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Southeast Florida Business Briefs - March 2006
? Struggling to revamp after the unexpected failure in clinical trials of a potential blockbuster drug to fight staph infections, Nabi Pharmaceuticals has announced it will close its European operations to reduce expenses.
? An affiliate of Boca Raton's Sun Capital Partners has acquired Green Bay, Wis.-based ShopKo Stores in a $1.1-billion deal. ShopKo, which competes with Wal-Mart, Target and other volume discounters, operates 137 ShopKo stores and 218 Pamida stores primarily in the Midwest and West.
FORT LAUDERDALE --
? Tampa-based internet development firm Bayshore Solutions has opened an office here. It also operates an Atlanta office.
FORT PIERCE --
? City officials have approved plans for a $100-million luxury hotel located on the Fort Pierce inlet. Officials say the Island Village Hotel & Spa will create 120 full-time jobs when it opens in 2007.
PALM BEACH GARDENS --
? The Anspach Effort, a developer of surgical instruments that employs 200, is adding 49,000 square feet to its Palm Beach Gardens facility and creating approximately 30 new jobs.
POMPANO BEACH --
? Hartford, Conn.-based insurance giant Aetna has selected Pompano Beach for the regional headquarters of its pharmacy mail-service subsidiary, Aetna Rx Home Delivery. The unit will oversee distribution operations and house a call center. Executives expect to employ 800 locally within three years.
WEST PALM BEACH --
? Fearing lawsuits, Lion Country Safari has installed fences separating its lion population from drive-in visitors. Executives of the 39-year-old tourist attraction say visitors often ignored warnings to keep car windows up.
? Three environmental groups and the Miccosukee Indian tribe have joined in a lawsuit against the South Florida Water Management District, charging the agency with violating the federal Clean Water Act by pumping billions of gallons of farm-tainted runoff into Lake Okeechobee. Many scientists blame the nutrient-rich water for the suffocating algae blooms that plague the lake and other bodies of water in the region.
