SPECIAL SECTION
SPECIAL SECTION December 2018
55. Stem Success, UWF Success UWF receives $3 million grant for STEM programs
· OTHER STORIES ·
47 Escambia Voted Yes
51 Bruce Beach
Next Escambia County School Superintendent will be appointed by school board in 2020
A historic slice of Pensacola’s waterfront is once again open to the public after sitting dormant for nearly 50 years.
58 Around the Region Find out what is happening in business, government and cultural news in the greater Pensacola area and Northwest Florida
Business Climate 45
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Bruce Beach Reopens: by Will Isern
A historic slice of Pensacola’s waterfront is once again open to the public after sitting dormant for nearly 50 years.
Plans that had called for a $19 million fish hatchery and research center have been scrapped, and the 10 acres of waterfront property known as Bruce Beach have been reopened to the public. Despite initial pushback at the demise of the hatchery plan, local leaders now say the future of Bruce Beach is one that will ensure public access to the only stretch of beach in downtown Pensacola. Located between Maritime Park and Joe Patti’s seafood, Bruce Beach was once home to a bustling dry dock in the city’s early history and later a public swimming pool for the city’s black and immigrant communities. The construction of the former Main Street Wastewater Treatment Plant caused the
Bruce Pool to close in the 1970s and the land has sat unused ever since. The city embarked in 2013 on a partnership with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to build a $19 million fish hatchery at the site, and Mayor Ashton Hayward called the plan a “huge win for Pensacola.” Roughly $1.7 million was spent on planning and site cleanup. But public sentiment for plan soured in 2017 when Quint Studer pulled support for the project and began advocating that the hatchery be moved. Two local residents, Jerry Holzworth and Dan Lindemann, sued the FWC claiming that it had voided its lease of the property on a technicality. Sensing the waning public support, the FWC terminated its lease of Bruce Beach in June. Business Climate 47
photo by Guy Stevens
Beginning in the 1950s, the beach was among the only recreational areas open to black residents under segregation. Following advocacy from within the black community, The Bruce Pool was built at the site in 1956 and served throughout the 1960s as a gathering place for the city’s “Public access to our waterfront is incredibly black residents. important,” Hayward said at the ceremony. “The beach started, really, as a swimming “We all want our community to be able to hole for black people and people in this visit our beaches, visit our waterfronts and area, so it is really reflective of all of us,” said get down on the water… Today is just the local historian Dr. Marion Williams. “…In beginning of what Bruce Beach is going to this area, blacks swam, they crabbed, they look like.” fished; but they did not do that alone. The Pols, the Italians and the Greeks created Returning Bruce Beach to public access recalls the history of the property when fishing industries and this area boomed.” thousands of the city’s black and immigrant residents sought refuge from the summer The pool was eventually closed following heat at the Bruce Pool. It’s believed the the construction of the Main Street beach was man-made as a result of dredging Wastewater Treatment plant and Bruce operations at the turn of the century. The Beach fell into disuse. Developing the area takes its name from the Bruce Drydock property once again into a valuable public Company, which serviced ships at the beach asset could prove a boon to the ongoing starting in the early 20th century. The development of downtown. company ceased operations at the outbreak of World War II and the beach went unused City Administrator Keith Wilkins said the for a decade. city has plans for further improvements at the site and will apply for $1.5 million in With the hatchery project dead, Hayward quickly pivoted and directed city staff to prepare the property for public access. The improvements made to the beach are sparse, but a ribbon-cutting and reopening ceremony was held on Nov. 3.
48 Business Climate
grant funding from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission for improvements to Clubbs Street and the gravel path leading to the beach. “Phase 1 is what you see now,” Wilkins said. “The concept for Phase 2 would be to come in and do some restoration with native species, so taking out some of the invasive species and putting native species in there. Phase 3 would be the rest of the property. We want to leave it as natural as possible, but it needs a lot of vegetative restoration work.” It will be up to the newly elected mayor, Grover Robinson, to guide future development of the beach and surrounding property. Robinson said on the campaign trail that seeking state funding to construct additional amenities at Bruce Beach would be a legislative priority for his administration.
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Escambia Voted Yes: New School Superintendent to be appointed in 2020 written by Kaitlyn Peacock
While the spotlight of Election Day was on the race for Florida Governorship and the U.S. Senate seat, Escambia County had its own neck-and-neck race. The question: should the Escambia County School District Superintendent be elected or appointed? The results: by a very slim margin, 62,395 voted for appointed and 61,480 voted for elected. With less than a thousand votes, Escambia County decided the Superintendent after three-term elected Superintendent Malcolm Thomas will be appointed by the school board in 2020. This is not the first time the question of elected or appointed School Superintendent has been on the ballot. The referendum failed five times previous to this, with the last vote held in 1994. In February of this year, Thomas decided to bring the issue of the referendum to the school board, where it passed and was given to the County Commissioners. All five Commissioners voted to place the referendum on the ballot.
Thomas said it was important for him once he decided he was not going to run for reelection in 2020 to let the community decide on who would replace him, and how. “The question becomes how are you going to select this new superintendent?” he said. “Well, there’s two methods – you can elect them, which is what we have been doing, or you can appoint them. I believed that was a question the
community should have debated and then weigh in on to make that decision. That was why I felt like it should be on the ballot.” Proponents of the referendum campaigned on the fact that an appointed Superintendent is more likely to have higher qualifications than an elected Superintendent, while those in opposition said an appointed Superintendent would require a higher salary and citizens would lose their right to vote for this important county official. The referendum had loud voices on both sides, however Thomas said the process is less important than the person. While the process of finding a new Superintendent will be different than what Escambia County has historically done, the end result will still be to try to find the best person for the job, and that is the most important part.
Business Climate 51
“The truth is both systems can work and both systems can fail,” Thomas said. “I think what is more important than the process that you use to select your superintendent will be who you select. It’s not the how.” Supporters of the referendum included the Pensacola Young Professionals (PYP), who campaigned for the appointed Superintendent in hopes that a more experienced person in the job will be able to help raise the standard of schools for the district. Whether you are a parent with a child in the school system, want to be a parent or don’t want or have children, the quality of schools in the district still affects the entire county said PYP Vice President of Membership Ruthie Speight. “We want people to move here, so whether you have kids or not, the school systems will affect whether you will relocate for a job here,” she said. “Navy Federal is trying to bring more and more people from Vienna, Virginia, which has really excellent schools, so why would you want to move here? That’s just one example. It really does affect everyone whether they realize it or not.”
52 Business Climate
PYP President-Elect Walker Wilson said that the PYP membership voted on whether to support the referendum in September, and that many of their members either strongly supported it or didn’t know much about it. Once the decision was made, the campaign began, with the end goal always being to help improve local schools. “The reason we got into this is because we knew we could do better,” Wilson said. “This brings up the accountability factor for the school district and moving forward we hope to see our school district begin to move up in the ranking from where they are now because we think we can do better than where we are now. We need somebody that’s going to come in here and really focus on what’s going on in these poverty-stricken areas, and if they’re not going to go work with the state to secure funding for that, then it’s not going to work.” Now that the referendum has passed, PYP will bring its focus more on educating people who didn’t know much about the referendum and how it will affect the county moving forward.
With the results being so close, as they were expected to be, there are fears in the community on both sides about how smoothly the process will run, and whether or not this vote was for the better of the community. Both PYP and
“I know we are split, I know a lot of people have angst in both directions. I think what they need to know now is allow the school board to build a process. Let’s trust that. Stay informed, keep your ear to the ground, but give it a chance to develop. This is what the voters decided, even though it was by a narrow margin. In a democracy, we respect that.” – Malcolm Thomas Thomas spoke to the importance of letting the school board look for and find the right person,
and that the first person they find might not be the right one. The process will take time, but Thomas asked the community to let it run its course. “I know we are split, I know a lot of people have angst in both directions,” Thomas said. “I think what they need to know now is allow the school board to build a process. Let’s trust that. Stay informed, keep your ear to the ground, but give it a chance to develop. This is what the voters decided, even though it was by a narrow margin. In a democracy, we respect that.” In his last term, Thomas said he will focus on wrapping up several initiatives, including moving West Florida High School to the former Woodland High School location, continue to improve lowperforming school and a few other programs. He also has offered to be as involved or as separate from the hiring process of the new Superintendent as the school board wants. As 2020 approaches, he has said he wants to see this vote bring the community together as Escambia County focuses on finding the best person for the job.
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STEM success, UWF success written by Kaitlyn Peacock photos courtesy of UWF/Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering
The University of West Florida has received a $3 million grant from the Department of Education Title III Strengthening Institutions Program. The program is designed to help colleges improve infrastructure and teaching practices in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, also known as STEM fields, classrooms. The grant was awarded to the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering (HMCSE) for their “STEM success, UWF success” proposal, which was submitted in April 2016. Despite receiving a perfect score from the Department of Education, the proposal was actually not funded in 2017. However, after extra funds were found for the grant, UWF’s proposal was accepted and now HMCSE is preparing for the changes the grant will fund.
The Interim Assistant Vice President of Research Administration for HMCSE Dr. Matthew Schwartz said the grant will go toward purchasing new equipment, changing some of the lecture rooms and laboratories, curriculum redevelopment for targeted courses among other pursuits. The main goal of the grant is to upgrade the laboratories and curriculum of entry-level
classes, including biology, chemistry and physics. The importance of upgrading the most basic of classes ensures that the impact of the grant is felt not only for STEM students but students going through their general education courses. These courses are required of all students to graduate from UWF. “Part of the reason for these courses, and not just science courses, but history and English and all those general education, is to create informed citizens,” Schwartz said. “We just came through Election Day and we want to have citizens who have some knowledge of science, history, writing and communications, all these things. A lot of times, the only time we are going to have time we are going to have a chance to do that is in these entry-level courses. So they are hugely important, either for recruiting majors or for just distributing specific knowledge and skills.” The courses selected for redesign include General Chemistry I and II and the corresponding labs, Biology I and II and the corresponding labs, Business Climate 55
UWF students conducting experiments in the laser lab
equipment, the upgraded teaching practices and the new and continuing education of faculty orientates UWF with some “best practices,” or known ways to engage and educate students, seen at other universities. “What we are trying to do is take some of the best practices that are out there, many of which are developing out of the private universities, and seed them into the public sphere,” Schwartz said. “That’s one of the things that the Department of Education Title III proposal is set up to do, is get those practices, get that technology where it is needed.” Over the past few years, HMCSE has received around $5 million in grant money from various sources. The money allows the college to expand and update its programs, but it also shows that the college continues to improve and can stand toe to toe with other universities vying for these grants. It also shows the college’s commitment to focus on student success and improving key areas of concern for the university, such as graduation rates.
Statistics and Calculus I and II. Several of these courses were suggested for the redesign by Interim Dean for HMCSE Dr. Jaromy Kuhl when the proposal was first being written. He believes improving these key courses will lead to greater student success and a better graduation rate for the college. “As a new dean, I have goals for the college and one of those goals is improving pass rates in key STEM course; General Chemistry, Biology I, Calculus,” Kuhl said. “This grant allows us to do just that. It’s going to help the college meet its goals for improving pass rates in those key courses.” “The college has known that it needs to do something,” he continued. “And we know the key courses where if students don’t pass the first time, they are a year behind. Whether we got the grant or not, I was planning on doing some things to redesign some courses and get the faculty working toward that. This grant helps.” The impact of this particular grant will be felt within two years, when Kuhl said they intend to begin a pilot curriculum for some of the courses ready for students. While this was a goal of Kuhl’s with or without the money, it greatly sped up 56 Business Climate
the processes and within the five years the grant will be distributed, the college intends to have restructured and piloted all the new courses in the program. “It actually provides funding for us to add resources that our programs know we need but is very difficult to come by,” Schwartz said. “Money is not easy to come by at a public university. Money for expanding programs and for enhancing program is challenging. You do what you can, you make the best with what you have. This is an opportunity to get a significant amount of external funding in that allows us to improve our program that we know is important, that we want to do, both at the infrastructure and the curriculum level, but we haven’t had the resources for. Now, we can send faculty to workshops to learn how to better teach their classes, we can bring in new equipment, we can renovate spaces. It provides the resources to match our goals, and boy, that’s exciting.” Along with the update to curriculum, the grant will also pay for new equipment in the undergraduate laboratories. This will allow students a hands-on experience with technology they typically wouldn’t be able to use until graduate school. The combination of the new
“This is a great testament to the fact that the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering has made a strategic decision to pursue funding that helps the way we teach and the way our students learn,” Schwartz said. “That’s a choice. It’s built on successes, but it’s a choice.” Kuhl said as a new dean, his focus will be on helping the students succeed, with particular focus on getting them through their programs within the four years undergraduate degrees typically require. In the future, he said if the college does receive more money, it will go to continuing this goal, specifically to help redesign other key courses not covered by the current grant. “In the last four or five years, the college (HMCSE) has received over $5 million in grant money that is geared toward student success, student engagement,” Kuhl said. “It says a lot about where our interests lie and the work we’re trying to put in to improve what we are doing at the teaching level.”
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Around the Region Gift from UWF alumnus names University Park Center, establishes scholarships The University of West Florida has announced a major gift to name University Park Center the Darrell Gooden Center and establish scholarships for UWF students, in honor of UWF alumnus Darrell Gooden and his wife, Debbie Gooden. The Goodens’ gift commitment, along with their planned gift, are a continuation of Darrell Gooden’s legacy at UWF. “Darrell and Debbie Gooden's investment in UWF reminds us of the transformative nature that higher education brings to a community,” said UWF President Martha Saunders. “We continue to see how Argos are changing the world. New facilities that are supported by gifts to the University shape an institution and produce high-quality graduates. We are so thankful to the Goodens for their inspirational legacy.” A Pensacola native, Gooden graduated in UWF’s undergraduate class of 1973 with a degree in accounting. He contributed his first gift to help start the football program in 2016 and became a Platinum UWF Football Founder. He continued to support UWF Athletics and donated in support of building the new University Park Center. His support of this facility helped create a new locker room and sports performance center for all student-athletes. Gooden is also a member of the UWF Athletics Sword and Shield Council and the founder of Gooden Homes. “I am very fortunate to have attended and earned an accounting degree from one of the top programs in the nation,” Gooden said. “I could not have achieved all the success that I have had in the development and home construction business without the knowledge I obtained from the UWF College of Business.” In addition to naming the University Park Center, the Goodens’ gift supports capital improvements in athletics and establishes a range of scholarships for accounting and other UWF College of Business students, 58 Business Climate
as well as athletic scholarships and First Choice Excellence scholarships, which attract the best and brightest to UWF. “The Goodens’ gift will allow us to move forward with initiatives that will benefit our student-athletes and provide scholarships for the future,” said Dave Scott, UWF athletic director. “Darrell has been a great friend of the program and has supported Intercollegiate Athletics in building champions for life.” University Park Center, which opened in April 2018, is a $7 million, 32,700-square-foot facility, located adjacent to Pen Air Field on the UWF Pensacola campus. It serves UWF Intercollegiate Athletics, the UWF Usha Kundu, MD College of Health and the Florida State University College of Medicine’s Pensacola Regional Campus.
Baptist Health Care Foundation Announces Hollinger Award Recipients The Baptist Health Care Foundation announces the 2018 Hollinger Award recipients for outstanding service contributions to Baptist Health Care. The awards are presented to individuals, families or organizations that have exhibited exceptional generosity and community leadership through gifts of their time and/or financial support. The award is named in memory of long-time supporters of Baptist Health Care, Pick and Alberta Hollinger. The couple worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for those served by Baptist. The 2018 recipients were recognized at the Baptist Health Care Foundation annual meeting on November 8 at the Pensacola Yacht Club. Volunteer of the Year: Kara ElliottJordan Volunteer of the Year: Marjorie Stone Women’s Board Volunteer: Tara Rollins Health Care Professional: Dr. David Josephs Physician of the Year: Dr. Charles Roth Lifetime Achievement: Fred Donovan, Sr.
UWF partners with IHMC to develop first intelligent systems and robotics Ph.D. in Florida The University of West Florida has partnered with the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition located in downtown Pensacola to develop a doctoral program in intelligent systems and robotics. The program will be the first of its kind in Florida and one of only a few in the nation. “We are very excited about this new doctoral degree program,” said UWF President Martha D. Saunders. “The program brings together the strengths of UWF engineering and computer science programs with the expertise of a world-class research center, IHMC. It’s a game changer.” The new doctoral program will begin Fall 2019 and aligns with the University’s strategic vision for research that impacts Northwest Florida’s economic development and technology enterprise. It will serve the manufacturing, health care, defense and other high-tech industries, providing critical support to highdemand career fields. “I’ve envisioned a program like this for a long time,” said Ken Ford, director and co-founder of IHMC. “It will attract top young talent from the world. This is such a great move not only for UWF and IHMC, but also for Pensacola and the state.” According to a 2012 study by the National Robotics Initiative, robotics technology holds the potential to transform the future of the U.S. and is expected to become as ubiquitous over the next decades as computer technology is today. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook projects a 19 percent growth rate for computer and information technology research scientists over the next 10 years. "The national demand for experts in intelligent systems and robotics is large, yet universities and technology firms such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon struggle to find
people with the expertise and skills their organizations need," said Dr. Mohamed Khabou, interim program director. "In a Spring 2018 survey of UWF engineering and computer science students, 66 percent of the 149 respondents indicated their interest in this new program." The program will attract talented students from around the world, as it will be one of only a few in the nation, joining institutions like Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh and Georgia Institute of Technology. “This program sets a precedent as the first of its kind in the state,” said Dr. Jaromy Kuhl, interim dean of the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering. “The groundbreaking program will focus solely on research and build upon our excellent computer science and engineering programs. Students will flourish by learning from award-winning IHMC scientists, and graduates will be highly competitive in a job market with a growing demand for experts in intelligent systems and robotics. UWF and IHMC will educate the next generation of researchers to develop innovative technology that combines human and machine elements.” The Doctorate in Intelligent Systems and Robotics will train the next generation of professionals who will develop technologies combining human and machine elements through hands-on, leading-edge research – leveraging the proximity and worldclass talent at UWF and IHMC. A not-for-profit research institute of the State University System, IHMC is a pioneer of technologies aimed at extending human capabilities through a unique approach combining computer science, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, engineering, medical sciences and related disciplines. "UWF is blessed to have such a high-caliber institute nearby, and establishing an official partnership with them to help launch this new Ph.D. program is a win-win for both institutions," Khabou said.
Junior Achievement of Northwest Florida Names Rishy Studer & Stan Connally Hall of Fame Laureates Junior Achievement of Northwest Florida announced its annual award recipients for distinguished service to its mission to inspire young people to succeed in a global economy. Junior Achievement’s annual individual Hall of Fame Laureates for 2018 are Stan Connally and Rishy Studer. This year’s Laureates were selected on criteria including support of Junior Achievement’s mission, volunteering in the classroom, assistance with fundraising for the organization, dedication to improving the community, and distinguished community leadership that directly impacts young people. Junior Achievement also chooses distinguished local businesses and honors them with annual leadership awards. The 2018 Business Leadership Hall of Fame awards included: The Marshall Blaise Adams Give Back Award: Michelle Salzman Large Business of the Year: Republic Services Small Business of the Year: IMS ExpertServices Professional Business Partner of the Year: LandrumHR Community Partner of the Year: Seville Rotary Entrepreneurial Spirit 2018: DC Reeves and Perfect Plain Brewery Leadership Council Member of the Year: Alan Ritchie Volunteers of the Year: Darin Southard & Sara Wiggins Junior Achievement’s Hall of Fame Laureates were honored on November 1st at its largest annual fundraiser which generates more than $60,000 in programming support. During the event, SunTrust pledged $10,000 to Junior Achievement for 2018-2019 K-12 financial literacy programming. A long-time supporter of Junior Achievement, SunTrust Regional President for the Florida Panhandle Bob Anderson said, “SunTrust is
pleased to be able to support Junior Achievement here in Northwest Florida. This is a great organization that shares our passion for financial literacy. We are most excited about how Junior Achievement will impact our community for years to come.”
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Hall of Fame Laureates are chosen each year by a special committee which consists of members from the Junior Achievement Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers. Past Junior Achievement Laureates also provide input for consideration by the selection committee.
Pensacola Businesses Receive National Recognition from Department of Labor VetCV and EBI Management Group were both recognized by the Department of Labor (DoL) as HIRE VETS medallion award winners. VetCV received a Platinum Medallion and EBI received a Gold Medallion. The awards recognize job creators for their leadership in recruiting, employing, and retaining America's veterans. In 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing (HIRE) American Military Veterans Act, creating the HIRE Vets Medallion Program. "America's veterans are proven leaders who bring skills, dedication, and determination to our nation's workforce," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta. "To earn a HIRE Vets Medallion Award, job creators must demonstrate a solid commitment to providing veterans with the opportunity to build a meaningful career. This program recognizes a standard for excellence in veterans hiring, and helps veterans identify employers who are committed to advancing veterans in the workplace." The Department of Labor recognized 238 companies across the nation including large, medium and small businesses. Sixteen companies from the State of Florida were recognized and two from Pensacola. EBI Management Group is a specializing in providing financial, business, project management
WWW.PENSACOLACHAMBER.COM 850.438.4081 SUPPORT@PENSACOLACHAMBER.COM and technology services to the Department of Defense and Federal Agencies. EBI’s President, Travis Goins, stated “Mark and I are humbled by this national recognition. As Veterans ourselves, it is part of our DNA to seek out Veteran employees and Veteran business partners like VetCV. We recognize the value of our Nation’s Veterans and the skills, experience and leadership they bring to the workforce. The long-term success of EBI will be based on the strength of our Veteran workforce.” VetCV is a tech company that has built a free highly secure online “personal data-vault” software platform to support our Nation’s 23.9 million active US military and Veterans as well as their 46 million family members. VetCV will grow into a place where they will have a voice and will be heard. VetCV helps Veterans and their family’s transition to civilian life in two major way: First by personalizing and matching them to patriotic employers that understand the value of service and genuinely want to hire them “right now!” And second, connecting them to the healthcare, VA benefits, and
other important resources, quickly and in real time. Users can also safely store and control their most important documents related to their careers, healthcare, military service, and family so they can get to them where and when they need them. “Successful transition starts with making sure people can support their families, that usually means getting a great job, and keeping it, so that’s where we start too. With more than 240,000 job postings already, people can join their next team. Veterans helping Veterans is the core of what are trying to do. We have lots of plans in store, but we are off to a really good start. This HIRE Vets Platinum Award means a lot to us because it validates our mission here,” said Niels Andersen, VetCV President & CEO.
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