Non-profit Arc Broward, a service provider to 1,200 children and adults with disabilities, uses a marketdriven approach to help those with disabilities become employable. Its Arc Tech, a “social enterprise,” offers electronics recycling and secure disposal of IT products such as servers, laptops, monitors, switches and desktops.

People with autism and other disabilities take a 12-week materialhandling program to learn technical skills; they also take employability training. The program qualifies them to work in light manufacturing, refurbishing, retail, e-commerce and recycling.

As of late 2017, 75 adults had completed the program, and about 55% got jobs in light industrial, ware- house/distribution or retail. Arc Broward says it needs more employers willing to hire. Arc Tech collects about 1 million pounds of electronics a year, almost all from corporate customers. It has recovered 20 million pounds since it began in 2001, while refurbishing more than 7,500 pieces of hardware.

“I like that both the individual and the company benefit from the process,” says Michael Weinstock, vice president of operations at JEG & Sons, a Miami phone wholesaler. Watching workers hired from Arc develop “and become part of the team at JEG & Sons is very gratifying.”

Business Briefs for Southeast Florida

BOCA RATON — FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine received initial accreditation for a residency program in neurology, the fifth residency program at FAU following internal medicine, general surgery, emergency medicine and psychiatry. FAU will collaborate on the neurology residency with Boca Raton Regional Hospital and Tenet’s Delray Medical Center.

DANIA BEACH — Q Link Wireless, a company that provides free phone service through the federal Lifeline program, added 40 full-time jobs after it won licenses for wireless service in Arkansas and Hawaii. The company now operates in 30 states and Puerto Rico.

FORT LAUDERDALE — Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Trimble paid $500 million to acquire locally based construction management software company e-Builder. Founders Jon and Ron Antevy will stay on in leadership, and e-Builder will remain in South Florida. Weston-based Cleveland Clinic Florida opened its concierge medicine office, the enterprise’s first such office, on East Broward Boulevard. Port Everglades signed a longterm lease with Horizon Terminal Services, which will relocate from elsewhere in the port to a larger facility for importing vehicles. Now handling 15,000 autos and pieces of heavy equipment, it plans to add 25 employees as it begins handling 40,000 to 50,000 automobiles. The Aspen Institute and Siemens Foundation recognized Broward College for its nursing program, among eight community colleges nationally and four in Florida honored in the Siemens-Aspen Community College STEM Award. Each award brought a $50,000 prize. The other Florida colleges were Hillsborough (paramedic), Miami-Dade (animation and gaming) and Valencia (telecommunications technology).

• Developer SobelCo. and its contractor Kaufman Lynn Construction broke ground on SobelCo.’s 321 at Water’s Edge, a 23-unit luxury condo project scheduled for completion in early 2019. Premier Developers received a partial certificate of occupancy as it opens its Riva, a 100-residence, 15-story condo building, the first luxury condo on the Middle River. Units run from mid-$700,000 to $2.29 million for penthouses.

HOBE SOUND — NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan is developing a members- only private golf club, Grove XXIII, on a former citrus grove. It is scheduled to open next year.

MARGATE — Brookdale Senior Living laid off 110.

PALM BEACH COUNTY — Sam’s Club closings in Boca Raton and Lantana resulted in 252 lost jobs.

PEMBROKE PINES — Miami Jewish Health will add 110 independent living apartments for low-income seniors to its 25-acre Douglas Gardens North development. The $36-million addition will open next year. Miami Jewish Health is working with Housing Trust Group.

WEST PALM BEACH — Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Robert Avossa, highly regarded by the county school board, resigned after 2½ years to take a job as senior vice president and publisher for education products for Palm Beach Gardens-based LRP Publications.

A Donor’s Legacy

Before South Florida auto dealership owner Phil Smith died in 2016, he and his wife, Susan, capped off years of donations by giving $5 million to Florida Atlantic University and Holy Cross Hospital.

FAU recently dedicated Phil Smith Hall and the Center for Free Enterprise at the university’s College of Business. Smith, who died after suffering from ALS, was an FAU alumnus. The FAU donation was the largest in the business college’s history. Phil Smith Hall is the college’s main tower.

Holy Cross Hospital recently opened its Phil Smith Neuroscience Institute. In addition to the institute, the hospital also houses the Phil Smith ALS and Movement Disorders Clinic.

PLAYERS

Fort Lauderdale-based IT company Citrix Systems hired Andrew “Drew” Del Matto as executive vice president and CFO. He formerly was with Fortinet, where he had been CFO since 2014. Del Matto replaces interim CFO Mark Coyle, who continues as senior vice president of finance.

 

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