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Thursday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Gearing up for ‘Select Florida'
As Enterprise Florida programs shift into a rebranded Department of Commerce, international business-recruitment efforts will continue through an organization expected to be called Select Florida. Enterprise Florida President Laura DiBella on Wednesday said certain functions of the public-private Enterprise Florida will continue through a separate arrangement with the Department of Commerce. That arrangement involves setting up a new non-profit organization --- open to state and private funding --- for international business efforts. More from the News Service of Florida.
Two groups cancel Orlando conventions as worries over political climate grow
AnitaB.org, an organization of female and nonbinary tech workers, is moving its annual convention out of Orlando and taking its business elsewhere, citing Florida’s political climate and actions taken by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature. And another group of nurses is canceling a 2027 event because of similar concerns, according to the Orange County Convention Center. The cancellations are the latest economic blow to the region, coming in the wake of Walt Disney Co.’s decision to drop plans for a nearly $1 billion corporate campus in Orlando with 2,000 high-paying jobs. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
UNF Economic Indicators: Manufacturers ‘significantly pessimistic’
A monthly survey of Jacksonville area manufacturers by the University of North Florida’s Local Economic Indicators Project is showing pessimism about the economy. The Jacksonville Economic Monitoring Survey asks manufacturers for information on 12 indicators of their companies’ performance, and nine of the 12 indicators were contracting in May while the other three were unchanged. More from the Jacksonville Daily Record.
Can Tampa’s historic Jackson House survive hurricane season?
The Jackson House wasn’t in good shape in October 2020, but the former segregation-era Black boarding home was safe enough for a guided tour. Its deterioration since then has been rapid. Today, the downtown structure that was built at the turn of the 20th century and has been closed to the public since 1989 looks ready to fall apart. The roof is sagging and missing large swaths. Exterior walls are sliding to the ground. A piece of its front porch awning is gone, and the rest seems ready to detach. And now, it’s hurricane season. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Autonomous air mobility may serve Miami in five years
Aviation experts gathered in Brickell last week to discuss the future of urban air mobility in Miami, with the more optimistic panelists predicting autonomous aircrafts could soar through the skies within five years. The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce annual members meeting featured a presentation on smart cities and advance air mobility (AAM), an emerging field of transportation that uses electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to transport passengers. More from Miami Today.
Sports Business
Pasco approves hockey academy that neighbors say is in the wrong place
Russ Henderson’s first step toward building a hockey academy in Pasco County was purchasing a 10-acre lot in the rural neighborhood surrounded by other large lots on a dirt road in 2019. His neighbors don’t like the idea and the county commissioner who represents his district doesn’t like the way the project took shape. But on Tuesday that commissioner, Ron Oakley, led a unanimous vote to rezone the site so that Henderson could expand his Nest Hockey Academy to 150 students.
» More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Retail Trends
Fort Lauderdale becomes a shopping haven. What’s driving the city’s thriving retail scene?
Downtown Fort Lauderdale’s shopping and restaurant scene is in full bloom, boasting its lowest retail real estate vacancy rate in 10 years. It’s a sign business owners are placing confident bets on South Florida tourism and the state’s population growth, real estate experts said.
» Read more from the Miami Herald.
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