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Wednesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› Southwest Florida International Airport, despite dip, reports second-best September in its 39-year history
Passenger traffic at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers slipped a bit in September year over year — but remains historically high. During September, 515,077 passengers traveled through the airport, under the call letters RSW. That's down 6.5 % from September 2021, according to airport officials. Yet it was still the No. 2 September for airport passenger traffic in the 39-year history of the airport and included three days of operations lost to Hurricane Ian.
› Gainesville to host Florida Artist Blacksmith Association Conference, become new region
David Sandlin did not set out to be a blacksmith, and he certainly didn’t set out to be the president of the Florida Artist Blacksmith Association (FABA). Even so, he will be busy Nov. 4-6 overseeing the FABA Conference in Gainesville. “I held my hand too close to the fire for a minute too long,” Sandlin said, jokingly referring to his brief and unopposed presidential campaign. The conference will be held at the Best Western Gateway Grand Hotel and Conference Center.
› Maitland-based Tijuana Flats hires Joe Christina as new CEO
Tijuana Flats has tapped Joe Christina, the former CEO of Church’s Texas Chicken, to become the Maitland-based Tex Mex chain’s next top executive. Privately owned Tijuana Flats, founded by Brian Wheeler in 1995 in Winter Park, has 104 company-owned stores and 20 franchised locations in Florida, Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina. Previous CEO Brian Wright left the company in August, and he was named the CEO of Bar Louie in September.
› Single tenant may fill more than half of Midtown Tampa’s new office tower
One major tenant could fill more than half of Midtown Tampa’s forthcoming 400,000-square-foot office tower, according to plans filed with the city. Architectural renderings and project descriptions indicate that “a single tenant,” described only as “Tenant A,” is lined up to lease the second through ninth floors and 16th through 18th floors of the Midtown East tower.
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