Taxpayers on the hook for lawmakers' trip
Dozens of Florida legislators are in New Orleans this week for three days of pro-business pep talks, policy seminars and great food.
The annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, features topics such as public pensions, Medicaid reform and tax policy, with such conservative stalwarts as economist Arthur Laffer and former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey.
And who's picking up part of the tab? Taxpayers and lobbyists. Even though a 2006 state law forbids lobbyists from wining and dining lawmakers, a former counsel to the state House of Representatives said it's legal for lawmakers to accept money from a business-backed ALEC scholarship fund as long as the money being used was donated before the gift ban took effect in 2006.
[Source: Times/Herald]
» See the dinner menu
» Read the legal opinion
Business incentives:
Reversing urban sprawl
Should cities with struggling downtowns use tax dollars to lure business from the suburbs to the urban core? That question was under intense debate in Jacksonville this summer as the city considered giving financial powerhouse EverBank a $2.75-million incentive to relocate 1,000 jobs from Southside office parks into the downtown business district. The incentives package is unprecedented for targeting a business to relocate from another part of the city, acknowledges Ginny Walthour of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. But it is meant to "level the playing field" for downtown firms that have watched capital, businesses and residents flow to the suburbs, Walthour says. Read more about Reversing Urban Sprawl.
 "This will turn out to be fair for everyone in Jacksonville," says Roy Thomas, owner of Jacobs Jewelers in downtown Jacksonville. [Photo: Will Dickey] |
Pay cuts vs. layoffs: Florida workers make surprising choices
Given the unwelcome choice of a layoff or pay cut, most employees would opt for their pay being trimmed.
That's what some municipal workers say when asked to make that choice. With plunging tax revenues and less help from federal and state governments, cities increasingly must chop budgets.
In South Florida, Hollywood and Deerfield Beach workers are among those taking pay cuts in lieu of layoffs. Deerfield Beach workers are still stinging from about 100 layoffs a year ago. So to avoid that fate, city workers agreed to a 5 percent pay cut, as well as a 10 percent employee contribution for medical insurance, to avoid further layoffs.
[Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
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Florida still bleeding construction jobs
Despite some signs of renewed activity, Florida's beleaguered construction industry continued to bleed jobs in June. There were 9,200 fewer construction jobs in the Sunshine State during June than a year ago, at 342,500. Nationally, construction employment rose in 149 out of 337 metro areas from June 2010 to June 2011. The count declined in 141 and remained level in another 47. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Alzheimer's wave will make Florida its ground zero
As baby boomers head for retirement, population experts have warned Americans to brace for what they call a "silver tsunami." But that tsunami could pose a special danger to Florida — because of Alzheimer's disease.
Today, an estimated 500,000 Floridians have Alzheimer's disease, but that number is expected to grow 40 percent by 2025, according to a recent report from the Alzheimer's Association, a national nonprofit agency dedicated to research on the disease.
The financial cost of Alzheimer's disease to business is estimated at more than $61 billion a year. Of that, $24.6 billion is directly related to health care, while $36.5 billion covers lost productivity for employees who are caregivers.
[Source: Orlando Sentinel]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Host committee raises $15 million for GOP convention
The 2012 Tampa Bay Host Committee so far has raised about $15 million of its $55 million goal to support next year's Republican National Convention in Tampa.
"We're ahead of schedule," said Ken Jones, the president of the nonprofit host committee. "We've met every benchmark."
As far as commitments and pledges "and what we think we have, certainly the number is much higher," Jones said Wednesday. "But it's matter of rubber meeting the road to go out there and get the dollars in the door."
› Three new ships on order for Carnival Corp.
Signaling long-term optimism for an area that has been rocked by recent upheaval, Carnival Corp. on Wednesday announced it would spend more than $2 billion on three new ships for its European brands.
The world's largest cruise ship company agreed to pay about $794 million for a 3,700-passenger ship for Italy-based Costa Cruises and $1.3 billion total for two 3,250-passenger ships for AIDA Cruises, which is based in Germany.
"Obviously we have a great deal of confidence in the European market and these brands to make these investments," said Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen.
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Web.com purchases Network Solutions in $560 million deal
Jacksonville-based Web.com announced today it will acquire Internet pioneer Network Solutions, creating the world's largest online marketing company.
The move brings the local company a longtime national brand name with a solid reputation in the Internet world. The deal was sealed today as both companies signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition.
Both companies are focused on much the same thing: selling Web sites and Internet domains with names that end in .com, .net or .org, on which to host them. Both also are focused on the small medium-sized businesses, which Web.com announced in a release is a $19 billion market.
» Web.com Group Earns 'Net' Income
› HSN draws customers with video games
New video game features added to HSN.com have been drawing 120,000 curious players a day through their first month.
And the players have been lingering longer on the site and spending twice as much as the TV shopping network's average customer, said the St. Petersburg e-commerce company.
Called HSN Arcade, it's the company's latest attempt to find new regular customers and get them to stay tuned online longer.
› Hospital challenged in quest to become trauma center
As Blake Medical Center pursues its ambition to become the hospital that treats this region's most critically injured patients, challenges to its quest are mounting from competitors, neighbors and even its own employees.
Hoping to put public pressure on Blake to increase staff training before it opens a state-designated trauma center as soon as this fall, about 20 nurses and their union representatives made their case Wednesday in a shady spot on the sidewalk across from the hospital.
This in-house tension comes almost a year after Blake first went public with plans for a $2.5 million renovation to handle trauma cases from Sarasota and Manatee counties.
› One day late with mortgage payment, gas station owner could lose business to foreclosure
Saji Mathew missed the October 12 mortgage payment on the Mobil gas station he co-owns.
On Oct. 13, he took the money to the bank, thinking that would make things right.
He tried to make his November and December payments as well. But each time, BB&T kicked back his money.
Ten months later, Mathew is still trying to pay. In circuit court on Tuesday, he offered BB&T $50,000, the total amount due since October.
BB&T didn't want the money.
It wants the gas station.
Go to page 2 for more stories ...
› Tampa-based College Hunks Hauling Junk bought by 1-800-Junk-USA
College Hunks Hauling Junk, the Tampa-based trash removal operation launched by two college kids that grew into a national franchise, has a new owner.
1-800-Junk-USA, a full-service waste management and recycling company, has bought College Hunks, the companies said Wednesday.
The two companies will continue to operate separately, but plan to cross-market as they seek ways to leverage their national footprints and client relationships.
› Harris Corp. ends solid fiscal 2011
Harris Corp. capped a solid if not spectacular fiscal 2011 with fourth-quarter earnings that saw a 15 percent increase in revenue but a decline of nearly 10 percent in net income, due in part to a falloff in orders.
The Melbourne-based information technology and communications company reported after the markets closed Tuesday it earned $134 million in the fourth quarter on revenue of $1.67 billion. The earnings of $1.06 a share compared with $1.16 a share in the year-ago quarter.
› Stan Van Gundy considering career in politics after coaching
Like most Americans, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was fed up with the government's protracted fight over the national debt ceiling.
Unlike most Americans, Van Gundy wants to do something about it.
Van Gundy, who enjoys watching political shows and reading magazines such as Time and Newsweek in his free time, said he's thought about pursuing a career in politics once he's done coaching. He isn't sure what level of politics, but he has seriously considered the possibility.
"I don't like what's going on," Van Gundy said of the recent happenings in Washington, D.C. "I think sometimes you can sit around and complain. Look, I want to coach for as long as I can. But when that's done — depending on where my family situation is — yeah, I'd think about it. I certainly would think about it.
› Palm Beach women tap experiences to create new-moms' DVD and program
Newborn babies don't come with instructions, which is why many mothers seek out "Mommy and Me" classes to learn how to interact with baby.
But with the economy making it difficult for some parents to afford classes costing up to $150 for a six-week session, Royal Palm Beach moms Caroline Epstein and Carrie Garramone hit on an idea for a new product: A series of fun, instructional DVDs for the home, featuring playtime sessions and music geared to baby.
› Legislation proposed to boost small businesses in Brevard
Small businesses in Brevard County would get preferential treatment in federal contracting under a legislative proposal announced Wednesday.
The proposal from U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams, the Orlando Republican whose district includes portions of the Space Coast, aims to combat job losses linked to the retirement of NASA's space shuttle program.
The bill would designate the county a Historically Underutilized Business Zone, or HUBZone, under the federal Small Business Administration.
› Printer complains as Pasco school district work goes to inmates
Jason Braunstein is miffed.
Braunstein, the owner of J&S Printing in Port Richey, won approval to be one of the Pasco County school district's vendors for printing services this year.
Yet when a Hudson High School employee came to him for business cards, the job was canceled before he could even mock something up. A district-level official rejected the purchase, saying the district's preferred printer is now a nonprofit prisoner training company that keeps costs low by using inmate labor.
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