Florida Trend Exclusive
Floridian of the Year: Florida's non-profit sector during the pandemic

As the economy unraveled in 2020 amid mass layoffs and uncertainty, an army of helpers in Florida’s nonprofit sector — Florida Trend’s 2020 Floridian of the Year — kicked into high gear, delivering food to the hungry, offering financial assistance to the unemployed and providing emotional support, guidance and other services. Nearly 40% of non-profits have experienced an increased demand for services over the past several months, according to a survey by the Florida Nonprofit Alliance. Many answered the call even as the pandemic created big challenges for their organizations — from shrinking pools of volunteers to challenges in raising money. [Source: Florida Trend]

Study: Florida’s tourism industry slowly recovering as pandemic continues

Florida’s tourism industry is slowly recovering, as impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic have lessened since October, according to a study from Destinations Florida released Monday. The study says since the reopening of Florida, the tourism industry has started to see positive trends in employee retention, an increase in hotel occupancy rates and a higher percentage of revenues and profits since July. Although there are positive trends, more than half of the tourism partners surveyed in the study say they believe the impact of the pandemic will still be felt until around the third quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. [Source: WCTV]

Florida police raid COVID data whistleblower’s house with guns drawn

State police raided the home of a former Department of Health data scientist who is accusing Florida officials of wrongfully firing her for refusing to manipulate COVID-19 statistics. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement served the search warrant at Rebekah Jones’ Tallahassee home Monday morning in connection with an investigation into who hacked the state’s internal notification system with a message urging state employees to come forward with information about Florida’s handling of the pandemic. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Bay Times, and the Orlando Sentinel.

Florida delegation ramps up push to have Space Force based at Cape Canaveral

Last month, the U.S. Space Force announced six finalists for its headquarters and the Florida delegation on Capitol Hill is ramping up its push to have it located in the Sunshine State. The Space Force is looking at Patrick Air Force Base in Brevard County as one of the finalists. Other finalists include Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, Port San Antonio in Texas and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, according to the Air Force. A decision is expected early next year. [Source: Florida Daily]

What’s next for climate change in Florida Legislature?

Surveys show most Floridians accept the realities of climate change and worry about the impacts. A shift in the electorate, advocates say, has led to a gradual thaw on conversations about the problem in Tallahassee. The altered tone follows a decade of avoidance by Republican leadership, they say, though lawmakers still shy away from talking seriously about emissions that contribute to climate change. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› A Florida farm labor company owed $45,000 in pay. It’s banned from the H-2A visa program [Miami Herald]
Violations of pay and housing led to a Labelle company and the two men who run it being debarred from participating in the H-2A visa program for two years, the U.S. Department of Labor announced. Flo-Ag and company principals Juan Flores and Jose Flores also got hit with a $17,939 civil penalty for their H-2A violations. The H-2A program allows companies to use non-immigrant foreign workers for temporary or seasonal jobs after failed in attempts to find U.S. workers for those jobs.

› Port Panama City reaches milestone with first time shipment to Japan [Panama City News Herald]
The Panama City Port Authority celebrated a milestone last week, sending its first shipment of sustainable biomass to Japan's Iwakuni Port. The port's customer, Enviva Partners, LP, held a press conference last week to mark the long-term local achievement, which is expected to boost local and regional economies.

› OUC’s clean-energy plan criticized for rushed timeline, lack of transparency [Orlando Sentinel]
Critics say a clean-energy plan set for approval by Orlando Utilities Commission is on a rushed timeline with analysis being kept secret, lacks commitment to energy efficiency and is setting a pathway for gutting motivation for residents to install rooftop solar panels. OUC announced recently that it will quit using coal by 2027 at its landmark power plants in east Orange County. Those two units are to be converted to run on natural gas as part of a proposed utility schedule to reduce climate-heating carbon emissions 50 percent by 2030 and entirely by 2050.

› Miami Herald names Monica Richardson first Black executive editor in paper’s history [Miami Herald]
The Miami Herald’s parent company named a new executive editor on Monday to lead its newsrooms in Florida — a 30-year veteran of the news business, with expertise in Metro reporting and a specialization in digital news. Monica R. Richardson, currently the senior managing editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, will join the Miami Herald Jan. 1 as its top editor, according to McClatchy.

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› 1A Auto to open Southeast distribution center in Jacksonville [Jacksonville Daily Record]
The Jacksonville Port Authority announced Dec. 7 that 1A Auto, an online-only aftermarket auto parts retailer, chose Jacksonville for its Southeast U.S. distribution operations. It said the Massachusetts-based company will open an 86,800-square-foot warehouse at 12090 New Berlin Road in NorthPoint Industrial Park, near JaxPort’s Blount Island Marine Terminal, in the first quarter of 2021.

› Hospitality giant unveils new property in Tampa Bay area [Business Observer]
Choice Hotels International Inc. whose brands include Rodeway Inn, EconoLodge and Comfort Inn & Suites, has opened a new hotel under its upscale Cambria Hotels flag in Madeira Beach. On Dec. 4, the Rockville, Md.-based company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Cambria Hotel St. Petersburg-Madeira Beach Marina property attended by Madeira Beach Mayor John Hendricks, City Manager Robert Daniels and executives from Choice Hotels and Madeira Hotel Investors LLC, the property’s development company.

› Still struggling? Just one week left to apply for millions in Miami-Dade COVID funds [Miami Herald]
With weeks to go before nearly half a billion dollars in federal COVID assistance must be allocated, Miami-Dade County still hasn’t managed to get a large chunk of its CARES Act relief money to the businesses and residents that needed it. If you’re still struggling with COVID-related bills, you have until Dec. 15 to get some of it.

› Gulf Coast Community Foundation accepting applications for nonprofit training series [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
entirely virtual Gulf Coast Board Institute. The deadline to apply for this high-level nonprofit governance training series is Sunday, Dec. 13. The online application for GCBI Winter 2021 is available at GulfCoastCF.org. Through interactive videoconferencing, the foundation will deliver the same nonprofit board-governance training as in past sessions, but make it accessible to participants from the safety of their own homes or offices.