Central Florida, Space Coast Business Briefs - Oct. 2008

CENTRAL FLORIDA

Donatos Pizzeria, a chain based in Columbus, Ohio, has closed its seven Florida restaurants, all in central Florida, and laid off about 140 workers.

DAYTONA BEACH

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is buying Florida Health Care Plan for $85 million. The HMO has 57,000 members.

MELBOURNE

Brazilian commercial airplane manufacturer Embraer has signed a 30-year lease to operate its first U.S. assembly plant at Melbourne International Airport. Set to open in early 2010, it will bring 200 jobs.

ORANGE/OSCEOLA COUNTIES

Hoteliers have discounted their room rates for the first time since 2003, reducing the average by 1.3% in July in response to a soft economy, according to Smith Travel Research. Walt Disney World’s information is not included in the figures.

ORLANDO

Orlando Health and Florida Hospital both have won approval from the state to begin heart transplant operations. Florida Hospital also got the nod for lung transplant surgeries.

» Spanish-language daily newspaper El Nuevo Dia Orlando ceased publication Aug. 29, leaving 50 employees jobless.

» Universal Orlando Resort’s new Simpsons ride, which opened in May, broke a record for the company’s theme parks, exceeding 1 million riders by mid-July and being named the year’s best new theme park attraction in the world by ThemeParkInsider.com, which rated Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney’s Hollywood Studios second.

» The Army has awarded Lockheed Martin’s Orlando-based missiles unit a $357-million contract to produce Hellfire II missiles.

» Construction is complete on Dynetech Centre, a 31-story, $57-million building downtown that will hold Orlando-based Dynetech Corp. as well as residential, commercial and retail space.

» MetroWest developer Kevin Azzouz is facing $51 million in foreclosure lawsuits over his Veranda Park project’s condominiums, The Residences, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

» Avalon Park Group, developer of Avalon Park in east Orlando, is building a three-story headquarters on Avalon Park Boulevard with a move-in date planned for November.

» Great Wheel Corp. has been choosing contractors to build its first observation wheel in North America, a 400-foot-tall structure scheduled to open on International Drive in 2010. The company built the London Eye and is creating similar attractions in Beijing, Singapore and Berlin. ... Also on I-Drive, investors Patz and Ron Turner are planning to open this month North America’s first permanent bar made of ice.

Guests will enter Icebar Orlando through an upscale nightclub and pay admission starting at $35 to don a cape and gloves and go into the 27-degree lounge with ice walls, tables, seats, cocktail glasses and sculptures for up to 45 minutes.

OSCEOLA COUNTY

Kissimmee-based AllSolar Service received a $320,000 grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to conduct a $727,000 public awareness campaign about solar energy and is working with Orlando company Rey Homes to show how residences can be built to use solar power.

SEMINOLE COUNTY

Seminole Community College has launched an Employ Florida Digital Media Banner Center with a $500,000 grant from Workforce Florida. The Heathrow facility will be used to train workers for central Florida’s growing digital media industry.

VOLUSIA COUNTY

Kansas-based Anthem Media Group has created Anthem Motorsports in Daytona Beach to publish guides for race fans who go to Daytona International Speedway and 17 other tracks nationwide.

WINTER PARK

Now that his estate has been settled, late philanthropist George Cornell’s gift to Rollins College has been valued at $105.5 million. It’s the largest donation in the school’s history.

Tags: Central