GAINSWave Therapy in Pinellas Park, FL

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Small businesses make up a large part of Florida's economy.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, workplaces with fewer than 500 employees accounted for more than 99% of businesses in the state last year.

They also employed more than 40% of Florida workers.

What You Need To Know

Pinellas Park's city manager said the city has worked hard during the past several years to motivate businesses to set up shop there.

"I would say Pinellas Park is kind of a hidden gem, and we've always been very business-friendly. We cater to small business," said City Manager Bart Diebold.

Diebold said part of that is building a partnership with owners.

"We say, 'Yes.' I mean, that's the thing - when they come in and propose a business, you know, you have zoning rules and building department rules that are out there. We try to say yes to everything we can," said Diebold. "When they come in with a dream, you don't want to just automatically say, 'Hey - your business won't work here. This can't work.' You try to find a way to work."

Justine Welter opened the second location of her business, Just26 Hot Yoga & Meditation, on Belcher Rd. last week.

"Hot yoga is yoga in a heated room, and it can offer a really great detox for you, and it is an awesome physical workout," said Welter.

Just26's original location opened in Largo in 2019. Welter said this time around, she looked at sites near the beach.

"You find that rent is more expensive in those areas, and when I came across this location, it was really nice that it was centrally located," she said.

Welter said she signed her lease at the end of May and was able to open about a month later. She credits the city's efficiency.

"Sometimes, you work with cities that take a really long time to get back to you or, you know, get back to you with certain paperwork that you need, and Pinellas Park was really quick with all of that," she said.

Diebold provided Spectrum Bay News 9 with numbers that show business tax receipts issued by the city increased from just more than 2,400 in 2020 to almost 3,000 this year.

He said revenue from fees rose from $600,000 before 2020 to $800,000 this year, and that's expected to go up again in 2024.

Going forward, Diebold said he'd like to see more housing come to the city. He said it's an important feature to attract businesses of any size.

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Hungry customers showing up to Moe’s Southwest Grill in Pinellas Park are surprised to find out it’s closed!

The lights are out, the door is locked and signs are posted at Moe’s on Park Boulevard North.

“The business is closed,” said customer Annissa Bizzell.

The signs claim: “We are not opening for lunch our franchise owner Tony Friel has not paid any employees. If he pays for us, we will re-open.”

“The 14th was to be our most recent payday and nobody got paid,” said Tiffany McKenna, Winter Park Moe’s manager.

McKenna is the manager at Moe’s in Winter Park, which is another location owned by Friel.

“They’ve been people struggling. People not being able to buy groceries, not being able to make their bills,” said McKenna.

McKenna showed us an email, apparently sent by Friel to his store managers across Tampa Bay and Orlando, which stated, “We have been fighting to keep up with all other bills, but unfortunately, we can not make payroll.”

The email continued on to apologize to employees, promising they would be paid soon.

“Are we going to get paid on the 28th for the hours we were told we had to come in and work or we would be fired?” said McKenna.

Customers showing up here to the Moe’s in Pinellas County feel for the employees knowing times are tough.

“Rent has gone up,” said Bizzell. “Food has gone up. People have to pay bills, bills don’t stop. They’re going to constantly keep coming.”

News Channel 8 called, texted and emailed Friel several times. So far, we have not heard back yet.

Moe’s corporate shared this statement with us: “At every Moe’s Southwest Grill location across the country, treating people with the utmost respect is a top priority. While the location in Pinellas Park is independently owned and operated, this situation does not reflect the values of Moe’s and our franchisee community. As this is an employment-related matter, we are unable comment any further.”

The Pickleball Club, a Sarasota-based company that develops and operates private membership-based high-amenity indoor pickleball facilities throughout Florida, will be opening an expansive pickleball club in Pinellas Park.

The company is under contract for its seventh site, an 8.07-acre parcel located at the Gateway Centre Business Park in Pinellas Park. The land purchase is expected to close in December 2023 for $1.75 million.

The 40,000-square-foot climate-controlled facility, which is slated to open in early 2025, will offer members 16 indoor pickleball courts made of the same material as those found at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. The new club will also feature an outside activity area, players’ lounge mezzanine, a pro shop, and a cafe.

“Our concept will give members an upscale country club atmosphere to play and socialize year-round, no matter what the weather is like outside,” said Brian McCarthy, founder and CEO of The Pickleball Club.

For those looking to improve their skills, The Pickleball Club will offer a variety of training programs, from individual instruction to clinics to Pickleball Club University’s four-stage development curriculum.

If you’re looking to level up your pickleball hobby, members can join one of The Pickleball Club’s tournaments or leagues. Weekly leagues will be available all year long at all skill levels in 10-week sessions.

The Pickleball Club will also offer an array of social activities.

“Connecting people is at the heart of The Pickleball Club, which is why our first priority is creating a robust and diversified social calendar,” states the company’s website. “You’ll find a variety of food and wine events, athletic activities, social gatherings, and holiday celebrations. Food Truck-to-table, community court-side dining, inspired dinners, jazz brunches and the occasional gala are just a sampling of our offerings.”

Although pricing for the Pinellas Park location is not available yet, the company’s Lakewood Ranch club costs roughly $1,000 to join, then $100 a month in dues, plus additional fees for perks.

Despite doing very little marketing, there are thousands of people on the waiting list for the Lakewood Ranch location, which is slated to open this month.

“We haven’t set that upper limit, but we can’t accommodate that (demand),” said McCarthy to Forbes in September. “We anticipate (the limit) is something over 1,000 members. We’re going to be open from 6 in the morning until 10 or 11 p.m., so we can channel people to different time slots.”

In addition to The Pickleball Club’s Lakewood Ranch location, the company has facilities under development in Port St. Lucie, which is currently under construction, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers, the Villages, and Venice.

“The Pickleball Club is far and away the market leader in the development of indoor club facilities in the United States,” said Matt Gordon, co-founder of The Pickleball Club. “We have more courts under development and more capital investment than anyone. Pickleball is the sport of the people, and we are proud that we have more than 100 individual equity investors who have joined us on this amazing journey.”

With $180 million raised from investors, The Pickleball Club has plans to to build 15 private, indoor pickleball clubs in Florida over the coming years.

The Pickleball Club’s Pinellas Park location is the second facility of its kind to be announced in the past few months for Pinellas County. In February, St. Pete Rising revealed plans for an expansive pickleball athletic complex with a restaurant and bar coming soon to downtown St. Pete.

This Program Is No Longer Accepting Appointments

The summer break has just begun, but it’s not too early for families to get a jump on the next school year by taking care of their child’s health screenings starting Monday, June 19.

The Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County (DOH-Pinellas) is again offering its annual summer Back to School clinic services to students, kindergarten through grade 12, toprepare for the 2023-24 school year. Please note that children going into Pre-K are not eligible.

The school-based health clinics will provide school, sports and well child physicals, including immunizations, at no cost for clients. Vision screenings provided by Preserve Vision Florida will be available at select locations, and basic dental services provided by DOH-Pinellas will also be available. The last day to receive services is Monday, Aug. 7. The services will be provided at no cost by appointment only between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the following locations:

For appointments, call (727) 824-6900 and select menu option 4. A parent or guardian must bring the child’s immunization and medical records and be present for services. If the parent is not able to be present, a Designation of Health Care Surrogate form must be completed in advance and brought to the appointment. Forms are located at bit.ly/SummerClinicForms

All Pinellas children entering kindergarten on Aug. 10 or any students enrolling in the state for the first time are required to present a school entrance physical, dated within one year of schoolenrollment.

DOH-Pinellas’ school-based health clinics are a partnership with the Juvenile Welfare Board,the Pinellas County School Board, Suncoast Center, Inc., and the administrations of Boca Ciega, Gibbs, Northeast, Largo, and Pinellas Park High Schools. The clinics provide services tostudents attending the five schools during the school year.For more information about DOH-Pinellas, go to www.PinellasHealth.com or follow us on Twitter at @HealthyPinellas.

The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.

Follow us on Twitter at @HealthyFla and on Facebook. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.

Students head back to Pinellas County public schools on Thursday.

|Updated Thu, Aug 10, 2023 at 4:39 pm ET

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — The summer has seemingly flown by, and now parents are scurrying to collect an assortment of notebooks, pens, pencils, glue and calculators on their kids' mandatory classroom supply lists.

Thanks to the Florida Legislature, which approved the Back-To-School Sales Tax Holiday from July 24 through Aug. 6, many Floridians have already purchased back-to-school items tax-free.

Those who haven't may pay a bit more with the addition of sales tax, but many retail stores throughout Pinellas County are now offering sales on items that will offset the sales taxes.

And Best Buy is hosting sales on computers and associated technology, dorm accessories and school essentials.

The Legislature also approved a second sales tax exemption for back-to-school items for the second half of the school year. The exemption period runs from Monday, Jan. 1, to Sunday, Jan. 14.

With the help of nonprofit groups and government agencies, students in need are receiving plenty of help obtaining school supplies.

For the 16th consecutive year, Ice Cold Air franchisees in Tampa Bay came together to host Back-to-School Supplies Drives followed by Back-to-School Bashes at three of its six Tampa Bay stores on July 29 at the Clearwater store at 1180 Court St., giving away 50 backpacks with school supplies to preregistered families.

“Fifteen years ago, we looked at the Back-to-School Bash as a marketing opportunity. We put our logos on the backpacks," said Ice Cold Air franchisor Ashley Butler. "Throughout the years of hosting the drives and bashes, something shifted and we realized that the donations are not about us being seen but for the child to feel seen. In January, I became the franchisor and now we have the opportunity to show other franchisees how good it feels to help kids in their communities go back to school.”

The community at large benefits as well.

"They get to donate the supplies and they get a free oil change," said Butler. "The guidance counselors at the schools get to participate since they get the overflow. Adrien, our director of marketing, will take the extra supplies to the schools in the area with the lowest amount of support. Over the past 15 years we have figured out many different ways to support the community and the back-to-school events are my favorite.”

During what's become a Tampa Bay summer tradition, the Bullard Family Foundation gathered an army of more than 500 volunteers to fill 30,000 backpacks with all the essentials for the school year.

Related:

“There are thousands of students and teachers in need of resources in our school district,” said Bullard. “I’m so honored by how our foundation’s corporate partners have stepped up again in a big way to ensure our students are prepared for the start of school, not only with backpacks and school supplies, but also with haircuts, and health services and so much more. It goes without saying that we are all richer for giving.”

To find out more ways to help students succeed, visit the Pinellas Education Foundation website.

Here is the back-to-school calendar for children attending Pinellas County public schools. Parents of students attending private, parochial and charter schools in Hillsborough County should check the school's website for important dates including the first day of school, holiday breaks and other days off.

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