No Fees Or Costs Unless You Win ZEP RI Editions meant to help you remember and reflect Chamber priorities include BBQ, redevelopment Buoyed by the success of its first Pigz in Z'Hills BBQ and Blues Fest, the Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce is considering taking the event to the next level. The chamber will decide early this year whether to seek to have the compe- tition sanctioned by the Florida Bar-B-Que Association, said Vonnie Mikkelsen, the chamber's executive director. If that happens, the event will likely draw more professional competitors, and a larger crowd, which would be good news for the chamber's scholarship cof- fers, Mikkelsen said. The chamber was gratified by the out- come of last year's event, especially for an inaugural effort, Mikkelsen said."During a first-year event, you're always building a template as you go.' The event allowed the chamber to triple its scholarship fund, Mikkelsen said. The chamber also is paying close atten- tion to the city's redevelopment efforts which are aimed at building a stronger identity for the city and enticing more businesses to locate near downtown. For more information, call the Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce at (813) 782-1913. Or visit http://zephyrhillschamber.org/ Up the road in Dade City, brand new executive director John Moors wants to build on the sense of communi- ty he's observed during just a few weeks on the job. "I see the chamber as sort of setting the table for economic development," said Moors,whose initial focus will be making sure the inner workings of the chamber office operates smoothly. For more infor- mation about the Dade City Chamber of Commerce call (352) 567-3769 or visit http://www.dadecitychamber.org/. -B.C. Manion Mike Wooten, Tim Mayberry and Zephyrhills City Councilman Manny Funes represented the Zephyrhills Daybreak Rotary Club at last year's BBQ and Blues Fest. (File photo) only 15 of us putting out these papers every week - from selling and design- ing ads, to writing and editing stories, to putting ads and stories together on the page and sending them to our printer. I'm proud of what we've accom- plished. We've given you a good selection of stories written to entertain, educate or make your life a tad bit easier. Work on 2010 Again and 2011 Ahead started in early November when we began to sneak into our normal week the year-end interviews, extra stories and the selling and creating ads weeks in ad- vance. Compounding our challenge was the busy holiday season when folks did not have time to return calls and e-mails to reporters and sales reps. But, my staff's perseverance and hard work got the job done. Every employee was instrumental in the success of these issues, but a few stand out. Leading the editorial staff was Associate Editor Joe Humphrey, who early on saw how 2010Again and 2011 Ahead could complement each other. Customer Service Reps Carolyn Bennett and Gena Crowder sweet talked cus- tomers into getting their Christmas and NewYears ad copy into them even be- fore their Thanksgiving leftovers were gone. Our art team of Stefanie Burlingame and Matt Mistretta deserve kudos for working late many evenings so that ads were ready to proof the next day and pages designed in advance. I want to thank my staff for their commitment to a job well done.And to our readers, we hope you find 2010 Again and 2011 Ahead, an enjoyable way to remember life in your neighborhood and to reflect on what's ahead in the new year. Region readies for economic recovery By B.C. Manion bcmanion@cnewspubs.com Coming on the heels of a year that's been dominated by news of double-digit unemploy- ment and high foreclosure rates, leaders in Hillsborough and Pasco counties want to change the narrative. Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan led the push to have a ballot measure placed on November's ballot that allows commis- sioners to grant a property tax exemption to companies locating or expanding in the county. In pushing the measure, Hagan argued the county needed another tool to help it spur the economy to create more jobs. In Pasco County, numerous efforts are under way to lay the groundwork for companies to lo- cate there and to help existing companies flourish and grow. Pasco is paying attention to both the big pic- ture and the small details, said John Hagen, president and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council. Big things - like tax advantages and good ac- cessibility - help make a community attractive to new businesses, Hagen said. But so do less ob- vious things like clear development codes and an efficient development process. Pasco is rewriting its code to make it easier to See RECOVERY, page 11 The Economy: What's in Store for theYear Ahead? The Pasco Economic Development Council presents a forecast of the U.S. and Florida economies with a look into what the numbers mean locally Jan. 28, 12-1:30 p.m. Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club $25 RSVP to (888) 60-PASCO by Jan. 24 RUSSELL ADAMS REALTY, INC. 2502 Land O' Lakes Blvd. * Corner of Carson Rd. & US 41 813-949-3603 www.russelladamsrealty.com T.,,, "'Short Sale Workout Specialist" By Diane Kortus Publisher Don't worry. This New Year's column isn't an- other preamble about setting goals and declar- ing resolutions. Most of us have been around long enough to know we'll be looking at the same reso- lutions next year and will be substituting our unrealistic goals with simpler ones by March. Instead of putting away extra money every month, we'll be happy if we can tack an extra $50 to a credit card pay- ment.And we'll happily enjoy that slice of cheesecake when we celebrate a spe- cial occasion without giving a single thought to those 20 pounds we prom- ised to lose. Although I no longer do the resolu- tion thing, I do look at January differently. It stands apart from other months, which seem to blur together and slide into each other until suddenly it's January again. January is like the beginning of a new book.The first week is the table of con- tents - time to look at what's ahead.And that's what this week's paper is all about. We call this issue 2011Ahead.It's the sister publication to the edition we pub- lished last week, 2010Again. Last week we gave you updates on our most telling stories of the year and this week we're taking a look at issues and projects our communities will most likely face in 2011. These ambitious year-end editions are a first for our company and quite an achievement for our small staff.There are