Women Small Business Owners Struggle to Get Loans

Women are a growing force in the business world, but if they own a company, they may still struggle to get a loan from a bank. Women owners have long been at a disadvantage getting loans. Women's business loan approval rates are between 15 percent and 20 percent below men's, according to the online lending marketplace Biz2Credit.com. [Source: AP]

» Related, from Florida Trend:
At FloridaSmallBusiness.com, you'll find profiles of women entrepreneurs along with how-to advice and resource links.

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How does Florida’s education system stack up?

An easy-to-read guide from Florida TaxWatch, now makes it easy for Floridians to see how the state’s education system stacks up compared to the rest of the nation. The report, How Florida Compares – Education, compares Florida students’ achievement in math and reading, the cost for education, and enrollment figures, among other data. Read the full story and see more from Florida TaxWatch.

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Quintessential Florida product's popularity is shriveling

Florida orange growers continue to be battered along two fronts: accelerating declines in U.S. orange juice sales and in the fruit in their groves. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

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Florida fall food festivals serve up goodies for foodies

Hungry? If you are in Florida this fall you can bring an appetite to various food festivals, including one of the nation’s largest, the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival in Orlando. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

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Turpentine once flowed from North Florida

In Florida's not-so-distant past, before strip malls and subdivisions, an industry thrived here in which rough men did even rougher work in the state's seemingly limitless and hazardous pine forests: Turpentine. [Source: AP]

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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› First U.S. medical isotope facility to take root in Alachua [North Central Florida Business Report]
The first medical isotope manufacturing facility of its kind in the United States will be making its home in Alachua County. UF’s John Carlson said the upcoming facility represents millions of dollars of capital investment and more than 150 new jobs with average annual salaries of about $75,000.

› Fernandina Beach tech firm acquires Panhandle business [Florida Times-Union]
A Fernandina Beach–based technology firm has doubled the size of the company with the acquisition of a Panama City firm.

› Florida ALS chapter seeks more 'ice bucket' money [Orlando Sentinel]
The Florida chapter of the ALS Association is seeking more funding from the popular ice bucket challenge sweeping the country. Some big Orlando companies have participated in the challenge to raise awareness and funding for ALS, a debilitating disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

› Commercial land prices soar as uses shift [Miami Today]
It’s not just the scarcity of supply and high demand for commercially zoned land that’s driving land prices up, but also the competition that’s emerged from the increasing number of investors who are finding other uses for the properties.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Bloomberg offers grants to help cities innovate [AP]
American cities looking to be more innovative in how they address local issues can now get a helping hand from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's charitable foundation. Bloomberg Philanthropies on Wednesday is announcing that it's putting $45 million into Innovation Delivery grants.

› Pinellas tourism agency won't turn to public-private model [Tampa Bay Times]
There was no debate at Wednesday's Pinellas Tourist Development Council meeting about whether the county tourism agency should switch to a public-private model that would let it spend bed tax dollars without the accountability of a government agency.

› Space Florida sets lease terms for KSC commercial crew facilities [Florida Today]
Boeing would pay up to $1 million per year to rent Kennedy Space Center facilities for assembly of a commercial crew capsule under terms Space Florida's board approved Wednesday.

› Study: Florida could see major economic upside from same-sex marriages [Tampa Bay Business Journal]
Wedding bells at same-sex marriages could be music to the ears of Florida’s tourism industry and cash-strapped governments. A new study from The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law makes an economic case for same-sex weddings.