Pasco 2020: A Story of Strength

[Music] hello my name is bill cronin ceo of the pasco edc and i'm here to welcome everyone to our virtual event pasco 2020 a story of strength when our current crisis was in its early stages there was a substantial amount of uncertainty in our business community we didn't know what to expect and even now how long this would last many of our teams started working remotely march 17th and we didn't know that we wouldn't see them in person again for several months companies were faced with difficult decisions to make and no previous pandemic experience and even less answers but one thing we found to be undeniable is the ability of our community to band together to overcome those challenges through innovation determination and resiliency the content you're about to witness is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this pasco community's response to the covid19 pandemic you'll see extraordinary examples of our first responders rising to the occasion and selflessly putting themselves in harm's way to care for our sick you'll see leaders in our county's government including our board of county commissioners and constitutional officers our school district and nonprofits providing much relief efforts to those most affected by the current crisis and you'll see our businesses taking the necessary steps to ensure the safety of their customers their staff and their families while working tirelessly to provide the community with creative solutions for all of pasco county to get through these uncertain times although we're all asking ourselves when will this situation be over rest assured that pasco county remains strong and it's with that strength in mind that we adapt and overcome rising to the occasion to show that we will not falter but we will find a way to flourish and we'll not walk away from this fight but instead we will step up to the plate and we will not be discouraged but instead we will find strength in the stories of our community when covid 19 forced the closure of our schools we knew the thousands of children in pasco county that struggle with food insecurity they would be hit the hardest something had to be done to get food to these children so we reached out to you our community and with your support we've been able to provide groceries and meals every week for families in need we just want to say thank you [Music]

i'm mary jane whitfield i'm randy maggard your state representative for district 38 in the florida house i am commissioner ron oakley i'm just bilarakis and i'm honored and privileged to represent you pasco county our community is strong resilient and we will beat this side of an enemy we hope that you and yours remain safe and in good health we thank you for your support we thank you for your encouragement and we ask you to stay safe we are working proactively behind the scenes every day to keep you safe and informed we're counting on each of you to do your part your actions during this time can literally save lives we will get through this difficult time thank you for following the cdc guidelines we got this separate hills working together as a community we will rise to that challenge just as impressive as the collaboration between the governments and non-profit agencies has been the generosity and stewardship of our local business community [Music] i'm brian taylor with pasco county parks recreation and natural resources while many of you have been staying at home helping stop the spread of covet 19 we've been using this unique time working in all our parks to enhance your experience when we reopen we hope your experience is even better than it was before we can't wait for you to see what we've done here in pasco county community leaders are working together to organize a food drive to help feed the most needy and the most vulnerable among us for the past six weeks we have provided more than 675 000 meals to children at our school feeding sites and at selected bus stops we're seeing countless examples of hope community and support from sidewalk art campaigns unifying neighbors to social media efforts that have us rallying around local businesses restaurants donating meals to frontline workers and schools feeding our students in need countless people are even making and sewing mass to donate libraries may indeed not be the first resource people think of when we're all in this trying to fight the coronavirus situation but actually we do have quite a few resources that we can take advantage of here at landa lakes and the hugh embry library at dade city we want to be part of part of the solution and helping the public in whatever way we can the project that i'm working on with the number of other people in libraries is we are making these masks and they are being distributed so far we have delivered a number to senior services and we'll be working on some of them for pcpt

bus drivers as well anytime you take a project like this and you have to make a lot of them you make some minor improvements and that for me is fun i enjoy sewing and so it's a neat project and it's also nice to know that i'm able to help people in the community and that library staff is all working from home so we're not able to do what we normally do for the public but we're still able to help the public and our fellow employees in a different way so in addition to the masks we have a 3d printer at the hudson branch and we are slowly producing uh masks with that machine now it's a little bit slower process but we'll be donating those as well everybody in the community from the private sector to government even pasco county libraries we're all doing our part [Music] pasco county is a very special place to live work and enjoy life there is a deep sense of community and connectingness everywhere you turn this has never been more prevalent than over the past few months as we have raffled with the health and economic challenges caused by the global pandemic we've chartered previously unnavigated territory and these circumstances have revealed the depth of our community's resiliency resourcefulness and resolve we will make sure no one gets left behind i'm so very proud of pasco county and i truly believe that if we remain united we will emerge stronger than ever your dedication to your neighbors and the communities we call home makes us incredibly proud to serve you let's carry that spirit of our community into the next chapter as we work to reopen [Music] [Applause] [Music] together [Music]

we are advent health with experts who can heal when no one else can using the most advanced medical equipment from robotic surgeries that need better results and faster recovery to the latest diagnostics that provide more precise care we have the tools and the teams that lead to more life-saving outcomes for everyday care to the most complex care or emergency care to ways you can care of yourself we have a network of care right here building partnerships to make it easy for you to find the experts you need close to home and using convenient online resources to make reservations for non-life threatening emergency visits and patient registration right on your phone we are here to love you to make it easy and to keep you safe with teams that are nationally recognized by the leapfrog group as the safest in our area and the number one choice of women for patient safety avon health is more than hospital we are part of our community invested in where we all live work and play with over 75 000 volunteer hours 115 million dollars in charitable care and income contributions for pasco county we are here with faith here with hope dear lord just be with ann and her surgery we are advent health the right expertise the right innovation the right care at the right place at the right time to help you feel whole [Music] i try and make every person that walks in whether it's a family member a staff member a vendor i try and make everybody feel appreciated and part of the team i think it's really important to smile with your eyes and let people know that you're still a friendly face and that everyone's appreciated [Music] [Applause] [Music] we remain at the ready at all times we've got plenty of equipment we've got plenty of supplies on hand to make sure that our responders are safe so that we can respond to your emergency we'll do a gross decontamination at the hospital by utilizing those wipes but then the crew will actually don some fresh equipment on drive that ambulance back to the station where they'll do a complete decontamination of the unit and one of the things that we utilize at the station is something that we call the hydrostatic disinfectant sprayer and what that does is it takes a solution of pure bleach and it atomizes it and allows those the bleach to get in all the nooks and crannies throughout the entire back of the ambulance making sure that every bit of that

ambulance is fully disinfected i'm so proud to work here because to see everybody really come together as a one team during this time has been the most impressive thing i've ever seen and the tree was happy the end thanks for joining me say your prayers go to bed and thank your parents very much [Music]

birthday [Music] some local boy scouts spent their saturday thanking first responders the scouts held up signs all while social distancing of course at a hospital and fire station in pasco county there are tens of thousands of skeletons that we're asking to go out and do the same just thank our first responders thank our health care workers [Music]

please stick together keep a positive attitude god will look over us we will get through this together and i promise your sheriff's office will always be there to support you [Music] done our part to keep each other safe to provide excellent care compassion is what i've seen come out of this and i think all of those things together as what made a difference [Music] [Applause] [Music]

45 year old glenn hobbs is feeling hopeful last week we showed you how hobbs applied for a small business grant from pasco county yesterday the owner of hobbs hideaway found out he's going to get it it's just unbelievable how quickly pascal county helped its citizens and and it's it was just that quick of a process a group of business owners are standing up to make a difference feeding those who are affected the most by providing meals to those in need we want to lend a helping hand we are united we are determined we are passionate to serve we are coming together to make a change we've been blessed to be a blessing our mission is to lead through service together we all win together we are strong [Music] [Applause] [Music] 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone around the world we've experienced significant changes in all aspects of our economy including how we do business locally and globally changes in how we approach business recruit changes and how we communicate changes in our workforce needs changes in how we build our business plans changes in how we interact and network changes in how we respond to staff needs changes in how we offer educational workshops changes and how we grow our businesses changes and how we deliver service to our business community the pasco edc has intentionally evolved to support our community throughout these changes utilizing various programs the site selection process has evolved and we are no longer attending large events and trade shows companies have new needs when looking to relocate starting with the initial meeting itself we've adapted to current climate and are utilizing multiple technologies to host virtual site selection meetings we can showcase aerial property videos interactive maps and industry specific data by using these tools we have the ability to share creative content and discuss the benefits of doing business in pasco county in an engaging way workforce needs have shifted as we've moved through the pandemic our training partners have done an excellent job at adjusting their services to continue to deliver high demand training programs to meet employer needs in addition our workforceconnectpasco.com platform has continued to make vital connections for training providers and deliver workforce resources that employers need understanding how your business operates and the need to adjust to changing times became crucial at the onset of kobit 19.

we're now offering refocus a co-starters program that helps business owners rethink immediate next steps needed to stabilize and re-examine their ventures peer interaction and networking is an important part of doing business many businesses are wondering what they can do now that face-to-face meetings and handshakes are no longer acceptable or safe we have incorporated numerous virtual meeting platforms in our programming and have trained staff on how to keep virtual meetings engaging and beneficial to all with so much information and misinformation available we want to help our business community get the correct communications as quickly and simply as possible we have creative platforms that are organized and easy to navigate by prioritizing direct links to application web pages frequently asked questions and any additional information a business may need new legislation such as the emergency family medical leave act e fmla and changes regarding taxes impact how human resource departments and businesses operate knowing your employees rights and your businesses responsibility is important moving forward as we try to keep our staff and families safe offering relevant classes and coaching sessions to help our businesses continue to thrive throughout the pandemic is very important to us we host multiple events on numerous topics weekly on social media as well as other virtual platforms the classes help the business community network while learning valuable resources business growth is one of our top priorities and we are here to assist our companies through that process we work at a local level on job creation incentives as well as with our state partners to provide valuable resources to help your business grow including overseas through exporting we are here to help you navigate these difficult times and manage some of the added stresses and running a business we can help walk you through available programs and resources the pasco edc has to offer and connect you with the appropriate team member make your business a thriving operation of which you and your employees are proud to be a part of here in pasco county the pasco edc is here to help your company start move and grow [Applause] [Music]

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