Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Wednesday's Daily Pulse

Florida House rejects considering ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines

House Republicans on Tuesday decisively blocked a move by Democrats to debate a ban on assault weapons in Florida, six days after a massacre that took 17 lives at a Broward County high school. [Source: Times/Herald]

See also:
» ‘Our message is very simple. Never again.’ Douglas High students march on Florida Capitol
» Florida lawmaker’s aide fired after saying outspoken Parkland students are actors
» Governor Scott: ‘My goal is to move the needle’
» Days after Parkland, it’s business as usual at a Florida Gun Show
» On same day the Florida’s House of Representatives denied a ban on assault weapons, they declared pornography a health risk.

Medica Trade Fair, largest medical trade show, a bonanza for Florida

The Medica Trade Fair, the world’s largest medical trade show held in Germany, brought Florida more than $122 million in total projected export sales, Enterprise Florida reported this month. While Enterprise Florida, the state’s public-private business development arm, reported these export sales, the projected data come from the 23 Florida companies that participated in the show. [Source: Miami Today]

Florida film industry backers set sights on sequel

Florida’s fading film and TV industry tried to flip the script Tuesday, touting a proposed state financing program that supporters say can bring back jobs and productions lost to Georgia and other states in recent years. More from the Gainesville Sun and the Florida Times-Union.

Florida Trend Exclusive
Spotless: Researchers get an almost dust-free facility for creating smart sensors

clean room

Last April, a cadre of local political, business and education leaders gathered for the grand opening of the Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center, a 109,000-sq.-ft. facility in Kissimmee that’s meant to function as a shared research-and-development space for tech companies and education institutions designing new generations of smart sensors. Full story here (part of a business roundup for Central Florida.

How lasers and robo-feeders are transforming fish farming

Fish farming is big business and with prices soaring, producers are turning to lasers, automation and artificial intelligence to boost production and cut costs. In Florida, a firm called Atlantic Sapphire is hoping to construct a giant salmon farm - on land. [Source: BBC]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Orlando airport wants to oust TSA security, bring in private workers
Citing a “high level of anxiety” among travelers on social media, Orlando’s airport recommended this week ousting TSA’s federal and unionized security screeners in favor of privately employed staff.

› Miami law firms sue big pharma on behalf of Medicaid managed care providers
Two Miami law firms filed a statewide class action on behalf of Medicaid managed care groups to recoup alleged losses from the opioid crisis. The lawsuit filed Friday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court aims to hold opioid manufacturers, distributors and marketers liable for health care costs related to painkiller addiction.

› Yes, we have some bananas: Port Tampa Bay welcomes first shipment in 21 years
More than two decades after the last bunch arrived on shore, bananas are back at Tampa’s port. More than 3,900 pallets of Chiquita bananas from Ecuador arrived last week at the new Port Logistics Refrigerated Services warehouse.

› Myakka City, a hub of farming, now has place to buy food it produces
Halfway between Arcadia and Sarasota, distinguished by a single flashing-yellow caution light on State Road 70, the rural blip on the map known as Myakka City looks as drowsy as a cow in the shade.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Florida highways' express lanes drive controversy
Our state transportation leaders say express lanes are the future of transportation, because they improve traffic flow. However, the I-95 express lane project has drawn mixed reviews and controversy in South Florida.

› Yoshi — car maintenance that comes to you — launches in Tampa Bay
A California-based company that promises to bring limited on-site car maintenance directly to you — from an oil change to a fill-up — has picked Tampa Bay as its next pit stop.

› Chinese shopping district expands to Orlando's west side
Central Florida’s Chinese population is booming, which is fueling the new Chinatown shopping center on Colonial Drive. New Chinese bakeries have opened, along with restaurants, grocers, discount stores, attorney offices, a bank and mail services.

› 3 South Florida employers move up in rank on Fortune's '100 Best Companies to Work For'
The three South Florida headquarters that typically make Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” all moved up in rank on the 2018 list.