Lee County commissioners voted Tuesday to approve a design and engineering contract for a new LeeTran park-and-ride and transfer station planned for the existing parking lot at the Lee County Elections Office, 13180 S. Cleveland Ave. The project will provide seven covered bus berths, ADA accessible restrooms, custodial and electrical facilities, a technology room, as well as loading and unloading ramps with ADA accessibility that will provide a higher level of service, security and comfort for LeeTran passengers and employees. The $537,372 design contract was awarded to Cardno Inc. A matching grant of up to $160,000 from the Florida Department of Transportation will help pay for the design. The design effort is expected to take about six months, the county reports.

Nick Casalanguida recently left his position as Collier County’s deputy county manager to become senior vice president of development for Naples-based Barron Collier Cos. Casalanguida, 54, held the No. 2 position in Collier County government since 2015. Hired by the county in 2004, he served as a project manager, planning director and deputy administrator in Collier’s Growth Management Department before he was promoted as director of the department in 2012. Casalanguida has more than 30 years of land development experience and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in management from Hodges University. In addition, he is a Certified Public Manager through Florida State University’s Center for Public Management.  

Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida’s annual Business Hall of Fame event is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. on Feb. 25, and sponsors are sought to support the event. This will be the first time Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida hosts a combined event, honoring laureates from both Lee and Collier Counties simultaneously. It is also the first time it will be hosted entirely virtually. Sarah Owen, president and CEO of Southwest Florida Community Foundation, and William T. Prather, owner and executive producer of Broadway Palm Dinner Theater, will be inducted for Lee County. Dr. James Guerra, orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Collier Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center, and Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, will be inducted for Collier County. Sponsorship levels range from $2,000 to $10,000 and include benefits designed to recognize the sponsor in a multitude of ways before, during, and after the event. To register for the event or learn more about sponsorship opportunities, visit event.gives/jahof. 

 

The third location of The Bowl opened Monday in University Village shops near Florida Gulf Coast University in Estero. This is the first location of The Bowl that has a kava bar with kava and kratom elixirs on tap in addition to a menu featuring organic acai and pitaya bowls, smoothies and cold brew coffee, kombucha and matcha on tap. “I’m also excited to purchase and use a golf cart for dorm deliveries on the FGCU campus,” says Kylee Brinkman, an FGCU graduate who launched her first location of The Bowl five years ago at 1427 Pine Ridge Road in North Naples and her second in 2017 at 1200 Central Ave. in Naples. The Bowl’s new location, 19810 Village Center Drive, Suite 130, Fort Myers, is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. For more information call 239-288-6487 or go to the-bowl.com. 

 

Seagate Development Group has completed Conditioned Air’s new operations center. This comes after six weeks of site clearing and utilities preparation as well as five months of construction. Located at 14550 Global Pkwy. in Fort Myers, the 41,745-square-foot facility is supporting the company’s growth throughout Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties. This is made possible in part by 30,945 square feet of warehouse space as well as 10,800 square feet of office space, including a 9,800-square-foot mezzanine for additional storage and future expansion. The operations center features an 18-bay loading dock, multipurpose administrative area, 84-person training room and state-of-the-art training lab. Additionally, there are 10 executive offices, supervisory spaces, a conference room and estimating area. 

 

Fifth Third announced it has achieved carbon neutrality for its operations in 2020, including greenhouse gas emissions from its facilities and business travel. This achievement was accomplished by directly reducing the company’s corporate carbon footprint, purchasing renewable power and utilizing carbon offsets from a project in its retail footprint for remaining emissions. Fifth Third’s carbon neutrality achievement follows the Bank’s five-year $8 billion sustainable finance goal announced in September 2020. Additionally, Fifth Third continues to make significant progress on its five sustainability goals, announced in 2017, including having already achieved its goal for 100% renewable power, a 20% reduction in water usage and a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, according to the company. For more information, click here.

Lee Health Foundation has announced its 2021 board of trustees. Returning to their roles are J. Pason Gaddis as chairperson, Dr. James W. Orr Jr. as vice-chairperson and Jennifer Parisi as secretary. Dominic Cameratta will begin as treasurer of the board. Newly elected trustees are David Call, Chetan Gulati, Kristin Haag, George Hamilton, Susan McGrogan, Lori Shaffer, Dr. F. Brett Shannon and Sandy Stilwell Youngquist. Returning trustees are Joseph R. Catti, Dr. Paul DiGiorgi, Jenny Gezella, Matt Hanson, Charles K. Idelson, Al Kinkle, Fred Pezeshkan, Pablo Veintimilla and Scotty Wood. Ex-officio trustees are Dr. Larry Antonucci, David Collins, Gary Gold, Steve Henry, Sue Lester and Armando Llechu. The board’s emeriti committee includes Amanda Cross, Dorothy Fitzgerald, Joe Gammons, Frank Haskell, Chairperson Elaine Hawkins, Garrett Reasoner, and Madeleine Taeni. Lee Health Foundation’s committee chairpersons include Executive Committee, Gaddis; Finance Committee, Cameratta; Nominating & Governance Committee, Parisi; and Development Committee, Gezella. Additional community leaders who also serve on committees include Bill Cronin, William Gruver, Tarek Salhab and Austin Williams.

Kevin Godsea, former acting refuge manager at the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, is now the permanent project leader managing the new Southwest Florida National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Complex. The complex also includes Florida Panther, Ten Thousand Islands, Pine Island, Matlacha Pass, Island Bay, and Caloosahatchee NWRs. Godsea has been serving as refuge manager for Florida Panther and Ten Thousand Islands NWRs for the past 10 years. A 22-year veteran of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), Godsea began at “Ding” Darling in 2000 as an education specialist and then supervisory refuge ranger. Following that, he served as refuge manager at Cape Romain NWR in South Carolina for two years before moving back to Southwest Florida and taking on the western Everglades-area refuges. During his time there, Godsea earned the National Refuge Manager of the Year (Paul Kroegel) Award and graduated from USFWS’ Advanced Leadership Development Program.