Central Fla. and Space Coast Business Briefs - Sept. 2008

BREVARD COUNTY

The optronics division of DRS Technologies has won a $56-million contract to supply parts for Army helicopters. It’s part of a larger agreement worth more than $416
million.

DAYTONA BEACH

Daytona Beach International Airport passenger traffic decreased 27% in June compared with the same month the year before.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH

Vintage Props & Jets temporarily ceased its passenger operations until further notice.

ORANGE COUNTY

The Orange County Convention Center is using a new web-based service to keep track of its contractors and vendors and make sure their registrations and licenses are current. This is the first program of its kind in Florida in partnership with the non-profit Exhibitor Appointed Contractor Association.

» The first hotel that will be directly connected to the convention center, the 1,400-room, 19-story Hilton Orlando, held its topping-off ceremony on schedule for opening in mid-2009.

» Walt Disney World’s Pleasure Island nightclub complex closes Sept. 27 to make way for restaurants and shops.

ORLANDO

Developer Cameron Kuhn has turned over some of his downtown properties to his former investors and sold off others in the face of the real estate downturn. He retains ownership of much of Church Street Station.

» Omnicare of Covington, Ky., has acquired Orlando-based pharmacy services business Advanced Care Scripts.

» The Army has named Col. Craig Langhauser director of the Simulation & Training Technology Center at Central Florida Research Park.

» Smart City, a telecommunications technology provider, has sold its local business, except its operations at the Orange County Convention Center, to Hargray Communications Group.

» UCF professor Henry Daniell and his team have developed a promising vaccine that fights the Black Plague. The vaccine could be used in a bioterror attack.

» UCF incubator program company MyDocHub.com, which provides reviews of local physicians and health facilities, is reporting rapid growth with more than 250,000 web visits a month.

» Florida Hospital, Orlando Health and Health Central have made all of their central Florida sites tobacco-free under a pact they signed to ban smoking by July 1.

» Mitsubishi Power Systems completed its Mitsubishi Power Systems Blade and Van Manufacturing Center of Excellence, which will manufacture parts for turbines used in energy production. The project created 220 jobs.

SEMINOLE COUNTY

For the first time, Orlando Sanford International Airport’s domestic passenger count has exceeded its number of international visitors.

WINTER PARK

The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art has started work on a 10,000-sq.-ft. wing to open in early 2010.

Tags: Central