text:
Category Archives: USL
Pawtucket soccer developers announce plans to seek Trump tax breaks for stadiums in Baltimore, Cleveland, and more
The story of the $45 million Pawtucket minor-league soccer stadium seeking upwards of $70 million in tax breaks and the story that the United Soccer League is seeking to leverage Trump's Opportunity Zone tax-break districts for more stadiums just had a baby, and it is this:
Fortuitous Partners Brett Johnson and Berke Bakay announced that they are looking to do developments in Baltimore, Cleveland, and other cities around the country…
Johnson during the interview said that Fortuitous Partners is also looking at Baltimore, MD; Cleveland, OH; and other cities for their opportunity zone driven sports complex model.
Opportunity zones, as I've written before, sound simple but get fiendishly complex in their details. On the surface, they're just like other tax-subsidized districts like "enterprise zones" and "empowerment zones," where developers get a tax break for building in "disadvantaged" areas, which is theoretically supposed to help the disadvantaged residents. (A report by Good Jobs First notes that the results of those earlier subsidy zones have been "not encouraging," with little in the way of new economic activity and even less in the way of new jobs for locals.)
But the tax break that an opportunity zone earns a developer is a weird one: You get exempted from paying capital gains tax, but only on businesses that are owned by a "qualified opportunity fund," meaning developers (or soccer teams) would likely need to set up a new shell corporation to own whatever it was they wanted to dodge taxes on. How that works, and what the IRS will let investors get away with, is still being figured out — the Trump administration implemented opportunity zones without really figuring out first how they would work, which is kind of turning into its brand — but clearly these Fortuitous folks think they know how to do it, or at least are trying to get dibs on lots of opportunity zone land for soccer stadiums and then will figure out the details later. Baltimore and Cleveland journalists, you might want to get on this, if there are any of you left.
Posted in Baltimore USL team, Cleveland USL team, opportunity zones, Pawtucket USL team
Pawtucket proposes $70m-plus in tax kickbacks for $45m USL stadium
Posted on December 3, 2019 by Neil deMause
There's a winner in the competition to build on the riverfront site where the Pawtucket Red Sox turned up their noses at building a new stadium, and it's … the crazy soccer stadium complex with the mountains in the background! (Helpfully blurred out in the latest rendering.) And according to the Providence Journal, while the USL stadium itself would only cost $45 million, the bigger project would stand to make a lot more than that in tax kickbacks:
The stadium would be the first piece of a larger, multi-part, mixed-use project Fortuitous is calling "Tidewater Landing," that would take advantage of federal "Opportunity Zone" tax breaks…
The plan hinges on approximately $70 million to $90 million in public support, most of it from the state through a "tax increment financing" plan that allows the developer to use a portion of new tax revenue generated around the development to pay for construction. That total includes infrastructure like the pedestrian bridge, public parks and river walks on both banks of the Seekonk.
The bigger project includes 200 apartments, 100,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, a 200-room hotel with an "indoor sports event center," and 200,000 square feet of office space, though it's not clear whether all of that needs to be built in order for the tax subsidies to kick in. Also not clear: Where all of that $70-90 million would come from — the Journal says only $10 million would come from the city, so would some of it be state sales tax kickbacks? (Or maybe they mean that it would be $10 million in cash and the rest in tax increment financing, which somehow isn't "city money" because Casino Night.) Also, why wouldn't it require state legislative approval even if this would be a state-designated tax redirection zone. So many questions that the Journal could have answered, or at least asked!
All in all, this Pawtucket plan exemplifies a whole bunch of trends in the modern stadium game: throwing money at pro soccer because there's a seemingly infinite number of available expansion franchises there (both in MLS and in the lower-level USL), providing public money via TIFs because it's easier to pretend this is new money generated by the project even when it's not, and the "kitchen sink" approach where you throw as many unrelated items into a development project as possible in order the muddy the financial waters to where everyone just throws up their hands at figuring out who's being subsidized for what. Plus Opportunity Zones, the Trump-created tax break that is so confusing even tax experts aren't sure how exactly it will end up working, and the ever-more-popular model of approving sports subsidies without legislative oversight. It's the perfect crime. Er, downtown development project. I surely don't know why I typed "crime."
Posted in Pawtucket USL team
Queensboro FC still vague on how its stadium on a public university campus will work
Posted on November 19, 2019 by Neil deMause
Ever since last Tuesday's announcement that New York City would be getting a new USL team called Queensboro F.C. in 2021, I've been trying to figure out where exactly this second-tier (soccer's term for the top minor league) team would play. That was the holdup when the franchise was first rumored last winter, and while last week's announcement mentioned a "new, modular stadium at York College in Queens that will have a capacity of around 7,500," none of the news outlets appeared to have actually called York College to see who would build it or where it would go, important questions given that the campus, though conveniently located right by a major subway terminal, isn't exactly bursting with huge swathes of vacant land.
So, I called. And was directed to a press spokesperson for the City University of New York school, who said she'd get back to me with a statement from the school's president, but couldn't "promise it will be today." That was Thursday; it's now Tuesday, and still no statement has been forthcoming.
I next tried the team itself, whose press representative told me yesterday they'd be back to me "shortly"; I'm still waiting. After that, it was on to city councilmember Francisco Moya, who has helped shepherd the team into existence and declared himself one of its first fans, whose communications director actually replied:
Queensboro FC will be playing in a modular stadium, which will be 100 percent privately funded through the club. The City is not involved in the arrangement between QBFC and York College.
That is slightly more of an answer, but not much of one. Where will this stadium be built? Does a "modular stadium" just mean a bunch of temporary bleachers that can be taken down and stored away when York College needs to use its track? Is York College being paid anything for use of its land? And does the public university have to get any city or state permissions before repurposing public land?
These are all kind of important questions, and it's reflective of the sad state of journalism in this city (and in this country, and on this planet) that no one seems to have asked them — or, worse, has asked them and when they didn't get answers, didn't bother to mention that in their articles. (It's also sad that an entire minor-league baseball team in Staten Island has been marked for elimination, and none of the city press has deigned to report on borough residents' thoughts on that — or has just forgotten that Staten Island is a part of New York City, which is a thing that happens.) I'll report back here if I learn of anything to add, but in the meantime: Friends don't let friends reprint sports team owner press releases without at least trying to check their facts, okay?
Posted in Queensboro F.C.
Every city in U.S. now building a soccer stadium, or at least it seems like it
Some days it seems like this site is turning into Soccer Pitch of Schemes. I mean, seriously, check this out:
The Sacramento city council unanimously approved a $27 million "loan" to the new Sacramento Republic F.C. MLS team for stadium roads and traffic and transit infrastructure, which isn't really a loan because team owner Ron Burkle will be paying it back with taxes he'd normally pay anyway.
The Colorado Springs city council approved $13 million in public funding for a $35 million, 8,000-seat stadium for the Colorado Springs Switchbacks USL team.
The long-rumored Queensboro F.C. has been awarded a USL franchise to begin play in 2021; this time, instead of a new soccer stadium next door to the New York Mets' stadium, they'll allegedly play in a "new, modular stadium at York College in Queens that will have a capacity of around 7,500" and also "select home matches at Citi Field, home of MLB's New York Mets." Here is York College; I suppose you could set up a whole bunch of temporary bleachers on the track, but having enough room for seating and concessions and parking seems like a non-trivial issue, and also York College is a city university, so shouldn't the city council really be voting on this?
The New Mexico state legislature is set to consider spending $30 million on a $100 million stadium for New Mexico United, which is currently in the USL but could maybe be in MLS someday, if you squint just right.
The Miami city commission put off a vote on Inter Miami's stadium plans, but by the time it does vote next month one vocal opponent will have been term-limited off the commission.
The reason for this flood of soccer stadium building has less to do with soccer being the sport of millennials or whatever, and more to do with there being umpteen gazillion soccer teams in the U.S. now, and more on the way, and lots of them not having brand-new stadiums of their own because sometimes there just isn't time to do that before you have to collect some more expansion fees, you know? Which should cut both ways — if MLS and the USL alike are going to expand to every city with its own post office, you'd think that cities wouldn't need to spend big bucks on stadium funding in order to have a shot at a franchise — but here we have Switchbacks president Nick Ragain saying of the Colorado Springs vote that "what it means is we have a long-term professional soccer team in Colorado Springs," and nobody in the media rolling their eyes, so I guess these are questions that are not asked in polite society.
And speaking of soccer and the media not rolling their eyes, yes, an Argentine football team celebrated the reopening of its stadium with a giant holographic flaming lion as many of you have emailed and tweeted at me, but also it's not really a hologram and fans in the stadium couldn't even see it except on TV screens. Number of news articles pointing this out: one; number of news articles going "Oooooh, fiery lion!": more than I can count.
Posted in Colorado Switchbacks, Inter Miami, New Mexico United, Queensboro F.C., Sacramento Republic FC
Rendering of Pawtucket soccer stadium ends up revealing USL scheme to exploit Trump opportunity zones for federal tax breaks
Posted on November 7, 2019 by Neil deMause
Journalism takes all forms in these days of vanishing budgets and vanishing newsrooms, and sometimes it's somebody spotting something on a website and going whuh?
That is, as the Valley Breeze notes, an image of a new soccer stadium and accompanying development on the Seekonk River in downtown Pawtucket. True, as the paper notes, this version of Pawtucket is "missing some downtown features and shows mountains in the background," but clearly somebody at least went through the trouble of Photoshopping a soccer stadium onto some alternate-reality Pawtucket, which has to mean something.
And the Valley Breeze reporting staff (actually Valley Breeze managing editor Ethan Shorey, who in the absence of a masthead I'm guessing is the entire Valley Breeze reporting staff) went to the trouble of calling developers Fortuitous Partners and asking about the picture, and got confirmation that they're "pursuing a $400 million project" in Pawtucket. Fortuitous — whose founder Brett Johnson also owns the Phoenix Rising F.C. USL team — was previously reported to be interested in building a USL soccer stadium on the site previously rejected by the Pawtucket Red Sox for a new baseball stadium. And Johnson had more to say about the project:
He described United Soccer as the fastest-growing sports league in the world, saying the company is exploring more than 60 markets that all have the potential to bring soccer, and leveraging the opportunity zones in every case.
Now that's some news. Not the "exploring more than 60 markets" part — that doesn't mean we'll actually get 60 USL teams, though we're already getting close. No, the interesting bit is that USL apparently plans to pick its stadium sites by locating teams in "opportunity zones," the new Trump-created districts that allow developers to defer or evade entirely paying capital gains taxes on projected in "undercapitalized" areas.
As Billionaire Boondoggle author Pat Garofalo has reported, 52 existing major-league stadiums and arenas are already in opportunity zones. But because the main benefit to an opportunity zone is placing assets in an "opportunity fund" and then letting them gain in value tax-free — the language is hideously complex and even the forms are incredibly confusing, but that's the best I've been able to figure out based on reading up on OZs and talking to tax experts — it seems like it would hold special appeal to investors looking to create a whole new entity, say a USL team, and then holding it within an opportunity fund so that the inevitable gains when USL teams turn out to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars despite everybody and their sister having one would be tax-free.
If you're hoping for a dollar figure or even a guesstimate on how much this would cost the federal treasury, we are way too early in the game for that, sorry. But it is an indicator of how obscure changes in tax policy can shift an entire industry's approach to its business model; sort of the way the 1986 Tax Reform Act's okaying of using tax-exempt bonds for sports facilities helped spark the torrent of new publicly funded sports venues that followed. Capitalist free markets obey rules, yes, but those rules are set down by government policy, and tweaking one or two can make a huge difference in who gets to earn money how — which is no doubt why billionaires stayed up all night phoning Congressional legislators to get OZs passed into law.
Boise votes to require vote on soccer stadium funding, Charlotte votes for council set to okay soccer stadium funding
It was an oddly slow Election Day for sports-related votes — the big Oklahoma City vote on the latest MAPS sales-tax surcharge that would provide public money for a USL soccer stadium isn't until December 10 — but there were a couple of notable items:
Boise, Idaho residents, facing a demand for a $50 million soccer stadium to lure a USL franchise, voted to require a public vote before the city can participate in any sports stadium project that costs more than $5 million in public or private money. (They also voted for a similar requirement for any library project costing more than $25 million.) That sounds like it should be airtight enough to avoid the legal pitfalls that befell Seattle's similar Initiative 91 when it turned out to be unclear what a public "investment" meant — tax breaks? only direct cash? — but then again, since I-91 did its job fine in terms of preventing major sports giveaways, maybe it's the spirit of the thing that counts.
The mayor of Charlotte and all the city council incumbents up for re-election got re-elected, and since the current city council has been largely willing to listen to Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper's ask for $100-200 million in stadium improvement to bring an MLS team to town, that's probably good news for that project. Or bad news for anyone who thinks that $200 million (or more!) to upgrade an existing football stadium for soccer is kinda crazy.
Posted in Boise USL team, Charlotte MLS team
Friday roundup: Helicopter rides for rich fans, pricey bridge prices, and why Deadspin mattered
In case anyone hasn't been following this week's Deadspin drama, pretty much the entire staff has resigned over the past two days, following Tuesday's decision by CEO Jim Spanfeller to fire acting editor-in-chief Barry Petchesky because the staff had responded to Spanfeller's edict to "stick to sports" by posting a ton of excellent non-sports content. A few last posts have gone up the last couple of days, some to burn off features that were already scheduled to run and some to take classically Deadspinesque digs at management for burning down a popular website seemingly out of spite for continuing to do exactly what it had been doing for years before they bought it.
This is very bad news for journalism and America and humanity, and not only if you, like me, will miss the site's potshots at our Big Wet President. There's a popular notion that sports is just a fun diversion where the "outside world" of politics has no place — and that, as I hope the entire 21-year history of this site has made abundantly clear, is an extremely dangerous notion, because it means that concerns over what taxpayers are being charged for places to play sports or what athletes are being paid to play sports or who is allowed to speak out on what issues involving sports are dismissed with a Can't we just watch the game? But games are serious — and lucrative — business, and can't be divorced from the greater culture, any more than we should be just watching movies as pure entertainment without attention to the bigger issues involved. Deadspin was dedicated to erasing those lines and allowing its writers to address whatever they felt needed addressing at the moment, whether it was the meaning of who you're seen sitting with at a football game or what we're getting stuck in our rectums each year, and until and unless a successor emerges to pick up the torch, the world will be a sadder, dumber place.
(Already yesterday I read about Josh Hamilton's arrest after his daughter said he threw a chair at her — a phrasing I owe to this excellent Deadspin non-sports article, incidentally — and wished I could read Deadspin's analysis of it. Then I read about John Wetteland's arrest for reportedly sexually assaulting a four-year-old child, and thought I wonder if maybe men's sports should just be banned altogether at this point given the kind of behavior it encourages and realized Deadspin was probably my best bet for reading that take, too. It's going to be a long however many weeks or months until something arises from Deadspin's ashes, if that ever happens.)
Anyway, on to the weekly muddling of sports and politics:
The Indiana Pacers' arena will still be named after the bank that stopping paying for naming rights in June until the team has found a new naming-rights sponsor, which seems weird at first but actually makes total sense: It costs money to change the signage so why do it twice, and also the value of naming rights goes down with each new iteration of a corporate moniker that dilutes the name's image for the public — quick, tell me what the Oakland Coliseum's official name is these days — so calling it "Pacers Arena" or whatever for a few months might get fans to start calling it that permanently, and we can't have that. And if you're wondering why the Pacers get to sell naming rights to a building that was built entirely with public dollars and is owned by the public: It's Indianapolis, Jake.
St. Louis's new MLS stadium finally has a site picked out — Market Street near Union Station, if you're scoring at home — and new renderings as well, though they look pretty much like the old renderings except for the one that is just a closeup of a kid riding on his parent's (?) shoulders. The state of Missouri has received approval to sell 22 acres of land for the stadium to the city's Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, which will then lease it to the MLS team for … oh, that doesn't seem to have been reported. Just look at the pretty pictures and don't worry your head about that nasty money business.
A public city database in Atlanta is indicating that the city's $23 million pedestrian bridge for the Falcons actually cost $41.7 million, but the city insists it's really just that they entered the same checks multiple times. I'm not sure "spent $23 million on a pedestrian bridge for a football team and also can't do basic bookkeeping" looks much better, honestly.
The San Antonio Spurs — whose mascot is for some reason a kangaroo, is that a kangaroo? — have installed four new helipads so that fans can buy helicopter rides to games, which really tells you everything you need to know about 1) who sports teams are interested in marketing to these days and 2) just how ridiculously much money rich people in America have to burn these days.
Fresno FC owner Ray Beshoff has declared he "will almost certainly be relocating the team" because he hasn't been provided with a new soccer-only stadium, unless "in the next two or three weeks if people come to the table with ideas or suggestions that we think are tenable." This will come as a huge shock to fans who've been dedicated followers of the USL team since (looks up team on Wikipedia) March of 2018.
The San Francisco 49ers are raising ticket prices by 13% but giving season ticket holders free food and soda, which I guess means 49ers fans will be spending most of games from now on pigging out on all-you-can-eat nachos instead of watching the action on the field. Also, you can't get the free food if you buy tickets on the secondary market, only if you're the original season ticket holder. Or, I guess, borrow the season ticket holder's free-food card? Or have a season ticket holder go up to the counter for you and get your nachos? I don't live anywhere near Santa Clara and hate football, but I am very excited at seeing how fans figure out how to game this system.
Still nobody is sure which minor-league teams MLB will threaten to eliminate as part of its plan to restrict minor-league affiliates, or what criteria MLB will use for deciding who shall live and who shall die or whether MLB is even serious or just trying to scare minor-league players into not demanding they be paid minimum wage. I really should write about this for Deadsp — crap.
It rained at the Buffalo Bills game last weekend, so a local country music station ran a poll asking listeners: "Would you be in favor of a roof stadium or no?" Not included: any mention of what a roof would cost, or what WYRK has against the word "roofed."
The corporate newspaper that helped gut a free daily by selling it to people who immediately laid off most of the editorial staff ran an article this week asking if the new New York Islanders arena will make it harder for the nearby Nassau Coliseum to draw events, but I'm not going to link to a union-busting-enabling outlet that put the article behind a paywall anyway, so let me just answer the question here: Duh, yes!
A former assistant to Inglewood Mayor James Butts has changed her testimony in the lawsuit against the Los Angeles Clippers' proposed arena, and Inglewood officials are asking that her revised testimony be rejected because they say she's in "cahoots" with Madison Square Garden, which opposes the arena because it doesn't want competition for its own arena nearby. Elephants, man.
The DreamHouse New Mexico Bowl has been canceled, because alleged film production company and title sponsor DreamHouse turns out not to exist, but rather to be a scam perpetrated by "a relentless self promoter who lies about nearly everything he says he does."
A giant water droplet named Wendy has made a video suggesting that Washington's NFL team should move back within city limits. Sorry, Sean Doolittle, this is actually the most 2019 Washington thing ever.
The Sunshine Coast Pickleball Association is seeking funding from the city of Sechelt for a new pickleball stadium. I don't actually know where Sechelt is and am only dimly aware of what pickleball is, and I'm not going to ruin the perfect sentence above by looking either thing up.
Posted in Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Fresno FC, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, minor leagues, New York Islanders, pickleball already, San Antonio Spurs, San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis MLS team, vaportecture, Washington NFL team
Oklahoma City soccer team owner wants tax money for new stadium, because "economic boost" and "diversity"
Posted on August 7, 2019 by Neil deMause
When I relayed the news last week that Oklahoma City's fourth iteration of its MAPS sales-tax hike was being eyed to fund upgrades to the Thunder's arena that was already built and upgraded with previous MAPS sales-tax hikes, I neglected to note that USL team OKC Energy F.C. also wants some tax money for a new soccer stadium, because why wouldn't they? Their existing stadium was entirely rebuilt way back in 2015, which is a lifetime if you're a stadium or a mayfly.
Team co-owner Bob Funk, Jr. had this to say about why he'd like between $37 million and $72 million in public money for a new stadium for his minor-league soccer franchise:
"This is an opportunity to once again set our city on a global stage. It will connect and unify Oklahoma City's diverse cross-section of cultures and provide a powerful economic boost to our urban core."
Note that Oklahoma City already has a USL team, so that's not enough to set it on a global stage. (Nor is the presence of the Thunder, apparently, though that "once again" implies that global stages expire about as often as mayflies.) Moving the soccer team from one stadium to another, though, would be a powerful economic boost, something that KFOR explains thusly:
The first option represented a $37 million to $42 million investment for an 8,000-seat stadium that would accommodate soccer, high school football, rugby, lacrosse, concerts and festivals.
Organizers believe it could host more than 60 events each year, which would bring $60 million annually to the city.
The second option was a $67 million to $72 million investment with 10,000 seats, shade structures and other amenities to improve the fan experience. Additional restrooms would be included, along with a larger stage and secondary stage. Organizers say this venue could host more than 80 events each year, which would bring over $79 million to the city.
Okay, so, just no. There is no way that the city is going to earn $79 million a year in rent (or sales taxes or whatever) on 80 events a year at a 10,000-seat stadium — that would be $100 a ticket, which would be a somewhat hefty fee for a team or stadium operator to pay.
Presumably what the "organizers" (which seems to mean Funk and a would-be stadium developer, though the article never says outright, because that would be committing journalism) mean here is $79 million a year in economic impact, which is a completely different thing adding up all the dollars spent in a region connected with a development project. That number is still almost certainly inflated — people attending minor-league soccer matches are unlikely to spend $100 total in the local economy, and even if they do they'd likely spend it just the same if the Energy F.C. were in their old stadium, or didn't exist at all, because there are other things to do in Oklahoma City other than watch soccer — but saying "in economic impact" would have been at least marginally less misleading than "bring over $79 million to the city."
Anyway, here's some vaportecture of the proposed stadium, which will apparently be used to watch dangerously over-capacity concerts involving fireworks displays at night, and to watch invisible football teams while wearing identical red floppy hats by day. Bonus points if you can spot any diverse cross-section of cultures getting unified!
Posted in OKC Energy FC, vaportecture
Friday roundup: Fact-checking Suns arena impact claims, the hidden cost of hosting the NCAA Final Four, and everybody gets a soccer team!
Posted on January 18, 2019 by Neil deMause
Thanks to everyone who became a Field of Schemes supporter this week in order to get a pair of my goofy refrigerator magnets! If you want to hop on the magnet train, you can still do so now, or you can first stop and read the rest of the news of a wacky week in stadium and arena developments:
The Arizona Republic has been full of both articles and op-eds this week asserting that giving $168 million to the Phoenix Suns for arena renovations is a good thing (sample reasoning: "The arena is old and needs updated. The Suns are young and need direction."), but then it also ran an excellent fact-check that concluded that claims of the arena having a significant impact on the city's economy are "mostly false," citing the umpteen economic studies showing exactly that (sample conclusion, from Temple economist Michael Leeds: "A baseball team has about the same impact on a community as a midsize department store"). On balance, good enough work that I hope the Republic can avoid being bought by an evil hedge fund that is trying to buy up newspapers and strip-mine them for any assets; what would really be nice would be if they can be bought by someone who can afford copy editors ("is old and needs updated"?), but I know it's 2019 and we can't have everything.
Where the Oakland Raiders are rumored to be playing the 2019 season this week: San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Oakland. These are all disappointingly old ideas — am I going to have to be the one to suggest Rio de Janeiro?
And speaking of me, I wrote a long essay for Deadspin this week on how changes in baseball economic structure are incentivizing owners to cut player salaries without illegally colluding to do so. This is at best tangential to the stadium business, except inasmuch as it's about "how sports team owners make their money and what affects their profits," so it's good to know even if you don't especially care about who signs Manny Machado or Bryce Harper.
The president of the USL wants to expand the soccer league's two tiers to 80 teams total, which is getting awfully close to the ABA's "bring a check and you can have a team" model.
The new Austin F.C. MLS team was approved to start play in 2021, and celebrated by proposing a chant to memorialize the city council vote that approved its stadium funding: "7-Fooour, 7-Fooour/It's not the score, it was the vote/That got us all our brand new home." I am not making this up. (If I were making this up, I would at least try to get it to rhyme.)
Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno signed a one-year lease extension on the team's stadium through 2020, which is disappointing in that I really thought the city should have used this leverage to demand a longer-term lease extension (what's Moreno going to do otherwise, go play in Rio de Janeiro?). But Craig Calcaterra's summary of the situation (sample description: this will give time to resolve "a long-term solution for what, at least from the Angels' perspective, is a stadium problem") is so on point and such a good model for how to report stadium controversies fairly and accurately that I'm not in the mood to complain.
Hosting the NCAA Final Four will cost Minnesota $10 million, because there are lots of curtains to be hung and temporary seating to be put in place, and the NCAA sure as hell isn't going to pay for it. But Minnesota will surely earn it back in new tax revenues, because economic studies show … oh wait.
Some billionaire in St. Louis thinks the city should have an NBA team, and some writer for something called the St. Louis American thinks the city should try to steal the New Orleans Pelicans. Now let us never speak of this again.
Posted in Austin FC, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, NCAA, Oakland Raiders, Phoenix Suns, Spirits of St. Louis, USL


text:
NewsroomThe latest CSBA news, blog posts, publications, research and resources for members and the news media
CSBA in the News
State Board Report archive
California School News
Resources for News Media
2022-23 CSBA Media Kit
Advertising Contract (Fillable PDF)
CSBA Business Affiliates program
When it comes to reaching the decision-makers in California's schools, the award-winning California Schools magazine beats the competition hands down. Our members provide educational services for more than 99 percent of California's more than six million schoolchildren.
As a benefit of their membership, these 5,000-plus school board members each receive California Schools magazine.
The nearly 1,000 superintendents in all those districts also receive their own copy of our magazine.
In addition, more than 700 business officials and facilities managers at work in California's school districts receive a copy of California Schools magazine each quarter. These professionals influence the purchasing decisions made in schools throughout the state.
Together, these audiences represent the ultimate decision-makers in our public schools.
With our magazine's broad editorial appeal and growing reputation, more and more people are poring over our pages. There they find helpful and illuminating articles on issues they face every day, as well as in-depth interviews with key policymakers, influential researchers and trendsetting colleagues. California Schools does not publish a yearly editorial calendar. This gives us the flexibility to respond to developing events in the education sphere. Our stories showcase the best practices, policies and people that make a difference in the lives of California's children.
The bottom line — and the best bet for your advertising bottom line — is to advertise in California Schools. Place your advertising in one of education's most respected magazines - and the only one targeted at the audiences that make the ultimate purchasing decisions for schools.
For more information on advertising please contact Nicole Delos Reyes, Program Manager, Business Development.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
PTC acquiring Onshape for $470M
By Steve Crowe | October 25, 2019
Universal Logic, an AI and robotics integration company, uses Onshape to design systems. | Credit: Onshape
Industrial IOT company PTC is acquiring Onshape, creators of a Software as a Service (SaaS) product development platform that unites computer aided design (CAD) with data management and collaboration tools. The amount of the acquisition is about $470 million, net of cash acquired. The deal is expected to close in November 2019.
PTC said acquiring Onshape "is expected to accelerate PTC's ability to attract new customers with a SaaS-based product offering and position the company to capitalize on the inevitable industry transition to SaaS."
Cambridge, Mass.-based Onshape was founded in 2012 in part by Jon Hirschtick, John McEleney, and Dave Corcoran, inventors and former executives of SolidWorks. Onshape has secured more than $150 million in funding from leading venture capital firms and has more than 5,000 customers around the world.
Onshape's software is delivered in a SaaS model, making it accessible from any connected location or device, eliminating the need for costly hardware and administrative staff to maintain. Onshape exhibited and spoke exhibited at the Robotics Summit & Expo 2019, which is produced by The Robot Report, to highlight challenges for modern robotics designers.
"PTC has earned a reputation for successfully pursuing new innovations that drive corporate growth," said Jim Heppelmann, president and CEO, PTC. "Building on the strong momentum we have with our on-premises CAD and PLM businesses, we look to our future and see a new growth play with SaaS."
PTC said the acquisition is another step in its evolution to a recurring revenue business model. "Today, we see small and medium-sized CAD customers in the high-growth part of the CAD market shifting their interest toward SaaS delivery models, and we expect interest from larger customers to grow over time," continued Heppelmann. "The acquisition of Onshape complements our on-premises business with the industry's only proven, scalable pure SaaS platform, which we expect will open new CAD and PLM growth opportunities while positioning PTC to be the leader as the market transitions toward the SaaS model."
Onshape will operate as a business unit within PTC. Onshape management will report directly to Heppelmann.
"At Onshape, we share PTC's vision for helping organizations transform the way they develop products," said Hirschtick, Onshape CEO and Co-founder. "We and PTC believe that the product development industry is nearing the 'tipping point' for SaaS adoption of CAD and data management tools. We look forward to empowering the customers we serve with the latest innovations to improve their competitive positions."
B stinky says
I'm just gonna say what everyone is thinking. PTC saw a threat to Creo, and dealt with it. Goodbye free use of Onshape
Digitize Dan says
Are there any other competitors in the space? It seems the CAD marketplace is turning into a monopoly!
Tyota says
Very disappointing. Liked the idea of Onshape, with it's Solidworks roots combined with the flexibility of SaaS . Sorry PTC was slowly going the way of the dinosaurs, but I guess enough capitol and urgency to buy them out. We can only hope Onshape will not go backwards as well. PTC…yuck.
Vecow, MOV.AI team up to provide AMR solutions
Aptiv acquiring Wind River for $4.3B
Robotics Summit & Expo 2022 call for speakers deadline extended


Discuss the importance electronic health record (EHR) conceptual framework integration and achieving interoperability.
As the manager of the CTU Health Care information systems department, you realize the need for seamless integration among all operating systems of the departments within the health care organization (HCO). Discuss the importance electronic health record (EHR) conceptual framework integration and achieving interoperability.
Prepare a PowerPoint presentation for the stakeholders of the different departments that expresses the importance of the interoperability of all computing systems within the health care organization. In this presentation, you should address the ramifications of the lack of integration of the information systems among the departments.


October 14, 1893: "It is feared that Capt. C.L. Fellows' tug was badly damaged by the blow Saturday. She had been launched at Foscoro the day before and left at anchor some little distance from the beach. The heavy sea caused the hull to fill and go to the bottom, but as the water is not very deep it is feared that the launching has injured the bottom. A steam pump was to be sent from here, but the weather has been so bad all week that nothing could be done. The craft was reconstructed from the old tug Tellinghast (sp), and it cost her owner $3,000 if she cost him $1." Door County Advocate 10/07/1893.
The tug may have ended up on the shore at Stony Creek. By August 1895 any hope of recovering the grounded vessel was gone and the tug was considered a total loss.
In 1893 the village of Foscoro was located at the end of today's Kennedy Road, southern Door County. Located there was a post office and the Fellows Pier. Now all there is, is Kennedy Road and Stony Creek.
The tug is apparently unnamed and any references found refer to the vessel as Captain C.L. Fellows' tug.


Arthur Ashe was one of the most accomplished tennis players of his generation and the only African-American man to win a Grand Slam title, but he is best remembered for his grace off the court, his commitment to social justice and his courageous battle with AIDS.
Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. was born on July 10, 1943, in Richmond, Va., where he would grow up in a home located inside a blacks-only playground with tennis courts. His mother died when he was 6 years old, leaving him under the care of his father, Arthur Sr., who encouraged him to excel in school and in sports.
Under the tutelage of tennis coach Walter Johnson, who had also coached Althea Gibson, Ashe blossomed into the best tennis player in his area. Growing up in segregated Richmond, he was forced to go long distances to play white players. In 1960, his senior year of high school, he moved to St. Louis to cut down on his travel time.
He became the first African-American to win the National Junior Indoor tennis title and earned a tennis scholarship to UCLA. In 1963, he became the first African-American to play for the U.S. Davis Cup team, and in 1965, he won the NCAA singles championship.
After graduating from UCLA, Ashe joined the ROTC and was assigned to an analyst's job in West Point so he could continue playing tennis. In 1968, he became the first amateur and the first black man to win the U.S. Open singles championship.
In 1975, Ashe became the first black man to win Wimbledon, defeating heavily favored defending champion Jimmy Connors in the final for the third and final Grand Slam singles title of his career.
Ashe spent much of his life fighting for change in South Africa, where the apartheid government refused to grant him a visa to play. In 1973, he was allowed to play and did so despite boycotts against South African sport. He believed that his presence could break down stereotypes, but in 1977, he realized his approach wasn't working and joined the boycott.
"Arthur taught me the power of being able to say that you have been wrong, but you could always change direction," wrote Richard Lapchick, one of the boycott's leaders, for ESPN.
Ashe would make many goodwill trips to Africa to teach tennis to African youths. Sports Illustrated's Frank Deford traveled with Ashe on one such trip in 1971. Ashe spoke of his desire to become a U.S. ambassador after his retirement.
Ashe suffered a heart attack in 1979 and retired a year later. He finished his career with 33 singles titles, including wins in the U.S. Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon. He won 27 Davis Cup matches for the U.S., and captained the team for five years, starting in 1981. In 1985, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
In 1992, USA Today discovered that Ashe had AIDS, contracted from a blood transfusion after heart surgery. Ashe decided to announce his condition to the public before the paper ran the story.
Charlie Rose interviewed Ashe in 1992 to discuss his life, career, social activism and battle with AIDS. The interview, preceded by a 1993 interview with his widow, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, is available on the Charlie Rose Web site.


text:
Latest News / Russia
Is the Russia's most advanced Su-57 fighter participating on the Ukraine battlefield?
June 2, 2022 - by [email protected] - Leave a Comment
Recently, the news of the Su-57 appearing on the Ukrainian battlefield has opened up again. It has attracted the attention of many people. According to the reports, the Russian Aerospace Forces have put the Su-57 into a "special military operation" against Ukraine. So, how effective is this fighter jet?
There are many speculations about why this stealth fighter is inherently insufficient in the design stage and has been delayed after mass production. So far, only two officially produced stealth fighters have been put into the battlefield. Some people say that the war in Ukraine continues to stalemate. Some people say that after the appearance of the Su-75 checkmate, which is closer to the standard of the fifth-generation aircraft, the mass production of the Su-57 is meaningless. And pull it to the battlefield to make consumables; some people say that this is an actual combat test, as before during the Syrian civil war.
However, there is not much objection; that is, the outside world believes that the battlefield value and role of the Su-57 in this conflict will not be too great. After all, the aircraft have only been very few in service, and the performance is still a long way from the real maturity.
But on the other hand, considering the battlefield situation faced by the Russian Aerospace Forces, the front line of the Su-57 also has a particular urgency. Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the small-scale Ukrainian Air Force has suffered heavy losses. Still, some fighters have succeeded and even launched strikes on Russian border cities.
At the same time, the Ukrainian ground air defense system still has the power to fight, and the Russian Aerospace Forces fighters, which may have mastered the air supremacy, may be bitten by the slightest carelessness.
The Russian army has finally mastered a specific initiative in the ground war. It will inevitably focus more on the firm control of air supremacy. At present, it seems that the ground air defense firepower of the Ukrainian army cannot be underestimated; and the Russian military has little advantages in air defense suppression and electronic interference; coupled with some airports and air defense networks in the deep areas of the Ukrainian side, it surpasses the Russian army's anti-aircraft firepower. The effective range of anti-radiation missiles; and the prices of cruise missiles and ballistic missiles with longer ranges are not cheap, and it is difficult for the Russian military to use them on a large scale.
The best cost-effective approach is to use the Su-57 with specific stealth capabilities to make in-depth breakthroughs, hunt and kill the remaining Ukrainian fighter jets, attack airfields, and eliminate air defense missiles and other facilities. These tasks are pretty tricky for non-stealth fighters, and the use of Su-57 is relatively specific.
Of course, the participation of the Su-57 in the war may be related to another situation, that is, the United States proposed a plan to assist Ukraine with "MIM104 Patriot" air defense missiles. Compared with the Ukrainian army's existing old-fashioned Soviet-based air defense weapons, the US-based anti-aircraft missiles are better in terms of accuracy, anti-jamming capability, and response speed. The wartime survival pressure on non-stealth fighters will increase sharply.
Therefore, although the stealth effect of the Su-57 may not reach the level of the fifth-generation aircraft, it is at least safer than non-stealth aircraft such as the Su-35 and Su-24 and is expected to break through the American air defense system.
TaggedRussiaRussia-Ukraine conflictsu 57
Previous Article Russian S-70 UAV: World's one of the first heavy and stealth drones and Russia's most durable UCAV
Next Article The Indian Air Force has cut its new fighter aircraft procurement programme by half


In order to turn any program, project or change process into a success it is vital to know how engaged every team member is. What do you think is going great? Are you actively participating? How are you getting along with others such as partners or stakeholders? What obstacles do you experience and how do you deal with them?
Unfortunately, we typically don't see or speak to one another on a daily basis. And if we do, we tend to talk about operational matters. Which is useful and understandable. Yet, we also need to talk about the quality of our cooperation as a team. With En-Gager you have an easy to use tool to measure and track the 'cooperative KPI's' of your project. Tracking these on En-Gager gives you a way to discuss what is really going on in the team beyond operational issues. This way, you will be able to spot and solve collaborative issues faster. It will help you to learn together and to maintain team cooperative contact, even when team members are widely –perhaps globally- dispersed. Finally, using En-Gager is fun: each participation earns adds points toward reaching a collectively determined 'prize' !
Find out how the app works!
En-Gager is an app for iOS and Android. Don't have iOS or Android? No Problem! We also provide web access.
You will receive a registration invitation by e-mail.
Here you can see the interface of the app. It's simple and quick!
Check in, score, give feedback, press "ok" and you are done!
Compare your score with your team and read all the feedback!


text:
Paragorgia splendens är en korallart som beskrevs av Thomson och Henderson 1906. Paragorgia splendens ingår i släktet Paragorgia och familjen Paragorgiidae. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Koralldjur
splendens

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
"A comedy of tragic proportions" - The Party (2017)
"A comedy straight from the heart." - Return to Me (2000)
"A comedy that breaks the rules." - Commandments (1997)
"A comedy that cuts it" - Good Hair (2009)
"A comedy that doesn't let principles stand in the way of progress" - Submarine (2011)
"A comedy that hits you where it hurts." - Extract (2009)
"A comedy that is not afraid to point the finger." - Picking Up the Pieces (2000)
"A comedy that never takes it foot off the gas" - Hit and Run (2012)
"A comedy that puts the fun back in funeral." - Eulogy (2004)
"A comedy that's a real mother." - Life Happens (2012)
"A comedy that's making up headlines!" - Big News from Grand Rock (2015)
"A comedy that's off the leash." - Dog Days (2018)
"A comedy to arouse your appetite." - Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
"A comedy to arouse your appetite." - Tortilla Soup (2001)
"A comedy to brighten your day" - The Weather Man (2005)
"A comedy value" - Price Check (2012)
"A comedy where old school ...meets middle school" - Rebound (2005)
"A comedy with everything on it." - Good Burger (1997)
"A comedy with flakes" - Ski Patrol (1990)
"A comedy you can still respect in the morning." - Cross My Heart (1987)
"A comic collision of chaos and coincidence" - Beautiful People (2000)
"A comic tale of horror and seduction." - Vampire In Brooklyn (1995)
"A comic tragedy" - Love Liza (2002)
"A coming of age story" - 5 Flights Up (2015)
"A coming of age story about the coming of age." - About Fifty (2011)
"A coming of rage story" - June (2015)
"A company is killing a company town" - Company Town (2017)
"A con is easy. Family is hard." - A Bag of Hammers (2012)
"A con man movie." - The Brothers Bloom (2009)
"A condition of unknowable outcome" - Limbo (1999)
"A cop who enforces his own brand of justice." - Stone Cold (1991)
"A cop who'd rather be an artist. A mobster who'd rather be a comic. And a woman who'd rather be anywhere but between them." - Mad Dog and Glory (1993)
"A cop. A waitress. A lottery ticket. Life is full of surprises." - It Could Happen To You (1994)
"A cop... A killer... A deadline..." - 10 to Midnight (1983)
"A country at war. A city under siege. A friendship under fire." - Under the Wire (2018)
"A couple alone at sea. When a stranger called for help, they made a fatal mistake... they answered." - Dead Calm (1989)
"A couple with everything but money. An heiress with everything but love. A temptation no one could resist." - The Wings Of The Dove (1997)
"A cowboy always takes his hat off when he meets a lady." - The Cowboy Way (1994)
"A crash course in kidnappings, car thefts and other rituals of dating." - Excess Baggage (1997)
"A crash course in revenge" - Grindhouse (2007)
"A crazy quest for sanity" - Rocks in My Pockets (2014)
"A crazy, beautiful world. An eccentric, loving family. And a young man trying to find his place in both." - My Life So Far (1999)
"A creature as unquenchable as the sun." - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)
"A crime is only as perfect as the mind behind it." - Mr. Brooks (2007)
"A cross-country trip. An unexpected breakdown. The trap has been set." - Breakdown (1997)
"A cyber killer has finally found the perfect accomplice: you." - Untraceable (2008)
"A dad in a hurry. A man on the run. And five kids with an attitude. A parent's worst nightmare. A kid's dream come true." - Carpool (1996)
"A dangerous deal. A double cross. And the ultimate set up is yet to come." - The Getaway (1994)
"A dangerous land breeds a dangerous man." - Siberia (2018)
"A dangerous mix" - Tequila Sunrise (1988)


Tina Jabeen is currently the Investment Advisor, Startup Bangladesh, ICT Ministry, Govt. of Bangladesh. She guided the team in crafting the investment and operations guideline and building the accelerator. Tina coordinates international roadshows and strategic meetings with partners globally. She leads the investment and accelerator of Startup Bangladesh. Tina is a CPA with 25+ years of extensive experience in PE/VC industry with technical expertise in due diligence, return models, valuations, VC governance, legal and tax treaties. She held positions of Director of Finance and Tax in Horsley Bridge Partner, a premier fund-of-fund and Senior Director in PricewaterhouseCoopers, San Francisco.


Mastering drama and simplicity at once is not an easy feat, but it is one that designer Junko Yoshioka has attempted, and accomplished, in her spring 2011 collection. The dresses are revered for their clean, simple lines and effortless silhouettes.
To up the glam factor, without adding fuss, the designer focused on a single detail to make the gown pop, and it isn't hard to see which accent she was focused on in the Collette dress, pictured above. "It is feminine, unique, simple, and whimsical all at once," says the designer.
Characterized by it's cascading train, which starts at the ribbon-tied, empire waist line, the strapless cut and otherwise streamlined silhouette allows the gown to remain true to the designer's fresh and simple style while still having a major wow factor.
The dress is representative of an entire line created with "soft details" and "lots of billowy layers".


The contents of this website are the property of the Swiss St. Bernard Club. The use of content such as text, graphics and photos is only allowed with the permission of the Swiss St. Bernard Club.
Our website contains links to external websites that belong to third parties. We have no influence over the information contained in such websites. The linked sites were checked on implementation to our website, the contents of external pages were checked to ensure that they contain no legal violations. No illegal content was found at that time. If we get information of illegal content, we will immediately remove such links.


text:
Wharekura visit significant historical landmarks
Over 50 tamariki from Te Wharekura o Maniapoto recently undertook what is believed to be the very first educational curriculum haerenga to Rangiaowhia and Orakau. The wharekura has implemented this visit as part of their learnings of particular significant historical landmarks, of which the theme for this term is Kahotea.
Accompanied by Kuia Rovina Maniapoto-Anderson (Ngāti Paretekawa), Rovina spoke of the importance of teaching the NZ Land Wars within the Education Curriculum and how she was proud to be apart of this particular haerenga. The tamariki also visited other significant sites; the Rewi Maniapoto Reserve, Orakau Battle Site, St John's Church, and the Karangapaihau/Rangiaowhia Catholic Mission & Cemetery.
It was coincidental that the visit to the Rewi Maniapoto Reserve was almost to the day of the passing of the great warrior – 213 years ago. Whilst at Karangapaihau/Rangiaowhia Catholic Mission & Cemetery, the students were joined by 17 officers of the NZ Army, who were taking part in their own educational programme for new army graduates.
Captain Matthew Fraser (Ngāti Tūmatauenga) also identified the importance of knowing about the NZ Land Wars, "We undertake a trip around Aotearoa to enable our officers to familiarise themselves with some of the historical accounts of the NZ Land Wars".
Te Wharekura o Maniapoto kaiako Fran Borg said that the 'Kura-ā-iwi' educational framework enables the tamariki to connect back to our history. "Our mahi as kaiako is to focus on wellbeing and achieve the pinnacle of excellence for our tāmariki and uri of Rereahu-Maniapoto by using the greatest gifts left to us by our ancestors – our reo, our tikanga, our kawa and our unique Maniapoto history and identity".
Rovina believes that this is a positive step that Te Wharekura o Maniapoto are making towards actively including the history of the NZ Land Wars into the curriculum, and when asked if she could be apart of the haerenga, she didn't hesitate. "This is absolutely wonderful, and I'm proud that our young ones are here to experience this day, we're making history!".
By Katherine Barry|2018-09-04T13:29:02+12:00June 28th, 2017|Featured|Comments Off on Wharekura visit significant historical landmarks


Google is testing out a new search engine result page (SERP) element called Google Price Insights that adds hotel price comparisons to the knowledge graph. Google Price Insights include a hyperlinked call-to-action, "Explore Insights," which takes users to a market comparison page that displays hotel prices against the rates of other hotels in the area for the same date range. Although this feature is still in the testing phase, BrightEdge asserts that "Price Insights presents significant implications for branded keywords in the hospitality industry SEO." Since branded keywords lack competition, users searching branded terms are often more ready to book. However, Google Price Insights can disrupt this behavior by showing nearby competitors' rates.
This new Google feature replicates OTAs by allowing users to view competitors' rates on the Knowledge Graph universal listing. However, Google Price Insights can also help hotels gain more visibility on the SERPs for keyword groups they would not usually go after using SEO efforts. For example, a hotel brand that maintains competitive pricing and pays attention to seasonal trends could appear in the Google Knowledge Graph for competitors' branded keyword terms and rank higher than competitors due to better rates. This can lead to more organic traffic from new unique visitors who previously would've converted for one of the local competitors.
With the testing of Google's Price Insights feature in place, it is best to monitor the click-through rate (CTR) on the highest-value branded keywords; bookings from organic traffic with homepage and landing page; organic bookings for branches in highly competitive locations; and the CTR on branded geo-specific keywords (e.g., Hotel Wales NYC). Lastly, if there are any dips in CTR that aren't attributed to an increase in impressions and/or fluctuations in keyword ranks, then it could signify that the Price Insights test is already active on your SERPs and users are clicking on competitors' listings.


Book an appointment to see this amazing all brick ranch home. This 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath ranch is a homeowners dream. 422 Boiling Springs has an open floor plan, fire place, ensuite master bathroom, walk in closet and laundry. The beautiful kitchen has stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, with plenty of cabinets and storage. You have to stand in this kitchen to truly appreciate all it has to offer. This home was built for you to relax and unwind or share with family and friends. 422 Boiling Springs is truly a home you would be proud to call your own. The home sits on almost a half acre of land with plenty of room to spread out. The large backyard would be perfect for gardening, pets or children to play safely. This home also boast a wrap around driveway, carport and a storage shed with power. Come see this truly turn key move in ready home today. There is simply nothing to do but move in, relax and enjoy.
Listing provided courtesy of Gregg Wright of Realty One Group Freedom.


text:
Main Sponsor - L.I.T
Limerick Institute of Technology, twice named 'Sunday Times University Guide' Institute of the Year, is home to over 6,500 students across five vibrant campuses in Limerick City, Ennis, Thurles and Clonmel. The Thurles campus is home to a new specialised gym for its strength and conditioning programme, whilst the Clonmel campus is an LSAD centre of excellence for multi-media and digital animation programmes.
Local Enterprise Office, Tipperary - Sponsor of the Best Start-Up Business Award
The Local Enterprise Office in Tipperary County Council provides a range of supports for business creation and development including advice, training, mentoring and grants. Financial supports are available to enterprises employing up to ten staff in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors. All businesses may avail of soft supports. Online Trading Vouchers are also available to enable small firms and retailers establish an on line presence to trade internationally.
LEO Tipperary has offices in Clonmel and Nenagh www.localenterprise.ie/tipperary
SHOWGROUNDS SHOPPING CENTRE CLONMEL - Sponsor of the Retail, Hospitality & Tourism Awards
The Showgrounds Shopping Centre opened in October 2009. Covering a six acre site, the scheme has 35 units with a total lettable area of 117,000 sq ft (10,900 sq m approx.) and 365 free car parking spaces.
Open 7 days a week, the Centre has a mix of retail fashion, food and consumer durables and features brands such as TK Maxx, Iceland and Argos.
The Centre also has the only Marks & Spencer store in the south-east of Ireland ensuring a wide catchment area of over 260,000 regional shoppers.
AMNEAL - Sponsor of the CSR/Contribution to the Community Award
AMNEAL IRELAND LIMITED
Amneal Ireland Limited is a generic drug manufacturer based on the Cahir Road in Cashel. This facility is part of Amneal Pharmaceuticals and is involved in the production of metered dose and dry powder inhalers (MDIs and DPIs).
Amneal Pharmaceuticals is an American pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and distributes generic pharmaceutical products and is currently the 5th largest U.S. generics manufacturer in terms of number of prescriptions written.
Amneal brings to Cashel a proven track record of providing steady jobs, empowering employees to do their best work and collaborating with the surrounding community to build a successful operation, aligned with Amneal's core values.
Amneal Ireland Limited,
Cahir Rd,
Cashel,
Careers.cashel@amneal.com
Abbott - Sponsor of the Best Large Business Award
VASCULAR CARE: CLONMEL
A healthy cardiovascular system is essential to good health. That's why at Abbott, we're advancing the treatment of heart and vascular disease through breakthrough medical technologies that are less invasive, allowing people to restore their health and get on with their lives.
Abbott focuses on improving treatment options for people with coronary artery disease, mitral regurgitation and peripheral artery disease. We're working on timely advances and innovative technologies that have the potential to improve the way doctors treat people with vascular diseases.
Abbott's vascular manufacturing facility in Clonmel helps meet worldwide demand for vascular devices.
The original 150,000-square-foot facility was established on 55 acres by Digital Corp in 1980. Today, the modern 250,000-square-foot facility on a 19-acre site is a centre of excellence in the manufacturing of vascular devices.
PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED
Abbott's vascular business in Clonmel manufactures a broad range of vascular devices, including stent delivery systems.
Key products include:
XIENCE Alpine & XIENCE Xpedition – drug-eluting stent delivery systems
ProGlide, StarClose and Prostar , – products to facilitate secure closure of vascular access sites
Armada 14 & Armada 18–peripheral dilatation catheters
Omnilink Elite – a peripheral stent delivery system
Graftmaster – a coronary stent graft system
Abbott Vascular, Clonmel
Cashel Road
www.ie.abbott/about-us/abbott-in-ireland/vascular-clonmel.html
AIB - Sponsor of the SME Award
AIB in Tipperary is represented at nine full service branches throughout the county. We are proud to support SME enterprises in all sectors. We have recently appointed a Brexit Advisor, and We have also appointed Ms. Mary Rogan to the position as Head of Business Banking for Tipperary. We are committed to continuing to support economic development in Tipperary through our Branch, Direct Banking and Relationship Manager teams.
Boston Scientific - Sponsor of the Sports, Arts & Culture Award
Boston Scientific is dedicated to transforming lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world. It develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in various interventional medical specialties worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Cardiovascular, Rhythm Management, and MedSurg, offering among others, interventional cardiology products, including drug-eluting coronary stent systems used in the treatment of coronary artery disease, and cardiac rhythm management devices, such as implantable cardioverter defibrillator systems to detect and treat abnormally fast heart rhythms. Further, it provides spinal cord stimulator systems for the management of chronic pain.
Boston Scientific was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts and currently has 27,000 employees worldwide. It employs approximately 1,000 people in Clonmel where it designs, develops and manufactures pacemakers, defibrillators, spinal cord stimulators and deep brain stimulators. Boston Scientific has operated in Clonmel since 1999 and its dedication to advancing science for life helps patients around the globe live longer, healthier lives.
County Tipperary Skillnet - Sponsor of Training/Development Employer Award
County Tipperary Skillnet is based in the offices of County Tipperary Chamber, Clonmel.
Enterprise led, County Tipperary Skillnet facilitate the active participation of companies in determining their own training needs and how, when and where training will be delivered.
County Tipperary Skillnet invites companies to talk to the team with a view to assisting them with their specific training needs, funding of up to 20% is available.
County Tipperary Skillnet collaborate with the Chamber, the contracting organisation, to provide leading- edge events throughout the year.
Karen.walters@clonmelchamber.com
sabrina@clonmelchamber.com
052 6191103/ 6191105
FOH Financial - Sponsor of the Best Services Business Award
FOH Financial Limited was established in 2006, by Frances O'Hanlon, who has over 25 years' experience in the Financial Services Industry & are based in Clonmel with a client base nationwide.
They are Independent Financial Advisors who deal with the various aspects of their client's finances as their lives evolve, be they personal or business clients.
'Our independence is important to us and it should be important to you, we provide our clients with a doorway to some of the best financial advice & products available in the market'
'Best Advice & Customer Care are at the core of our beliefs, this is not just lip service, the proof being 99% of our clients are referred from existing clients or fellow professionals such as Accountants, Solicitors etc.'
FOH Financial Limited.
6 Dr Croke Place, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
t: 052 6129487 f: 052 6129497
Website:www.foh.ie
FOH Financial Ltd is regulated by The Central Bank of Ireland.
Company Registration Number 441803.
MIKEY RYAN'S BAR & KITCHEN - Sponsor of the Food & Agricultural Award
Renowned chef Liam Kirwan has returned to Ireland to head up a new gastropub in the heart of Cashel, Co Tipperary.
Mikey Ryan's is a charming 19th century pub situated a stone's throw from the historic Rock of Cashel. After an extensive renovation, the pub re-opened in early August 2017. Liam Kirwan, a Tipperary native returned home to up the kitchen. Described in the London Evening Standard as a 'well-travelled, energetic, imaginative, bread-baking chef with Irish antecedents' and with over 20 years' experience as a top chef, Kirwan will bring his talent and creative flair to this project where we hope to combine all that Ireland does best; produce, pubs and passion. The concept for Mikey Ryan's Bar & Kitchen is for a distinctly Irish gastropub with a cooking from scratch ethos and a focus on local, seasonal ingredients of high quality, organic wherever possible. The chef is well-suited to a project of this nature having worked in some of London's most notable gastropubs including The Sands End and The Albion. Prior to this, Kirwan honed his skills working under great chefs such as Rowley Leigh and Jeremy Lee and later went on to serve as Head Chef in several of the outposts of the hugely successful Hawksmoor group.
Kirwan has spent time cooking in restaurants in Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean and Portugal. Each of these experiences broadened his horizons and influenced his creativity, however it is his home county of Tipperary that is the source of most inspiration for him. He is passionate about the produce the county boasts and is keen to showcase it in his interpretation of local gastronomy. Developing a love of cooking from a young age, citing both his mother and grandmother as his food heroes, Kirwan hopes to emulate 'the love that went into preparing food for our family'. This effort to reconnect with his roots was picked up on after his most recent stint in London, with the journalist pointing out 'It is now his Irish soul that speaks'.
Kirwan is grateful of all the support and positivity the project has been met with and says of his involvement; "Mikey Ryan's is a wonderful opportunity for me and I couldn't believe how fortuitous the timing was. I had been planning to return to Ireland and was keen to base myself in Tipperary. There is a serious food community in this part of the world and everyone has been very welcoming. There is a sense that the county is becoming a destination in its own right and it seems there is a food movement spurring this on. At Mikey's we're already talking about developing our own kitchen garden and I'm excited to bring something different to the area."
Working directly with local farmers and artisan producers such as Brookfield Farm Lamb, Crowe's Farm with their award winning bacon, Annie's Organic Farm for vegetables and of course Cashel Blue Cheese, Mikey Ryan's will offer its local and international guests a 'taste of Tipperary'. Reflecting the chef's food philosophy, the menu is founded on the culinary principles of freshness, seasonality and a focus on quality ingredients prepared with care to enhance their flavour. Expect food that conjures up feelings of home, nostalgia and comfort but that bit more delicious. It's not such a long way to Tipperary after all...
Photos by Shantanu Starick
ABBOTT - Best Large Business Sponsor
AIB - Best SME Award Sponsor
AMNEAL - Sponsor Of CSR Award
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC - Sports Arts & Culture Award Sponsor
COUNTY TIPPERARY SKILLNET - Training/Development Employer Award Sponsor
FOH FINANCIAL Sponsor Of The Best Services Business Award
Hospitality & Tourism Awards
LOCAL ENTERPRISE OFFICE TIPPERARY - Sponsor Of Best Start-Up Business Award
MAIN SPONSOR - L.I.T.
MIKEY RYANS BAR & KITCHEN - Sponsor Of The Food & Agricultural Award
MSD - Sponsor Of Social Media Award
OGBP - Sponsor The Best Family Business Award
SHOWGROUNDS - Sponsor Of The Retail