There are a number of outlines available for a nominal fee. SCORE provides a free one you can access at https://tinyurl. com/yc7bnn9x
Lenders and investors are not inclined to read a lengthy and often repetitious document. Ideally, your business plan should not be more than 10 pages, including financial projections. Below are some key questions to answer when creating your plan:
• If you are a startup, do you have the necessary funds to cover your startup costs and monthly operating expenses until you reach the point where income matches or exceeds outgo?
• Who are your target customers
BY GRAY POEHLER Guest Commentary
and what value do you deliver to them? What customer needs or wants will you be satisfying?
• How will you reach your customers? What is your marketing strategy?
• How much are your customers willing to pay for the value you offer? What are they currently paying? What are your pricing tactics?
• What resources are needed to produce your product or service, deliver it to market and make a profit? What kind of infrastructure will it take?
• What is your e-commerce strategy and what role will it play in your business?
• Who is your competition? How will you compete and what are your competitive advantages?
• Do you have a team in place to include an attorney, accountant, insurance agent, etc.? You need to have professionals as part of your team.
Gray Poehler is a volunteer with SCORE Naples. Business counseling on this and other business matters is available, without charge, from the Naples Chapter of SCORE. Call (239) 4300081 or visit https://naples.score.org/ mentors .The SCORE business office is located at 900 Goodlette Road North, in the Fifth Third branch bank building. Office hours are 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday.
A month into the new year, the fact that the Sanibel Causeway has been repaired and is again open to the public is a positive sign of Southwest Florida’s continuing recovery from Hurricane Ian’s devastation and the effects of the pandemic before that.
But the fact that visitors are still discouraged as the community rebuilds is a concern. And it speaks to the good news/bad news environment facing the region’s employers as 2023 progresses.
On one hand, as the Florida Chamber Foundation touted in its annual forecast, population growth, wealth migration, more jobs and economic growth point to a sunny year. Indeed, the Chamber projects the addition of 250,000 jobs this year, with population growth pegged at almost 1,000 people a day. Net annual income migration of $23.7 billion is also expected.
But it’s not all sunshine ahead. Florida can’t escape the impact of inflation on costs, which compounds ongoing supply chain worries. And it’s more at risk than any other state of increasingly costly catastrophic events like Ian. It all has a ripple effect across the economy. Further, for all the jobs being added, the question is whether population growth can keep up with demand: the Chamber estimates that just 62 residents will be looking to fill every 100 open positions.
Here’s what Southwest Florida’s business community should expect for 2023.
Acute shortage of workers
Healthcare’s dearth has reached epidemic proportions; the nursing shortage alone reached 1.1 million positions at the end of 2022. Restaurants are down 750,000 jobs, and hotels 400,000, from 2019 levels, with shortages reported by 87% of lodging operators. And construction has 25% more jobs than it has people to fill them – especially problematic in Florida’s booming construction economy. It makes recruitment and retention a high priority, and benefits are key to success. As important as it is to offer valued benefits to employees, it’s still vital to keep costs in line.
That means starting with enriched benefits that focus
on wellness, along with better leave policies, more flexibility in schedules, and ultimately, packages that are personalized to individual circumstances. Getting there takes strategic use of data analytics and other tools to identify what really matters to people, given where they are at in life and at work.
sive safety measures, such as multi-factor authentication and training, be in place.
Cyber insurance is no longer optional; most major hotel and restaurant organizations, for example, require their franchisees secure it. That may be easier said than done. Capacity is tight as cyber risk grows, plus rates are likely to advance more than 40% from 2022.
But the economic climate means that employers seeking to leverage their health and wellness benefits to protect their workforce are going to have to get creative in how they’re financed. Fully insured medical plan renewals have been coming in at record highs, while the affordability percentage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is at its lowest in the history of the legislation, dropping down to 9.12% from 9.61% in 2022. These challenges coupled with the costs from hurricane damages, it’s putting profitability in a vise.
Technology’s big fix, big risk Tech investment is high on every industry’s list, especially important as a solution to productivity issues and labor shortfalls. But the squeeze on profit margins when borrowing is more costly which means many companies can’t afford tech investment. More than a third of construction firms say the investment is out of reach. But can any industry today afford not to invest?
At the same time, tech solutions pose downsides in terms of heightened exposure to cybercrime, like ransomware and phishing, and especially through web applications. Hospitality, for example, is the third most targeted industry by cyber criminals. A Forrester survey found 75% of construction industry respondents had been exposed in the previous 12 months at an annual cost of about $6 trillion.
Stringent risk management strategies are essential, but difficult as cyber criminals grow increasingly sophisticated. Insurers insist that safety protocols and comprehen-
Even more worrisome than the impact of cybercrime is a risk that is impossible to predict and control. Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida, pushing insured losses past $50 billion.
The impact goes beyond the state’s economy, as it marked the tipping point for insurers on losses. It has pushed premiums through the roof on builders’ risk and residential and commercial property insurance.
This environment is especially problematic for Florida, as the entire state is a catastrophic risk zone. It also has been in a massive construction boom. Rebuilding on top of that, especially for residential construction to keep up with population growth, will add to the pressure. Inability to secure sufficient builders’ risk to satisfy lenders is likely to cause projects to be delayed or cancelled, which will impact economic investment.
The more resiliency organizations can muster during uncertain times, the better they will be positioned for long-term success. A tailored strategy is key for protecting the bottom line and supporting the workforce. It also will take a rigorous program of risk management, with an eye to insurance costs and alternatives, to best meet needs across the board.
Kerri Sisson is Area Vice President for Leading Edge Benefit Advisors, a HUB International Company. Leading Edge was acquired by Hub Florida in November 2020. She is currently serving on the Small Group Advisory Council for United Healthcare as well as the State Insurance Council for the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. Contact (239) 433-4471 or kerri.sisson@hubinternational.com.
the community behind you, the council is going to support it no matter what it is.
“So if you want to say we’re on opposite ends of the spectrum from TPI, how do you get that back to the center? I think what TPI Hospitality did when they went back to the drawing board is that they really brought the community in. They brought people from different parts: they had long-term residents, they had business owners, they had elected officials, they had people that were on committees, all sitting around the table, asking them, ‘What do you think about this? What do you think about that?’ And that’s ultimately how they got to the plan that they have.”
Allers went on, “Now they needed some concessions
“We’re proud of our commitment and our partnerships to help small and medium size businesses continue on their path to recovery long after Ian’s initial impact,” said Aparna Khurjekar, chief revenue officer of Business Markets and SaaS at Verizon Business. “Small businesses are the bedrock of the local communities we serve, and by helping them recover, we’re able to see these communities thrive once again.”
“Verizon Business’s donation in the wake of Hurricane Ian has provided our community’s small businesses with critical relief as recovery efforts continue,” said Sarah Owen, president and CEO of Collaboratory. “There’s a long road ahead of us, and along with caring
“These are really designed to lower the cost of doing business in Florida,” Carlson said, “and they are designed to address a litigation landscape decades in the making.”
But Curry Pacjic, president of the Florida Justice Association, sees an assault on consumers billed as a check on trial attorneys seeking high fees. He said the changes will most hurt those Floridians most exploited either by insurance companies or the clients who allowed harm to befall them.
“Big insurance wants to come in and take away the rights of the most vulnerable, most catastrophically injured people,” Pacjic said.
Hutson, R-St. Augustine, stressed at a committee hearing for his bill that it remains a work in progress.
“This bill’s purpose is to reform this toxic lawsuit environment, reducing nonsense lawsuits while ensuring that our civil justice system treats plaintiffs and defendants fairly,” Hutson said.
As lawmakers raised questions about changes to bad faith laws and requirements for insurers to cover court costs for both sides in settlements, Hutson promised to closely examine provisions. By the time the bill was next heard in the House, an amendment changed the original bill so insurers could only avoid bad faith lawsuits if an offer was tendered within six months of a claim.
Regardless, attorneys remain concerned with other provisions, including some that absolve premise owners of harm done on properties even if they fail to take appropriate measures to protect people. Many point to a highprofile murder last year in the Orlando area where a college student was allegedly murdered by a maintenance worker who entered her apartment.
Todd Michaels, FJA president, is representing the family in a lawsuit against the complex. He said the bill goes too far in absolving landlords.
“In this world, they say, ‘don’t blame us, blame the killer,’” Michaels said. “Fine, but they gave the killer the key.”
to be able to get to the 254 rooms they wanted, but they gave something back to the town. They gave a parking lot that generates $250,000 to $300,000 a year in revenue, that can never be built on again, right on the beach. So they thought outside the box, they made some financial concessions, they made some financial gains.”
Allers pointed out, “TPI went from originally about 20% approval to I would say about 90-95% approval because they listened to the people. They didn’t get exactly what they wanted but they got something that is functional and that is going to change the island forever. They got a very nice piece of property that I think we’re all going to get to enjoy.”
He conceded, “Now our community that we had before the storm is probably going to be much different than the community we’re going to have now. We all know that. Some people are choosing to leave
companies like Verizon Business, Southwest Florida will rebuild into a more resilient region.”
“Small businesses are the backbone of Florida’s economy, so when tragedy strikes or natural disasters hit, like when Hurricane Ian severely impacted Southwest Florida, it’s important that companies, nonprofits, and neighbors throughout the state come together and help them recover. That’s exactly what’s been done here with this $250,000 donation from Verizon, distributed with the help of Florida TaxWatch and Collaboratory,” said Dominic Calabro, president and CEO of Florida TaxWatch. “Florida TaxWatch is honored to partner with Verizon and Collaboratory to advance small business resiliency and ensure that they survive and thrive in Southwest Florida.”
“We are inspired by the resilience of our small busi-
that and don’t want to wait for the five or 10 years it’s going to take to get back to September 27 and what it looked like, or whatever the new look is going to be.”
He is on a mission to learn more about potential buyers and investors. “One of the big things for me is trying to gather the information as to, who are the people who are buying? Is it people looking to invest and just build big buildings? Is it people that are looking to bring their family down here? Is it they’re looking to buy to build a house just to AirBNB or VRBO it? Who’s buying the houses and what is it that they’re going to look for?”
Clearly TPI Hospitality and Margaritaville are a big part of the “do-over” of Fort Myers Beach. Allers concluded, “Who would have thought two years ago that Margaritaville was going to be the kickstart to Fort Myers Beach again?”
ness community in Lee County as they continue to rebuild and recover following Hurricane Ian. While the storm caused significant disruption, we are committed to the goal of not just bouncing back, but coming back stronger than ever before and applaud Verizon for their assistance in making this a reality,” said Brian Hamman, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce.
Small business owner Captain Ozzie Lessinger, who is one of the recipients of a $10,000 grant, said the money has been transformative not just for his fishing business, but for the entire local economy.
“The fishing guide community has been hit extremely hard by Hurricane Ian,” he said. “This grant is making a huge difference for my business, and Verizon’s support of our industry is very much appreciated.”
Set on the scenic Caloosahatchee River in Southwest Florida, Lee County is known as the location of Edison-Ford Winter Estates, where Thomas Edison himself did some of his most innovative work in his on-site laboratory and botanical gardens.
The Edison Awards Executive Director Frank Bonafilia explained, “We’re essentially the Oscars of corporate innovation where we honor gamechanging new products and services on a global basis. Currently in its 36th year, this year the Edison Awards will have over 550 Chief Innovation officers in attendance from around the world, including Apple, Intel, Vantam Housing, Babcock Ranch and Spacemilk.”
Now, through a partnership between the Horizon Council, Horizon Foundation and the City of Fort Myers & Community Redevelopment Agency, Lee County also is the location where modern-day innovation is celebrated through the Edison Awards. Lee County is home to some of the most innovative companies in the United States, including several Edison Award winners.
In 2021, FGCU’s Dr. Sandra Kauanui accepted a Bronze Edison Award for Education – Dynamic Learning Platforms on behalf of the Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship. Also in 2021, Arthrex, a Horizon Foundation member, earned an Edison Award. John Ciocca, a Florida Gulf Coast University entrepreneurship major, was among the 2021 Gold Edison Award winners for his product, youBelong Voice, an app that provides alternative augmentative communication to those with speech disabilities. Additionally, local students took part in
the Innovation Panel and Community Day, both in 2021 and 2022, and many Lee County businesses participated in panel discussions or as sponsors.
The next Edison Awards events will take place April 19 through 21 with a Gala on April 20 at the Luminary Hotel and Caloosa Sound Convention Center in the downtown Fort Myers River District.
This is the third year the event will be held in
Fort Myers. Bonafilia noted, “We’ll also be having exhibits of over 50 new products and be expanding our Community Day and certainly be more involved with the local community.” One way this will be accomplished, he continued, is by donating 100 laptop computers to students this year who might have a difficult time getting their own computers. He added, “We encourage people to go to www.edisonawards. com to get the most current information about the free Community Day on Friday, April 21.”
Given the quick response and strong recovery of Southwest Florida following Hurricane Ian, Lee County will continue to be a spectacular place for the Edison Awards. The community’s resilience and innovative response to the storm has been nothing short of remarkable – and it will make Lee County a beacon as we focus on the sustainability opportunity, to look at regarding post-hurricane best practices for rebuilding the community. Thanks to swift action from government, local businesses and public-private partnerships, there has been a significant investment of resources for loans and business-recovery support. Many businesses quickly reopened or adapted their business model to continue their operations. Employees were retrained to serve in other capacities such as construction, recovery and repair roles. As a result, Lee County is recovering and continues to offer vistas and experiences that brighten and inspire innovative minds.
EDISON See page 7
“The Edison Awards are essentially building a bridge from the greatest innovation success stories of the past to today’s top innovators who are changing the world. We continue to build on Thomas Edison’s legacy by inviting the Edison Award winning teams to Fort Myers to celebrate their successes and learn from them.”
— Frank Bonafilia, Edison Awards Executive Director
The Edison Awards will also be announcing its 2023 Lewis Latimer Fellows. This accelerator platform is designed to celebrate, connect and bring together a community of innovative black thought leaders. Launched in 2022, the program, named in honor of Thomas Edison’s principal collaborator Lewis Latimer, embraces a core philosophy of driving innovation with profit with purpose.
Lewis Howard Latimer (1848–1928) was an African-American patent draftsman and inventor who worked with Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison in the post-Civil War era. His name will be forever associated with two of the most revolutionary inventions of all time: the telephone and the incandescent electric light bulb.
By channeling Latimer’s spirit and genius, the Edison Awards recognized that it was time to fully celebrate and acknowledge black, modern-day innovators who remain largely hidden in the long shadows cast by cultural institutions that have benefited from their innovations.
The Edison Awards introduced this accelerator program for black innovators who show the same passion and dedication to innovation that Latimer demonstrated. Modeled after Y Combinator and the McArthur Genius Award, the Lewis Latimer Fellowship is designed to provide special access to the Edison Awards corporate innovation network, mentorship and capital to an annual cohort of six black innovators per year, connecting these brilliant minds to forward-leaning, innovative corporations that appreciate the power of diversity.
“It has become urgent that we create a new collective of modern-day black superheroes / role models that inject optimism into our culture,” says Jon Cropper, Co-founder of the Lewis Latimer Foundation. “We reviewed over 100 applicants in 2021-22 and found this initial ‘Friendship 6’ group best reflected Latimer’s vision and persona. Our dream is to ‘manufacture’ a community of future Latimers who embrace a core philosophy of “driving innovation with profit with purpose,” to grow the community of black innovators, and to encourage regular dialogue and idea exchange.
The inaugural Lewis Latimer Fellows included:
• Dario Calmese, photographer known for being the first African American to photograph the cover of Vanity Fair
• Ayanna Holloway Arce, Associate Professor of Physics at Duke University
• Rayvon Fouche, Division Director, Social and Economic Sciences – National Science Foundation and Professor of American Studies, School of Interdisciplinary Studies -Purdue University
• Audrey Bowden, Associate Professor of Bio-
Above: (l-r) Latimer Fellows Dr. Asegun Henry, Dr. Andrea Bowen, Dr. Ayana Arce, Dario Calmese and Byron Jones shown here with Fellowship co-founder Jon Cropper (4th from left), Carmichael Roberts (center) and Fellowship co-founder Frank Bonafilia (2nd from right). Left: Cropper smiles while Jones answers a question.
Below: Latimer Fellow Bowen.
medical and Electrical Engineering-Vanderbilt University
• Asegun Henry, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT
• Byron Jones, Cornerback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) Learn more at: https://edisonawards.com/latimer-fellowship.php
Without question, the water industry is evolving and facing new – and old – challenges: water scarcity, extreme weather and droughts, water quality and aging infrastructure, to name a few. The industry has a great opportunity to think differently about what the future of water will look like and how we get there.
only expected to worsen. Looking at the results of the Black & Veatch survey in light of recent water crisis-related headlines, it is clear the time for bold action is now.
BY MIKE ORTH Guest Columnist
Black & Veatch’s 2022 Water Report, based on expert analyses of a survey of more than 300 stakeholders in America’s water, wastewater and stormwater sectors, illustrates that water industry decision-makers are embracing change and the opportunity it presents.
The challenge of age was a major theme in the report, and it showed up in two main areas: workforce and infrastructure. As workers age out of the water utility industry and retire, taking their institutional knowledge of complex systems with them, there aren’t enough skilled workers to replace them. Aging water and sewer infrastructure, such as leaky pipelines, waste billions of gallons of water annually. Unsurprisingly, workforce-related issues were top of mind in the Black & Veatch survey rankings, with the challenge of hiring qualified staff now climbing to No. 2, behind aging infrastructure.
Another finding from the Black & Veatch report is
that sustainability and decarbonization have emerged as pressures the industry no longer can ignore. The need for sustainability – and how decarbonization can and should fit into sustainability goals – is at the forefront of conversations as water and wastewater utility decision-makers are more aware of the need to get greener. Overall, nearly two-thirds of respondents consider sustainability a critical strategic focus in the water sector, and 72% of respondents now say their enterprise has sustainability goals and means to measure them. Slightly more than half say separately they’ve adopted sustainability goals without pressure from community or regulatory forces.
Across the U.S. and in many other countries, water issues are becoming more prevalent and are
One way to do this is to reuse water and optimize every drop. The concept of wastewater being treated and reused as drinking water, while sometimes met with skepticism, is being employed throughout the world. These are safe and effective processes that leverage cutting-edge digital sensors that provide realtime feedback on water quality. With the right levels of investment and concerted efforts by civic leaders to overcome the public’s misconceptions around water reuse, water reuse practices have the potential to make a significant difference.
Another area to explore is to look for new sources of water. While desalination technology has existed for years, it is getting renewed interest as a response to recent extreme heat and drought. Desalination alone won’t solve the water crisis, but it is a valuable part of the effort to balance supply and demand challenges. Technologies continue to improve to address the environmental impact, costs and energy efficiency of desalination facilities.
While the Black & Veatch survey emphasizes the many challenges facing the water industry today, it also illustrates the opportunity to think in new ways about what is possible in addressing these pain points. With more investment and bold action, we can secure our water future.
Mike Orth is president of Governments and Environments at Black & Veatch. Contact him at (913) 4582000.
BY DIANE ZHOU Guest Columnist
The movement of people and goods from place to place has been an inherent part of our lives throughout history. Transportation hubs have influenced the rise and fall of great cities and nations. From arterial roads built for horses and carriages emanating from the core of the Roman Empire, to ships and the waterways that powered Britain’s Industrial Revolution, to the rise of the personal vehicle and the creation of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System, the key to economic influence has long resided with those who control movement across land, air, and sea.
What will power the next major shift in transportation? Will it be autonomous robots, delivery drones, electric helicopters, or sidewalk robots? How do we rethink mobility to redesign the way we live in our future cities in a way that is affordable, equitable, and accessible while also being delightful and convenient? And what does smart transportation really mean?
The Economist recently reported that transportation patterns have shifted for good post-COVID, moving away from a hub and spoke system to a spi-
derweb pattern with fewer, shorter journeys. Now that people travel less predictably, there is a stronger case for mobility-as-a-service and on-demand buses and shared vans. We are at an age where sensors are cheap, high-speed networks are robust, data is plentiful, and machine-learning algorithms and dashboards allow us to recognize patterns and manage movement effectively.
Smart transportation systems focus on the movement of people and goods utilizing new and innovative modes and the physical and digital infrastructure that power these systems. When thinking through smart transportation areas, it is oftentimes important to understand the outcomes these technologies will
affect, rather than the pure capabilities of the technologies themselves. A self-driving car offers more productive hours in the day and safer roads, if implemented correctly. A decarbonized global trucking network can reduce greenhouses gases by more than 20%. Autonomous transport of goods can improve supply chains and resiliency. A high-speed magnetically levitating train allows one to work in one city while being able to return home to family at night in another. Shared mobility systems offer the potential to better utilize existing infrastructure assets.
The 2023 Edison Awards Smart Transportation categories welcomes submissions by companies working on these innovative products and services that enable the advent of the future of transportation.
Diane Zhou is a Venture Partner at Eclipse Ventures. Previously, Diana was the Senior Director of Global Business Development at Virgin Hyperloop and led the company’s go-to-market initiatives around the world to deploy and deliver hyperloop transportation projects through public-private partnerships with governments and private entities. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPA-International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School, where her focus was on the intersection of business, technology, and economic development.
This year’s Edison Achievement Award Honorees truly embody innovation
Sir Jonathan Ive was the head of design at Apple,Inc. for 20+ years. He now leads LoveFrom, a creative collective of designers, architects, musicians, filmmakers, writers, engineers & artists.
Patrick Gelsinger has spent much of his career in Silicon Valley. With his leadership, Intel has become the preeminent microprocessor supplier and its expansion has led to the construction of multiple billion-dollar manufacturing plants.
For over 25 years, Antenna Group has unified industry insiders, strategic thinkers, and mission-driven marketers, PR, and public affairs professionals to amplify the stories of the world’s most exciting and disruptive companies across climate tech, real estate/ proptech, mobility and health.
Our unmatched domain expertise and global purview have enabled us to build compelling brands and achieve growth objectives with precision and creativity – all with the goal of elevating critical innovations and helping our clients’ solutions reach mass adoption (powering a new age we’re calling, the Age of Adoption). We are thrilled that this has resulted in many of our clients being recognized as Edison Award Finalists over the years, and in us receiving the inaugural Innovation Agency of the Year award.
“Antenna is privileged to work alongside the great innovators of our generation. We are eager to enable the adoption of critical, climate-saving solutions and are thankful to The Edison Awards for acknowledging Antenna’s successes, as well as those of our clients, as we advance this mission.” –
Christa Segalini, Chief Client Officer
In accepting this award, we make three promises to the community of companies driven by innovation that Antenna Group was founded to serve:
• We remain committed to telling the story of next gen climate innovation.
• We will use our expertise to propel the mass adoption of solutions that will enable a more sustainable future.
• We’re ready to tell your story.
Let’s get started.
For more information on the Antenna Group, visit antennagroup.com
Innovation: Smart Elderly Care Solution for Nursing Homes
Category/Subcategory: Engineering & Robotics / Medtech
Established in March 2012, UBTECH Robotics is a world leading AI and robotics company. UBTECH’s footprints span humanoid robot’s research, manufacture and marketing. UBTECH focuses on AI technology and robotic advanced development, application and commercialization.
The company has developed many key robotics-related technologies over the years. Based on these advanced technologies, UBTECH launched a series of service robots for commercial and personal/family use respectively.
The idea was originated in 2018 to create a personal robot for assisting senior people. We transformed the idea from creating a single robot to integrating different types of robots, smart devices, sensors, and AI, based on the market research and interviews with administrators and caregivers. Most of the people wanted robots and AI to help them
Innovation: AmberSemi’s Silicon Chip
at various life domains, which motivated the redesign of the robots and the design of the whole integrated solution. All robotic prototypes had the 2nd iteration based on the user feedback. The whole system was integrated with the software service platform and other smart devices in 2021 and validated at a real nursing home.
The whole solution provides assistance to the seniors in both physical and psychological ways. The seniors could be transported autonomously using PathFynder, assisted for walking and the physical rehabilitation using Wassi. They also get reminded of their agenda and could communicate naturally with Welli. The caregivers could send items, without walking, to people using OSDR and sensitive items using DR. All the robotic functions are automated coordinated and planned using the cloud service platform. This solution creates 24/7 service for nursing homes.
Category/Subcategory: Engineering & Robotics / Commercial Technology
Amber is a young Silicon Valley semiconductor company with technology breakthroughs in electricity. They found a way to control electricity through software – in silicon chips, replacing today’s standard 1950’s era electromechnical technologies, with safer, smaller, smarter (IoT, AI), more reliable and energy efficient silicon chips. It is a modernization of almost every product on earth that needs electricity, such as, circuit breakers, EV chargers, solar power systems, appliances, AC Direct Microcontrollers, AC Direct Wireless chips, light switches, motors smoke detectors, thermostats and so many more.
If Thomas Edison came back to life today,
he would be THRILLED that our building electrical infrastructure was based on his legacy discoveries…. Until he saw an iPhone or a PC…. He would then be appalled that we use old tech - metal parts opening and closing with dangerous arcs to manage electricity. Amber’s technologies, instead, use modern software, in silicon chips, to manage electricity.
Proven solid-state architecture (silicon chips) are more reliable, safer and vastly more intelligent and established for more than 60 years. Yet, electricity in the building electrical grid and electrical products have never seen this innovation, until Amber’s discoveries.
Innovation: Nose It All™
Innovation: Qnergy CAP3Nano
Category/Subcategory: Sustainability / Clean Energy
This innovation started with NASA asking how to generate electricity on the moon! The extreme temperatures and cold preclude conventional rotary engines that require lubricants and frequent maintenance. And of course, in space there is no oxygen for combustion. The answer is a linear heat engine.
The context that gives the innovation life is the urgent need to eliminate methane from venting into the atmosphere. Scientists now know that for the first 20 years that methane is allowed to escape into the atmosphere, that it has 84X the warming effect of CO2. Therefore every lost molecule of methane is not just a lost economic opportunity as a useful fuel, but it is extremely harmful to the environment.
Today, Qnergy’s PowerGen 5650, a 5.65 kW external combustion engine produced from the original design de-
Innovation: Vivistim® Paired VNS™ System
Category/Subcategory: Health, Medical & Biotech / Advanced Therapeutics
MicroTransponder®, Inc. introduces the FDAapproved Vivistim® Paired VNS™ System to help ischemic stroke survivors improve their hand and arm function 2-3 times more than traditional rehabilitation therapy in just 6 weeks. Now available at comprehensive stroke centers and rehabilitation centers across the country, Vivistim simultaneously pairs vagus nerve stimulation with physical or occupational therapy to help create or strengthen neural connections to improve upper limb function and increase the relevance of rehabilitation therapy.
Neurorehabilitation experts tout the Vivistim® System as a gamechanger because it is
Category/Subcategory: Health, Medical & Biotech / Advanced Therapeutics
Nose It AllTM was created to be the first patented, medical-grade oral device designed to stop nosebleeds at the source.
By tourniqueting the arteries responsible, bypassing the nasal cavity completely and allowing users to breathe freely, we created a solution for stopping nosebleeds that works up to 5x faster than any traditional treatment.
Nosebleeds are a common occurrence for 60M people each year in the US alone, with 15% of cases being chronic. While most nosebleeds are not a medical emergency, they are wholly unpredictable – messy, embarrassing, leaving sufferers to search frantically for a way to stop them fast.
Matt Ibarra, creator of Nose It All, was a chronic nosebleed sufferer himself, and father to three chil-
dren who all suffered chronic nosebleeds. On a summer camping trip in 2008 in the Sierra Nevadas, Matt’s 5-yearold approached him with a gusher of a nosebleed. Without wipes, tissues, or towels handy, a friend pulls out a napkin saying, “Let me try something I learned in the Boy Scouts,” and proceeded to roll a piece and place it under his son’s upper lip, pressing it upwards toward his nose. In minutes, the nosebleed stopped almost magically, while the boy breathed freely. All they had was that one napkin – and that’s all they needed.
Matt decided to design a device that would mimic and improve upon this technique that became Nose
It All’s patented “bite tab,” providing a hands-free, plug-free solution that works in as little as three minutes to stop a nosebleed completely.
the first innovation to enhance the effectiveness of stroke rehabilitation therapy and improve motor function in nearly 30 years. Every year about 800,000 people in the US have a stroke, and 60 percent of stroke survivors have persistent upper limb issues for 6 months or more. Americans spend nearly $8.2B on home healthcare for stroke with an estimated $17.5B in lost wages yearly. After 13 years of research, innovation, pre-clinical trials and a pivotal trial, the FDA approved the first-ofits-kind Vivistim System to treat moderate to severe upper extremity motor deficits so that ischemic stroke survivors can regain their ability to perform activities of daily living.
livered to NASA, can take any gaseous fuel and convert it into utility grade electricity and useful heat with no required scheduled maintenance for 80,000 continuous operating hours. Dubbed by NASA as “the longest running heat engine in the history of civilization,” the PowerGen provides reliable remote power anywhere we can access methane.
Now the other half of the innovation is combining the PowerGen with our constructed CAP3Nano. Qnergy designed the PowerGen CAP3Nano system to help energy clients eliminate methane emissions from offgrid natural gas wellpads.
Our results over hundreds of deployments show up to 20 tons of methane, 160 tons of CO2e abated each year per wellpad. Qnergy is helping the energy industry achieve net zero methane emissions for cleaner energy and a cleaner world.
Innovation: Gx Sweat Patch
Category/Subcategory: Personal Technology (and Gadgets) / Smart Wearable
Our core technology was developed at Northwestern’s Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics. For decades, sports scientists and athletes have sought remote solutions to address the growing challenge of managing dehydration in athletes. Epicore Biosystems was incorporated in 2017 to tackle the personalized hydration management by developing a point of care wearable microfluidic device with onboard biosensors. We prototyped and gathered customer feedback with Gatorade labs, which resulted in the first ever wearable sweat sensor product – the Gx Sweat Patch.
Fitness enthusiasts and athletes can now track their hydration biomarkers instantly dur-
Innovation: PillBot™
Category/Subcategory: Game Changer
PillBot™ transforms a typical patient journey, one of gatekeeping, months of negotiation with insurance providers, test diets, drug regimens, and financial hurdles, into a simple zoom call from home. To date we are the only robot pill platform that operates under its own power, making PillBot™ a unique telemedicine offering.
The dream of micro-robotics inside the human body comes straight from the world of science fiction. If our ultimate goal is rice grain-sized brain surgeon robots, how do we get the adventure started?
We were inspired by the 2014 sale of the passive pill camera company Given Imaging to Covidien (now Medtronic). Our mission is to activate the pill camera by making it move under its own power, and to begin adding a series of tools to the platform to go beyond diagnostics into treatment. To date Pillbot™ by Endiatx is the only
ing physical exercise. The Gx Sweat Patch now enables personalized hydration management across different activities and environments in the real world.
By 2050 the world will see 50+ more high heat days per year, negatively impacting the health of everyone. Dehydration leads to significant performance degradation and chronic dehydration accumulates into negative long term health effects, similar to concussions. A low cost, non-invasive, ecofriendly, point of care diagnostic platform enabled by our wearable microfluidic technology provides enormous benefits, thereby by empowering people to take control of their daily health needs.
electronic capsule that can move under its own power outside of any hospital or clinic - perfect for telemedicine.
We also decided to make the upper endoscopy 10x cheaper, and 10x more accessible, treat patients with dignity, and catch cancers years earlier while we can still cure them!
We are currently testing Pillbot™ inside our own bodies. PillBot™ costs $50 to make and sells for $500 like a pill camera.
We transform the accumulated waste of an average of 5 trips to the hospital into just a few grams of plastic and e-waste. This is orders of magnitude less material impact on planet Earth.
PillBot™ brings world-class telemedicine to the far reaches of the world.
PillBot™ sets the stage for Pill Surgeon™, and beyond.
We’ve all heard the saying, “Innovators never stop asking why.”
The Edison Awards have taken this saying to the next level and are using numerous ways to encourage our youth of today to innovate, invent and inspire. To see how the Edison Awards are impacting local youth and encouraging innovation in our future generations, Community Day was created and takes place this year on Friday April 21 from 9:am – 1:pm. There is no admission fee and it is open to the entire local community. For more information, go to edisonawards.com .
Attendees are welcome to tour the Innovator’s Showcase, which includes new product exhibits from around the globe; watch a “Shark Tank” Professional Athletes Pitch Panel, meet the Young Edison Challenge winners and see the Student Pitch Panel. This year, the Edison Awards is also giving away 100 laptop computers, via a grant received from the Gates Foundation, to students who might otherwise be unable to purchase one.
Another way the Edison Awards is encouraging youth innovation is through the international Young Edison Challenge, sponsored by the Charlotte Community Foundation, which is based in Charlotte County Florida.
The objectives behind the Young Edison Challenge, as part of the Edison Awards, are to build the winner’s resume and win funding for a project, while improving our communities and moving society forward through innovation.
Ashley Maher, Chief Executive Officer of the Charlotte Community Foundation, and which sponsors The Young Edison Challenge, has been a driving force behind the development of the Young Edison Challenge.
Maher joined the Charlotte Community Foundation in March 2017 as the Director of Development and Marketing. Shortly after in 2018, Maher served as the Interim Executive Director and was named the new Executive Director in August. The following year, Maher became Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation. Maher tripled the assets of CCF in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to provide significant year over year growth in assets while working through Hurricane Irma, the 2022 tornadoes, Hurricane Ian and Nicole.
She noted, “The foundation’s participation with the Edison Awards and the Young Edison Challenge specifically, is a testament to our foundation donors, who allow us to move forward, creating opportunities, making investments in people and the longterm.”
The Young Edison Challenge, Maher explained, came about because sponsors of the Edison Awards event asked the question, “How can we partner to better enhance and develop other areas of the Awards, such as encouraging innovation for our future, in our youth?” She noted that the next question to then answer was, “How can we create a safe space within the Edison Awards that inspires young minds to create, develop and grow innovative ideas?” She pointed out that 2022 was the first full year that included applicants. “We had over 60 applicants from 10 nations and 13 U.S. states.”
Ashley Kennedy, a Young Edison Challenge medalist, shared, “I was urged to apply for this award by my entrepreneurship instructor.” She continued, “Not only is it an amazing opportunity but it is also a good platform for a young person’s product and an amazing resource to have! It’s also kind of a built-in network for you and your company.”
as the catalyst that opened up opportunities for us to get involved in several other youth-focused innovation development programs.”
This includes the announcement on behalf of the Charlotte Community Foundation at last year’s Edison Awards that the first Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) High School in the State of Florida will be at Babcock Ranch, supported by Black & Veatch. CAPS, which is headquartered in Kansas, currently has more than 100 affiliate partners in 30 states. This project has taken years of collaborative work and Maher shared that they are hoping to roll out the CAPS program, which revolutionizes how we look at education and how it feeds the local economy, at Babcock High School this fall.
Clint Robinson of Black & Veatch and a founding board member of the CAPS program, explains, “Fundamentally, the CAPS program gives students ‘real world’ learning opportunities.” He continued, “Moreover, with the involvement of the local business community, the program can be customized to meet the workforce needs of each specific local community.”
Maher pointed out, “Shannon Treece, Executive Director at Babcock Schools, reached out to us for participation in both the Edison Awards and the CAPS program.” Not every high school that applies for participation is accepted by CAPS, she added, so for BHS to be accepted is quite an accomplishment.
Treece notes, “I love learning and serving in the field of education. I believe in educational reform and innovative learning experiences daily for the students entrusted to my care.”
munity, which provide both leadership and a strong foundation for the development of this program. It will be amazing to see what happens!”
The final event of the day, also encouraging youth innovation, is the Student Pitch Panel. Danny Aguirre, of Blue Waters Development Group, is returning this year as a panel judge. BWDG is behind many development projects in the local area, including Island Pearl, a commercial site positioned at the gateway entrance to the nature island communities of Matlacha Island and Pine Island, and Victory Park, an innovative 140-acre master-planned development located in the northeast region of Cape Coral.
Aguirre shared, “As a local company, we saw the many benefits to our region of supporting an event like this with a well-established and stellar international reputation. On top of that, this event supports education, innovation and entrepreneurship—which are all points we want to support here locally whenever we can.”
When asked how he became involved with Edison Awards Student Pitch judging, he replied, “Our company is heavily involved in supporting education in this region’s community, so it was a natural fit for me, and our company, to get involved.”
He continued, “Working with these students, and helping them to develop their innovative ideas into solid business plans, is key to our future success as a community.
The Center for Advanced Professional Studies
Maher continued, “For the foundation, getting involved with the Young Edison Challenge served
Maher stated, “CCF, which provided the start-up costs for the program at BHS, is very fortunate to have these relationships with the teams at CAPS and Babcock High School, and our local business com-
So now is the time for our local business community to become involved in events such as this one— to collaborate and focus on developing our future workforce.” Aguirre concluded, “It is our local involvement in international and impactful programs like these that will shape our future pipeline for the local workforce.”
Patrick Gelsinger is CEO of Intel and serves on its board. On Feb. 15, 2021, Gelsinger returned to Intel, where he spent the first 30 years of his career. He began his career in 1979 at Intel, becoming its first chief technology officer and serving as senior vice president and general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group. He managed creation of key industry technologies such as USB and Wi-Fi and was architect of the original 80486 processor, led 14 microprocessor programs and played key roles in the Intel® Core™ and Intel® Xeon® processor families, leading to Intel becoming the preeminent microprocessor supplier.
Before rejoining Intel, Gelsinger was CEO of VMware, which he transformed into a recognized global leader in cloud infrastructure, enterprise mobility and cyber security – almost tripling the company’s annual revenues. Gelsinger
Sir Jonathan Ive KBE is a designer.
He joined Apple in 1992. As chief design officer, Jony was responsible for all hardware, user interface and packaging design, as well as the major architectural projects Apple Park and Apple retail stores. He led the design team for more than two decades, creating the iMac, PowerBook, MacBook, iBook, iPod, iPhone, iPad, AppleWatch, AirPods and HomePod.
Co-founder Steve Jobs referred to Jony as his creative partner.
He holds more than 14,000 patents worldwide, uniquely spanning both software and hardware design.
Born in London, Jony studied industrial design at college. He was appointed a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI)
was ranked by Glassdoor as the best CEO in America in 2019. Prior to joining VMware in 2012, Gelsinger was president and chief operating officer of EMC’s Information Infrastructure Products business, overseeing engineering and operations for information storage, data computing, backup and recovery, RSA security and enterprise solutions.
Gelsinger earned several degrees in electrical engineering: an associate degree from Lincoln Technical Institute, a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University and a master’s degree from Stanford University. He holds eight patents in the areas of VLSI design, computer architecture and communications, is an IEEE Fellow, and serves as a member of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. He is also a published author and speaks frequently on faith, work and philanthropy.
in 2003, an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (HonFREng) in 2006. Jony was awarded the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin Medal in 2004 and the Professor Stephen Hawking Fellowship by the Cambridge Union Society in 2018. He holds honorary doctorates from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Rhode Island School of Design, University of the Arts London and the Royal College of Art, where he currently serves as chancellor.
In 2019, Jony and long-time friend and collaborator Marc Newson gathered the creative collective LoveFrom, which includes Airbnb, Apple and Ferrari amongst its first collaborators. Jony is frequently voted one of Britain’s most culturally influential figures.
Support from Lee County’s private sector ensures a thriving business climate for Lee County. The Horizon Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization with the mission and purpose to support, foster and encourage the economic development and diversity of business interests in Lee County, Florida. The Foundation provides financial, advisory and other support for the Lee County Economic Development Office (EDO) and the Horizon Council as well as financial and other support to other organizations and entities that the Foundation determines will promote and complement the interests and mission of the Foundation, the EDO, and/or the Horizon Council. For more information visit www.leecountybusiness.com.
Known as the “City of Palms,” Fort Myers is a thriving destination on the Caloosahatchee rich in history, culture, commerce and nature. Since the early 1800s, settlers and visitors have sought out Fort Myers, most notably inventor Thomas A. Edison, who built his home, laboratory and botanical gardens between the river and McGregor Boulevard.
Meet professional athletes
Byron Jones and Winston Justice.
Experience live-demos of award winning innovations at the 2023 Edison Awards Community Day, as we remember that learning is a lifetime endeavor!
Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson shared, “As the city continues to grow in both emerging and established industries, we recognize that hosting the Edison Awards in our historic Downtown solidifies Fort Myers as a viable and exciting market for the world’s top companies. Fort Myers affords such companies a great location for growth, capable workforce, housing opportunities and high-demand lifestyle amenities. The lineup at this year’s Edison Awards is extraordinary and we look forward to hosting the event here for at least the next five years.”
Bonafilia noted, “The Edison Awards are essentially building a bridge from the greatest innovation success stories of the past to today’s top innovators who are changing the world. We continue to build on Thomas Edison’s legacy by inviting the Edison Award winning teams to Fort Myers to celebrate their successes and learn from them.”
Celebrating the spirit of Innovation and Invention as a proud supporter of the Edison Awards.
Blue Waters Development Group, LLC (“BWDG”) is a full-service real estate development company focused on Private Equity, Asset Management and Property Development services. The company is comprised of a diversified group of professionals with over 100 years combined experience in the Hospitality, Healthcare, Multifamily, Office, Retail, and Industrial sectors. The BWDG team excels at maximizing the valuation of assets by increasing productivity and gross revenues and lowering operational costs.
Our synergistic approach to each project allows true collaboration between our team, business partners and affiliates that enables the delivery of quality end-products that are unique to the market. BWDG is dedicated to sustainable growth, innovation and building healthy and strong partnerships.
