DAYTONA BEACH — The court-appointed manager for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Jim Hopson, announced that five board members were fired, including Georgia Kaney, the paper’s publisher; Marc Davidson, board chairman and co-editor; and CFO David Kendall. The company missed a deadline to start making court-ordered payments on the $129 million it owes its minority partner, Cox Enterprises of Atlanta.
» Daytona Beach International Airport’s passenger count dipped 45% in March, hitting 49,000 compared to about 90,000 in March 2008. Executives attribute part of the decrease to the economy and part to the loss of AirTran and Continental, which both pulled out of the airport last year.
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DELAND — Brothers Performance, which sells auto parts from its California-based parent company BBK Performance and other manufacturers, is opening a retail catalog showroom this month at DeLand Crossings Industrial Park. The city offered the company a six-year, $192,000 employment-based incentive package to get it to move to Volusia, where it initially will employ 12 to 18.
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DELEON SPRINGS — More than $3 million in state and local incentives, including $499,000 from the county, persuaded Sparton Electronics to keep its DeLeon Springs operations open and move its headquarters to Florida from Michigan. The move adds 50 jobs to the 262 already in Volusia.
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LAKE COUNTY — Leesburg Regional Medical Center is the first hospital in central and northern Florida to offer the TandemHeart, an external?device that helps a patient’s heart pump.
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ORANGE COUNTY — Former Republican state Rep. Bill Sublette, chairman of Orange County Public Schools’ Blue Ribbon Panel on Education since 2004, is the first person to announce his candidacy for the newly elected position of chairman of the Orange County School Board in the 2010 election.
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ORLANDO — The University of Central Florida is expanding its business incubator program into Lake and Osceola counties. It plans to open facilities in Leesburg and St. Cloud by next spring in addition to the five it currently operates in Orange and Seminole counties.
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» Orlando National Bank has changed its name to Old Florida National Bank and plans to add locations. It named veteran banking entrepreneur Randy Burden chairman and CEO.
» First Commercial Bank of Florida, the second-largest community bank in Orlando, plans to acquire Anderen Bank of Palm Harbor in the third quarter. The combined company is expected to have assets of $850 million, deposits of more than $670 million and capital of nearly $100 million.
» The American Kennel Club will hold its AKC/Eukanuba national championship at the Orange County Convention Center in December 2011 and annually through 2015. The dog show is expected to attract about 25,000 attendees plus national media attention.
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VOLUSIA — When Halifax Health opens its new 10-story hospital tower this month, the facility will include the largest emergency department in Florida, a 25,000-sq.-ft. facility that’s among the most advanced in the state.
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WINTER PARK — Northrop Grumman’s information technology systems unit will add about 10 engineers because of a new $40-million contract with the Navy to develop technology that can warn of chemical, biological, nuclear and “dirty bomb” attacks.