January 2008

Watch Good Business Pinellas on Bright House Channel 622. Effective December 11, 2007, Bright House Cable moved Pinellas 18 and Good Business Pinellas TV to channel 622. Bright House Cable subscribers must have digital cable to access channel 622. If you do not have digital cable and wish to access your Pinellas County government television station, please call bright House customer service at (727) 329-5020 for more information. This does not apply to Knology and Verizon customers.

NxLeveL™ 10 Week Business Plan Series Begins January 28. NxLeveL™ training is a nationally-recognized, ten-session course designed for people who want to start or grow a business and need the skills to test the feasibility of their business concept. This series, which meets Mondays from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., combines the traditional pieces of a NxLeveL™ curriculum with the business assistance resources of the Pinellas County Business Development Center. A registration fee of $149 covers the entire ten weeks. To register, call (727) 453-7200 or email kforster@pinellascounty.org.

Water-Saving Rebates from SWFWMD and Pinellas County Utilities. The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) and Pinellas County Utilities are offering up to $20,000 in rebates to industrial, commercial, and institutional customers towards the cost of installing new equipment and processes that conserve water at existing facilities. Rebates will be awarded based upon demonstrated water savings; the project must reduce water consumption by at least 1,000 gallons a day. For more information, contact Wayne West at (727) 464-3677 or visit www.pinellascounty.org/utilities.

Find Employees with the Right Skills and the Right Attitude. Florida Ready to Work is a new employee credentialing program that tests – and scores – a worker's job skills and work habits. It provides job seekers with a credential certificate that proves to employers they have achieved the right skills and the right attitude for the job. For employers, it helps take the guesswork out of hiring, saving time and money. Florida Ready to Work is sponsored by the State of Florida, so there is no cost for employers or jobseekers to participate. A free breakfast program on Jan. 24 will provide more information. Contact Anita George at (727) 341-4526 or george.anita@spcollege.edu to learn more.

Opening Celebration for Pinellas Prosperity Campaign, Jan. 17. Join the Wealth Building Coalition of Pinellas and representatives from the public, private and non-profit sectors in a celebration of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) campaign and VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) site opening. VITA sites provide free income tax preparation, helping thousands of Pinellas County workers keep all of the money they have earned. The event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the High Point YMCA, 5345 Laurel Place, Clearwater, 33760. For more information, contact Cherin Stover at (727) 328-0618.

Hazardous Waste Collection for Businesses: Monthly Events in 2008. Good news - businesses asked Pinellas County Utilities to offer more hazardous waste collection days and Solid Waste Operations increased events from once every quarter to once a month. The EnviroBusiness collections are scheduled for the second Wednesday of each month, with the next collection day occurring Wednesday, January 9, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Household Electronics & Chemical Collection Center, 2990 110^th Ave. N., St. Petersburg. Any business may drop off its hazardous electronics. To drop off chemicals, businesses need to qualify as small waste generators, (producing less than 25 gallons, or 220 pounds, of chemical waste per month). Visit www.pinellascounty.org/bizwaste to learn more.

January 2008 Pinellas County Success Story

Florida Learning Curve and the BDC: Building Better Businesses in Pinellas. Pinellas County's Business Development Center has proven to be both a resource and an ally for learning technologies company Florida Learning Curve Inc. In the Business Development Center, Florida Learning Curve (FLC) found assistance in identifying market opportunities, and in FLC the Business Development Center (BDC) found a company dedicated to helping businesses in high-tech industries. President Dr. David Bliesner explains, “Florida Learning Curve is dedicated to researching, developing, and implementing novel learning technologies and techniques to help people succeed long-term in the global workforce. Our mission supports the business community – what better place to seek business planning assistance than Pinellas' Business Development Center?”

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Visit the Business Development Center at www.PCED.org/entrepreneurs.