Tuesday's Daily Pulse
Florida among states with lowest gender pay gap
There remains a persistent pay disparity between men and women, but in Florida, that gap is smaller than any of the 50 states. Website Expert Market compiled a map of each state and Washington, D.C., ranked by gender pay gap, and Florida ranked No. 2 on the list, trailing only D.C. [Source: Orlando Business Journal]
Florida considers law to protect digital assets after death
The Florida lawmaker who pushed through a bill to ban the use of biometric data in Florida schools now wants to protect the digital assets of the deceased. Those assets include emails, text messages, online photographs, documents stored in the cloud, electronic bank statements, and social media accounts. [Source: SecureIDNews]
The next airline trend could be narrower seats
To squeeze more profits from each plane, the airline industry in the last few years has begun to install extra rows of seats, leading to a crunch in legroom that has sparked tiffs and feuds among frustrated passengers. Now, the squeeze may be on passenger hip room. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Commentary: We need a small business borrowers' Bill of Rights
Online lenders are poised to transform how small business owners apply for and get credit. But, achieving that transformation will depend in part on facilitating greater transparency, accountability, and fairness across our sector, and reining in predatory actors. [Source: Forbes]
Is South Florida headed toward drought?
Portions of South Florida may fall under drought conditions in coming months, parched from a rainfall deficit of up to 6 inches since the beginning of the dry season. All of South Florida already has been deemed "abnormally dry" after receiving less than 50 percent of its normal rainfall since Nov. 1. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Amir Varshovi
Florida Trend Exclusive
› The export market is hot for eco-friendly fertilizer [Florida Trend]
Entrepreneur Amir Varshovi has built a company that manufactures eco-friendly fertilizer. He's expanding — and looking to the export market.
› Miami International Boat Show likely to draw 100,000 people [South Florida Business Journal]
The 2015 Miami International Boat Show launches Feb. 12-16 across multiple locations in Miami and is expected to attract more than 100,000 marine enthusiasts to South Florida.
› Four companies seek incentives to create jobs in Broward [South Florida Business Journal]
The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance is helping four confidential companies with applications for job growth incentives that are pending before the state.
› Gas prices rising from near six-year lows [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Motorists accustomed to months of falling gas prices saw increases of more than 10 cents per gallon last week. And gas prices are likely to rise more this month.
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› Lockheed picks up $82M Army contract for targeting, night vision system [Orlando Sentinel]
The U.S. Army has awarded Lockheed Martin an $82 million contract to build a targeting and night-vision system for Apache helicopters, the company announced Monday.
› Rising economic tide boosts Marinemax, boating industry [Tampa Bay Times]
After a perfect economic storm nearly swamped Clearwater's Marinemax, the nation's largest boat retailer is on the rebound — good news for a struggling recreational boat industry and a big thumbs up for Florida's improving business climate.
› Disney reaching plateau in its hotels' occupancy [Orlando Sentinel]
The Walt Disney Co.'s hotel occupancy at its domestic resorts spiked in its first quarter — 89 percent compared with 81 percent the previous year. It will probably be difficult to see it go much higher, Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo said.
› Florida Tech Involvement Key in NASA’s Orion Program [FIT News]
More than a dozen Florida Institute of Technology students, faculty and alumni are working on Orion and the Space Launch System propulsion system as Florida Tech continues to play a vital role in the United States’ evolving space programs.
