► Thomas D. Sims, a partner in the St. Petersburg office of Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns, was named to the board of directors for The James Museum. (pictured above)
►The Pinellas County Foundation announced that $2.6 million in CARES funding will be allocated to nine Pinellas County nonprofit organizations to add to, or enhance, programs addressing the mental health impact of COVID-19.
►Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Richard Forsythe, owner, president and CEO of Wendover Art Group in Largo, to the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.
►Clearwater Marine Aquarium unveiled new viewing areas, and visitor experiences, including a retail area, food court and culinary options, an enhanced ticketing experience and above-water viewing of the dolphin habitats with Clearwater Bay as a backdrop.
►The Sembler Co., in St. Petersburg, has a new client partnership to lease and manage a privately held portfolio of Aloma Shopping Center, in Winter Park; Southgate Shopping Center, in Lakeland; and Shoppes of Aloma, in Winter Park.
►The St. Petersburg City Council voted unanimously to designate the Smalley-Green Auto Building, at 1180 Central Ave., as a local historic landmark in the city’s register of historic places.
►Erik Anderson, of Commercial Partners Realty, represented United Financial Consultants in the purchase of a 27,000-square-foot office building at 1499 Gulf to Bay Blvd., Clearwater, for $3.3 million.
►American Landmark Apartments acquired Ashford at Feather Sound, a 288-unit apartment complex at 13621 Feather Sound Circle E., Clearwater, and will rename the property Fairways at Feather Sound.
►The Cheesecake Factory plans to open a new location at Westfield Countryside mall in Clearwater.
►Marcus & Millichap arranged the $7.4 million sale of Curlew Lakes, a 44,389-square-foot retail property at 31077 U.S. Highway 19 N., Palm Harbor.
►Clearwater Town Center, in Belleair, bought a 16,500-square-foot strip shopping center at 511 S. Fort Harrison Ave., Clearwater for $5 million.
►The Greater St. Petersburg Area Economic Development Corp. partnered with the Greater St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, Grow Smarter and the St. Petersburg Greenhouse to develop a platform, Source St. Pete, for local business owners, employees and residents as the community works to safely reopen the local economy.
►Orange Station at the Edge will replace the old St. Petersburg Police Department headquarters, at 1301 First Ave. N., and is expected to include 100,000 square feet of Class-A office space, 56 urban condominiums, 30 workforce housing apartments and more than 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
►The University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science was awarded a five-year, $9 million cooperative agreement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Coast Survey to launch the Center for Ocean Mapping and Innovative Technologies.
►Pinellas County resident Chad Loar, West and Central Florida regional president for PNC Bank, was named chairman of the Tampa Bay Partnership and Tampa Bay Rays president Brian Auld, also a Pinellas County resident, will serve as the Partnership’s secretary/treasurer for fiscal year 2021.
►AmeriLife Group, in Clearwater, has acquired The Equita Group, formally known as Equita Financial and Insurance Services.
►D.G. Yuengling & Son is sponsoring a $5,000 diversity in brewing scholarship for a minority student to cover the cost of tuition to USF’s St. Petersburg campus Brewing Arts program for the spring semester.
►St. Petersburg College joined forces with the Florida Department of Education for a new workforce education initiative aimed at raising awareness of short-term career and technical education programs.
►Allied Group Holdings II purchased two parcels of land in the Skyway Mall development in St. Petersburg and is planning to build a senior living center and a retail center on the land.
►KnowBe4, a Clearwater-based cybersecurity training company, opened a new office in Dubai.
►Tabish Siddiquie was named general manager of The Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club.
►BIC Graphic North America, a promotional products supplier in Clearwater, changed its company name to Koozie Group.
► Rachael L. Wood, an associate in the Clearwater law firm of Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns, was appointed to the board of directors for the Dunedin Fine Art Center for a three-year term.
►Hogg Batch, a coffee shop, opened at 2327 Central Ave., St. Petersburg.
►The Ross Realty Group announced the sale of the former Fortis College building located at 6565 Ulmerton Rd., Largo.
►Stoneweg US, a real estate investment firm in St. Petersburg, announced the closing of its SW Fund I RE Fund with a total capital raise of $26MM, exceeding the Fund’s capital target by $1MM.
►Tampa-based SoFresh, a fresh casual concept that serves nutritious, made-to-order meals, has finalized plans to open its first St. Petersburg location in 2021.
►CareerSource Pinellas announced PinellasWorks, a slate of training programs for Pinellas residents who lost their jobs due to Covid-19.
