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Miami-Dade County Business Briefs - May 2007
HIALEAH --
? California-based medical device maker Beckman Coulter plans to lay off 102 when it closes its manufacturing facility here at the end of the year.
MIAMI --
? Samoho Healthcare, a medical services provider based in Mexico, will open an urgent-care facility here, hiring up to 50 workers over the next three years.
? Fermax Electronica Group, a Spain-based maker of electronic security systems, has selected Miami for its first U.S. distribution office, servicing clients throughout the hemisphere.
? Daylight Forensic & Advisory, a New York-based fraud risk management and investigative consulting firm, has opened an office in Miami to serve clients throughout the Southeast, the Caribbean and Latin America.
? Puerto Rico's Metropolitan Community Health Services has acquired Miami's Pan American Hospital in bankruptcy court for $34 million and has announced it will be renamed Metropolitan Hospital of Miami.
? After acquiring Miami Beach's PineBank, Miami-based Hemisphere National Bank will be renamed Republic Federal Bank.
? Miami-area businesses posted 95,800 online job ads in March -- 40% of all online ads statewide -- according to a survey by the Conference Board.
MIAMI-DADE --
? Crossroads Transportation & Logistics, an Indianapolis-based warehousing and transportation company, will relocate its headquarters to Miami. Executives expect to hire as many as 1,000 within the first year.
? A controversial plan to build 6,000 homes on environmentally sensitive lands at the gateway to the Florida Keys has been canceled. Executives for landowner Atlantic Civil say they have withdrawn their application for an 18,000-acre mixed-use housing development. Environmentalists fiercely opposed the plan.
MIAMI BEACH --
The Eden Roc Renaissance Resort & Spa will be closed through October for renovations to its 283-room tower. Nearly 300 workers will be laid off, executives say. Construction also is under way on a second tower, to be completed by fall 2008.
MONROE COUNTY --
? Monroe County Mayor Mario DiGennaro and Commissioner Charles "Sonny" McCoy have been charged with non-criminal violations of Florida's Sunshine Law for allegedly discussing an upcoming commission vote on the county mayor position.
? Former Monroe County Attorney James Hendrick has been convicted on federal charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering in a wide-ranging corruption scandal. Prosecutors say Hendrick, one of Monroe's most sought-after land-use attorneys, helped orchestrate and cover up a bribery scheme to win support from former County Mayor Jack London for a controversial development project. London, who was arrested attempting to flee the country, died last year while awaiting trial.
