Monday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 9/30/2013

Florida leads the country in personal income growth

Florida tied Arizona with the biggest jump in personal income in the second quarter, growing at a 1.5 percent clip, according to figures released Monday by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Overall, state personal incomes grew by 1 percent, though 18 states suffered a drop in income. More than half of Florida's growth came from higher property income for landlords. More at the Tampa Bay Times.

Sales and Marketing Advice for Florida business
How to be productive and leave information overload behind

Information without action is just about worthless. It stops you in your tracts from doing the things that your company’s revenue growth depends on. Think about it. For every hour your spend trying to find the answers to making your company better, you could be, well, making your company better by actually implementing your action plan. Read Ron Stein's full column.

Extreme Tour for aspiring entrepreneurs to hit Brevard

Business Profile

Nurturing a tech hub

For many entrepreneurs and community leaders involved in the tech hub movement, Endeavor’s launch is one of the strongest signals yet that the dream of a strong and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem in South Florida is attainable.

Endeavor is a global nonprofit with a 16-year history of identifying and helping high-impact entrepreneurs from all industries become global success stories, creating plenty of jobs for their communities.

» Full story from the Miami Herald

The B.W. Simpkins Business Seminar for Entrepreneurial Development is taking a different approach at its bi-annual event this November. Instead of having one speaker address audiences at Eastern Florida State College campuses in Cocoa and Melbourne, the next Simpkins event will be one big multi-platformed forum on entrepreneurship called the “Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour." More at Florida Today.

Small Business Advice
Hiker's persistence a life lesson for all of us

Perseverance is one of those attributes each of us needs to continually practice. In business and management, we are always facing challenges. We can either dodge these challenges or face them head on. When we face challenges and succeed, we are stronger and more ready to face the next challenge. Read Jerry Osteryoung's full column.

Tow company owner seeks to produce biodiesel fuel

Rumpelstiltskin has nothing on Westway Towing owner Craig Goldstein, who plans to turn the waste vegetable oil he collects from hundreds of restaurants and food service vendors into his own "liquid gold." More at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Rules and Regulations
U-Turn

Just three years after voting to allow red-light cameras throughout the state, the Florida Legislature is now taking a serious look at banning them altogether. "They were initially sold as safety devices, but I have come to firmly believe that they are now being used as backdoor tax increases," said Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, when he announced legislation to ban the cameras.