April 25, 2024
According to David Cohen, President, Manifest Distilling, consumers want more portable, lower-alcohol, lower-calorie drinks.
Photo: Lawren Simmons / USA Today Network
Manifest's cocktails in a can are available at retail locations like Total Wine & More.
Photo: Manifest Distilling
Jessica Tittl is the new executive director of the North Florida Green Chamber of Commerce. Tittl launched a nature-inspired company called Biome Future, and is also a doctoral student at UF.
Photo: North Florida Green Chamber of Commerce
A team of 84 flight and ground paramedics and dispatchers at UF Health Shands voted unanimously to form a union with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Photo: UF
Management of the St. Augustine Amphitheatre and Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, both in St. Johns County, will be moved to a newly created non-profit organization. St. Johns County will still own the facility and concert hall but will not run their day-to-day operations.
Photo: St. Augustine Amphitheatre
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Northeast Florida Roundup
Jacksonville small-craft distillery among first in Florida to enter canned cocktail market
Vanessa Caceres | 12/30/2022
SPOTLIGHT
Portable Cocktails
Manifest Distilling of Jacksonville is now selling a line of canned cocktails, making it among the first of Florida’s small craft distilleries to do so.
Manifest President David Cohen says consumers want more portable, lower-alcohol, lower-calorie drinks. The distillery was able to enter the canned cocktail market rapidly because it has partners in the canned beverage industry.
Manifest’s canned cocktails include Classic Daiquiri, Vodka Mule and Vodka Spritz. All have less than 6% alcohol and fewer than 200 calories per can.
Manifest’s canned cocktails are available at the distillery and initially at vendors from the Florida-Georgia state line to Daytona Beach, including Total Wine & More. It’s planning a statewide expansion.
HEALTH CARE
- University of Florida professors Sumita Bhaduri-McIntosh and Michael McIntosh have received $3.5 million from the National Cancer Institute to research how the Epstein-Barr virus contributes to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common form of non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma. They will study how the virus rewires cellular DNA repair and how to target cancer cells with the use of synthetic lethal therapy.
- Allegra Jaros will become president of Wolfson Children's Hospital in January, replacing Michael D. Aubin, who is retiring. Jaros has been president of John R. Oishei Children's Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y.
HIGHER EDUCATION
- IBM will work with Edward Waters University in Jacksonville to help establish a cybersecurity leadership center. The move is part of a collaboration with 20 historically Black colleges and universities across the U.S. Florida A&M University in Tallahassee also will have a new cybersecurity leadership center.
- The University of North Florida’s Department of Chemistry has a new 20,000-sq.- ft. addition with space for six new research labs and three new teaching labs. The additions were part of a collaboration with Jacksonville’s Johnson & Johnson Vision, which also partnered with UNF to invest in a new nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer.
- Also at UNF, the Brooks College of Health held an inaugural health care symposium that focused on health care leadership, diversity and access to health care. Speakers included representatives from Florida Blue, Medtronic, Baptist Health and other organizations. The college will hold a second symposium in September.
TRADE
- Kitchenware and home furnishings company Williams-Sonoma of San Francisco plans to open a warehouse in Jacksonville. Renovation of a 168,000-sq.-ft. distribution center will cost $1.13 million.
- Software and inventory management company RF-Smart of Jacksonville is expanding its footprint by 28%. RF-Smart is located in San Marco East Plaza, a seven-building, 369,000-sq.-ft. suburban office complex.
- Westbury River Estates, a 366-acre agricultural plot in Palatka, has been sold to an undisclosed buyer for $1.8 million. It is one of the largest single-land transactions to occur in Putnam County in recent years.
- Real estate development firm Corner Lot and real estate investment/financial company DLP Capital are partnering on a 1,400-acre community in northwest Duval County that will include single-family lots, commercial development and conservation land. Breeze Homes will be the community’s home builder. The project is slated to break ground in second quarter of 2023.
NON-PROFITS
- Mark D. LeMaire is the new president and CEO of the United Way of St. Johns County. He replaced Melissa Nelson, who became president and CEO of the United Way of Florida in June.
- Nina Waters, president of the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, plans to retire in September. She has been with the foundation for 21 years.
TECHNOLOGY
- Internet service provider IQ Fiber of Jacksonville is bringing its fiber-optic network to Jacksonville Beach, Beauclerc, Mandarin and parts of Clay County. The company has added 50 employees.
BANKING
- DLP Bancshares of St. Augustine bought Community State Bank of Starke. Community State Bank has $225 million in assets.
