Big changes coming to Enterprise Florida, state lawmakers say

Big changes are coming to the state agency that gives away your tax dollars to lure jobs to Florida. As the new Legislature takes hold in Tallahassee, lawmakers in both parties are looking to tighten the purse strings of Enterprise Florida. [Source: WFTS]

Related Florida Trend Archived Content
» Making a case for Enterprise Florida

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» Reform bill targets Enterprise Florida, but will accountability persuade critics?
» Editorial: Reforms looming over Enterprise Florida?

Florida job cuts rise in December compared with year ago

Job cuts in December rose in Florida and nationally, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Florida employers trimmed 1,738 jobs during the month compared with 515 in December 2015. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Florida attorney general Pam Bondi said to have job in Trump's White House

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) — who was the subject of controversy during the 2016 presidential campaign for what some labeled as a quid pro quo deal with Donald Trump — is expected to join the Trump White House. More from The Hill and Bloomberg.

Macy's slashing jobs, closing Florida stores

Macy’s is slashing more than 10,000 jobs to move forward with 68 store closings – including some in Florida. The department store chain also lowered its full-year earnings forecast. Below is a list of Macy's stores that will be closing in Florida. Also read more at CBS Miami.

• Lakeland Square, Lakeland, FL (101,000 square feet; opened in 1995; 68 associates);
• Oviedo Marketplace, Oviedo, FL (195,000 square feet; opened in 2000; 83 associates);
• Sarasota Square, Sarasota, FL (143,000 square feet; opened in 1977; 86 associates);
• University Square, Tampa, FL (140,000 square feet; opened in 1974; 73 associates);
• CityPlace, West Palm Beach, FL (108,000 square feet; opened in 2000; 72 associates)

» Related quick poll: How much of your holiday shopping did you do online (instead of at a retail shop)?

Column: Florida craft distilleries good for business, jobs

Micro-brewers had their moment as craft IPAs and coffee porters began washing over Florida like the hottest accessory since sunscreen. Now local small-scale makers of bourbon, gin, vodka and rum are having a moment, too. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Obama praises Miami-Dade’s police mental health training as ‘good example of reform’ [McClatchy]
With 15 days left in office, President Barack Obama urged future presidents to continue building on his administration’s efforts to reform the criminal justice system in an article published in the Harvard Law Review on Thursday.

› Clearwater-based MariJ expanding into growing U.S. hemp market [Florida Business Daily]
Clearwater-based MariJ Pharmaceuticals is following its corporate sibling as a participant in the emerging U.S. hemp market by entering into an agreement to produce organic hemp oil.

› AutoNation hiring for 200 new jobs in South Florida [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
AutoNation will hold a nationwide hiring day on Jan. 10, to get ready for its previously announced expansion. About 200 of the positions are in South Florida.

› Meet Miami's renaissance billionaire [Forbes]
In this sweltering city of conspicuous consumption, where nearly everyone drives with windows rolled up and the air-conditioning and radio blasting, Dr. Phillip Frost, with his botanical obsession and insatiable appetite for learning, is an anomaly. He is a businessman and an investor, but he is also a scholar, inventor and fervent patron of the arts and sciences.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› New housing for homeless veterans opens in Jacksonville [AP]
The $3.8 million project called Beaver Street Veterans Villas will open to its first tenants in February after years of planning and fundraising.

› Tampa law firm forms cybersecurity practice [Business Observer]
Amid heightened concerns about computer hackers’ ability to infiltrate and compromise retailers’ databases to political party computer systems, a Tampa law firm has established a cybersecurity practice.

› Miami startup LiveNinja is acquired by telecom player [Miami Herald]
Net2Phone, a subsidiary of IDT Corporation, acquired LiveNinja, a Miami-based messaging and live chat technology startup, the companies announced this week.

› Florida reports 10 Vibrio vulnificus deaths in 2016 [Outbreak News Today]
During the past eight years, Florida has seen an average of just under ten fatalities annually due to infection with the bacterium, Vibrio vulnificus, and in 2016, the Florida Department of Health reported 10 deaths.