Not Far From the Madding Crowd
850 Business Magazine
by Mike Fender
1w ago
For little fish, the vast gulf of Florida tourism can be intimidating. While the dollars seem to come easily to big fish like Panama City Beach and Destin, smaller communities are having to work hard to get their fair share. It’s no secret that tourism equates to big money in Florida. Most counties levy a tourist development tax of up to 6% on short-term rentals. This “bed tax” brings in more than a billion dollars to counties that devote the revenue to promotional efforts and other uses permitted by state law. In Gulf County, a 5% bed tax brought in just over $4.7 million this past year, a ..read more
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Trickles of Water, Mountains of Garbage
850 Business Magazine
by Brian Rowland
1w ago
On a Sunday morning, I noticed after breakfast that the water pressure at my house was lower than normal. Had my water lines sprung a leak somewhere? I suited up and commenced looking for the source of the problem.   Hours of detective work turned up no clues, and I then went outside my fence to check to see if my water meter was spinning. Aha! Nothing. I saw my neighbor Wally do the same and by the process of deduction, we concluded it was a city issue, and I headed out on a walk.  By the time I got home, the flow of water had totally stopped, not even a trickle. I called the Water ..read more
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Lost Key Golf Club Renovates and Reimagines Grille 625
850 Business Magazine
by Sponsor
1w ago
When planning a business lunch, you want a venue that hits all the marks — a palate-pleasing menu, hospitable staff and a scenic atmosphere. Thanks to the grand reopening of Grille 625 at Lost Key Golf Club in Pensacola, your next company outing will exceed expectations. The remodel, which was completed in February of 2024, included renovations to Grille 625, the lobby and the addition of the new Arnold Palmer dining room and conference rooms. Grille 625, which has had many iterations throughout the years, has been updated to a more modern, sophisticated style. White tablecloths make a fine d ..read more
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A Trillion Here, a Trillion There
850 Business Magazine
by Steve Bornhoft
1w ago
I had just read a column written by the distinguished David Brooks, a member of the seemingly shrinking tribe of moderate conservatives, when it dawned on me that it was garbage day. I wheeled my can to the street and noticed upon returning to the house that someone had left a letter on my stoop. Brooks’ column, titled “Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts,” addressed the growing bureaucratization of American life. Growth always brings associated costs, but in this case, the total is staggering, Brooks finds. He cites an article from the Harvard Business Review, written by two management consultant ..read more
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Sound Bytes Spring 2024
850 Business Magazine
by Site Staff
1w ago
Capital //Happenings Tri-Eagle Sales’ Donation Supports Fire Departments Anheuser-Busch and beverage wholesaler Tri-Eagle Sales are providing more than 2,300 cans of emergency drinking water to local fire departments as they continue to protect our communities and prepare for future wildfire relief efforts. The emergency drinking water was sourced from Anheuser-Busch’s brewery in Cartersville, Georgia, which periodically pauses beer production and cans clean and safe drinking water to be delivered to communities in times of need. Tri-Eagle Sales has a long history of giving back to the communi ..read more
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Wheels on a Suitcase
850 Business Magazine
by Steve Bornhoft
1w ago
The U.S. military had a garbage problem. A coalition led by the United States was prosecuting the Gulf War, largely from forward operating bases in remote locations where there was no sane way to take out the trash. Under the circumstances, U.S. forces dug big holes in the sand for use as burn pits. “All the garbage that was generated by these FOBs (forward operating bases) went into the pits, and we poured jet fuel on it — what could possibly go wrong? — and we lighted the garbage on fire,” said Dave Robau, who was then a civilian Air Force employee located at Hurlburt Field. “Everything was ..read more
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Revving Florida’s Sports Engine
850 Business Magazine
by Hannah Burke
1w ago
When over 2,000 athletes gathered in Pasco County last December for the Florida Senior Games, a 10-day, Olympics-style event involving everything from pickleball and horseshoes to basketball and powerlifting, Angela Suggs was approached by an 85-year-old woman. Suggs had just finished watching the woman deadlift 100 pounds. “I am alive right now because I spent all year training for this,” the senior athlete said.  As president and CEO of the Florida Sports Foundation (FSF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation responsible for the marketing and development of professional, amateur and leisu ..read more
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Marketing and More
850 Business Magazine
by Steve Bornhoft
1w ago
In the months after the COVID-19 pandemic began to recede and Florida relaxed protocols that included a ban on short-term rentals, visitation soared and with it, bed tax collections. In 2022, both Walton County and Panama City Beach collected record amounts of what is formally known as the tourist development tax (TDT), and in 2023, collections fell off only very slightly, suggesting that they may have plateaued at a very high level. Collections in southern Walton County, where the bed tax is 5% and the county’s tourism is concentrated, totaled $62.69 million in fiscal year 2022 and $60.01 mi ..read more
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Achieving Momentum
850 Business Magazine
by Kari C. Barlow
1w ago
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves is not a fan of winging it. Whether funding routine city maintenance, improving downtown parking or touting the city to potential employers, he prefers a carefully crafted plan. “I’m not a cross-my-fingers-and-hope-someone-else-is-doing-it kind of guy,” he said. “Let’s control our own destiny.” That mindset is what fueled Reeves’ industrious, fast-paced first year in office — a year that saw the creation of a new economic development office, a new playground at Sanders Beach Park, the expansion of Palafox Market farmers market to Plaza Ferdinand, repairs to the R ..read more
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Intriguing, Exciting Potential
850 Business Magazine
by Steve Bornhoft
1w ago
Contemplating a move to Pensacola, Brian Hilson sought to discover how important economic development is to the city’s elected leadership, business community and the city’s residents, generally. Does it really want to grow? Does it want to understand what its potential for growth might be? Is it prepared to do whatever may be required to responsibly realize that potential? Hilson satisfied himself that the answer to each of those questions is “Yes.” “What I learned — and this has been reinforced since I arrived here last August — is that economic development truly is a high priority in Pensac ..read more
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