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Around the State
Fort Lauderdale -- Parent of the 20-store Juicy Lucy's hamburger chain, Franchise Management International (FMI), agreed to buy the name and intellectual property assets of the bankrupt Kenny Rogers Roasters for $1 million. Rogers is now a franchise-only operation with 82 locations. FMI plans to operate some if its Juicy Lucy and Kenny Rogers restaurants under one roof.
Juno Beach -- FPL Group (NYSE-FPL), parent company of Florida Power & Light, agreed to sell its Turner Foods, a Punta Gorda-based citrus grower that owns 29,000 acres of citrus groves in 10 south Florida locations. The purchaser is a partnership between Naples-based Collier Enterprises and King Ranch of Kingwood, Texas.
Miami -- Construction has begun at the Port of Miami on the world's largest cruise passenger terminal. The 250,000-sq.-ft., $60 million building, which will replace three existing terminals, is scheduled to open late this year.
Debis Financial Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercedes Benz Credit Corp. and the services arm of Daimler-Benz, will open an office here to expand its Latin operations. The move coincides with a decision last year by Mercedes Benz to base Latin sales and marketing in Miami.
North Miami Beach -- Pallet Technology Inc. of Heath, Ohio, relocated here, creating 45 local jobs. The company manufactures high-density polyurethane pallets for shipping, storage and displays.
Virginia Gardens -- Seattle-based Flight Safety Boeing will open a 115,000-sq.-ft. flight-training center, the largest in the world not operated by an airline. The company expects to employ up to 100 and hopes to train 7,000 pilots and 3,000 technicians annually from Latin America and the Caribbean.
