March 28, 2024

Thursday's Daily Pulse

What you need to know about Florida today

| 5/13/2021

Floridians receiving unemployment benefits must again prove they're looking for work

People in Florida’s unemployment system will have to show they looked for work on a weekly basis after Memorial Day, as the state pushes to get workers back on the job, particularly at restaurants. Also, a process is being set up for business owners to report unemployment claimants who don’t follow the “work search” rule, which will require people to apply for five jobs a week. Dane Eagle, executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said Wednesday the work-search requirement, which was lifted last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, will be reinstated June 1 for new unemployment applicants. [Source: News Service of Florida]

DeSantis uses sports betting to craft gambling deal that would bring Florida $2.5 billion

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has navigated between the neighboring worlds of gambling and sports, attracting millions of campaign dollars from casino titans and turning mega-fan while cheering on the NFL champion Tampa Bay Bucs. This week in Tallahassee the governor will try to mash those worlds together – pushing state lawmakers to approve a $2.5 billion gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe that brings legal sports betting to Florida for the first time. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

Florida can’t force cruises to restart during pandemic, feds say in legal battle

The U.S. government says the state of Florida has no legal right to force the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention to reopen the cruise line business at the nation’s seaports. Lawyers representing the state and federal government squared off before U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday in Tampa on Wednesday after Florida sued the CDC and Department of Health and Human Services, claiming an agency program for cruise lines to resume sailings is “unlawful,” taking too long and creating widespread economic harm. [Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel]

Opinion: Florida is making solar progress

It makes sense that Florida should be at the forefront of game-changing advances in clean energy. Around 800 new Floridians arrive here daily, a trend accelerated during the pandemic. In fact, according to the Florida Chamber, if Florida were a country, it would have the 17th-largest economy in the world. These trends are good for employment and the rest of our state’s economy, but they also require smart infrastructure and planning. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

Chemical company challenges Florida's decision to ban aldicarb for use on citrus

Amid arguments about the troubled citrus industry and the health of farmworkers, a chemical company is challenging a state decision to block a pesticide that could help fight a disease that has caused massive damage in citrus groves. Major players in the citrus industry have backed using the pesticide as orange production has plummeted in recent years, in part because of citrus greening disease, which is transmitted by a type of insect. But farmworker and environmental groups have fought the use of aldicarb, contending it poses threats to workers and wildlife. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Side-hustles require big business attention

While business closures amid the pandemic forced millions from U.S. payrolls, one enterprise grew at a record pace: the side-hustle. New business applications jumped to record levels in 2020. Whether started by unemployed workers or those looking to turn part-time freelancing, a hobby or a passion into a bona fide business, the side-hustle has gained favor as a way to pursue financial stability. [ Sponsored report]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Doral seeks to take over business-rich county lands
Doral wants to absorb two square miles on its southwestern corner that contain big-name commercial and industrial tenants. Miami-Dade is now reviewing the annexation request. If the county approves Doral’s application, business additions to the city will include tenants at 436-acre Beacon Lakes Industrial Park, which hosts distribution centers for Amazon, Goya Foods, UPS and John Deere, as well as businesses including Interport Logistics, Telemundo and Topgolf, among others.

› Nikki Fried hints at a June 1 announcement in race for governor
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried didn’t announce a run for governor Wednesday, but she did suggest she would be making an announcement on June 1. Fried, the only statewide elected Democrat in the state, launched a video on Twitter pointing to just that fact, featuring news reports calling her “a new face of the party” and “an early frontrunner” for the party’s nomination.

› Window and door manufacturer PGT Innovations expanding to Fort Myers with 240 jobs
The largest private employer in Sarasota County is making in-roads into Lee County. PGT Innovations, which stands for “Progressive Glass Technology” and makes windows and doors, has agreed to a five-year lease of a new, 130,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Lee County off Ben Hill Griffin Road, not far from Southwest Florida International Airport.

› One of the largest malls in South Florida is hiring for more than 500 open positions
Sawgrass Mills needs workers. Are you one of them? The second-largest mall in South Florida (only Aventura Mall is bigger) is hiring for more than 500 positions across nearly all of its retail chains and many of its restaurants at a virtual job fair that started Monday. Starting salaries were not immediately available.

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