3-D printing transforms rocketry in Florida

On the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, 3-D printing technology is changing the way rockets are made and the way Florida space companies do business. Significant new space companies or related technology endeavors in central Florida are building entire rockets, rocket fuel and even human tissue using the printers, which spit out different materials in computer-controlled patterns to form solid, three-dimensional objects. [Source: UPI]

See also:
» Space-based internet the focus of new OneWeb Florida satellite factory
» OneWeb opens satellite factory near Kennedy Space Center, helping ‘transform’ the Space Coast

Florida is a preview of our climate change future

Struggling crops. Salty aquifers. Invading wildlife. Piles of dead fish. The Sunshine State feels the squeeze of environmental change on its beaches, farms, wetlands, and cities. But what afflicts the peninsula predicts the perils that will strike north and west of Apalachicola, and so it demands our attention. If Florida is in trouble, then so are we all. [Source: Popular Science]

Florida Trend Exclusive
Port St. Lucie and business recruiting

The early returns are in on Port St. Lucie’s latest attempt to build the job-rich business core its founders, the Mackle brothers, failed to include when they created the community decades ago. In June 2018, Port St. Lucie took over 1,123 acres from Tradition Land. The company, struggling to recover after the Great Recession, had succeeded in selling off its residential land but found no suitable takers for its large commercial tract, dubbed the “Jobs Corridor” along I-95. [Source: Florida Trend]

AutoNation names first female CEO

In a surprising move Monday, AutoNation announced that the CEO who only began his job in March is no longer behind the wheel. Replacing Carl Liebert in the driver’s seat is Cheryl Miller, who has been AutoNation’s chief financial officer since 2014. Miller, 47, becomes the first woman to be CEO of a publicly held automotive retail company and the only woman who is CEO of a South Florida public company. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Health experts, researchers will study the long-term health impact of red tide on people

Medical experts and researchers would like to study the potential long-term impact from red tide on humans and may now get the funding from the state to start. The study would test the blood and urine of at least 400 volunteers during a red tide event, and before a red tide event to better understand how the neurotoxins affect a persons central nervous system and their blood. [Source: WFTS]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Disney World is hiring workers to run gondolas at most all hours of the day [Orlando Sentinel]
If you aren’t afraid of heights, don’t mind enclosed spaces and are up for possibly working overnight hours, then you might be the candidate Disney World is looking for, according to a new company job posting. The theme park is hiring workers to run the gondolas traveling to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, connecting several resorts.

› Palm Beach business: United Way earns four-star rating [Florida Times-Union]
The Town of Palm Beach United Way has received a four-star rating, the highest possible, from N.J.-based nonprofit evaluator Charity Navigator. This is the United Way’s third consecutive four-star rating, and recognizes the nonprofit’s strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency.

› Potential Brightline stop in Boca Raton inches forward [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
People living in south Palm Beach County may one day be able to catch an express train to Miami in Boca Raton, saving them the drive to West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale. That’s if Brightline officials choose Boca as the location for the train line’s next stop. Officials continue those talks this week.

› AgileThought of Tampa acquired by Texas business software firm [Tampa Bay Times]
Tampa-based software developer AgileThought, a longtime presence on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies, was acquired over the weekend by AN Global, a business software and solutions firm based in Texas.

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› Untold Florida: How Do Delays At Gainesville’s Airport Compare To Its Competitors? [WUFT]
It’s a time of growth for the Gainesville Regional Airport. There are plans for a new terminal and parking garage, more direct flights have started, and airport management recently attempted to entice carriers like Allegiant or Republic to add Gainesville flights.

› GEICO promotes executive to vice president for Florida operations [Insurance Business Magazine]
The GEICO board of directors has promoted Angela Rinella to the role of vice president of the company’s regional operations in Lakeland, FL. Rinella was most recently serving as vice president of GEICO’s claims operations. She began her career with the company in 2002, initially as a telephone claims representative based in Woodbury, NY.

› Guitar-shaped Hard Rock hotel starts revealing stunning display of lights [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is poised to create a visual spectacle with its new massive guitar-shaped hotel — and recent lighting tests have started to reveal the extent of how dazzling the tower will be at night. In recent weeks, the stunning building has been shining bright in every direction, its exterior bathed in red, blue, purple, green and yellow.

› Margaret Good, Democrat who won Florida House seat in Trump territory, now running for Congress [Tampa Bay Times]
Less than two years after Democrat Margaret Good defeated Republican James Buchanan in a closely watched Florida House race, she has now set her sights on unseating his father. Good announced Monday she’s running for Congress and will challenge seven-term incumbent Rep. Vern Buchanan for his Sarasota-based district.