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Wednesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Dying seagrass causes irreparable harm to Florida environment & economy
Seagrass – the linchpin of Florida's coastal marine food web – is dying throughout the Sunshine State, with decades of progress wilting away seemingly overnight, taking many livelihoods with it. Since 2012, storm runoff fed algae blooms that harmed seagrass beds in the Panhandle, the Big Bend, southwest Florida, and along the east coast from Biscayne Bay to the northern Indian River Lagoon. More from Florida Today.
Largo’s Tech Data completes $8.3 billion merger, becomes TD Synnex
Another billion-dollar Tampa business deal is in the books. Largo technology distribution company Tech Data has completed its merger with California tech company Synnex Corp., the companies announced Wednesday. The combined company will be known as TD Synnex. Approved by Synnex shareholders in July, the $8.3 million merger returns one of Tampa Bay’s largest corporations back to the public market. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Tropical Storm Larry forms with projections of becoming a major hurricane
Tropical Storm Larry formed Wednesday morning in the eastern Atlantic and is chugging westward at 20 mph on a path to become a major hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 a.m. update. The 12th named storm of the year has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph but is expected to become a hurricane by Thursday afternoon. By Saturday, rapid intensification is forecast. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
EA’s downtown Orlando office should be ready in October, but pandemic will delay move-in
Electronic Arts’ new downtown Orlando office is on track to be ready in October, but employees of the video-game maker are not expected to move into the building en masse until February as the coronavirus pandemic keeps them working from home. When the five-story office does open, it will be home base for a mix of people who work entirely in the office, those who work remotely, and employees with a hybrid schedule, said EA’s Daryl Holt. More from the Orlando Sentiniel.
Three firms deal to build hotel at Miami International Airport
Three local firms shortlisted to develop a hotel at Miami International Airport are at individual negotiations with the county prior to the second phase of the request of proposals (RFP) that ultimately would award the project to only one firm. “The end of the individual negotiations phase will lead right into issuance of Phase 2 of the RFP. The expected timeframe for this to occur is in about two months,” said in an email Rita Silva, from the Internal Services Department. More from Miami Today.
Recruiting Trends
PNC Bank lifts minimum pay to $18 an hour — a bid to compete for workers
PNC Bank, which is on a South Florida expansion tear, raised the stakes in a tight job market Monday by declaring it intends to lift its minimum pay for all current and newly hired workers from $15 to $18 an hour. The hike represents a 20% raise for some 20,000 workers nationally who work directly with customers as tellers, cashiers and “relationship” bankers. Big hiring pushes are also under way by other companies in other industries operating in Florida.
» More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Arts Business
New public art is popping up all over downtown Miami and the Design District. Here’s why
Fringe Projects’ “Public Color” outdoor exhibition, which appears throughout the downtown area and the Design District, features artists of Caribbean descent. All but one are Miami-based artists. It’s the result of a partnership between Fringe Projects’ Di Capua and María Elena Ortiz, the curator at Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) who leads the Caribbean Cultural Institute (CCI). Di Capua explains that Ortiz had opened a show of all contemporary Caribbean art as part of CCI: “We said, ‘Let’s do more projects with artists of Caribbean descent.’ ”
» Read more from the Miami Herald.
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