Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Wednesday's Daily Pulse

Travel season off to ‘sizzling’ start: 2.2M Floridians on the move over Memorial Day

Travel over Memorial Day weekend is expected to be the busiest in three years, building on a resurgence that began earlier this spring, according to AAA. The travel agency predicts nearly 2.2 million Floridians will travel 50 miles or more from home this Memorial Day weekend, an 8.3% increase over 2021, bringing travel volumes almost in line with those from 2017. “By the looks of this Memorial Day travel forecast, the summer travel season is off to a sizzlin’ start,” said Debbie Haas, vice president of travel for AAA – The Auto Club Group. [Source: Click Orlando]

Florida Trend Exclusive

Body of work: Joe Navarro is a global expert in reading people

Leaders who make strong gestures when making their point are better understood and help their audiences understand the boundaries of their message, says global body language expert Joe Navarro. Navarro has spent the past two decades churning out books on how to understand body language and personality types; writing a blog for Psychology Today, where some entries have more than a million views; appearing on network morning shows; and coaching business leaders around the world. [Source: Florida Trend]

Judge lifts stay from ruling on Florida’s congressional map

After issuing a temporary injunction last week against a congressional redistricting plan pushed through the Legislature by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Leon County circuit judge Monday ordered that the ruling remain in effect while the state pursues an appeal. The state on Friday appealed Judge Layne Smith’s temporary injunction ruling to the 1st District Court of Appeal. That triggered an automatic stay, which put the ruling on hold. But Smith held a hearing Monday and sided with voting rights groups that requested he lift the stay. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Hurricane center targets surge in preventable post-storm deaths

Hurricanes are terrifying and deadly forces, but experts are growing more concerned by the amount of deaths tallied up after a storm is passed, as they’ve observed indirect death totals increasing in recent years. “Now we’re seeing more people dying after the storm,” said Michael Brennan, the Branch Chief at the National Hurricane Center. With the official start of hurricane season coming June 1, the National Hurricane Center wants to bring those numbers down like it did when it increased efforts to educate the public about storm surge deaths. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Michelin Guide to reveal which Florida restaurants will receive stars on June 9

The wait is almost over: On June 9, Florida chefs and restaurant owners will finally find out whether they snagged a coveted Michelin star. According to an announcement from the elite restaurant guide, Michelin star recipients will find out “in real time” during a live ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grand Lakes. “Bib Gourmand,” “Sommelier of the Year,” and “Exceptional Cocktails” awards will also be announced at the ceremony, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. in Orlando. Until now, the guide — arguably the most widely respected restaurant ratings system in the world — has never included Florida. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Does the metaverse offer Orlando firms business opportunities?
The Orlando region is on a mission to establish itself as the center of the metaverse — but what does that mean? Economic development group Orlando Economic Partnership is spearheading an initiative to establish the region from Orlando to Miami as the “MetaCenter,” the national hub for technologies that power the metaverse. They include gaming, simulation, virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

› Report: Punta Gorda named best place to relocate a corporate headquarters in the eastern U.S.
Punta Gorda has been identified by The Boyd Company, a corporate relocation consultant around since 1975, to be the best place to open a "new normal" corporate headquarters in the eastern U.S. That doesn't necessarily mean the Twitters of the world will flock to the area anytime soon, but the report does note a changing corporate culture that incentivizes executives to relocate parts of their companies from high-tax, high-cost business hubs to more spread out, lower-cost suburban areas.

› AFROPUNK comes to Miami for the first time to bring the diaspora together
Roots Collective co-founder Danny Agnew never thought AFROPUNK would come to Miami. A festival championing Blackness in all of its forms, AFROPUNK has previously held shows in cities known for their heavy Black population like Atlanta, Oakland and Brooklyn. But Miami? A place with one of America’s largest Latino populations? Not a chance, says Agnew.

› Film shoot underway in Tampa with local director at helm
“The Throwback,” a comedic film starring Will Sasso and Justina Machado, went into production in Tampa this week. The movie, according to a news release, is being directed by Tampa native Mario Garcia, who’s also credited as writer and producer. Sasso is known for roles in films including “The Three Stooges,” “Drop Dead Gorgeous” and “Happy Gilmore,” while Machado was part of the cast of the hit TV series “Six Feet Under” from 2001 to 2005.

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› Seagrass beds struggle to grow along Southwest Florida's coastline
It was only a short boat ride to one of the many seagrass beds Dr. James Douglass and his team are monitoring from their Florida Gulf Coast Vester Field Station in Bonita Springs. “We’re really not doing well with our seagrass recovery here," said Dr. Douglass. Dr. Douglass found samples of seagrass at one bed in the South Estero Bay area. He said that area of seagrass has been struggling to grow because it's in a high boat traffic area and it also sees a lot of pollution.

› Florida receivership currently handling 8K claims, 2K lawsuits in homeowner insurance crisis
One Pinellas County woman discovered she had black mold growing in the walls of her new home, but when she contacted her homeowner’s insurance company, she felt like everyone was avoiding her. She later found out it was because her insurance company was was going into receivership. “Everybody was avoiding me, the adjuster, the supervisor,” said Judith Slater. Slater is one of hundreds of thousands of Florida homeowners who were dropped from their insurance company going into receivership.

› Calling all Northwest Florida Black business owners: Grant providing $1,500 for growth
Bantucola is calling all Black small business owners to apply to its Northwest Florida Black Business Investment Grant program. Bantucola is a platform started by Chris Hendricks in 2018 to recognize and uplift Black businesses in Pensacola and Northwest Florida. Raised by private donors, the $1,500 award was created to build the capacity of small Black businesses in the area.

› Sarasota-based entrepreneurs develop app to promote plant-based living
A new app designed to provide resources and information on plant-based living is coming to an app store near you. The Sarasota-based Optamiz app provides users with information including national and local plant-based restaurants, recipes and a social media platform. “We think we came up with something really cool,” co-founder and CEO Heather Hackett-Kaufman says.