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What You Need to Know About Florida Today
New trade pacts seen as a boost for Florida
Exporting aviation electronics to countries such as Colombia and South Korea isn't as big a deal for Southeast Aerospace as exporting to primary markets in Europe and elsewhere in South America. But the Melbourne company could benefit from pending trade pacts with those countries as Colombia fights a simmering drug war and South Korea updates its military aircraft. "Whatever our government can do to make the trade easier, everybody would welcome it, especially in Florida because we deal with so many people down in South America," said Joe Braddock, the company's vice president for sales and marketing. After languishing for several years because of political disputes, trade pacts with Colombia, Panama and South Korea could get a Senate debate soon. Once the pacts are formally submitted to Congress, votes would be required within 90 days. One reason for urgency is that a European Union trade agreement with South Korea begins June 30. "We think we need to act and act fast, and that's because we're not the only game in town," said Jose Fernandez, Assistant Secretary of State for economic, energy and business affairs. "We will be losing market share if we do not move fast." [Source: Florida Today]
Home buyers from around the world want "a little slice of Florida"
Cathy Prenner and her husband are top-selling real estate agents in Broward County on Florida's southeast coast who last year sold US$53-million worth of property. Ms. Prenner is hot off selling a $3-million home with minutes to spare before heading out to meet developers, who are moving back to the area after a two-year hiatus. ``The buyer got a great deal. It sold previously for $4 million. That was a 25 per cent discount,'' says Prenner, who is seeing more and more Canadians closing deals in her stomping grounds, a popular spot for families with children. ``Canadians have been looking for a long time and now they are buying - and, like 70 per cent of high-end buyers, they are paying cash. They are here because they know now is the time to be here.'' They are not alone. Southeast Florida, which stretches from Miami through Fort Lauderdale north to West Palm Beach, is calling investors from all over the world. ``People from South and Central America, England, Ireland, France all want that little slice of Florida,'' says Jim Heidisch, president of the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale. [Source: Canada.com]
Related:
» Gulf Coast real estate market down, but not out
High cotton: Summer clothes cost more this year
Gabriela Buchanan, a tourist from Mexico City, sat empty-handed on a bench on Miami Beach's Lincoln Road Mall Tuesday afternoon. She had been shopping unsuccessfully for jeans and t-shirts.
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Biotech event illustrates optimism over UF spinoffs
Optimism in the local biotechnology industry is high this year as companies continue to grow, investment funding is on the rise and more new companies and products spin out of University of Florida research. The industry was on display during the 8th annual Celebration of Biotechnology on the RTI Biologics campus at Progress Corporate Park, hosted by the trade association BioFlorida. The event included more than 50 national and international vendors that supply products and services to the biotech industry. The business park includes the UF Sid Martin Biotechnology business incubator and more than 80 percent of 1,200 people employed in the park work at startup companies built around UF research inventions. German laboratory supply company Sartorius Stedim sells equipment to UF but attended the event for the first time this year to try to get in on the ground floor with emerging companies. "Everything starts here," East Coast Manager John Woodson said of Progress Park. "You support them now, so when they go big, your products are already in the mix." [Source: Gainesville Sun]
Gov. Rick Scott signs budget, vetoes $615 million in spending
At a campaign-style event, Gov. Rick Scott made himself Florida's new veto king Thursday when he axed $615 million from the state budget before signing it.
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UF imprints on Gainesville the
intellectual life, arts and culture of a larger metropolitan area — with relatively little traffic or other problems associated with a big city.
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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Nadel's florist shop returned to former owners
A well-known Sarasota florist shop will revert to its original owners under an agreement that settles a $1.1 million claim against the Arthur Nadel receivership.
A federal judge Thursday approved the return of Mr. Florist Plants n' Things to Ron Carter and Jim Neal, who sold their business in 2006 to now-imprisoned Ponzi schemer Nadel.
Tampa attorney Burt Wiand, the receiver in the Nadel case, said he was unable to sell the property at 599 N. Lime Ave.
Transferring the property and business to Carter and Neal will eliminate their claim and is in the "best interests" of the receivership, which is gathering assets to raise cash for investors burned in Nadel's scheme, Wiand said.
Nearly 500 investors who lost $162 million in the six hedge funds operated by Nadel and Neil and Christopher Moody have filed claims for money. The receivership expects to make initial disbursements later this year.
"We plan to stay in business," said Carter, who returned to run Mr. Florist after Wiand seized it two years ago. "We're in our 40th year. We started in what is now the Opera House."
› Orlando-based pawn company lands $5 million venture deal
he latest multimillion-dollar venture-capital investment in Central Florida did not go to a social-networking firm, theme-park spinoff or high-tech company. It went to a pawn shop chain.
Orlando-based La Familia Pawn & Jewelry has landed $5 million in venture funding from a private equity firm based in Puerto Rico, the companies said Thursday.
It is one of the largest venture deals in Central Florida so far this year, according to the latest MoneyTree survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which tracks activity by professional investment firms.
San Juan-based Advent-Morro Equity Partners said it invested in fast-growing La Familia, which means "family" in Spanish, because of the company's strong management team, customer service and positive image in the oft-criticized pawn business.
"La Familia has already become a unique agent of transformation for the pawnshop industry in the markets where it operates," Advent-Morro's founder Cyril Meduna said in a statement.
› Unlimited access to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay to cost a little more
It's going to cost a little more to get unlimited access to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
The Tampa theme park is dropping the Florida Fun Card, its popular and most liberal pass which entitles Florida and Georgia residents who paid full price for a one-day ticket to return as many times as they want the rest of the year.
Now, they will have to pay an additional $5 for that privilege.
With attendance up this year about 7 percent and the new $40 million Cheetah Hunt attraction set to open Friday, Busch Gardens officials are trying to tighten up discounts as the economy improves.
"We think with Cheetah Hunt — clearly the top new attraction in Florida this summer — we provide plenty of value," said Jim Dean, general manager of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. "But we still are offering lots of discount promotions this summer."
› Siesta Key named best beach in USA
The powdery white shoreline of Siesta Key just got the ultimate seal of approval from "Dr. Beach." Siesta Beach was ranked No. 1 in the nation today in the annual survey by Dr. Stephen Leatherman, director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University.
"The sand is like sugar," Leatherman said. "Some people can't believe it. It's super soft, super fine. They claim to have the finest, whitest sand in the world, and I can't argue with that."
For the past two years, Siesta was ranked No. 2 in the survey. Now local tourism officials can boast of the top spot.
"This is absolutely the best thing we could ever hear," said Virginia Haley, president of the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau. "We know we'll be on national TV in the morning. Live shots across the country."
» Siesta Beach photo gallery
» Top ten beaches photo gallery
› Controversial rave comes to Orlando
A two-day rave music festival that drew controversy in Los Angeles last year because of hospitalizations, more than 100 arrests and a teen's drug overdose death is coming to Orlando's Tinker Field this weekend.
Electric Daisy Carnival, a series of electronic dance music performances, carnival rides and art installations, runs from 2 p.m. to midnight Friday at the city-owned baseball field and the adjacent grounds around the Florida Citrus Bowl. It repeats the same hours on Saturday, with DJs spinning electronica and house music from four stages both days.
Officials from Orlando, which owns and leases Tinker Field along with other venues, say they had no reason to turn away the Electric Daisy Carnival. Even so, city officials say they have taken extra precautions to ensure it is safe.
"We have looked at what happened in other cities and taken measures to ensure they don't happen here in Orlando," said Heather Fagan, Mayor Buddy Dyer's press secretary.
› Pool business recovery in North Florida? It's more like a trickle
It could be at the top of the list of discretionary expenditures. A swimming pool provides wet relief from the North Florida heat, but it's not cheap.
A pool costs tens of thousands of dollars that the homeowner is not likely to recoup if the home is ever sold.
But they are still very much a part of the Florida lifestyle, and Jacksonville pool builders say although sales aren't close to what they were a few years ago, they are starting to creep up again.
Kimberly Quintal, owner of Blue Haven Pools, said that 2005, 2006 and 2007 were her biggest years. But 2008 and the next two years saw a drop of 40 percent from those salad days.
"Now we're up over last year," she said. "And there's a lot of people who want to buy pools. The number who contact us is up tremendously.
"Consumer confidence is there. People want to spend money."
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