Tuesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 1/29/2019

Lawmakers to look again at ‘job growth’ fund

An economic-development fund created as a compromise after a battle between former Gov. Rick Scott and House leaders could be short-lived. The Job Growth Grant Fund received $85 million from the Republican-dominated Legislature in each of the past two sessions over the objections of some Democrats who called it a “slush fund” that lacked oversight. More from Florida Politics and the Daily Commercial.

Lockheed Martin, Veterans Florida team up to hire more veterans in Florida

Veterans Florida, a nonprofit corporation created by the State of Florida that provides veteran and transitioning service members with career opportunities and entrepreneurship resources, recently announced they have partnered with Lockheed Martin, a global security and aerospace company, to launch new initiatives and further aid the organization with its growth and long term vision. See the announcement from Veterans Florida and read more at Florida Daily.

Florida’s never-ending big tobacco lawsuits

Remember the tobacco wars of the 1990s? Among the many lawsuits aimed at bringing down Big Tobacco was a class action, Engle v. Liggett Group Inc., filed in Florida in 1994. Six years later, a jury awarded the plaintiffs $145 billion in punitive damages. Six years after that, the Florida Supreme Court reversed that award. End of litigation, right? Not so fastÃ¢??… More from Bloomberg Businessweek.

Miami’s Super Bowl is worth $500 million. It could be a game-changer for minority business owners

Football fans are focused on this week’s match-up between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams. But hundreds of minority and women business owners are looking ahead to Super Bowl LIV, set for Feb. 2, 2020 at Hard Rock Stadium. More from the Miami Herald.

South Florida hotel builders flock to Orlando, seeking cheaper, readily available land

South Florida hotel developers are heading north, drawn to Orlando by a booming tourism industry along with cheaper and more readily available land. “Central Florida has been growing like crazy over the past few years,” said John Wijtenburg, a South Florida-based hotel analyst for Colliers International. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

End of an Era
Sweetwater Organic Community Farm calls it quits

Tampa Bay’s oldest farmers’ market and community supported agriculture business is shutting down after 26 years in business. Sweetwater Organic Community Farm is no longer running its weekly Sunday market nor providing shares of produce to members.

» More from the Tampa Bay Times.

Community Portrait
Orlando's tech entrepreneurship

Listen to Jerry Ross, president of the Orlando-based National Entrepreneur Center, and it becomes clear he believes entrepreneurship has come of age across the region. “This is the place to be for the next innovation economy,” Ross asserts, adding, “The fact that Orlando is the top job creator in the United States for the last two years is not a surprise to us.”