Ace Hardware breaks new ground in Plant City
Ace Hardware Corporation is relocating its new Retail Support Center from Tampa to Plant City next year and broke ground last week.
The new facility will give Ace more than 315,000 square feet to add to its current capabilities when construction, which starts this month, is completed around November 2021. Developer County Line Farms One LLC estimates the new facility will bring 200 construction jobs into town. As far as work at the facility goes, Ace plans to have 162 full-time equivalent employees at the facility — 119 of which will transfer over from the current Tampa location.
“We looked at Plant City as, really, a community that shared our missions and our values,”
Chuck Ungaro, global real estate manager for Ace Hardware Corporation, said in a press release. “Your motto is ‘preserving the past and embracing the future,’ and that goes hand-in-glove with what we do as a company. We want to embrace the future and preserve our past as well. We wouldn’t be who we are today with our community and that’s something that is very important to us. We felt a really strong sense of community in Plant City, as well.”
Kiwanis Club installs new officers
The Kiwanis Club of Plant City had its annual officer installation dinner last night and welcomed four officers to their new positions.
Those installed Wednesday include President Jimmy Conrow (Edward Jones), President-elect Marilyn Williams (Helpful Companion, LLC), Treasurer Heather Coats (South Florida Baptist Hospital) and Secretary Keri Kozicki (South Florida Baptist Hospital).
The club is also celebrating 100 years of service in the community.
HCSO brings back non-contact visitation
Starting Oct. 5, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office will resume visitation for families and friends of inmates.
HCSO announced is reopening the Falkenburg Road Jail Video Visitation Center for free non-contact visitations with the following guidelines in place:
- The Video Visitation Center will be limited to 50 percent capacity.
- Personally-owned masks/face coverings are required to be worn for entry into the visitation center.
- Any person entering the visitation center will be subject to a temperature check and COVID-19 questionnaire screening.
- Inmates will be allowed one adult visitor (18 years or older) per visit.
- Social distancing throughout the visitation center will be enforced and stations will be sanitized after each use.
“We understand how important it is for families to stay in touch with their incarcerated loved ones. We appreciate their patience and understanding as we’ve worked to balance the desire to stay connected with the critical need for safety during this ongoing pandemic,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “As video visitation resumes at the Falkenburg Road Jail, we plan to closely follow CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to our inmates, staff, their families, and the public they interact with daily.”
Visitation scheduling policies will remain unchanged. If you can’t make it to the visitation center in person, you can video chat on your home computer or an electronic device on HCSO’s website at a cost of $8 for 20 minutes. Inmates get one free 10-minute phone call per week. To set up your video visitation account, visit hcsovisit.com/app.
Weekly COVID-19 roundup
For the week of Sept. 20-26, Hillsborough County reported 42,118 total cases, an estimated 641 total fatalities (1.52 percent of cases) and 36,455 recoveries.
The county saw decreases in cases (-11.81 percent) in a seven-day period, positive test percentage (5.27 percent) in a 14-day period and in COVID-related hospitalizations (-12.3 percent) in a seven-day period. The testing average increased from 20,985 to 22,779 last week, as did seven-day percentages in hospital occupancy (60.65 percent), ICU occupancy (67.92 percent) and hospital admission (18.52 percent).
Data is viewable online at hillsboroughcounty.org/residents/public-safety/emergency-management/stay-safe/covid-19-dashboard.