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Sage Kamiya, Manatee County Deputy Director of Traffic Management, was recently named Transportation of the Year by the Florida Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, an international educational and scientific association of transportation professionals.
Kamiya received the Edward A. Mueller Transportation of the Year Award, the profession’s top honor among a 1,000 member section that includes Florida and Puerto Rico. He was also elected as chapter secretary for 2013. Both distinctions were announced at the group’s annual awards banquet in Bonita Springs this week.
“Sage is really an up-and-comer,” said chapter president Robert Fulp. “He’s well-deserving of this award because of his contributions to the chapter and to Manatee County. He contributed a significant amount of personal time to the chapter … and he’s very resourceful in helping our local arrangements committee, which helps us organize summer and winter meetings.”
Larry Hagen, a civil engineer who chairs the section’s awards committee, said Kamiya was selected for his active participation and leadership within the group.
“Sage has been working hard, contributing and participating in meetings, showing up ready to help and mentoring others,” Hagen said. “He’s showing himself to be a good leader and mentor to those up and coming in the profession.”
Kamiya was recently promoted to the Deputy Director of Traffic Management, a division of Manatee County Public Works. He manages multiple traffic divisions, including traffic operations, traffic engineering and design, the county’s Traffic Management Center and transportation planning.
“It's great to have one of our own be honored,” said Chad Butzow, Deputy Director of Operations for Manatee County Public Works. “This proves what we already knew about our team we have put together around our ATMS project.”
He was instrumental in developing and launching Manatee’s new Advanced Traffic Management System, a project that won 2012 Project of the Year honors from the Suncoast Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Kamiya graduated from Florida State University in 1996 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering. He earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of South Florida in 2006.
The Edward A. Mueller District 10 Transportation Engineer of the Year Award was established in 1980 by the Florida Section to recognize outstanding contributions to the Florida Section and to the transportation profession.
“I’m very honored to receive the award because it’s good to hear from your peers that they think you’re a solid professional,” Kamiya said. “The idea that it was a group of peers who appreciated what you’d done was an honor to hear.”
Kamiya has nearly 17 years of both public and private engineering experience with focus on transportation planning and traffic engineering. As secretary of the group, Kamiya aims to communicate with younger members of the organization and to look for innovative ways to reach membership.
Dr Daniel J Serpentelli III, a local chiropractic physician, has just announced completion of his studies in the FAKTR technique. FAKTR is an acronym for Functional and Kinetic Treatment with Rehabilitation. It involves treating joint related pain by using soft tissue manipulation with specially designed instruments and a combination of stretching, resistance exercise and functional activities to eliminate pain and restore normal joint function. It can be used on anyone from people who simply want to be able to engage in normal activities to highly trained competitive athletes.
Florida Garage Door Company, D & D Garage Doors is starting it’s 2ND ANNUAL statewide campaign to help the less fortunate this Thanksgiving. Every D & D Garage Doors location will be accepting can food and non-perishable items starting this week. D & D Garage Doors Sarasota showroom is located at 1177 Cattlemen Rd., Sarasota, FL 34232, (941) 371-7242. All items will be donated to a local organization who prepares a Thanksgiving meal for those less fortunate on Thanksgiving Day. For the Sarasota area all items are being donated to “Second Chance-Last Opportunity.”
In addition, D & D will begin a fundraising initiative to raise awareness & funds for these same organizations. Starting November 1st through November 20th, D & D Garage Doors will donate ONE DOLLAR to “Second Chance-Last Opportunity,” for every NEW FAN who joins their page and states “Sarasota/Bradenton is FEEDING THE HUNGRY!” You can join the efforts at www.facebook.com/DandDGarageDoors.
Through this statewide campaign D & D Garage Doors hopes to raise funds along with awareness to those less fortunate and the organizations that work so hard to help them.
D & D Garage Doors services the Sarasota/Bradenton area as well as the state of Florida coast to coast. For a list of needed items and all drop off locations, please visit www.DandDGarageDoors.com. “Second Chance-Last Opportunity” is located at 933 Doctor Martin Luther King Way Sarasota, FL 34234, (941) 360-8660. *Participants may email info@danddgaragedoors.com in lieu of “liking” the page.
In the ongoing effort to help feed the hungry in our community, the 4th annual “Stuff the Bus” event will take place at all Manatee County Publix Super Markets on Saturday, Nov. 17th from 9am until dark and Sunday, Nov. 18th from 9am until 4pm. This initiative is a partnership between the Manatee School District, Publix, Tropicana, FM radio stations 106.5 CTQ and 92.1 The Coast, and United Way of Manatee County, to benefit The Food Bank of Manatee.
“What started as an idea from a few employees in the School Transportation Department has become one of the largest community efforts to help The Food Bank of Manatee to feed children and families in need,” said Scott Martin, with The School District of Manatee County. “With the holiday season approaching, we encourage everyone to come together and give food to help those less fortunate.”
There are more than 2,000 children in the Manatee County school system who are homeless and unsure of how they are going to get their next meal. Through its 100 partner agencies, including the school district’s Project Heart, The Food Bank helps to ensure that these families are not going hungry.
Philip Brown, President of United Way of Manatee County said, “Fortunately, we live in a community that cares for one another. This initiative is a perfect example of how reaching out a hand to one can influence the condition of all. From the collaborated efforts of all of our partners and sponsors, to the folks donating their hard-earned money by buying food, to the dedicated volunteers that give their time to see this project through, we are able to make a huge impact in the fight against hunger.”
Last year, the Stuff the Bus event collected more than 100,000 pounds of food – this year, the goal is to collect 130,000 pounds. Volunteers are needed to help at Publix stores during the event. Those interested in helping should call Darlene Reynolds at 708.8770, ext. 2259 or email reynoldd@manateeschools.net.
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Lisa Johnson, CPA & CS&L CPAs Principal was recognized as a 2012 Five Star Wealth Manager for the second year in a row. This prestigious award is given to individuals who exemplify top qualities of superb wealth managers.
To be nominated for this award, the candidates must be voted for by their firms, clients and peers on 10 eligibility criteria that are considered essential characteristics of a professional in this role. These characteristics are required to effectively provide the finest service, knowledge and value to their clients.
Lisa Johnson is a CPA and Principal at CS&L CPAs and specializes in estate, gift and succession planning, partnerships, LLC's, S-Corporations, family businesses and not-for-profit organizations.
CS&L CPAs is a certified public accounting firm that has been serving Bradenton and Sarasota since 1954. CS&L offers a wide range of solutions relating to taxation, accounting, auditing, business technology consulting and pension administration. CS&L CPAs was repeatedly named a "Best Place to Work" from 2009-2012 by the Tampa Bay Business Journal and is ranked in the Gulf Coast Business Review Top 500 Companies. Visit www.CSLcpa.com for more information.
The Interact Club at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School is celebrating Interact’s 50th anniversary during World Interact week beginning November 5th. The Interact Club and their sponsor, the Rotary Club of Bradenton, will commemorate the event by promoting Rotary awareness and world understanding.
They have created a new T-shirt design depicting world peace and the bond among all people. They will wear their shirts to school to emphasize those values to their classmates. Representatives from the Interact Board will attend Rotary lunch on November 5.
Seven new members were inducted recently, bringing their total membership this year to 29. Interact is a Rotary International service club for youth 14-18 with a membership of over 250,000 in over 11,000 clubs worldwide.
Interact Club members at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton are planning both community and international projects this year, including Lord's Pantry Food Drives and American Cancer Society fundraising events.
The Bradenton Rotary Club announced today that its charitable Foundation has authorized gifts in excess of over $37,000 to various local and international causes. Daniel Chappie, Board President of the Bradenton Rotary Foundation, said that gifts will include $6,000 for scholarships to local high school students, $8,000 to the Rotarians Against Hunger program, $3,500 to the Salvation Army as well as gifts to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Manatee County, F.E.L.T. (Feeding Empty Little Tummies) and other charitable causes. Funds will also be used to provide dictionaries for all local 3rd grade students, a project that the Rotary organization has operated for several years. The Bradenton Rotary Club also will fund sending students each year to the state-wide Seminar for Tomorrow's Leaders.
Chappie noted "Each year the Bradenton Rotary Club, through the generosity of local giving, supports projects at home and abroad in the Rotary spirit of "Service Above Self". We thank our supporting members and the local community for their contributions to Rotary. Together we make a difference, world-wide and at home."