INNOVATION

Going Deep

Civil submarine maker Triton Submarines reached a milestone this year. Limiting Factor, a Triton 36000/2 sub owned by Victor Vescovo, a Texas equity firm owner and explorer, completed what’s called the Five Deeps Expedition — descending to the deepest spots in five oceans.

Before Vescovo’s final dive to the Arctic Ocean’s deepest spot west of Svalbard, Triton’s president, co-founder and Vero Beach resident Patrick Lahey piloted three 12,500- foot dives to film the Titanic shipwreck in high-def video for a National Geographic show. Triton, headquartered in Sebastian, builds subs for both research use and the tourism market.

Vescovo, a former Naval Reserve officer who also has scaled the highest mountains on seven continents and skied to the North and South Poles, is the first person to complete the Five Deeps, starting with the Atlantic in December. The dives include a descent in May into the Mariana Trench in the Pacific that broke the record set in 1960.

SERVICES

• Call center operator Alorica closed its Sunrise center, laying off 216.
• Nestle USA and Nestle Dreyer’s Ice Cream closed their Weston sales and distribution operation, laying off 67.
• European Wax Center relocated its headquarters to Plano, Texas, and closed its Hallandale Beach office. All employees could relocate, but the company expects 100 will leave the firm.
• FlexShopper, a lease-to-own online marketplace company, consolidated several locations into a single headquarters in Boca Raton employing 200. The company targets consumers who don’t have enough cash or credit to buy electronics, furniture, appliances and other durable goods.
• Addiction treatment company Watershed Treatment Programs laid off 231 in Boynton Beach and Delray Beach.

EDUCATION

• Enrollment in school districts in South Florida continues to be flat and is trending downward. Enrollment in the Broward public school system dropped for the second consecutive year to 268,699, a 4,100-student decline. Charters showed a modest increase, while traditional schools declined more steeply. Enrollment in Miami-Dade public schools fell but rose modestly in Palm Beach County schools.

HEALTH CARE

• Dr. Patrick Taylor resigned as president and CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based Holy Cross Hospital after 30 years. He started there in 1988 as an ER doctor and became CEO in 2010.

REAL ESTATE

• Pompano Beach’s City Commission approved a rezoning to allow developer Mount Vernon Property Holdings to build a condo project totaling 28 units. Mount Vernon agreed to spend $300,000 to improve an adjacent park.

 

Read more in Florida Trend's November issue.

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