An expansion of the Panama Canal won’t be complete for another roughly eight months, but Port Manatee officials say they are already prepared for an increase in major container vessels, and already experienced an 83-percent increase in container units shipped there last fiscal year. “We are always pursuing expansion plans with the commodity owners for what goods ship in those containers,” said Carlos Buqueras, Port Manatee executive director.

The boost at the port comes largely with the arrival of weekly service through World Direct Shipping, which has been shipping since November last year between Port Manatee and the Port of Coatzacoalcos in southern Mexico. Thanks to expansive dredging of the berths at the Palmetto-based port, larger vessels can already use the port to ship large goods. The improvements have attracted international companies like AirProducts to locate major facilities near the port, and once more shipping lanes connect the port with parts of Asia and South America, that interest will only boost, Buqueras predicted. Meanwhile, officials here are making sure companies along Florida’s Gulf Coast know the port is ready for business.

“We are also the only port for Collier, Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota counties,” Buqueras said, “which over the next 20 years are going to grow dramatically. We want to make sure businesses are well aware of that.” 

Former Gov. Jeb Bush just swung through Southwest Florida for a fundraising dinner, and supporters don’t expect that to be the last time he visits the region before Florida’s March 15 presidential primary. “Jeb has got lots of friends here,” said Tramm Hudson, who hosted a $1,000-per-plate dinner at his Longboat Key home Monday. 

Bush served as governor of Florida from 1998 to 2006, when he was term-limited. When he entered the presidential contest, he was early on considered a frontrunner, though he has fallen in polls since then. But he remains well-funded, and Hudson was confident as actual elections neared, Bush would perform better than the polls indicate today. “There is a difference between public opinion, which polls capture in a snapshot in time, and public judgment, which comes when the facts are all known and all has been heard,” Hudson said. “The voters usually come to the right decision.” Host committee members for the Monday dinner included U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, state Sen. Bill Galvano and former lawmakers Lisa Carlton, John McKay, Pat Neal and Will Weatherford.

The Bush visit comes amid notable political activity in the region this month. Nuerosurgeon Ben Carson, another contender for the Republican nomination, came to Sarasota earlier this month with his book tour, and developer Donald Trump, the top-polling Republican, is expected to hold a rally in Sarasota this Saturday. 

External hard drive space and cloud storage have become so inexpensive we no longer have any excuse not to have multiple backups of our digital content to protect all of our devices—computers, smartphones, tablets, etc. Think of the many hours you invest at your company in gathering client data, developing amazing creative solutions, conducting online research, finalizing that perfect proposal or even just preserving your photos from a family vacation. Now, imagine all of that work is gone in an instant due to a computer crash. Think of the hours of billable time that would be lost in trying to recreate what was lost.

I recently had one of my computer hard drives fail. I had backed it up onto external storage drive—but that one failed too. Thankfully, I had a third backup in the cloud and all of my data was saved. It's not as simple as just connecting your computer to an external hard drive, or with Apple, turning on Time Machine, and initiating a backup. You also need to periodically check your backups and the integrity of the drives you are using. Another great, cost-effective and convenient solution is to subscribe to a cloud computing backup service.

There are a number of cloud services in the market that are effective and reliable, such as iDrive, CrashPlan, SOS, Carbonite, etc., many costing less than $100 a year to store up to 1 terabyte of data. Cloud services use the most up-to-date encryption software to protect your intellectual property. If you're worried about your privacy you can always set your content to be encrypted.

Pedro Pérez is a founding partner of Nuevo Advertising Group and an adjunct professor of Global Brand Strategies at Ringling College of Art and Design. For over 17 years Pedro has offered clients his knowledge and expertise. Pedro has always demonstrated a keen analytical sense combined with a good dose of common sense in crafting digital and online marketing strategies as part of an integrated marketing plan. 

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Sarasota Memorial Health Care System welcomed family practice physician to North Port. Dr. Leah Mugo joined the First Physician Group practice in North Port, where she will join Internal Medicine and Pediatrics specialist Dr. Janet Lewis. Mugo came to Sarasota from Peoria, Ill., where she spent several years as a practicing physician with Unity Point Clinic, formerly Methodist Medical Center of Illinois. She earned her medical degree at Purdue University in 2009 and completed her Family Medicine Residency at the Methodist Medical Center in Illinois in 2012. She also completed advanced training in the Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs Fellowship, which focuses on research and treatment of medical issues in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and related chronic complex conditions.  

First Physician Group

Fergeson, Skipper, Shaw, Keyser, Baron and Tirabassi announced it has been named a 2016 Best Law Firm by U.S. News and World Report and Best Lawyers. The firm was ranked in Tier 1 for Trusts and Estates Law and Tier 2 for Tax Law in the Sarasota Metro area. Ranked firms, presented in tiers, are listed on a national and/or metropolitan scale. Receiving a tier designation is based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. 

Fergeson, Skipper, Shaw, Keyser, Baron and Tirabassi

It may only be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but it’s never too early to start making your post-holiday breakfast plans. Do you prefer the quaint train atmosphere at Station 400, the mimosa and Bloody Mary bar at Libby’s, or a new place that we have never heard of? Either way make sure to vote in our 2016 Best of SRQ Local Competition to see which breakfast spot will take home the title! And while you’re at it let us know what your favorite new restaurant is too!

Last year, we heard from reader Marissa Rossnagle on why she thought Station 400 deserved the win and why it remains her favorite breakfast spot, “When my husband, a Sarasota native, was trying to convince me to move here, he took me to Station 400. It didn’t take too much convincing after that. I now treat all my out-of-town visitors to brunch at this local favorite- a wonderful way to entertain guests and enjoy our beautiful weather.”

Regardless if your go-to is pancakes or eggs benedict, we want to hear from all of our local breakfast champions. The 2016 Best of SRQ Local polls are open now through February 15th, 2016 at SRQMAG.com/bestofsrq. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite!