By Christine Davis
The Florida Festivals & Events Association has more than 415 members — representing 750 events statewide — and at its 20th anniversary award conference, Delray Beach cleaned up. The Marketing Cooperative received the following seven SUNsational Awards:
• 100 Foot Christmas Tree — five awards total in the $50,000-$249,999 range: first place for promo video, first place for tickets and invitations, and third place awards in brochure/postcard, social media and T-shirt categories.
• On the Ave — one award in the $49,999 and under range: second place in best website for On The Ave Light Up The Night.
• 4th of July Celebration — one award in the $50,000-$249,999 range: first place for photography.
The Delray Beach-based Festival Management Group won a total of six awards for two events:
• Delray Beach Garlic Fest — three awards in the $250,000 and over range: first place for best social media site, second place for best website and third place for best promotional item.
• Delray Beach Chamber’s Delray Affair — three awards in the $50,000-$249,999 range: first place for best mobile app, second place for best T-shirt and second place for best commemorative poster.
At the same conference the Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency received 1st place in the $49,999 and under Promotional Poster category. A collaboration between the CRA and Maas Media, the poster highlighted the calendar for Movies in the Park and Music on the Rocks.
Wall’s up: In August, the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce unveiled a Donor Wall honoring 80 donors who contributed between $1,000 and $50,000 toward creating the chamber’s new office space at 140 NE First St. in Delray Beach. Emiliano Brooks of Emiliano Brooks Productions assisted the chamber by creating the design themes used on the donor wall and Signarama contributed to the design and installation of the Donor Wall.
Stay tuned for more: WellFest Delray 2015 announced that Serena J. Dyer will be a featured speaker at the March 2015 event, which will be held at the Delray Center for the Arts. A South Florida native, she co-authored a book about growing up with her father, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Don’t Die With Your Music Still In You. Also, Tesla Motors will participate in 2015, showcasing its vehicles and conducting scheduled test drives.
A renovation project that offers needed housing: According to the National Housing Conference/Center for Housing Policy, 40 percent of households ages 65 and older have incomes that are less than half of the local area median income, and almost half of the poorest of these households pay 50 percent or more of their incomes for housing. Currently the Delray Beach Housing Authority has more than 250 seniors waiting for affordable housing in the city.
But it is taking steps to alleviate the problem. In July, the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency closed on a $2.7 million loan to Village Square Elderly Ltd. to help fund 84 new housing units for low-income elderly residents, which is scheduled for completion in fall 2015. The Village Square project, a partnership between the Housing Authority and Roundstone Development, was created to redevelop the 18-acre Carver Estates site.
The Village Square project also is constructing a 144-unit affordable apartment complex for lower income families and approximately 24 single-family homes that will be offered for sale.
A Boynton Beach restoration: The restoration of the Addison Mizner-designed headquarters for the 102-year-old Boynton Woman’s Club is nearing completion. The work was financed by a matching grant from the Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency and a contribution from the Boynton Beach Historical Society. The club’s historic preservation committee co-chairwomen, Pat Waldron and Barbara Wineberg, oversaw the project.
Boca Raton news: In cooperation with Enterprise Florida and the city of Boca Raton, the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County announced that it has assisted Vicinitas Cancer Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America Preferred Provider Alliance, to locate its headquarters in Palm Beach County at 1200 N. Federal Highway in Boca Raton. The Business Development Board assisted Vicinitas with site selection, incentive package coordination, and workforce and training needs. The company received a $360,000 training grant from the State of Florida, as well as Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund and Quick Action Closing Fund incentives totaling $1.45 million, with $1.1 million from the state of Florida and a $350,000 contribution from the city of Boca Raton. Over the next five years, the company will have 200 full-time employees and will occupy 45,000 square feet of office space. Vicinitas projects a capital investment of approximately $4 million to renovate and equip its space.
Vicinitas, a nation-wide network of physicians and other oncology care providers, offers each of its patients a dedicated care manager to schedule all appointments, facilitate understanding of treatment options and coordinate commcommunication among providers.
Saks Off Fifth signed a 10-year lease for the 23,343-square-foot space that used to be Loehmann’s at Somerset Shoppes at Lyons Road and Glades Road in Boca Raton. Saks is under construction and is expected to open in the first quarter of 2015. Randy Tulepan, vice president of New York-based Roberts Equities, represented the owner and David Emohovich from Katz and Associates represented the tenant.
For sales recorded Aug. 18, Senada Adzem, director of Luxury Sales for Douglas Elliman, represented the sellers of two units at One Thousand Ocean condominiums in Boca Raton. The warranty deed of the first property, apartment 501 owned by David Cohen, was recorded on Aug. 12 and sold for $6.5 million. The buyer’s agent was Niki Higgins of Douglas Elliman. The second property’s warranty deed, apartment 105 owned by Jeffrey and Patricia Schneider, was recorded on Aug. 18 and sold for $4.2 million. The buyer is listed as Casey Taryn Scherr, who was represented by Don Kealy of Westpark Realty of Broward Inc.
According to Palm Beach County records, a company tied to the Blackstone Group, BRE Newton Hotels Property Owner, acquired the Residence Inn Boca Raton, at 525 NW 77th St., in a transaction recorded on Aug. 18, for $12 million. LES Res Boca Raton of Dallas sold the 120-room hotel to BRE.
In August, Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, a partner of Boca Raton Regional Hospital, was named one of “100 Hospitals and Health Systems With Great Oncology Programs” in 2014 by Becker’s Hospital Review, which recognizes hospitals for quality patient care, cancer outcomes and research. Boca Regional’s Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute joined the Moffitt Oncology Network in June 2013.
Also, Boca Raton Regional Hospital is the recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence for the 10th year in a row and was named one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, by Healthgrades. The hospital was also recognized for the third consecutive year in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013–2014 Best Hospitals listing as a top-ranked hospital in the South Florida metropolitan area.
Concerning financial successes, on Aug. 26, officials at the hospital announced that both Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s Rating Services have raised the hospital’s investment grade credit rating from BBB- to BBB. Concurrently, both Fitch and S&P gave the hospital a “stable” ratings outlook.
INSET BELOW: Collins
Also in the county: In August, Engel & Völkers announced the openings of its three new South County brokerages owned by Boca Raton real estate attorney Rick Felberbaum. The locations are at 900 E. Atlantic Ave. in Delray Beach, 310 E. Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton, and 4855 Technology Way in Boca Raton. The designated broker is Boca Raton resident Claire Collins. Felberbaum also announced that he plans to open three more offices in South Palm Beach County within the next 12 to 18 months.
YMCA of South Palm Beach County’s annual report announced support from organizations; an award; and new developments of its drowning prevention, diabetes prevention and YBike programs. A $35,000 grant from The Lost Tree Village Charitable Foundation, a $30,000 grant from the Town of Palm Beach United Way, and the Baker Summer Camp Scholarship Program grant through Autism Speaks will support the Y’s services to underprivileged children and those with special needs. The Peter Blum Family YMCA of Boca Raton was rated five out of five stars by Family Central’s Palm Beach County Quality Counts program.
Nixon aide Roger Stone, will reveal the dark secrets of Watergate, the Ford pardon, and the famous 18½-minute tape gap, which he’s covered in his recently released book Nixon’s Secrets from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sept. 10, at the Gold Coast Tiger Bay Club’s monthly luncheon held at the City Fish Market, 7940 Glades Road, Boca Raton. The cost is $35 for members or $45 for nonmembers. For information and to RSVP, visit www.goldcoasttigerbayclub.com or call 852-0000.
Each month at the not-for-profit Secret Garden Café’s Appetite for Art, “Hungry Artists Help Hungry People.” September’s theme, Mango is King of Fruit, will celebrate island music and cuisine, featuring grilled red snapper and mango salsa. Music will be by Dymin and September’s featured artist is Nicole Persley. Her distinctive style is bold, eccentric and primary. Appetite for Art will be held at the Secret Garden Café, 410 E. Boynton Beach Blvd. in Boynton Beach, from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 27. The price is $40. Also, the public is invited to attend an artist’s reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26. Cost is $20.
It’s September and Flavor Palm Beach time, when food and wine enthusiasts can take advantage of discounted prices for prix fixe menus at 50 of Palm Beach County’s finest restaurants. Three-course lunches are priced at $20 and dinners are priced from $30. Each reservation made through FlavorPB.com benefits the Palm Beach County Food Bank, which aims to eradicate hunger in Palm Beach County. For a full list of participants and to make reservations, visit FlavorPB.com.
Palm Beach’s Colony Hotel will close for the first time in 40 years. According to Roger Everingham, the hotel’s vice president and general manager, The Colony’s front doors will be locked on Sept. 2 so that decorator Carleton Varney, president of Dorothy Draper & Company, can complete his multimillion-dollar transformation of the Palm Beach landmark. A gala celebrating its reopening will be on Oct. 10.
“Carleton Varney and Brinsley Matthews have done an amazing job of bringing our guest rooms to new life,” Everingham said. “Lively may even be an understatement considering the variety of colors; our just finished fourth floor, for example, has 19 different paint colors. Each room and suite is different — no cookie-cutter rooms here — put together with a lot of vivid upholstery, unique lamps and artwork, many by local artists. The result is a happy, classy feeling, but still with our classic British Colonial foundation.”
It’s official. The Style Bar Day Spa is now the salon of choice for Palm Beach Makos Cheerleaders. The organization, which supports Palm Beach County charity and community groups, will shoot its 2015 swimsuit calendar and squad photo this September with hair services to be sponsored by Style Bar. The spa is located at 2875 S. Ocean Blvd., Suite 108, Palm Beach. Also the spa is now offering to bring a full-service list of its spa treatments to private homes, businesses and yachts. For information, call 585-9788.
Classes in drawing, painting, mixed media and photography at the Armory Art Center’s Lake Worth Annex, 1121 Lucerne Ave., will start Sept. 2. Also four studio spaces are available. For information, visit www.armoryart.org/annex or call 832-1776, ext. 33.
Six summer interns of the 11-week Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for the Everglades’ summer internship program celebrated their graduation at E.R. Bradley’s Beach Club in Lake Worth on July 31.
The interns, who focused their research project on strategies to counter sea level rise, including Everglades restoration and recommendations for the U.S. Coast Guard, presented their research at the second annual Sea Level Rise Symposium, July 25, hosted by the Marshall Foundation, League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County and Oxbridge Academy.
At their graduation, the interns gave brief presentations Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for the Everglades’ summer internship program about their interests and experiences. “The program opened my eyes to how many different disciplines are involved in Everglades restoration and environmental issues,” said intern Morgan Mooney of Boca Raton. “It has inspired me to be part of the solution.”
INSET BELOW: Ross
Suzanne Ross was promoted to executive director for the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center, Boynton Beach. She had served as the museum’s development officer before assuming the role of interim executive director after Judith Klinek retired in June. Ross also has held positions locally with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Easter Seals and the Florida Oceanographic Society.
Carolina Zerboni, managing partner of Seasons 52 in Boca Raton, has attained Darden Restaurants’ Diamond Club status for showing strong and inspiring leadership while also achieving top financial performance. The Boca Raton Seasons 52 is at 2300 NW Executive Center Drive.
New-hire announcements: Officials at Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s Marcus Neuroscience Institute announced the hiring of cerebrovascular specialist Shaye Moskowitz MD, who will serve as director of cerebrovascular and neuroendovascular surgery. In that capacity, he will spearhead the institute’s treatment of aneurysms and vascular disorders of the brain.
The Chamber of Commerce of The Palm Beaches appointed Jamie Walton to the position of director of special events. She will also be responsible for driving sponsorship revenues. Formerly, Walton served as director of development for Easter Seals Florida.
INSET BELOW: Zuckerman (left); Schweiger (right)
Brandon Rosen, founder of the Boca Raton-based BMI Elite marketing agency, announced the appointments of Fred Zuckerman to the position of chief marketing officer and Mike Schweiger as CFO. BMI Elite, which started with two employees in 2010, now has 125 employees and continues to grow. Its office is just west of I-95 on Yamato Road.
INSET BELOW: Greenberg
In June, Kim Rae Greenberg joined Chapin, Ballerano & Cheslack, a law firm with offices in Delray Beach and Boca Raton, as an associate attorney. She will focus her practice on transactional real estate and corporate law. Before joining the firm, she represented clients as a real estate attorney in her Coral Gables firm and title agency, Kim R. Greenberg, P.A., handling the acquisition, disposition, and financing of residential, commercial and institutional properties.
Christine Davis is a freelance writer. Send business news to her at cdavis9797@comcast.net.
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