FLIR Systems, Inc. announced today that it has acquired Altavian, Inc., a Gainesville-based manufacturer of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) for defense and public safety customers. Altavian’s airframes integrate multiple sensors, including FLIR thermal technology, to provide users with decision support and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability.  You can learn more here.

On January 21st the Greater Gainesville Chamber partnered with Mike Chung of the SBDC to host a webinar to inform members about the 2021 changes to the Payroll Protection Program. You can watch the webinar here.

On Thursday, January 14th, Downtown Gainesville welcomed its new comfortable and safe workspace to our community. Paradise Park offers a three-tiered membership program, providing all of the same luxuries as your local coffee shop, without the noise and distractions. They provide both desk-and-chair and comfy couch seating options as well as outdoor patio seating. They provide high-speed Wi-Fi, printing and free parking as well as an in-house express café. By night, their 1,200 square foot event space will host various events like cooking classes or can be rented by the public for special events and parties. You can learn more here.

The Education Foundation of Alachua County has opened its Senior Scholarships program application for spring 2021. The Senior Scholarships program is open to high school seniors in the Alachua County Public Schools system. Students must complete one application to be considered for the more than 50 scholarships to which they may be eligible.

Scholarships range from $1,000 to $60,000 for eligible seniors who meet the scholarships’ criteria, and last year, The Education Foundation awarded about $750,000 in scholarships including Senior and Take Stock in Children scholarships.

The deadline to apply for Senior Scholarships is February 16. For a full list of scholarships and to apply, visit https://edfoundationac.org/scholarships/#seniorscholarship

U.S. News & World Report ranked several University of Florida online programs as among the top in the country, continuing the university’s overall rise on the national stage. In September, UF was ranked as No. 6 among public universities.

. Learn more here.

The Santa Fe College Brain Bowl team has been very active this academic year and made great progress despite the pandemic. Since March, all practices and tournaments have been held online. This fall, the team competed in three tournaments, placing in the top three in all of the competitions, including a first-place finish in the annual Delta-Burke tournament hosted by Valencia College in November. Learn more here.

Gainesville native and inventor Anthony James (Tony) Barr and his wife, Olga, donated $1M to the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention to help support the museum’s youth programming for generations to come.

Barr said, "I believe in the mission of the Cade to Spark Wonder and Invent Possible. As a child, I read the biographies of Ben Franklin, Marconi, Alexander Graham Bell, Wright Brothers, and Sikorsky. Visiting the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and the Museum of Natural History in New York City filled me with wonder. My childhood interests are addressed right here in Gainesville by The Cade, and I believe it will attract our young people to the STEM fields.". Learn more here.

UF Health continues to be committed to vaccinating the community by focusing on those at the highest risk for severe illness and complications from COVID-19. As of the time of this writing, we have vaccinated over 14,000 individuals in Alachua County, including high-risk front-line health care workers and over 1,000 UF campus faculty and staff 65 and older. Learn more here.

Gainesville business owners within the new, single-district Community Reinvestment Area are invited to apply for financial incentives to help improve business storefronts. The Business Improvement Grant Program, offers a 50 percent matching grant, paid as a reimbursement, for eligible improvements to business exteriors. The program replaces the former Façade Improvements Incentive Program for Existing Commercial Buildings and utilizes GCRA funds to encourage private investment within the district. Learn more here.