Fort Lauderdale-based Zulu Pods was co-founded by husband and wife engineers Rob and Daniella Sladen along with engineer Todd Currier and attorney Troy Cunningham.
Photo: Zulu Pods
Photo: Mauricio LaPlante/USA Today Network
Photo: Rendering: Roger Dean Chevrolet Rendering
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Southeast Florida Roundup
A Palm-Sized Solution
INNOVATION
Like a lot of parents driving the family to Orlando, Rob and Daniella Sladen had some quiet time when the kids fell asleep. Unlike other parents — but somewhat understandable as Daniella was a structural engineer and Rob a project engineer — they spent the quiet time noodling ways to cut the amount of lubricant and oil in aircraft engines.
From that talk came Zulu Pods, a Fort Lauderdale-based company developing innovative fluid supply and delivery tech for military aircraft engines and backup emergency lubrication systems for helicopters. They’re also working on lubrication pods for military ground vehicles and wind turbines. They co-founded the company with engineering Ph.D. Todd Currier and attorney Troy Cunningham. The pods in the company name is short for packaged oil delivery system. Bravo Zulu is military jargon for a job well done. The company has several people in Fort Lauderdale — the Sladens and Cunningham all work there — and several more at its R&D facility near University of Massachusetts Amherst.
FINANCIAL
- Payment processor Revere Payments is relocating from Las Vegas to Palm Beach Gardens, creating 100 jobs over three years at a new facility scheduled for completion this month. The company describes itself as a Christian fintech firm serving a variety of industries including e-commerce, retail, restaurant, firearms, religious, political, CBD and non-profit. Its parent company is Metrics Global. “Revere Payments protects our clients’ freedom to do business while providing them with best-in-class payment solutions and white-glove service,” says founder and CEO Wendy Kinney.
INFRASTRUCTURE
- The state Department of Transportation began construction of an interchange at Interstate 95 and Oslo Road in south Indian River County, opening up the area to potential industrial development. The local chamber says it had the project on its agenda for more than two decades.
RETAIL
- Texas-based convenience store company Buc-ee’s filed plans with St. Lucie County to build one of its large stores at I-95 and Indrio Road. The privately held company has existing stores along I-95 in Daytona Beach and St. Augustine and has plans for one at a new Interstate 75 interchange in Ocala. Palm Beach County-based mini-golf and entertainment company PopStroke Entertainment Group plans to open one of its facilities at the southwestern intersection of Australian Avenue and Belvedere Road at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach. A Delray location opened in October.
INSURANCE
- As part of 5,000-employee, company-wide layoff amid a restructuring, CVS laid off 288 of the workers at a regional Aetna office in Plantation.
REAL ESTATE
- Miami-based Concord Summit Capital provided $122 million in financing for the 415-unit Encore at Tradition 55-plus rental development under construction at Tradition in Port St. Lucie. The development is a partnership of Pride One Construction, Brokaw Development Services and Riley Hotel Group, all based in a Cleveland suburb. The project is scheduled for completion in the 2024 second quarter.
SERVICES
- Boca Raton non-profit JARC Florida, a service and program provider for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, broke ground on its Caryn J. Clayman Life Skills Center on its Boca campus to serve more clients.
