Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Friday's Afternoon Update

Florida officials urged to make budget website public

Open government and ethics advocacy groups are urging Gov. Rick Scott and Florida legislative leaders to retain and make public a secure budget website developed at taxpayer expense. The media-backed First Amendment Foundation and a group called Integrity Florida say the state will be wasting about $5 million that has already been spent if a contract for the website that's set to expire Dec. 31 is not renewed. More from the AP and the St. Augustine Record.


IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The Florida-Colombia Connection

Colombia

A decade ago, many American businesses wouldn't have even thought about opening an office in a country then considered one of the world's most dangerous. In addition to rampant crime, Colombia was mired in a decades-long struggle with a criminal Marxist group known as FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). Many businesspeople in Bogotá hurried from work to home in armored vehicles, fearful of bombs and kidnapping.

Today, stability, economic growth and a new trade agreement are creating stronger Florida-Colombia trade links.

» The Florida-Colombia Connection

119 KSC United Space Alliance workers lose jobs today

United Space Alliance today bids goodbye to 119 Kennedy Space Center employees in its latest round of layoffs. NASA's lead shuttle contractor, a joint venture between The Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., is continuing a multi-year downsizing as closeout of the shuttle program nears completion. [Source: Florida Today]


Dick's Sporting Goods makes a move on Central Florida

Dick's Sporting Goods is shaking up Central Florida's athletic-retail scene with expansion in the region. Already the nation's largest sporting goods retailing company — with more than $5 billion in annual sales and 500 stores — Dick's eventually plans to have 900 outlets throughout the United States. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]


» FRIDAY PREVIEW: Coming next week to FloridaTrend.com:

  • Space Invaders : As Miami-Dade’s volume of international trade increases dramatically, owners and users of warehouses are grabbing space.
  • Florida Law, Overseas: Expanding abroad doesn't necessarily mean opening an office overseas.
  • Jump Start: Port Canaveral expansion begins early.
  • Executive Lifestyles: Profiles of Florida hunting lodges.

» You'll find all these stories first on the Daily and Afternoon Pulse e-mails.


Weekend Event
Art Basel Miami Beach: The Art Party in Full Swing

art basel Miami Beach is hosting the 11th edition of Art Basel, the most prestigious art show in the Americas. More than 260 leading galleries from North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa will take part, showcasing works by more than 2,000 artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.

» Read more from the New York Times and see a slideshow and the official Miami Art Basel site.