Florida Trend Exclusive
Florida Trend's Florida 500

Welcome to the 2022 edition of the Florida 500, a special publication that highlights the 500 most influential executives in different economic sectors throughout the state. This immense, year-long research initiative by the editors of Florida Trend has resulted in a personal, engaging look at the state’s most influential business leaders. [Source: Florida Trend]

Emergency managers want to keep you alive in hurricanes. But they need help.

With each storm, county officials urge the public not to use past hurricanes to predict the future. They struggle to ensure vulnerable residents are aware of resources. They must combat misinformation and overconfidence, all the while knowing that the threat posed by storms is worsening. It’s not dissimilar to the communication challenges that health departments confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic. A key difference is the misinterpretation of lived experience. Somebody who has survived a storm without evacuating may feel emboldened to do the same next time. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Opponents try again to block Florida's so-called ‘don't say gay' education law

After a federal judge rejected an earlier attempt, students, parents and teachers have filed a revised lawsuit seeking to block a new Florida law that restricts classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation. The challenge, filed Thursday in the Northern District of Florida, argues that the plaintiffs have suffered “concrete harms” from the law (HB 1557), which spurred a fierce debate this year in the Legislature and has drawn national attention. [Source: News Service of Florida]

‘This is the end’: Filmmaker pessimistic about future of industry in Florida

For years, prominent filmmakers have been warning that bad policies and a refusal by the state-level government to consider tax incentives seriously have been threatening the film industry in Florida. And now, according to producer and actor Matt Florio, the industry may have sunk past the point of no return. Because production has all but completely evaporated in the state, filmmaking professionals including writers, producers, directors and actors have found themselves forced to leave, pursuing employment opportunities in Georgia, where big-budget TV shows like “Stranger Things” and films like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” have been filmed. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Southwest Florida housing market is in a topsy-turvy spot post-Ian

Hurricane Ian, in addition to the loss of life and property damage, has also set up something of battle of words (and the use of data) over the status of the Southwest Florida housing market. One on side are reports that show the market in plunge-mode in pockets of Southwest Florida. Another report, from housing data and real estate brokerage Redfin, found that pending home sales fell 58% year over year in the Cape Coral market in the four weeks ending Oct. 16, which includes some 20 days post-Ian. [Source: Business Observer]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Report: South Florida is a southeast hub for tech 'unicorns' [South Florida Business Journal]
Prospects are strong for startups raising capital in the southeast. That's according to Panoramic Ventures' new State of Startups in the Southeast 2022 report, which analyzes venture capital and startup activity in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. It found $64.9 billion was invested in southeastern companies during the five-and-a-half-year period between 2017 and June 30, 2022, with check sizes rising steadily each year.

› Tallahassee-based Applied Fiber's high-performance cables are vital component of NASA's James Webb Telescope [Florida Trend]
Tallahassee-based Applied Fiber’s high-performance cables are a key component of NASA’s James Webb Telescope. The company supplied Northrop Grumman, a NASA contractor, with nearly 200 cable assemblies used in the sunshields that protect the lens from extreme temperatures. The company began work with Northrop Grumman on the project more than 13 years ago.

› For $3K, Hillsborough County residents can register to be permit-holding psychics [WFLA]
For less than $3,000, you too can be a permitted, registered fortuneteller, clairvoyant, psychic, or medium. The fee is split and regulated through two ordinances in Hillsborough County. In addition to the money, there are some rules for residents who are tapping into the mystic arts, asking for help from the spirits, or divining the future through tea leaves or Tarot, among other mediums.

› Port Canaveral closes budget year with record results, boosted by cruise comeback [Florida Today]
The final numbers are in, and Port Canaveral reported record-setting revenue for the 2021-22 budget year that ended Sept. 30. Revenue was $128.06 million, which was 17.3% over what the port had been projecting before the budget year began in October 2021. At that time, the port expected revenue to come in at $109.15 million.

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› Influx of international travelers help Fest with largest turnout ever [Gainesville Sun]
A crowd-surfing banana, showers of Pabst Blue Ribbon and beer cans gliding roughly 20 feet in the air was the scene at Bo Diddley Plaza over the weekend as thousands of people from all over the world sang along to some of their favorite tunes. There were no handshakes, only hugs as friends embraced each other in joy while The Bouncing Souls and Menzingers brought out the most packed crowds of the weekend. The celebration of course was for Fest, a three-day punk rock music festival, held throughout downtown Gainesville with hundreds of bands, comedians and professional wrestlers.

› Sarasota residents to vote on penny sales tax extension, other important referendums [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Sarasota citizens will get to vote on numerous referendums in the Nov. 8 general election, including the extension of the county’s penny sales tax and, for city residents, whether to give commissioners a pay raise. Sarasota County residents will notice four county referendums on the ballot, and those who live in the city of Sarasota will also have four city referendums.

› Science center adds ‘Cosmos’ photography to STEAM gallery [Orlando Sentinel]
Orlando Science Center has added space photography exhibit “Capturing the Cosmos” in its Fusion: A STEAM gallery. It features the work of Derek Demeter, director of Seminole State College’s Emil Buehler Planetarium. “Capturing the Cosmos,” shot from Florida locations, features three areas of astrophotography, scenic landscapes, celestial neighbors from our solar system and deep-sky phenomena such as colorful nebulae and galaxies.

› Median single-family home price falls in Northeast Florida [Jacksonville Daily Record]
The price spikes in single-family homes earlier this year have settled into mild fluctuations at the close of the third quarter, according to market research provided by the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors. The median price of a single-family home fell 2.6% in September to $380,000 in the Northeast Florida market comprising Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Baker, Putnam and Nassau counties. It’s the first price decline in the market this year.