James Beatty, Founder of NCS International, an Omaha, Nebraska-based company that provides an array of corporate site selection and economic development services, and named one of North America’s Top 50 Site Consultants by Consultant Connect, a national economic development firm.

Consultant Connect, a national consulting firm that bridges the gap between leading economic developers and site selections consultants, providing a platform to gain transparent feedback, invaluable insights and lasting business relationships, announced the news on July 21, 2015.

Consultant Connect offers a Summit Series in which the top minds in economic development and the biggest dealmakers in site selection gather for a meeting of the minds. This invitation-­‐only event is held throughout the U.S., with a select group of economic developers at the table. Consultant Connect also provides access to the tools economic developers and communities need to get more opportunities to compete for projects.

Since he founded NCS International in 1984, Beatty, “Jim” as he is know among friends,   has conducted over 300 economic development projects resulting in $3 Billion in investment and 30,000 jobs. He is a frequent speaker and contributing writer for economic development publications. Jim is also the author of “The Manual,
Marketing for Quality Back Office Industry” published by the International Economic Development Council.

Earlier in 2015,Jim was a speaker at SiteLink in Pendleton, Oregon and at Roundtable in the South sponsored by Penton Media, publishers of Expansion Management, in Hilton Head, South Carolina. He is scheduled to give more presentations this year including being a featured speaker at SiteLink in Toledo, Ohio in August.

Jim has addressed multiple State and Regional economic development and business organizations including the Mid-America Economic Developers Association and the International Economic Developers Association.  He is rated by several as one of the most knowledgeable and exciting speakers on economic development in America. He is one of the major proponents in America on Rural and Inner City Economic Development Jim has stated “I am very pleased and humbled to be named a top 50 Consultant by one of the most prestigious economic development groups in America. I will continue to provide outstanding service to my corporate and economic development clients”

Jim further states, “I would encourage communities and economic developers throughout North America to become involved with Consultant Connect as this organization is transforming the dynamics of the profession.”

Beatty is an avid golfer and, since May 2010, he has served as an Editorial Advisory Board Member for the African American Golfer’s Digest, the nation’s leading print publication and online portal for Black American golfers.  “His wealth of career and business experience has translated into helping grow exposure for minority golf along with greater participation in the game by Blacks,” says Publisher Debert Cook.  Jim has also hosted several of the publication’s prominent Augusta GolfFest outings during Masters Week in Augusta, Ga.

About NCS
NCS International specializes in site selection for Customer Service Operations, Call Center, Back Office Operations ,Regional Headquarters and Data Centers. NCS International also provides an array of economic development services ranging from strategic planning, specialized training, market analysis, trade missions and business recruitment.

Contact
Jim Beatty
402-­‐415-­‐9615
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.ncsinternational.net

Name: MAURICE ALLEN

Country: USA

Age: 33

Best Hit: 453y (RE/MAX WLDC Mesquite 2013  )

LDET Member: 024

TAMPA, Fla. – July 23, 2015 – The State of Florida has recognized Rogers Park Golf Course by listing it on the National Register of Historic Places. This milestone was recognized at a presentation during the regular board meeting of the Tampa Sports Authority on July 27th, 2015.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archaeological resources.

(Above) G.D. Rogers at his desk

Rogers Park Golf Course, built in 1952, has evolved as one of Tampa, Florida’s best-kept secrets. The beautiful 18-hole golf facility is steeped in history and rich in heritage. During the days of segregation, Rogers Park was the only picnic area for the African American community in Tampa. The park took the name of its contributor, G.D. Rogers. Mayor Curtis Hixon gave permission to a group of local golfers to build a 9-hole golf course. The first Head Golf Professional, Willie Black, directed his group of volunteers, and with meticulous care, all of the tree removal and shaping was done by hand. Upon its completion in 1952, the Rogers Park Golf Club was born.

“My family, our Black community and community at large really appreciate this acknowledgement.  Our goal is to preserve the history and legacy of Roger Park for everyone to learn about a enjoy,” said James Ransom the Grandson of the late G.D. Rogers, Sr., and Minnie L. Rogers, and Spokesperson for the “Citizens Who Support Keeping Rogers Park Public.  Ransom is also a Board Member for the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs.

In 1976, the City of Tampa gave management rights to the newly formed Tampa Sports Authority, and a $400,000 renovation project began.  In 2000, the Tampa Sports Authority decided that a $4 million renovation was needed. An array of other landscaping and reshaping of holes was added to enhance the character of Rogers Park Golf Course, and in 2001, a new maintenance compound was completed and followed by a new clubhouse in 2002.

THE LONG JOURNEY TO PRESERVATION

On Friday, August 22, 2014 the City of Tampa (COT), Historic Preservation Commission voted again in favor of recommending Rogers Park Golf Course to the Florida National Register Review Board for National (Historic Preservation) Registration.  The State of Florida Division of Historical Resources convened a meeting on Thursday, September 4, 2014 at 1:00PM to review and a favorably vote was hoped for on the Roger Park Golf Course nomination.

Ransom attended the COT Historic Preservation Commission meeting and he attended the State of Florida meeting in Tallahassee speaking in support of the nomination.

(Photo left)  James Ransom the Grandson of the late G.D. Rogers, Sr., and Minnie L. Rogers.

Ransom said, “It’s with great pride and respect that our community wants to preserve part of our contribution to Tampa’s history and honor my grandfather, C. Blythe Andrews, Sr. and Jr., Dr. W.W. Andrews, Kay Wells Andrews and C. Blythe Andrews, III and Families; the Moses White and Alton White Families; the Perry Harvey, Sr. and Jr. Families; the golfers led by Mr. Willie Black and their Families; Rufus Lewis, Curtis Green and other local golfers and organizations such as the ‘Citizen’s Who Support Keeping Rogers Park Public’, Tampa Organization of Black Affairs, Tampa-Hillsborough Branch of the NAACP and all other supporters unmentioned who have worked diligently to protect this hallowed ground.”

Ransom also expressed gratitude for the support of the Mayor, City of Tampa City (COT) Council Members, the Tampa Sports Authority Board and the COT Historic Preservation Advisory Committee and staff, Congresswoman Kathy Caster, State Senator Arthenia Joyner, State Representative Betty Reed, County Commissioner Les Miller, City Council Member Frank Reddick and many others for their letters of support.

“We would like to especially thank Dennis Fernandez, Historic Preservation & Urban Design Manager, for his professionalism, diligence, dedication and commitment to shepherd the process along to help us preserve the history and legacy of Rogers Park Golf Course as part of the fabric of history of the City, County, State and Nation,” Ransom said.  “There are too many others unnamed today who lived through that era and know the story of Roger Park when part of it was transformed from a public park to a 9-hole golf course.”

EXPANSION OF ROGERS PARK

Later, the 9-hole Rogers Park course was expanded to be an 18-hole, Par 72 PGA styled golf course.  Rogers Park, nearly surrounded by the Hillsborough River, is historic for many reasons including its cultural significance and must be remembered as one of the few places that African Americans could go for recreation, picnics and enjoyment with families and friends, legally and safely, during a time of overt segregation and racism, in Tampa and the nation.  Rogers Park must be remembered as a place where African American men who worked as caddies at the Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club but could not play golf  there, cleared the land at Rogers Park and hand shaped one of the most challenging and beautiful public golf courses where they could play the game they loved.

African American men and women have visited Tampa from all over the country to play golf at Rogers Park.  Golf greats the likes of Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder, Jim Thorpe, Charlie Owens and other legends played there.  The Rogers Park Golf Course historic preservation effort continued to move forward, there were a lot people and organizations that contributed to the initiative.  Ransom was steadfast in his public appeal and admonished the community that the time had come again for them to take action by supporting the historic preservation of the Rogers Park Golf Course.  His efforts headed-up a letter writing campaign of support that was sent to the Florida National Register Review Board prior to their meeting scheduled for September 4, 2014.  It was through this relentless commitment and dedication that the vote was won.

Rogers Park Golf Course
7910 N 30th St, Tampa, FL 33610
Phone: (813) 356-1670

(by Jim McCabe)

MOSEL, Wis. — Though your GPS would take you in a fairly direct route of roughly 800 miles to get to Greensboro, N.C., from this locale along the shores of Lake Michigan, Tiger Woods has a different itinerary. He’ll travel through southern Florida.

And even then he might not make it to next week’s Wyndham Championship.

“I’m just going to sit back and I’ll go through with my team, we’ll talk about it, what I need to do and see if that’s the right move or not. We’ll decide next couple days,” Woods said, when asked Saturday morning whether he would tee it up in the final regular-season tournament on the PGA Tour schedule.

Shortly after leaving Whistling Straits on Friday evening when play in the 97th PGA Championship was suspended because of dangerous weather, Woods committed to the Wyndham. But truth be told, he was only working within the confines of PGA Tour regulations in an effort to cover himself. Rules dictate that players have until 30 minutes after the completion of “Friday’s play” to commit to the next week’s tournament.

Woods’ thinking seemingly was this: Come back Saturday morning, catch a little magic, make the cut, have a strong weekend to move up from 187th in the FedEx Cup standings and give yourself a chance for a strong Wyndham to possibly make the playoffs.

So the commitment to the Greensboro tournament, one that Woods has never played, was made only as a precaution; had he not committed Friday night, he couldn’t have done so Saturday.

Alas, the likelihood of keeping a date with the Wyndham shrank exponentially Saturday when Woods returned to the course and missed the cut. His words didn’t bode well for the folks in Greensboro when he said, “I guess the PGA Tour season may be coming to a close, but I’ve still got plenty of golf to play around the world.”

He couched it, of course, by saying, “I’m … potentially missing out on the playoffs,” but as he left Whistling Straits Woods certainly knew what missing the cut meant: that he would likely have to win Wyndham to make the playoffs and that a solo second couldn’t guarantee a spot.

But more important to Woods, or so it appeared, was the chance to take a deep breath and offer a sigh of relief that his summer run of major-championship misery was over. That it ended at Whistling Straits in a fashion similar to his visits to Chambers Bay and the Old Course — uninspiring — was true, though Woods clung to a sliver of optimism.

“I hit it good enough to be where I needed to be,” he said of his 75-73 trips at Whistling Straits. “But I putted awful.”

Read more at GOLFWEEK