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Wednesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Will your next salmon come from a massive land tank in Florida?
On a former tomato field near the tip of the Florida peninsula, in a remote expanse of shabby nurseries growing palm trees and garden plants at the edge of the Everglades, there’s an imposing new building that doesn’t seem to belong in an area that doesn’t seem to change. It has clean rectangular lines, fresh white paint and a footprint nearly as large as the downtown Miami Heat arena 40 miles and a world away. It’s the first piece of an industrial complex that—if all goes as planned—will grow 20 times larger over the next decade, and will reshape the future of food. More from Politico.
As COVID-19 cases surge during hurricane season, field hospitals not an option in Florida
As Florida hospitals face a surge in patients with COVID-19, they may not be able to rely on field hospitals to provide more space. And hurricanes are the reason. Florida Division of Emergency Management communications director Jason Mahon told The News Service of Florida on Tuesday that the state is focusing efforts on expanding hospital surge capacity and not on creating alternate sites to accommodate any overflows of patients. More from the News Service of Florida.
Scaled down PortMiami cruise terminal deal adds Disney
MSC Cruises and Miami-Dade are close to redrawing an agreement that would give the company more time to finance its planned “mega terminal” that now, under the new terms, would also homeport Disney Cruise Line vessels. The amendment to MSC’s existing 62-year berthing deal, expected to generate $2.03 billion for the county, was one of two changes to long-term cruise terminal contracts that cleared a tourism and ports committee Tuesday. They go to a final vote Sept. 1. More from Miami Today.
Jacksonville to spend big on infrastructure
In the face of revenue contraction, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry is making a big-government move, rolling out the most ambitious infrastructure package in recent city history. The FY 2021 budget, to be released Wednesday, includes almost $240 million in infrastructure spending, more than triple the commitment in Curry’s first budget. More from Florida Politics.
Survey shows signs of improvement in Southwest Florida's economy
Southwest Florida's economy is showing signs of improvement, even as coronavirus cases continue to surge in the region — and the state. The latest coronavirus economic impact survey conducted by Florida Gulf Coast University's Regional Economic Research Institute points to the economy's resilience. That's one of the takeaways from the fourth survey, conducted from June 28 to July 8. More from the Naples Daily News.
Profile
No small feat: Paco Vélez leading South Florida’s largest food bank through the pandemic
Paco Vélez never imagined what awaited him in South Florida when he arrived eight years ago from San Antonio, to become the president and CEO of Feeding South Florida, the largest nonprofit organization that distributes food to needy households in the region. Vélez, after guiding the group through financial, distribution and organizational improvements, is now leading one of the largest food banks in the state through massive demands from the COVID-19 pandemic in one of the most contagious areas in the country.
» More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Tech Trends
Finfrock Industries uses 3-D software to save time and money
When Allen Finfrock’s grandfather founded Finfrock Industries in 1945, the Apopka company supplied precast concrete components to general contractors. Seventy-five years later, the firm has evolved into a growing design-build firm that approaches construction with a “manufacturing mentality.” Finfrock starts projects with SolidWorks, 3-D software that creates a model of the structure’s precast and pre-stressed concrete components, which are like giant concrete LEGO parts.
» Read more from Florida Trend.
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