Monday's Afternoon Update

Gov. Scott signs budget, vetoes $368 million in spending

Gov. Rick Scott vetoed more than $368 million in spending from the Florida's 2013-14 budget, using his line-item authority to strike out scores of projects ranging from a $50 million coast-to-coast bike trail to tens of millions in college and university tuition. Scott's extensive veto list is more than twice as large as his list last year, and his largest since his first year in office. It slashed state spending from $74.5 million to $74.1 million. More at the Times/Herald.

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Sales and Marketing Advice for Florida business
'Information Marketing' and the Quest for the Holy Grail

Content has become the holy grail of marketing in the last couple of years. People constantly talk about it, preach its virtues, and claim that it will fix your revenue problems. Some people go so far as to say if you’re not content marketing, you’re not marketing at all. Thinking like that is what gets companies into trouble. Read Ron Stein's full column.

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Tracking unlicensed contractors

Business Profile Wise's prides itself in being a pharmacy the old-fashioned way In 1938, Joseph C. "Doc" Wise Sr. opened the first Wise's Drug Store in downtown Gainesville with $500 in operating capital. Wise and family would build the business to include as many as five locations at one point in the early 1980s, including a larger downtown location with a soda fountain and lunch counter. Seventy-five years later, two locations continue to survive the competition from chain stores and mail-order prescriptions. » Full story from the Gainesville Sun

Work by unlicensed contractors has been on the upswing in Southwest Florida for several years, part of a Great Recession-inspired shift that has pushed licensed firms to other parts of the country. To help law enforcement identify repeat offenders, Sarasota County government has created a website to track unlicensed contractors -- including those who have been cited in other cities and counties. More at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

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Rooted in Mumbai, growing in Miami

An Indian entrepreneur with an international network of healthcare and diagnostic equipment companies has made a big bet on Miami-Dade County. Mumbai-based Suresh Vazirani bought control IVAX Diagnostics in Miami in 2010 for about $15 million, changed the name to ERBA Diagnostics and expanded ERBA’s operations at its headquarters in Miami Lakes. More at the Miami Herald.

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Small Business Advice
Restaurants raise topic of charging for no-shows

With other service providers — airlines, for instance — the customer forfeits the amount paid for the service when they are a no-show. This practice has not been widely adopted by restaurants, but there are many in New York and other big cities that charge their customers when they do not show up for their reservation. Read Jerry Osteryoung's full column.

Military Trends Florida National Guard in transition phase It has been a busy decade for the Guard, which has deployed to full-time duty more than 17,000 citizen soldiers and airmen from across the state since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, both domestically and abroad. Now,the Florida National Guard trains for domestic duty that would let Gov. Rick Scott mobilize roughly 9,000 Guard members to handle a stateside emergency such as a hurricane, wildfires or floods. » Full story from the Miami Herald » Florida National Guard official site

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