Florida's great displacement: The state's climate exodus has already begun

Hundreds of families have left the Florida Keys of their own volition in the years after Irma, deciding one way or another that the risks of staying there outweighed the benefits. But perhaps the more turbulent phenomenon after the storm was the involuntary displacement caused by the shortage of affordable housing on the islands. The storm destroyed not only the massive mobile home parks on islands like Big Pine, but also hundreds of so-called downstairs enclosures, small apartment-style units that sat beneath elevated homes. [Source: Business Insider]

First normal spring training since 2019 will be a needed ‘shot in the arm’ for business

For the first time in four years spring training will have a normal look and feel to it. The Grapefruit and Cactus League schedules were cut in half due to the pandemic in 2020. Though there was a full schedule of games in Florida and Arizona in 2021, it was one that emphasized as little team travel as possible and played out in front of sparse crowds due to attendance restrictions. Last year, labor issues between players and owners were not resolved until the second week of March. [Source: Forbes]

Florida gas prices head lower for third straight week

For a third consecutive week, Florida gas prices have dipped, falling a total of 28 cents per gallon since late January. On Sunday, Florida gas prices averaged $3.31 per gallon. That's the lowest daily average price since mid-January. It's a nickel more than this year's low of $3.24 per gallon, and well below the 2023 high of $3.58. [Source: CBS Miami]

Florida tech corridor reaches for the future

Psychedelic therapies that don’t make patients hallucinate. Less expensive displays for large TVs, phones and cars. Smartphone sensors that keep our soldiers safe. And thousands of kids in a LEGO League to nurture future scientists and engineers. They’re among hundreds of innovations powered by the Florida High Tech Corridor, an initiative anchored by a trio of Florida research universities that rings Sumter County. Just marking its 27th anniversary, leaders of Florida’s tech triangle —UF in Gainesville, UCF in Orlando and USF in Tampa — say the future will bring even more revolution. [Source: The Villages Daily Sun]

Family business owners: Southwest Florida economy is in mostly good shape

There’s a feeling among some local business owners that economically speaking, Southwest Florida is in a bubble right now. “I can see a national recession in the next 12 to 18 months,” Michael Wynn, owner of Sunshine Ace Hardware says. “But I haven’t been able to see any warning signs of that locally, as of yet.” Bill Daubmann, owner of My Shower Door in Fort Myers says, "Southwest Florida is kind of an anomaly compared to the rest of the country. It's a strong economy here, people are flocking to the state.” [Source: WFTX]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Miami chosen to hold Expo Dominican Business, Tourism, Real Estate, and Investment Fair [Dominican Today]
Sixty companies and institutions, with their various products and services, will participate next Friday, February 24, and Saturday, February 25 in the “Business, Tourism, Real Estate and Investment Fair Expo”, organized by the International Chamber of Business and Tourism of Florida. The attendance of 2,000 visitors of different nationalities is expected.

› Army Corps to start search for military waste in South Patrick Shores [Florida Today]
Will and Pat Dixon live smack dab in the middle of what they fear is a waste dump of abandoned military chemicals and hardware. Their home is in the center of a 52-acre area where workers next week will begin searching for old military waste, some dating back to World War II. "If there's a ground zero, that's us," Will Dixon, 72, of South Patrick Shores, said Thursday at a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers community meeting at Pelican Beach Park in Satellite Beach.

› A national Love Mural Tour will start in St. Petersburg [Tampa Bay Times]
Get in the mood for love, St. Petersburg. Artist and activist Lisa Marie Thalhammer is “painting this world a rainbow” with The LOVE Mural tour and is kicking it off in St. Petersburg at The Body Electric Yoga Company on March 20. Thalhammer and her team will paint rainbow murals in all 50 U.S. states throughout 2023 and 2024.

› Experts: Disney likely won't fight Reedy Creek district law in court. Here’s why. [Orlando Business Journal]
There's little chance The Walt Disney Co. will challenge the legality of Florida House Bill 9B, which will rename and revamp the power structure of Walt Disney World's Reedy Creek Improvement District, several experts said. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the bill into law, but there has been no formal announcement via the state's media site. When made official, the law will replace the district's five-member board with appointees by DeSantis and change some of Reedy Creek's powers.

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› Eagles Act, named for Stoneman Douglas, aims to thwart shootings in schools, workplaces, houses of worship [Orlando Sentinel]
A coalition of Democratic and Republican lawmakers is renewing the effort to expand a Secret Service threat-assessment program to include a greater focus on preventing violence at schools. The proposed Eagles Act would expand the U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Program. It is named in honor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Eagles. The Parkland high school was the site of the Feb. 14, 2018, shootings in which 17 people were killed and 17 injured.

› Cocoa's Stone Funeral Home makes history with 100 years in business [Florida Today]
On the humble strip of King Street that stretches just west of the railroad tracks, Stone Funeral Home has been a mainstay of Cocoa life and death for as long as many can remember. But this year marks an historic milestone for the Black-owned enterprise as they achieve a century in business, a rare distinction. City Councilman Alex Goins had been researching local Black history trivia for Black History Month this February. He wondered: what were the oldest businesses in the city of Cocoa. "Doing my research, I came across Stone Funeral Home—founded in 1923," Goins said.

› Southwest Florida Airport balances urgency with demand in massive expansion project  [Business Observer]
Southwest Florida Airport, like many others in Florida, is racing to update and expand its infrastructure during a significant gain in passenger traffic. The airport is the second-busiest in the country with one runway, which leads to logistical challenges during emergency times. New air traffic control tower is expected to be open by the second quarter, while terminal expansion is scheduled to be completed by 2024.

› Head of veterans charity pleads guilty to buying vintage Jaguar, Rolex watch with PPP funds [Florida Times-Union]
A Jacksonville man who ran businesses including a charity for families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan has pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering involving COVID-era paycheck protection loans, prosecutors reported. Kenneth S. Landers, 57, has agreed to surrender $910,000 the U.S. Justice Department called proceeds of wire fraud as well as a home and a business the government said the fraud funded, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.