The First Coast Manufacturers Association (FCMA) announced the winners of its 2011 “Excellence In Manufacturing” awards at a special luncheon at the University of North Florida, with Vistakon winning two awards and Vac-Con winning the “Manufacturer of the Year” for the largest manufacturer.

The winning manufacturers include:

2011 Manufacturer of the Year (large) – Vac-Con, Inc.

The company is a manufacturer of truck mounted vacuum, water jet and vacuum excavation equipment for commercial and municipal environmental applications worldwide. Located in Green Cove Springs, it has grown in the last 25 years to become a top competitor in its markets. Products are distributed through a large network of domestic and foreign dealers. One of the largest private employers in Clay County, it is a strong supporter of the local community.

2011 Manufacturer of the Year (medium) – Harris Lighting

Located in Green Cove Springs, Harris has more than 40 years of experience designing and manufacturing energy efficient lighting systems for large and small businesses across North America.

2011 Manufacturer of the Year (small) – Alternate Energy Technologies, LLC (AET)

Established in 1975, AET is the largest manufacturer of flat plate solar thermal collectors in the US. With over 30 collectors and 120 systems tested/approved, AET solar products provide years of reliable energy savings with collectors comprised of the highest quality materials, including Thermafin’s patented Crystal Clear Selective Coating on all Absorber plates.

2011 Founders Service Award – Fleet Readiness Center Southeast

For more than 70 years, Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) has been performing in-depth overhaul, repair and modification to aircraft, engines and aeronautical components. FRCSE employs more than 4,000 civilian and military personnel working in more than 120 specialized career fields. FRCSE successfully maintained the ISO 14001:2004 and AS9100:2004 Revision B third party certifications.

2011 Associate of the Year – Peak 10

Peak 10 Inc. is a managed services and cloud provider that delivers secure solutions for hosting and managing complex information technology infrastructure.

2011 Environmental Award – Saft America

Saft is a world leader in the design and manufacture of advanced technology batteries for industrial and defense applications. Founded in 1918 and headquartered in Paris, there are 19 locations worldwide with over 4,000 employees. Saft Jacksonville is a LEED Certified, state of the art manufacturing facility for the production of lithium-ion cells, modules and batteries.

2011 Education Award AND Economic Impact Award – Vistakon, Inc.

Vistakon is the world’s leading manufacturer of contact lenses. It has continued capital investments in the latest technologies and a corresponding investment in its workforce. Vistakon provides many ways for associates to enhance their skills, from on-site classes led by experienced peers to off-site seminars led by recognized experts to tuition refund programs. Vistakon reflects the Johnson & Johnson corporate philosophy to invest in its employees, and continues to build a strong First Coast manufacturing presence.

For more information, visit www.fcmaweb.com.

Making an ancient art collection interactive for The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens won Jacksonville design firm Wingard Creative a Gold ADDY at the 2012 ADDY Awards and Un-Masquerade Gala on Feb. 11. In total, Wingard Creative took home four ADDY Awards, a Gold and three Silvers, for its work for The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens and Florida Coastal School of Law.

Sponsored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF) of Jacksonville, the ADDY Awards recognize excellence in advertising and celebrate creativity in design. As the world’s largest advertising competition, the ADDYs offer Gold Award winners the opportunity to continue on to compete on a regional and national level.

Wingard Creative received the Gold and Silver ADDY Awards for Interactive Media for the development of “The Royal Dish” Mobile Site which was created for The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. An interactive mobile website, podcasts and QR codes invite visitors to engage with a collection of ancient Meissen porcelain in new and deeper ways. Additionally, Wingard received two Silver ADDY Awards for Collateral Material, Brochure for its Florida Coastal Flipbook and its Florida Coastal Campus Guide, both developed for the Florida Coastal School of Law.

Learn more at www.wingardcreative.com.

World Golf Village-based Davidson Realty has updated the traditional “Home for Sale” sign with new text messaging functionality. Info tubes have been replaced with text messaging signs at all of the Davidson Realty properties throughout Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Ponte Vedra. Now house hunters simply send a text message to get the most up-to-date information on a Davidson Realty home for sale sent right to their phones, including photos and video tours, 24/7.

Another advantage to this paperless innovation is that the information stays with house hunters on their phones so they can refer to it later or share it with family and friends.

For more information about Davidson Realty, call 904-940-5000 or visit www.DavidsonRealtyinc.com, Fan them on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/DavidsonRealty, follow them on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DavidsonRealty or visit their videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/DavidsonRealtyInc.

On Feb. 15, Mayor Alvin Brown stopped by the MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation (MWKF) to tour the Foundation’s TnT (Tennis and Tutoring) afterschool program and held a roundtable discussion with MWKF Founder, MaliVai Washington and several of the program’s student mayors.

The student mayors are elected by their peers and serve as class leaders and representatives throughout the school year. During the roundtable, Mayor Brown explained to the students how pursuing education would give them more opportunities in life and also congratulated them on their successes both in the classroom and on the tennis court.

“Our students were very excited to see the Mayor and were quite interested in knowing his plans for our beautiful city. I hope that Mayor Brown’s visit to our Youth Center will continue to highlight the importance of community involvement and advocacy. The Mayor’s support is greatly appreciated and we look forward to a wonderful partnership with his administration,” says MaliVai Washington.

For more information, visit www.malwashington.com.

Public accounting veteran Brett Kurtz, CPA, has joined the Jacksonville office of Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP as audit senior associate.

Kurtz brings more than 12 years’ experience as an in-house accountant and with public accounting firms in Central and South Florida. Kurtz is an account and finance graduate of Florida State University and holds the distinction of being an Eagle Scout.

The Jacksonville office is located at 6622 Southpoint Drive South. For more information, call 904-296-9333 or visit www.dhgllp.com.

The TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank donated a total of $100,000 to food banks and shelters throughout Florida to help ease the post-holiday demand for meals.

The donation helps support Florida communities, where the need for food assistance remains high due to significant shortages on food bank and pantry shelves in the new year. According to Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks, more than 3.1 million people in Florida are food insecure, meaning they do not know where their next meal is coming from.

The following food banks and shelters in Florida each received $25,000 contributions:

Camillus House – Miami

Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida – Orlando

Treasure Coast Food Bank – Fort Pierce

Second Harvest North Florida – Jacksonville

More information on the TD Charitable Foundation is available at www.TDBank.com.

Advanced Disposal Services, Inc. is pleased to announce the hiring of Joe Zawadski as auto property damage claims manager. Joe will be responsible for managing property damage claims with the ultimate goal of bringing each case to a conclusion and streamlining the claims process.

Joe holds an Associate of Arts degree from Florida State College and has 26 years of experience in the insurance industry. Previously, Joe worked at Custard Insurance Adjuster as branch manager of the Jacksonville office, where he worked on Advanced Disposal claims.

For more information, visit www.AdvancedDisposal.com or on Facebook at  www.facebook.com/AdvancedDisposal.

The Mayor’s Asian American Advisory Board will host a Small Business Startup Workshop on Saturday, Feb. 25 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.at the Ed Ball Building, 214 N. Hogan St.

The event is designed for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to learn more information about running their own business. It will feature keynote speakers:

•Russell Ward, Counselor; Service Corps of Retired Executives

•Andre Higgins, CPA Audit Manager; LBA Certified Public Accountants

•Jo-Anne Yau, Esq., Corporate Law Attorney; The Yau Law Firm

The event will focus on four major areas that include: planning, marketing and advertising, accounting and finance, and obtaining legal advice from a business lawyer.

For more information on the agenda and to register, visit: http://maaabsbs.eventbrite.com.

The U.S. Green Building Council North Florida Chapter (USGBC NF) celebrated their third annual awards and honored those who championed green building and sustainability in its region during 2011. Ten awards made by Jacksonville artist, John Wolfe, with salvaged rebar and a salvaged fallen cypress tree, were the coveted item of the night along with the sustainable organic wine buckets.

The 2011 award recipients were:

2011 Business of the Year Award

Breaking Ground Contracting Company

2011 Volunteer of the Year

Sonja Curcic, USGBC NF Master Speaker Luncheon Team Leader

2011 Green Heroes

Kevin Songer, Metro Verde

Amanda Searle, Sustainable Springfield

Susan Carew, Duval County Public Schools

2011 Interior Design + Construction Award

CSX 550 Water Street

2011 Global Green Award

Parris Island Child Development Center

2011 Green Initiative Award

CRCI Green Technician Training School

2011 Building Design + Construction Award

UNF College of Education and Human Services

2011 Honorable Mention in Building Design + Construction

Integrated Training Center for Multi-Mission Aircraft P-8A

Other nominees included: Breaking Ground Contracting Company Renovations, Florida State College of Jacksonville Burn Ship, NAS Jacksonville Child Development Center, and TLC Engineering for Architecture.

To see pictures of the awards and their recipients, please visit: http://www.usgbcnf.org/awards. For more information, visit www.usgbcnf.org, or find it on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Advanced Disposal Services, Inc. collected and recycled about 4,120 pounds worth of plastic bottles and aluminum cans during the 26.2 with Donna Marathon on Sunday in Jacksonville and area beaches. For the fourth year, Advanced Disposal sponsored the marathon and half-marathon by providing garbage collection and recycling services.

Advanced Disposal partnered with the Kappa Delta chapter at the University of North Florida to be Beautiful Bag Ladies. The sisters were on-hand to promote recycling and support a worthy cause – to finish breast cancer. Beautiful Bag Ladies were at the post race celebration area to help runners and spectators do their part in “going green” by collecting their recyclables and teaching them about the importance of recycling to keep our community beautiful.

For more information, visit www.AdvancedDisposal.com or on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/AdvancedDisposal.