Home flipping increasing in Florida again

Are home flippers returning to Florida’s housing market? According to the state’s chief economist Amy Baker, the answer to that question is yes. Baker told the Florida Senate’s Appropriations committee on Thursday morning that Florida’s housing recovery has started to attract home flippers again. [Source: Times/Herald]

Businesses targeting Hispanics to boost sales

There are about 55 million Hispanics in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau, which reported Hispanics accounted for more than half the U.S. population growth from 2000-10. Hispanics also have enormous buying power - $1.4 trillion, according to an estimate by market research company Nielsen. [Source: AP]

Federal Reserve will keep interest rates the same

The Federal Reserve is keeping U.S. interest rates at record lows in the face of threats from a weak global economy, persistently low inflation and unstable financial markets. Read more from the AP, Bloomberg Business, and the Wall Street Journal. Read the full statement from the Federal Reserve.

See also:
» Fed decision to hold rates at zero perplexes experts
» Why the Federal Reserve kept rates low Thursday and why it matters

Arms firms do business with new buyers as cyber fears grow

A broadening wave of cyber attacks is drumming up new clients for defense companies as anxiety about the loss of sensitive data spreads from military chiefs to company bosses. [Source: Reuters]

Growing state reliance on property taxes for schools raises ire

Gov. Rick Scott and his education team are touting an "historic" increase in per-pupil funding in Florida schools next year. But the state's proposed education budget relies more than ever on higher property taxes paid by homeowners and businesses [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Jacksonville parking entrepreneur honored by governor [Florida Times-Union]
A Jacksonville businessman was honored Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott. Dane Grey, founder of Elite Parking Service, received the Governor’s Young Entrepreneur Award along with seven people from Gainesville in a ceremony there.
» See also: Governor makes Gainesville stop to laud job-creating entrepreneurs

› car2go to expand to Miami Beach [South Florida Business Journal]
Car sharing company car2go said it would launch service in Miami Beach on Oct. 1. The company will offer 11 surface lots with 26 designated parking spaces for its service in the city.

› Boosters say Ybor City is the logical spot for a Cuban consulate [Tampa Bay Times]
Despite the bouquets St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman is throwing Cuba's way, Ybor City boosters believe the island nation's choice for its first consulate in the United States in more than a half century should be the Tampa's famed district.

› Hundreds gather to celebrate Jacksonville tourism industry [Jacksonville Daily Record]
The recent rebound of Jacksonville’s $2.2 billion hospitality industry and the plan to continue its resurgence were topics at Visit Jacksonville’s annual Destination Celebration on Wednesday.
» See also: Visit Jacksonville announces awards to area residents, businesses helping to drive record tourism visits

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› Olive Garden unlimited pasta passes sell out almost instantly [Orlando Sentinel]
For the second year in a row Olive Garden and Orlando-based Darden sold passes that gave customers access to never-ending pasta, salad, bread sticks and soda for six weeks.

› Mayor, CEO announce .MIAMI domain name launch [Press release]
Beginning Oct. 2, Miami will become the third U.S. city with a dedicated Internet domain name, Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado announced Thursday. The city will join New York (.nyc) and Las Vegas (.vegas) in creating a global Internet identity through which the city's businesses, communities and residents can clearly identify themselves with Miami and its internationally recognized brand.

› Record year for sea turtle nests [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Endangered and threatened sea turtles have made their nests along the Sarasota coastline in record numbers. Two species of sea turtles are prevalent in the area and play a vital role in our ecosystem — the loggerhead sea turtle and the green sea turtle.