Good Morning Valued Chamber Member,
The Boca Raton Resort and Beach Club has created a new kind of vacation suite, offering school supplies and technological support for students. These innovative vacation suites were created to accommodate parents concerned about their children falling behind on their schooling while on vacation. All of the Edu-cation Suites, are connected to adjoining guest rooms that feature five distinct areas for learning and productivity. They are the Tutor Zone, Heads Down Zone, Lounge Zone, Invisible Zone and the Rocker Zone. Additionally, tutors are available on request.
The deadline to apply for the Palm Beach County $4 million in emergency relief to nonprofit organizations fund is November 30th. The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners has contracted with United Way of Palm Beach County to administer the funds. Qualifying nonprofit organizations may be eligible to receive a one-time grant of up to $25,000 to help with recovery from the negative financial consequences resulting from the coronavirus. Applications will be reviewed, and grants awarded, on a rolling basis until funding is exhausted or the grant period closes. One of the eligibility criteria is the nonprofit must not have received more than $25,000 in financial assistance from a State and/or Federal government grant program. Additionally, nonprofits are required to be a health and human service or veteran service organization.
After exploring all options, the cities of Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and Delray Beach have made the decision to cancel their annual Holiday Boat Parades. Additionally, the city of Boca Raton and Boynton Beach have cancelled their Annual Holiday Street Parades. The City of Boca Raton will not hold its annual Holiday Tree Lighting at Mizner Park, however, Sanborn Square will still host its traditional holiday display of a 25’ artificial holiday tree with more than 7,500 lights from Saturday, November 21st, through the New Year.
Boca Raton Chamber Trustee member, National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), recently raised $255,000 during its annual United Way giving campaign. Held virtually for the first time this year, the campaign theme, “Nourishing the Minds and Bodies in Our Community,” was chosen to support both education and the elimination of food deprivation in Palm Beach County. This year’s campaign featured a book drive utilizing Amazon’s “wish list,” which resulted in 304 books being donated to Achievement Centers. Additionally, 1,410 pounds of food was donated to CROS Ministries no-contact drive through program. This year’s NCCI and United Way Campaign achieved its highest total raised in its last five years. Great job NCCI!
Florida lawmakers are considering a change in the process for approving bills in the House of Representatives. Larger bills often require many hours of debate sometimes lasting into the evening hours. Future Speaker of the House, Representative Chris Sprowls, is proposing to change that with a new rules proposal. Included in this proposal are time limits on floor discussions and eliminating bill amendments that do not accomplish a technical or substantive purpose. House members will vote on the new rules in the upcoming organizational session on November 17th. Additionally, House lawmakers will be voting to extend the maximum number of bills they can submit from six to seven. Members are also considering whether to allow more time to file legislation.
Looking for an easier way to find an event, register for an event, and receive popup notifications of important Chamber, County, City of Boca Raton and City of Boynton Beach information? Download the Boca Chamber App – found on the App Store and Google Play Store. Keep your Chamber at the tip of your fingers! You can also stay up to date on all Chamber activity by visiting us at bocachamber.com.
We continue to provide you with valuable educational webinars and virtual experiences, with most being recorded and available for you to access on the Boca Chamber’s YouTube Channel. Hit the subscribe button to find out when new content is posted on our channel.
Below is a list of our upcoming virtual experiences:
11/17 – 12:00 p.m. Virtual Smart Talk for Women
Topic: Using Your Talents: When is it Time to Outsource?
Speaker: Nancy Proffitt, Founder and President, Proffitt Management Solutions
11/17 - 5:30 p.m. PULSE: Tuesday Brewsday: Virtual Beer Tasting with Local Breweries
Join Your Fellow PULSE Chamber Members for a Virtual Beer Tasting. This Event is Limited to the First 30 Members who Register
11/19 - 12:00 p.m. Virtual Successful Women in Business Luncheon
Topic: Pandemic Recovery: Palm Beach County’s Job Creation Strategy
Speaker: Kelly Smallridge, President & CEO Business Development Board Palm Beach County
12/02 - 5:00 p.m. 39th Annual Virtual Holiday Auction
Topic: The Boca Chamber’s Annual Holiday Auction
Join us for one of the most popular events of the year! Enjoy an evening of fun, competition for exciting silent auctions items! This event will help support the many successful programs at the Boca Chamber and will help to ensure the development of future programs.
Yesterday, during our virtual membership breakfast, we had the pleasure of hearing from Pamela Rauch, Executive Vice President, External Affairs and Economic Development with Florida Power & Light. She shared with us the amazing work FPL is doing with solar energy, drone technology and much more! As a leader in power technology, FPL is constantly making significant investment in pursuit of energy efficiency - driving our rates down. In addition, FPL is a corporate model in community engagement and support and demonstrates tremendous generosity in all the communities they serve. In true FPL style, their supportive culture has only strengthened during the pandemic - and it began on day one. From providing additional support to Chambers of Commerce and other business organizations, to working with business and residential customers to ensure the power always stayed on, FPL has been there — for all of us. We are so fortunate and proud that FPL calls Palm Beach County home. Thanks to the visionary leadership of Pam and the talented team at FPL, we can all rest assured that we will always have cutting edge power technology and the highest level of commitment to customer service.
Please continue to be Responsible, Safe and Respectful. And as always, thank you for making Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and all of South Palm Beach County the best place to Live, Work, Learn and Play!
Moving Business Forward,
