Consumer sentiment experiences small decline in May

After two months of consecutive increases, consumer sentiment among Floridians dropped 1.4 points in May to 81.6 from a revised figure of 83 in April, while the national consumer sentiment plummeted 5.4 points. Among the five components that make up the index, two increased and three decreased. Floridians’ opinions about current economic conditions were more optimistic in May. Views of personal financial situations now compared with a year ago increased three-tenths of a point from 72.6 to 72.9. [Source: UF News]

Nikki Fried announces bid for Florida governor, showdown with DeSantis

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is Florida’s only Democrat in statewide office and effectively, the head of the state’s Democratic party. But even still, many Floridians don’t know who the agriculture commissioner is or what they do. Now, three years after pulling off a historic win, Fried is making another run at re-introducing herself. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Hurricane season is here. Here’s a forecast, what you should do and where to get answers

Welcome to the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. June 1 is the first official day of the season —even though we already saw Tropical Storm Ana form near Bermuda last month. Forecasters are predicting another “above average” hurricane season this year, although we shouldn’t see as many storms as the record-breaking season in 2020. And just like last year, Florida’s hurricane prep in 2021 includes COVID-19 safety protocols. [Source: Miami Herald]

How a Florida bill becomes a law, explained

Lawmaking in Florida is complicated. During Florida’s yearly 60-day legislative session, bills bounce around the state House and Senate in a way that can be hard to follow. Legislation gets amended, bills die in committee and many of the decisions about what will pass and what won’t are made behind the scenes. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Apalachicola region trying to recover after losing water war, oyster industry

The jobs lost in the Apalachicola Bay’s shuttered oyster industry won’t be easy to replace. But green shoots are sprouting in the form of two new industries about 23 miles away. The town of Port St. Joe now has a commercial shipyard and an export facility for biomass destined for power generating plants in Honduras. [Source: Saporta Report]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

Tallahassee sees surge in new car wash businesses [Tallahassee Democrat ]
Car wash locations are easy to find in the capital — and more are on the way. On Ocala Road and West Tennessee Street, construction crews are working to erect a modern Blue Water Express Car Wash. In 2004, the first Blue Water Car Wash opened in Dothan, Alabama. In Tallahassee, a Blue Water Car Wash opened on Capital Circle Northeast in 2018.

› $1.1 billion riverfront master plan proposed for Downtown Jacksonville [Jacksonville Daily Record]
Jacksonville developer Steve Atkins says he wants to lead a nearly $1.1 billion redevelopment of mostly city-owned property, including the former Jacksonville Landing, on a stretch of the Downtown Northbank riverfront. At an invitation-only event June 1 at the Florida Theatre, Atkins presented his “Riverfront Jacksonville” redevelopment plan for about 25 acres along the St. Johns River.

› This St. Petersburg bank is taking on climate change, and it opened this week [Tampa Bay Times]
Days before Climate First Bank opened, Ken LaRoe already had $75 million worth of loans in the pipeline. That’s a good start, one that led him to believe people are buying into what the company is selling. But he also couldn’t help feeling a little nervous.

› Influential Silicon Valley firm, now in Miami, is looking for a local startup founder [Miami Herald]
Atomic, the venture group founded in 2012 by serial entrepreneur Jack Abraham that launched companies like publicly traded telehealth group Hims & Hers and home rental service Bungalow, is creating the Future Founders Miami program to match entrepreneurship leaders with Miami-based companies aimed at solving big problems.

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› Women’s apparel store Evereve to open in former Winter Park Gap store [Orlando Sentinel ]
Women’s apparel retailer Evereve is slated to open its first Florida store in space that used to house the Gap on Park Avenue in Winter Park. Signs for Evereve were posted on the doors of the space at Park and Lyman Avenues. The new store is slated to open at the beginning of July, according to the retailer’s website. Another is expected to open in Naples in August.

› Relocations drive 'unbelievable' year for The Pineapple Corporation [Jacksonville Daily Record ]
Thanks to a surge in out-of-state buyers, custom luxury homebuilder The Pineapple Corporation’s The Vista at Twenty Mile in Nocatee has sold more houses so far in 2021 than it did all of last year. Pineapple Corporation President Spencer Calvert said interest in the community off of 20 Mile Road in Northeast Nocatee has been “unbelieveable” this year. “Right now a big push is from folks relocating from outside of our area,” Calvert said.

› New flying theater helps Dynamic Attractions launch co-venture effort [Orlando Sentinel]
The future of Dynamic Attractions is up in the air, and that’s right where executives want it. The Orlando-based ride-manufacturing company has developed a reputation for its “flying theater” experiences, and it’s using that expertise to explore attraction ownership. Its first co-venture is SkyFly: Soar America, set to open at the Island in Pigeon Forge, an entertainment complex in eastern Tennessee in mid-June.

AllianceFlorida Amazon sortation center set for completion by year-end [Jacksonville Daily Record]
Hillwood’s fourth-quarter report to the city says the project identified as Amazon.com received its foundation permit and construction should be completed by year-end 2021 at AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center. As the city’s master developer at the Westside business park, Dallas-based Hillwood is required to report quarterly activity.