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Wednesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Banks are spooked and getting stingy about loans — and small businesses are suffering
Bank lending has dropped sharply since the failures of Silicon Valley and Signature Banks. That not only hits businesses. It also threatens a further slowdown in economic growth while raising the risk of recession. Tight-fisted lenders are also weighing on Liz Southers, who runs a commercial insulation business in South Florida. "There's no shortage of work," Southers says. "The construction industry is not slowing down. If we could just get out there a little more and hire more people, we would just have so much more opportunity." More from WUSF.
Florida Trend Exclusive
Economic backbone: Florida's Fed voices
New Florida voices are serving on branch boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, where their input will help shape monetary policy. Florida appointees announced this year include Rita Case of Sunrise, Kathleen Cannon of Fort Lauderdale and Jose Cueto of Miami, all appointed to the board of the Miami branch of the Atlanta Fed. New to the Jacksonville branch board is R. Andrew Watts of Jacksonville. Lisa Palmer of Jacksonville was reappointed. More from Florida Trend.
Silver Airways might be forced out of Fort Lauderdale’s airport, county says
Silver Airways, the South Florida airline that offers flights to major cities in Florida and the Bahamas, faces having its lease terminated in Fort Lauderdale due to being behind on rent, county officials say. “Business is business,” said County Mayor Lamar Fisher. “One needs to pay their bills or they need to move on.” More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Building boom: Meet the man behind some of Jacksonville's most visible apartment projects
As the Jacksonville skyline adds more residential properties, one name in particular is behind a lot of the activity. Jeff Klotz is the president and CEO of Klotz Group of Companies, a real estate investment platform that focuses on multi-family housing. A Florida native, Klotz got his start in real estate around the time he graduated high school in 1995, buying a property that he said was “probably not a good deal,” and expanding his interest in real estate from there. More from the Florida Times Union.
MSC Cruises lines up new ships for Port Canaveral while massive World America bound for Miami
MSC Cruises has been sailing from Port Canaveral for less than two years, but it’s set to bring in its third vessel in a new class this month. The arrival of MSC Seaside, the first in the line’s Seaside class of vessels and first designed specifically for the North American market, will take over duties sailing from the Orlando-area port on Wednesday, April 19, to begin three-, four- and seven-night cruises to the Bahamas and Caribbean. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Profile
Coastal Kapital
At age 22, Kortney B. Murray got an early business lesson when she opened a clothing boutique in California. The shop eventually failed in part because of her financial inexperience, she says. Motivated to learn more about business funding, she embarked on a new career path, one that included a series of financial-services jobs and eventually the 2007 founding of Sarasota’s Coastal Kapital, which specializes in commercial equipment leasing and lending.
» More from Florida Trend.
Arts Business
Two made-for-TV movies target Miami-Dade film incentives
Two made-for-television movies being shot primarily in Miami-Dade are each in line for $50,000 county incentive packages geared to increase production of films and videos here. The county commission’s Housing, Recreation, Culture and Community Development Committee advanced both incentive requests on Monday without comment. They now head to the full county commission for approval.
» Read more from Miami Today.
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