Small business owner donates money to local businesses

HOLMES BEACH, Fla. — After enduring two hurricanes, local businesses are determined to get back on their feet.

In Holmes Beach, some businesses are not open, are opening soon or are already open for business. 

Many employees haven’t been back to work in weeks, after Milton and Helene went though the Tampa Bay area, so one local business owner in Holmes Beach is helping out

Casey Marquette is checking in on one of his regular spots — the Freckled Fin Irish Pub in Holmes Beach.

He owns a small staffing agency called Covenant Technologies and relates to what other business owners are going through, so he decided to help.

“We donated to several small businesses on the island, and we’ve asked those businesses to give the money to the employees because, obviously, the businesses were shut down, and the employees are not making the money they would normally make,” he said.

This isn’t the first time Marquette has done this. In 2022, he donated more than $20,000 to first responders, and just last week, he donated $15,000 to several local businesses.

“It will help a little bit, but making people smile is what will have a bigger impact,” he said.

Marquette knows firsthand how impactful the storms were — he says he lost everything inside his home.

“There was two feet of water — literally everything is being thrown out. My aunt and I had to sit on the roof for four hours. It was scary,” he said.

He almost lost his dog, Vinny, from the storm surge during Hurricane Helene.

“I thought, ‘I’m his dad. I’ve killed my dog. He’s in this house drowning.’ So I start running around the house, knee-deep in water, and I found Vinny doing the doggy paddle in the living room,” he said.

Marquette is thankful for what he saved and has now turned his focus to helping both his family and his community recover.