Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Tuesday's Daily Pulse

Statute Meant to Protect Jobs Isn't Enforced

Illegal immigration either costs or saves Floridians billions of dollars. It's inspired by racism. Or it's a fight to stop slave-labor wages. The polarizing views and stats clashed Monday at the Florida Senate's second fact-finding committee meeting over immigration. But one number wasn't disputed. Zero. That's the number of employers who have been charged with breaking an 11-year-old Florida law that prohibits anyone from knowingly hiring a person "who is not duly authorized to work by the immigration laws or the Attorney General of the United States." "From what I can find, from our statistics, the statute has never been enforced," said Michael Ramage, general counsel for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. [Source: Times/Herald]


In Strawberry Country, It's Good to Be the Queen

The strawberry queen eats her strawberries straight from the basket.

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Sliced onto pancakes. Topped with whipped cream. She likes them in the winter, when you can get a good Florida berry fresh from the farms. The strawberry queen is too kind and too regal to show disdain, but she politely passes on California berries in the summer. She's a Plant City girl, after all. This is her time: strawberry season, at last. And when you are the strawberry queen, there is glitz. There is glamour. Forget munching on strawberries reaped from early December harvests. Forget pulling over at farm stands for those thick strawberry shakes that don't make it out of the car. The strawberry queen starts her season with chocolate-dipped strawberries. "They're sweet, and the chocolate adds an extra little goodness," said Natalie Burgin, 18, the Strawberry Festival queen. She lingers by the fancy dipped and striped chocolate strawberries behind glass at the Original Leena's Chocolates in Valrico. This is what she aspired to achieve Monday: a chocolate-covered strawberry worthy of a doily-lined plate. When you are the strawberry queen, your royal duties do not make you nervous. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]


Scott Campaign Staffers Get High-Profile, In-House Lobbying Jobs

One kept track of Gov. Rick Scott's inauguration invitations and donations. Another led his campaign field operations in Orlando. A third was a "tracker" who videotaped opponents for campaign research, about a year after he was fired from the Republican Party of Florida for misconduct. These and other young foot soldiers in Scott's campaign are being rewarded with high-profile jobs as legislative affairs directors, or in-house lobbyists, in agencies under Scott's control. Directors traditionally serve as liaisons between the Legislature and the agencies it funds. They are expected to know an agency's inner workings, offer advice on relevant bills and provide timely information to lawmakers. As a candidate, Scott called it wasteful for the state to employ dozens of lobbyists. On MSNBC in August, Scott said: "That's not what state governments ought to be doing." But as governor, he's using those positions to reward political supporters. The appointments reflect a desire by Scott to have more involvement in hiring practices at state agencies. Their mission, Scott said, will be to carry out his agenda. Most are earning thousands less than their predecessors. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]


The Tax Man Cometh ... with an iPhone App

Tax junkies who can’t get enough of the Internal Revenue Service can now stay in touch with a new phone app.

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The IRS on Monday unveiled IRS2Go, an app that allows taxpayers to check on their refunds and obtain tax tips from the federal tax collection agency. The free app, the IRS’s first for smartphones, is available for users of iPhones and Androids. “This phone app is a first step for us,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. We will look for additional ways to expand and refine our use of smartphones and other new technologies to help meet the needs of taxpayers." The agency already uses YouTube and a Twitter news feed, @IRSnews, to reach taxpayers. IRS2Go can be downloaded at the Apple App Store or the Android Marketplace. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]


Does Selling the State's Planes Make Financial Sense?

In less than three weeks, Gov. Rick Scott plans to make good on one of his signature campaign promises: selling off both the state's planes. It's a popular decision for voters who elected Scott based on his vows to downsize government and shrink state spending. Operating and maintaining the planes cost taxpayers $2.4 million annually, and allegations of misuse have turned them into a symbol of sloppy, even corrupt governance. But emptying the state's stable of aircraft is also the prerogative of a multimillionaire who can rely on his own personal jet - a resource that many future governors likely will not have, posing difficult questions about official travel in the future. "That's the big issue, it seems to me," said Darryl Paulson, professor emeritus of political science at the University of South Florida. "It's fine if you are a wealthy individual who can finance your own campaign and afford your own jet. It does save state taxpayers. But the other side of the coin is it leaves future governors and other state officials at a disadvantage. [Source: Tampa Tribune]


ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› 40-foot Stolen Yacht Rolls Up in Manatee Bay
An abandoned 40-foot yacht found run aground in Miguel Bay on Saturday turned out to be reported as stolen, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Residents of Terra Ceia reported the vessel, ”Unplugged” from Sarasota, which was lilting to the side as it balance in only about six inches of water. Coast Guard investigators believe the yacht was not intentionally run aground. One of the two engines was running, but only in idle, and the boat was secured as if it were not being piloted. There were also no outstanding reports of missing persons from boating.

› Fla. Lawmakers Look to Texas for Prison Advice
Florida lawmakers are looking to Texas for advice on cutting prison costs without appearing to be soft on crime. Texas state Rep. Jerry Madden outlined several cost-cutting steps taken by his state in 2007 during a joint meeting Monday of two Florida Senate committees. The Texas approach included putting low-risk, nonviolent offenders on probation or freeing them on parole and providing treatment to inmates suffering from drug and alcohol addiction or mental health problems. "This (group) is the ones you're mad at, you're angry at," said Madden, who helped lead the overhaul. "They've done something that's really dumb, stupid against the law, but you're not terribly afraid of them." Texas has avoided about $2 billion in prison costs since taking its new approach, Madden said. Sen. Paula Dockery, a Lakeland Republican, said Florida lawmakers have discussed similar proposals for the last three years but they haven't gotten anywhere. "It's politically difficult to do," Dockery said.

› 'Burn Notice' to Remain Part of Miami's TV Mini-Boom
As it readies for a fifth season in Miami, Burn Notice still hasn't mined all of the region's backdrops or storylines, show creator Matt Nix said Monday. ``You get tapped out on the obvious things, like cartels, straight-up Colombian cartels,'' Nix said at a panel discussion of the hit cable series about an out-of-work spy stuck in Miami. But ``we've done one Haitian story in the history of the show. Make it one and a half. One of things we've never done is an episode that leans heavily on the Brazilian community in Miami.'' Nix initially fought to set Burn Notice in New Jersey in order to preserve his concept of a dark spy made miserable by glum surroundings. But the USA cable network insisted on the bright surroundings of Miami, and the show went on to be one of the most popular cable series on television.

› House Wants Freedom from Redistricting Rules
Nearly 63 percent of Florida voters last November approved sweeping new standards for lawmakers to follow in drawing up new congressional and state legislative districts. But the GOP-controlled House wants a federal court to remove some of those standards from the state constitution. The Florida House has asked a judge to let it join a lawsuit filed late last year by two veteran members of Congress against Amendment 6. The stakes for the lawsuit are even higher than they were last fall, now that new U.S. Census numbers have increased the size of Florida's congressional delegation by two seats. Starting in 2012, the state will have 27 members in the U.S. House. It is up to the Legislature to draw those districts' boundaries. House Republicans on Monday defended the decision to act after voters have already approved the new standards. They maintain Amendment 6 is unconstitutional because it would put limits on how legislators draw up new districts for Congress.

› Food, Goods Pump Up Gas Station Profits
"We cater to both Bubba and the BMW set," said Mark Perrualt, who runs this sprawling 12-pump, 1.5 acre station leased from Risser Oil Corp. The up market venture shows how gas station owners are grappling with change dogging this rough and tumble industry. Gas prices are rising again, but retailers typically make just 8 cents a gallon, and that's before paying for expenses like rent. Adjusted for inflation, that's a nickel less than 30 years ago when gas cost a third of what it does today. Operators make it up on volume with more pumps and more to-go food inside. The Rally at 2200 Fourth St. N in St. Petersburg includes a beer cave, a cigar bar, some produce and a business plan to pump as much gas as all nine stations that once were within two miles.

› ShandsCair Team Uses $10K Goggles to Improve Patient Safety
The ShandsCair medical team has a new weapon in its arsenal, aimed at increasing patient safety. This week, the helicopter flight team began using night vision goggles to improve flight capability at night. As lead pilot Mark Womack explains, the $10,000 goggles give him 20/25 vision in low visibility, compared with 20/200 without them. When you're landing a helicopter in an unfamiliar landing zone close to the scene of an accident, prepared to load a critically injured patient, the goggles can make a critical difference. "They improve our ability to go into dimly lit landing zones, such as a field or pasture, and allow us to see obstructions like power lines that we'd miss with the naked eye," he said. The helicopter is staffed by a pilot, flight nurse and paramedic, and all of the crew members have been outfitted with the goggles, manufactured by ITT Night Vision and Imaging.


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› Economic 'Gardeners' Seek Bumper Crop of New Florida Jobs
We're not cultivating tomatoes or citrus, but we are talking about gardening. Economic gardening. A statewide initiative called the Florida Economic Gardening Institute identifies and helps nurture small private companies with high growth potential in the Sunshine State. This is not a venture capital undertaking or a program for start-up businesses with high failure rates. Now in its second year, the Institute uses a program called GrowFL that targets so-called "second stage" companies that survived the chaos of birth and now show great promise of expanding and creating jobs. "In start-ups, they don't even know what they don't know," says GrowFL director Tom O'Neal. "In the second stage, at least they know what they don't know." The program estimates that after a year in operation the second-stage firms it has touched have added at least 425 jobs. Not bad in a recession.

› Hanjin Cargo Terminal Delayed up to Two Years at JaxPort
The Jacksonville Port Authority and Hanjin Shipping Co. agreed to delay construction of a new cargo terminal for the South Korean shipping giant by 18 months to two years, JaxPort officials said today. Instead of opening at the end of 2014, the terminal would be ready for its first cargo ship in 2016. The pushback is the latest in a series of delays for the terminal, which originally was supposed to be built by the end of 2011 when Hanjin and the port authority signed a lease agreement in 2008. JaxPort officials said that new milestone of 2016 for the terminal would dovetail with a scenario in which the federal government finishes deepening the ship channel the same year, allowing the giant ships deployed by Hanjin to sail up and down the river. However, the deepening of the ship channel still must undergo an intensive study by the Army Corps of Engineers, slated for completion in 2014, and then win congressional authorization and funding. JaxPort will compete with other entities nationwide so there is no guarantee when a deeper channel for Jacksonville would get funding. The estimated cost would be around $500 million, with the federal government and the port authority sharing the expense.

› Startup Forum, Hatchery Team Up on Inaugural Event
Local entrepreneurs will get the opportunity to pitch their businesses before a panel of venture capital investing experts next month. That’s thanks to an initiative between two nonprofit organizations, South Florida’s The Startup Forum and New York-based The Hatchery, which have partnered up to form The Hatchery Miami. The “Are You Serious Miami” event will be held at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 10 at the Miami Dade College Auditorium on the Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami. The Are You Serious event will feature five startup companies, each presenting a five-minute pitch in front of a panel of judges and an active audience. All the startup businesses will have their presentations critiqued in both a constructive and entertaining manner (a la American Idol). Judges will include Dan Rua, managing partner of the Inflexion Fund, Jose Vargas of Doral Capital and Healthcare.com, Jose Rivera Font, formerly of Yahoo!, and David Blumenstein, co-founder of The Hatchery. The goal of this event is to help the businesses improve business operations, sales technique and pitching capabilities. The most successful startups will be awarded prizes and invited to travel to New York City to pitch to investors at one of The Hatchery’s local events.

› New Measures to Fight Medicare Fraud Announced
Federal health officials announced new security measures Monday to combat Medicare fraud, including tougher screenings for providers and the ability to withhold payments during investigations. Authorities recovered $4 billion in health care fraud judgments last year — a record high up 50 percent from 2009 — according to a new report. Authorities have long said the solution to solving the nation's estimated $60 billion to $90 billion a year Medicare fraud problem lies in vigorously screening providers and stopping payment to suspicious ones, ending the antiquated "pay and chase" system authorities say has kept them one step behind criminals. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius touted the Affordable Care Act as one of the toughest anti-fraud laws in history. "The days when you could just hang out a shingle and start billing the government are over," she said.

› $3M in Job-Creating Grants Given to Florida Companies
Four Gainesville companies are among 13 statewide sharing in $3 million in grants designed to advance high-tech companies and create jobs. The Florida Research Commercialization Matching Grant Program was created last year by the Florida Legislature to match federal research grants and overcome funding gaps. The Gainesville companies are: Captozyme; Convergent Engineering; Sinmat Inc.; and, WiOptix Inc.

› Orlando's VA Medical Center Taking Shape
The Orlando VA Medical Center slated to open next year in Lake Nona will offer some nationwide firsts for the more than 100,000 Central Florida military veterans expected to seek treatment there. The $600 million-plus facility, which includes a hospital, clinic, nursing home and rehabilitation center, will be the only such center in the country in which all of the rooms are private. Each one will be equipped with a hoist and railings for lifting patients, and they will accommodate all but intensive care so patients don't have to move to new rooms as they recover. Each room will also have a view of a lake, conservation area or garden, and offer Internet access. "It's very much different than anything else you'd see around here," said Joe Battle, who oversees construction of the center for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. "It's very much about making this as home-like of an environment as possible."

› Construction Forecast Flat
Construction jobs gave a huge boost to both the state and local economies five years ago, with nearly 17,000 people in Brevard County working in that sector. Five years later, construction jobs have dropped more than 50 percent in Brevard and the outlook for any substantial growth in that field this year is minimal. The Associated General Contractors of America, which released its 2011 business forecast, amplified those sentiments Monday. The organization's outlook comes from an in-depth survey of 1,277 large construction firms across the country. Overall, it's going to be better this year than in 2010 but the market still won't be as vibrant as it was five to six years ago when the economy was growing at a torrid pace. In Brevard, some firms just want some type of growth, no matter how miniscule, in order to survive until there is a greater turnaround.

› Leu Gardens May Grow
Orlando's popular Harry P. Leu Gardens could have a facelift in its future. City officials said Monday they are putting together a new master plan for the publicly owned botanical garden's growth, and preliminary plans call for a café, more parking and a larger amphitheater area. One thing the gardens does not have yet is money. It generates about $1 million a year from admission and event fees, but that's not enough to cover its expenses. The city likely will seek grants to pay for long-term improvements, as it did when the park's last master plan was done in 1993. Director Robert Bowden said the proposed changes reflect the amenities that visitors have most often requested.