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Monday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› Biotech firm expands footprint in Tampa region with $10M investment
Amgen, a biotechnology company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, Calif., has expanded its global capability center in Tampa’s Westshore business district, signing a lease for an additional 33,101 square feet of office space. According to a press release, Amgen chose Tampa for the 130,000-square-foot center in 2017 after evaluating 270 communities across the United States for expansion.
› Weathering the storm: St. Johns County farmers face major crop losses
Farmers are used to weathering hurricanes, droughts and other circumstances beyond their control. But there’s nothing more nerve-wracking than having a healthy crop ready to harvest, and no one to buy it. The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the agriculture industry, including farms here in Northeast Florida. Sales of food products to dine-in restaurants, schools and other large-scale markets have fallen drastically.
› St. Petersburg City Council member says focus on business, forget the beaches
To the long list of government officials contemplating how to reopen at every level after they were shut down in response to the coronavirus, add City Council member Robert Blackmon. Blackmon took to Facebook on Saturday to air a plan of sorts on how to reopen the local business community. And it doesn’t start with beaches.
› Van Wezel looks ahead to return of Broadway, classical and dance shows
After watching the end of the season wash away, along with more than $2 million in potential ticket sales, Van Wezel Executive Director Mary Bensel has been trying to focus on the future. “I try to stay very positive, but it has been crushing and overwhelming,” she said. “I keep thinking about what show would we have had tonight, and then I’ll go and listen to Harry Connick Jr. or David Foster, people who were supposed to be performing here. I’m used to being at the theater every night and now I’m just home with my dog.”
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