Healthcare Innovators
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From high-tech inventions to new takes on traditional cost-saving measures, the business of healthcare in Florida is increasingly fueled by business innovators as much as by health care professionals. Take the telehealth pilot program implemented by Humana and Intel. The project uses Intel devices and web video to monitor patients with congestive heart failure. On the other end of the innovation spectrum, Florida cities, counties and school districts are increasingly relying on on-site medical clinics to provide less costly access to medical care for their employees.
» Read more about Florida's Healthcare Innovators.
» Read Part 1: Healthcare by the numbers
Disney government has rare vacancy, but don't bother running
It's not quite white smoke rising from St. Peter's Basilica, but Florida's most mysterious election process is unfolding this month at, of all places, Walt Disney World. About two weeks from now, Disney will formally nominate a new candidate for a seat on the board of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the obscure government that oversees the giant resort's 25,000 acres in Central Florida.
The assignment comes with what may very well be the greatest perk of any elected office in the state: a piece of the Magic Kingdom itself. Because board members must also be landowners in Reedy Creek, Disney awards them 5 acres of its property — albeit on inaccessible, undevelopable tracts of land.
Disney has already settled on its chosen candidate, and it is someone the company knows very well: Thomas M. Moses was Reedy Creek's second chief executive and spent three decades as its district administrator — the equivalent of city manager — until his retirement in 2001. But Reedy Creek is technically a democracy, so an election must be conducted later this month. Just don't expect to stay up late waiting for returns: Reedy Creek board elections are decided by district landowners, who get one vote for each acre they own. And Disney owns two-thirds of the district's property — about 17,000 acres.
The district's next-largest private landowner? Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts of Toronto, which has less than 300 acres.
[Source: Orlando Sentinel]
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Billionaire's role in hiring decisions at FSU raises questions
A conservative billionaire who opposes government meddling in business has bought a rare commodity: the right to interfere in faculty hiring at a publicly funded university. A foundation bankrolled by Libertarian businessman Charles G. Koch has pledged $1.5-million for positions in Florida State University's economics department. In return, his representatives get to screen and sign off on any hires for a new program promoting "political economy and free enterprise." Traditionally, university donors have little official input into choosing the person who fills a chair they've funded. The power of university faculty and officials to choose professors without outside interference is considered a hallmark of academic freedom. Under the agreement with the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, however, faculty only retain the illusion of control. The contract specifies that an advisory committee appointed by Koch decides which candidates should be considered. The foundation can also withdraw its funding if it's not happy with the faculty's choice or if the hires don't meet "objectives" set by Koch during annual evaluations. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]
Port of Miami: Dredging Deeper
In 2014, two new locks will come into service at the Panama Canal, accommodating ships carrying nearly three times as much cargo as today's canal-transiting ships. Gov. Rick Scott's surprising announcement in March that the state will contribute $77 million to the Port of Miami dredging project will help to make the Port of Miami one of the few ports on the eastern seaboard that can accommodate those gigantic ships.
The post-Panamax ships will require deeper harbors — 50 feet rather than 42 — for loading and offloading cargo. A dredging project already under way at the Port of Virginia will have that port ready to accommodate the ships in 2014. Miami is the only other port on the seaboard that Congress has approved for such a dredge and that can have it finished by 2014.
If ships can't load and unload cargo at the Port of Miami, says Port Director Bill Johnson, they will likely bypass a southern U.S. stop altogether. Without the port at 50 feet, Johnson says, "millions of containers will likely go to Freeport, Bahamas, and other ports outside the U.S.," he says.
» Read more about the Port of Miami project from Florida Trend.
 The post-Panamax "Don Carlos" had to make sure it wasn't loaded to capacity on a visit to the Port of Miami in 2010. |
Nation's 1st full-service gay resort opens in Lauderdale
The nation's first full-service gay resort opened its doors April 11 in Fort Lauderdale, and so far, bookings are better than expected at the Royal Palms Resort & Spa, thanks to Facebook offers, said hotelier Richard Gray.
Occupancy this past weekend ran about 80 percent at the 62-room resort, the first in the United States catering to gays with a cafe, bar, gym, spa, iPads and other full-service amenities. Interest was fueled partly by introductory offers on Facebook starting at $119 a night, although room rates average higher, the gay travel specialist said.
Bookings should be brisk this week too, as Fort Lauderdale hosts the annual convention for the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association for the first time in a decade, with about 400 people expected to attend, organizers said. The new resort is the second tourism project opened by the investor group led by Sweden's Par Sanda which has purchased more than a dozen properties off Fort Lauderdale beach over the past year or so.
[Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Florida leads the country — again — in reported cases of mortgage fraud
Florida dominates as the mortgage fraud capital of the country.
Again.
Florida last year had more than three times the expected amount of reported mortgage fraud and misrepresentation based on the number of mortgages that originated here, according to a report released Monday by the LexisNexis Mortgage Asset Research Institute. It's been No. 1 since at least 2006, based on data from the institute.
New York remained in second place, followed by California in third.
Reports of fraud and material misrepresentation submitted to the Mortgage Asset Research Institute fell 41 percent from 2009 to 2010, the first time in several years there was a decrease.
But the report said the drop does not necessarily mean occurrences of mortgage fraud are down.
› Gas station owners trying to keep cost of gas under $4
As anxious drivers have watched the steady climb toward $4 gas, anxious gas station owners in Gainesville have tried to keep their prices from tripping into that emotionally charged range, in many cases stopping at $3.999 even while taking lower profit margins as their wholesale costs rise.
Station owners said sales that are already down would diminish more dramatically as the psychological barrier of $4 gas leads drivers to conserve more on trips and trade in gas guzzlers for more fuel efficient vehicles, as it did in 2008 when the national average for regular unleaded reached a high of $4.114.
"It's called losing money. Nobody wants to be the first to crack that ceiling," said Chris Almond, vice president of Almond Oil Co., an oil products wholesaler and owner of four gas stations, one of which has had prices as high as $3.999.
Drivers and station owners can expect a reprieve this week and in the weeks to come, according to analysts.
The death of Osama bin Laden and increases in U.S. crude oil stockpiles are being credited with pushing crude oil prices lower over the past week.
That should translate into lower prices at the pump this week.
› Miami company's invention: 'It's like flying underwater'
Dean Vitale wasn't planning to become an inventor, entrepreneur and one-man assembly line.
But nine years ago, the aviation maintenance consultant and longtime recreational diver got tired of dragging around cameras, spear guns and lobster bags on his frequent dives off South Florida's coast and decided there should be a way to make underwater excursions less work and more fun.
Today, he and partner Patrick Gleber own and run Pegasus Thruster, a small Miami-based company that makes and sells lightweight, battery-powered devices developed by Vitale that divers can strap onto their air tanks or backs to propel them through water at speeds up to 170 feet per minute. "It's like flying underwater," Vitale said.
Since selling the first Pegasus Thruster at the end of 2009, the company's products — which use an electric drill motor attached to a small propeller — have become popular among recreational, scientific, military and commercial divers in the United States and overseas.
› More supersonic jets on the way to KSC
A company that performs supersonic high-altitude instrument tests in vintage jet fighters will add five more aircraft to its fleet of four F-104s that fly from the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center.
Purchased from the Italian Air Force, the aircraft will arrive next month.
"The big thing is that these are a newer generation aircraft, vintage 1980," Starfighters Inc. President and Chief Pilot Rick Svetkoff said. "They were the last ones off the assembly line."
The company makes its home in the 10-year-old Reusable Launch Vehicle Hangar beside the 15,000-foot shuttle landing runway. The F-104 jets can fly above 70,000 feet at twice the speed of sound. NASA and commercial space companies have used the four Starfighters to test high-performance equipment used on the space shuttle, as well as telemetry equipment and a new digital camera.
› Creditor asks Gary: Where's the money?
The publisher of Verizon Yellow Pages has filed suit against the company behind 1-800-ASK-GARY, saying it is owed $744,945 for phone book ads.
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Supermedia LLC said W.S. Marketing Inc., which does business as a lawyer- and doctor-referral service called Ask Gary, has owed the money since at least summer 2010 for advertisements that appeared in the phone books in more than a dozen communities.
Those communities include Tampa, St. Petersburg, Lakeland, Tarpon Springs and Carrollwood.
Officials at Ask Gary's parent company and the company's attorney in this litigation did not return messages seeking comment on Monday.
› Rockledge engineering company appreciates hard-working employees
Thomas Edison famously said genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.
Robert P. Scaringe thinks Edison likely underestimated the amount of perspiration.
"Edison said, 'Most people are scared of work because it looks too hard,'?" said Scaringe, a mechanical engineer who founded Mainstream Engineering Corp. in Rockledge 25 years ago.
The scared need not apply to Mainstream.
To expand his 103-employee company, Scaringe wants to hire 10 engineers — and that's just for starters. During the next five years, he plans to hire more for the Mainstream operation, in addition to the nearly 1,200 that could be hired to build an automobile now in development by a spin-off of his company. He expects to pay top dollar and he expects his employees to be driven.
"That's the key," said Scaringe, 58, a former GE researcher and Florida Tech professor. "We surround ourselves with really talented people, but they're also really hardworking. You have to have people who are creative and innovative but also dogged and determined to get through it and find the right answer."
The company specializes in high-efficiency air conditioning and related heat transfer products.
Go to page 2 for more stories ...
› Online travel providers lose chance to settle tax dispute in Fla. Legislature
Online travel providers lost their bid to settle a hotel tax dispute with Florida counties in the state Legislature.
Dozens of counties, including Pinellas and Hillsborough, are fighting companies including Expedia and Priceline over what they say are tens of million of dollars in unpaid local sales taxes.
Legislation backed by the industry would have let online travel companies continue to pay the tax on the lower wholesale cost of a room rather than the retail price they collect from consumers. A state law sanctioning the practice would spelled doom for the lawsuits.
The legislation had strong Republican support in both chambers. But late last week, the Senate was unable to pass a bill.
› The Miami Heat made Chris Bosh a king, but only James and Wade reign in endorsements
The Miami Heat settled into its normal pre-game publicity ritual at AmericanAirlines Arena late last week. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade traded quips and laughs before a clutch of national reporters. Off to the side, Chris Bosh lounged on an exercise machine, waiting for his first interview of the day.
No one expected the Three Kings to share equally in the spoils this season. But even as a member of the most celebrated basketball alliance in a generation, Bosh is still waiting for entree into sports-marketing royalty.
His biggest post-Heat endorsement deal appears to be a new Got Milk? spot and a role as spokesman for a Miami auto dealership once represented by Wade. An existing Nike deal has ramped up into a new television spot, but Bosh is still waiting for his big breakout when it comes to kingly financial status.
"I haven't benefited yet," said Bosh, a 27-year-old power forward who signed with Miami after spending seven years with the Toronto Raptors. "I just concentrate on playing basketball, and that will take care of everything else."
› Digital billboards up, changing every 8 seconds in Jacksonville
Clear Channel Outdoor has installed three of the eight digital billboards it plans for Jacksonville, giving motorists a view of the technology that lit up City Council debate and appears headed for a showdown in court.
Though smaller electronic signs in front of Jacksonville businesses and churches have used similar technology for years, the billboards being built by Clear Channel are the first of their kind in the city.
Brent Bolick, division president for Clear Channel Outdoor, said advertisers can purchase time slots for digital billboards and customize messages for different times of the day. For instance, a radio station could have advertising that promotes whatever program is on air at the time, or a restaurant could advertise breakfast specials in the morning and dinner in the evening.
"It's unparalleled flexibility for advertisers," Bolick said.
› Salvador Dalí Museum, Honda Grand Prix struggling to coexist
It's the high-brow vs. the high-octane.
The leadership of the new Salvador Dalí museum, one of the city's most popular attractions, says the museum is having a hard time coexisting with one of St. Petersburg's most popular events, the annual Honda Grand Prix.
The problem is that the Dalí's new $36 million waterfront museum along Bayshore Drive NE was built inside the race course, which is sealed off from the rest of downtown for several weeks a year. This year's race was March 25-27. But huge concrete barriers were erected in February and weren't taken down until April.
Kathy White, deputy director of the Dalí, said they hope the city can do something to shorten the amount of time the museum is penned up behind walls of concrete and steel every year.
"We knew about the Grand Prix when we moved in there and we love the event," she said. "But it's a very long period of time to set up and dismantle (the barrier.)"
› Sun Hydraulics reports revenues up 60 percent
Sun Hydraulics posted more profit and sales growth that showed its business -- if not many other things made or sold in Southwest Florida -- has rebounded strongly from the Great Recession.
The company reported a first-quarter profit of $9.8 million, or 57 cents per share, up from $3.3 million, or 20 cents per share, a year ago.
Revenues rose 60 percent to $50.7 million from $31.6 million a year ago.
"The capital goods environment has rebounded and is in a strong growth phase right now," said Allen Carlson, president and chief executive of the maker of high-performance, screw-in hydraulic cartridge valves and manifolds. "Sun is enjoying solid top line growth, which is translating into great operational results. Gross margins in the quarter were 39 percent with operating margins at 27 percent.
"More importantly, though difficult to quantify, we believe we continue to gain market share across all segments," Carlson said.
Sun recently debuted some new products at trade shows in Las Vegas and Hanover, Germany.
› Business program fails to get loans for participants
One year, 43 graduates, zero loan commitments.
That's Southwest Florida's MicroEnterprise Project, by the numbers.
The program — designed in part to prepare startup or early-stage business owners to get small loans — was announced a year ago, and graduated its first class in August.
It still cannot report as yet, any graduate actually getting funds from the program's participating microlender or from another financial institution.
A key partner in the effort says that doesn't tell the whole story, pointing to the classes that teach management skills, and help potential entrepreneurs discern whether they have workable ideas from which they can develop business plans.
"Please remember that completion of coursework does not guarantee a micro-loan," Julia East, wrote to The News-Press in an email in late April.
East is president and CEO of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. It's one of several partners in the program, and is leading efforts to get further financial support to sustain the effort.
› Gov. Scott says Florida has been turned around; Dems agree, for opposite reasons
Rookie Gov. Rick Scott didn't get everything he wanted during the first legislative session of his administration, but he says Florida is headed in the right direction.
Lawmakers wrapped up their annual 60-day session early Saturday after approving much smaller tax and spending cuts than Scott proposed and without passing an Arizona-style immigration crackdown that Scott campaigned on last year.
But the GOP-controlled legislature approved Scott initiatives to make public employees contribute to their pensions, to force welfare applicants to pass drug tests and to reduce state oversight of local development plans. Scott has already signed a bill tying teacher pay raises to student performance on standardized tests.
"We had a great session," Scott said Monday in an interview with The Palm Beach Post.
"We changed the direction of the state," Scott said. "This is a state, whether you're looking at regulation, you're looking at time to permit, you're looking at attitude, we've clearly changed the direction of the state and that's what my goal was."
Democrats offered a harsher assessment.
› Best cell phone carrier in South Fla? The answers may surprise you
Choosing the best cell phone carrier in South Florida largely depends on what you need your cell phone for and how you use it, according to a report by a new consumer-based mobile carrier watchdog group.
Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T were tested by RootMetrics, in what the company calls its "first independent service to measure mobile experience from a consumer's point of view. The companies were ranked on call, data and text performance, and Verizon's LTE network had the best combined performance score of 77.7 out of a possible 100. Interestingly, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint had a statistical tie for second place. MetroPCS, one of the most popular cell phone carriers in South Florida, was not measured by the company.
But what was even more interesting how each company compare to the others in different categories.