Boat sales have increased since the pandemic began, which means more people need a place to store them – and businesses in Southwest Florida are getting creative to keep customers. Gulf Star Marina on Fort Myers Beach is one of them, and the business is launching a new, fully automatic storage system – the first of its kind. The unique $20 million system uses a series of shuttles and a crane that runs on a rail to launch and retrieve the boats. When you bring back your boat, the team washes it by hand before it’s loaded onto the shuttle and taken back to its storage bay, WINK News reports.

 

Luminary Hotel & Co., the 243-room waterfront hotel opening next month in downtown Fort Myers, Florida, announced the name of its new onsite coffee roastery, Dean Street Coffee. Named for the extension of Dean Street that used to exist where the Luminary Hotel now sits, Dean Street Coffee will provide the specially brewed coffee flowing through the hotel, its guest rooms, various dining outlets, and the Caloosa Sound Convention Center. Overseeing the roastery operation will be newly appointed manager Aaron Hearn, who is working closely with Master Roaster Ulrich Winckler, an award-winning coffee and tea expert, and president of Rebel Coffee in Cape Coral. The Luminary Hotel will be a part of the Autograph Collection of Marriott International Inc. and is expected to be the first Autograph hotel in the Fort Myers-Naples area.

Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida has once again received the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long‐term, participative relationships. Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida has been recognized as a Patient-Centered Medical Home continuously since 2013. The NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home is a model of primary care that combines teamwork and information technology to improve care, improve patients’ experience of care and reduce costs, according to a news release. To earn recognition, Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida demonstrated the ability to meet the program’s key elements, embodying characteristics of the medical home. NCQA standards aligned with the joint principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home established with the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Osteopathic Association, a news release states.

State Farm customers in Florida will see their auto insurance rates drop by an average of 10%, according to Cape Coral State Farm Agents Mike and Dawn Sullivan. “People are driving less, and as a result, we’ve seen a decline in the number of accidents,” said Mike. “That translates to a lower cost when it comes to insuring drivers. Our current customers will see this rate reduction when their policy renews. And that’s also great news for new and returning customers because they’ll be able to take advantage of these lower rates, too.” State Farm’s rate reduction will save more than two million Florida drivers a total of $290 million, according to a news release. Customer rate renewals will vary based on their individual renewals. Drivers participating in State Farm’s Drive Safe & Save program will earn additional benefits. For more information, call the Sullivan State Farm family at 239-541-3276.

Grant Fridkin Pearson P.A. Shareholder Michael Traficante has been elected to serve on the Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida Board of Directors through 2021. Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida is an organization that hosts programs about work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy for kindergarten through 12th-grade students. Traficante focuses his practice in complex commercial and civil litigation involving real property, business, construction, wills/trusts, and commercial issues. He has an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America since 2018 in the areas of Litigation-Real Estate and Litigation – Trusts and Estates.

​Megan Rose, CEO of Better Together, is one of three national nonprofit leaders named to Manhattan Institute’s Civil Society Fellows. Rose will receive a $10,000 fellowship for her efforts to improve local communities as Better Together works to strengthen families and communities by promoting work, protecting children and supporting families in crisis. The institute’s 15-month Civil Society Fellows Program will help Rose and the other fellows raise national awareness for their missions and make the case for the essential nature and value of their nonprofit work. For more information on the  Manhattan Institute’s Civil Society Fellows Program, click here.

WDG Architecture Naples hired Allison Horner as interior architect project manager. Horner brings with her years of experience in computer rendering, space planning, and furniture and finishes selections. Horner holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in interior design and business of art and design minor from the Ringling College of Art and Design. WDG Architecture Naples is a full-service architecture firm with a residential and commercial design studio.  For more information, visit wdg-architecture.com.

The Community Foundation of Collier County has distributed $5,000 grants each to the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Southwest Florida and Special Olympics Florida (SOFL). The funds to the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Southwest Florida will support the sustainability of the organization’s mental health services for clients and caregivers. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the center has received an influx of requests to increase counseling services. Its counselors specialize in multiple sclerosis and offer a better understanding of our clients’ specific challenges. The funds to SOFL will support general operations for sports training, competition, and healthcare programs for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Special Olympics Florida in Collier County serves more than 2,400 athletes and unified partners who participate in community sports, Unified Champion Schools, and young athletes programs. The programs open a gateway for SOFL athletes to achieve empowerment and acceptance in their communities. The Community Foundation of Collier County awards annual grants through a competitive application and review process. Selected organizations receive grant dollars from the Changing Needs Fund. For more information, visit cfcollier.org​​​​​​​.