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Miami-Dade County Business Briefs - June 2006
MIAMI-DADE --
? Florida International University has received a $1-million gift from Office Depot to support the university's "Building for Business" campaign for construction of a College of Business Administration complex. The gift will generate an additional $1 million in state matching funds.
? Datamyne, a trade database and software company based jointly in Uruguay and Argentina, has established a U.S. headquarters in Miami, employing 25.
? Miami-based fast-food chain Pollo Tropical, which specializes in Latin-style grilled chicken, has opened a store in North Bergen, N.J., its first foray out of state since a failed multistate expansion a decade ago. Pollo Tropical operates 60 company-owned restaurants in Florida; 20 franchised units operate in Latin America and the Caribbean.
? Six Miami-Dade school teachers were fired and 26 resigned amid a growing scandal over bogus continuing education courses. School board officials are still trying to determine how many teachers paid a private company, whose founder is now in prison on fraud charges, for course credits that required no homework, testing or other academic work
? The Miami-Dade County Commission rejected four of five applications to push the Urban Development Boundary westward toward the Everglades. The only one approved: The city of Hialeah, which envisions 1,100 acres of new office and industrial parks. Four other applications have been withdrawn. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who campaigned against moving the boundary, has said he will not veto the decision.
? Trend USA, the U.S. subsidiary of the Italian maker of glass-mosaic flooring and wall materials, has selected Miami for its U.S. headquarters. The company expects to hire 100 full-time employees over the next three years.
MONROE COUNTY --
The Census Bureau has reported that Monroe County ranked seventh in the nation among counties losing population, with a decline of 2.16% in the year ending July 2005. An affordable housing shortage, high insurance rates and hurricane fears are blamed for the decline.
