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Friday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida remains a hotspot for commercial real estate development
It’s not just your imagination: Florida is booming. The state ranked fifth in the U.S. for all commercial real estate development, according to an annual survey by an affiliate of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks. The Sunshine State trailed only Texas, New York, California (perhaps no surprise there) and a sleeper — Tennessee. In all, Florida commercial real estate projects pumped $20 billion into the state’s economy last year and supported more than 161,000 jobs. More from the Business Observer.
Column: Reflections on 39 years in Florida agriculture
Florida agriculture has made significant contributions to people around the world while helping our own agriculture to survive and thrive. It needs your support and leadership to continue this success. There will be successes and failures along the way, but leadership in Florida is strong. More from Growing Produce.
Going for Gold: Inside Info Tech’s new green building in Gainesville
With blue sky office views and solar panel-powered energy, the Info Tech building is making a big mark on Gainesville construction with its small carbon footprint. The Celebration Pointe building is the first private building in the city to be LEED Gold certified. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, is the world’s most widely used green building rating system, established by the U.S. Green Building Council. More from the Gainesville Sun.
Port Canaveral gets $1.5 million state grant to help pay for high-tech fireboat
A recently approved state grant will help Port Canaveral buy a new high-tech fireboat that will help protect the port from fires — including ones generated by liquefied natural gas, a fuel that will power the next generation of cruise ships. The $4.6 million fireboat will be partially funded by the $1.5 million state grant. More from Florida Today.
Check out the fastest-growing jobs in South Florida
In South Florida, the top in-demand occupations are mostly about caring for people: nurse practitioners, physician assistants, home health aides, software developers, health specialty teachers, substance abuse counselors, personal care aides, psychiatric technicians — and animal caretakers. Somebody’s got to care for the pets. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Overline
Working Cat Program in Manatee County utilizing feral cats to help curb the rodent population
Feral cats in Manatee County now have a purpose more than just being what some believe is a nuisance. A program through the county's animal services is bringing these felines to places where they are really needed and utilized. If you’re not a cat person, that is OK. The animal service’s website for the working cats said they’re not exactly the cuddling type either. They just need food and shelter, and after that, they will mind their own business.
Transportation Trends
‘Kind of blingy’: The tricked-out golf carts of the Villages, Florida
Plenty of the golf carts that roam the roads of the Villages in Florida look as if they had just come from the 18th hole, and maybe some did. But many of the owners there — a retirement community with 120,000 residents and about 60,000 golf carts — want a little more zing, and a cottage industry has developed to sell tricked-out rides.
» Read more from the Seattle Times.
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