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Friday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida’s bars to reopen with 50 percent capacity on Monday
The state will allow bars to reopen at 50 percent capacity starting Monday, Florida’s top business regulator announced via Twitter Thursday evening. Halsey Beshears, the secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, said that officials will rescind Executive Order 20-09, which forced some standalone bars and breweries to essentially shut down earlier this summer in response to the coronavirus pandemic. More from the Tampa Bay Times, the Miami Herald, and the Orlando Sentinel.
Florida Trend Exclusive
Are CEOs from working-class background less kind toward their employees?
If you came up via the school of hard knocks, you might want to take a look at whether your labor policies are holding your company back. CEOs from the working class tend to lead companies that are less labor-friendly and treat workers less well. That’s a conclusion suggested by research from University of Miami business school professor Henrik Cronqvist and his colleagues Irena Hutton at Florida State University and Danling Jiang at Stony Brook University. Their work was highlighted in the Harvard Business Review this summer. [Source: Florida Trend]
‘More heat, less Florida’: Advocates draw attention to climate change’s main impact
Within the week, a candy-colored miniature lifeguard stand in front of the Frost Museum of Science will melt, revealing a message that hints at Florida’s future if climate change isn’t curbed: “More heat, less beaches.” Similar wax statues — including a Florida Panther and her cub and a grandfather and his granddaughter — are set to appear in Tampa and Orlando soon. When they melt, they’ll warn viewers that more heat means less wildlife and less health. [Source: Miami Herald]
Reckoning day: Lawyers ready for tidal wave of bankrupt businesses
The federal government’s $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill kept many people and businesses afloat over the spring and summer. But with key components — such as the Paycheck Protection Program, increased unemployment assistance and a moratorium on evictions expiring or set to expire soon, a tidal wave of foreclosures and bankruptcies looms. Some Florida attorneys are about to get really busy. [Source: Business Observer]
6 months of COVID-19: How 6 Central Florida businesses are surviving in the pandemic
Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the quarantine lifestyle has drastically affected many Central Florida small businesses that depend on people leaving their homes. A family-owned dry cleaner no longer receives piles of work clothes. The owner of tattoo shop has put his life savings into saving it. A pet sitter finds there is little need for her services as area residents work from home – and don’t travel. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Florida-based innovation in response to COVID-19
One of the few encouraging stories about COVID-19 has been the number of people who have come up with creative solutions to counter its effects. This burst of innovation has not been limited to academics and medical professionals. Recently, our law firm has received inquiries from Florida and South American innovators ranging from teachers to small business owners and hospitality workers who are creating solutions to limit the spread of the disease. [Sponsored report]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Miami Beach, minus 80,000 Art Basel visitors, vows to save Art Week
The cancellation of Art Basel will cost the City of Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County millions in lost tax revenue and economic activity, but officials are working to ensure that some form of Art Week will still take place. Art Basel was scheduled for Dec. 3-6 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, but organizers announced Sept. 2 that it would be cancelled due to Covid-19 complications and uncertainty.
› SeaWorld’s new Orlando and Tampa roller coasters are opening in the spring
Here is some good news for roller coaster junkies: The countdown can start to begin for the newest coasters opening at SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Tampa’s Iron Gwazi and Orlando’s Ice Breaker are opening in spring 2021, according to the parks' websites. Both rides were originally announced to open this past spring until the coronavirus pandemic shut down the parks and halted business for three months.
› JEA spent $238,000 to prepare for Republican National Convention. It likely won't be reimbursed.
JEA spent $238,000 preparing for the Republican National Convention and will likely not be reimbursed, adding more money to the city's tab to host the event that never happened. The city-owned utility's expenses continue to undermine statements made by Mayor Lenny Curry and his aides, who aggressively courted the event and said local taxpayers wouldn't pay anything to host it.
› South Florida, Tampa attract more northern transplants amid COVID-19
According to a Douglas Elliman August report, new contracts for single-family homes and condominiums continued to rise in five south and west coast Florida counties — after having doubled in July. In Palm Beach County, new single-family and condo contracts remained significantly above levels from a year ago, with a 268 percent increase in single-family contracts over $1 million. In Miami-Dade, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, much of the annual gain was at higher price points.
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