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Wednesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida helping keep nation's boat economy afloat
The Sunshine State makes up about 14% of the nation's $230 billion recreational boating economy, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association. Florida's $33.3 billion economic impact included nearly 110,000 jobs across more than 7,000 businesses. More from Axios.
2100 Miami hotel job openings imperil operations
Miami-Dade County is at the top of the list for areas in the nation with high demand for hotel workforce, with almost 2,100 job openings in the hotel industry unfilled. A national survey of hoteliers, conducted by the American Hotel and Lodging Association in May and presented in June, showed that hotels nationwide are offering incentives to fill vacancies in their workforce as the summer begins. More from Miami Today.
Brightline completes construction between Orlando and South Florida
A major milestone in Brightline’s connection from Orlando to South Florida. Today, they’ve announced the completion of the long-anticipated rail line. The 170-mile stretch of rail now connects Central and South Florida, and Brightline is gearing up to finally begin running routes on the new line. The project broke ground in 2019, about a year after services opened between Miami, to West Palm Beach. More from WESH.
Sarasota-Bradenton airport supports 15% more passengers this year
The Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport’s CEO expects passenger traffic to continue on an upward climb as the first five months of 2023 hit a 15% increase over the same time period in 2022. The 12-month period leading through May 2023 saw 4.12 million passengers at the airport. Just during the month of May, the airport had 342,837 passengers, which was 3% more than May 2022. More from the Business Observer.
Orange tourist tax panelist quits, says ‘deck seems stacked’ for convention center expansion
A former Orlando Sentinel columnist resigned from a mayoral advisory panel studying possible uses for uncommitted tourist tax millions, saying “the deck seems stacked” to expand the Convention Center again. “Since the committee began, the [Convention Center] has had an outsized presence, both in presentations and marketing materials. We also have been told, time and again, about its economic importance,” wrote Mike Thomas, a former member of Orange County’s Tourist Development Tax Citizen Advisory Task Force. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Orthopedic leaders advancing care in Florida
With more than 60 physicians, this highly skilled, multidisciplinary team was created to deliver exceptional outcomes for even the most challenging and complex cases. Orthopedic surgeons and sports medicine physicians diagnose and treat conditions from concussions and spine injuries to foot and ankle fractures — and every joint in between. They also are experts in joint replacement, orthopedic trauma and bone health, and have a support system of specialists ready to assist in neurosurgery, musculoskeletal radiology, anesthesia and interventional pain. [Sponsored report]
Natural Resources
Land grab
Okeechobee County, historically a place where ranchland goes for a high price, drove an increase in prices in Florida in 2022, according to the Lay of the Land report from real estate firm SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler. Okeechobee notched 11 sales of more than 500 acres, just over a third of the state’s ranchland sales of that scale and more than any other county. In Okeechobee, eight of the 11 sales were more than 1,000 acres, and the average price per acre hit $6,590.
» More from Florida Trend.
Arts Business
That new dome at the Dali Museum in St. Pete? Here’s what will be inside.
Maybe you’ve noticed the new dome structure at The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg and wondered what it would hold. We now have the answer: “Dalí Alive 360°,” a new immersive experience showcasing the Spanish surrealist’s works. It opens sometime this summer. The multisensory experience will “envelop visitors in 360 degrees of light and sound” in the new space called The Dalí Dome. The dome sits in the museum’s Avant-garden.
» Read more from the Tampa Bay Times.
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