Banyan Creek Elementary won the Grand Float prize during the Delray Beach Holiday Parade
on Dec. 10. The float embraced the parade theme of ‘A Rock and Roll Holiday.’
Photo provided
By Christine Davis
The city of Delray Beach presented the Delray Beach Holiday Parade float winners. Based on categories, entries were judged on theme, craftsmanship, originality, costumes and more. Winner of the “Grand Float” was Banyan Creek Elementary. Best Non-Profit went to Lynn University. Best Band went to Inlet Grove High School Drum Line. Best Civic was awarded to Delray Beach Girls Club, DREAM Youth Council, and Brother 2 Brother. Best Dance went to Diamond and Pearls.
Florida Atlantic University’s Tech Runway “Venture Class III” students celebrated their graduation in November. The founders of the four companies honored at the ceremony were Thomas Gregory of SoFla Sunwear, Ray Briant of TiLoTag, June Adams and James Khalil of PowerCalc and Carly Asher Yoost of The Child Rescue Coalition. “We are incredibly proud of what this third FAU Tech Runway Venture Class has accomplished,” said Rhys L. Williams, associate vice president for research and the managing director for FAU Tech Runway. “Several of these companies were little more than concepts when they began our program. Now they have products, customers, sales, patents, employees and have become real businesses.”
Since its launch, the program has offered financial support, strategic development, entrepreneurial education, free workspace, investor introductions and expert mentoring for 29 start-up companies. As a result of the program, 239 jobs were created, 57 of the university’s students were employed, more than $6 million in revenue was earned, and more than $18 million in investment capital was raised.
Thomas McCaffrey, president and chief operating officer of KLX, has been appointed to the Palm Beach Atlantic University Board of Trustees.
McCaffrey served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of B/E Aerospace for more than 20 years before joining KLX, a distributor of aerospace consumables and provider of services to the oil and gas industry. The California native received a bachelor’s degree from California Polytechnic University. Locally, he is involved in the St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach.
Partnering with the Capital Grille and Prime Cigar and Wine Bar, the Charles Medical Group raised more than $3,000 for the Broward Children’s Center at a happy hour event in November. The event offered $18,000 worth of raffle items, including a $12,000 hair restoration procedure donated by Artas, which will be conducted by Dr. Glenn Charles of the medical group.
Thanks to community outreach, Marc Julien Homes of Delray Beach doubled its goal and obtained 131 toys for Toys for Tots.
At 11:30 a.m. Jan. 11, former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski will be the featured speaker at the Gold Coast Tiger Bay Club, making his first public appearance since his incarceration. The topic will be “From Incarceration to Freedom,” at the luncheon at City Fish Market, 7940 Glades Road, Boca Raton. Cost is $50.
Kozlowski joined Tyco International in 1975, was appointed its chief operating officer in 1989, chief executive officer in 1990, and chairman of the board in 1991. Under his leadership, Tyco grew to more than $40 billion in revenue and a market capitalization of more than $120 billion. He parted ways with Tyco in 2002 in a scandal that is documented in Catherine Neal’s book, Taking Down the Lion.
Kozlowski is co-CEO with Jim Clark of Commandscape, a new technology-driven security and building management company. Kozlowski is also associated with Harborside Advisors, a South Florida-based merger, acquisition, business consulting and investment company. In addition, he serves as chairman of the Fortune Society, an organization that assists former offenders with reentry into society.
MusicWorks Classic Folk & Rock Series 2017 will feature Livingston Taylor on Jan. 12 and Al Stewart on Jan. 26, both at 8 p.m. The concerts will be held at Old School Square’s Crest Theatre, 51 North Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Tickets, priced at $57 or $77, can be purchased at www.OldSchoolSquare.org or by calling the box office at 243-7922, Ext. 1.
Local poets and poetry lovers are invited to a variety of events related to the 13th annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival, which runs Jan. 16 through 21.
At 11 a.m. Jan. 12, Yaddyra Reralta will teach the Japanese literary form zuihitsu at her Haiku U workshop at the Morikami Museum and Gardens, 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach. The workshop is free, but participants must pay for admission to the museum.
The festival itself will feature 15 poets in workshops, readings, talks, interviews and panel discussions at Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach.
Special guest poet will be Charles Simic, winner of the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and a former U.S. poet laureate. Among poets leading writing workshops are David Baker, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Tina Chang, Lynn Emanuel, Daisy Fried, Terrance Hayes, Dorianne Laux, Carl Phillips and Martha Rhodes. Individual conferences will be offered by poets Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Nickole Brown and Ginger Murchison. Performances at the field house will feature The Mayhem Poets: Mason Granger and Scott Raven.
For more info, visit www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org.
At sunset Feb. 2, the Palm Beach Poetry Festival and the Astronomical Society of the Palm Beaches will co-host a free event, “Stargazing: Out of this World Poetry Reading.” The poems can be original or old favorites but must relate to the night sky. The event will take place at the Hagen Ranch Road Library, 14350 Hagen Ranch Road, Delray Beach.
Place of Hope, at The Leighan and David Rinker Campus in Boca Raton, will benefit from the fifth annual Sporting Clays Fun Shoot, 7:30 a.m. Jan. 20. Tickets are $1,250 for an individual team of four, and $2,000 for a corporate team of four. The shoot takes place at the South Florida Shooting Club, 500 SW Long Drive, Palm City. For more information, call 775-7195.
Benefiting the Soup Kitchen, the Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce presents its first 5K Small Business Bow Tie Run at 7:30 a.m. Jan. 21 at John Prince Park, 2700 Sixth Ave. S., Lake Worth. The entry fee is $30. Registration begins at 6:30 a.m. at the park’s center pavilion. It’s a family- and dog-friendly event, but keep your dog on a leash and clean up after your pet. And don’t forget to wear your bow tie. The Soup Kitchen will have a donation tent accepting diapers, baby food, baby wipes and baby shampoo.
The Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Keys to Success 2017 business awards gala will be Jan. 26. Following the cocktail reception at 6:30 p.m. will be dinner, dancing, an awards ceremony and a live auction. It will take place at Benvenuto, 1730 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach.
Delray Beach snowbirds Julie and Paul Feingold, owners of Arundel Farm Gallery in Kennebunkport, Maine, offer a pop-up exhibit from 5 to 9 p.m. Jan. 27. Hosted by Crane’s Beach House Boutique Hotel & Luxury Villas, it will feature contemporary artists such as Ann Getsinger, John Andrews and Berri Kramer. The artwork will be on display in Room 12. The hotel’s Tiki Bar will serve snacks, and live music will be performed by Michele Lynn. For more information, call 702-6396.
Miami rapper Armando Christian Perez, known as Pitbull, will be the keynote speaker for the Palm Beach State College Foundation’s 2017 STEAM Luncheon, which will take place at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 1 at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts’ Cohen Pavilion, West Palm Beach.
STEAM encourages study in science, technology, engineering, art and math.
Perez, who helped create charter schools in Miami and West Palm Beach, will discuss the importance of education, and how music, math and science are closely related. The event is chaired by businesswoman and philanthropist Yvonne Boice.
Tickets cost $200 and can be purchased at www.palmbeachstate.edu/Foundation/STEAM or by calling 868-3450.
Executive Women of the Palm Beaches is calling for nominations for its 34th Annual Women in Leadership Awards. Through Jan. 27, nominations are being accepted for women with outstanding accomplishments in the nonprofit, private, public and volunteer sectors.
Nomination forms can be downloaded at www.EWPB.org.
The Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches reported that single-family housing inventory continued to grow, from a 4.6-month supply in November 2015 to a 5.1-month supply in November 2016, a 10.9 percent increase. That represents a move from a seller’s advantage toward the benchmark for a neutral market of a 5.5-month supply.
The association notes that its local Realtors, affiliates and staff contribute to a variety of nonprofit organizations, including the Attainable Housing Foundation, Children’s Home Society, Fair Housing, Families First, Habitat for Humanity, Homeless Coalition, Paint Your Heart Out, Pay it Forward, Quantum House and Thelma B. Pittman Jupiter Pre-School.
Jessica Rosato, broker associate with Nestler Poletto Sotheby’s International Realty and president of the Greater Palm Beach County Women’s Council of Realtors, recently earned the Performance Management Network designation, which grants her access to a nationwide peer network of real estate agents.
Christel Silver, owner of Silver International Realty in Delray Beach, is now approved to teach courses to those seeking to obtain the Certified International Property Specialist designation.
As such, she recently taught a course for the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors on the international real estate business environment, transactions tools, and working with clients in Europe.
Jennifer Spitznagel, an agent with Brown Harris Stevens, represented the buyer and seller of a home in South Palm Beach at 3492 S. Ocean Blvd., which will be redeveloped, she said. “It is one of only four single-family homes in South Palm Beach,” she said.
Recorded in public records on Nov. 29, the selling price was $3 million. The seller was Eliot Gittelmacher and the buyer was 3492 South Ocean LLC, a Florida company.
Premier Estate Properties has redesigned its website, www.premierestateproperties.com. It translates into 52 languages and features full-screen photography, video tours, detailed demographic information, points of interest by area, real-time alerts of properties new to market, and a luxury-lifestyle blog.
At Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, former managing director Michael King was named chief operating officer, and Cindy Racco was named general manager.
Through its new partner, Desert Gate, Palm Beach Travel has expanded its services and now provides white-glove travel coordination into the United Arab Emirates for high-net-worth individuals and corporate clients. Also, Palm Beach Travel’s headquarters has moved into new offices in Plaza del Mar, doubling its office space.
For more information, visit www.mypalmbeachtravel.com or call 585-5885.
Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.
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