March 28, 2024
ATS SW Oct 2021
Energy Harness; Active Airflow fixture uses UV light to kill airborne pathogens.

Photo: Ricardo Rolon/USA Today Network

ATS SW Oct 2021
Virginia Shearer is the new executive director of the Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College. Shearer, most recently director of education at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, was John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art's director of education in the early 2000s.

Photo: CatMax Photography

ATS SW Oct 2021
Tropicana Products' manufacturing presence in Bradenton is not expected to be affected as PepsiCo sells the iconic orange juice brand to PAI Partners, a private equity firm based in France, for an estimated $3.3 billion.

Southwest Florida Roundup

Energy Harness' fixture uses UV light to kill airborne pathogens

Art Levy | 9/28/2021

INNOVATION

Air of Superiority

Cape Coral-based LED lighting maker Energy Harness is getting attention for its Active Airflow UV-C fixture, which uses UV light to kill airborne pathogens, including the COVID-19 virus.

The fixture, which underwent testing at Florida Gulf Coast University, works by exposing indoor air to a large dose of high-energy UV-C light as the air passes through the device. LED Magazine named the Active Airflow UV-C a 2021 finalist in its annual Sapphire Awards contest, which honors innovation in the LED industry.

“As the COVID Delta variant continues to spread, this technology will help safeguard the community,” says Peter Lehrer, Energy Harness’ senior vice president for project development. “This technology damages the organism at a molecular level, making it equally as effective regardless of the variant.”

EDUCATION

  • Pasco County’s Saint Leo University is merging with Marymount California University, a Catholic school in Rancho Palos Verdes, near Los Angeles. Details of the deal were not released, but Saint Leo President Jeffrey Senese said that Saint Leo — a Catholic school with nearly 12,000 students, including more than 7,000 online — will take on about $3.7 million of Marymount California University’s debt.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

  • Two executives from Tampa-based Moffitt Cancer Center have taken leadership roles within the Pasco Economic Development Council. David de la Parte, an executive vice president and Moffitt’s general counsel, joined the Pasco EDC’s board, and Merritt Martin, Moffitt’s chief of staff to the CEO, is now a member of the EDC’s policy council. Earlier this year, Moffitt announced it will begin building clinical, research, office and light manufacturing facilities on a 775- acre site in central Pasco County.

FINANCIAL

  • Coral Gables-based Professional Bank is opening loan offices in Tampa Bay and Jacksonville. Darren Lydting, the bank’s executive vice president and regional market executive, is overseeing the expansion from St. Petersburg.

GOVERNMENT

  • Manatee County has started work on Washington Park, an 88-acre park to be developed atop a former borrow pit in Palmetto. The county has set aside $2.75 million for the amenities, including a central pavilion, a children’s play area and a multi-use field.

HEALTH CARE

  • The University of South Florida is getting a four-year, $70-million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research the causes of Type 1 diabetes.
  • Sarabdeep “Sabi” Singh has been named executive vice president and COO of Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. He had been COO of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics since 2013.

NON-PROFITS

  • The Baker Museum of Naples has opened its 2021-22 season with a variety of exhibitions, including Florida Contemporary, a look at the work of three Florida artists: Gonzalo Fuenmayor, Akiko Kotani and Noelle Mason. Florida Contemporary runs through July 2022.

REAL ESTATE

  • Construction is underway on Altura Bayshore, a 23-story condominium with views of Hillsborough Bay. Naples-based Ronto Group is the developer.
  • A 375,000-sq.-ft. office tower has opened in downtown Tampa’s 74-acre Water Street Tampa development. The 20-story building, called Thousand & One, also includes 12,000 square feet of retail space.
  • An 11-story condominium building is under construction on Estero Island. Grandview at Bay Beach, with views of the Gulf of Mexico and Estero Bay, will have 58 homes starting at more than $1 million.

RETAIL

  • The Bell Tower shopping center in Fort Myers has created a “pop up and grow” program, enabling local startup businesses to rent temporary brick-and-mortar space for up to a year.
  • 22 South, a food hall and incubator for new restaurants, closed shortly after opening last summer in the Historic Manhattan Casino in St. Petersburg — but then, within a month, opened again with additional investors. The project is part of an effort to revitalize St. Petersburg’s Midtown neighborhood.

TECHNOLOGY

  • Fast, a 2-year-old San Francisco company that provides online shopping and checkout services to retailers, plans to open a hub in Tampa, where it will hire up to 200 workers.

TRANSPORTATION

  • St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport’s July passenger traffic reached the highest monthly total in the airport’s 64-year history. The airport saw 262,681 passengers during July 2021, up 90% from the yearearlier period. So far this year, traffic is up 40% over 2020.
  • The Lakewood Ranch Stewardship District approved a $8.6-million contract for a 1.8-mile extension of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard.

UTILITIES

  • St. Petersburg-based Duke Energy Florida plans to build four solar plants. The plants, part of Duke’s $1-billion effort to increase its solar capacity, will be located in Alachua, Bay, Levy and Suwannee counties. In all, Duke plans to build 10 solar plants by late 2024.

 

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