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Around the State
Allstate Insurance Co., Florida's second-largest property insurer, plans to reduce its exposure to catastrophic loss by reorganizing its Florida property and casualty business in accordance with new laws passed by the Florida Legislature. The Illinois-based company would transfer 137,000 policies to New York-based Clarendon National Insurance Co., establish a Florida-only subsidiary for its remaining 670,000 property and casualty policies, file for rate increases and move the wind coverage for 67,000 policies to the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association. Implementation of the plan is scheduled for November, subject to filings with the state Department of Insurance. Allstate's share price rose $2.75 to $48.875 on the news.
Florida experienced 42 "mass layoffs" in the first quarter of 1996 that eliminated 12,164 jobs, according to the Florida Department of Labor and Employment Security. The greatest number of layoffs occurred in the manufacturing, services and trade sectors. Cited as prime causes for the layoffs were company reorganizations and contract completions.
CareFlorida HMO is closing nine of its 12 Florida clinics. Twenty-four employees have been laid off and 7,000 Medicaid subscribers will have to change doctors. In addition to locations in Dade and Broward counties, clinics will close in Riviera Beach, Lake Worth, Belle Glade and Fort Pierce. CareFlorida is owned by Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based Foundation Health.
Northwest
Located 26 miles south of Pensacola Beach, Chevron U.S.A.'s exploratory natural gas well is one of the most promising new sites in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, based on initial flow tests. More exploration and laboratory and market analysis of the well are likely before Chevron decides if it will apply for production permits from the federal Minerals Management Service. If Chevron acquires the necessary permits, operation of the first natural gas production well along Florida's Gulf coast could start in three years.
A+ Network, a paging company and Pensacola's first home-based company traded on a stock exchange, signed an agreement to merge with Metrocall Inc. of Alexandria, Va., for approximately $320 million. If the deal receives regulatory and shareholder approval, Metrocall will become the nation's fourth-largest paging company and Pensacola would be regional office for Southeast operations, with A+ Network President and CEO Chuck Emling as regional president.
At Eglin Air Force Base near Fort Walton Beach, Air Force budget cuts could eliminate 194 military personnel by the end of 1997. The 132-member 87th Electronic Warfare Aggressor Squadron will be inactivated beginning early next year; the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron is losing five of its 20 fighter planes, which eliminates jobs for 62 airmen.
Northeast
This month, 27 Pic N' Save stores in Florida and south Georgia will close, and about 1,800 employees will be jobless. A discount retail chain based in Jacksonville, Pic N' Save Corp. emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, then announced in May that it would close all of its stores and liquidate assets. The Florida community most affected is Jacksonville, which is home to 17 Pic N' Saves with 1,200 employees.
In July, CSX Intermodal, a unit of CSX Corp. of Richmond, Va., will locate its headquarters in Jacksonville, bringing 200 jobs, both local hires and transfers. Functions formerly handled in Hunt Valley, Md., and Mount Laurel, N.J., will be consolidated in the BellSouth Tower in downtown Jacksonville, where the company already has 200 employees. CSX Intermodal's business involves linking road, rail and ocean carriers.
Before the end of the year, New Jersey-based Prudential Insurance Co. of America will close its regional marketing office in Jacksonville and eliminate 54 management and 101 non-management positions. But Prudential says it also plans to open a customer service center in Jacksonville with more employees than its regional marketing office there.
Central
The Warner Bros. movie "Rosewood" spent about $11.7 million in Central Florida during its five-month production earlier this year. According to the Orlando Sentinel, major area expenditures included: $7 million in salaries for local crew members, actors and extras; $2 million for workers to construct sets and move old houses; $1.5 million for hotels and restaurants; and $350,000 for location expenses such as security and compensation to local landowners.
Lockheed Martin Electronics & Missiles will receive more than $650 million to build radars, missile sections, launchers and night vision systems for the British Army's WAH-64 Westland Apache attack helicopter. Based in Orlando, the company will help outfit 67 helicopters, which are expected to go into service in 2000.
Atlanta-based check printing giant John H. Harland will close its Orlando printing plant and cut 67 jobs as part of a nationwide reorganization.
General Medical Corp., a medical supplies distributor with headquarters in Richmond, Va., will create 115 jobs and expand its current operations into a 140,000-square-foot leased facility in Orlando Central Park.
Virgin Atlantic Airways has begun direct service between Orlando and Manchester, England. In other news affecting Orlando International Airport, Capital Cargo International Airlines became the airport's first all-cargo airline. Capital Cargo provides service to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Tampa Bay
Two subsidiaries of Beneficial Corp. have plans for new facilities in Tampa that will create up to 825 jobs by 1998. Beneficial National Bank will open a new customer service center; Beneficial Technology Corp., which provides computer support services to the Beneficial family of companies, will build a data processing center. Initially, the centers will employ 400 in customer service, credit analysis, data entry and systems support.
The MetLife insurance company selected Tampa for a new corporate center that will employ 300. The move to Tampa will consolidate internal accounting functions performed at 22 locations in 17 cities. MetLife will receive $1.25 million in tax refunds over the next four years, $1 million from the state and $252,000 from Hillsborough County and Tampa under the Florida Qualified Target Industry program, which requires an eligible company to create a minimum of 100 jobs that pay at least 115% of an area's average wage.
Oregon-based Willamette Industries is building a $25 million, 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Plant City at the Walden Woods Business Center. The company estimates it will hire 100 people there. The plant will make corrugated shipping containers for the southeastern U.S. and Latin American markets.
An international investment group purchased an 88% stake in Tampa-based Payroll Transfers, an employee-leasing firm with 900 client companies nationwide and 18,000 employees. The group includes Chase Manhattan Corp., Zurich Insurance Group and Texas investor Robert Bass.
Southwest
In Bonita Springs, Walden University has finalized plans for its two-building, 100,000-square-foot commercial center. Completion of building one at Walden Center is scheduled for early 1997. The university, which currently leases space in Naples, will move into part of the building. Other occupants will include Indiana University Foundation's Southwest Florida operations and Naples-based land developer WCI Communities, which will relocate its headquarters along with approximately 120 employees currently spread throughout Lee and Collier counties. Completion of building two is planned for mid-to-late 1997.
A 7,300-square-foot home in Naples with 150 feet of beach frontage sold for $7.9 million, the highest price ever for a single-family home in the city.
Treasure Coast
A springtime buying frenzy swept over Paxson Communications of West Palm Beach. In a recent four-week period, Paxson announced that it will: add two TV stations (in Atlanta and Greenville, N.C.) to its infomercial television network; acquire 12 radio stations in Florida's Panhandle region, one in Orlando and one in Miami; buy 169 billboards in Orlando and purchase 19 acres in West Palm Beach, where the company plans to build new corporate offices and production facilities.
Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps bought the last family-owned daily newspaper in Florida. The Vero Beach Press-Journal was purchased from John Schumann, Jr., whose father and grandfather started it in 1926. The paper serves Indian River County and has a daily circulation of 33,000. In Florida, Scripps operates the Stuart News and the Naples Daily News, as well as television stations WFTS, an ABC affiliate in Tampa, and WPTV, an NBC affiliate in West Palm Beach.
Southeast
NationsBank has an agreement to purchase Chase Federal Bank and its parent company, TAC Bancshares, for $280 million in cash. Miami-based Chase Federal, the largest independent thrift in Dade County, has 34 locations in South Florida. The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 1996.
In early fall, First Data Merchant Services Corp. (FDMS) will open a new customer service and credit operations center in Coral Springs and create 500 new jobs. A division of First Data Corp. of Omaha, FDMS was offered an incentive package of $2.6 million from agencies of state, county and city government.
The Vincam Group, a professional employer organization based in Coral Gables, commenced on May 10 an initial public offering of 2,000,000 shares at $15 per share. Smith Barney and Hambrecht & Quist were among the managing underwriters. The company intends to use net proceeds of the offering to repay debt and finance acquisitions.
Radio Marti and TV Marti, the U.S. government programs that broadcast propaganda to Cuba, will move their headquarters and most of their 225 staff positions from Washington, D.C., to the Miami area. The move starts this summer and is scheduled to conclude in the spring of 1997.
