Bradenton's Spark Growth to host fourth 3.0 Leaders Conference

3.0 Leaders

Conference

in Bradenton

BRADENTON -- Business, civic and thought leaders will meet at the fourth annual 3.0 Leaders Conference Feb. 17-19 at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, 503 3rd Ave.

Organized by Bradenton-based Spark Growth, the conference's theme is Developing Cultures of Innovation. The focus is on tackling the tough global topics, including economic development, that face contemporary leaders in ways that can be applied to local communities through a proven process known as Strategic Doing.

Speakers include Harvard Innovation Fellow David S. Ricketts, Dell innovation leader Glenn Wintrich, health care attorney Jonathan Fleece and Neil Beckingham, the director of sustainability at The Mosaic Co.

Conference sponsors include AARP, Mosaic, Saint Leo University, SM-ARTS, City of Bradenton, Bradenton DDA, Manatee County, Manatee Community Foundation, Knight Foundation, Microsoft, Blalock Walter, TriNet, City of North Port, Crowther Roofing, International Business Innovation Association, Kidbacker, Sun Hydraulics, Questus Solutions and Florida Trend.

Spark Growth is a partnership of the community and business development work of Stan Schultes and Sara Hand, social and civic entrepreneurs who are long-time community builders throughout Florida.

Gas prices still dropping in Bradenton-Sarasota

MANATEE -- Gasoline prices in the Bradenton-Sarasota area have fallen 3.2 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $1.75 a gallon today, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 308 area gas outlets.

This compares with the national average that has fallen 5.2 cents per gallon in the last week to $1.74 a gallon, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.

In Florida, average prices are $1.79 a gallon, down 2.9 cents per gallon from last week's $1.82 a gallon. Just north in Tampa, prices were lower at $1.72 a gallon, down 2.6 cents per gallon from last week's $1.74 a gallon.

Locally, prices are 37.9 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and 20.6 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.

"Gasoline prices continue to plunge coast to coast as refiners continue to churn out winter-spec gasoline that will soon need to be purged," said Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst. "This has put retail gasoline prices under tremendous pressure as gasoline inventories rise to their highest January level since records started in 1990."

Markets regain some losses after rocky Monday

Wall Street rode another wave of selling Monday that sent U.S. stocks sharply lower, before a late-afternoon pullback stemmed some of the losses.

Investors unloaded materials, financials and other stocks, briefly knocking the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 400 points.

Technology shares, which soared last year, were targeted for especially aggressive selling, bringing the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index down almost 20 percent from its record high last year.

The losses left major market indexes down for the second day in a row, extending what has been a dismal beginning of 2016 for the stock market, its worst start to a year on record.

European markets also fell sharply, with the worst losses coming in weaker economies such as Greece, Spain, and Italy. Traditional safe harbor investments like gold and U.S. government bonds were among the few bright spots in a market awash in red.

The Dow fell 177.92 points, or 1.1 percent, to 16,027.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 26.61 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,853.44. The Nasdaq composite dropped 79.39 points, or 1.8 percent, to 4,283.75. The index is within 110 points of being in what Wall Street considers a bear market, or a 20 percent drop from its high.

For the year, the Dow is now down 8 percent, while the S&P 500 is down 9.3 percent. The Nasdaq has lost 14.5 percent this year.

-- Herald staff, wire reports

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Bradenton's Spark Growth to host fourth 3.0 Leaders Conference ."