Northwest Florida's Business Climate Aug. 2015

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SPECIAL SECTION 50

NO SMOKING PLEASE WHAT RECENT SMOKING BANS MEAN FOR BARS IN DOWNTOWN PENSACOLA

· OTHER STORIES ·

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR ALL

A NEW KIND OF AIR SUPPORT

AROUND THE REGION

A LOCAL BUSINESS IS PIONEERING NEW AND EXCITING WAYS TO REMOTE-CONTROL MILITARY VEHICLES AND AIRCRAFT.

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

FLORIDA HAS A HUGE NUMBER OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES. LEARN THE FASCINATING PROCESS OF PARTNERSHIPS THAT SUSTAIN OUR STATE’S ECONOMY.

nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 49

N SMOKING PLEASE Whether you’re a smoker or a nonsmoker, you’ve probably heard there’s a voluntary smoking ban clearing the haze in local bars. Officially, Emerald City banned indoor smoking on July 6 and Seville Quarter restricted smoking to outdoor areas on Aug. 1. Since June, the two Downtown Pensacola hotspots have been publicizing the upcoming smoking ban via “smoke-free” signs in the establishment and posts on social media.

The smoking crowd isn’t being completely blown off though. The beautiful courtyard at Seville and covered patio outside Emerald City are open to smokers. While Seville has also banned indoor vaping, Emerald City allows customers to use e-cigarettes inside the bar since they do not produce a harsh, nicotine smell.

Although the indoor smoking ban is voluntary right now, to better understand the rules and regulations associated with smoking inside Florida bars it helps to know a little background on the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act (FCIAA). The act is part of the 1985 Florida Public Health Statutes enacted by the Florida Legislature with the purpose of protecting people from the health hazards

50 | Business Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com

WITH RECENTLY ENACTED SMOKING BANS NOW IN EFFECT AT POPULAR DOWNTOWN PENSACOLA BARS, DAWN GRESKO WONDERED IF AND HOW THEY WOULD AFFECT BUSINESS, THE BOTTOM LINE, AND THOSE ORGANIZATIONS THAT STILL ALLOW SMOKING. WHAT SHE FOUND REPRESENTS A CHANGING SOCIAL SCENE AND A PROMISING PROGRESSION TOWARD MORE HEALTH CONSCIOUSNESS.

of secondhand smoke. In November of 2002, 71 percent of Florida’s citizens voted for a constitutional amendment to prohibit smoking in all enclosed indoor workplaces.

A year later in July, the smoke-free law went into effect.

While it is true the amendment to the FCIAA in 2003 did not prohibit smoking in stand-alone bars, this year many local stand-alone bars have decided to restrict smoking to outside areas.

According to Florida statutes, a standalone bar is any licensed establishment devoted primarily to serving alcoholic beverages. A stand-alone bar cannot be within an enclosed indoor workplace or business in which the sale of food exceeds 10 percent of the gross revenue. In other words, smoking

Business Climate SPECIAL SECTION

“Before we decided to go smoke-free, we posed the question on our social media pages for customers to tell us what they thought.

Over 80 percent were in favor of partial smoke-free.”

is allowed in a stand-alone bar even though it is an enclosed workplace because, beyond bar snacks, food is not prepared and served within the bar.

But, why ban indoor smoking at the bars if Florida law doesn’t require it?

Well, there are a few reasons bars have decided to voluntarily ban indoor smoking, some of which include promoting better health and business.

First and foremost, many bars are concerned with making air healthier for their patrons. Not only do customers and members of the staff breathe better in the absence of tobacco smoke, but they also go home without the smell of smoke still clinging to their hair and clothes.

“We lost a lot of people on our Friday night bar bingo because of the smoke,” said Ted McCrary, manager at Emerald City.

“There would literally be a haze hanging above the crowd like it was a poker tournament. Since we banned smoking, my bartender reports that we’ve gotten a significant number of people back for bar bingo. Some who have been gone as long as a year have resurfaced.”

Tobacco smoke can cause physical problems for patrons with respiratory issues, such as asthma, and many consider the scent to be distasteful.

“As a non-smoking family we felt it was time to go for what was healthier by limiting secondhand smoke,” said Buck Mitchell, marketing manager at Seville. “We wanted Seville’s clubs and air to smell better, so people feel better about coming to see us.

Without alienating smokers, we wanted to bring back customers that don’t smoke.”

In addition, there’s the goal of building profit for the bar with food sales.

“There are parameters food-wise when it comes to serving food and allowing smoking in bars,” said Buck. “Bars are allowed lower than 10 percent in food sale profits. When we go smoke-free, we can increase food sale revenue for Seville’s restaurants and clubs.”

For sanitary reasons, a bar that allows indoor smoking cannot serve any food other than what is classified as bar snacks.

So, if a bar wanted to serve meals and gain additional revenue from food sales, then the establishment would have to get rid of indoor smoking. nwflbusinessclimate.com nwflbusinessclimate.com| |Business BusinessClimate Climate| |5151

“There’s also the matter of serving food,” said Ted from Emerald City, known for Taco Tuesday nights. “There’s a limit to what we can sell customers, but if we eliminate indoor smoking then we could increase food sales if we wanted.”

Many bars are also following the trend set by New Orleans earlier this year when NOLA issued a city-wide smoking ban.

Only time will tell if the rest of Pensacola will join New Orleans along with 700 cities enacting smoke-free laws city wide.

“My family has been following what’s happening in New Orleans, so the smokefree law passed by the city played a part in our decision at Seville,” said Buck. “Seville is the heart of Downtown Pensacola so after we received a positive response to going smoke-free on social media, we felt it was time to put it in action at Seville.”

After being approached by patrons about becoming a non-smoking bar, Emerald City presented the idea of going smoke-free on their Twitter and Facebook sites. They asked if clients would prefer no smoking in The Other Side only, no smoking in the entire club, or if they’d prefer Emerald City to continue to allow smoking in the club.

“We’ve been considering the smoking ban since New Orleans went smoke-free in April,” said McCrary. “Before we decided to go smoke-free, we posed the question on our social media pages for customers to tell us what they thought. Over 80 percent were in favor of partial smoke-free.”

With an overwhelming response in favor of going smoke-free, Emerald City first banned smoking in their happy hour and video bar called The Other Side on June 18 to see how regulars reacted.

In a nutshell, how do patrons and bar staff feel about the voluntary ban?

There’s been mixed reviews but overall Pensacolians supported the idea of Emerald City and Seville going smokefree. Although bartenders cannot smoke indoors while on duty, making the indoor smoking ban nothing new to them, many are happy about reducing their exposure to secondhand smoke. There have been a small amount of negative or neutral responses from customers who feel the ban is either inconvenient or won’t affect their decision to visit the bar, but the majority favor going smoke-free.

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“I don’t believe the smoking ban will affect our bar very much right now,” explained Eric Hughson, manager of The Roundup. “We’re a locals bar and everyone who comes here knows we’re a smoking establishment.”

The Handlebar and The Roundup are among the few stand-alone bars that still allow indoor smoking.

“It depends on the crowd each night but the majority of our customers are smokers,” said Jimmy Lamar, owner of The Handlebar. “Although we have an exhaust fan to counteract the smoke for nonsmokers, we don’t find ourselves using it often.”

Many smoking bars have not jumped

on the bandwagon with Emerald City and Seville because their business is supported by the patronage of regulars who enjoy having the freedom to smoke indoors.

“I’ll be happy to make The Handlebar smoke-free when the city tells us,” said Jimmy. “Or when The Z bans smoking.”

The Azalea Lounge, also called “The Z,” and Coyote’s Sports Bar are two more local bars where indoor smoking is allowed.

“Eventually smoke-free is going to come to Pensacola and we’ll have to do it,” said Eric. “But until then we’ll allow smoking in the bar because most of our clientele are heavy smokers.”

THE EFFECTS OF INDOOR SMOKING AND SECONDHAND SMOKE SINCE 1964, 2.5 MILLION NONSMOKERS HAVE DIED FROM SECONDHAND SMOKE

DURING 2011–2012, ABOUT 58 MILLION NONSMOKERS IN THE UNITED STATES WERE EXPOSED TO SECONDHAND SMOKE.

34,000 CASES OF HEART DISEASE AND 7,300 CASES OF LUNG CANCER ARE ATTRIBUTED TO SECONDHAND SMOKE

A 2012 STUDY FOUND THAT SMOKE-FREE LAWS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH LOWER RATES OF HOSPITAL ADMISSION FOR CORONARY EVENTS AND RESPIRATORY DISEASE

25 OUT OF EVERY 100 NONSMOKERS HAVE MEASUREABLE LEVELS OF COTININE

THERE ARE STILL 14 STATES THAT STILL HAVE NONE OR VERY FEW SMOKEFREE LAWS IN PLACE

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Economic Development For All

by Josh Newby

54 | Business Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com

There are about 75 official economic development agencies in Florida, and then there are the countless other partnerships and collaborations also focused on increasing jobs and tax revenue in their own way. In Northwest Florida—that is, Escambia and Santa Rosa counties— there exists 11 public and private organizations focused on developing our internal and external economy. But what do they all do? Surely there must be some overlap, some redundancy, right? Not so, according to leading job creators in the state. Each agency serves a unique function and has a specialized audience.

It is important to know what each of these organizations do in order to properly leverage their goals and resources to maximize Pensacola’s potential.

Some focus on the state as a whole and see our nook of Florida as important in alternative ways; others focus on Pensacola exclusively with the intent of boasting all of our natural and business assets.

Business Climate SPECIAL SECTION

Enterprise Florida

Florida’s Great Northwest

Enterprise Florida (EF), for example, is the principle economic development organization for Florida. It is a public-private partnership between Florida’s business and government leaders. Throughout the years, EF has championed Florida as the premier location for business expansion and relocation, and created a recently renewed interest in Florida both nationally and internationally as a top haven state for business. As a result, EF has created a significant number of new jobs and capital investments for the state.

EF works with 67 county partners across the state to best match new jobs and companies with Florida’s locations, resources and workforce. They also provide international trade and development resources and work with minority, small business, and entrepreneurship and capital division partners to provide training, development and financing options.

The staff at Enterprise Florida works with each of the state’s county partners, as well as CareerSource Florida, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, and the FDOT to ensure that all state resources are understood through all levels of economic development.

“Once a company contacts EF, we help point companies to local areas that may have the specific resources the companies are seek-

Zooming in to our panhandle region, Florida’s Great Northwest is a non-profit whose mission it is to market and brand the 16-county Northwest Florida region as a globally competitive location for business. They also work with regional partners to recruit new jobs and retain investment throughout the area. Though their primary marketing efforts are focused on the aviation, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, IT and logistics industries, they are always mindful of the many other sectors that make up Florida business.

“As a regional Economic Development Organization (EDO), our goal is to maximize our efforts to recruit industries to the region through a cooperative working relationship with our local EDOs who are all members of our organization,” said Larry Sassano, president of the organization. “We also work with our other member partners, the colleges and universities throughout the region and the CareerSource offices from Tallahassee to Pensacola.”

Florida’s Great Northwest is just one of six regional organizations throughout Florida that provide marketing support for their respective slice of the state.

“We develop our marketing program with the input and recommendations provided by the local EDOs,” said Sassano. “This way everyone

ing, such as sites, buildings, infrastructure and workforce,” said Beth Frady, director of public relations for Enterprise Florida. “In order to improve the state’s economy through job creation, it’s important to have representation from every community in the state. Florida’s economic development entities act as a team to ensure Florida is a business-friendly state and remains competitive. This structure also allows each region to share their business story and tout their unique resources to companies seeking to do business in the state. Florida offers a unique mix of metropolitan, rural, coastal and interior locations unlike other states.”

buys into the plan that benefits their individual community needs.”

According to Sassano, when a company is evaluating new site locations for their growth, they generally look at a region or regions, not one specific community. They often start with the state organization, which in our case is Enterprise Florida, who sends the lead to the regional organizations and the local EDOs. Florida’s Great Northwest tracks this lead and is often asked to package the community responses to be returned to the EF representative who is handling the lead. This allows the EF account handler to receive one package for the

“Economic development is a very competitive process.” communities in our region rather than 16 individual packages. Companies who are evaluating several states for their next expansion do not want to filter through hundreds of proposals.

They and the state want the evaluation process to be simplified as much as possible.

“Economic development is a very competitive process,” said Sassano. ”We are competing against other parts of Florida, other states, and often other countries for good jobs and investments. If you don’t have skin in the game, you can’t play. By that, I mean that in order to be properly represented to compete for leads, projects and clients, you need to have someone marketing your community and telling your story and the benefits you have to market to a company that may be interested in investing in your community. It does not happen by chance and no one is going to sell a community better than a local economic developer, because that is their job.”

Innovation Coast Oftentimes, industry sectors will have their own regional representation. Innovation Coast, for example, is an alliance of technology-based companies in Northwest Florida with the goal to grow, sustain and showcase the region’s system of IT companies, capital investors and professionals.

Innovation Coast, like most other industryspecific alliances, partners with applicable companies, such as AppRiver, Gulf Power, the University of West Florida (UWF), Pensacola State College (PSC), and the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. As a result, the organization has been responsible for a number of notable leaps forward for Northwest Florida in regard to technology.

“In May, we hosted a demo day in partnership with the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which allowed five area technology and knowledge-based companies to present their business model and underlying technology to a panel of investors and industry leaders,” said Innovation Coast Executive Director Donovan Chau. “We have hosted educational and networking events on topics such as intellectual property protection and capital formation and have recently entered into a contract with local marketing firm Duncan McCall to support the marketing of Northwest Florida of nwflbusinessclimate.com nwflbusinessclimate.com||Business BusinessClimate Climate||55 55

as a hub in the technology and knowledge-based industry sectors.”

IT Gulf Coast is another organization with similar goals to Innovation Coast. While the former focuses primarily on benefitting individual IT professionals in the region, the latter’s focus is mainly the companies as a whole. As you can imagine, there is often overlap between them and the two frequently work in tandem to market Northwest Florida as a hub of technology.

County Economic Development Organizations Even more locally are the county operations, such as MyEscambia and Santa Rosa County Economic Development. The organizations work with local government officials, businesses, educational partners and chambers of commerce to develop a holistic, locally based approach to job creation and capital investment.

Each organization researches and broadcasts information on demographics, workforce readiness, available sites, infrastructure and more.

They also work with local government to enact tax credits and exemptions, loan programs and numerous other incentives to make their respective region the most attractive.

MyEscambia and Santa Rosa’s EDO also work with UWF’s Small Business Development Center to help home-grown entrepreneurs realize their dreams and contribute to the area’s

economy and job base.

FloridaWest FloridaWest Economic Development Alliance is a recent offshoot of the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce. It is a partnership between Escambia County and the City of Pensacola with both public and private funding.

FloridaWest focuses on four primary pillars— wealth development, economic partnerships, sustainable growth, and a transformed workforce.

“We share many similarities with economic development colleagues around the state and the country; however our particular assets,

5656 | Business | Business Climate Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com | nwflbusinessclimate.com

8,800 new jobs, $450 million in new payroll and $797 million in new capital investment.” geographic location and target industry focus designed to attract, grow and sustain certain business sets us apart,” said FloridaWest CEO Scott Luth. “Some of our unique advantages and community strengths include transportation connectivity, educational assets, as well as our strong ties to the military, which makes our region a smart choice for business in target industries such as aviation manufacturing and maintenance; financial and professional services; information technology and business processing outsourcing (BPO); defense, homeland and cyber security; offshore vessel service and support and manufacturing.”

All in all, FloridaWest actually partners with more than a hundred public and private entities to market our area’s unique advantages and expand prosperity for Northwest Florida.

These partners include governmental bodies like Escambia County, the City of Pensacola, Florida’s Great Northwest and Enterprise Florida, as well as publicly funded institutions like PSC, UWF, and even Pensacola Energy and the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority.

The organization in its current form is relatively new, but the dedicated team of seven is working hard on continuing its success from when it was an arm of the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce.

“We are presently developing new benchmarking goals for our economic development program of work and initiatives, reviewing all local incentive programs, and working to develop restore workforce strategies,” said Luth.

“The outcomes of our economic development project work between 2010 and 2015 include

CareerSource Economic development agencies, partnerships, site selection, tax incentives—that is all well and good, but means nothing without a committed, educated and in-place workforce.

Thankfully, that is where CareerSource comes in.

CareerSource is a state-wide network of 24 regional offices and more than a hundred city offices, all dedicated to connecting candidates with employers. The organization also provides training, issues reports, facilitates meetings and partnerships, and even works to offer internships.

“CareerSource is an important part of economic development,” said Sassano. “In fact, having trained personnel available when a company is seriously looking at your region is often critical factor to securing that company’s commitment.”

It is this multi-tiered, holistic approach to economic development—from the state-wide agencies attracting multi-billion dollar companies to the local organizations working to make the workforce the best it can be—that makes our state the perfect place for business and commerce. Florida’s job and wealth growth since the Recession has been the envy of the country, undoubtedly thanks to the dedication and hard work of various state, regional and county-based organizations all striving to make our state a destination for the best companies and workers our nation has to offer.

CYBER SECURITY RISK ASSESSMENT

IS YOUR DOOR OPEN FOR INTRUDERS? Data breaches are becoming more prevalent and more severe, causing businesses to question the security of their networks. Many studies show that almost all companies will experience some level of a cyber breach in the next five years. Don’t leave your company’s network open and vulnerable to a breach. Consider a proactive approach in order to minimize the risk of a cyber security breach.

Our cyber security professionals can perform a risk assessment to help identify holes and vulnerabilities in your systems, and then detail the most critical areas of improvement.

We help clients focus on internal, external and vendor security risks, and can help achieve compliance with PCI DSS, HIPAA, GLBA and others.

If you’re interested in reducing risk through cyber security, e-mail Warren Averett at resourcecenter@watechgroup.com or visit www.watechgroup.com.

Floridanwflbusinessclimate.com l Alabama | Business l Georgia Climate | 57

I

magine being on the road and turning to the car beside you only to see that the car is empty and is driving on its own. Now imagine that car in some of the world’s most deadly war environments, able to move through mined roads with no danger being

presented to its driver. Technology such as this is currently being developed by Micro Systems Inc. These advances in full-sized remotely controlled cars will take American soldiers out of harm’s way without sacrificing firepower on the front lines. This technology isn’t new; a lot of it comes from remote-controlled planes and missiles also developed by Micro Systems Inc. Micro Systems Inc. was founded in 1976 and first began its work on guided missiles.

Eventually the teams at Micro Systems began working on remote controlled fighter planes as well as other missile systems, but their work remained primarily in the sky. However, new demands have turned the company toward a new avenue: remote controlled ground vehicles.

“The community we work with is pretty small,” Business Development Manager Maynard Factor said. “We work with the Army, Navy, and Air Force and they’re all kind of doing the same thing,” Micro Systems is unique in that every step of designing, building, and testing is done through different teams at Micro Systems. A client comes forward with an idea, the idea is then taken, designed, and if approved it is built. Teams have been known to build and rebuild customized computers to better adapt to whatever project currently being worked on. The workshop at Micro Systems is covered in computers resembling old 90’s futuristic shows; bulky, boxy, knobby pieces of metal that somehow contain the technology enabling one person to remotely fly several planes at once. There are of course swankier gadgets strewn about, sleeker in design but much more alien in appearance than the oddly familiar brown box computers.

After designing and building the current project, or sometimes at the same time, software engineers start to puzzle out how they are going to make the monstrous computers work or how they are going to make this piece of machine move the way it needs to. During this process, software and hardware engineers may go back and forth,

A NEW KIND OF AIR SUPPORT

A COMPANY IN FT. WALTON BEACH IS CHANGING THE FUTURE OF AERIAL TARGETING AND UNMANNED MILITARY VEHICLES. HOW THIS SMALL DEFENSE CONTRACTOR BECAME ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MILITARY TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATIONS IN THE SOUTHEAST. BY KAITLYN PEACOCK | BusinessClimate Climate| nwflbusinessclimate.com | nwflbusinessclimate.com 5858| Business

Business Climate SPECIAL SECTION

meeting new demands that have

training techniques with their new

come up from the other’s work.

remote controlled ground vehicles.

Ideas may have to be reworked or

“We want to be able to do what

scrapped altogether. Micro Systems

we did with our air defense training

software engineer Troy Eberhart,

with our ground defense training,”

having worked at the company for

Factor said.

15 years, knows this all too well,

So far, Micro Systems has

but he says, “There’s always a fire

developed a system that can

that comes up that you have to put

remotely operate a vehicle while

out.” He laughed when he said it,

still allowing a driver in the driver’s

as if putting out fires had become

seat to operate it if necessary. The

a specialty of his during his many

system is hooked up to the basic

years at the company. And once

operations of the vehicle, such as the

in a blue moon, everything goes

gear shift, gas, break, and steering

smoothly and the project is ready

wheel. It also includes a radio

for testing.

transmitter that allows the car to be

Micro Systems has a vast array

controlled remotely up to ten miles

of testing machines that determine

away and a GPS that allows the

environmental stresses placed on

operator to see where on a map the

machines in flight. This includes

vehicle is located. The actual control

extreme pressure, atmosphere

of the vehicle is done through two

changes, the shakiness of a jet

screens, one showing the GPS

taking off or landing, extreme

coordinates, speed, heading, and

temperatures, and so on. Computers

other important details of the car’s

are subjected to these tests to

movements and the other screen is

make sure they can withstand

connected to a camera that shoots

the environment they will have

out of the front of the vehicle,

to function in. If something goes

showing whatever might be in front

wrong, it’s back to the engineers to

of the car’s windshield. A steering

fiX. If it goes well, then more testing

wheel reminiscent of an arcade

is done, tweaks are made to both

racing game is used to control the

the hardware and the software, and

movements of the vehicle.

somehow at the end of the day, an airplane can be flown without a pilot

Currently, testing is being done with the remote control operator

sitting in it.

“It takes about a year from a nothing to a something,” Factor said.

A lot of the missiles and planes that Micro Systems has developed are used in training missions for military forces. A pilot can get practice shooting down a remote controlled missile or can guide a missile to strike a cardboard tank.

One of the current goals of Micro Systems is to implement these same

“It’s way more stressful thAn a video game. When you’re driving the car remotely, there’s so many more factors that you don’t feel.” nwflbusinessclimate.com nwflbusinessclimate.com| Business | BusinessClimate Climate| 59 | 59

in an air conditioned unit

developed at Micro

with a safety driver inside

Systems, route clearing

the vehicle. Micro Systems

vehicles sent to find and

has outfitted an Hummer

disarm such explosives

H2 and other vehicles

may not even need to have

with this new system and

a driver put in danger.

there are plans to outfit

This could potentially help

Humvees and even tanks

to decrease the number

with the new technology,

of casualties and injuries

as well. Software Engineer

caused by these IEDs.

David Oshana, who helped

As of right now, there is

in developing the software

no overall AI that goes into

used for the ground

these cars. The car cannot

vehicles, said, “It’s way

operate itself and has to

more stressful than a video

have a driver, either sitting

game. When you’re driving

in it or controlling it from

the car remotely, there are

another location, to move.

so many more factors that

However, that is not to say

you don’t feel. When you’re

that these cars will never

driving a car you make

be able to navigate on their

corrections subconsciously

own. With the car already

but remotely you don’t

hooked up to a GPS, it’s not

feel the car movement or

so farfetched to think a car

the speed. You have to

could use its coordinates

drive from a screen and

and other nearby

that leaves a lot of blank

landmarked coordinates

spaces. And there’s usually

to move around an area on

a person in that car!”

its own.

Concern for the safety

Factor also said, “There

driver in the test vehicles

are sensors we can use that

is understandable, but

detect avoidable obstacles.”

there is a shiny red button

This suggests that some

that will disable the car for

thought has gone into

emergency situations.

this and cars able to drive

Remote-controlled vehicles are not something that is so groundbreaking. Even Google is working on a car that can drive on its own. So what’s the difference between that and what Micro

themselves may be a project Micro Systems will be working on in the near future.

Micro System has been part of many other exciting projects, one

Systems is doing? The difference is that this isn’t the last step of their

of which was a missile that could fly only feet above the ocean and

project.

could move up and down with the crests of waves. Advancements in

“One of the big things that is coming up is the Route Clearing System,” Factor said. “We hope to use this technology on route clearing ground vehicles to keep our warfighters out of danger zones.”

Many injuries and casualties in war zones are caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs). This normally occurs when a vehicle triggers one of these devices. With the new technology

60 60| Business | BusinessClimate Climate| nwflbusinessclimate.com | nwflbusinessclimate.com

these technologies can save the lives of American soldiers. To learn more about Micro Systems visit their website at kratos-msi.com.

competitive. committed. connected.

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Business Climate SPECIAL SECTION Photo by Anna Gutermuth

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serious illnesses do better when their parents are able to stay with them.

Paid sick days are good for business. Employee turnover is expensive – on average, one-fifth of an employee’s annual salary. Paid sick days result in reduced turnover, which leads to reduced hiring and training costs for businesses.

Paid sick days decrease unnecessary health care costs. Universal access to paid sick days would eliminate an estimated 1.3 million emergency room visits each year, saving $1.1 billion annually in costs to individuals, private insurers and public programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid.

STANDARDS FOR FLORIDA AND THE NATION SHOULD BE PRIORITIES

Calling in Sick

•

THE VALUE OF PAID SICK DAYS FOR FLORIDIANS Courtesy of the National Partnership for Women & Families

In Florida, an estimated 3,009,437 private sector workers, or 47.1 percent of the workforce, cannot earn a single paid sick day to use to recover from common illnesses or seek medical care. Nationwide, more than 43 million private sector workers – nearly 40 percent of the workforce – cannot earn paid sick time.

When workers do not have access to paid sick days, the consequences can be significant. For a typical family in the United States without paid sick days, for example, 3.5 days lost to illness are equivalent to the family’s entire monthly grocery budget.

Florida families need paid sick days to protect their financial stability, help maintain a strong state economy and promote their own good health and that of their communities.

BY THE NUMBERS •

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Nearly 2,650,000 children in Florida live in families in which all parents work, yet too often parents cannot use the sick days they earn to care for their children. Nationally, parents without paid sick days are more than twice as likely to send a sick child to school or day care, which can put the health of their child, their child’s classmates and their teachers at risk.

Florida is home to more than

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2,300,00 African-American workers and nearly 3,400,000 Latino workers, groups with disproportionately low access to paid sick days More than 660,000 people in Florida work in restaurants, an industry that requires frequent contact with the public but in which, nationally, 90 percent of workers cannot earn paid sick days. The health risks can be significant. Overall, workers without paid sick days are more likely to report going to work with a contagious illness and risk infecting others.

The largest industry in Florida is retail trade. Nationally, more than half of workers in this industry cannot earn paid sick time.

In Florida, 32.2 percent of jobs are considered low-wage jobs. Lowwage workers are even less likely to have access to paid sick days.

PAID SICK DAYS BENEFIT FAMILIES, BUSINESS AND OUR ECONOMY •

Paid sick days keep families healthy. When workers have paid sick days, they are able to get regular physicals and take their children to well-child visits and for immunizations, which may prevent serious illnesses. Children with

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Currently, workers in Florida are not guaranteed the right to earn paid sick days by state or municipal law. However, future efforts could lead Florida to join the growing list of states and localities with paid sick days laws. A list of current state and local paid sick days laws is available at NationalPartnership.org/PSDlaws. And a growing body of evidence shows that these laws are working well.

At the national level, there is strong public support for universal access to paid sick days: 85 percent of voters want employers to provide paid sick time.

The federal Healthy Families Act (H.R. 932/S. 497) would establish a national paid sick days standard, allowing workers in businesses with 15 or more employees to earn up to seven jobprotected paid sick days each year to be used to recover from their own illnesses, access preventive care, provide care to a sick family member, attend school meetings related to a child’s health condition or disability or seek assistance related to domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault. Workers in businesses with fewer than 15 employees would earn up to seven job-protected unpaid sick days each year to be used for the same reasons, unless their employers choose to offer paid sick days.

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around the region

Florida SBDC at UWF opens new Fort Walton Beach location The Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of West Florida hosted a grand opening for its new, permanent Fort Walton Beach location on Friday.

The SBDC at UWF provides tools, training and resources to help entrepreneurs in every stage of business and all industry sectors grow and succeed. As part of a statewide service network of more than 40 centers, the SBDC at UWF is based in the UWF College of Business and now maintains offices in Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach. A new office in Panama City is also scheduled to open later this year.

Tom Hermanson, associate director, will lead the Fort Walton Beach office. This office is also the home of Sharon Triplett, growth business consultant; Angela Grant, pre-venture consultant and office specialist; and Bob Reyes, government contracting specialist. The office is conveniently located on Beal Parkway one mile away from the UWF Emerald Coast campus.

UWF ties with Stanford University in American Chemical Society scholarships As the American Chemical Society scholars program celebrates its 20-year anniversary in 2015, the University of West Florida has the second highest number of ACS scholars in the nation, tying with Stanford University’s nine students, and second only to 15 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

64 | Business Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com

Escambia County tourism officials to chair and serve on Visit Florida committees Florida’s tourism marketing corporation, VISIT FLORIDA, has announced its newest committee appointments for this fiscal year, and Escambia County is well represented with six tourism officials serving on five of the 11 committees.

Wendi Davis from the UWF Historic Trust will serve on the Cultural, Heritage, Rural and Nature Committee. Jennifer Jackson from Margaritaville Beach Hotel will serve on the Meetings & Travel Trade Committee along with Kelly Eddins of the Hampton Inn on Pensacola Beach. Jenifer Surface-Ivey from the Flora-Bama Lounge will serve on the Visitor Services Committee alongside Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Nicole Stacey.

According to Visit Florida, the Chairman of the Board picks the “best and brightest” partners and tourism industry experts from across the state to help guide and strengthen Visit Florida’s marketing programs and opportunities. During their tenure, the volunteer committee members will provide input and recommend strategic actions.

Escambia County’s appointees began serving July 1 and will continue until June 30, 2016.

Sesame Street puppeteer will speak at WSRE In 1969, Jim Henson persuaded Spinney to join the cast of Sesame Street, which premiered later that year, as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Since then, his characters have been seen on more than 3,900 shows, and Sesame Street is now viewed in more than 150 countries on all kinds of media. According to Sesame Street Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street which provides educational learning resources through television and other media, more than 6 million viewers watch each week.

Since achieving worldwide renown, Spinney has made guest appearances on many other television shows, always as Big Bird and Oscar. He has performed in specials with Julie Andrews and Bob Hope, starred in his own 90-minute special, Big Bird in China, and marked his motion picture debut in a starring role with Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird. He has earned four Emmy Awards, two Gold Records and two Grammy Awards.

Spinney’s book, The Wisdom of Big Bird (and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch): Lessons from a Life in Feathers, is an inspirational memoir sharing wisdom gleaned from his work creating and portraying one of the world’s most beloved characters. A new documentary, I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story, was recently released by Tribeca Film and will be showing locally beginning Aug. 28 at Tree House Cinema in Gulf Breeze.

Named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, Big Bird has captivated children around the world for more than 30 years. At the podium, Spinney will discuss how he has helped children reach their highest potential through his Sesame Street characters.

Doors will open at 6:30 pm. Reservations are requested. Learn more at wsre.org/speakers.

West Florida Healthcare to offer free six-week “Quit Smoking Now” course Beginning Tuesday, Aug. 4, West Florida Healthcare will offer “Quit Smoking Now,” a free six-week course that also includes four weeks of nicotine replacement therapy at no charge for those who qualify. The classes will be held from 4:30 to 5 pm in the Cardiac/Pulmonary Rehab Department at West Florida Hospital, 8383 N. Davis Highway, Pensacola, on the following Tuesdays: Aug. 4, 11, 18, 25 and Sept. 1 and 8.

around the region

Covenant Hospice one of 140 hospices nationwide selected to participate in the Medicare Care Choices model Covenant Hospice has been selected to participate in the Medicare Care Choices Model, announced recently by Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell. The model provides Medicare beneficiaries who qualify for coverage under the Medicare Hospice Benefit and dually eligible beneficiaries who qualify for the Medicaid Hospice Benefit the option to elect to receive supportive care services typically provided by hospice and continue to receive curative services at the same time.

This announcement is a part of a larger effort to transform our health care system to deliver better care, spend our dollars in a smarter way, and put patients in the center of their care.

Covenant Hospice is one of 140 hospices nationwide and the only hospice provider locally invited to participate in the model.

Covenant will begin implementing the Medicare Care Choices Model services January 1, 2016 in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties in Florida.

BBB announces “Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics” winners The BB Foundation serving Northwest Florida is proud to announce the recipients of the ninth annual Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics program from its District I area: Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

• 1-10 employees categorySeaside Mechanical • Honorable Mention- Elite Services Quality Clean • 11-49 employees category- Pro Clean Restoration and Cleaning • Honorable Mention- TriState Tree Service • Charity category- Gulf Coast Kids House • Customer Service ExcellenceCarolyn Phoebus, NavyMarine Corps Relief Society

WFRPC brings NOAA grant to local schools The West Florida Regional Planning Council (WFRPC) was recently awarded a grant through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program. The grant will be administered in both Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and provides 11th grade students and teachers with the resources to promote handson environmental education through outdoor place-based activities.

A two-day NOAA B-WET Teachers’ Workshop will be hosted by the University of West Florida’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences on August 3 and 4 to introduce teachers to the NOAA Watershed Vanguard for Education (WAVE) program. The department chair, Dr. Matthew Schwartz, along with Dr. Johan Liebens and Nathan McKinney will facilitate the event.

REBUILD Northwest Florida announces new program for rental houses REBUILD Northwest Florida is excited to begin a new program designed specifically for owners of rental houses in Escambia County. The new Rental House Hurricane Mitigation Program will operate much like the historical “homestead” program, with a few exceptions. Under the new program, the rental house owner must provide proof that the property is a rental, such as a current lease agreement, and successful applicants will receive FEMA funding to cover 50 percent of the costs for improvements. The rental house owner covers the remaining 50 percent.

United Way announces 2015-16 loaned executives for 2015-16 campaign United Way of Escambia County is pleased to announce the Loaned Executives (LEs) who will serve as primary advocates for the 201516 Workplace Campaign. LEs are volunteers who are “loaned” by their employers to offer the essential “person-power” to share the United Way message with workplaces throughout our local area.

• Early Learning Coalition of Escambia County—Krystle Aman • Florida Department of Children and Families—Lynn Eiland • Fortis Institute—Ashley Faulkner • Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce—Maegan Leonard • Gulf Coast Kid’s House—Kelly MacLeod • Gulf Power—Kelly Cooke, Douglas Gardner, Sara Harlow, Tori Harris, Jason Jones, Karen McLendon, Clinton Retherford, Jared Rorrer and Reagan Williams • Northwest Florida Area Agency on Aging, Inc.—Kelly Jasen • Pensacola State College—Lynsey Stuart • United Healthcare—Becky Matthews • University of West Florida—Christina Acosta • U.S. Department of State—Scarlett Henson • Wells Fargo—Becky Bromley • West Florida Hospital—Georgia Lee Ketchum

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