Main Street 'damage done' as government reopens

For businesses across the nation, a deal to reopen the government and extend its borrowing authority is getting scant cheers from Main Street. While the agreement brings relief for furloughed workers, many smaller merchants are wondering what's fundamentally changed with the fiscal deal. More at CNBC.

Related:
» KSC employees returning to work
» Shutdown over, Florida Bay reopens to fishermen
» Everglades National Park Back In Business

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Report: Cruise lines can do more to reduce environmental footprint

While many cruise lines are adopting more eco-friendly measures and outfitting new and older ships with advanced technology to reduce vessels' environmental footprints, more needs to be done, according to a report released Wednesday. Some operators continue to lag in reducing air and water pollution in the destinations their ships visit or where they are based. More at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

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Florida Trend Exclusive
Trade partners: United Arab Emirates

Niche Market Jacksonville's Johnson & Johnson taps overseas eyewear niche Inside Johnson & Johnson’s Jacksonville campus, home to its Vision Care division and 1,800 employees, is a three-story beige building that houses its research and development labs. Nine years ago, researchers there created circle lenses, also known as beauty lenses, which make the wearers’ irises appear larger and more defined than they actually are. » Full story

The nation is Florida’s No. 17 export partner. In 2012, Florida’s trade with the UAE — in imported and exported goods — was worth $2.4 billion, more than 2½ times its worth in 2010. Full story...

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Many left frustrated with state unemployment benefits website

The day after Florida launched a $63 million website to process unemployment benefits for thousands of residents, state officials sounded only positive notes. It had processed about 50,000 claims in two days and workers fielded thousands of calls. Yet it’s not clear how the website is handling the demand of a system with 235,000 claimants. More at the Times/Herald.

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UCF grad's idea could rev up consumer batteries

Brandon Lojewski's mad-scientist routine began quietly in a college engineering lab in Orlando. Four years later, the 25-year-old's project at UCF has morphed into a high-tech-startup business that could play a key role in revving up battery power in everything from iPhones to Teslas. More at the Orlando Sentinel.

Out of the Box Gun Girls Inc. Guns and fashion shouldn't be mutually exclusive, Boca Raton entrepreneur Susan Kushlin says. Kushlin loves shooting guns — and loves looking good — and she got tired of leaving gun trade shows empty-handed. She wanted to be able to purchase something feminine to show off that she's a shooter, but never saw anything to buy. Susan Kushlin decided to take matters into her own hands. » More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel » Gun Girls, Inc.

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