WUFT team wins Florida Government Productivity Award

The Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, or FPREN, launched in 2012 as a service of WUFT-FM/TV, was the nation’s first public safety alerting service to utilize the network of public radio and television stations that serve every city in the state of Florida. The FPREN team was honored at a ceremony held in Tallahassee yesterday for its dedication to adding value to our state and the University of Florida.

The Florida Government Productivity Awards — formerly Florida TaxWatch Productivity Awards — annually honor state employees who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to finding innovative solutions that enhance efficiency and effectiveness in public service.

Housed in a state-of-the-art StormCenter operation at WUFT, in the UF College of Journalism and Communications, FPREN is a nationally recognized leader in emergency communications, delivering timely public safety information and emergency messaging to public radio and television stations across the state of Florida.

While advancing its mission to provide public safety content, FPREN expanded its operation in 2018 to the state of South Carolina via South Carolina ETV and South Carolina Public Radio, which provides statewide news and information via the network of broadcast television and radio stations. In recognition of its successful coverage of hurricane Irma, FPREN was awarded the Community Lifeline Award in 2019 by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

As a Florida Government Productivity Award winner, the FPREN team was presented a plaque at a ceremony held in Tallahassee yesterday, Dec. 6, along with a cash award honoring the hard work to create added value to our state and the University of Florida.

For more information about the Florida Government Productivity Awards program, visit the awards section of the UFHR website or contact UF’s agency coordinator, Verlissa Ford, via email at v.ford@ufl.edu or at (352) 273-0149.