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Northwest Business Briefs - Aug. 2004
Destin -- Tennessee charter airline Vectair-USA has launched weekend flights aboard a six-passenger Piper Navajo Chieftain between the Memphis area and Destin Airport, hoping to attract Tennesseans who spend week-ends on the Emerald Coast.
Escambia County -- In a partnership described by the Navy as the first of its kind, Pensacola Naval Air Station has written a $500,000 check to Escambia County toward the $1.3-million purchase of 48 acres adjacent to the base to create a buffer zone and park. The tract, less than a mile from runways and a control tower, was to be a residential subdivision. A $416,000 Florida Defense Infrastructure Grant is helping the county pay the balance.
Graceville -- The Legislature approved funding for a $54-million state correctional institution here to house 1,280 inmates -- equal to about half of the town's population. It could be operational in 18 months, providing about 600 jobs.
Jackson County -- The Internal Revenue Service has paid the Jackson County Sheriff's Department $366,000, reimbursement for a decade's worth of assistance in breaking up a drug and money-laundering ring and sending eight people to prison. A 900-acre ranch south of Sneads believed used for money-laundering was seized and sold at public auction last December.
Marianna -- The Veterans Administration will be opening a primary care outpatient clinic here next year to serve veterans in Jackson County and others nearby.
Northwest Florida -- A state advisory panel has recommended adding two parcels to a state priority purchase list to preserve the environment while protecting military base missions: The 101,461-acre Bear Creek area in Calhoun, Gulf and Bay counties, part of the Northwest Florida Greenway, and 5,043 acres around Whiting Field Naval Air Station in Santa Rosa County.
Eglin Air Force Base officials are worried that a 24-story condominium to be built at Seascape Resort this summer might cause radar interference for flight operations. Ariel Dunes' 230-foot height was approved in the 1980s, before the county capped construction at four stories. Another plan, this one by Destin developer Peter Bos to build a 341-foot condominium as part of Turnberry Harbour, has also run into concerns. An Aviation Advisory Committee has recommended that the Okaloosa County Commission set a 200-foot limit within three miles of Destin Airport.
Okaloosa County -- Tax Collector Chris Hughes has launched the country's first live internet tax certificate sale. The county recently auctioned off 3,800 certificates via BidOkaloosa.com, representing more than $4.7 million in delinquent property taxes.
Okaloosa-Walton College's plan to sell the late Mattie M. Kelly's 13-acre Destin homestead to developers for $8.1 million is running into opposition from Kelly's heirs, who insist she intended the site for an environmental and cultural center.
Pensacola -- As part of its plan to expand to nearly an entire block in the city's historic district, the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition is paying $4.2 million to buy the headquarters building it's leasing from the University of West Florida.
The final voyage of the 888-foot-long aircraft carrier USS Oriskany will bring it to rest by September on the Gulf of Mexico floor 25 miles southeast of Pensacola. The heavy-duty Vietnam War veteran will become the nation's largest underwater reef.
Pensacola's Venture Forum, a project of University of West Florida associate economics professor Richard Hawkins and Small Business Development Center Director Larry Strain, has completed its fourth quarterly round of entrepreneur/investor matchmaking. Six of eight presenters received funding in 2003.
Santa Rosa Island -- The University of West Florida Archaeology Institute has renewed its search for the remains of Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa, a nearly 300-year-old Spanish colony wrecked by a hurricane and buried in the sands of the island tourist destination. Searchers last summer unearthed some 45,000 artifacts before being rained out.
Tallahassee -- Florida State University's magnet lab will partner with Scripps Research Institute to study human protein molecules to aid in designing more effective drugs. FSU was the first state university to announce a collaboration with the Florida branch of Scripps. FSU also announced that it is launching a bachelor's degree program in Middle Eastern Studies, the first in Florida.
Walton County -- The new U.S. Highway 98 corridor has opened after a $53-million widening of the road from Okaloosa County to Bay County.
