Wednesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 5/30/2018

Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa plans $700 million expansion, 3,000 new jobs

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino officials have plans to make Florida’s biggest casino even bigger — with even more slot machines — according to their $700 million expansion plan unveiled today. The Seminole Tribe says the expansion is part of a $2.4 billion in "economic investment" it is making in its two flagship casinos, in Tampa and Hollywood. There will be a total of 5,000 slot machines and nearly 200 gaming tables at the Tampa location once renovations are complete by mid-2019. The Tribe’s economic investment will bring an additional 1,000 part time and full time jobs to Tampa, which are in addition to the over 2,000 construction jobs during the two-year project. See the news release here. Also read more at the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida addresses its business travel slump by adding leisure to the mix

Florida doesn’t have a problem getting leisure travelers to visit its beaches and theme parks but business travel has been a mixed bag for the state’s tourism industry in recent years. Business travelers often have more disposable income than some leisure travelers but are more time restricted with vacations, but Florida already has a strong brand for meetings and conventions. More from Skift.

Southwest Florida banks hold on to top ratings

For a full year, all four banks based in Southwest Florida have retained the highest possible rating from analyst BauerFinancial Inc. Sabal Palm Bank of Sarasota, Premier Community Bank of Florida in Parrish, Charlotte State Bank & Trust of Port Charlotte and Englewood Bank & Trust each were graded at five stars, or “superior." More from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Enterprise Florida mission heads for China this week

Enterprise Florida is taking 13 small and mid-sized state companies on an export mission to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China, this week, including one from Miami-Dade and one from Port Everglades. More from Miami Today.

OneWeb looks to open space antenna operation at Port Canaveral facility in Titusville

OneWeb plans to open an antenna assembly, storage and testing facility at the Port Canaveral Logistics Center in Titusville. Canaveral Port Authority commissioners could consider approving a five-year lease agreement with the company as soon as Wednesday night. More from Florida Today.

Out of the Box
New cruise ship's elevators may be smarter than you

Carnival cruisers: Get ready for brainy lifts at sea that may know more about where you are going than you do. Carnival Horizon, which begins cruising out of PortMiami to the Caribbean on Sept. 22, is the first ship built for the North America market that is full of so-called smart elevators.

» More from the Miami Herald.

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Arc Broward

Non-profit Arc Broward, a service provider to 1,200 children and adults with disabilities, uses a marketdriven approach to help those with disabilities become employable. Its Arc Tech, a “social enterprise,” offers electronics recycling and secure disposal of IT products such as servers, laptops, monitors, switches and desktops.