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Business

Local bar in the midst of potential closing

November 5, 2019 by Jesse Villaverde Leave a Comment

Quarters has multiple arcades of retro games, such as Pac-Man and Galaga, for customers to play. Crimson // Olivia McKelvey

Drinking and playing arcade games wouldn’t be the same anymore in downtown Melbourne.

Quarters Brewery, a local bar in downtown Melbourne, announced on their Facebook page on Oct. 15 that profits were not enough to pay their landlord to keep the business running.

On their post titled “A Letter from the Owners…”, the company stated that they have found themselves at a crossroads.

“The ‘for lease’ sign is up, but we’re not done fighting yet,” mentions the post.

Quarters Brewery was created by best friends Tyler Griffiths and Brock Turner as a hobby project from homebrewing and creating game cabinets for people to enjoy.

The brewery opened on June 29, 2018 in downtown Melbourne, and attracts many adults to play arcade games while playing the arcade games such as Pac-Man and Galaga.

Brock, an alumni of Florida Tech and co-owner of the brewery, explained the reasoning for the announcement.

“Quarters has been having some issues staying afloat due to staggering prices of downtown rent,” Brock said. “Even though downtown has high foot traffic, Quarters’ customer base is more geared towards craft beer fans, video game enthusiasts, and the like.”

The Facebook post came as a shock to many of their customers, with supportive comments from customers and hundreds of shares throughout the site.

The brewery is a popular hotspot for the local community, including Florida Tech students and alumni.

“I’m upset that it’s [potentially] closing down,” said Faisal Ahmed, a graduate in business administration. “Every time I’m with my friends, we play the hockey game that they have as well as Pac-Man. I thought they were doing pretty well.”

The news was passed around through word of mouth for those that didn’t see the post on Facebook, such as Ahmed.

“I also heard the news through my friend Kevin,” said Siomara Nieves, a graduate in computer science. “I liked the place and its atmosphere was very cool and amazing. When I just wanna hang out and not stress about anything, I would go to Quarters and play.”

Quarters is currently a brewery that exclusively sells beer and a couple of wines.

Even if the majority of downtown establishments are full liquor bars, Brock has stated that they refuse in becoming one.

“We have expanded our offerings to include both hand crafted hard seltzers and more recently the introduction of a food menu as of September,” said Brock. “We also have events six times a week, such as trivia and beer bingo.”

Many Florida Tech students spend time at Quarters playing games and having a beer to let off steam. Crimson // Emily Walker

The company also stated that they do not intend on closing down and will continue their regular business to their best of their abilities.

“We appreciate all the support that we’re getting from folks as we try to make this work,” said Brock. “We’re optimistic about what the future holds for Quarters and as things progress, we hope to have positive news to share.”

The company posted an update on their Facebook page on Nov. 5 mentioning their audience’s support in their journey of staying open.

“We are working day and night on a plan that will allow us to not just stabilize Quarters,” but to make it bigger and better than before,” the company stated.

New plans in their campaign of saving the company, #SaveQuarters, include distributing to local vendors, like The Broken Barrel Tavern.

Future updates and current events of Quarters Brewery can be found on their Facebook page, Quarters Brewery and Arcade.

Filed Under: Business, Food, Local, News Tagged With: arcade, arcade games, bar, brew, brewery, closing, downtown, downtown melbourne, drinking, drinks, florida tech, games, melbourne, quarters

Florida Tech recognizes outstanding alumni at homecoming gala 2019

November 4, 2019 by Olivia McKelvey 2 Comments

Bino Campanini presents the Jerome P. Keuper Distinguished Alumni Award to Chip Perry.
FITV // Aayush Kapar

With over 60,000 alumni scattered throughout the globe, the Florida Tech Alumni Association has made it a priority to honor and recognize the legacy past students have left behind.

On Oct. 26, more than 500 people—including professors, faculty, alumni, and organizations that play a vital role in providing aid to Florida Tech—gathered at the 2019 Alumni Awards Gala to recognize outstanding alumni in various majors.

Award recipients included those with vast experience in their career fields as well as a continuous commitment to their alma mater.

Bino Campanini, vice president for Alumni Affairs, served as master of ceremonies and introduced the especially distinguished alumni of the evening.

“This event is a fantastic opportunity to catch up with colleagues, and a brilliant way to instill the spirit of the school and reinvigorate interest in each program,” said Robert Salonen, a 2019 Florida Tech graduate and the current director of Government Affairs and Strategic Partnerships at the university.

Others in the crowd agreed with Salonen that this was a special night that allowed individuals to return proudly to their alma mater and reminisce on past memories, but also learn about the future of the school and the growth it has seen in recent years.

After cocktails, photoops and dinner, Campanini continued as MC with lighthearted jokes as he welcomed each award recipient to the stage.

The first of five recipients was Jason Terreri, a 2001 Florida Tech undergraduate, awarded on behalf of the College of Aeronautics.

“The best advice I can give is to find someone who has the same desire and passion for your industry, and take them under your wing,” said the previous senior executive director of Syracuse Hancock International Airport. “Become a mentor, and give them an opportunity to be successful.”

While all award recipients mentioned how honored they were to be given recognition for their work and thanked the university for what it provided to them, each took on their own unique twist for their speeches.

One of the quirkier speeches came from the College of Engineering and Science awardee, Don Woodrow.

Woodrow is a distinguished 1986 Florida Tech undergraduate who is the president of Woodrow Construction LLC and also an advisory board member of civil engineering and construction advisory board at Florida Tech.

After cracking jokes about Bill Jurgens’ gray hair and poking fun at Campanini for his British accent, Woodrow concluded by asking the audience to stand up, enjoy the night and give their best impersonation of Elaine dancing from Seinfeld.

Others that received awards at the alumni gala were Monique Picou on behalf of the Nathan M. Bisk College of Business, Sherri Acanfora Ruohomaki on behalf of the College of Psychology and Liberal Arts and Gretchen L. Kelly on behalf of the College of Engineering and Science.

Picou, the senior vice president of flow and fashion for Walmart, compared Florida Tech to an ivy league university, and put emphasis on the fact that “it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.”

Acanfora Ruohomaki, a former Florida Tech cheerleader and now the owner of K9 Kampus—a luxury dog daycare and boarding facility—concluded her speech with words of reflection: “Look at the growth and development that Dr. T. Dwayne McCay, and previously Dr. Catanese, have cultivated,” Acanfora Ruohomaki said. “It makes me want to come back here as a young collegiate and enjoy all the amenities that they have now that we didn’t have before.”

President T. Dwayne McCay stated that the alumni are “our strength” and “prove that the university did a good job.”

“Florida Tech teaches our students to work with people in teams, and in collaboration,” T. Dwayne McCay said. “Curriculum such as the senior design prepares our students to enter the workforce after graduation in a few weeks, whereas at other schools, it’s six months.”

The ceremony came to a close with the presentation of the Jerome P. Keuper Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest award bestowed upon by the Alumni Association.

Honored with such an award that remarks a reflection of a legacy of excellence was Chip Perry.

A former design engineer for Texas Instrument and founder of a top tier internet streaming service later bought out by Yahoo!

Perry was portrayed as a highly successful and memorable student from Florida Tech.

He took the guests down memory lane and recapped his journey from Florida Tech to where he is now.

Perry gave a special thanks to Ed Jonas, the designer of the Keuper statue in front of the President’s Office as well as the designer of all of the gala awards for the past five years.

“It was a true honor for Florida Tech to involve me in the design process,” Jonas said. “Although I am not a Florida Tech alumni, Brevard will always have a special place in my heart because it’s the hometown of the love of my life and it was one of the places where the last thing my father saw me accomplish was the sculpting of the Keuper statue.”

The night wrapped up with dancing and a continuation of celebrating Panther pride.

Filed Under: Business, Local, News Tagged With: 2019, alumni, alumunus, awarded, awards, bino, campanini, distinguished, fit, florida tech 2019, florioda tech, gala, homecoming, homecoming week, jerome, keuper, president, rich, students, trophy

Student space program opens for the summer

April 23, 2019 by Christian Martinez Leave a Comment

Florida Tech and the International Space University – Center for Space Entrepreneurship (ISU-CSE) have partnered together to make a summer program for students to learn about the commercial space industry.

The Commercial Space Studies graduate certificate program will be led by Florida Tech’s Aldrin Space Institute (ASI) from June 3 through July 12, with classes located at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Shawn Shirshekar, project coordinator at the ASI, said that the institute is trying to encourage students toward space research and flight.

“We want to give students rigorous training and policy training so they become well-rounded to enter the space industry,” Shirshekbar said. “We’re trying to build a multi-disciplined field of graduates.”

Shirshekar described the course activities as an intensive program with lectures, outside traveling in the area and other classroom situations.

The program’s website at isucse.fit.edu lists a 12-credit course of four classes:

  • BUS 5027: Global Commercial Space Program
  • ENM 5201: Space Technology and Systems
  • HUM 5131: Global Space Policy and Law
  • BUS 5025: Technological Entrepreneurship in Space

“This is the first time the program is being offered here [at Florida Tech]”, said Natalie Buczek, an administrative assistant with the ASI. “So we are trying to get the word out to as many people as possible.”

Buczek said this program is directed more towards graduate students, although any student is “welcome to join as long as they put in the effort.”

She also described the program as a mix of space and business classes with entrepreneurship and flight management.

Buczek said that housing will not be offered, but options are being explored.

Shirshekar and Buczek confirmed that the director of the ASI, Andy Aldrin, will be teaching students at the program through lectures.

There is a $20 application fee and complete instructions are on the program’s website.

The cost of tuition for the program will be $14,000.

A $5,000 scholarship application is available with the requirement of sending a statement of qualifications to registration@aldrinspace.institute.

“We want to give everyone a chance to get into the space industry,” Shirshekbar said.

Only 50 students will be admitted into the program with applications due April 30.

Buczek said that about 20-30 spots are still available for applications.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: florida tech, space, space program

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