Month: March 2021

Pasco EDC’s Wesley Chapel Incubator Opens In The Grove

SMARTstart program director Dan Mitchell says space like this boardroom is where small businesses will have the opportunity to collaborate with other owners, industry experts and mentors as they prepare their businesses for launch. ***(Photos: John C. Cotey)***

In the center of what many think is the hottest and hippest entertainment development in Wesley Chapel at The Grove, just above the office of developer Mark Gold, is a large “collab-o-space” hoping to launch the area’s next hottest and hippest thing.

That’s Dan Mitchell’s hope, anyway. The program director of SMARTstart — part of the entrepreneurial arm of the Pasco Economic Development Council (EDC) — stands in the middle of the 5,000-sq.-ft. Entrepreneur Center & Business Incubator and imagines it filled with the bustle and hustle that only enthusiastic entrepreneurs can bring to it.

“It’s going to be a great environment,” Mitchell says.

SMARTstart at The Grove held its official ribbon cutting on Feb. 18. The workspace has 10 private offices, two “huddle rooms,” 32 dedicated desks, a co-working lounge, an executive board room, as well as a classroom and other meeting spaces.

A digital media studio will offer light boxes, podcasting mics and mixers, as well as other equipment needed to produce various electronic media.

Those desks, offices and board rooms will soon be mostly filled by small business owners sporting ideas but looking for guidance and hoping to reap the benefits a collaborative setting can provide. Small businesses have a large fail rate within the first two years, but Mitchell says SMARTstart helps develop business ideas and get them to market on more solid footing.

SMARTstart at The Grove is open to anyone, but their business must be based in Pasco County. It is looking for small business owners who are in the start-up phase, or in the first year or two of their business.

Once accepted into the program, you choose your membership level and get access to not just the space — you can rent a private office for $600, or just take a desk in the open area for $100 — but also classes, roundtable discussions, workshops and mentorship. The SMARTstart team will assess the needs of entrepreneurs, and will connect them with industry experts and coaches.

“We ask people when they join, what do you need?,” Mitchell says. “What is holding you back? Do you need workspace, do you need guidance, do you need to collaborate with other entrepreneurs, do you need funding, do you need education? We offer something in all of those program areas.”

And, Mitchell adds, “If somebody needs all of it, great. They can get all of it.”

This area provides 20 working spaces for entrepreneurs, but offices and meeting rooms are also available.

SMARTstart is funded by the Penny for Pasco program.

The Wesley Chapel location will be the third EDC incubator in Pasco County, joining the locations in New Port Richey (which focuses on professional services), and the one in Dade City (focused on food innovation).

Those in the SMARTstart program also are eligible for the EDC’s popular “micro loans,” ranging from $30,000-50,000.

Since the program’s inception five years ago, 82 businesses have started and grown in the Pasco EDC’s incubators, including 24 last year. The micro loan program has funded 57 companies, for a total of $1.8 million in loans.

So far, the new Wesley Chapel incubator has four members, with 30 more on the waiting list. Those who get in are limited to two years in the incubator, after which they must spread their wings and find their own locations.

“This is not your permanent home,” Mitchell says, but in the meantime, members can use the incubator’s address to register their business with the Florida Department of State at Sunbiz.org (found at DOS.MyFlorida.com), use the conference rooms for meetings, focus groups and more. “People come with an idea and, within six months, can get the funding and when they do launch, SMARTstart will hold a ribbon cutting for them.”

*The under-construction SMARTstart crate at The Grove’s KRATE container park be available to small businesses to rent as a pop-up to show or sell their products and services.*

Dade City’s Johnathan McKeen-Chaff has taken advantage of multiple SMARTstart programs and he says that, as a result, his music teaching and academic tutoring business is better off for it.

He has added a handful of clients and is now ready to open his first physical location at the KRATE container park at The Grove this summer, where his team will give piano, guitar and drum lessons, as well as supplemental tutoring in math, English and other subjects.

“It was worth every penny and more,” McKeen-Chaff says. “That’s the kind of education I can get behind. Dan Mitchell and everyone there are very good at what they do.”

McKeen-Chaff, who says his company is focused on using technology to improve the way people teach and learn, also took advantage of the EDC’s micro loan program.

“They taught me how to start a business, and walked me through everything I needed to do,” McKeen-Chaff says. “I know I have a better chance (of succeeding) just having them on my side.”

McKeen-Chaff will be KRATE neighbors with SMARTstart, which also will be renting a converted shipping container. Members of the SMARTstart program will be able to rent the crate as a pop-up to sell their wares, which could be popular with the fledgling food businesses being cultivated at the EDC’s Dade City incubator.

Pasco County-based businesses interested in more information or in joining the incubator program can fill out an application by visiting SMARTstartPasco.com.

Wesley Chapel Doubles Its Odds on American Idol

Two Wesley Chapel teenagers are headed to Hollywood Week on American Idol, thanks to auditions that earned unanimous votes from the judges.

Zach D’Onofrio, who also earned a golden ticket in 2018, and Alanis Sophia will begin competing this week as the show moves into the Hollywood phase.

Zach, a Wiregrass Ranch graduate, got his second golden ticket on Sunday’s show, when he played the piano and sang the Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers” for judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.

In his first audition, Zach sang Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” — his voice transforming from nervous teenager to timeless crooner — and danced with Perry after giving each of the judges designer themed socks. Bryan was the first to recognize Zach, calling him “Sinatra Boy.”

“I’m back,” Zach said.

This time around, he joked that he had graduated from socks to “dressing up in my best sweater”, singing in a purple sweater with a flowered design.

The judges seemed perplexed about what to make of a second version of D’Onofrio after his song. “Zachary, you’re like a math equation you just leave permanently up on the chalkboard,” Perry told him. “I’m still confused and would like to hear more.”

Zach had a surprise for song No. 2 — his girlfriend Catie Turner, who was a top-6 finisher in 2018. He called her out to sing with him on a second song, “Falling”, by Harry Styles.

Perry told Zach after the song there was something interesting about him, but that he reminded her of a turtle.

“A turtle sometimes hides in its shell,’’ she said. “But the turtle wins the race.”

“What we need now,” Ritchie added, “is for you to come out of your shell.”

And with that, Zach is headed back to Hollywood.

Like Zach, Alanis Sophia is another great voice with a great story.

She says she remembers watching “American Idol” as a child, peering between the bars on her crib. When she was 4-years old, her mother Kathy bought her a happy meal from McDonald’s so she could get the toy inside – a plastic blue and yellow American Idol microphone, with the show’s catchphrase – “You’re Going To Hollywood!” – on it.

Being on the show became one of Alanis’ dreams. On the Feb. 28 audition show, filmed in Los Angeles, Alanis wowed the judges — and millions watching at home — with a perfect, soaring rendition of Demi Lovato’s “Anyone.”

The performance left tears in the eyes of Perry, and Richie and Bryan also appeared moved.

Alanis Sophia sings with the same plastic microphone that ignited her American Idol dream.

Alanis, who was named after pop singer Alanis Morissette, sang into that exact same Happy Meal plastic microphone during the audition that gave birth to her dream.

Pretty ironic, don’t ya think?

“In the midst of all of this noise, there’s the purity of your voice and your personality that requires nothing but exactly who you are,” Richie told her.

“It was real, and it was honest, and it was awesome to watch,” Bryan said.

Perry, who said she got into music because of Morissette, told Alanis that she was the best performer the judges had seen that day.

After calling her mom Kathy out, and making her cry with their praise of her daughter, the judges told Alanis that she was advancing to Hollywood. The teen grabbed her golden ticket and held it high proudly as she and Kathy left the room.

Alanis said she felt good and liked her chances after finishing the song.

“When I walked in there, I was like, holy cow,” Alanis told the Neighborhood News. “I was nervous at the beginning, but I sang my heart out. Once I started singing, I was in a zone.”

Although not technically currently a resident of Wesley Chapel — she lives in Dade City — Alanis has lived in Wesley Chapel and attended John Long Middle School for two years.

While Zach is still relatively new to singing, it’s not that big a surprise that a seasoned performer like Alanis would deliver such a performance. In fact, because her budding music and acting career kept her so busy, she had to move to online classes and is a 2019 Pasco eSchool graduate.

The oldest of three other siblings, Alanis is no stranger to the music business. When she was 11 years old, she finished second on “La Voz Kids,” the Spanish version of “The Voice.”

She later became the face of VisitFlorida, made commercials and did some acting, and was signed to the Big Machine record label, which was looking to fuse her into a Latin-Country star.

While that didn’t work out, Alanis continued to make music and build her brand online, with hundreds of thousands of followers between Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok.

That may seem like a full career for many, but at 19, Alanis is just getting started. She looks at “American Idol” as an opportunity to break through as a star, but if not, she’ll keep pushing on.

“I keep forgetting that I’m 19, and there is so much more left for me in this world,” she says.

That includes singing, touring, acting and who knows?

“All of that,” Alanis says. “I want to do it all.”

Now that the auditions are over, the show begins “Hollywood Week” this Sunday. The show airs at 8 p.m. on ABC-TV.

American IDol

New Moffitt At Wesley Chapel Cancer Center Opens

*The new Moffitt at Wesley Chapel will provide a more convenient cancer-fighting experience with the same great care provided by the Moffitt Cancer Center’s main campus in Tampa.*

The long-awaited Moffitt Cancer Center satellite campus in a new building on the site of AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (AHWC) has opened, with a quiet virtual ribbon cutting three days before services started officially being offered on Feb. 15.

Called Moffitt at Wesley Chapel, the new facility fills a major hole in the area when it comes to receiving cancer treatment. As one of only 50 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, the Moffitt Cancer Center has gained national acclaim over the years for its research and patient care.

“I am excited that Moffitt is getting closer to our patients,” said Dr. Tim Kubal, medical director at Moffitt at Wesley Chapel. “This is also a great opportunity to innovate the way clinical care is provided at Moffitt.”

Moffitt’s cancer care will occupy nearly 28,000 square feet of the new, three-story, 100,000-sq.-ft. building, which is located in the Healing Plaza on the south side of the campus of AHWC, near the Shops at Wiregrass.

The facility, which broke ground in May 2019, features 20 exam rooms, 22 infusion chairs, three blood draw stations, two linear accelerators and a CT Simulator.

The TrueBeam linear accelerator above provides image-guided stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy with high precision to treat tumors and lesions in various parts of the body, including lungs, breasts, head and neck. It is a part of the new technology available at the new Moffitt at Wesley Chapel facility .

Patients will be able to access blood draws, infusions, medical oncology, radiation and surgical oncology consultations at the new location, whereas they previously had to drive to Moffitt’s North Tampa campus on Magnolia Ave. for such services.

Diagnostic imaging services also will be available at the new building, with the imaging services provided by AdventHealth, and Moffitt’s team of expert radiologists reviewing the images for interpretation.

Patients can expect to receive the same outstanding cancer care for which Moffitt is highly regarded.

“There are going to be some things that we only do at the main campus, (such as) super complex surgeries and things like that, which are typically going to be done at the Magnolia campus (at USF),” Dr. Kubal says. “But, the bulk of cancer care is diagnosis and treatment. It’s figuring out what’s going on with you, giving you chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and all that can be done here in Wesley Chapel.”

By partnering with AdventHealth in Wesley Chapel, Moffitt has created what is sure to continue being a popular model for health care in the future.

“One of the most exciting new things about this hybrid model of care in partnership with AdventHealth is that with this multi-specialty model, we are able to bring our experience of research closer to the community,” says Dr. Vania Phuoc, one of the center’s lead hematology/oncololgy physicians. “We’re hoping to bring clinical trials out here to Moffitt at Wesley Chapel by the end of the first year after we open.”

The new building’s services include malignant and benign hematology, the full breadth of solid tumor oncology, gynecologic oncology, endocrinology and more. More services will be added in the future, based upon the needs of the community.

The convenience for those fighting cancer, as well as for those who have family members fighting it, is huge, Dr. Kubal says.

“There are a lot of people up here (in Wesley Chapel), and this is an area that is growing very rapidly,” he says. “A lot of younger families and people are moving from up north. They want to transfer their care but don’t necessarily want to live on the USF campus (where the main Moffitt Cancer Center is located). They want to live in the Villages, they want to live up in Wesley Chapel off of Curley Road. So, we’re up here because we want to get closer to the patients without them having to come all the way to us.”

Moffitt Cancer Center also is expanding into central Pasco, recently receiving approval to build an extension on 775 acres at the intersection of the Suncoast Parkway and the Ridge Rd. Extension, which is currently under construction.

Phase 1 of the project will include a $60-million, 125,000-sq.-ft. business park, which will be completed in five years and create nearly 450 jobs.

And, Moffitt also is building a $400 million, 128-bed hospital on 20 acres across McKinley Dr. from Moffitt’s Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Outpatient Center, a short drive from the original Moffitt campus at USF.

For more info, visit Moffitt.org.

AdventHealth Moffitt Cancer Center Wesley Chapel

St. Patrick’s Day Means It’s Been One Full Year Of Covid-19

The photo of Jannah and me was taken on March 7, 2020, at a friend’s wedding, literally a week or so before the U.S. began to shut down because of the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

I also remember going to O’Brien’s Irish Pub in Wesley Chapel to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day 2020, and I was already uncomfortable talking too closely to the people we met and especially, with hugging anyone. No one was yet wearing masks — as there was some debate as to whether or not they were effective in preventing the spread of this then-new, still-largely-unknown illness — and I just felt like no one knew how close was too close to be talking to someone in those earliest days of the illness.

Well, St. Patrick’s Day 2021 is now here, which means that the pandemic has been raging in this country for one full year. Thankfully, despite nearly 30 million confirmed U.S. cases and more than a half-million deaths, the number of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths seem to finally be subsiding a bit, thanks to ongoing mask-wearing and social distancing rules, as well as the introduction of millions of doses of three rushed-to-market vaccines. The good news — at least so far — is that those who have been able to receive the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech or Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccines to date have been avoiding serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths, with minimal side effects for most.

I will admit that those who have been able to receive any of these vaccines once they became available has been a little mystifying to me — I thought it was supposed to be the elderly, true front-line workers in hospitals (doctors, nurses and anyone else with direct patient contact), firefighters and law enforcement officers who were supposed to be first in line to receive them, but I saw many people under age 65 on Facebook who didn’t fit into any of those categories bragging that they had received both doses of the vaccine before my mom was able to get her first dose of Moderna vaccine, which she finally did last week.

But, considering how new all of this is, and how crazy the lines have been at public heath locations just to get a Covid test, I am encouraged by the progress that has been made. I’m also encouraged by the fact that the vaccines all also appear to be effective against the different Covid-19 variants that have been popping up.

I also am hopeful that Jannah and I — who are both under age 65 and in relatively good health — will be able to be included in the next group to be vaccinated, especially once teachers and everyone living or working in long-term care facilities have received theirs. My wife and I genuinely miss going out to crowded bars with live music, but we’ve spent precious few evenings out enjoying dinner and karaoke or to watch a Lightning game since this nightmare began.

I feel fortunate that neither I nor any members of my immediate family have been touched personally by Covid, although at least one Neighborhood News employee did suffer for a few weeks with a relatively mild case. But thankfully, our employees have mostly been working from home and we wear masks whenever more than one of us are in the office together.

Even so, how long Jannah and I will have to continue to wear masks when we go out to eat — something we’ve done far less of the last year, but have started to do a little more of late — remains to be seen. And, I also am concerned that the repeal of mask mandates by the governors of several states may be happening a little too soon, too. The U.S. is nowhere near “herd immunity” yet and I don’t have the same faith in people to wear masks without those mandates that those governors seem to have.

So, while St. Patrick’s Day is one of the holidays I actually have traditionally enjoyed, it will forever be remembered, at least by me, as the holiday when the scourge of the early 21st century first hit home. Stay safe, my friends.

Covid-19 editorial St. Patrick's Day

Palms Pharmacy Adds Covid Testing; Vaccines Next

Stepping into the Palms Pharmacy in The Shoppes at The Pointe plaza in Tampa Palms, just south of the Bruce B. Downs Blvd. exit off I-75, you immediately see that it’s not your typical pharmacy.

Patients are often greeted by name, which has been the standard for the nearly five years since Palms Pharmacy first opened, and there’s usually little to no wait time to get prescriptions filled.

Members of the pharmacy staff — which has grown to eight employees, including the ever-smiling boss, Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) Shahida Choudhry — run prescriptions out to customers who have chosen curbside service.

In addition, the pharmacy is currently administering curbside Covid-19 rapid tests and Covid-19 antibody tests. Because Palms Pharmacy is unable to bill medical insurance, patients have to pay for the tests out of pocket, then request reimbursement from their insurance company.

“But, there’s no waiting in line for four hours,” Dr. Choudhry says, and she and her staff provide all the necessary information for you to easily submit a claim to your insurance company to be reimbursed.

And soon, Palms Pharmacy expects to begin administering the Covid-19 vaccine. To schedule an appointment or find out how to get on the interest list for a Covid-19 vaccine, please use the pharmacy’s secure text-only line to text the pharmacy staff at (727) 513-3210.

For those venturing inside, you might be surprised by the store’s fresh new look.

Glass shelves now show off niche products, such as locally grown honey from Pinellas County, Zumbar and Old Whaling Co. soaps, shower steamers and more, and fun snacks such as TeaPops and Fatty Sundays chocolate-covered pretzels.

Dr. Choudhry says the dramatic change in the pharmacy’s storefront can be attributed to a chance encounter on Instagram with Marcus Lemonis, the famous multimillionaire businessman and star of CNBC’s most popular reality television show, “The Profit.”

Thanks to some tips from multi-millionaire businessman Marcus Lemonis (top), the inside of Palms Pharmacy has a more open, comfortable look with glass shelving and better placement of the store’s ever-expanding product lines.

She says she was following the reality star’s Instagram Live one night with thousands of others, when Lemonis somehow noticed @PalmsPharmacy was watching, and called on Dr. Choudhry to share about her business. That was followed up with a separate Instagram Live session, where she was a featured guest to discuss her pharmacy with Lemonis, who assigned her homework and gave her tasks to help her improve her business.

She says Lemonis has assigned her a mentor that she checks in with quarterly. She’s also applied to be a guest on his hit TV show. “I learn a lot from him,” Dr. Choudhry says, “because he’s a business guy and I’m a pharmacist running a business.”

She says the pandemic caused Palms Pharmacy to have to pivot and get creative to keep its doors open. Back when hand sanitizer was hard to come by, the compounding pharmacist on her staff began making it. They would sell it to the store’s customers, but also donated quite a bit of it to first responders in the community.

Palms Pharmacy also found ways to both sell and donate personal protective equipment (or “PPE”) when it was hard to come by.

Throughout the pandemic, the pharmacy has stocked up on new essentials, such as disposable masks, anti-fogger spray for glasses, KN95 masks, and a spray to sanitize your reusable masks.

But, it’s not just those essentials that make a trip to Palms Pharmacy so worthwhile for its patients.

“We’re trying to make your pharmacy experience different,” Choudhry says. “It’s more concierge and boutique-like.”

She also says she adds one new product a week, plus you can still get all of the products you would expect to find and have been purchasing since the pharmacy first opened.

“We’ve expanded our line of Ortho Molecular specialty vitamins, for example,” she says, “and added more fun colors and patterns in our compression stockings.”

Palms Pharmacy will celebrate its fifth anniversary in Tampa Palms on April 15.

Dr. Choudhry opened the pharmacy in 2016, after 10 years as the pharmacist at the Publix in Tampa Palms. She loved her job and her customers, but her search for a better balance of her work and home life, where she had two small children, led her to starting her own business.

She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy, then went on to receive her Pharm.D. degree in 2001, both from Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY.

Customer Service The Key

Palms Pharmacy has found success by offering exceptional customer service, above and beyond what you would typically expect from a pharmacy.

For example, the staff thrives on helping patients with especially complicated health or insurance issues, which are becoming more and more common these days. Dr. Choudhry says that when insurance companies decline to cover a patient’s medications, that’s when she picks up the phone.

“I know the doctors and the medical assistants,” she says. “I work with them to get their patients what they need, usually within the same day.”

This is in huge contrast to other pharmacies, especially the chains, which may take 7-10 days to come up with a solution when an insurance company won’t cover a particular medication.

That’s why Sandra Dwinell, a Tampa Palms resident, was overjoyed when she found out that her long-term pharmacist at Publix had opened her own business.

Being that she and her husband both have chronic health issues, her pharmacy experience is extremely important to her.

“I was almost in tears, I was so happy to find them,” Dwinell says. “I immediately moved all of our medications over.”

Dwinell adds that she has learned to always double-check what she’s been told by doctors with Palms Pharmacy. For example, when an allergist in Zephyrhills told her she had to go to a specific pharmacy in Zephyrhills for a test, Dr. Choudhry told Dwinell she could get the test for her and saved her the trip.

“It was no big deal,” Dwinell says. “She ordered it and I got it right there, five minutes from my home. They’re phenomenal.”

Not only that, but Dwinell adds that the staff is incredibly proactive, such as suggesting a high-quality prescription multivitamin that is completely covered by her insurance, saving her from having to pay for over-the-counter vitamins.

This willingness to go above and beyond is what makes Palms Pharmacy stand out to its customers, and keep people like Dwinell coming back.

In fact, Dwinell says most people don’t think of going to the pharmacy as something to look forward to, but between the products she enjoys shopping for — such as the boutique-type gift items in the store like bees wax candles, soaps and body lotions and even fancy teas — and being greeted as a friend, she does.

“Because I have so many allergies and health issues, I need someone who knows me,” Dwinell says. “They know my health issues and are interested in me and what’s going on with me and my medications. It’s like a partnership. They’re not treating (me like) a random number.”

Palms Pharmacy is located at 17008 Palm Pointe Dr., Tampa, and is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. For more information, call (813) 252-9063, text Palm Pharmacy’s secure text-only line at (727) 513-3210 or visit ThePalmsPharmacy.com. Follow Palms Pharmacy on Instagram and/or Facebook for announcements as to when the Covid-19 vaccine will be available.

Palms Pharmacy