SPOTLIGHT

Home-School Boom

Include Time4Learning among companies that seized the moment amid the pandemic’s mask mandates, remote learning and work school challenges. The Fort Lauderdale company began offering its online home-schooling platform in 2004. It says it now has 175,000 students using the platform.

The company sells monthly subscriptions ($20 for K-8, $30 for high school), plus add-ons for extra depth in specific subjects. Its top four states, accounting for nearly half of all registrations, in August were Texas, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.

Time4Learning was founded by John Edelson, president, under the VKidz corporate umbrella. Dallas-based Cambium acquired the business in 2018. Edelson has a bachelor’s from Yale and an MBA from Harvard. He was a Peace Corps volunteer and worked in the video game industry before turning to education.

Fort Lauderdale-based AutoNation, the nation’s largest dealer, hired Stellantis’ Americas head Mike Manley, 57, as CEO, succeeding longtime CEO Mike Jackson. Stellantis was formed in January from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and French PSA Group. Jackson, 72, is making a second bid at retirement. He retired as CEO in 2019 but remained executive chairman and then returned in 2020 after his first replacement, Cheryl Miller, took a medical leave and then left the company.

Fort Lauderdale — Circa 2030

Following rapid growth, downtown Fort Lauderdale’s population is up 33% in five years and accounts for the majority of the city’s growth. Ahead: 20 new developments totaling 13,000 dwelling units, 1.1 million square feet of office space, 1,000 hotel rooms and 600,000 square feet of retail and restaurant are in the development pipeline for the next 10 years, according to the Downtown Development Authority.

EDUCATION

• After losing in court, the Palm Beach County school district will share proceeds of a voter-approved property tax increase for schools with public charter schools to boost teacher pay and pay for school security. The county’s 50 charter schools will gain $50 million in the next two years. Charters educate 11.5% of the county’s public school students.
• Broward’s public school district was down 4,694 students in the first months of the school year, following a loss of 7,255 the year before. District administration had expected enrollment to rise this year. Palm Beach County lost 194 students this year, after losing 5,000 last year.
• The state commission appointed to investigate the 2018 Parkland school shooting and recommend changes in policy says the Broward public school district has violated state law in failing to share with law enforcement the names of students in an alternative-to-arrest program and has delayed in implementing safety measures such as conducting proper threat assessments of students at risk of harming others or themselves. It’s the most recent in a pattern of criticism of the district school board’s response to the tragedy.

REAL ESTATE

• Developer Todd Michael Glaser listed a private island and home in Palm Beach “as is” for $125 million and at $210 million for the same property with a 30,000-sq.-ft. home expansion. He paid $85 million for it in July.
• BBX Capital Real Estate launched a BBX Industrial division under Mark G. Levy, formerly of Hilco Redevelopment Partners, to focus on spec and build-to-suit projects in Florida and other logistics markets.
• New Smyrna Beach-based Prospect Real Estate Development Group and Midtown Capital began construction of a $45-million, 240-unit apartment building in Lake Worth.
• Boca Raton-based Park Partners Residential sold Vue on 67th, a 178-unit rental project it renovated in Davie, for $34.65 million to Circle Capital Partners. Park is a joint venture of Rick Giles and Alex Rosemurgy.

INSURANCE

• A new Federal Emergency Management Agency map for Broward would add 65,000 homes to flood zones. Some municipalities and leaders say the maps are too expansive and plan to fight to have them redrawn.

COVID-19

• The Loxahatchee River Environmental Control District became one of the few localities nationally to test sewage for the presence of COVID-19. Testing sewage is seen as a more reliable indicator of virus spread than the standard measure of testing individuals who self-select for testing.
• Broward County decided to pay vaccinated employees a $500 reward and began charging unvaccinated employees $20 per biweekly pay period along with requiring them to be tested.

GAMBLING

• The Casino@Dania Beach became the latest to close its jai alai fronton. Jai alai still is played at Magic City Casino in Miami.

RETAIL

• Retailer GameStop says it will hire 500 customer service callcenter workers in Broward.

TRANSPORTATION

• Miramar-based Spirit Airlines says it will hire 500 customer service workers in Broward.

TRADE

• Port Everglades set a record in July for container cargo shipments, a 29% increase from pre-pandemic July 2019.

DISTRIBUTION

• FedEx Ground is hiring 700 package handlers for its 245,000-sq.-ft. sorting facility that opened in October in Legacy Park at Tradition in Port St. Lucie. The facility will employ a total of 900.

 

Read more in Florida Trend's December issue.
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