Thursday's Daily Pulse

Posted 2/5/2015

Updated 9 yearss ago

Florida is home to 2.2 million small businesses

A new report from the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy shows that Florida is home to 2,180,556 small businesses that employ 3,000,167 workers. Read more from the Orlando Business Journal and read the full report.

Low prices lead to big sales of Florida Prepaid Tuition plans

After slashing costs to remain affordable, the Florida Prepaid Tuition program has seen its new plan sales double with a month remaining to purchase one. The group reports that it has sold 32,080 plans since the window opened in October. [Source: Tampa Bay Times ]

Florida Trend Exclusive
A home for budding entrepreneurs

Infinity Hall, a five-story, 97,000-sq.-ft. dorm being built under a public-private partnership between UF’s Innovation Square and Signet Development, will offer living space for 308 students, as well as offices, collaboration lounges and a 3-D printing lab. Access full story.

Florida health insurance enrollment reaches more than 1.3 million

The number of enrollees in Florida — 1,339,791 — is the largest of any state participating in the healthcare.gov exchange and is about 18 percent of the 7,473,699 enrollees in the 34 participating states. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

8 Deadly Ways to Kill Employee Motivation

There are events and circumstances that make us feel happy and appreciated. But unfortunately there are also many that kill our motivation. If you want to make sure you're providing your employees with an environment in which they can thrive, check your workplace for these motivation killers. [Source: Inc.]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Design Center of the Americas experiencing revival post recession [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Design is becoming fashionable again. The sprawling Dania Beach design center is once again becoming a destination for designers seeking to outfit luxurious homes in South Florida and beyond, say company executives, designers and retailers.

› IRS offers all Florida taxpayers extra identity theft protection [Tampa Bay Times]
The Internal Revenue Service is offering Floridians an extra measure of identity theft protection this tax season. Because of a high incidence of identity theft statewide, Florida was picked as one of three test markets where all taxpayers can apply for an Identity Protection PIN (personal identification number).

› 4 points to consider on Staples' acquisition deal with Office Depot [South Florida Business Journal]
Office supply giant Staples agreed to buy its smaller competitor Boca Raton-based Office Depot in a $6.3 billion deal announced Wednesday, and it's a move that may begin to heal the hemorrhaging companies.

› Cruise passengers set PortMiami record [Miami Today]
A record in cruise passengers – nearly 4.8 million – sailed through PortMiami last year. That’s a 17% gain from 2013, when about 4.08 million came through, according to PortMiami.

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› Corinthian students to get 40% cut in private loan debt [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
For years, government investigators have zeroed in on Corinthian Colleges Inc., a Santa Ana for-profit college operator accused of roping students into unmanageable debt by promising bright careers after graduation.

› Miami floats plan; waterways to sink gridlock [Miami Today]
Miami city commissioners, fed up with ever-growing traffic congestion, are ready to consider the area’s vast waterways for new modes of transportation.

› Church Street grows rapidly as Orlando tech hub [Orlando Sentinel]
Empty for more than a decade, the historic Church Street Exchange recently managed an unusual feat for downtown Orlando: Offices went from empty to full in a year.

› U.S. budget plan has money to study dredging Port Manatee [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Port Manatee could eventually be deepened to handle additional ship traffic after President Barrack Obama included $700,000 in funding for a dredging feasibility study in his 2016 federal budget.