ALACHUA, FL – February 8, 2024 – The Alachua Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual gala last month at Legacy Park with nearly 550 attendees. The event included awards to city businesses, entertainment by comedian Brad Williams, and a live auction. Waste Pro was honored to receive the prestigious Large Business of the Year award during the celebration. 

Division Manager Nate Frischkorn from Gainesville and Director of Government Affairs for the North Florida Region of Waste Pro Dayna Miller were on hand for the presentation during the ceremony. “We are honored and grateful for the award,” shared Dayna, “and so happy to receive this on behalf of the entire team of Waste Pros that work hard serving the communities in and around the Gainesville area.”  Waste Pro has been a proud partner of the Alachua Chamber for the last twenty years.

Dayna, who is also Vice-Mayor for the City of Alachua, Florida, is actively involved in several other community organizations, including the Alachua Lions Club, is a current board member of Recycle Florida Today, and is involved in the Gainesville Elks Lodge, which honored her with the Distinguished Citizenship Award in April of 2022.   

The gala marked the end of Mitch Glaeser’s three years as Chamber President and the start of Adam Boukari’s term as President. Glaeser spoke about the growth the City of Alachua and its Chamber have seen in the last three years, from 15-person luncheons to Wednesday’s gala. The growth, Glaeser said, will continue as more than 1,000 jobs have been announced as coming to the city in the past six months from different companies.

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ALACHUA ‒ It was an upbeat evening as the Alachua Chamber of Commerce hosted their 2024 Annual Gala on Wednesday, Jan. 24. Held at Alachua’s Legacy Park, large 3-D lighted marquee letters spelling Alachua glittered on stage as more than 550 people attended the Chamber’s signature event. The occasion recognizes the work and accomplishments of people, businesses, volunteers and sponsors and gives the Chamber an opportunity to share the year’s accomplishments and goals for the new year.

The evening kicked off with a 5:30 p.m. cocktail hour complete with beer provided by Burkhardt Distributors and wine provided by Bleaker & Flask. A surf and turf dinner service by Beyond Expectations started at 6:45 p.m. with dessert sponsored by Colliers International Real Estate.

Incoming Chamber President Adam Boukari handled the master of ceremonies duties and introduced the event’s title sponsor, Scherer Construction. Boukari said the company has been a valuable partner to the Alachua region for decades, adding, “Their footprint in Alachua is seen from every corner of the community.

Also recognized were the Chamber’s Sustaining Members who provide support to the Chamber on an ongoing basis. Those members are City of Alachua, San Felasco Tech City, Alachua Commerce Center, Scherer Construction, Campus USA, Fletcher Companies, University of Florida, Renasant Bank and Tower Hill Insurance Group.

“These companies have made multi-year commitments to our Chamber to strengthen our ability to support business development and economic prosperity,” said Boukari

Among elected officials attending were Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper, Vice Mayor Dayna Miller and Commissioners Shirley Green Brown, Ed Potts and Jennifer Ringersen. Also representing the City of Alachua were City Manager Mike DaRoza and Police Chief Jesse Sandusky. Also in attendance were Alachua County Manager Michele Lieberman, Alachua County Fire Chief Harold Theus and Alachua County Sheriff Emery Gainey.

The Gala’s Supporting Sponsor was RTI Surgical. “This Alachua homegrown company is making impacts on people the world over,” said Boukari about the global firm. “They believe deeply in corporate citizenship and serving the community where they work.” In addition to gala sponsors, multiple local businesses sponsored tables to the event.

The gala traditionally is a time for the Chamber to recognize people and organizations that have made significant impacts in the community. Kicking off the awards portion of the event was the Alachua Police Department Officer of the Year award. Recipient Thomas Stanfield is the department’s Public Information Officer.

The Chamber also recognized local businesses. Selected as its Small Business of the Year was Tina Ross of Alachua Flowers and Tuxedo Rental. Additionally, Waste Pro was selected Large Business of the Year and Chamber Volunteer of the Year was Shasta Schoellhorn

After serving three years as Chamber President, Mitch Glaeser delivered his final President’s Message. “There is no bigger cheerleader in our community than our outgoing president Mitch Glaeser,” said Boukari. – “He has charted our path toward prosperity, business growth and a shared vision.”

Glaeser recounted accomplishments that have been made over the past few years, crediting those longtime companies that continue to invest in the community and referencing new companies locating in Alachua and new jobs being created.

“The Gala caps off and highlights the momentum and exciting things that are happening throughout Alachua,” said Glaeser. “The quality of projects and jobs that those companies are creating is a huge benefit to all of our citizens who live here and enhances the quality of life we have come to know.”

Glaeser was recognized for his dedication and service to the Alachua Chamber of Commerce and was gifted with a Swiss-made watch, which was showcased at the 1889 World Fair held in Paris, France. Referencing Glaeser’s museum of entrepreneurship at his San Felasco Tech City office, Boukari said, “We hope that this watch will join your many other treasures of history and innovation on display in your museum and office and will serve as a wonderful reminder of the time you so selflessly gave to our Chamber and community.”

The evening also saw the 2024 Board of Directors installed. Members include Mitch Glaeser, Ed Potts, David Pope, Elliot Welker, Zak Seymoure, Neil Burk, Jerry Smith, Jovante Hayes, Joe Hancock, Flo Hester, Shasta Schoellhorn, Michele Lee, Shelley Vickers, Kyla Frye, Steve Szabo and President Adam Boukari.

Always a highlight of the evening, the live auction led by Ben Boukari, Jr. Boukari didn’t disappoint as he auctioned off a sports theme package consisting of a football signed by over a dozen Heisman Trophy winners including the University of Florida’s Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow and dinner for 10 at Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille.

With the combination of award presentations, the live auction, insights offered by local business leaders, and a comedy act by stand-up comedian and actor Brad William, the gala delivered a diverse agenda for those in attendance and a night to remember.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Two city commission candidates will face off in the High Springs special election set for March 26. Wayne Bloodsworth, Jr.  and Chad Howell are vying for High Springs City Commission Seat #2.

The City Commission called a special election when the seat was vacated by Steve Tapanes who declined to fill out a financial disclosure Form 6 required by the State of Florida.

Candidates had until Thursday, Feb. 8 to file to run, and the successful candidate will fill out the remainder of Tapanes’ three-year term.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 6, 2024) – As of February 1, Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) stopped paying the City of Gainesville for services the utility received in fiscal year 2022. This leaves the city with a revenue shortfall of $1,447,252 in the middle of the current fiscal year and is a departure from the methodology that formed the foundation of this year’s balanced budget.

As GRU and the city outlined in agreements that underpinned this year’s city budget, the $1.4 million was payment for work done two years in arrears by staff from departments including the Clerk’s Office, the City Auditor’s Office, the Office of Equity & Inclusion and the Office of Communications & Marketing.

The issue was addressed at today’s meeting of the Gainesville City Commission’s Finance Committee, where members approved a recommendation from Gainesville City Manager Cynthia W. Curry to rebalance the budget by using the city’s contingency funds and set-asides. This would preserve the budgets of impacted departments at their adopted levels for the remainder of the fiscal year despite the loss of payment for shared services.

The recommendation to manage the revenue reduction involves the following budget line items:

• $600,754 from the operational contingency fund – 100-percent reduction
• $250,000 from the set-aside for at-risk youth – 100-percent reduction
• $150,000 from the set-aside for gun violence prevention – 100-percent reduction
• $511,501 from the $630,872 personnel contingency fund – 81-percent reduction

“The fiscal year 2024 budget includes contingency reserves and set-asides for other projects,” said City Manager Curry. “These funds can be tapped to compensate for the payments no longer being received from Gainesville Regional Utilities. However, it is unfortunate we have to move into our reserves and use funds for programs and causes that are very important to our community.”

This mid-year budget reversal is the latest challenge for a commission already making substantial reductions. Following the city’s appearance before the Florida Legislature’s Joint Legislative Auditing Committee (JLAC) in February 2023, Gainesville City Commissioners lowered the Government Services Contribution (GSC) by $19 million, a reduction of 55 percent from the prior fiscal year. This led to changes in fiscal year 2024 that included city departmental consolidations, a slew of new operational efficiencies, and the elimination of 125.5 full-time equivalent employee positions.

Commissioners are expected to vote on the recommendation at the February 15 Gainesville City Commission meeting. However, these reductions in revenue will continue to drive budget discussions for fiscal year 2025, as the commission and staff will face hard decisions about funding levels for departments that will no longer provide shared services to the utility. 

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