Soon you’ll be able to get your eggs delivered via the sky. Walmart is bringing its drone delivery service to Orlando and Tampa, the retail giant announced. It plans to start within a year. It’s also expanding the service to Atlanta, Charlotte and Houston. Walmart’s drones, first launched in 2023, already deliver goods in Dallas-Fort Worth and Walmart’s home base in northern Arkansas.
While Amazon is using delivery drones in parts of Arizona and Texas, Walmart says it’s the first retailer to scale the service across five states. “As we look ahead, drone delivery will remain a key part of our commitment to redefining retail,” says Greg Cathey, the company’s senior VP of transformation and innovation.
Walmart says items frequently delivered by drone include fruit, eggs, ice cream and pet food. It’s partnering with the drone company Wing to expand the service to another 100 stores. Wing operates command centers where pilots manage multiple drones at the same time. Each drone can fly within a six-mile range from its store. Upon reaching its destination, the drone lowers the order to the ground on a tether.
New Leadership
After a search that attracted 135 applicants, Bethune-Cookman University’s Board of Trustees has chosen Albert Mosley as the university’s eighth president. He joins the historically Black university from the presidency of Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa, where he launched academic programs in aviation, cybersecurity, animal science, AI applications, supply chain management and an MBA.
HIGHER EDUCATION
- The Florida Institute of Technology will start offering master’s degree programs this fall at Patrick Space Force Base for military and civilian personnel there. The university, based in nearby Melbourne, has set up classrooms at the base to teach several degree programs including: a Master of Science in acquisition and contract management, a Master of Science in space systems and in space systems management, and a Master of Business Administration.
- Following a national search, Boise State University Provost John Buckwalter has been chosen as the University of Central Florida’s next provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. Outgoing Provost Michael D. Johnson retired this summer following 35 years of service to UCF. “Dr. Buckwalter brings a results-driven mindset and a deep understanding of the mission of a public research university,” says UCF President Alexander N. Cartwright.
- Valencia College in Orlando will halt its recruitment of international students starting in the fall semester, citing uncertainties about student visas. The state college says international students account for about 2.5% of its roughly 47,000 students.
PULSE MEMORIAL
- State legislators have budgeted nearly $400,000 to help build a memorial at the site of the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre. The city of Orlando is planning a $12-million memorial with a reflection pool, visitor pavilion, tribute wall and healing garden at the location of the former LGBTQ club. Orlando has budgeted $7.5 million for the memorial, and Orange County has pledged $5 million.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez after he and four associates were arrested on felony charges of racketeering in connection with an alleged illegal gambling house in Kissimmee. Lopez was elected in 2020. Christopher Blackmon, central region chief for the Florida Highway Patrol, was appointed as Osceola’s sheriff.
SPORTS BUSINESS
- Alex Martins, CEO of the Orlando Magic for the past 14 years, has stepped down to take on a new role as vice chair of the NBA franchise. Instead of appointing a new CEO, the team says president of business operations Charlie Freeman will lead business efforts for the franchise.
HEALTH CARE
- AdventHealth named Abel Biri as CEO of its flagship hospital, AdventHealth Orlando. He succeeds Rob Deininger, who was appointed president/CEO of AdventHealth’s East Florida Division. Biri previously was CEO of AdventHealth Waterman in Lake County.
RESTAURANTS
- Florida restaurant franchise Giardino Gourmet Salads, which has nearly a dozen locations in the greater Miami-Fort Lauderdale region, is opening its first location in Orlando, on South John Young Parkway about a mile from Universal’s Epic Universe theme park.
Not for the Little Ones
Walt Disney World has opened an adults-only cocktail lounge inside the iconic geodesic sphere at its Epcot theme park. It’s called Geo-82 because the sphere’s Spaceship Earth attraction opened in 1982. The lounge is only open to guests who are at least 21, and reservations are required.
Painted Protection
Q & A
JEFF GRASTY, PRESIDENT,
FLORIDA PAINTS
Florida Trend: What makes your paint different?
Grasty: That’s the beauty of being a regional paint manufacturer. We are not a national brand, so we’re sort of the craft beer of paint. We’re able to tailor our products to withstand Florida’s climate — the humidity, the heat, the sun, the salt air.
FT: Why should homeowners consider painting their houses for hurricane season?
Grasty: A lot of homes in Florida are built out of stucco or cementitious material, so it’s really important to make sure those houses are protected from water. Even if you have just a small crack in your stucco, a crack is just a long hole, really. We make products specifically formulated to bridge those cracks, that are independently tested to withstand wind-driven rain up to 98 miles per hour.
FT: How has your company been growing beyond its Orlando headquarters?
Grasty: We’ve been in business about 13 years now. We started very small. With the stores we have under construction now, we’ll be up to 31 stores. Anywhere from Naples up to Pensacola, over to Jacksonville and down to just about Dade County. There’s just a lot of demand. It really has grown organically, far quicker than we could ever have imagined.