Last month marked the CEP’s tenth anniversary. It is a milestone worth celebrating and we will be celebrating this anniversary throughout the next year. The celebration will be about the CEP’s impact on businesses and impact on our community. The CEP is nothing without the involvement and engagement of our 1,200 business partners. It is that engagement when businesses are positively impacted that the magic happens. It is nearly impossible for businesses to be positively impacted and it not positively impact our community. We have seen that play out time again over the last decade and hearing those stories over the next year will be incredibly inspiring.
But how did all of this happen? What sparked this effort? The catalyst for the CEP is no different than the catalyst for any other – it is leadership. In particular, leaders within the business community stepped up and decided they wanted more for their community. Leaders stepped up and committed to an out-of-the-box approach. Leaders stepped up and committed their time, talent, and treasure to bringing this vision to reality. In other words, leaders lead. Continue reading
Dear Friends,
Thankful for a wonderful time spent with family and friends over the holiday season and for new opportunities that arise as we start 2023.
In the Florida Senate, we are already hard at work on behalf of Florida’s citizens. This month and the month of February, the legislature will hold six weeks of committee meetings, in advance of the 2023 Legislative Session, which will begin March 7. Just before Christmas, the legislature convened a special session to address the property insurance crisis, tax relief, and toll fees. Three bills were passed and have made their way to the Governor’s desk. SB 2A, SB 4A, and SB 6A.
SB 2A increases insurer transparency to improve the marketplace for consumers, will reduce frivolous litigation that drives up costs, expedites the claim review process to verify that insurers maintain consistent communication with policyholders, stabilizes state-run Citizens Property Insurance to reduce taxpayer liability, and increases access to reinsurance to stabilize the insurance marketplace. Specifically, this bill eliminated assignment of benefits (AOB) for property insurance, the reinstatement of the offer of judgement process, and eliminated one-way attorney fees for property insurance claims. These key legal reforms will reduce the amount of cost inflating frivolous lawsuits that plague our state. Continue reading
Happy New Year!
Changes to Social Security in 2023
Good or bad?
-Well, there is a higher-than-ever positive cost-of-living increase. (COLA)
Next year’s COLA will be a whopping 8.7%. Obviously, starting in January 2023, you’ll receive an 8.7% increase in benefits.
Of course, that might result in a higher deduction for medicare.
The typical retiree will receive approximately $150 more per month, which is huge help for seniors in these days of soaring inflation and the collapse of the stock market.
For many it’s a much needed lifeline during these tough times. Continue reading
Lunch Sponsored by Beyers Funeral Home
Christmas in the Villages is put on year at the Wildwood Community Center. Thirty or more vendor showed up to show off their services or products. The weather was good and hundreds of people attended. What for it next year.
First Friday Art Walk
Date: 02/03/2023 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Downtown Square
1 SE Broadway St.
Ocala, Florida 34471
Various artists will be setting up easels / stations and work on arts / crafts throughout Downtown Ocala. Performance on the Downtown Square. For additional information, please contact the City of Ocala Recreation and Parks Department’s Cultural Arts Division at 352.629.8383.
Digital is increasing and print is stabilizing. Large & Small Businesses are Buying more digital in 2023 while print newspapers are stabilizing.
By Mark McCormick says, Borrell Associates, a marketing research firm based in Virginia, hosted a webinar recently to shine a light on local business trends and what their spending might look like down the road. In addition to actual ad spending, they offered publishers insight about tomorrows spenders.
The webinar, titled “What 2023 Will Bring?” Local ad spending forecasts, opened with a look at some upward sales trends since the pandemic began, Including general retail sales (above) as well as categories such as liquor, hardware, and cars. With that foundation, Borrell Associates shifted the focus to small businesses, particularly business applications.
With the New Year upon us, many people, including me, are happy to say good riddance to 2020! Moving forward, the Lady Lake Police Department would like to remind you to check around your home to ensure that all alarms, monitors, and detectors are in good working condition. These include your smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector. It’s a good idea to change the batteries in these detectors every year. You may want to have them replaced if you have not done so within the past 10 years.
It should come as no surprise that carbon monoxide deaths are the highest in winter. Cold weather increases the use of gas-powered heating or portable heaters using a fuel source. Homeowners should be aware of the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, especially those that use natural gas as a heat and cooking source. These symptoms include feeling dizzy, light headed, and/or nauseated.
It’s a good time to remember the following safety tips to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. Here are some tips from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.6 percent — the lowest among the nation’s top ten largest states and 1.1 percent lower than the nation’s. November marks two consecutive years (24 straight months) that Florida’s unemployment rate has remained below the nation’s. Florida also continued to exceed the national job growth rate for the 20th consecutive month in November 2022.
Florida’s private sector employment increased by 28,100 jobs over the month in November 2022, an increase of 0.3 percent. Florida’s total private sector employment increased by 5.2 percent (+420,700 jobs) over the year in November 2022, faster than the national private sector job growth rate of 3.6 percent over the same time period. Florida employers have added jobs for 31 consecutive months in November 2022.
“Florida’s continued success over the past two years is no accident. No matter the challenges, we have stayed on offense,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Florida’s economy is outpacing the nation for the second consecutive year because we have invested in our workforce and prioritized keeping Floridians at work and businesses open. As the new year approaches, we will continue investing in our workforce and infrastructure to create jobs and keep our economy moving forward.” Continue reading
FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed two bills following the special session that took place this week. Governor DeSantis signed Senate Bill (SB) 4-A which provides $750 million for additional disaster relief to Floridians following Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. The Governor also signed SB 2-A,the most significant property insurance reform bill in recent history which helps to stabilize our property insurance market, increase competition, and strengthen consumer protections. More on actions taken during the recent special session can be found here.
“We have taken an all hands on deck approach to cut through bureaucracy to help our communities recover from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “I want to thank the Legislature for bringing additional disaster relief to communities across the state as we continue our historic recovery.
“The issues in Florida’s property insurance market did not occur overnight, and they will not be solved overnight. The historic reforms signed today create an environment which realigns Florida to best practices across the nation, adding much-needed stability to Florida’s market, promoting competition, and increasing consumer choice. I am thankful the Legislature answered the call for meaningful reform.” Continue reading
