Central Florida Business Briefs - Nov. 2007

BREVARD COUNTY —
» The Space Coast Defense Alliance, part of the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast, secured the state’s largest award, $140,000, under the Defense Reinvestment Grant Program, and a second grant of $120,000 under the Defense Infrastructure Program. Both will be used to support the area’s military bases.

LAKE COUNTY —
» The new Inland Lakes Railway starts service this month from Eustis to Orlando for Orlando Magic weekend games. Organizers say the service could be expanded to include trips to downtown Orlando performing arts venues.

MELBOURNE —
» Mercedes Homes is launching a companywide effort to adopt the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, partnering with the University of Florida and Steven Winter Associates to develop individual buildings and neighborhoods that are environment-friendly.

ORLANDO —
» Optics maker LightPath Technologies (Nasdaq-LPTH) CEO Kenneth Brizel has left the company following disappointing earnings news. The Orlando company, which has laid off 25 recently, has 88 employees and expects that number to fall further as it shifts manufacturing to China.

» While Orlando theme parks have been raising parking fees lately, the Holy Land Experience announced that it was dropping its $5 charge.

» Ruth’s Chris bought three of its franchised restaurants in the Pacific Northwest for $13.25 million.

» Habitat for Humanity Orlando is developing its first multifamily community, a $6-million, 58-townhome project called Staghorn Villas to be completed in early 2011.

» Surgeon Luis Herrera at Orlando Regional Healthcare’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando, has performed central Florida’s first thoracic surgery using a da Vinci robotic procedure to remove a tumor in a patient’s chest. Meanwhile, Florida Hospital Orlando has become the only medical center in the Southeast to use the da Vinci robotic technology in a new type of minimally invasive surgery to reverse tubal sterilization in women.

» The University of Central Florida has installed a custom-built, 20-inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope in the Robinson Observatory that is 12 times more powerful than the one it replaced. It will be used by Planetary Sciences Group students, faculty and staff, as well as the public.

» The former Disney/SBA National Entrepreneur Center downtown has been renamed the Disney Entrepreneur Center after a $1-million donation from Walt Disney World and a commitment for $350,000 more in the next three years. The U.S. Small Business Administration no longer funds or operates the center.

» The newly formed Central Florida Commercial Association of Realtors has replaced the Central Florida Commercial Real Estate Society and will serve nine counties in the region.

OVIEDO —
» The city became the first municipality in Florida to install a tornado siren warning system in September. Winter Park is following suit. It is partnering with Rollins College on a disaster alert system designed to notify residents during a tornado or other crisis.

SANFORD —
» JumpTV has acquired the broadband network division of XOS Technologies for $60.25 million and will continue to operate it out of Sanford. XOS Technologies has kept its coaching solutions and facilities design and integration groups, which are based in Sanford and Billerica, Mass.

VOLUSIA COUNTY —
» Work on the first phase of the Tomoka Farms Industrial Park is set to begin. Completion is set for mid-2008.

» Ormond Beach has hired a contractor to develop 14 additional industrial parcels in the Ormond Beach Airport Industrial Park in an area called the Tower Circle Extension.

Tags: Central