Four Tallahassee nonprofits are among 20 organizations across the state to partner with the innovative health care company, ImagineCare, a joint venture between Spark Pediatrics and CareSource.

As part of its commitment to serve Medicaid managed-care recipients in Florida, ImagineCare announced its contractual partnerships with 20 nonprofit organizations across the state, four of which serve vulnerable residents in Tallahassee. Locally, Capital Area Healthy Start Coalition, Dare to Dream Young Girls Network, The Able Trust, and Voices for Florida of The Florida Center for Children and Youth can all expand and enhance their programs and services with the long-term support and resources provided by ImagineCare.

Health Care Experience and Community Connection

Spark Pediatrics formed the joint venture, ImagineCare, with CareSource because we appreciate that CareSource is a nationally recognized managed health care organization that has repeatedly formed true partnerships with community organizations in its other markets.

At the heart of these community-based partnerships is ImagineCare’s ability to bolster familiar services and resources for Medicaid recipients in Florida, which will contribute to better birth outcomes, improvements to children’s mental health and an increase in home- and community-based services and support.

ImagineCare provides proven Medicaid managed-care experience, in-home and clinical expertise, and an innovative approach to health care. Partnering with trusted community organizations facilitates access to critical services by providing Florida families with the familiarity of trusted community nonprofits, without the burden of reestablishing routines, points of contact or delivery methods.

Here is a full list of Florida community organizations that have joined forces with ImagineCare services and supports for Medicaid enrollees residing throughout all 67 counties in Florida: Autism Pensacola Inc.; Better Together; Capital Area Healthy Start Coalition Inc.; Dare to Dream Young Girls Network; Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida; Episcopal; Children’s Services; Fostering Connections; Gulf Coast Kid’s House Inc.; Healthy Start; Coalition of Hillsborough County; Legal Services of Greater Miami; Metropolitan Ministries; Miami Lighthouse for the Blind; Parent to Parent of Miami; Piper’s Angels Foundation; Take Stock in Children of Florida; The Able Trust; The Children’s Home Society of Florida; The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay; The Florida Center for Children and Youth/Voices of Florida; Who We Play For.

If you are a provider interested in learning more about ImagineCare, please email ProviderInfo@ImagineCareHealth.com.

For more information, visit imaginecareflorida.com

About ImagineCare

ImagineCare is a joint venture between Spark Pediatrics and CareSource, combining both organization’s mission-driven approaches for a lasting difference in the health of enrollees and communities in Florida. Supported by Spark Pediatrics’ 12 years of Florida experience providing in-home health care services and clinic-based therapies as well as CareSource’s 30-plus years of managed health plan experience, ImagineCare intends to offer Florida Medicaid managed-care recipients comprehensive health coverage and provide access to high-quality providers while delivering compassion and care.

This fall semester, Northwest Florida State College will soar to new heights with the addition of the Aviation Center of Excellence at the Bob Sikes Airport in Crestview, Florida. With the aviation industry thriving and ever-expanding from Panama City Beach to Pensacola, the college decided an aviation program would benefit students, the community and the local economy.

The aviation department will begin by offering the following programs — unmanned vehicle systems operations, professional pilot technology and aviation airframe mechanics, and an aviation mechanics power plant program to follow the next year.

“As the aviation field continues to progress in this region, the demand for airframe and powerplant mechanics grows,” said Dr. Michael Erny, Dean of Career Education with Northwest Florida State College. “These programs will create a trained workforce with the skills needed for these high-wage and in-demand careers.”

The programs are geared toward preparing students to pass the FAA airframe and powerplant mechanics exams, allowing them to receive licensure to work on aircraft that range from small private planes to large commercial jets. Once licensed, students become professionals in everything from aircraft repair to building and manufacturing new planes.

Even from the conceptual stage, the program has received tremendous support and positive reception from local businesses that have provided curriculum input and planning assistance with the hopes of hiring graduates.

Dr. Erny expressed just how important input from aviation experts is to shaping the future of students. Aviation is a fast-moving and growing industry. There is a great need to have skilled personnel to maintain and fly aircraft and to ensure the air transportation system runs smoothly on a global scale. Over the next 10 years, air travel traffic is expected to increase by 4% with the addition of 2.1 million jobs in operational fields, according the 2020 Boeing Commercial Market Outlook. “Our primary goal is preparing students for success, and we do so by offering quality curriculum and relevant aviation industry certifications. We make a difference in student’s lives so they can make a difference within the community.”

100 E. College Blvd., Niceville  |  (850) 678-5111  |  nwfsc.edu

A locally owned family business, Advanced Fire Protection Services was founded in 1989 by Mike and Linda Brown with the vision of becoming the most respected life-safety company in the Southeast. Now 30 years later, their daughter, Dana Sudheimer, serves as president and is continuing their legacy.

“I grew up watching my parents build AFPS into the well-respected company that it is today, so it was natural for me to join the business. They built a legacy that I want to sustain across generations,” Dana said.

After graduating from the University of Florida and working in marketing for a few years, Dana made her way back to Fort Walton Beach and the family business. Since taking over daily operations in 2018, she has been keenly focused on growth while also maintaining the quality of work AFPS has become known for.

Under her leadership, AFPS has continued to expand and diversify services, opening a third office in Tallahassee in 2020. What started as a fire extinguisher service provider in 1989 has now become the trusted life-safety partner for some of the largest condos, apartment complexes, restaurants, retail establishments, industrial and health care facilities in Northwest Florida.

“Our family culture and customer-centered approach to business has been key to our success,” Dana says, “and maintaining those values is very important to me.”

37 Tupelo Ave. SE, Fort Walton Beach  |  (850) 244-2026  |  WeSaveLives.com

As a business leader, defense and security facilitator, and philanthropist throughout his life, William Loiry has possessed the keen skill of seeing needs and opportunities and then gathering the resources to address them. His latest ventures include organizing influential summits that directly benefit the Northwest Florida region.

Since 1996, Loiry has had a considerable history of organizing large homeland and global security and defense energy summits in Washington D.C. In 2013, based on attendee feedback from small and mid-size businesses, he decided to broaden the focus on both the summit subject matters and locations. From this came a series of first-ever Air Force Contracting Summits beginning in Northwest Florida.

Now in its ninth year, the annual summit will take place Feb. 8–9, 2022, at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa. Yearly, this event brings together hundreds of contracting officers, contracting experts, military officials, defense agencies, subcontractors and business leaders.

Speakers from local bases Eglin, Tyndall and Hurlburt — alongside the Pentagon and military bases throughout the United States — have made this event nationally renowned. The summit covers a vast array of topics pertaining to the Air Force, including budgets, financing, and subcontracting as well as contracting priorities for aircraft, weapons, facilities, technology, cyber protection, and more. Next year’s event will again take place both in-person and virtually.

Inspired by the success of the Air Force summit and cognizant of the region’s continued and accelerated growth, Loiry decided to host the first Northwest Florida Economic Summit on March 14–15, 2022, at the Sheraton Panama City Beach Golf & Spa Resort.

“Being here in Northwest Florida, I have a desire to see the region expand into other sectors that will sustain the region, so it is not so heavily dependent on tourism,” said Loiry. “The goal is to have all areas and sectors of Northwest Florida included in order to come up with
a more comprehensive plan of where we want to go as
a region.”

Loiry states that another contributing factor to launching the summit is the likely passage of massive federal spending on infrastructure throughout the United States. That will be a game changer for the next generation of roads, bridges and energy — and result in substantial new contracts and jobs.

The summit’s topics of discussion will revolve around new technology initiatives, Northwest Florida as the “Cyber Coast,” regional economic development programs, regional infrastructure priorities, regional energy resilience, military base construction, military-community partnerships, strategies for winning new business contracts, public and private financing sources and more.

Both summits have a precise focus on helping businesses, especially small and mid-sized businesses, identify and obtain contracts. The summits work to gather resources, connections and funds all in one location for continued relationships and future business prospects.

“We want the region to expand in such a way that Northwest Florida is truly diversified in different sectors with high-paying jobs that keep up with the fast-paced expansion we are already experiencing,” said Loiry.

Want to Go?

For more information on the 2022 Air Force Contracting Summit and the 2022 Northwest Florida Economic Summit, visit usdlf.org and northwestfloridaleadershipforum.org, respectively.

Defense spending continues to be historic, with $740 billion approved for FY2021 and $753 billion proposed for FY2022.

The huge spending bills impact military bases throughout the region. Northwest Florida is home to Tyndall Air Force Base, Eglin Air Force Base, USAF Hurlburt Field, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Corry Station and Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City. Defense activity funding in the area has totaled more than $22 billion, according to Florida’s Great Northwest, and it is considered one of the nation’s largest defense and homeland security locations.

Highlights of the impact of defense spending in Northwest Florida include:

Tyndall Air Force Base: Todd Harrison, director of defense budget analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an Air Force Contracting Summit speaker, expects the Pentagon to ask for 80 new F-35s in the 2022 defense budget. Three F-35 squadrons, totaling 72 aircraft, are coming to Tyndall AFB, with the first set arriving in September of 2023. “Air dominance is critical to the National Defense Strategy, and basing F-35s at Tyndall will only further our service’s air superiority goals for 2030 and beyond,” said Col. Greg Moseley, Commander of the 325th.

Eglin Air Force Base: Lt. Gen. Duke Richardson of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, unveiled the Air Force’s newest fighter at a ceremony April 7
at Eglin AFB. “The F-15EX provides a cost-effective and expedient solution to meet National Defense Strategy capability and capacity requirements well into the 2040s,” stated LTG Richardson. More F-15EX aircraft will continue to arrive at Eglin AFB.

Naval Air Station Pensacola: Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks visited NAS Pensacola on April 8. Hicks saw firsthand the damage caused by last year’s Hurricane Sally, which totaled $450 million in damages. Reconstruction contracts are ongoing. “At the Department of Defense, we know that the readiness of the force is very much tied to how well we manage through and think about resilience in the face of climate,” Hicks stated. She also noted that the estimate for rebuilding Tyndall AFB after Hurricane Michael is about $6 billion.

William Loiry is an American business leader, defense and security facilitator, and philanthropist. More than 100,000 government, military and business leaders have attended his conferences on defense, homeland and global security, and disaster reconstruction. For more information, visit WilliamLoiry.com.

The 2020 defense authorization bill was signed into law in December, providing $738 billion in the largest defense budget in U.S. history.

The historic defense budget is a big win for Northwest Florida, home to Eglin Air Force Base, Tyndall Air Force Base, Hurlburt Field, NAS Pensacola, Naval Support Activity Panama City and a variety of defense units at the bases.

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fort Walton Beach) applauded the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Gaetz secured numerous provisions for Florida’s First Congressional district in the NDAA, including $ı24 million for Special Operations military construction at Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field.

“Northwest Florida’s dynamic military mission is strengthened with the passage of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act,” Gaetz said. “Our military members and families constitute the heartbeat of Northwest Florida, and this bill strengthens our military’s initiatives and hardens our readiness.”

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said, “Florida continues to be a priority in this NDAA, with funding for military construction projects across the state, including the recovery of Tyndall Air Force Base. The bill authorizes over $2.4 billion for the reconstruction of Tyndall Air Force Base and includes a Sense of Congress calling for the restoration of the base using innovative construction methods, materials, designs and technologies in order to achieve efficiencies, cost savings, resiliency and capability.”

Rubio said that the FY ’20 defense budget authorizes the following programs, which are operated, produced in, or supported in some form in Florida:

• Supports the budget request for 73 UH-60M Blackhawks, 48 AH-64 Apaches, nine MH-47G Chinooks, six CH-53K King Stallions, ı2 HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopters, and six MQ-ı Gray Eagles;
• Includes an additional $28 million for the CH-47 Block II program and preserves the option for the Army to buy this helicopter in future years;
• Prohibits the retirement of RC-ı35 and KC-ı0 aircraft;
• Expands maritime patrols by adding three additional P-8 Poseidon and one E-2D Hawkeye aircraft;
• Increases inter-theater airlift by adding four additional C-ı30 Hercules aircraft;
•   Fully supports the Air ForceUH-ıN utility helicopter replacement program;
• Supports the Army budget request for ı3ı Armored Multipurpose Vehicles, ı52 Stryker Combat Vehicles and ı65 Abrams Tanks;
• Provides for additional funding for Army medium and heavy tactical trucks;
• Authorizes an additional $ı billion for ı2 additional F-35A aircraft to address an identified Air Force unfunded requirement and accelerate delivery of needed fifth-generation capability and $440 million for the purchase of additional F-35s originally ordered by Turkey;
• Provides the necessary authority for buying F-35 long lead spare parts in bulk to help achieve better cost savings for the F-35 program and authorizes the buy-to-budget authority to capitalize on lower unit cost savings;
• Supports the budget request for ı0 F-35B and 20 F-35C fifth-generation strike fighters to help address Navy and Marine Corps strike fighter shortfalls;
• Supports the budget request for 24 F/A-ı8E/F Super Hornets to help address Navy strike fighter shortfalls;
• Supports full funding for the B-2ı long-range strike aircraft development;
• Supports the budget request for eight F-ı5EX aircraft to begin replacing aging aircraft while also enhancing Congressional oversight of the program;
• Supports nearly $ı billion for the Air Force Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) Program ensuring U.S. air superiority for our future; and
• Authorizes an additional $249.2 million for the Stryker combat vehicle medium caliber weapon system, an identified Army unfunded requirement.

The substantial new increases in the defense budget mean more business activity in Northwest Florida as defense contractors expand their existing offices or open offices for the first time in the region. In Okaloosa County alone (home to Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field), there were 620 defense contractors in 20ı8. From 2000 to 20ı8, defense contractors in the county secured more than $ıı.5 billion in defense contracts.

Timothy Krueger, senior vice president of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in Destin said, “The growing defense budget and the growing number of military contractors in our region mean that defense is now a major economic anchor for Northwest Florida.”

William Loiry is an American business leader, defense and security facilitator and philanthropist. More than 100,000 government, military and business leaders have attended his conferences on defense, homeland and global security and disaster reconstruction. 

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, from Florida’s 1st Congressional District, said at the Defense Leadership Forum’s 2020 Air Force Contracting Summit that Eglin Air Force Base is currently in “a golden era of funding.”

The same can be said about the entire Northwest Florida region, as the area prepares for the future of new defense investments in technology, cybersecurity, space, hypersonics, and economic development.

Northwest Florida is home to the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, the most deployed wing in the Air Force, Eglin Air Force Base, the Army’s 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Eglin Air Force Base, Tyndall Air Force Base, Naval Air Station Pensacola, and Naval Support Activity Panama City.

Brig. Gen. Patrice Melancon, Executive Director for the Tyndall Program Management Office, said in an article by WMBB-TV, “The Tyndall Program Management Office, alongside the 325th Fighter Wing, has been working together to devise a strategy on how and where we will house construction workers for our craft labor camps as we move forward on the $4.25 billion dollar rebuild of the base. We will be meeting with Air Force and industry leaders to proactively seek innovative solutions to construction and logistics issues that Tyndall may face in the future as we work toward building the base of the future.”

Nathan Nelson, the director of military affairs for Rep. Gaetz, also spoke at the seventh annual Air Force Contracting Summit about creating a Futures Park outside of Eglin AFB.

The facility would aim to provide higher education opportunities, internships with the potential for future security clearance employment positions, and a space for collaboration between military contractors and military personnel.

Also addressing the Summit was Major Gen. (Ret) Burke E. (“Ed”) Wilson, until recently the Pentagon’s top cyber official.

Many want Northwest Florida to become Florida’s Cyber Coast. The region already houses the Center for Information Dominance at NAS Pensacola, the Navy Information Operations Command at NAS Pensacola, the 96th Cyberspace Test Group at Eglin AFB, and the 47th Cyberspace Test Squadron at Eglin AFB.

William Loiry, Chairman of the Defense Leadership Forum which organizes the annual Air Force Contracting Summit, said, “The new and expanding defense investments in Northwest Florida are truly making the region both economically diversified and of critical importance to our nation.”

Want to Go?

To register for future Defense Leadership Forum contracting summits, visit www.usdlf.org, contact us via email at marketing@defenseleadershipforum.org, or reach us by phone at (202) 552-0179.

William Loiry is chairman of the Defense Leadership Forum (DLF), headquartered in Washington, D.C. Loiry, who resides in South Walton County, is renowned for recognizing national and international needs and then bringing key decision-makers together to identify the best solutions.

Since 2010, he and his team have organized major defense business conferences in Washington, D.C., and around the country.

In 1998, following the bombings of American embassies in Africa, Loiry organized the first conference on the threat of Osama bin Laden to American companies overseas. In 1999, he organized the first national cybersecurity conference in Washington.

After 9/11, Loiry and his team organized the major homeland security forums in Washington, bringing together government and military officials, business leaders and homeland security experts.

Gov. Tom Ridge, the first Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was a featured keynote speaker. More than 100,000 Congressional, government, military and industry leaders have attended the conferences organized by William Loiry and his team.

For more information, visit williamloiry.com.