BC Jan 2017

SPECIAL SECTION

SPECIAL SECTION 57

Creating a Safe Place for Bees

Airports around the globe are offering up their extra land and green space for an environmentally beneficial cause: saving the honeybees. Pensacola International Airport Director Dan Flynn talks local honeybee health and strategies to form pollinator task forces and educational initiatives for the public.

¡ OTHER STORIES ¡

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Dr. Martha Saunders prepares to take the helm of UWF Discover what Dr. Martha Saunders has in store for the University of West Florida as she discusses her own past with the university as a student and staff member, why she decided to make the leap to president, as well as the short and long-term goals she aims to achieve in office.

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The Idea Protection Business

What is intellectual property and why is there an entire field of law dedicated to it? We find out as we delve into the idea protection business with local intellectual property specialist and patent attorney, Nevin Shaffer, Jr., who also instructs the new intellectual property law course at the University of West Florida.

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Around the Region

Find out what is happening in business, government and cultural news in the greater pensacola area and northwest florida.

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Education

Dr. Martha Saunders prepares to take the helm of UWF

By Hana Frenette On Jan. 1, Dr. Martha Saunders will take over the helm of the University of West Florida, as she becomes the sixth president of the university. Saunders has served as provost and vice president since 2013 and has ample experience in university leadership. She served as the chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater from 2005 to 2007 and president at the University of Southern Mississippi from 2007 to 2012.

Saunders began her career at UWF in 1984 as a professor in the Department of Communication Arts, where she then became coordinator of the Public Relations Program.

After becoming the director of the University Honors Program, she was named dean of the UWF College of Arts and Sciences.

She believes UWF is well on it’s way to establishing a national and international voice in higher education, and she’s already working on a set of long-term goals for the university.

You began your career at UWF in 1984 as a professor in the Department of Communication Arts—which courses were you teaching, what was your specialization, your passion?

I taught all of the public relations courses — including introduction to public relations, public relations case studies, public relations research and writing for public relations. My research focus was on crisis communication and I published frequently on that topic.

You have a master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia and a doctorate in communication theory and research from Florida State University— what drew you to journalism, and what were some of the topics and issues you enjoyed discussing?

I have a number of journalists in my family and was always drawn to reporting the news.

There was never a question in my mind that journalism was going to be my profession. I took a slight detour as life took me in other

directions, but I landed squarely back in communications in the end.

Were any immediate family members really inspiring to you?

I had a cousin, his name is Charles Dunagin, and he wrote for the McComb Enterprise Journal, and he spent his early days covering the civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss.— for which he managed to have a cross burned in his yard; covering that kind of news was risky. Another cousin, Charles’ brother Ralph Dunagin, also worked as a syndicated cartoonist in Orlando for the Orlando Sentinel.

At any point did you aspire to work in a newsroom or for a publication?

Yes but the timing never worked out for me.

My very first job as a teenager was as a stringer for the Hattiesburg American. I was sure I was going to be a journalist, so it made sense to work for them. They hired me to report on high school news for something like a flat rate $25 a month. Leonard Lowery was the editor at the time.

Did you begin your career at UWF with leadership, or presidential leadership as an eventual goal, or did you see yourself predominantly continuing to teach?

I had no thoughts of leadership at the time. I was thrilled to be a fulltime faculty member and loved every minute of it.

You served as chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater from 2005–2007, and were president at the University of Southern Mississippi from 2007–2012— what did you take away from those roles that you feel you will bring to the University of West Florida?

I have a clear understanding of the role of a university president and the demands on individuals in those roles. A university president has to be all things to a lot of different constituents. I believe I have the breadth of experience to know which hat to wear and when to wear it.

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Education

“

U WF is on am important trajectory with a lot of good things happening. We’re also at a fragile point in our development. I think I have the ability to get us through the next few years and make us even stronger.”

When did the idea of becoming the next president at UWF become a possibility or a goal?

It became a possibility when Judy Bense announced she was stepping down. It had not been a goal for me until then and I did a great deal of soul-searching before applying.

Why did you want to become president?

I wanted to finish the work I had started.

UWF is on am important trajectory with a lot of good things happening. We’re also at a fragile point in our development. I think I have the ability to get us through the next few years and make us even stronger.

What are some of the short and long-term goals you’d like to accomplish once in office?

Short term: maintaining our commitment to the highest quality education possible for our students. I want to continue investing in our students’ futures—their abilities to get good jobs when they graduate. Longer term: upgrade campus facilities, establish

stronger presence in downtown Pensacola & Fort Walton Beach, stronger partnerships with the state colleges, and increased online programming.

You mentioned there are a lot of good things happening for UWF right now— What are some of the biggest wins for the University in the past few years and how would you like to build off those?

We’ve established some programs for which I believe we can be known for. I’ve been in lots of places, and I would certainly hold our academic programs up against the best, some—including many of engineering programs, logistics and daily training and management program and anything in health—slated to be certainly nationally and even internationally known. I think we were an early adopter in distance learning—30 percent of our learning is online, and I believe we can leverage that to do even more and perhaps extend the reach of the university globally. Northwest Florida is the last part of Florida to truly be developed and there’s

room for new industry to come in, plus we have lots of space, with the university in the center of it. I believe the university can be a key element in growing the economic development of this region.

What leaders do you look up to or admire?

So many come to mind: Diana Natalicio, president of University of Texas at El Paso has inspired me for years. She’s a long-serving president with an incredible understanding of changes in higher education.

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Enterprise

The Idea Protection Business

by Dawn Gresko

While modern society has laws and rules in place to protect our physical property—from damage and theft to our homes and the items found within, you might ask: What kind of protections do we have available for our intellectual property?

What’s to stop the theft of our inventions, which are oftentimes intangible ideas? Here enters intellectual property law, or IP law, which covers four main areas: patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.

So, just how do we define intellectual property?

In short, intellectual property can be summed up as a creation of the mind—an idea, a piece of work, or an invention created uniquely by you.

However, to better understand the inner workings of intellectual property law, Business Climate spoke with expert J. Nevin Shaffer, Jr.—a Florida Board Certified Intellectual Property Law Specialist and Licensed Patent Attorney, who is registered in three states (Florida, Alabama and Texas), as well as adjunct professor of the new intellectual property law course at the University of West Florida’s Department of Accounting and Finance.

“I love what I do, I always say it’s the idea protection business,” said Shaffer. “Most lawyers you hire when something bad happens. My job is to protect a new little idea and make sure it grows up.”

As professor of the intellectual property law course at the UWF, which held its inaugural session this fall, Shaffer teaches a proper understanding of how to protect a business from competitors by developing IP protection plans for businesses in this introductory course. And, if you were thinking the class is strictly for pre-law students, think again. In fact, it might help to know there are no pre-requisites required.

“My objective is to have intellectual property as a required course at UWF,” said Shaffer. “Why? It’s not just valuable to pre-law students but to those in various fields—folks who are business majors or want to become accountants.”

For a real-world perspective, Shaffer has invited several local business people including leaders Julie Sheppard of IMHC, Kelly Massey and Glenn McDuffy of SBDC, John and Marsha Martelli of Martelli Enterprises, litigation

attorneys J.D. Smith and Brian Hancock, as well as Joel Smith of AppRiver and Mike Droogsma of Broussard’s Bayou Grill & Cajun Market.

These special guest speakers talk to students about how intellectual property plays a role in how they run their respective businesses.

As Shaffer puts it, if you’re an accountant with zero knowledge of intellectual property, then you won’t know what to value and account for in order to provide max protection for it under the law.

For this reason, Shaffer’s aim with his course is to not only explain how intellectual property adds value to a business, but to explain and help you identify how any company has intellectual property, discuss strategies a business can employ to start protecting IP at basic levels and how to maximize protection in each form when deemed beneficial to a company, as well as explain the

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Why is a patent valuable? Because it provides exclusionary rights that maximizes profits from your invention. It prevents others from making, using or selling the patented device and, thus, can provide a competitive advantage over rival manufacturers and block competitors from using the patent owner’s patented technology.

A trademark, or service mark, includes any symbol, such as a word, design, or slogan, used to identity and distinguish one company’s goods from the goods of others. Trademarks allow consumers to pick out particular goods and/ or services from others competing in the same marketplace, and trademark identification is often the primary factor in motivating a consumer to choose one product over another.

Then there’s copyrights: a copyright is a form of intellectual property right granted by the federal government for “original works of authorship.”

The owner of a copyright has five basic rights: reproduce the copyrighted work, prepare derivative works, distribute copies, perform the copyrighted work publicly, and display the copyrighted work publicly. This ensures others will not benefit unfairly from the original author’s creativity; others must either make their own investment of time, money and creativity to make their own work, or they can purchase the rights to use an author’s work.

Finally, you have trade secrets: that’s any information not known generally in a specific trade, which is used to provide an advantage over competitors. But, what are some examples of trade secrets? Any and every thing from customer lists, chemical processes and formulas, designs and plans, data compilations, as well as manufacturing processes and/or techniques.

differences between patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret protection.

As Shaffer teaches, patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets are the four building blocks of a secure Intellectual Property protection plan for a business. Before you start developing a plan, you might want to better understand the four building blocks of intellectual property, which Shaffer has kindly outlined.

A U.S. patent is a grant of rights from the federal government regarding an invention; rights that include excluding others from making, using, or selling your invention. There are various forms of patents including utility patents for things such as processes and machines, design patents for novel ornamental designs for articles of manufacture, and even plant patents for certain asexually reproduced plants.

Trade secrets can create an advantage over competitors in many of the same ways as patents; although they provide no protection against those who independently develop the trade secret information, trade secrets never expire as do patents and copyrights. For example, the formula to Coca-Cola will remain a trade secret indefinitely as long as it is kept under wraps.

Not a professional on IP law yet? Shaffer is currently offering the introduction to IP law in the spring 2017 semester at UWF and hopes to continue offering it throughout the remainder of the year. For more details on the course, feel free to reach out to Shaffer at jshaffer2@uwf.edu.

Four Building Blocks of IP Protection Plans 1. Patent:

a grant of rights from the federal government regarding an invention. A patent lasts a maximum of 20 years from the date of filing the application.

2. Trademark:

a symbol, including a word, a design, or a slogan, that is used to identify and distinguish one company’s goods from the goods of others.

3. Copyright:

one form of intellectual property rights granted by the federal government for “original works of authorship.” This includes literary, musical, dramatic, and pictorial works, as well as motion pictures, and sound recordings.

Computer programs are also considered literary works.

4. Trade Secrets:

any information that has value in that it is useful in business and is generally not commonly known in the particular trade. For example: algorithms; designs, drawings, architectural plans and blueprints; data compilations, manufacturing or repair processes and techniques.

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Conservation

Creating a Safe Space for Honeybees

By Hana Frenette

Tucked away in a small, shady green corner of Pensacola’s International Airport property, are three small honeybee hives. The hives are housed inside white boxes placed near the tree line along the eastern edge of the property and contain more than 20,000 honeybees each.

The hives were installed at the airport in May 2016, making Pensacola one of the newest cities to utilize portions of their airport’s green space for urban beekeeping. Airport property often provides the perfect home for honeybees due to the lack of pesticides and human interference.

In addition to major North American cities like Toronto, Seattle and Chicago, European cities, especially in Germany, have incorporated honey beehives to the outskirts of their land in hopes of encouraging positive environmental effects regarding agricultural pollination.

The hives are typically kept far away from any day-to-day airport operations and are miles from airplanes, baggage carts and air traffic controllers.

“I had been thinking about incorporating

hives onto the airport property for a couple of years,” Airport Director Dan Flynn said. “I was reading different publications and taking notice of what other airports around the world were doing.”

Flynn and his wife keep honeybee hives in their backyard, so he was aware of the time and dedication it takes to provide the bees with a healthy environment.

He reached out to Shelby Johnson, president of the Escarosa Beekeeper’s

Association, and the two created a plan for incorporating and maintaining the hives onto airport property.

Honeybee populations have steadily declined over the course of the last decade, raising concerns among scientists and environmentalists around the world. Because a large portion of the global food supply relies on pollinators, for growth, a significant decrease in honeybee numbers could pose a major threat to thousands of ecosystems. nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 57

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photo by Guy Stevens

Conservation

According to a 2016 survey conducted by the Bee Informed Partnership, Apiary Inspectors of America, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), our nation’s beekeepers lost 44 percent of their honeybee population during the last year.

The survey compiled data from more than 20,000 beekeepers is one of the first steps in the USDA’s “National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honeybees and Other Pollinators.” The strategy focuses closely on honeybees and monarch butterflies, and aims to restore or enhance more than 7 million acres of land for pollinators over the next five years through federal actions and public and private partnerships. The plan will also construct a pollinator task force and create educational initiatives for the public.

For now, airports, large corporations and even home gardeners can have a hand in helping the bees. Each week Johnson or a member of the Escarosa Beekeepers Association will check on the bees to make

“The bees provide a very vital function, and in our own little small way, we are encouraging more hives—and the more hives you can get out there, the more you are helping.”

sure the green space is providing a healthy place for them to live. Johnson and his team will be responsible for maintaining the hives and will check for hive beetles, set traps to catch the beetles, maintain the wood of the hive, and pull out the honey when necessary.

The honeybees’ food source consists of a two to one mixture of sugar and water, which is placed inside the hives in a jar.

Johnson noted water as a key component for honeybee health.

“We just make sure to look in on them weekly, give them a visual, make sure nothing knocked them over,” Johnson said. “In the winter time, we’re always making sure they have stores of honey, and making sure they’re not getting too light.”

Although the winters can be harsh on the bees, the summers in the south are far worse.

Very few things bloom in the Panhandle during the sweltering months of July and August, which puts a strain on the bees.

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Things you can do to help honeybees from your own backyard Plant bushes and flowers that are going to bloom in July and August. Shelby Johnson suggests hearty bushes that are going to be around for a long time, such as vitex chaste, Mexican heather, sunflowers, and black-eyed Susans.

Avoid using pesticides containing neonicotinoids— harsh chemicals that affect the central nervous system of insects, resulting in paralysis and death.

Once the temperatures drop in the fall and winter, they see lots of blooming wild mustards, camellias and wild Mexican clover.

Flynn said he believe the incorporation of the hives will have a positive effect on Pensacola’s environmental health, even if it’s only a small effect for now.

Johnson noted the growing the number of honey beehives in Pensacola will allow the pollination of more native plants and vegetation, while utilizing empty green space for the betterment of the bees.

“The bees provide a very vital function, and in our own little small way, we are encouraging more hives—and the more hives you can get out there, the more you are helping in general,” he said.

Flynn said the response from the community regarding the honeybee placement has been overwhelmingly positive. He’s even received positive feedback from other airports that have recently placed bees or are looking to place hives in the future.

“I received a call from an airport in San Francisco, and the director had read about the Pensacola Airport in an airport trade publication, and they wanted to know some of the specifics about the hives and the care we provide them,” Flynn said.

Avoid using systematic pesticides- pesticides that are applied to the soil or the dirt where the plant is rooted. If you must use pesticides, try using pesticides that are safe to spray directly onto the plant.

If you’re considering incorporating hives on your property or home garden, consider joining a local honeybee club or coalition.

Johnson warns against the dangers of sourcing information online and urges any future beekeeper to find a beekeeping mentor who can physically walk them through the steps of keeping bees. He noted many inexperienced beekeepers have killed entire hives through misinformation.

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Keep It Real This Holiday Season Adopt-A-Manatee® for Loved Ones

Call 1-800-432-JOIN (5646) savethemanatee.org Photo © David Schrichte 60 | Business Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com

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Around the Region

Gulfstream Shipbuilding Announces U.S. Department of Homeland Security Ferry Contract Gulfstream Shipbuilding, located in Walton County near Grayton Beach, has been awarded a contract through the United States Department of Homeland Security for a passenger / vehicle ferry to service the New York and Connecticut waters.

This 118’ x 27’ x 10’- 9” crew boat-style vessel will be capable of transporting passengers, freight and vehicles in and around the waters of the Eastern Long Island Sound and Gardiner’s Bay. The vessel has an expected delivery date of April 2017.

“Gulfstream Shipbuilding is not only familiar with the Eastern Long Island Sound waters; our team has delivered three ferry vessels to North Ferry Company that operate near these waters,” stated James Murray, Sales Manager of Gulfstream Shipbuilding. “We are proud of our 35 plus year history of building strong aluminum crew boats for all types of conditions.”

Working with Naval Architect C. Fly Marine Services, Gulfstream Shipbuilding and its design team have incorporated key design elements to meet and exceed the Critical Vessel Objective. The welded aluminum, mono hull, diesel propelled, quad screw passenger / vehicle ferry includes a 6’ x 6” draft and 75 Hp Wesmar Hydraulic Dual Prop Thruster. Caterpillar diesel engines have been identified to meet the 26 knot performance requirement.

The hull structure is robust and designed for strength with considerations for ice, but not overly heavy as to affect performance, maneuverability, seaworthiness, comfort and speed requirements.

Paying particular attention to the beam at waterline and dead rise considerations, the hull design provides for minimal frictional and wavemaking resistance along with the center of gravity to meet the peak performance envelope and to ensure adequate speed and efficiency.

PENSACOLA MARDI GRAS SET TO BEGIN Come join Pensacola Mardi Gras Inc. for The Wind Creek Pensacola Mardi Gras Kick Off Celebration. Entertainment starts at 5:00 PM on Friday, January 6th, 2017!

Friday January 6th is the 12th Night of Christmas and the traditional start of the Mardi Gras season.

Wind Creek Casino and Hotel Atmore continue as the Presenting Sponsor once more, as we fill the historic streets of Downtown Pensacola to host the (7th Annual) Wind Creek Pensacola Mardi Gras Kick Off Celebration. There is plenty of tradition, as the entire community shares a symbolic and delicious King Cake, which binds our spirit for a wonderful Mardi Gras season. The 2017 Pensacola Official King Cake is provided by Classic City Catering, and may be purchased during the holiday season at Pensacola Parade People’s headquarters, located at 331 Government Street.

The Wind Creek Pensacola Mardi Gras Kick Off Celebration is open to everyone and attendance is FREE. The Panhandles biggest and most successful Mardi Gras Krewes will wear their Krewe attire and bring their floats, along with their King and Queen to downtown to be a special part of the celebration.

Palafox Street from Garden south to Zarragossa Street and Government Street from Palafox east to Taragonna Street will close on Friday January 6th at about 3:00 pm, when we’ll clear the streets of all cars. There will be entertainment starting at 5:00pm.

At 5:30pm all participating floats will be parked on Palafox where their Krewes will begin the celebration. Everyone should come in costume of course, as all of the Krewes will be anxious to show they have the most spirit and pride. All media participating in the event will also be in place starting at 5:30pm.

At 7:30pm the celebration will begin with the blessing of the floats where a Catholic Father who, along with City of Pensacola and Escambia County law enforcement leadership and several of Pensacola’s elected officials, will bless the Pensacola Mardi Gras season and all its participants. Then, Father, the Knights of Columbus royalty, Wind Creek tribal royalty, and all of the participating Krewe royalty (the procession will be led by the Krewe of Mayoki Indians who are King and Queen Priscus) will follow Pensacola’s 2nd Line marching procession the likes of which have never been seen before. As the 2nd Line marching procession makes its way up Palafox, Father will individually bless each float and each Krewe on the float until he has fully blessed the entire fleet. Each float will be duly honored by the town crier (recording artist Bubba Bechtel) who will deliver each float an official declaration and proclaim their welcome.

When Father and the 2nd Line Procession are finished, we’ll gather at the corner of Government and Palafox, and ceremoniously cut the King Cake provided by Classic City Catering and declare the 2017 Pensacola Mardi Gras season officially open and sufficiently anointed. The party will go on until the wee hours.

This event promises to continue being a yearly tradition which annually signifies the start of the Pensacola Mardi Gras Season. All media are welcome to be a part of the lineup. Please contact us in advance so that we can coordinate where your media vehicles would like to be located.

Additionally, we cordially invite all PRESS: TV, Radio, and Print, to join us on January 6th in a special VIP section. Wrist bands will be required for admission, so we have to know who is coming soon. The VIP area will feature complimentary food and drink for its special guests. We would like for you to email us with the names of your guests and your intention to participate.

Women in Leadership Conference returns to UWF on March 3, 2017 The University of West Florida College of Business Executive Mentor Program will host its annual Women in Leadership Conference on Friday, March 3, 2017, from 11:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the UWF Conference Center and Auditorium, Building 22, on the Pensacola Campus. Registration will be open starting on Monday, Jan. 9, 2017.

Entering its fourth year, the conference is themed, “Designing Your Future,” and features presentations and panel discussions from recognized thought-leaders. The free event is open to the public and welcomes men, women, students and professionals. Registered attendees will receive complimentary lunch in the auditorium.

“Attendees will enjoy the enthusiasm, honesty and powerful, inspiring stories of our highly successful speakers,” said Dr. Sherry Hartnett, Women in Leadership Conference chair and director of the UWF College of Business Executive Mentor Program. “We hope participants will leave the conference with motivation and ideas for designing their future careers and lives.”

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Dr. Martha Saunders, who will become UWF’s sixth president on Jan. 1, 2017, will deliver the welcome address. Saunders has previously participated as a keynote speaker and panelist for the annual conference.

“I’m delighted to participate in this event,” said Saunders. “It has become an important tradition for our community. I learn something new every year.”

Other speakers for the 2017 conference have not been announced yet, but Hartnett said attendees will have the opportunity to hear from and connect with prominent women leaders who have achieved both personal and professional success. The final list of speakers will be available when registration opens on Jan. 9.

“I hope that everyone schedules this conference on his or her calendar now,” she said. “Plan to register online as soon as the conference registration opens in January, because this conference has quickly sold out every year.” nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 61

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Around the Region

Florida SBDC Network Concludes 40th Anniversary Celebration Donate your beads to The Arc Gateway

In 2016, the Florida Small Business Development Center Network, the state’s principal provider of business assistance, celebrated a special milestone: forty years of helping the state’s small businesses grow and succeed. To culminate the network’s anniversary, the Florida SBDC released a special video highlighting the strategic and funding partners that make the network’s work possible.

The holidays are over and Mardi Gras is just around the corner. After the parades are over, take your leftover beads to one of several Arc Gateway bead collection sites throughout the Pensacola and Gulf Breeze areas.

By collecting and selling bundles of beads, The Arc Gateway is supporting the community’s effort to recycle and reuse materials instead of generating waste. They are also generating revenues that help to sustain their many programs that provide vocational training and job opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“Small businesses need the support of federal, state and local resources to be successful,” said Michael Myhre, Florida SBDC Network CEO and State Director. “Our forty-year story chronicles the commitment of our federal and state policymakers, college and university officials, private and public sector partners, and dedicated personnel who make our work possible.”

Donation Boxes are located at: The Arc Gateway Administration Office – 3932 N. 10th Ave., Pensacola Pollak Industries – 2313 Truman Ave., Pensacola Evermans Foods – 315 West Garden Street, Pensacola Head Hunter Hair Styling – 205 S. Baylen St., Pensacola St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church – 3200 N. 12th Ave., Pensacola Beach Community Bank - 60 Northcliffe Dr., Gulf Breeze Pen Air Federal Credit Union – 3591 Gulf Breeze Pkwy., Gulf Breeze For more than 50 years, The Arc Gateway has been proud to provide life-enhancing programs that help persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities realize their dreams.

With the help of members, supporters and volunteers, The Arc Gateway is able to sustain their existing services and develop innovative new ways to help children and adults with developmental disabilities reach their full potential.

For more information, call 850-434-2638 or visit www.arc-gateway.org.

City of Pensacola Announces Results of its Most Recent Community Survey The Haas Center submitted the results of its third annual City of Pensacola community survey to Mayor Hayward today. The survey is conducted to assess resident satisfaction with the delivery of major city services, help improve the quality of those services and determine budget priorities.

The survey results produced the following key findings: 69.3% of respondents said the City is headed in the right direction.

The report identified three areas of concern, down from five in 2015.

There was a 14% increase in the percentage of respondents who said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the value of services provided by the City compared to the taxes they pay.

The percentage of respondents who were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the ease of obtaining information about City services rose by 21%.

“The faculty and staff at UWF are a tremendous resource for the city and we turn to them on a regular basis for research assistance and advice”, said Mayor Ashton Hayward. “The annual survey has developed into a great partnership between the City and the Haas Center.”

“Seeing that by a margin of 8 to 1, city residents are telling us that the city is on the right track, and that the City continues to get high marks for core services such as public safety, sanitation and city parks, I think these survey results validate that our priorities are aligned with the community’s expectations,” said Mayor Hayward. “The survey data is useful to us as we begin our budget planning process. There were a lot of positives in the survey, but it also showed us opportunities for improvement, especially around issues of infrastructure.”

The three city services that were identified in the report as “areas of concern” were stormwater infrastructure, streets and sidewalks. The City is taking active steps to address each one of them.

Beginning in early 2017 and continuing for the next three years, the City will spend $13.8 million

to resurface 1825 blocks of city streets. When the project is complete the overwhelming majority of city streets will have been resurfaced or reconstructed since 2005.

In the last three years the City has spent over $21 million on stormwater projects and that investment is now at a point where progress is readily visible.

Some rain events that used to overwhelm the City’s stormwater system are now contained by it, flooding is minimized, and untreated runoff is prevented from flowing into Pensacola Bay. In response to residents’ ongoing concerns about stormwater management, city staff continues to research and apply for grants to enhance the City’s resiliency and has placed a priority on obtaining RESTORE funding for projects to reduce flood risks in the Long Hollow basin.

To address concerns about sidewalks the City is preparing to assess the condition of the entire network of sidewalks in order to identify and prioritize maintenance needs for existing sidewalks and locations for new construction. Money from Local Option Sales Tax proceeds will be used to pay for the prioritized list of projects.

The International City/County Management Association recommends citizen surveying as a way to bridge the gap between the government and citizens who vote, pay taxes, and make decisions about where to live and build their businesses but may not be able to attend council meetings or participate in public workshops. Surveys done by outside professionals help establish a neutral benchmark that all parties can accept and they come with analysis and explanation that put the results in perspective.

Conducted over a five-week period that began October 1, 2016, the mixed methods survey randomly sampled city residents. In total, 444 people completed the survey. That response level coincides with an approximate 4.6% margin of error. In other words, a sample of City of Pensacola residents will differ no more than +/-4.6% from a survey that included all City of Pensacola residents.

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Could you be our next cover model?

We’re looking for the perfect wedding model for the cover of Pensacola Magazine: Weddings 2017 and that model could be you! ally Owne oc

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Submit up to three of your individual wedding photos (high resolution please) to kelly@ballingerpublishing.com, and you could be featured on the cover of the February 2017 issue. Editorial-style shots by your professional photographer are preferred.

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Please submit all photos by January 25, 2017

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For more information, visit pensacolamagazine.com or email us at the address above. n it y D r

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nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 63

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Catering to the community to feed those in need!

Catering 4 a Cause

Call us for your next luncheon, board meeting or corporate training.

A4L offers space for onsite catering for up to 60 people.

Reserve your seat for one of our tastings.

Enjoy a sampling of different appetizers, entrees and pairings of meat and sauces. All served with wine.

The tasting ends with a special twist on a southern favorite dessert.

Sample Menus

Call Today 850.470.9111 Free Quote and Initial consultation

www.appetite4lifecatering.com

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