Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Friday's Afternoon Update

Homebuilders can’t find enough qualified workers

U.S. builders and the subcontractors they depend on are struggling to hire fast enough to meet rising demand for new homes. Builders would be starting work on more homes — and contributing more to the economy — if they could fill more job openings. [Source: AP]


IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Toni Jennings is a 'Florida Icon'

toni jennings

» There are not many places in central Florida that I can’t drive down a street and see a building we built at some point. We’re not real big. We have 25 employees. We used to have a lot of craftsmen who did the work themselves. Now we just manage and subcontract almost everything. This is our 65th year in business.

» Toni Jennings is a 'Florida Icon'

Flotek buying Florida Chemical for about $102.5M

Oilfield services provider Flotek Industries Inc. is buying citrus oils processor Florida Chemical Co. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $102.5 million. Florida Chemical has served as a supplier and partner to Flotek for more than 15 years. [Source: AP]


What's coming for NASA's Hangar S?

Despite a history dating from the space program’s origins through the shuttle era, Hangar S has not yet made the cut as one of the nearly 100 local properties NASA recognizes as historically significant. Now an Indiana man’s objection to that perceived slight has forced Kennedy Space Center to take another look at its facilities and at least delay the hangar’s date with a wrecking ball. [Source: Florida Today]


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

  • Florida Law: 'Issue spotting' gives business owners affordable access to attorneys.
  • Manufacturing: Stick figure sculptures are smiley-face business.
  • Economic Development : Reality check for Pensacola's Downtown Technology Park.
  • Business Development: Hedge funds relocate to Southeast Florida.

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


Florida Lifestyle
Horseplay at Florida polo clubs

florida poloCelebrating its 10th anniversary as one of the world’s most famous polo clubs, International Polo Club is where prestigious matches such as the USPA Piaget Gold Cup and the USPA Maserati 109th U.S. Open Polo Championship are played, and the stars come out in droves to watch. We profile International Polo Club and other Florida polo clubs in our full story.