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Tuesday's Daily Pulse
What You Need to Know About Florida Today
Visit Florida fares well in session
Visit Florida appears to have won more than it lost in the recently ended legislative session. To be sure, it now has a contractual relationship with a different state agency. The state marketing arm retained its day-to-day autonomy, however, and also scored a 31 percent gain in state funding for the fiscal year. "I'm pretty confident things will work out," said Tony Lapi, president of the parent firm for 'Tween Waters Inn, Captiva Island. Lapi becomes chairman of Visit Florida's board of directors starting in June. The outlook for Visit Florida wasn't so bright about a month ago, when agency-consolidation bills in the state House and Senate alarmed members of the tourism and hospitality trades. Visit Florida is a public-private partnership. Businesses across the state contribute money and expertise to its mission of promoting Florida to visitors. Last year, Visit Florida raised more than $40 million in private-sector matching funds. Additional dollars come from a portion of a state surcharge on car rentals. [Source: Fort Myers News-Press]
Florida Agriculture: Growing Numbers
For years, the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services has reported that agriculture is Florida's second-largest industry, generating more than $100 billion a year in economic impact. But lately, that figure — calculated by the University of Florida's Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences — has been questioned by Tom Swihart, longtime water policy chief at the Department of Environmental Protection. Swihart, who retired last year, has written a book, "Florida's Water: A Valuable Resource in a Vulnerable State," in which he says agriculture uses nearly half of Florida's water but generates only about 1.5% of gross state product. Swihart points out that IFAS' calculation includes activities such as "food and kindred product manufacturing" — which adds the impact of grocery stores and restaurants, for example, to arrive at the $133 billion total for agriculture.
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Florida Highwaymen's stories are told with bold strokes
Years ago, when Geoff Cook was a local boy selling newspapers outside Ivey's in downtown Orlando, some of the Highwaymen could have been selling their paintings just blocks way. It would be decades before Cook learned about the then-unknown artists, but his interest became so great that last week it took him to Washington, D.C., to the First Lady's Luncheon at the Congressional Club — an august annual event with roots going back a century. "I am so excited to be invited and going," he wrote in a quick email. "This will be my first time on an airplane since 1999." In the late 1950s and '60s, air travel would have been unthinkable for the Highwaymen — the name given to more than 20 black artists from Fort Pierce who took to Florida's roads, marketing their art to small businesses. Theirs is an extraordinary story: These men (and one woman) came of age in a time and place in which they were expected to be grove workers, garbage collectors or gardeners. They became working artists. They painted on gypsum board, made their frames out of crown molding and sold paintings for $20 or so; now, the painters are in the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
University moves toward powering Florida with the Gulf Stream
Florida's expansive coastline has long drawn surfers and sunbathers, and now, some university researchers are dipping their toes into the surf with an experiment to generate tidal power, regulators announced today. Florida Atlantic University has applied to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) for permission to test a prototype hydrokinetic technology on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) approximately nine to 15 nautical miles offshore Fort Lauderdale. "This is the first lease application BOEMRE has received to test ocean current equipment on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf," said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich in a prepared statement. "Before a leasing decision is made, we are preparing an environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act and are providing an opportunity for public input concerning these activities." The assessment will consider the technology's impact to life on the ocean floor, wildlife, and existing human uses such as commercial fishing. BOEMRE says that it has identified four other areas off of Florida for testing ocean current technology and collecting resource data. Florida Atlantic University's (FAC) interest lies in tapping the energy potential of the Gulf Stream, which flows continuously along the state's eastern coast before shifting its direction toward Europe. [Source: Smart Planet]
» Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement
Florida food banks benefit from $255 million settlement
A Jacksonville-based food bank and seven others are sharing part of a $255 million settlement in a 22-state class-action lawsuit on behalf of consumers and businesses that indirectly purchased certain vitamin products between 1988 and 2000.
Second Harvest of Northeast Florida got its $174,983 windfall a week ago, said interim Executive Director Karen Rieley. She said it will pay for the gas and maintenance for the fleet of trucks that picks up and delivers an estimated 23 million pounds of donated food to about 400 agencies in an 18-county service area. It'll also go toward new trucks and even drivers, she said.
"We have 13 trucks of various sizes and we are picking up from grocery stores several times a day, and our costs to do that are tremendous," Rieley said. "It also helps the general cost of bringing it in, storing it and transporting it."
Second Harvest collects, sorts and packages fresh produce, meats, frozen and canned goods and other staples for its food bank clients out of its Jessie Street warehouse. Most of the food is surplus donated from area grocers, but Second Harvest has to pick it up.
Almost $1.7 million in grants were divided among eight food banks after the settlement was reached by the state Attorney General's Office in the vitamin price-fixing case.
[Source: Florida Times-Union]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Sun Hydraulics to remodel and enlarge headquarters
Fresh off posting stellar first-quarter earnings, Sun Hydraulics Corp. will expand its 31-year-old Sarasota headquarters.
Office space will be added for design and engineering personnel who will be hired on an as-needed basis to support Sun's growth, spokesman Richard Arter said Monday.
"We've always maintained a lean-and-mean business model, and our offices are pretty small," Arter said. "As we've grown, we've added more design and engineering talent but we don't have any place to put them."
The maker of screw-in hydraulic valve cartridges and manifolds also plans to spruce up the exterior of its 65,000-square-foot building on West University Parkway.
Holland Construction in Sarasota has been awarded the contract for the project, which is expected to begin this summer and be completed before year end.
The project will create jobs for more than 35 construction workers, said Holland vice president Craig Campbell.
Sun will add 1,900 square feet of new space and convert 1,700 square feet of existing space for the office expansion, Arter said.
› Orlando leaders OK plan to start arts center
Four years after celebrating approval of a new downtown performing arts center, the Orlando City Council on Monday signed off on a new, post-recession financing plan that allows the stalled project to start construction.
The council's 6-1 vote sets the stage for a June 23 groundbreaking for the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts' first phase — a 2,700-seat amplified auditorium for touring Broadway shows and a 300-seat theater for local groups.
After the vote, more than 200 people gathered in the City Hall rotunda for an impromptu celebration. Mayor Buddy Dyer and others raised their hands and cheered in triumph over what they hope is the end of years of trials and tribulation for the arts center.
Jim Pugh, who chairs the arts center board and donated $7.5 million of his own money to the project, wiped away tears.
"When you put so much of your heart into something for so long, that's going to happen," Pugh said. "I had the confidence we could pull it off, but I never thought it was going to take this long."
› Jacksonville small businesses getting access to capital
Nearly three years after a financial meltdown that left small business lenders skittish, at least one Jacksonville financial institution reports that its total Small Business Administration lending rose 27 percent in 2010.
Some experts say it's a sign that lending to small businesses is loosening after a punishing recession. But most of the capital is going to established businesses; many new businesses are still struggling to get loans.
SunTrust's lending in Northeast Florida was up "significantly" in the fourth quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of this year, said David Mann, Chairman, President and CEO of SunTrust Bank North Florida, the area's leading SBA 7(a) lender for 2010.
Although small business lending hasn't reached the level it was at during the real estate boom, it's up from the doldrums of 2008 and 2009, he said.
› Businessman to run for Pinellas sheriff
The Pinellas County Sheriff's race is heating up early.
The first Democrat interested in the position — Randy Heine — threw his hat into the ring Friday when he filed his intent to run with the Supervisor of Elections office.
Heine, 59, owner of Rockin Cards & Gifts store in Pinellas Park, used to be a fixture at Pinellas Park city council meetings. He ran unsuccessfully for sheriff in 1984, for Pinellas Park mayor in 2006 and for a seat on the city council in 2008.
He's the third to announce a campaign in the past week and a half. Former longtime sheriff Everett Rice is in; current sheriff Jim Coats is out. With Coats' backing, his chief deputy Bob Gualtieri announced his candidacy last week.
› Harris Corp. chief executive officer to retire
Harris Corp. Chief Executive Officer Howard L. Lance is retiring — though he may remain at the helm for another year, the company said Monday.
The 55-year-old chief executive and chairman of the largest high-tech company based in Central Florida recently informed Harris' board that he wants to retire by mid-2012, but will do so earlier if a suitable replacement is found, the company said.
Harris has hired an executive recruiting firm to begin the search for Lance's successor. He has been its CEO since January 2003.
Harris employs more than 6,500 in Melbourne and Palm Bay in electronics and communications work for the defense and national security sectors. Under Lance's watch, the company's annual revenue has nearly tripled to about $6 billion; its stock price has tripled to almost $49 a share; and its work force has increased 65 percent to 16,500 worldwide, according to company data.
» Harris Corp: Well-Grounded
› Koppers lawsuit raises questions about disclosure
A lawsuit filed last month by the owner of a home near the Cabot-Koppers Superfund site has raised the stakes on questions about the obligation of home sellers and their real estate agents to inform buyers about the presence of the site. Carla Melgarejo filed a lawsuit April 26 against Robert and Robin Evans and their Realtor, Bosshardt Realty Services and its agent David Ferro, contending they committed fraud in intentionally concealing knowledge of the federal Superfund site and were negligent in misrepresenting the value of the property she bought from them in 2004.
One house and less than 100 feet separate the house at 444 NW 30th Ave. from the Superfund property that is obscured by a tall, wood-plank fence. Small "No trespassing" signs are posted outside the fence with the words "City of Gainesville/Beazer East Inc." in small print.
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