A 5-Star Accredited Chamber of Commerce
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COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT
Gainesville wins Top S.T.E.M. Cities Award
Gainesville
is the recipient of the 2019 Insurify Top STEM City in Florida Award.
Award winners were selected for their stellar track record in supporting science, technology, engineering, and math from education to employment. Insurify analyzed communities in each state for the strength of STEM within high schools, universities, and workforces; as well as the rate of diversity in STEM professionals. The top cities were identified through a proprietary scoring algorithm incorporating data from Insurify, an insurance comparison platform, and Niche.
“Advances in all facets of STEM propel our nation forward. The United States would not be where it is today without the ingenuity and dedication of people in these fields” said Snejina Zacharia, CEO of Insurify. “This award honors one city in every state whose residents and institutions are at the forefront of innovation and education in STEM.”
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The Greater Gainesville Chamber is proud to recognize the following local businesses and nonprofit organizations for winning 2019 Business of the Year Awards, presented by
VyStar Credit Union
.
Employer of the Year
Gainesville Health & Fitness
Bioscience Company of the Year
Ology Bioservices
Commitment to the Environment Award
Solar Impact
Leading Women’s Business
Sarah Cain Design
Tech Company of the Year
PHOS Creative
Manufacturing Company of the Year
Thermo Fischer Scientific
Startup Company of the Year
Imprint Genius
Small Nonprofit of the Year
Ronald McDonald House of North Central Florida
Large Nonprofit of the Year
Bread of the Mighty Food Bank
Small Businesses of the Year
Celebrate Primary Care
Pure Aesthetics
Large Business of the Year
North American Veterinary Community
Community Involvement Company of the Year
Gainesville Housing Authority
Diversity & Inclusion Award
Infotech
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UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS
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UPCOMING EVENT
CareerSource North Central Florida
Recruitment events for Gate Petroleum
Wednesday, December 11, 10am - 1pm
Wednesday, December 18
, 10am - 1pm
Gainesville Career Center
10 NW 6th Street, Gainesville
The CareerSource NCFL Gainesville career center will host recruitment events for Gate Petroleum on Wednesday, December 11 and Wednesday, December 18 from 10AM - 1PM.
Positions are being recruited for:
Sales Associate (Job #11078451)
Manager in Training (Job #11080966)
Food Service Coordinator (Job #11078056)
Assistant Manager in Training (Job #11078401)
To Apply:
- Go to www.employflorida.com
- Log in or register as a new job seeker.
- Search for the desired job number and complete the online application.
- Attend the event at CareerSource NCFL in Gainesville
Recruitment Event at CareerSource NCFL Gainesville Career Center
10 NW 6th Street, Gainesville FL 32601
Need help registering or preparing for the event?
Contact us at 352.955.2245 before the event and we can help.
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UPCOMING EVENT
National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program
Application deadline: February 15, 2020
The National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program (VEP) provides a rigorous entrepreneurial learning and development opportunity for veterans with service-connected disabilities and those who have uniquely distinguished themselves in the military. VEP is designed for veterans interested in starting a new venture as a means to financial independence and for veterans who have an existing business for which they would like to increase profits.
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REMINDER
Hot Jobs through CareerSource NCFL
Each week, CareerSource North Central Florida staff members identify current
Hot Jobs that employers are eager to fill.
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To apply for jobs listed:
- log on to www.employflorida.com
- Click on “Job Search” under “Quick Menu” on the left side of the page
- Select “Job Number Search” from the menu across the top of the page
- Enter the job number from the list above in the “job number” box
- Click on “search”
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UPCOMING EVENT
i3 Putting Children First Facilities Sales Tax Update
Wednesday, December 11, 5:30 to 7:30 pm
Scorpio Construction
3911 W Newberry Road, Gainesville
The Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce and the School Board of Alachua County invite you to join us for a Community Information Session.
LEARN:
The latest about our schools' infrastructure projects,
funded by the half cent for schools sales surtax
The details on the positive economic impact
this work will have on our community for years to come
How the local business community can be more involved
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UPCOMING EVENT
UF INNOVATE 3rd Thursday Festivus Festival
Thursday, December 19, 4 - 6pm
UF Innovate | The Hub
747 Southwest 2nd Avenue, Gainesville
It's that time of year again! Join UF Innovate | The Hub for food, drinks, free T-shirts and fun on the last 3rd Thursday of 2019. Don't forget to wear your ugly holiday sweater!
The Hub is the site on the 3rd Thursday of each month for conversation, networking, refreshments and snacks for the North Central Florida entrepreneurial ecosystem. Come every 3rd Thursday from 4-6 p.m. (or later, who knows!) at The Hub, 747 SW 2nd Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32601. All entrepreneurs in the Alachua County/North Central Florida area are invited, every month! Please RSVP by the third Monday at noon.
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Holiday Tree Lightings in the Greater Gainesville Region
December 14
Alachua Christmas Parade, 2-4PM
Downtown Main Street Park
City of Hawthorne 37th Annual Christmas Festival & Parade, 11-5:30 (Parade at 3)
SE 221st Street, Downtown Hawthorne
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UPCOMING EVENT
Gainesville Black Professionals, Inc. is Accepting Nominations for Annual Community Awards
Deadline Monday, December 16
Ceremony Tuesday, January 7
Gainesville Black Professionals is a non-profit organization. Our mission is to increase communication, collaboration and networking between professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners to build profitable business relationships. Our vision to create and maintain platforms that showcase the accomplishments, contributions and impact of Black Professionals.
To further our efforts, we are now accepting nominations for our community awards. This is a recognition program that highlights the accomplishments of local professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners. Community Awards include The Legacy Award, Trailblazer Award, New Business of the Year, Women of Vision and Purpose and Men of Vision and Purpose.
Nominations can be submitted online at
www.gbpinc.org
and the deadline for submitting nominations is Monday, December 16. Nominations will be reviewed by a panel of judges and the winners will be presented with trophies at the Annual Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, January 7.
For additional information call (352) 208-4894.
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MEMBER CONTRIBUTION
Oh Boomer, How Nice to See You Today—a Thought for the Holidays
By Jennifer Webb, Magic Communications
Blue hair isn’t my thing, although I think it looks great on others. I used to believe people with blue hair were not the kind of people I wanted to associate with. Same with pink hair and tattoos and certain styles of dress and political persuasion, and on and on. If they think in ways diametrically opposite of my belief system or look different from my code of correctness—whatever that is-- I am not interested in knowing them.
Now I don’t think that way today thank goodness, but I used to, even if I didn’t consciously voice those thoughts. It was more of a subconscious leaning away from people who made me feel uneasy, people I felt I had no commonality with. And when I look back, I find it fascinating how quickly we categorize people we meet each day. It’s human nature to judge, part of our nature of course, but what often happens is we gravitate toward those we feel are like us—our tribe so to speak--and we tend to avoid those who are different.
Think about the “Oh Boomer”
viral internet slang phrase
often used to dismiss Boomers. It could just as easily be “Oh Republicans,” “Oh Democrats” or any group that doesn’t fit our parameters for acceptability. And we’re typically so much more tolerant for those like us—we could have made the same mistake—we cut them a lot of slack. If they aren’t like us, it’s easier to be dismissive or judgmental.
What I’ve discovered—and often seem to need to keep discovering—is how alike we all are.
I was reminded of this recently when I taught a class on leadership in Chicago. I walked into the class room and found myself staring at a guy who looked like he just came from a casting call for the old sitcom
Happy Days
. Immediately I decided to slow the class down to ensure he could keep up with the material—even though he had never even opened his mouth. He was young, greasy hair, sloppy jeans and his facial expression was all attitude. Easy to make assumptions about his knowledge base and abilities. Naturally you can guess that he turned out to be the best student, asking thought-provoking questions and enhancing the quality of the class exponentially.
We’re all old enough to know we can’t change others’ opinions, so to argue for or against something will only waste energy and breed frustration. But if Millennials took time to get to know Boomers or vice versa, or the liberal left had coffee with the conservative right, they’d find more similarities than differences in their lives.
We make a difference every day in how we treat people, especially the ones we don’t agree with or find we have nothing in common with. As we go into a holiday season where our county remains divisive over politics, and many other issues, it’s a good idea for me—for all of us—to demonstrate the beauty of tolerance toward those we might normally ignore, and kindness toward those who specifically are disagreeable. A friend of mine says every time she starts to make a judgment about someone, she goes out of her way to get to know the person and always finds commonalities.
Let’s make this the season for kindness, tolerance and appreciation. And take the time to start a conversation with someone you’d normally not approach. More than likely it will be eye opening, educational and possibly, down right fun.
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