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Florida Forest Service Announces Long Leaf Pine Program for Landowners

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The Florida Forest Service announced today that the Longleaf Pine Landowner Incentive Program is now accepting applications from eligible, non-industrial private forest landowners. Applications will be accepted now through Friday, July 13, 2018.

The goal of the program is to increase the acreage of healthy Longleaf pine ecosystems in Florida by helping non-industrial private forest landowners make the long-term investment required to establish and maintain this valuable ecosystem. The program offers incentive payments for completion of timber stand improvement, invasive species control, prescribed burning, planting Longleaf pine, native plant understory establishment and mechanical underbrush treatments. The program is offered for private lands in Florida counties located west of the Aucilla River and several counties near the Ocala National Forest. 

Longleaf pine forests are native to the southeastern United States and are among the most diverse ecosystems in North America. Longleaf pines provide high quality wood products and are highly valued for their resistance to damage by insects, disease, wildfire and storms. Longleaf pine forests have been dramatically reduced to less than four percent of historical area due to urbanization and conversion to other land uses. Florida is currently home to more than 2 million acres of Longleaf pine ecosystems, which is more than half of all known longleaf pine ecosystems.

Application forms and more information on program requirements and procedures can be found by visiting FreshFromFlorida.com or by contacting your local county forester. The program is supported through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation with funding from the Southern Company, USDA Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, Natural Resource Conservation Service, US Department of Defense, Halliburton Company, and the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

The Florida Forest Service, a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, manages more than 1 million acres of state forests and provides forest management assistance on more than 17 million acres of private and community forests. The Florida Forest Service is also responsible for protecting homes, forestland and natural resources from the devastating effects of wildfire on more than 26 million acres. Learn more at FloridaForestService.com.

Five Florida universities rank in the top 35 public universities granted U.S. patents

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Five State University System institutions are ranked among the Top 35 public universities granted U.S. utility patents in 2017, according to a new report by the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association.

Among all public universities in the United States, University of South Florida ranked fifth with 116 patents, University of Florida Research Foundation ranked sixth with 111 patents, Florida International University ranked 26th with 42 patents, University of Central Florida ranked 28th with 39 patents, and Florida State University ranked 34th with 34 patents. 

“Florida’s public universities continue to exemplify the incredible impact that research and innovation have on the state of Florida,” said Alan Levine, chair of the Board of Governors’ Academic and Research Excellence Committee. “I’m pleased to congratulate the universities on this prestigious list and to thank them for advancing so many important discoveries and inventions that benefit humankind and fuel our economy.” 

The report utilizes data acquired from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to highlight the important role patents play in university research and innovation. 

“The institutions on this list are doing incredible work promoting academic innovation and incubating groundbreaking technologies which exemplify the importance of technology transfer to institutional success,” said Paul R. Sanberg, president of the National Academy of Inventors. “We are proud to collaborate with the Intellectual Property Owners for the sixth consecutive year, and it is a privilege to showcase the vital contributions to society made by universities.”

The five universities are Member Institutions of the National Academy of Inventors, as are all 12 universities in the State University System of Florida.

The National Academy of Inventors is a member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutes, with over 4,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 250 institutions. The headquarters are located in the University of South Florida Research Park in Tampa. The Intellectual Property Owners Association, established in 1972, is a trade association for owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.

“University patents help to ignite a culture of growth and innovation which in turn stimulates local, regional and global economies and generates funding for future research initiatives,” said Mark W. Lauroesch, the Intellectual Property Owners Association Executive Director. “The Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents is a report which demonstrates the critical role universities play in patents, licensing and commercialization.”

The National Academy of Inventors and Intellectual Property Owners have published the report annually since 2013. The rankings are compiled by calculating the number of utility patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that lists a university as the first assignee on the issued patent. For the purposes of the report, a university is defined as an institution that grants undergraduate-level degrees.

The full report of the Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted Patents in 2017 can be found here.

Troy McDonald Endorses Toby Overdorf

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Today, the Toby Overdorf Campaign announced the endorsement of Stuart City Commissioner Troy McDonald. Overdorf, a Republican, is running for the District 83 seat in the Florida House of Representatives, currently held by Gayle Harrell, who faces term limits this year. McDonald’s endorsement comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that Port St. Lucie Councilwoman Stephanie Morgan is backing Overdorf. 

“There’s no question that Toby Overdorf is the right choice for District 83,” said McDonald. “He is a strong leader and has the conservative vision and values we need to keep Florida strong. I look forward to working with him.” 
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FLACP Presents Rep. Olszewski With Award for Outstanding Support for Consumers in 2018 Session

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Rep. Olszewski’s support for responsible lending products
for low-income consumers stands out during session

Florida Alliance for Consumer Protection presented Rep. Olszewski with its award for his support for legislation that promoted responsible lending products for hard working families during the 2018 legislative session. [Read more…] about FLACP Presents Rep. Olszewski With Award for Outstanding Support for Consumers in 2018 Session

University of Florida selects contemporary choreographer and researcher to lead the College of the Arts

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Onye P. Ozuzu, dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts at Columbia College Chicago, has been named dean of the University of Florida College of the Arts.

Effective August 1, Ozuzu will be responsible for formulating and articulating a shared vision for the College of the Arts, leading fundraising efforts and managing the college’s budget and personnel.

A dance administrator, performing artist, choreographer, educator and researcher, Ozuzu has served as dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts at Columbia College Chicago since 2015 and was previously the chairperson of the department of dance.

During her tenure as dean, she oversaw the school’s $31 million budget, 524 faculty members, 110 staff members and 4,700 students. She provided direction to the nine department chairs of art and art history, business and entrepreneurship, creative arts therapies, dance, design, fashion studies, music, photography and theatre. Additionally, Ozuzu served as chair of a subcommittee on diversity, equity and inclusion.

“Ozuzu has an established record of effective, inclusive and collaborative leadership, an outstanding record of teaching and creative activity, and a demonstrated commitment to the arts,” said Joseph Glover, UF provost and senior vice president of academic affairs.

As a dancer, Ozuzu’s work has focused on the body as technology and explored the intersectionality between many movement forms from tennis to ballet, West African dance to Hatha Yoga, and freestyle House to salsa among others. Her choreography has been performed both nationally and internationally in places such as Manhattan, New Orleans, Senegal and Cuba.

Her most recent work, Project Tool, has focused on the interrelationships between body, task and tool through the process of building wood-sprung dance floors. Project Tool is a 2018 Joyce Award and a 2016 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist recipient as well as a National Performance Network Creation Fund Project.

“I have dedicated much of my work as a dance artist to cultivating space for diverse dance forms to exist in pluralist relationship to one another,” Ozuzu said. “This has fed into my administrative work where I have fostered balance of visionary and deliberate progress in the arenas of curricular, artistic and systemic diversity, cultural relativity, collaboration and interdisciplinarity. To put it more directly, choreography is composition, composition in collaboration with humans and their energy in time and space; it is systems thinking, as is leadership. I look forward to entering the COTA community of artists and educators as a member and to working together on a deepening impact of the arts at the University of Florida.” 

Prior to her Columbia appointment, she was associate chair and director of dance in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she was integral to a seven-year overhaul of the departmental mission and curriculum with particular attention to a deep and sustainable integration of diversity, interdisciplinary studies and technology.

Ozuzu earned her Master of Fine Arts in dance and choreography and Bachelor of Arts in English literature at Florida State University.

She succeeds Dean Lucinda Lavelli, who is retiring from a 12-year tenure of deanship, during which Lavelli grew the College of the Arts endowment over $2.5 million— a 37% increase— since 2007 and raised over $6.8 million in scholarships awarded to more than 5,000 students since 2008.

Lavelli has spearheaded multiple interdisciplinary initiatives across the campus and community, including the Creative B Summer Programming that brings together multiple UF departments to present a variety of live, cultural performances and a range of creative activities for students during the Summer B semester. She also served at the forefront of connecting the university with the city of Gainesville, leading the campus and community planning committee that resulted in the Aligning Strategic Initiatives through the Arts Report.

About the College of the Arts

The College of the Arts, previously known as the College of Fine Arts, is one the 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. The College of the Arts offers baccalaureate, master’s and Ph.D. degree programs in its three fully-accredited schools — the School of Art and Art History, School of Music and School of Theatre and Dance. The college is home to the Center for Arts in Medicine, Center for World Arts, Digital Worlds Institute, University Galleries and the New World School of the Arts in Miami. More than 100 faculty members and more than 1,220 students work together daily to engage, inspire and create. The college hosts more than 300 performances, exhibitions and events each year. Faculty and students also exhibit and perform at other local, national and international venues. To learn more, visit arts.ufl.edu.

PSC Reduces Florida Power & Light Customer Bills

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The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) voted to reduce bills for Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) customers today, approving reductions to its 2018 capacity and environmental cost recovery rate components to comply with the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act.

As a result of the Act, which lowered the corporate federal income tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, some of FPL’s projected costs are now overstated. The PSC uses “mid-course corrections” to revise recovery rates when a deviation from expected costs warrants it. FPL’s capacity cost recovery component will be reduced by $0.23 per month, and its environmental cost recovery factor will decrease by $0.36 per month for a typical residential customer.

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API to Launch Explore Offshore: A New Coalition For U.S. Offshore Energy Exploration and Development

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Please join API for a press conference call to launch Explore Offshore, a new coalition made up of community organizations, associations, businesses and local leaders across the Southeast in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida who support increased access to U.S. offshore oil and natural gas resources.

Explore Offshore’s national co-chairs, Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson and Former Secretary of the Navy and Virginia Senator Jim Webb, will be speaking, as well as the state chairs.

There will be a question and answer session for reporters.

What:  Press call to announce Explore Offshore, a new coalition in Support Of U.S. Offshore Energy Exploration and Development

Who: Explore Offshore National Co-Chairs: Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson and Former Secretary of the Navy and Virginia Senator Jim Webb

Virginia Co-Chairs: Former Delegates Winsome Sears and Mike Watson

North Carolina Chair: Former Mayor of Fayetteville Nat Robertson

South Carolina Chair: South Carolina African American Chamber of Commerce Chairman Stephen Gilchrist

Florida Chairs: Former Puerto Rico State Senator Dr. Miriam Ramirez, Former Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp, Former Director of the Crestview Area of Chamber of Commerce Wayne Harris

Georgia Chair: Georgia State Petroleum Council Director Hunter Hopkins

When: Wednesday June 6, 2018 at 10 a.m. EDT

Phone: (800) 374-2418
Conference ID: 9782108

 Please RSVP by replying to [email protected] or by calling API media relations at 202-682-8114.

 This event is open to credentialed media only.

Gov. Scott: Florida’s Tourism Industry Booming, Achieves Highest Quarter Ever

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Governor Rick Scott today announced that Florida welcomed an all-time record 33.2 million visitors to the Sunshine State in the first quarter of 2018. This represents an increase of 7.4 percent over the same period in 2017 and is the largest quarter for visitation in Florida history.

Governor Scott said, “I am proud to announce that Florida set an all-time record by welcoming over 33 million visitors to our state during the first quarter of 2018. This historic tourism number represents a 7.4 percent increase over last year and demonstrates the momentum that our state has built. Since December 2010, Florida has created more than 1.5 million jobs, and a large part of this growth is because of the incredible success of our state’s tourism industry. I appreciate the team at VISIT FLORIDA and their help making these historic numbers possible.”

VISIT FLORIDA estimates that a record 29.1 million domestic visitors traveled to Florida in Q1 2018, an 8.5 percent increase in domestic visitors over the same period last year. Following efforts by VISIT FLORIDA and Governor Scott to better market Florida visitation in Canada, 1.4 million Canadians came to Florida in Q1 2018, an increase of 2.5 percent from Q1 2017, continuing Florida’s strong growth of 4 percent in calendar year 2017. Total enplanements at Florida’s 18 major airports in Q1 2018 increased 7.6 percent over the same period the previous year, with Orlando International Airport reporting the most enplaned passengers at nearly 6 million. Of total enplanements, 80.1 percent were domestic, up 1.4 million compared to Q1 of last year. The number of rooms sold and the hotel occupancy rate in Q1 2018 also grew by 3.3 percent and 1.9 percent respectively.

Ken Lawson, President and CEO of VISIT FLORIDA, said, “This record setting quarter of 33.2 million visitors to our state, the largest quarter in our state’s history, shows that VISIT FLORIDA is marketing our state like never before. With the help of our 12,000 industry partners, we saw a historic 7.4 percent increase over last year, which is fantastic news. We will continue developing more innovative and cutting-edge marketing programs to build on this success across the country and across the world. I am very proud of our team’s efforts as we continue to market Florida as the number one global destination.”

To view additional Florida visitor data, go the research page on VISIT FLORIDA’s media website.

Gov. Scott Appoints Three to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court

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Today, Governor Rick Scott announced three appointments to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court.

Judge Dawn V. Denaro, 51, of Miami, is a county judge for Miami-Dade County, and previously served as an Assistant State Attorney for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. She received her bachelor’s degree from Tulane University and her law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Denaro fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Jerald Bagley.

Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson, 45, of Miami Beach, is a county judge for Miami-Dade County, and previously served as an Assistant State Attorney/Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, her master’s degree from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and her law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law. Wolfson fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Antonio Marin.

Judge Renatha Francis, 40, of Miami, is a county judge for Miami-Dade County. She previously practiced with Shutts & Bowen, LLP, and served as an attorney for the First District Court of Appeal. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of the West Indies and her law degree from Florida Coastal Law School. Francis fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Sarah Zabel.

Business Leaders to Discuss Florida’s Workforce Needs

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Florida 2030 Project recommendations on workforce to
be released at Learners to Earners Workforce Summit

The Florida Chamber Foundation will hold their annual Learners to Earners Workforce Summit June 12-13 to tackle conversations on workforce needs facing Florida between now and 2030.

This day-and-a-half event will consist of:

June 12
Florida 2030 Research Recommendations Released

Join us as we release the Talent Supply & Education portion of the Florida 2030 Report and cover what more than 10,000 Floridians in each of Florida’s 67 counties had to say about the future of work.

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