Identifying Opportunities
For this assignment, I have to basically identify some opportunities presented in the current events section of any random small-scale newspaper. No big national newspapers allowed. With that ruled out, I couldn't even begin to think of one, so I asked a well-travelled long-distance friend to give me the name of any local newspaper she'd remembered in all her pitstops. Thus came the selection of Clay Today (it even rhymes; super cute, right?). One should never wish for disasters to occur in the hopes of exploiting the opportunities arising from tragedy, but let's just say that with the aftermath of hurricane Irma in that area, there are many fixer-uppers present. Let's see what we can do.
During the events and aftermath of hurricane Irma, officials of the Clay County Animal Care and Control in Green Cove Springs struggled to save shelter animals as well as rescue pets left behind by evacuated families. By any means necessary, they reached a variety of animals in need, from using a kayak to save an injured horse to literally swimming dogs out of the county's flooded animal shelter that contained roughly 101 animals. As of now they request people with missing pets to post a picture on their Facebook page in order to retrieve a pet that might now be in the shelter's rescue custody. Each pet saved is also being posted on their page in hopes of being returned to their homes. Currently they have moved to the fairgrounds and may accept assistance from United State Humane Society and Petco to receive a temporary mobile animal shelter.
It is evident that domesticated or wild animals, pet owners, rescue workers as well as volunteers, and shelter staff are suffering from this disaster. They are trying to assess damage to the stray pet community as well as fix up the flooded shelter so that they have a real working base of operations again. Aside from the physical overwhelming workload added from the influx of new animals needing attention and care, there is also the added hassle of staying connected via the internet in order to return some animals to their original homes. This is obviously hard to stay connected and maintain an online presence when the facility barely has a physical place, let alone the time or resources to manage this lesser-of-problems.
A nonprofit organization called the Therapy Animal Coalition will hold their second yearly Therapy Animal Expo at The Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership. This group's main purpose is to help experienced therapy animal trainers and new ones alike enhance their skills. Within the state's region, the want for therapy animals as well as the willingness to train them is on the rise. Before, shelters would constantly reject the offer to accept a mere single therapy animal in their facility, but now that issue has been reversed: there is high and eager demand for faculty therapy teams in such immense volume that he current availability simply cannot meet the demand.
Well there you have it, right in the title itself. There are many presented gains available from this experience, ripe for the taking. This is a brilliant opportunity for aspiring therapy animal trainers and eager dogs alike! There are volunteers saying "just last week, I got a facility that wanted 30 teams for their facility." With all these calls needing to be provided for, this is the perfect time to jump in to what one would consider to be such a niche profession.
Church members joined together in order to help their church families get through hurricane Irma. After an evacuated neighborhood was flooded, volunteers used paddle boards and kayaks through knee-deep waters to remove immediate necessities from the home that one of their member families lived in. Now they are helping repair the damaged home as well. the EOC had tried to get different organizations together to prepare for Irma, including this group. They are assigning workers to clear wreckage and clean up homes.
This affects anyone who needs the opportunity to fix their damaged home but cannot afford to repair what the hurricane has damaged. It is also a great opportunity for volunteers to get involved, as well as an opening for entrepreneurs wishing to start their own nonprofit organization to lend a helping hand.
The city council of Green Cove Springs unanimously voted to allow alcohol being served at city-sponsored events. Sandra Royal (wife of a council member and co-sponsor of the city art festival) brought this issue to be addressed. Now the changes are being put into place in steps, starting with the first regulation that alcohol will only be allowed in gated or closed areas (to prevent it being out and about onto the public streets and parks).
This story may not be the most exciting, but it's something that doesn't deal with a hurricane and presents a great opportunity for small catering business looking for a good startup. If an alcohol brand or distributor can nab a deal with the council in time, they could have an official and guaranteed additional source of revenue at all city-sponsored events. The "problem" is that with this new unprecedented allowance of alcohol, the council will need a beverage supplier. This will effect those in favor or against the decision as well as everyone in the city who attends events.
The University of Florida/IFAS Clay County Extension service will now be giving out free pH soil tests to test how acidic residents' soil is and see if action needs to be undertaken to fix nutrient deficiencies. People will be allowed to send in their samples for testing and receive their results n seven to ten days. The results will also provide some great advice on how to correct soil should there be any imbalances in it. For additional in-depth testing, UF provides a more detailed scan at a fee.
This applies to the entire farming and agricultural area, and presents an opportunity for agricultural science students as well as farmers who would like to know how to improve their harvest at no cost. This is a great opportunity for growers to exploit in order to reap in higher profits by adhering to the recommendations such as lime applications to fix alkaline levels. Companies who produce such fertilizers and treatments could get gains in customers if they used these result recommendations as a means of advertising.
1. Animal shelter assessing damage
http://www.claytodayonline.com/stories/animal-shelter-assessing-damage,8477?During the events and aftermath of hurricane Irma, officials of the Clay County Animal Care and Control in Green Cove Springs struggled to save shelter animals as well as rescue pets left behind by evacuated families. By any means necessary, they reached a variety of animals in need, from using a kayak to save an injured horse to literally swimming dogs out of the county's flooded animal shelter that contained roughly 101 animals. As of now they request people with missing pets to post a picture on their Facebook page in order to retrieve a pet that might now be in the shelter's rescue custody. Each pet saved is also being posted on their page in hopes of being returned to their homes. Currently they have moved to the fairgrounds and may accept assistance from United State Humane Society and Petco to receive a temporary mobile animal shelter.
It is evident that domesticated or wild animals, pet owners, rescue workers as well as volunteers, and shelter staff are suffering from this disaster. They are trying to assess damage to the stray pet community as well as fix up the flooded shelter so that they have a real working base of operations again. Aside from the physical overwhelming workload added from the influx of new animals needing attention and care, there is also the added hassle of staying connected via the internet in order to return some animals to their original homes. This is obviously hard to stay connected and maintain an online presence when the facility barely has a physical place, let alone the time or resources to manage this lesser-of-problems.
2. Upcoming therapy dog expo offers opportunities
http://www.claytodayonline.com/stories/upcoming-therapy-dog-expo-offers-opportunities,8410?A nonprofit organization called the Therapy Animal Coalition will hold their second yearly Therapy Animal Expo at The Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership. This group's main purpose is to help experienced therapy animal trainers and new ones alike enhance their skills. Within the state's region, the want for therapy animals as well as the willingness to train them is on the rise. Before, shelters would constantly reject the offer to accept a mere single therapy animal in their facility, but now that issue has been reversed: there is high and eager demand for faculty therapy teams in such immense volume that he current availability simply cannot meet the demand.
Well there you have it, right in the title itself. There are many presented gains available from this experience, ripe for the taking. This is a brilliant opportunity for aspiring therapy animal trainers and eager dogs alike! There are volunteers saying "just last week, I got a facility that wanted 30 teams for their facility." With all these calls needing to be provided for, this is the perfect time to jump in to what one would consider to be such a niche profession.
3. Churches join together to lend a hand
http://www.claytodayonline.com/stories/churches-join-together-to-lend-a-hand,8534?Church members joined together in order to help their church families get through hurricane Irma. After an evacuated neighborhood was flooded, volunteers used paddle boards and kayaks through knee-deep waters to remove immediate necessities from the home that one of their member families lived in. Now they are helping repair the damaged home as well. the EOC had tried to get different organizations together to prepare for Irma, including this group. They are assigning workers to clear wreckage and clean up homes.
This affects anyone who needs the opportunity to fix their damaged home but cannot afford to repair what the hurricane has damaged. It is also a great opportunity for volunteers to get involved, as well as an opening for entrepreneurs wishing to start their own nonprofit organization to lend a helping hand.
4. Alcohol proposed at Spring Park
http://www.claytodayonline.com/stories/alcohol-proposed-at-spring-park,8432?The city council of Green Cove Springs unanimously voted to allow alcohol being served at city-sponsored events. Sandra Royal (wife of a council member and co-sponsor of the city art festival) brought this issue to be addressed. Now the changes are being put into place in steps, starting with the first regulation that alcohol will only be allowed in gated or closed areas (to prevent it being out and about onto the public streets and parks).
This story may not be the most exciting, but it's something that doesn't deal with a hurricane and presents a great opportunity for small catering business looking for a good startup. If an alcohol brand or distributor can nab a deal with the council in time, they could have an official and guaranteed additional source of revenue at all city-sponsored events. The "problem" is that with this new unprecedented allowance of alcohol, the council will need a beverage supplier. This will effect those in favor or against the decision as well as everyone in the city who attends events.
5. Extension program has new soil testing service
http://www.claytodayonline.com/stories/extension-program-has-new-soil-testing-service,8405?The University of Florida/IFAS Clay County Extension service will now be giving out free pH soil tests to test how acidic residents' soil is and see if action needs to be undertaken to fix nutrient deficiencies. People will be allowed to send in their samples for testing and receive their results n seven to ten days. The results will also provide some great advice on how to correct soil should there be any imbalances in it. For additional in-depth testing, UF provides a more detailed scan at a fee.
This applies to the entire farming and agricultural area, and presents an opportunity for agricultural science students as well as farmers who would like to know how to improve their harvest at no cost. This is a great opportunity for growers to exploit in order to reap in higher profits by adhering to the recommendations such as lime applications to fix alkaline levels. Companies who produce such fertilizers and treatments could get gains in customers if they used these result recommendations as a means of advertising.
I am so glad that there are so many people helping pet owners find their lost pets after the hurricane! I cannot imagine losing my puppy, but it was comforting to see that there was local shelters helping out. My hometown was hit pretty hard, and seeing churches, and really just people in the community, joining forces to help those around them was really encouraging! Ready for things to get back to normal!
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