March 28, 2024

Southeast Business Briefs - Oct. 2004

Pat Dunnigan | 10/1/2004
Boca Raton -- Florida Atlantic University President Frank Brogan wants state university officials to review universities' practice of offering off-site degree programs in areas already served by another state university. The University of Florida is offering MBAs in Broward County, and this month Florida International University began a master's of science program in Wellington, FAU's back yard.

Broward County -- Tests conducted on a sample of the county's touch-screen voting machines in early August showed they were 100% accurate, a fact that Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes says should boost voter confidence.

Dania Beach -- Skanska USA Building Inc. has opened an office in Dania Beach to serve Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties. The Tampa-based design-build company has $1.1 billion in work under contract in Florida.

Davie -- Scientists at Nova Southeastern University are experimenting with a process to use adult dental stem cells to produce laboratory-grown teeth. The project has received a $26,000 grant from the American Association of Endodontics.

Fort Lauderdale -- The median sales price of a home in Fort Lauderdale topped $300,000 for the first time in July. The $301,900 median price was up 28% from a year earlier, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area recorded a median home sales price above $300,000 for the second straight month in July.

US Airways plans to create an international hub at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport starting in February, eventually tripling its number of flights. Passenger counts have hit record numbers, thanks largely to low-cost carriers. A Department of Transportation report shows a 33% increase between May 2000 and
May 2004.

Palm Beach County -- Voters sent Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore packing, replacing her with former school board member Arthur Anderson. LePore was at the center of the 2000 presidential election controversy. She will remain supervisor through this year. LePore becomes the third south Florida elections chief to lose her job since the 2000 election, behind Miami-Dade's David Leahy and Broward's Miriam Oliphant.

Pembroke Pines -- Pembroke Pines officials are threatening legal action against Hollywood, saying they were overcharged for their share of wastewater treatment costs at a Hollywood-owned plant. Pines officials also want Hollywood to give up its sole control of the plant in favor of an independent utility authority.

Port Everglades -- Port officials say the number of cruise passengers has already broken the port's previous annual record with three months remaining in the fiscal year. Between October 2003 and June 2004, the port hosted 3.41 million passengers, compared with 3.38 million in the previous fiscal year.

Stuart -- Two competing non-profit hospice groups, Hospice of the Treasure Coast and Hospice of St. Martin & St. Lucie, are merging to reduce costs.

Weston -- City commissioners are considering requiring offices, gyms and restaurants to have defibrillators available for emergency use. The devices, designed so that they can be used safely without specialized training, dramatically improve survival rates for victims of cardiac arrest.

West Palm Beach -- City commissioners plan to explore the possibility of seeking some type of contribution from tax-exempt organizations to defray the costs of services like police and fire protection. The city is home to nearly 400 such organizations, ranging from animal shelters to the American Heart Association.

Miami developer Related Group of Florida, which just sold out its 264-unit CityPlace condominium in downtown West Palm Beach, is quickly dominating the downtown West Palm condo market. The company has sold 930 units in five separate developments in just over a year.

A coalition of business and community groups has received pledges of more than $250,000 toward its goal of getting voters to approve a referendum in November to impose a half-cent sales tax for school construction.

Economic development officials say plans to develop a "biotech village" of homes, offices and retail space on the Vavrus ranch property will go forward regardless of whether the Scripps Research Institute develops the adjacent Mecca Farms property for its research laboratory. The Palm Beach County Commission wants Scripps to consider alternative sites.

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