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Northwest Fla., Panhandle Business Briefs - Sept. 2009
ESCAMBIA COUNTY —
» Gulf Power Co. has signed a 20-year agreement with the county’s Solid Waste Division to purchase and burn landfill methane gas to produce electricity, initially 3,200 kilowatts, beginning next May. Gulf Power will invest $6 million in infrastructure and facilities and pay the county an estimated $850,000 the first year and 3% more each year after.
GULF BREEZE —
» The Listener Group, a 20-year-old telemarketing company, has shut down, laying off 31.
NORTHWEST FLORIDA —
» Florida’s Great Northwest awarded $1.15 million in grants for 428 students in seven northwest Florida post-secondary schools to study information technology and engineering. Recipients are providing $2.78 million in matching funds. Grants went to the University of West Florida, Pensacola Junior College, Northwest Florida State College, Gulf Coast Community College, Chipola College, Tallahassee Community College and Florida State University.
OKALOOSA/BAY COUNTIES —
» Okaloosa County will gain nearly 1,000 military and civilian personnel at Eglin and Hurlburt Air Force bases in the 2010 fiscal year starting Oct. 1, pending congressional approval of the Air Force 2010 Restructuring Plan. Hurlburt will add a total of 514, with 278 of its 435 new military personnel as a result of military plans to enhance Special Operations forces. Eglin’s 425 additions will include 302 civilians. In Bay County, Tyndall Air Force Base is scheduled to lose 588 military personnel as the Air Force retires its F-15 fighter planes, including 48 at Tyndall.
TALLAHASSEE —
» Florida State University researcher Anter El-Azab has received a $1-million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to conduct research as part of DOE’s new Energy Frontiers Research Centers program. The program’s aims include making advances in efficiency and design of nuclear power.
» The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded a $2.33-million, one-year grant to retired Florida State University professor James J. O’Brien to help Southeast farmers maximize crop yield. O’Brien, a part-time researcher with the Florida State Center for Ocean and Atmospheric Prediction Studies, will work with seven other universities, including the University of Miami and the University of Florida, that make up the Southeast Climate Consortium. The center supplies seasonal climate forecasts for farmers in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina.
» Tallahassee Regional Airport has received a $2.4-million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, mainly for security system upgrades, plus a $500,000 award from the Florida Department of Transportation to enhance the terminal building.
» Work has begun on reconstructing Gaines Street to create a pedestrian-friendly corridor. The $15-million project will reduce the roadway from four lanes to two and provide new sidewalks, street features and landscaping.
» Tallahassee Community College is teaming with the Economic Development Council of Tallahassee and Leon County to create an Advanced Manufacturing Training Center to provide technologically advanced training for workers and help attract manufacturing businesses. TCC received $1.8 million in Department of Defense grants to equip, staff and operate the center, planned to open next spring.
