Volume 238 | July 2025

Weekly E-Connection

801 West Bay Drive, Suite 602

Largo, Florida 33770

Tel: 727-584-2321 www.CentralChamber.biz

Out & About Edition - It's Great to Belong! July 22, 2025

10 Tampa Bay’s Morning Team Unites to Inspire

We’re happy to announce that 10 Tampa Bay This Morning anchors Caitlin Lockerbie and Jamison Uhler will be teaming up as hosts of the 16th Annual Inspire Awards Ceremony & Reception. The celebration takes place August 21 at Largo’s Central Park Performing Art Center at 5:30 p.m.

See HOSTS below

Get your 727 deals here!

July 27th, "727 Day," is back to celebrate the best area code of them all in the best county of them all. And since it falls on Sunday, special deals abound for the entire weekend!

It's all about showing appreciation to locals who make Pinellas County a great place to live, work and visit. Here's a rundown on the deals, exclusive giveaways and community events. DEALS LINK: 727 DAY

A great way to start your day!

Welcome Paramount Construction

Paramount Construction is presented a Chamber Plaque by Ambassador Wendy Swertfeger of LegalShield/IDShield. Representing the business, at left, its president Dalton Norris and managing partner Jeff Neighoff.

Paramount Construction is a premier general contracting firm specializing in creating spaces that inspire and stand the test of time. Here’s a link with more information: PARAMOUNT

NOMINATIONS CLOSE TOMORROW at 4:00 PM

Nomination Form/Reservations Here:

2025 Inspire Award

HOSTS from top

Caitlin is an award-winning broadcast journalist and co-anchor of 10 Tampa Bay This Morning where she helps wake up the Tampa Bay community weekdays from 5-7am and streaming on 10 Tampa Bay Plus from 7-9am. With a career that spans the East Coast and the Mid-South, Caitlin brings a wealth of journalism experience, a passion for storytelling, and a deep commitment to local communities.

A Long Island native, she launched her career in Tuscaloosa, Alabama while studying at the University of Alabama before making her way to Spectrum News in Raleigh and Greensboro, North Carolina, Fox News in Charlotte and the ABC-affiliate in Memphis, Tennessee. She's loved calling the

Tampa Bay area home for the last 6-years.

Jamison is a 7-time Emmy Award-winning journalist and the anchor of 10 Tampa Bay Mornings on WTSP from 5–7 a.m. and 10 Tampa Bay+ from 7–9 a.m., where he delivers the day’s first headlines to viewers across the Tampa Bay region. A trusted voice in Tampa Bay since 2010, Jamison joined the CBS affiliate in January 2024, bringing more than two decades of broadcast experience to the role.

Before calling Tampa Bay home, he held anchor and reporting positions in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Minneapolis, and Tulsa. He is a proud graduate of the renowned Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Jamison lives in the Tampa Bay area with his wife, Amber—who currently holds the title of Mrs. Universe USA—and their three children.

Championing Community

2025 Chamber Awards

Throughout our area and within the Chamber are many people worthy of acclaim. To spotlight their contributions in helping to make our community a better place to live and work, we present our annual “Citizen of the Year” and “Mac Norcross Small Business Leader of the Year” awards.

These honors and others will be presented at our 72nd Annual Meeting & Awards Breakfast on Friday, Sept. 26 at the Holiday Inn Harbourside, Indian Rocks Beach. It’s with much pomp and circumstance that we add these two individuals to the celebrated company of past recipients.

If there's a person you know who embodies the spirit of these honors, please nominate them. Deadline is Friday, August 22. Here's the link: 2025 Chamber Awards

At left from top, 2024 Citizen of the Year Janet Long, former Pinellas County Commissioner with 2024 Chamber Chairman Mia Cloud, and Small Business Leader of the Year Kay McKenzie of Check Before Hire with Mia.

Friday, Aug. 1, 4:00 pm

Belleair Coffee

Ribbon-Cutting

As hurricane risk rises in Florida, home insurance is harder to get -- Florida residents can now expect to pay almost $10,000 a year on average in premiums, making the state the most expensive place in the U.S. to buy homeowners insurance.

Southwest Florida sees gains in education, health services jobs --The Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area added 2,100 jobs in education and health services over the year in June, while the Naples-Marco Island area gained 1,100 jobs in the same sector.

Carnival’s Celebration Key opens on Grand Bahama with Shaq sightings, colorful fanfare -- The $600 million development on Grand Bahama Island, which encompasses 68 acres exclusive to Carnival guests, saw its first visitors with the arrival of the Port Canaveral-based Carnival Vista.

Brightline is moving forward on a Tampa station. When will it be here?

Since Brightline unveiled its Orlando station in 2023, connecting the city with Miami, the next question has been: when will it come to Tampa?

Florida Keys guts road-raising projects, slashes jobs -- Facing federal uncertainty about hurricane relief funds and budget holes, the Florida Keys went on a slashing spree, gutting funding for its landmark road-raising program.

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