Tag: business

Local Businesses Finding Workers Hard To Come By

*Steve Falabella filled his staff at his new bistro, but it wasn’t easy. (Photo: John C. Cotey)*

The signs are all over — on the front of businesses reducing their hours because they don’t have enough employees, a drive-through posting asking for your patience due to a historic shortage of workers and another sign offering a $500 bonus and a free sub sandwich with every shift.

At places just opened, like the Falabella Family Bistro, there’s no need to post a Now Hiring sign because, well, no one seems to be reading it.

While owner Steve Falabella will be able to open his new bistro in The Grove with (barely) a full staff within the next week or too, he also is opening a second 900º Woodfired Pizza place, like his popular location at the Shops of Wiregrass, right next door.

“If I had to open that today, there’s no way I could,” he says.

Due in large part to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the governmental response to it, jobs aren’t hard to come by, but employees are, says Falabella, who owns three businesses in Wesley Chapel.

Here’s the deal: many folks are unwilling to seek work at businesses that don’t pay as much as they currently are getting from unemployment.

At the height of the pandemic, Congress expanded federal unemployment insurance (Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation) to $600 a week. It is currently $300 a week, in addition to the Florida’s state-level benefit of $275 weekly (which is typically for 12 weeks, but was extended during the pandemic).

The majority of those on unemployment assistance, then, receive nearly $600 a week, or the equivalent of working 40 hours while being paid $15 an hour.

For anyone paying less than $15/hour, or even more in a lot of cases, it’s tough to compete.

“It’s not just us, it’s the entire country,” says Falabella. “It’s a sensitive topic.”

Falabella chooses his words carefully, as a result. The issue has strong political overtones. While it has increased concerns about the growth of the welfare state, it also has shined a light on what some feel are unfair wages, causing some small business owners to reassess compensation.

However, the level of unemployment pay is keeping some home, instead of in the workforce, says Fallabella.

“It’s not a theory,” says Falabella. “I talk to people I want to hire back that left months ago, and they tell me as soon as the unemployment dries up they’ll be back out there looking (for a job).”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Floridians who receive unemployment benefits will have to provide proof that they’re looking for a job, a requirement that was lifted during the pandemic but expired in May.

Florida also will withdraw from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation Program on June 26.

“I think it’s pretty clear now, we have an abundance of job openings,” DeSantis says.

Jamie Hess, who owns the Treble Makers Dueling Piano Restaurant & Bar in The Grove, as well as a computer repair shop, says he has been able to keep a full staff but it hasn’t been easy.

He and Falabella, as well as Joe Schembri of the Ice Dreammm Shop, who is opening his second location across the way from Falabella Family Bistro, are contemplating a shared employee program, where workers will train for all three of their restaurants and open up opportunities for them to work more hours if they choose.

“If I can only give someone 30 hours but Steve needs someone, that person can work (10 hours for him and/) or as much as they want,” says Hess. “We want everybody making decent money where they can afford to live.”

Hess, who also owns five Subway restaurants in New York, says the pandemic drove many employees out during the lockdowns, and the lack of employees as the economy rebounds has driven many of his contemporaries out of the restaurant business altogether.

While he says he pays above minimum wage at Treble Makers, pay expectations are “getting a little out of whack.”

He said had lost a bartender recently who said she couldn’t afford to work for only $25 an hour. He thinks the road back to pre-Covid times could be a long one.

“I think it’s going to take a long time,” Hess says. “Once the $300 (weekly federal) bonus goes away, you’ll see more people looking, but it’s probably not going to go back to the way it was.”

business Covid-19

Best Bye

The rumors that have been circulating the past 18 month of popular electronics retailer Best Buy closing its New Tampa location have turned out to be true.

The store, located in The Walk at Highwoods Preserve off of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. between the HomeGoods and Michaels store, has that announced it is shutting down on Oct. 31. The announcement points customers to the nearest locations in Brandon and Wesley Chapel (in The Grove).

The store has already begun the moving process. Many of the aisles in the New Tampa Best Buy have empty shelves and are blocked off, while some aisles are selling open box items at a 15-20 percent discount.

It is unclear if the effects of Covid-19 had a hand in the closing, although it had been rumored before the pandemic that the big box electronics giant’s New Tampa location had been struggling.

According to a recent report by CNN, Best Buy is at a disadvantage fighting companies like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco, because those others also sell food and other household essentials. Beat Buy is also facing higher costs when it comes with the rise in online orders. The CNN report says that “Best Buy’s gross profit rate fell 1.2 percentage points to 22.8% during the three months ending August 1, compared with the same period last year.”

The loss of Best Buy will leave a number of vacancies in the cross-section of BBD and around Highwoods Preserve Pkwy., such as the old Sweetbay grocery store (which has been vacant since 2013) and the former Romano’s Macaroni Grill restaurant (which has been closed since 2017, after two failed attempts after being revived as a Mexican restaurant) on the west side of BBD and the Pier 1 Importa (currently closing) on the east side.

The AMC Theater, which had to postpone a major renovation project and has been hit hard by Covid-19, and former Ruby Tuesday restaurant, which will be replaced by Aldi, are also on the east side on BBD.

best buy business

Business Is Pretty Cool At Total Air Solutions

Total Air Solutions has been serving not only the Tampa Bay area, but areas up and down the Gulf Coast, for the last 19 years. But, over that time, Total Air has mostly dedicated its business to commercial properties — from offices to medical clinics and more.

It was only about two years ago that Total Air started servicing residential customers and co-owner and co-founder Bill Albert knows that’s one reason why there are those in our area who may not be familiar with his company.

“We’ve been in Tampa a lot longer than people realize,” Albert said. “We hire local techs and we’re continuing to grow and very interested in growing in the Lutz, New Tampa and Wesley Chapel areas.”

While Total Air Solutions has made strides in its quest to become the go-to service provider for air conditioning in our area, Albert points out that the recent “new normal” brought on by the novel coronavirus and subsequent quarantining from the pandemic — such as working from home and virtual schooling — has led to a very large uptick in the residential air conditioning business.

“Everyone is in their houses now,” Albert says. “It was fine when you left your house at seven in the morning (and could turn the air down). But now that you’re there 24/7… everyone needs the service much more because the air is always running. And, it’s Florida. So it’s been a banner year for our residential side.”

On The Grow From Day One

Albert figures that Total Air, which he started in his garage with fellow co-owner/co-founder Frank Decarlo, has nearly doubled in size in less than a year.

“To put it frankly, it’s going like gangbusters because everyone is staying home and they’re concerned about their air conditioning,” he says. “Our commercial side slowed down a bit, especially in April and May, but we’re seeing that pick back up, too, as offices are reopening.”

Albert worked for six years as an HVAC distributor for Carrier Florida, first in Tampa and then in Orlando, and prior to that, he held positions in a solar hot water heating and installation company and a home energy design system firm.

Decarlo previously was the VP/general manager at a heating and cooling company in North Port for seven years, where he was initially hired as a service manager and grew that company’s annual sales fourfold. Prior to that, he was a service technician at an air conditioning firm in New York.

Now, 19 years later and having combined their efforts, Total Air Solutions has offices in Tampa and North Port and 92 employees.

“There are a lot of air conditioning companies out there, but there are very few qualified technicians,” Albert says. “We’re also Carrier-certified and (have won Carrier’s) President’s Award three years in a row, but we can also fix any brand because when you call us, we send you service technicians, not salesmen. There’s an industry term for that — an SID, or “salesman in disguise” — but that’s not what you get from Total Air. We’re not going to sell you things you don’t need. We try to find the total air solution for our customers.”

Like any business, Albert adds, Covid-19 has affected the way Total Air Solutions meets its customers’ needs. The offices were initially shut down and the employees were working remotely. And then, the technicians would go out to calls and drive separate vehicles.

And, Albert says, Total Air is adhering to every guideline put out by the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

“While we’ve been very lucky that we’ve been touched very sparingly with our employees and personally with this disease,” Albert says, “we are still taking every precaution provided by the CDC. (We use) masks, gloves, sanitizer, booties, covering the (cost of) testing for our employees — we’re just doing the best we can, like everyone else.”

Hurricane Season Mode

Albert adds that Total Air also is handling the “new normal” of visiting customers’ homes well, but also is in full hurricane season mode at our press time, knowing that any storm that hits the area could require a lot more service requests.

“We’re very conscious of hurricane season because we know there can be damage or people can be without air conditioning,” Albert says. “We want to help them get it back up and running as quickly as possible.”

And, Total Air does that very well and efficiently. It’s one of the reasons they been able to keep customers from the very start.

“I’ve been a customer with Total Air Solutions for about three years,” says Carroll Grant of New Tampa. “It all started when my air conditioner went out in the middle of the night. They were here at 7 o’clock in the morning to install the new unit with no hassle at all, and I’ve been happy ever since.”

Grant is aware that, as a Floridian, having a working air conditioning system isn’t a luxury.

“Living here in Florida, having reliable air conditioning service is not just a request or a hope, it’s an absolute necessity,” he says. “So, my suggestion would be to anyone who needs air conditioning solutions, give Total Air a call. I would very much recommend them to friends and family, and I have.”

Especially since Total Air is now offering three inspection for the price of two, a package which costs just $149.The special is only for new customers, who need to mention that they read about it in the Neighborhood News before the service is started.

Albert says this special offer is one of his favorites because he knows it offers a great value to his customers, especially if they are using Total Air Solutions for the first time.

He says the maintenance of an air conditioning system, even a new unit, is vital to keeping your house cool.

“Just because it’s running doesn’t mean it’s perfect,” Albert says. “I ask (customers), ‘Don’t you change the oil in your car?’ So, you get the maintenance right there, and then you have another maintenance for the next year. It’s a great deal.”

And of course, Total Air Solutions also provides residential and commercial heating services, including installing heat pumps, and offers indoor air quality and filtration solutions (more in demand these days, due to Covid-19), as well as duct work services, and you can even finance your new Carrier AC.

Total Air Solutions’ Tampa office is at 1015 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. For more info, visit TotalAirFl.com or call (813) 247-2665.

air conditioning business HVAC

Many Small Businesses In Wesley Chapel Hoping For Federal Aid

Derick Burgos and Natalie Manrique (photo) are the co-owners of Pure Florida Watersports off S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel. They are small business owners. They are the people that the grants and loans from the federal government, in response to the economic hardships caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, were supposed to help.

Like many small businesses in Wesley Chapel, however, that help never came for the Meadow Pointe residents.

Despite applying for money through the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Burgos and Manrique, who are engaged, received nothing. The first time. And, at our press time, they hadn’t heard anything yet about the second round.

“It’s hard,” Derick says. “We are a mom-and-pop, family-owned business. We’re pushing hard to make this work. That (PPP loan) would have helped. Our business is lucky to be alive still.”

When it came to getting an infusion of funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security (or CARES) Act, a glimmer of hope was snuffed out for many Wesley Chapel businesses.

The most coveted loan/grant sought was the PPP, which wouldn’t need to be paid back if the business showed that 75-percent of the funds were used to retain employees. But, that first $349 billion ran out quickly, and then news that bigger, well-known brands like Shake Shack, Ruth’s Hospitality Group (the parent company of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse)Inc. and even the Los Angeles Lakers were among the businesses that received checks.

And, even though they eventually returned the money amid bad press, it did little to reduce the sting felt by area small businesses.

“It was a very confusing process,” says Hope Kennedy, the CEO of the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce. “We heard from many of our members. They weren’t happy.”

Nyree Bland, the co-owner of PROtential Sports, says PROtential’s after-school sports programs for kids have been closed for six weeks. She is praying the company can still offer its popular summer camps, “but we haven’t received PPP for our staff yet,” she says.

To help fill the void for county businesses, the Pasco Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously on April 21 to approve $2 million for an aid package to help the county’s small businesses. The Pasco Economic Development Council (Pasco EDC) partnered with the county to get the $2 million in grants in the hands of as many as 400 area small businesses affected by Covid-19.

The vote was held at 11:20 a.m., and the website to apply went live a minute later. Luckily, says Pasco EDC CEO Bill Cronin, the county had purchased additional bandwidth to handle the crush, but even so, the EDC received 1,439 applications in 36 hours before cutting off the process.

“We (the county and the EDC) wanted to try and help and make sure there was some cash moving around in the economy,” Cronin says. “It went a little faster than we thought.”

The Pasco EDC has begun distributing the money, the limit of which was $5,000 per applicant. Some small businesses asked for less than that, so more than 400 applicants are receiving at least some assistance.

But, many others are still waiting for that federal help, and trying to decide if they can survive without it. Businesses throughout Florida were allowed to reopen on May 4, but social distancing guidelines and stringent rules limiting the number of customers inside restaurants and retail establishments may not provide the boost those businesses need to survive. A second round of PPP, and more aid down the road, will help — if it ever comes.

Burgos says he was “scared crapless” during the early stages of the coronavirus. He has a rosier outlook now that the quarantine restrictions have been eased.

“I had some insider scoop that businesses under 50 employees were just going to have to brace themselves,” Burgos says. “We don’t expect to get anything from PPP, but a lot of people are getting stir crazy from being inside. I know a lot of them are on the fence still, but I’m hoping they will be coming back out.”

Aid business Cronin PPP protential sports

How We Can Still Help Your Business Under The Covid-19 Cloud

With the novel coronavirus pandemic cutting a swath of destruction through virtually every country on Earth, what was once the fear of the complete unknown has been replaced by the fear of not knowing how long we’re all going to have to deal with it.

And of course, the virus itself is scary, because it’s been affecting and killing more than just the elderly and the immune-compromised. Its level of contagiousness seems to be far beyond any flu during my lifetime, including the swine flu that was labeled a pandemic back in 2009 or so, even though that virus never shut down life as we know it here the way Covid-19 has already.

One of the things that has this editor additionally concerned about its effects here in the Sunshine State was that the Pinellas County beaches were allowed to remain open by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (who I voted for) — despite warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump and his Coronavirus Task Force (headed by VP Mike Pence), the World Health Organization and other experts across the globe saying that there should be no gatherings larger than ten people, at least until the virus leveled out.

It was hard to blame Pinellas County officials for not wanting to close the beaches at the height of the all-important Spring Break season, but how many more new cases of the virus could we have prevented going forward by closing them as soon as the social distancing recommendations for gatherings got below even 1,000 people a week or so before those Pinellas officials finally decided to take action? What effect will those potential additional cases have on our economy’s long-term attempts to crawl out from under this rock?

No one loves St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, Madeira and the other area beaches more than Jannah and I do. We try to stay there as many nights as we can because they’re 1) an hour or less away (and have much easier access than Clearwater Beach), 2) they’re beautiful, 3) have great restaurants and nightlife and 4) we can’t afford the time off work or the expense of going away for more than a few days at a time. Why go anywhere else?

The only time we didn’t consider heading that way was once this virus started to affect people here, especially once we saw — every day — how devastating the effects have been on China, Italy and other countries that didn’t act quickly enough to curtail the kind of casual contact with others we all usually take for granted.

This is particularly upsetting for the foodie in me — seeing our local restaurants closing at least to dine-in customers or altogether — and not knowing which ones won’t be able to return, even after the spectre of Covid-19 isn’t as terrifying. I know it was unfortunate timing that we finally released my “Gary’s Faves” the week after this thing really hit us here, but most of the eateries listed were at least still doing the takeout and/or delivery-only thing at our press time. Please call the restaurants to see what they’re doing and please support them if they are still open.

And Finally…Help Us Help You!

Obviously, restaurants aren’t the only ones hurting right now and, as a local business that makes most of its money from hyperlocal businesses, there’s no doubt we’re already feeling the pinch of this pandemic, too — and have no idea yet how much worse it’s going to get.

But, after 26 years of serving only the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel communities, I have had to respond to many problems beyond my control in years past, but never anything that has me as concerned as this does right now.

My promise to the 70+ businesses that still saw fit to place an ad in our latest New Tampa issue — and the similar number of businesses that advertise in our Wesley Chapel editions — is that we are going to try to do as much as we can to continue to support you not only in print, but on our Facebook page, our website and our YouTube channel — at no additional charge, of course.

If you already are or see fit to become a Neighborhood News advertiser at this grim hour, anytime your hours change, or you have a special offer to help keep your business as solvent as possible, and anytime you make a Facebook post or send out an email explaining what you are doing (even if it changes more than once), we will share it on our website and social media. We want…no, make that we need…to try to help you make it through this crisis and yes, we still need the business, too.

Email me at ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com or call our office at (813) 910-2575 for more information.

Stay safe and stay healthy, both physically and fiscally. Godspeed!

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