Accolades
 Peg Beck, executive director of human resources at State College of Florida, Manatee - Sarasota (SCF), was named the recipient of the Nevis Herrington HR Excellence Award by the Florida College System Human Resources (HR) Council.
She was presented with the annual award by her peers at an HR Council meeting for demonstrating a continued commitment to excellence in the service of the HR Council and the Florida College System.
Beck has been employed at SCF since 1998 and during that time has been a member of the HR Council and a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources. She also has earned a master trainer designation for Developmental Dimensions International; served as past president for the local chapter of the Sarasota-Manatee Human Resource Association, past chair of the Florida HR Council and past HR representative on the Florida State College Risk Management Operations Committee; and developed SCF’s Leadership Excellence professional development program.
Beck was recently appointed to the 2013 Suncoast Workforce Board of Directors.
Big Sisters of the Sun Coast’s Sara Peterson has been selected 2013 Big Sister of the Year for the state of Florida.
Peterson has formed a lifelong friendship with her “little sister” Cassie for the past nine years.
“Being with Cassie over the years has meant everything to me. I’ve got as much as I’ve given, and it’s been a wonderful experience for me to feel I can still do some good at my age of 82 and still make a positive change to a young person’s life,” Peterson explained.
Peterson will now represent Florida in the national competition to crown the 2013 National Big Brother and Big Sister of the Year. The winner will be announced in June 2013 at the Big Brothers Big Sisters National Conference in Denver, CO.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast provides one-to-one mentoring relationships to children ages 6-18 years old throughout the GulfCoast of Florida in Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto, Highlands, Hardee, Charlotte, Lee, Collier, Glades and Hendry counties. For more information, visit: www.bbbssun.org.
Jeanette Williams, Account Executive, Financial Services Representative and Investment Advisor Representative, has earned MetLife’s Leaders level of recognition—an honor bestowed to a select set of MetLife top producers, specifically those who exemplify the highest standards of personal integrity, professionalism, customer service across the company.
Williams is a graduate of the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration. She has worked in the financial services industry for 29 years. Williams can be reached at 941-961- 6125.
Photo: Myron Browning (Mind-N-Amaze Photography)
Caption: Dr. Khalil Muhammad with Charlayn. Hunter-Gaultland (l) and Lovette Harper.
Friends of the North Sarasota Public Library welcomed a capacity crowd to Michael's on East on March 9 to celebrate the opening of the facility's Cultural Resource Center. The center, located inside the library houses a special collection of 1200 items including books, periodicals, videos, artifacts, paintings and art including Ethiopian materials and artifacts. Dr. Khalil Muhammad, director of the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture located in New York was the keynote speaker.
Business News
Carol Schoff, a salesperson at Sir Speedy in Sarasota has been recognized as a 2012 Platinum Level Top Performer. The Top Performer Award is presented annually to recognize top achievers in the Sir Speedy franchise network. This year, Schoff was one of only 30 salespeople who received Platinum Level status from more than 300 worldwide.
“I’m very proud of Carol. She works hard every day to help our customers with all of their printing and marketing needs,” said Sir Speedy owner Eileen Rosenzweig.
The Platinum Level Awards are presented at the annual Sales Forum event, sponsored by Franchise Services, Inc., parent company of Sir Speedy. Sir Speedy is located at 3939 S Tamiami Tr Sarasota.
Nonprofit News
 Laurel Corrao has joined SCOPE. She is originally from Tampa, and is currently a resident of the Indian Beach/Sapphire Shores neighborhood. Last year she was a SCOPE intern working on developing a map of impervious surfaces within Sarasota County which is currently available on the Sarasota County Community Data Platform.
She has her B.A. in Environmental Science from New College of Florida. Laurel will be working as a GIS analyst, and will be focusing on projects related to Community Data and Community Engagement.
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Appointments and Promotions
 Esther Halt has joined the North Lakewood Ranch office of Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., located at 11009 Gatewood Drive, Suite 101 Lakewood Ranch, as a Financial Advisor. Halt’s office specializes in providing a full range of investment planning services for individuals and families. Halt offers clients customized plans based on their unique needs, which may include asset management services, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, FDIC-insured certificates of deposit, annuities & other insurance products and more.
The Holiday Inn Sarasota Airport has a new Director of Sales, Cecilia Maddi. Bringing over 15 years of hotel sales experience to the team,
Maddi previously worked for the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay in Tampa. After graduating from Shih Chien University with a degree in business management and administration in Taipei City, Taiwan, Maddi worked as an executive assistant for the opening team for Hyatt International Asia in Taiwan. She gained sales experience when she took the position of senior sales manager for Shangri-La International Hotels and Resorts in Singapore.
Maddi has received recognition for her work in the industry over the years, including being named Hyatt Manager of the Year in 2006 and being named one of Hyatt's elite performers in 2011.
Holiday Inn Sarasota Airport is located at 8009 15th St. East, Sarasota, overlooking runways at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. www.hisrq.com.
Anne Lehotsky has been named marketing manager at WCI Communities, the Bonita Springs-based lifestyle community developer and homebuilder.
Lehotsky is responsible for marketing activities for multiple new home communities, including Hampton Park at Gateway in Fort Myers, Venetian Golf & River Club in Venice and Tidewater Preserve in Bradenton.
Lehotsky joined WCI in 1999 as has held various positions within the amenities and homebuilding sales operations. She was promoted to marketing coordinator in 2011 and has more than 15 years experience in the real estate industry.
 First Federal Bank of Florida has added Tammy Zuknick as their Director of Lockbox and Community Associations for Sarasota, Manatee and Naussau Counties. Tammy has been in banking for 30 years and has been a branch manager, customer service specialist, mortgage originator and, most recently, director of lockbox at Cadence Bank in Sarasota.
Webtivity Design Solutions has added Trisha Gaffney as a Marketing Consultant at Webtivity Design Solutions. Trisha previously worked as a Digital Media Consultant with a global multimedia corporation. Trisha brings skills in search engine optimization, search engine marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, text marketing, direct mail and mobile marketing. Trisha is Google AdWords Certified and received her Yahoo Strategic Ambassador designation. She is also a member of the American Advertising Federation (AAF).
Trisha's role with Webtivity will include analyzing clients' current marketing strategies, recommending new strategies, and developing marketing budgets
Also at Webtivity, Patricia Sennhauser has been hired as Marketing/Design Assistant. Patricia's role with Webtivity will include supporting the Design and Internet Marketing staff by contributing input and support and assisting with client communications.
Patricia earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in International Business with a directed focus in the areas of both Marketing and Management from the University of South Florida. Webtivity Design Solutions is headquartered in Bradenton.
Real Estate News
 Diane Mahoney has joined RE/MAX Platinum Realty as a Realtor in the Venice office. She was previously with Exit King Realty. Before starting her real estate career, Mahoney had a career in the United States Air Force. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she was a paralegal/court reporter attached to the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG) for 21 years. After retiring from the military with the rank of Master Sergeant, she returned to the same job as a civilian for another 20 years, mostly as a court reporter in Europe, including the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany.
RE/MAX Platinum’s Venice office is located at 307 West Venice Avenue, Venice.
 Also at RE/MAX, Diane Calderaro has joined RE/MAX Alliance Group as a Broker-Associate in the Sarasota office. She has been a local real estate professional for 17 years. She has won Multi-Million Dollar Producer Award from the Women’s Council of Realtors in 2006, the WCI Communities Platinum level award in 2004 and 2005, and the Five Star Real Estate Agent Award in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
She is a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE), Real Estate Owned Specialist (REOS) and Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) Candidate. The Sarasota office is located at 2000 Webber Street, Sarasota.
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