Need to catch up on business news in Southwest Florida? No problem. Here are the top stories of the week pulled from our daily newsletter, Gulfshore Business Daily.
Friday, June 15
Naples Chamber Earns State Award
The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce has received the 2018 Florida Commissioner of Education Business Recognition Award. Naples Chamber President and CEO Michael Dalby and Collier County Superintendent Kamela Patton accepted the award from Florida Commissioner Pam Stewart at the Florida Chamber Foundation’s Annual Education Summit, held June 13 in Tampa. The Naples Chamber and its affiliate the Leadership Collier Foundation (LCF) were awarded for their partnership with the school system and dedication to the students of Collier County. To support this effort, the chamber hired a part-time internship coordinator in 2017 and has recently increased this position to a full-time, work-based learning coordinator. The chamber and LCF support education and work-force efforts through career panels at schools, the Youth Leadership Collier program for rising high school seniors, and connections between businesses and future talent.
Thursday, June 14
Dupre Named Conditioned Air President, CEO
Conditioned Air Company of Naples has promoted Tim Dupre to president and CEO. Dupre will assume the CEO responsibilities from long-time Conditioned Air CEO and Partner Theo Etzel III, who will provide continued leadership to the company as chairman. Conditioned Air is the region’s largest air-conditioning contracting and service firm with more than 345 employees across Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee counties. A 20-year veteran of Conditioned Air, Dupre learned the basics of general construction working for his grandfather, who was a local contractor. He joined Conditioned Air after high school and worked his way up through the firm working on several different types of projects, like custom homes, multi-family, light commercial and production housing. In 2011, Dupre was promoted to general manager of the firm’s Sarasota Division, boosting its local employment from less than 10 to 56. Dupre has served as president and COO since 2015, working closely with Etzel on a number of strategic and growth initiatives.
Wednesday, June 13
Report: Cape Coral-Fort Myers Hiring Down in Q3
Cape Coral-Fort Myers Metropolitan Statistical Area employers expect to hire at a hopeful pace during the second quarter of 2018, according to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey. Among employers surveyed, 23 percent plan to hire more employees from July through September. This number is offset by the 11 percent that plan to reduce payrolls, while 65 percent of employers expect to maintain current staff levels and 1 percent indicate they are not sure of their hiring plans. This yields a Net Employment Outlook of 12 percent, down 1 percent from the same period last year and compared with a Net Employment Outlook of 20 percent in quarter two. The Net Employment Outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from this the percentage of employers expecting a decrease in hiring activity. The survey did not report on any other Southwest Florida MSAs.
Tuesday, June 12
Report: Florida Gets ‘D’ for Manufacturing
Florida received a “C” for logistics and “D” for manufacturing, according to the 2018 Manufacturing and Logistics Report Card released by the Ball State Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) and Conexus Indiana. Florida maintained the grade of "A" in tax climate, "B" in diversification and liability gap; "C" in logistics, human capital, and productivity and innovation categories; and "D" in the manufacturing and global position categories. The state declined from "B" to "C" in its benefits costs grade. Florida experienced a relative increase in health care family premiums between 2015 and 2016, according to the report. The report, released at the Conexus Indiana breakfast event co-hosted with the Indianapolis Business Journal and titled “Advanced Manufacturing and Logistics: Indiana’s Innovation Economy—Exploring Transportation Megatrends,” features an annual scorecard comparison of advanced manufacturing and logistics health among U.S. states. The 2018 Manufacturing and Logistics Report Card was written by Hicks and Srikant Devaraj, CBER’s research assistant professor. The reports can be downloaded at conexus.cberdata.org.
Monday, June 11
Hurricane Preparedness Seminar Upcoming
Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties will host a seminar on planning and preparing for hurricane season from Lee County Emergency Management at 6 p.m. on June 19 at the Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties main office, 1288 N. Tamiami Trail, North Fort Myers The event is free and open to the public. Individuals, families, nonprofits and service agencies are invited to attend the informational meeting. There will also be a hurricane supplies drawing. To register, call (239) 652-1682 or email igdaliaA@habitat4humanity.org. You can also reserve a spot to attend via text alert.
In other news…
Stay tuned for stories from the June/July issue of Gulfshore Business, coming soon.
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