7/7 Business briefs: Coast Guard to discuss spill response

PALMETTO — U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Sean Reilly will discuss the Coast Guard’s response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Thursday at the Port Manatee Propeller Club meeting.

Reilly has served in the Coast Guard for 24 years and is currently the chief of prevention at Sector St. Petersburg. He is also the Deepwater Horizon Response deputy branch director for the St. Petersburg branch of the Florida Peninsula Command Post.

Social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Bradenton Yacht Club, 4307 Snead Island Road, with dinner and program following at 6:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Jill VanderPol at jvanderpol@portmanatee.com or (941) 722-6621.

Workforce group names director

BRADENTON — The Manatee-Sarasota Workforce Funders Collaborative hired Mireya C. Eavey as its director, the organization announced Tuesday.

The public-private partnership was formed last year to help train low-skilled workers for higher paying jobs.

Eavey previously served as a workforce and project manager for the Sarasota County Economic Development Corp. Eavey will report to Sherod Halliburton, co-chair of the workforce funders collaborative and executive director of the Bradenton Central Community Redevelopment Agency.

The CCRA helped form the Manatee-Sarasota Workforce Funders Collaborative last year along with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Bradenton Downtown Development Authority, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, Bank of America and the Manatee County Action Agency.

Officials meet in Sarasota to discuss oil spill

SARASOTA — The Central West Coast Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association will meet July 15 to discuss the oil spill.

The professional development luncheon titled “Communicating the Impact of the Oil Spill” will be held from 11:30 a.m.- 1 p.m. at Fleming’s Prime Steak House, 2001 Siesta Drive, Sarasota.

Panelists will include: Elliott Falcione, executive manager of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau; Erin Duggan, public relations manager for the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau; Larry Allen, communications and community relations official for Sarasota County; and Barb Kirkpatrick, senior scientist and manager of the environmental health program for Mote Marine.

To register, e-mail rsvp@cwcfpra.com. Cost is $25 for current members and $30 for future members. Lunch is included.

— Herald staff reports