Thursday's Daily Pulse
CEOs seek big deal to end shutdown, debt crisis
Washington Inc. is getting in on the shutdown action. After days of watching the government closure and debt ceiling standoff from the sidelines, companies and trade associations are jumping into the fray, hoping to seize a rare moment in D.C. when a deal has to happen. And they prefer it be a big deal, with changes to entitlement programs, the tax code and spending cuts that normally would have no chance of passing. [Source: Politico]
See also:
» The shutdown, the debt and health care: a primer
Pay raise slow to arrive for Florida teachers
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's pay raise for teachers isn't arriving quite as promised. Scott this year pledged $480 million so that teachers could get a $2,500 across the board pay raise. Legislators set aside the money, but they gave school districts leeway in how the raises could be handed out. [Source: AP]
Column: Farewell to Bill Young, he made Congress work
 Rep. C.W. Bill Young [Photo: Tampa Bay Times] |
One of the last adults in the U.S. Congress is saying farewell. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, the Pinellas County Republican who rose to be chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, has decided not to seek re-election. At this moment in our political history, we need adults like Young to get Congress functioning again. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Related:
» Scramble begins for Rep. C.W. Bill Young's congressional seat
» U.S. Rep. Bill Young's fingerprints are everywhere in Tampa Bay
» What people are saying about C.W. Bill Young's retirement announcement
A Sense of Closure for Skip Clements
Sit long enough by the river, the proverb goes, and the body of your enemy will float by. For nearly 13 years, Henry T. “Skip” Clements, 62, of Stuart, has done more than sit by the river. In the 1990s, Clements rose to prominence after China selected his company to be the sole exporter of Florida citrus into the giant nation. Clements, a sales guy clueless about securities financing, fell in with people who took his tiny company public in a sketchy stock deal. Full story.
 Greater Fort Lauderdale is home to more than 40,000 boats and a marine industry that employs almost 93,000. The industry's annual economic output tops $7.44 billion. » Special section is here |
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Greater Fort Lauderdale: Big Boats, Big Business, Bright Future
Greater Fort Lauderdale's dynamic regional economy is a far cry from the sleepy little coastal town where vacationers came to escape the northern cold and retirees to spend their golden years. Today, a fisheye lens view of Greater Fort Lauderdale reveals a broad and robust business environment that affects more than 1.8 million people in Broward County — and millions more regionally. See the full report here.
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Meet the entrepreneurs Florida Blue is investing in [Jacksonville Business Journal]
Florida Blue is betting on Healthbox’s six startups in Jacksonville to help drive innovation in the healthcare industry.
› Darden stock soars after hedge fund talks of breaking up chains [Orlando Sentinel]
Orlando-based Darden Restaurants' stock soared Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that a New York hedge fund took a stake in the company and will press it to break up.
› Report shows Florida's job creation improves in September [Tampa Bay Times]
The monthly government snapshot of job creation and unemployment is one of the victims of the semi-shutdown of the federal government. But number-crunchers outside the government are still pumping out estimates — figures that make September look like a relatively strong month for Florida's economy.
› Employee suggestion boxes move into the digital age [Miami Herald]
The physical suggestion box has gone digital, creating new opportunity for workplace communication. From phone apps to websites to intranet portals and blogs, businesses are replacing paper communication with an online format where employee can manifest their visions and ideas.
Go to page 2 for more stories ...
› UF: Part of $15M in preeminent funding to be spent on 'big data' [Gainesville Sun]
The University of Florida will spend nearly $4 million of $15 million it received from the Legislature to achieve Top 10 status on “the emerging field of big data,” university officials announced today.
› Gov. Scott asks Pres. Obama to hold back flood insurance hikes [Florida Today]
Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday that President Barack Obama needs to delay pending rate increases confronting Florida homeowners who are subsidized through the National Flood Insurance Program.
› GRU rate hike puts squeeze on local businesses [Gainesville Sun]
While much of the focus has been on the increase of more than 10 percent in electric rates for Gainesville Regional Utility's residential customers, commercial users are getting an even-stiffer jolt of more than 12 percent.
› Gov. Scott gets new sign: 'Open for Business' [Tampa Bay Times]
After Scott took office in 2011, state road crews touted the achievement by affixing his name to about three dozen "Welcome to Florida" signs on major highways. Now the DOT has gone a step further, with newly-installed signs right below Scott's name that announce that the state is "open for business."