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I-4 Corridor Booms
A "Trashy" Industrial Park
Indian River County is negotiating with a New York developer to create what may be the first "recycling mall" in the country. The $50 million, privately financed industrial park will be located on 115 acres at the county-owned landfill and take 15 years to complete. The first phase will include a materials-recovery facility at which workers will comb through garbage in search of recyclables, which will then be sold at a discount to nine waste recycling companies located around the landfill. The recycling park would operate much like a mall, attracting large anchors and small, entrepreneurial industries. Firms would manufacture products such as kitty litter created from newspaper, irrigation hose made from rubber tires and cattle feed derived from citrus waste. Supporters say the project could double the life of the landfill, create up to 500 new jobs and eliminate the need for curbside recycling. County commissioners are expected to approve a final contract early this year with INRIVCO Recycling Park LLC, a New York corporation formed specifically to develop the project. "There's no reason in the world this can't work, so long as none of the players gets greedy," says County Utilities Director Terry Pinto.
- Deborah Borfitz
SHIPPING
Pack 'n' Snack
A few years ago, two Arizona entrepreneurs trying to develop a snack food for the Mexican market stumbled onto another idea - an ecologically friendly packing material. The substance, called Biofoam, resembles the plastic "peanuts" used to cushion goods in boxes. Biofoam, according to its manufacturer, is a blend of processed grains - proprietary, of course - that's completely biodegradable and protects shipments as effectively as styrene for about the same cost. Unlike styrene, it doesn't generate static electricity.
Biofoam outsources its production equipment to heavy users, and a Jacksonville-based company, EEECO, which manufactures and distributes packaging products, is the first company in Florida to make the substance (at a facility in Tampa). According to EEECO president John Ellson, Biofoam is superior to the starch-based biodegradable packing materials his company has handled for about four years, which he calls "junk." He won't divulge figures, but his sales projections for Biofoam are "right on target."
Important for use in Florida, Biofoam handles humidity well. Another potential problem with a grain-based product in Florida - bugs and rodents - turns out not to be a consideration. While Biofoam is actually edible - it tastes vaguely like a rice cake - all the food value has been removed so that bugs and rats don't find it appealing. Sounds like snack food after all.
VENTURE CAPITAL
Good News, Bad News
First the good news: For the first nine months of 1996, $324.7 million in venture capital flowed into Florida companies, almost three times what was invested during the same period in 1995, according to the Price Waterhouse Venture Capital Survey. But before thinking that Florida is poised to become the next Silicon Valley, consider:
One deal, a buyout of Largo's Paradyne Corp. for $72.5 million, accounted for nearly two-thirds of the third quarter total.
More than 98% of the money invested in Florida for the first three quarters of 1996 came from out-of-state. Pennsylvania-based TL Ventures was the most active investor with five deals.
Florida still lags far behind other states: California attracted $2.3 billion in venture funding for the first nine months of 1996, and Massachusetts got $751 million in the same period.
- Barbara Miracle
REAL ESTATE
Plumbing The Numbers
Think that baseball fans are the only group crazy for statistics? Consider the Greater Orlando Association of Realtors. Its monthly report includes the usual data on sales and price ranges - but also includes a category called "Sales by Bathroom Count," apparently the only washroom breakdown done by any real estate group in the state.
Sales of two-john homes outpace all others in Orlando, you'll be fascinated to know - through November, more than 8,400 of the 11,662 homes sold (72.05%, to be precise) had two bathrooms. About 14% had only one bathroom, and 11% had three. Interestingly, Orlando brokers have sold 13 homes this year with six bathrooms. The owners, no doubt, flush with success.
On another real estate matter, The Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) reports that home shoppers have discovered FAR's Web site, the Florida Living Network, which lists more than 71,000 residential properties plus information on brokers, communities and consumer information. To check it out: http://fl.living.net.
SECURITY
Big Brother's Florida Cousins
Florida firms are among those peddling an ever-expanding arsenal of security technology and services. A sampler: Badges:
A Melbourne company, Software Technology Inc. (STI), has a security system called FotoTag that lets security personnel keep track of who's coming and going at a public facility like an airport or courthouse. The system involves bar-coded tags and photo ID badges that can be attached to employees, vendors, baggage and passengers, then scanned at checkpoints. The system, for example, allows employees to verify that passengers and carry-ons at a boarding gate are the same ones that checked in at the ticket counter.
No U.S. customers so far, but the Bogota, Colombia, airport has installed part of the system. And a major airport in Mexico may buy it, STI says.
Open and shut:
On your way into that fototagged airport, you may pass through a so-called "smart door" like those now being sold in the U.S. by Dual Inc. of Lake Mary. The Italian-manufactured doors are popular in Europe, where high minimum wages make it too expensive to hire security guards. The doors, outfitted with bulletproof glass, can detect metal objects that could be weapons. Until the carrier drops the threatening item in a secure container, the doors won't open. At $25,000 to $50,000 a set, the doors sound expensive. But Hank Okraski, senior vice president of research and technology with Dual, points out potential savings for a convenience store that might be able to get by with one fewer employee - and salary - at night.
Tracker:
In Fort Lauderdale, Loss Prevention Consultants Inc. is touting a "portable monitoring device" that lets companies keep track of their delivery trucks and goods. The antenna-transmitter begins signaling when the vehicle moves, and a person with a receiver can then keep track of where the vehicle goes. Greg Beenken, president of Loss Prevention Consultants, says law enforcement has used the Teletrak system to help stop thefts at places like the Miami airport, where thieves were driving away with trailers full of cellphones.
