Youth sports tourism fuels growth around Florida
With its year-round warm weather and investment in infrastructure, Florida is a leading sports travel destination, even though hurricanes, lightning storms and rainy-season showers can put a damper on games. The trade association Sports ETA found that the economic impact generated by sports tourism was greater in Florida than any other state in 2023, followed by Texas and California, with sports travelers across the U.S. spending $52.5 billion on events and programs. More from Gulfshore Business.
Jacksonville-based Norlee Group targets 4 to 6 acquisitions per year as it expands across Southeast
Norlee Group CEO Wally Budgell is building the Jacksonville-based company with a specific kind of acquisition target in mind. Not distressed companies. Not fixer-uppers. Not businesses that need to be rebuilt from the ground up. The companies Norlee wants are the ones that already work. More from the Jacksonville Business Journal.
Skyscanner is doubling down on Miami, and betting Dolphins fans will travel with it
For plenty of Miami Dolphins fans, the NFL schedule release is all about pricing flights, checking hotel rates, and figuring out whether a road matchup can turn into a long weekend somewhere warm. That behavior is exactly what travel giant Skyscanner is betting on as it expands its Miami presence. The global travel platform has launched a new Miami Dolphins travel planner designed to help fans compare flights, hotels, and car rentals for every home and away game. More from Refresh Miami.
Fresh beach sand is coming to Pinellas after Army Corps stalemate ends
Sand Key, Treasure Island and St. Pete Beach will get fresh sand again in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after ending a decade-long stalemate May 29. The federal agency has been financially assisting Pinellas County to renourish its beaches since 1966, historically covering two-thirds of the cost. The initiative is important: protecting coastal infrastructure from storms and rising seas, preserving wildlife habitats for sea turtles and birds, and supporting local tourism economies. More from the St. Pete Catalyst.
Despite explosion, Blue Origin CEO says New Glenn will fly before end of year
Last week’s explosion of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket on the pad at Cape Canaveral prompted dire predictions that the company might not be able to launch again until late 2027 at the earliest. CEO Dave Limp, though, said that’s not the case. “Now that we’ve had access to the pad and integration facility, we can share a bit of good news,” he said in an update on X. “We will fly again before the end of this year.” More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Business Profile
Mozzarella Mike is bringing an Italian sandwich shop to St. Petersburg
The road to a brick-and-mortar for “Mozzarella” Mike Deininger was paved with pop-ups, pedagogy and catering gigs. And in late August, he plans to open Mozza, a new Italian paninoteca, with his wife and business partner, Tiffany Deininger, in St. Petersburg. A paninoteca is essentially an Italian sandwich shop, Deininger said.
» More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Florida Trend Exclusive
Battening the hatches
On a list of the most common targets for cybercriminals, courts of law would probably not rank highly, but that's changed as the justice system has become digitized. The Florida Supreme Court, in a pair of administrative orders issued last year, established a new cybersecurity policy and a cybersecurity administrative response team that it says are directly related to two "notable cybersecurity incidents that affected technology systems in two judicial circuits."
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