March 29, 2024

Thursday's Daily Pulse

What you need to know about Florida today

| 7/9/2020

Florida PPP loan recipients: See the full searchable list of who received them

Which Florida businesses that applied for and received a loan as part of a national effort to save small companies during the coronavirus pandemic is now public information. The U.S. government has released a list of businesses that have received emergency pandemic loans of $150,000 or more. [Source: Tallahassee Democrat]

See also:
» Florida businesses secured $32B in federal PPP loans to pay bills, 3.2 million workers
» Tom Brady’s personal brand approved for PPP loan
» Florida lawmaker calls for political organizations to return PPP dollars

Florida Trend Exclusive
COVID-19 may stall Florida Bar's push for a statewide business court system

In 2004, Judge Belvin Perry issued an order creating Florida’s first business court in the 9th Judicial Circuit Court, which serves the Orlando area. The specialty court — which was the idea of Perry’s colleague, former Orange County Circuit Judge Thomas Smith — was popular among lawyers and businesses, and within a few years, Miami, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale followed suit with their own local business litigation divisions. [Source: Florida Trend]

Orlando hotelier Harris Rosen announces ‘substantial’ layoffs

Harris Rosen, one of the biggest hoteliers in Central Florida, is laying off a “substantial” number of workers effective July 31, another economic hit to the tourism industry struggling through the coronavirus pandemic. The company made the announcement in an emotionally worded press release Wednesday. “Never in the 46-year history of my company would I have envisioned such a drastic decision,” Harris Rosen said in a statement. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

8 Florida communities vying for Space Force headquarters

As the new U.S. Space Force looks for a prime spot for its headquarters, eight communities in Florida have submitted nomination letters to land it. Space Florida, the state's aerospace economic development agency, held a call on Tuesday with staff from the Florida Congressional delegation. Following an eligibility screening process, the agency announced Gov. Ron DeSantis had endorsed the nomination letters from all eight communities vying for the Space Force headquarters. [Source: WTSP]

Florida company develops way to generate power by harnessing the gulf stream

OceanBased Perpetual Energy has pioneered a way to generate electricity by harnessing the Gulf Stream, the steady-flowing ocean current that brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic and up the East Coast, past Greenland and all the way to Iceland and the British Isles. The Miami-based company is working with Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and together they have been testing five different types of turbines to determine which works most effectively while submerged 80 feet below the ocean’s surface. [Source: Forbes]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Financial services company plans to open Jacksonville office, hire 80
Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial services firm headquartered in New York, plans to open an office in Jacksonville, Florida, where it aims to employ 80 people. The company was the target of an April 8 incentive program by the Jacksonville City Council codenamed Project Kodiak. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity finalized the project last month.

› Weather halts SpaceX launch attempt of Starlink satellites
Weather forced SpaceX to delay its planned launch of the next batch of Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center today. A Falcon 9 rocket was poised to lift off from Launch Pad 39A at 11:59 a.m. with 57 of the Internet satellites as well as two Earth observation satellites from the company BlackSky Global along for the ride.

› State regulators defy staff and approve energy-efficiency options for low-income customers
State regulators approved utilities’ plans Tuesday for proposed energy-conservation programs, several of which would help low-income customers save money on their power bills. The Florida Public Service Commission’s unanimous vote went against its staff’s recommendation to reject the proposals for not being cost-efficient enough.

› Pinellas unveils logo for SunRunner, bus line linking downtown with beaches
A planned transit line connecting downtown St. Petersburg and the beach now has a name: the SunRunner. Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority officials unveiled the name, logo and bus design Wednesday morning. Yellows, blues and orange will be splashed across the buses, bus stops and branding for the new route, which is expected to begin late next year or early 2022.

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