Northwest Florida's Business Climate June 2016

SPECIAL SECTION

SPECIAL SECTION 53

Caring for Kids WHAT’S THE STATUS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD IN FLORIDA? WE LOOK AT PARENTAL RESOURCES, HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATION.

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Building Better Health

A New Venture for Veterans

Around the Region

FORT WALTON BEACH KNOWS HOW TO WIN AT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WHILE HELPING OUR NATION’S HEROES. AND THEY DO IT USING FREEMARKET PRINCIPLES AND SMART INVESTMENT.

FIND OUT WHAT IS HAPPENING IN BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT AND CULTURAL NEWS IN THE GREATER PENSACOLA AREA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA.

ONE OF THE MOST IGNORED YET VITAL FACETS OF HEALTHCARE IN THE UNITED STATES IS REAL ESTATE. THROUGH IMPROVED PATIENT ACCESS POINTS AND CLIENT-DRIVEN SERVICES REAL ESTATE MOGULS ARE CHANGING THE HEALTHCARE BUSINESS, ONE HOSPITAL AT A TIME.

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Healthcare

Building Better

Health

We don’t like to think of healthcare as a profit-driven and competitive service, but it is, with all the strategic considerations and access points necessary for other types of services. With new regulations and an enhanced role of technology, the game of healthcare real estate is changing, and this evolution is forcing a progression of how we plan our communities, where we go for care, and the interests of those who care for us.

By Josh Newby

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Hundreds of years ago, nurses and doctors would come to the patient’s house to diagnose and apply treatment. As the country became less rural and centralized health services became more economical and realistic, the model changed to one where clients and patients would travel to visit care providers. Services became decentralized and increasingly expensive as insurance and other considerations further complicated the equation. When the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has come a centralization of services. Fee-for-service became pay-for-performance and value-based medicine, a system that measured quality outcomes and focused on population and preventative health.

With these changes has come a renewed focus on customer service and more patient access points throughout the community. Heightened insurance regulations and the influx of public funds means that institutions must remain competitive in a market where costs are more transparent and providers can be compared and contrasted to other providers.

Healthcare real estate is one of the best ways hospitals and healthcare organizations can better engage with clients. The focus on standardization, consolidation and integration has forced a renewed appreciation for planning, creating, optimizing and maintaining healthcare real estate.

That is where organizations like Catalyst CRE come in. Catalyst is a locally

based healthcare real estate boutique focused on healthcare administration, real estate brokerage and development, and facility and property services. With a focus on improving efficiencies, they let the providers provide and take it upon themselves to handle the rest.

“We work on understanding the providers and what their business and clinical strategy is,” said CEO Chad Henderson. “We learn what the endgame is and help them meet their goals. Our clients are wisely preparing for the next generation of healthcare delivery and are considering where and why to locate or relocate. We help them implement accordingly.”

The first step of healthcare real estate, as with other real estate and nearly any business venture, is to plan. Catalyst uses demographic and healthcare analytical data to introduce evidence-based decisionmaking into the process.

“Hospitals used to just be hospitals, but now they are embarking on an employ-physicians model,” said Henderson. “They are destination-oriented and want to make a certain geographical footprint.”

Organizations like Catalyst help their clients find a location where their services are in demand the market is growing, while helping to manage cash flow requirements.

“You don’t want your patients to have to travel too far to see you, or they may choose another provider,” said Henderson. “We strategically place healthcare access points throughout a certain geographical area. Used to be, everyone went to a hospital for care. But, in a truly integrated model, you have multiple satellites orbiting that hospital and working in coordination with one another.”

Through EMR (electronic medical record) systems, you can go to one location and access a wealth of different opinions, varying modalities of specialization, and improve the efficiency of all of the above.

The next step is to create.

Whether it is a completely new development, construction management services, or simply leasing and acquisition of existing

Photo by NEC Corporation of America

“It’s all about feeding the market and out-positioning competitors.” properties, healthcare real estate is big money.

“We will provide third-party capital to essentially lease new or existing facilities to a provider,” said Henderson.

This type of real estate, called acquisition lease-backs, has been a big success in various parts of the state. Catalyst is actually about to close on a $17 million deal on five buildings in central Florida.

Essentially, a group will sell existing buildings to Catalyst, then use that money to grow other competencies within their existing model. By using third-party developers, healthcare institutions can save their capital resources for acute care needs and focus their attention on achieving key goals, instead of getting caught in the weeds of regulation and maintenance.

On the development side of all this, knowledge of the area and patients is crucial. A women’s and children’s access point, for example, is going to be completely different than a cardiovascular institute.

Working to capture a certain segment of a patient base requires foreknowledge of that base.

“It’s all about feeding the market and out-positioning competitors,” said Henderson. “A large hospital can obviously serve a large footprint, but specialty providers create a niche in the market that maybe hospitals cannot service.

So, they will absorb these smaller access points through physician acquisition.”

After creating new developments and partnerships, Catalyst seeks to optimize existing patient services. The organization is currently working with Louisiana Heart Hospital, for example, to do just that. Through property management, brokerage and lease administration, services such as Catalyst allow hospitals and healthcare providers to focus on what they do best—patient care— and leave the day-to-day paperwork for the professionals.

The final step in healthcare real estate is maintenance. Not surprisingly, these facilities must adhere to detailed regulatory requirements, both in the nuts and bolts of the building itself and in emergency response plans and information technology. Because of unique building sterilization and filtration needs, coupled with heightened adherence codes, it is increasingly attractive for providers to outsource these headaches.

Working almost like a team of doctors who goes in and diagnoses existing troubles while keeping an eye out for future problems, Catalyst’s team and subcontractors will implement preventative systematic visits to monitor and maintain facilities, work to reinstate normalcy or improve a work

environment if something goes awry, and even help with repairbased construction services like roof leaks and moving.

Healthcare real estate is big business, and it’s getting bigger.

Along with higher education and government, healthcare real estate is a stable sector that continues to grow even in times of economic decline. With ACA implementation has come about 9 million new patients into the American healthcare system. These new patients have less doctors to see them than in past years, as physician retirees vastly outnumber new graduates.

Henderson admits that he came into the business at a perfect time, with an aging population that requires more health services, advances in technology that allow for medical procedures to be done off-site or out-patient, and a tighter office market as the rest of the construction industry slumped in 2007 and 2008.

In 2015, more than 8.8 million square feet of medical office space was developed in the United States.

Florida is just one small—but growing—piece of that pie.

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Education

Caring for Kids In Florida, we like to tout our recordbreaking tourism, speedy development and postRecession growth. But what about some of the least fortunate among us? As profits rise and populations increase, are we caring for the disadvantaged children in our state who have no agency, a lack of resources, and whose destination may be the same poverty they were born into, unless we intervene?

By Josh Newby

Kids Who Receive HighQuality Early Education...

24 percent more likely to own a home

53 percent less likely to get arrested

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Education

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In order to remain competitive and viable, we have to accelerate our educational standards and take proactive measures as a community, together, using all sectors to improve.”

Research has shown that all children need early and plentiful access to three things—high-quality education, healthcare and insurance, and parental support—in order to be successful later in life and escape the cycle of poverty and destitution into which they were born. Perhaps you’ve heard that one in four kids who do not receive proper preventative care early in life are susceptible to life-threatening diseases later in life, or that less than half of poor children show up to school prepared with the early math and reading skills necessary to learn. Research tells us children of low-income parents hear 30 million fewer words by age 5—when 90 percent of brain development happens—than their better-off peers.

Fortunately, there are advocates on both sides of the aisle, in the halls of Congress and in boardrooms across the state, who are dedicated to reversing this problem. They know that the future of business vibrancy depends on a healthy, well-educated, well-adjusted workforce.

The Children’s Movement of Florida is an early childhood advocacy organization located in south Florida. Launched in 2010, its goal is to ensure that Florida is the best state in the nation for your children. While they are not a service organization, they do help the existing network of non-profits throughout the state receive funding by moving the political needle in their favor.

They work to improve measurements in each of the three categories for childhood success—education, healthcare and parental support.

“A lot of these problems transcend demographics simply because the resources that exist are fragmented and difficult to find,” said Vance Aloupis, CEO of the organization. “The quickest path toward real equity in our state begins with all children having a strong start during the first few years of life.”

For the most recent legislative session, the Children’s

Movement was laser-focused on working to pass a bill, HB 5101, which accompanied the state budget. This bill would allow thousands of children of legal immigrants to receive subsidized health insurance through KidCare beginning at birth. While these children have always been technically eligible, language in the program dictated that the state could not provide healthcare to anyone who had been in the country for less than five years.

This particular victory has been four years in the making, as various representatives and senators have sponsored bills in their respective chambers that would lift the waiting period. Ultimately, it was Speaker Steve Crisafulli who called for its passage in January.

Rep. Joe Felix Diaz of Miami had been involved with child welfare for a long time before realizing that this particular initiative was a no-brainer.

“Preventative care is of course much cheaper and this addendum provides for that,” said Rep. Diaz. “We are expecting to cover between 17,000 and 45,000 additional kids for no additional money because we were able to shift dollars from the existing general fund.”

The federal government also agreed to pay 97 percent of the cost of KidCare enrollment, an increase from the 71 percent it had been paying.

While this was a big win for children, the legislature and the Children’s Movement, there remains an even bigger problem. Right now, about 383,000 children are fully eligible for access to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which includes KidCare, and Medicaid, yet are not enrolled simply because they are unaware of the resources available. There’s MediKids for children ages 1 to 4, Medicaid for kids of low-income families and the Children’s Medical Services Network for children with special needs. Another option, Florida Healthy Kids, charges families based on income. For example, most families only pay between $15 and $20 a month for care.

“There are enormous resources available, but far too often it is far too difficult to find this information,” said Aloupis. “We shouldn’t be allowing kids to be using ERs; that’s an expensive form of care that we end up paying for as taxpayers anyway. The information is there, but it’s highly localized.”

That’s where the second leg of the stool, parent support, comes in. The Children’s Movement is also championing an

“We are expecting to cover between 17,000 and 45,000 additional kids for no additional money.”

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expansion of a round-the-clock parent resource system called Help Me Grow (HMG). The goal of HMG is to promote healthy development for every child in the state. It is a comprehensive and integrated system designed to address the need for early identification of developmental/behavioral concerns, and then link children and families to community-based developmental and behavioral services and support.

As part of HMG, any parent can reach representatives from early learning coalitions, Florida Legal Services, the United Way and more, by simply calling 2-1-1. They also offer web chat versions of their services. In this way, Aloupis said, parents with limited resources can find out what is out there to help them raise their children in the best, most effective way possible.

The service also offers referrals with advocacy and follow-up, screenings for health and development, enrollment in community programs, and networking opportunities for families, service providers and community partners.

The United Way of Escambia County facilitates the local branch of the 2-11 program, and, also offers information on emergency food and shelter, child care services, help for people with disabilities, counseling, mental health services and more.

The last crucial antecedent of a positive childhood experience is early, high-quality education. The Children’s Movement is a big believer in Voluntary Pre-K, a program to offer all four-year-olds free prekindergarten regardless of family income. VPK prepares early learners for success in kindergarten and beyond.

While Florida was the first state in the nation to provide pre-K access, funding for the program has been woefully inadequate. There is a waiting list of about 50,000 for subsidized school-readiness programs.

“When the program was first instituted, there was $2,500 allotted for each child,” said Aloupis. “A lot of experts say that’s not enough to ensure high quality. We’re now in the 11th year of the program, and we’re actually spending $63 less per child, despite an increased cost of living. Compare that with DC where they spend $15,000 per child.”

It would require about $250 million to get the program up to snuff, compared to the $20 billion Florida spends on education out of the $82.3 billion budget.

Aloupis is hesitant to just throw money at the problem, though. He says that accountability and comprehensive assessment are far better metrics for success than how much money is spent.

“How do these schools rate on school-readiness and how do students perform on the larger continuum of eventual higher education?” asked Aloupis.

Florida requires that 70 percent of children who attend VPK be ready for kindergarten in order to receive public money.

“Parents need to research these organizations,” said Aloupis. “They shouldn’t just be a babysitting program; they need to teach children effectively.”

There is clear research indicating that children who are born into poverty are on a different trajectory than their better-off counterparts. Disparities can begin to manifest as early as 18 months. But, education is the great equalizer. That is why, according to Aloupis, we must reconstruct how we view education.

“We need to draw a direct line between investments and ROI later on in high school and college,” said Aloupis.

Not one to wait around, private industry is starting to take matters into their own hands.

Companies like Gulf Power are huge proponents of workforce readiness and early childhood education.

Jennifer Grove is the community development manager for Gulf Power and is part of their initiative to locate and nurture high-quality students.

“It started when we discovered that we were having a hard time getting folks to hit the ground running in some of our high-skill positions,” said Grove. “We started looking at our student base and tried to determine when kids decide to get into science, engineering and technology. We discovered it was very early on, and that’s when we decided to be proactive about cradle-to-career programs.”

Through ECARE (Every Child A Reader in

Escambia), Gulf Power partnered with other organizations in the area to help improve childhood literacy. This is done through ideas, like Reading Pals, in which professionals in the community sign up for one hour a week to read to preschool children in the area.

“We also work with professional development for teachers and encourage family interaction and model behavior,” said Grove. “The entire community should be one big support system for parents, whether it’s reading to their kids, or tax preparation, or professional development.”

Grove also serves on the Florida Chamber of Commerce, helping with their Six Pillars program. One of those pillars is talent and education, and the Chamber has already added early learning as a key component of the talent pipeline.

“We do that by sharing consistent messaging with our business audience,” said Grove. “We tell them why it matters to focus on early learning and let them know how their business can get involved, whether through tangible counseling or through partnerships, programs and funding—anything to move the needle on early learning outcomes.”

Breaking the cycle of generational poverty and moving kids into high-skill, high-wage jobs requires parental and professional support. One of the greatest investments any individual or business can make, in fact, is early learning. It is estimated that one dollar spent on a child between the ages of 1 and 4 returns an average of seven dollars later in life.

“People understand the importance of family and economic health, but what they don’t realize is how closely education is tied to that,” said Grove.

“Everything we know from brain science to economic research tells us that there is a direct connection between not being ready for kindergarten and dropping out of high school, only to be dependent on social systems later in life. It’s really about a culture change that starts with the parents and children before kindergarten.”

Grove recommends that parents go to educational facilities and engage one-on-one with teachers. Make sure the schools provide a vocabulary-rich environment. Tune in to your kids and talk to them, even if they cannot yet talk or understand. There is a direct connection, Grove says, between the language arts and STEM. “In order to remain competitive and viable, we have to accelerate our educational standards and take proactive measures as a community, together, using all sectors to improve,” said Aloupis. “With that kind of understand, plus a network of parental resources and robust healthcare, we will have less work to do on the social safety net and incarceration side.”

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Military

A New Venture For Veterans FOLLOWING THE BUZZ ON THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ENTERPRISES OF FORT WALTON’S VENTURE HIVE AND UNDERSTANDING ITS VETERAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMS. What’s a Venture Hive? It isn’t a home for adventurous bees, if that’s the image your mind was conjuring up. Rather, Venture Hive is an organization working to educate and cultivate entrepreneurs by offering effective turnkey models, which allows for the creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem based on tried and true educational principles.

BY DAWN GRESKO In 2013, serial entrepreneur Susan Amat founded Venture Hive in Miami, Fla. On the large scale, it offers both accelerator and incubator programs that focus on connectivity and guidance for entrepreneurs and startups to maximize regional economic development impact. Since its launch, Venture Hive has created partnerships with major corporations like Microsoft, and sponsors like the Small Business Association.

One of Venture Hive’s more recent partnerships was with the City of Fort Walton Beach in order to create a home for the veteran entrepreneurship movement with the start of its customized accelerator and pre-accelerator for veteranowned businesses and/or startups.

The goal is to connect these vets with resources and support necessary to scale their businesses.

Unlike other veteran entrepreneurship programs, Venture Hive aims to help build large scale and global market companies, which can take advantage of the innovative research already being conducted in the Fort Walton Beach area.

In fact, the USAA and US Chamber of Commerce named the City of Fort Walton Beach one of the top ten cities for veteran startups in November 2015.

So, what’s the City of Fort Walton’s secret? The answer: a combination of efforts by Venture Hive Fort Walton Beach and director of the Veterans Program Bob Foster—a Gulf Coast native, who began his experience in information technology as an IBM field engineer in Pensacola.

“I look forward to supporting the Fort Walton Beach community and our veterans,” said Foster.

“The methodologies and systems used by the Venture Hive team are the best-in-class that I have seen in my decades of entrepreneurial experience.”

Foster’s 17-year career with IBM included positions in engineering, sales, product development, education and evaluation, as well as executive management and corporate strategy, giving him a well-rounded understanding of the business arena. He returned to the Emerald Coast from Austin, where he managed an IBM Development Laboratory Team before moving into the entrepreneurial world.

Following his exit from IBM, he went on to found, fund, help launch and mentor numerous central Texas startups, including a number that were led by veterans. As an honorably discharged veteran of the Army Reserves himself, Foster is also a member of the Navy League of the United States, InfraGard, and the Information Systems Security Association, all of which have lent Foster a unique perspective from which to guide veterans.

Today, Foster’s role as director of Venture Hive’s Veterans Program includes anything and everything

Military from introducing program participants to possible investors to helping them approach lawyers for product patents, as well as helping them understand the basics of starting a business by dedicating one hour per week to each company he mentors.

The Venture Hive Veterans Program offers both a pre-accelerator and accelerator classes.

What is the Venture Hive accelerator? An intensive 12-week structured program that provides access to a dedicated group of business coaches (like Foster), as well as highly customized training and a relevant network, all to drive the economic growth of the region.

The accelerator program is geared toward businesses that are beyond early development and possess a minimum viable product, business model, and revenue stream. To be eligible for this program, at least one of the primary founders of the business must be a veteran, excluding military spouses.

Participants should be prepared to spend over 40 hours a week working on the accelerator program.

On the other hand, the preaccelerator program is meant to aid new idea and pre-revenue businesses being launched by veterans and/or military spouses in Northwest Florida.

In other words, the program is open to either a veteran- or military spouseowned business still in the early stages, preferably those focusing on innovative web, mobile, or technology product solutions to address a clear market need. The company should have a rough business model, but may still be validating customers, building a product, putting together a team, and refining revenue streams.

Over the course of the 12-week pre-accelerator program, participants should be willing to devote over 25 hours a week, including 10 hours on-site at the Venture Hive facility and 15 to 20 hours on their own. The pre-accelerator includes a curriculum of practical workshops and training sessions, mentoring from a network of local, national and international entrepreneurs and experts, as well as exposure to qualified investors.

While the prospective company can be at the idea stage, you must be able to have a minimum viable product completed by the end of the program.

Also, preference for selection into the program will be given to businesses with two to four founders possessing complementary business and technical skills. Additional preference is given

to those who apply if they own some form of intellectual property, including patents and trademarks.

Beyond the 12 weeks of program involvement, participants in the pre-accelerator receive access to a collaborative working space in Fort Walton for six months, and those in the accelerator have access for a year.

While the curriculum for the pre-accelerator differs slightly from the accelerator program, the general curriculum for the first week consists of finding a co-founder, developing a co-founder agreement, and creating a co-founder checklist.

Also, during the first week, participants should expect to learn about competitive analysis, creating elevator pitches using PowerPoint presentations, and pitching to investors. Participants should be prepared for developing lien business models, defining a team, drafting a rough version of a full pitch, and compiling a set of milestones they hope to reach with the company (i.e., fiscal goals, how many employees the company will hire, and what quantity of product will be ready by a specific date), as well as defining the problem of opportunity, and doing due diligence on their market to see if people will want to buy the product.

Currently, Venture Hive Fort Walton Beach’s pre-accelerator and accelerator classes are offered at no cost to veterans.

The accelerator is free to selected businesses, thanks to the City of Fort Walton’s allocation of $500,000 to the Veterans Program initiative. The City has also agreed to provide renovated space to house the Venture Hive Fort Walton Beach accelerator.

Likewise, the pre-accelerator class is free to selected businesses because Gulf Power and other partners are sponsoring the operational costs for the program.

So, how does Foster and Venture Hive Fort Walton Beach help veteran participants get investors? It starts with finding an investor, such as a lawyer or another business owner.

“You have to give up a slice of your pie to feed the economic development beast,” said Foster. “Make it grow bigger, so everyone wins. It’s about getting people accustomed to investing in something that is sometimes just behind the screen—a theory, or idea, that’s not fully realized yet. But, when people start giving away a slice to invest, it grows the community.”

Essentially, Foster convinces an

investor to bet an initial amount on the veteran entrepreneur. By the end of the program, if the investor is not impressed, then both parties can shake hands and part ways amiably, so no one owes each other.

But, should the investor find the entrepreneur’s cause worthy of funding, then they will invest an additional amount with the anticipation of a generous pay out.

For instance, let’s say an investor bet an initial amount of $10,000 on the veteran’s startup, and contributed an additional $10,000 after deciding the venture was worth the bet. At the end of the investment, the investor can expect a return of 150 percent of what is owed by the veteran. Moreover, the investor can be offered deals on purchasing stock in the veteran’s company, such as the right to buy 1,000 shares in the company at the cost of a nickel each.

If you’re feeling iffy on the investment aspect, you should know that graduates of the Venture Hive Veterans Program are already achieving success in their enterprises.

One example is event coordinator and High Caliber Lady CEO Heather Burleson, who participated in last year’s accelerator program under Foster’s guidance. She came to the accelerator with an idea in mind for High Caliber Lady—a company concept for building a place to train women under nonlethal personal protection techniques,

as well as with tools like stun guns and pepper spray. The company also proposed to offer accessories like concealable weapon holsters.

In April 2016, High Caliber Lady raised $4,500 in its High Caliber Fashion Show for women interested in learning more about firearms, and featured a runway style fashion show highlighting pistol concealment holsters and garments. The money raised by the show was used to help a local disabled military family.

What’s more, High Caliber Lady has followed its fashion show with a series of classes focusing on fundamental pistol safety and ongoing skill-based training that began at the Fort Walton Beach Venture Hive classroom in mid-May. Venture Hive’s existing programs in Miami have already shown a $7.3 million economic impact in less than two years of operation. If this trend continues, Venture Hive’s parternship with Fort Walton Beach is expected to bring a similar, if not higher, impact to the city and to Northwest Florida, ultimately leading to the creation of higher business growth and job opportunities through creating successful entrepreneurs.

Follow the Venture Hive buzz on their social media, or read more on the Veterans Program at veterans. venturehive.com.

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Around the Region

Hilton Garden Inn hotel brand announces top award winners Hilton Garden Inn Pensacola Airport/Medical Center, managed by Gulf Breeze based Highpointe Hotel Corporation, has been recognized as a top award winner in the Hilton Garden Inn hotel brand for 2015.

The local hotel received two prestigious awards, including the Hotel Success Award and the General Manager Merit Award. The Hotel Success Award is given to those hotels performing in the top five percent of the brand, which includes over 650 hotels worldwide. The General Manager Merit Award, received by General Manager Dick Tanner, is given to only four general managers system-wide each year.

Two Landrum employees honored for 40 years of service Landrum Human Resources is proud to announce the 40th work anniversary of two employees - Peggy Fortunato, director of administration and corporate HR, and Denise McLeod, vice president of staffing and human resources. The company commemorated the occasion with a celebratory luncheon honoring their four decades of service.

Sunday’s Child announces this year’s grant finalists Sunday’s Child will hold their second annual membership meeting at the Studer Building in Maritime Park on Sunday, June 26 from 1 pm to 4 pm. After a rigorous review process, four non-profit finalists from a total of 30 grant applications have been selected to present their projects to Sunday’s Child members. This year, four of the five categories have been awarded nominations. Animals, Environment and Preservation category: Humane Society of Pensacola; Health, Wellness and Recreation category: Ronald McDonald House; Arts, Culture and Education category: First City Art Center; and LGBT and Family category: Beacon Shelter for Women and Children. This year, Sunday’s Child members will hear each of these organizations present their projects at the annual meeting to award two grants of $35,500 each.

Art, Culture and Entertainment, Inc. (ACE) announces grant recipients for third annual Foo Foo Festival Art, Culture and Entertainment, (ACE), Inc. announced on May 9 the recipients of nearly $300,000 in grant funding for the third annual Foo Foo Festival, the upcoming fall festival of arts and cultural events to be held Nov. 3-14, 2016.

Foo Foo Fest, the tourism-marketing program of ACE, promises to be bigger and better in 2016 as the area works to attract cultural tourists to Escambia County, Fla. Full list of grant recipients: • Friends of Downtown Pensacola • Ballet Pensacola • First City Art Center • Pensacola Little Theatre/Appetite 4 Life • Pensacola Opera • West Fla. Literary Foundation • African American Heritage Society • Pensacola Choral Society • Clean Energy Fest • Jazz Society of Pensacola • Pensacola MESS Hall

• Pensacola Bay Concert Band • Pensacola Civic Band • Pensacola Lighthouse Foundation • Pensacola Museum of Art • Pensacola Symphony Orchestra • Pensacola Waterfront Mission • My Brothers & Sisters • Legal Services of NWFL • Truth for Youth • Frank Brown Int’l Songwriters Festival

Around the Region

UWF professor appointed to Governor’s council for early childhood intervention UWF assistant professor Dr. Sara Evans has been appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to the Florida Interagency Coordinating Council for Infants and Toddlers, a statewide agency that assists and advises the Early Steps program.

Early Steps serves families of infants and toddlers who have developmental delays by providing individualized family support plans.

Early intervention helps caregivers develop the skills to help their children learn and grow.

Evans, an assistant professor in the UWF Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, has studied childhood behavior since she began graduate school in 2005.

“This knowledge informs my ability to serve on this council,” Evans said. “I am also the parent of a child with Down syndrome who has been receiving services through the Pensacola Early Steps office for almost three years. I can provide a unique perspective as someone who has very recently worked with a local office in Florida.”

Evans will assist FICCIT by informing policy makers, legislators and service providers to improve the implementation and development of these services. Her scholarly research in the area of child development will help to contextualize the broader influences that children using early intervention services are subject to, above and beyond any special needs they may have.

“Personally, this appointment is very meaningful because of my experience with our local early intervention office. We were very fortunate to have capable, kind and considerate people to work with in Pensacola, and I want to help assist the council in ensuring that all families across the state also have a positive experience,” Evans said.

Evans’ appointment is just one example of the work that faculty in criminology and criminal justice do to engage with the community and state at-large, she notes. Many other faculty members also serve in public service roles that help make this community a better place to live.

“Dr. Evans is passionate about early childhood development. She is hardworking, thoughtful and collaborative,” said Dr. Matthew Crow, department chair. “Her appointment is an excellent example of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice’s commitment to community engagement and partnerships.”

Evans hopes that by serving on FICCIT, she can help to improve the care and efficiency of early intervention services across the state of Florida and make a positive impact in the lives of families who need these important services.

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Steve Gampher promoted to vice president at Sacred Heart Sacred Heart Hospital Pensacola (SHHP) has appointed Steve Gampher to the position of vice president of Ancillary Services. Gampher, who has served as director of Diagnostic Services for the past two years, has 23 years of experience with Sacred Heart. In his new role, Gampher will be in charge of Laboratory Services, Radiology Services, Rehabilitation Services, Emergency Preparedness, Security, Echocardiography, TriMedx, Neurodiagnostics and Laundry Services.

He first started as a data-entry clerk for Sacred Heart Medical Group while attending college.

He earned bachelor’s degrees in Clinical Laboratory Science and in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of West Florida, where he also received a master’s degree in Management with a concentration in Healthcare Administration from Troy State University.

Gampher completed his clinical internship at SHHP through UWF. Throughout his career, Gampher has held various positions in the clinical laboratory, including working in laboratory information systems jointly with Sacred Heart Health System and Providence Hospital in Mobile, Ala. In 2013, he began serving as the Clinical Laboratory’s interim director and was promoted to that position in November 2013. In December 2014, Gampher was promoted to director of Diagnostic Services.

New Exhibition: Salty Butter June 9th – July 17th at the Gallery 1060 at First City Art Center Thursday, June 9th will be the opening of the exhibition Salty Butter at Gallery 1060 at First City Art Center from 6 to 9 pm. Salty Butter is an exhibition of whimsy, humor, and fun featuring the talents of First City Art Center’s gallery artists. FCAC is churning up large installations, paintings, sculptures and more.

The buttercream on the cake will be “Beyond the Grape” offering a wine tasting during the opening reception along with the gallery artists giving live painting and pottery demonstrations. The opening reception will be Thursday June 9th 6 to 9 pm. Bring your friends and family and enjoy an evening of whimsical fantastic art.

First City Art Center is located at 1060 N. Guillemard St. in Pensacola. For questions or more information please call 850.429.1222 or visit the FCAC website at FirstCityArt.org.

Follow them on Facebook and Instagram @firstcityartcenter and @firstcitygallery

Dr. Mehta of Nemours lands statewide leadership role Nemours is proud to announce that Dr. Mary Mehta, chief medical officer of Nemours Children’s Clinic, Pensacola (NCCP), is now part of the Nemours Florida Leadership Team as chief medical officer for all Florida Network Operations.

In her new role (in addition to remaining CMO of NCCP), Dr. Mehta will oversee the Floridaarea primary and urgent care offices and will promote the specialty care that Nemours provides to new and existing hospital partners.

A pediatric cardiologist for more than 20 years, Dr. Mehta has served the children and families of Nemours for more than 12 years. Moving forward, she will continue to practice in both Pensacola and Orlando.

15th Annual

In memory of John Ryan Peacock

Sept. 29 - Oct. 1, 2016 THURSDAY FORE! Charity Tee Off Par-Tee & Silent Auction Sanders Beach Corrine Jones Community Center

FRIDAY & SATURDAY 2-Day • 2-Person Best Ball Format Marcus Pointe Golf Club Stonebrook Golf Club

PROCEEDS BENEFIT LOCAL CHARITIES Including Child Guardians, Inc • Gulf Coast Kid’s House Council on Aging of West Florida Ashley Lauren Offerdahl Endowment for Children’s Home Society of Florida

Escambia County Sheriff’s Office

Sheriff David Morgan Your Life...Your Community • No Place for Drugs www.escambiaso.com

nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 63

The Company You Keep

How and to whom you present yourself influences the success of your business. Our listeners are: Curious, Active, Engaged, Business Leaders, Tech Savvy, Influential, Well-travelled, Educated, Affluent, Voters, Volunteers, Professionals. As a WUWF Program Sponsor, your business can benefit from the company it keeps.

WUWF 88.1FM NPR for Florida’s Great Northwest

margaret@wuwf.org | 850.473.7453 | wuwf.org

Invitation for Pensacola Area Presidents, CEOs & Business Leaders What Big Brands Know: Grow Any Business Like a Billion-Dollar Brand June 22, 2016 7:30 - 10:30 a.m.

Pensacola Yacht Club 1897 West Cypress St. Pensacola, FL 32501 Register by June 17th

Presented by

Join us for a breakfast session where Gerry O’Brion translates his marketing experience with several billion dollar brands, into strategies any business can use.

Gerry will cover 5 steps that big brands use to attract their ideal customers. To register, call 800-733-4832 or e-mail marketing@vistageflorida.com.