Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Thursday's Daily Pulse

Commercial space sector set to hop aboard

Florida is taking steps to profit from what a top state space development official predicted would be a boom in commercial space business as reduced federal spending forces the government to rely more on the private sector. “It’s time now for greater commercial reliance in this industry,” said Frank DiBello, president of Space Florida. Full story from Florida Today and see also:

» Posey: Expect less government spending on aerospace industry [video below]:


Swing state small businesses could loom large

Nearly 50 percent of small business owners in key swing states (Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin) favored Republican challenger Mitt Romney over President Barack Obama, according to a survey released last week by Manta, an online small business community. Despite Romney’s lead among swing state small business owners, Obama was narrowing the gap. [Source: Reuters]


South Florida at bottom for middle class to afford a home

South Florida ranks at the nation's bottom for offering the American Dream to the middle class, when it comes to buying a house, according to a new study released Wednesday. South Florida comes in 22nd of the 25 largest U.S. metro areas for a median-income family's ability to buy a home, reported a subsidiary of North Palm Beach-based Bankrate.com. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]


Grocer's guide: A world to savor in ethnic markets

If you have an adventurous palate, Central Florida is the place to be. Indian, Moroccan, Russian, German, Latin, Italian and British markets now are thriving along with Asian stores and others. Read more from the Orlando Sentinel and see the 18th Annual Ethnic Grocery Guide.


5 Tips on using Instagram for your business

Instagram has quickly become one of the hottest names in social media. Essentially, this free photo-sharing application allows you to take a photo, filter it to change its look and feel, and then post to Instagram to share with your followers. The North Central Florida Business Report offers five tips to help your business join in the filtered fun.


ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› SBA lending jumps 38% in Miami
US Small Business Administration lending in Miami-Dade County grew almost $59 million in the year ended Sept. 30, up 38%, restoring cautious optimism to the agency.

› 260 Florida sites got suspect drugs
A third Floridian has died from contaminated steroid injections, and the number of Florida sites that received products from the now-infamous New England Compounding Center has tripled to 260, the state Department of Health said Wednesday.

› FPL to perform 1,000 Business Energy Evaluations for Energy Awareness Month
Florida Power & Light Company is marking Energy Awareness Month, which started today, by helping 1,000 small-and medium-sized businesses in Florida shape-up and BEE-healthy. FPL’s Business Energy Evaluation (BEE) is a first step for a business to get “Energy Fit.”

› Citrix, Cisco expand partnership
Cisco and Citrix announced an expansion of their desktop virtualization partnership into three strategic areas: cloud networking, cloud orchestration and mobile workstyles, the companies announced at Citrix Synergy conference in Barcelona on Wednesday.


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› 500,000 Floridians have voted in presidential race already
In a sign of the intense interest in the presidential race, about 500,000 Floridians have already cast absentee ballots and that number is growing by the day. More than 1.8 million additional voters have requested the ballots, which are typically mailed in.

› Grooveshark rolling out redesigned site
The Gainesville music streaming service has added more social elements for users to follow what their friends are listening to and tools to allow artists to manage their content and identities and communicate with fans.

› Norwegian Cruise Line orders new megaship
The Miami-based cruise operator reached an agreement with the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany to build a 4,200-passenger vessel for delivery in October 2015 for 700 million euros, or about $918 million at current exchange rates.

› To rebuild arena, circus arts group rallies supporters
Two years ago, a grassroots group saved the former arena and training grounds of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus from the wrecking ball — temporarily.