Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Wednesday's Afternoon Update

Movement to ban jobless discrimination gaining steam

For now, companies that turn away someone out of work for more than a year are not breaking the law. That could soon change. A movement is under way to ban jobless discrimination. It’s a thorny issue fueled by anger over recent job ads stating candidates “must be currently employed.” Of course, while some companies state that plainly in their job ads, others have been more discreet, screening out jobless workers during the initial application process. [Source: Miami Herald]

Business Profile

Floridian

Four years ago, Punta Gorda-based SandStar had 27 employees filling a variety of roles, from building custom homes and remodeling existing ones to providing handyman services to snowbirds. The housing bust forced the company to cut 22 jobs.

"We had to get lean and mean," says Vice President Larry Sandles. The last 18 months have been better, however.

» SandStar

More luxury retailers moving to Miami's Design District

Plans to turn Miami’s Design District into a high-end fashion destination are quickly gaining critical mass with more than two dozen luxury retailers like Fendi, Zegna and Bulgari on the way. Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Hermes, Celine, Pucci and Cartier are all expected to open at least temporary locations in the Design District by the end of this year. [Source: Miami Herald]


$20 million Broward bus compound will become job-training school

An unused multimillion-dollar bus compound, long a symbol of government waste, will be transformed into a vocational school next year, providing adult job training and freeing up money to hire teachers, said Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie. Runcie said the move is part of a larger effort to reduce waste and move money into schools. It also will allow adults to earn a general education diploma, learn English or get critical job skills in such fields as commercial driving, automotive services and truck and bus maintenance, he said. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]


Work-at-home scams on the rise

Darling Angel Pin Creations sounds sweet, doesn't it? But last year the Federal Trade Commission shut down the Tampa-based company that advertised consumers could make up to $500 a week assembling angel pins at home. The FTC found that consumers who paid $45 for a starter kit, and as much as hundreds of dollars for supplies didn't make any money as the company rejected nearly all the pins. [Source: Palm Beach Post]


Catholic store offering inspiration

With today being Ash Wednesday, the launch of the Lenten season leading to Easter is here, which means business for Queen of Angels Catholic Store. The shop specializes in religious gifts, books and jewelry. It has been in business for about 10 years, the last eight under the ownership of Maureen Gallavan and her husband. [Source: Florida Times-Union]


On This Day
metropole Old Florida Business
The Adams-Onís Treaty was negotiated in response to Andrew Jackson’s incursion into Florida to stop the raids of the Seminole Indians on U.S. settlements along the border. Signed on February 22, 1819, and ratified by the United States in 1821, the treaty granted to the United States Florida and former Spanish territory west of the Sabine River.

Read more from the Florida Department of State's Division of Historical Resources and History.com and see a larger image of the treaty from the Library of Congress.