Stetson University has reopened Hulley Tower, a 92-year-old campus landmark that was partially disassembled in 2005 because of hurricane damage that made it unsafe. The DeLand institution has dedicated the rebuilt monument to the memory of three students who died in a 1979 avalanche while studying abroad in Austria. Alumni of the private university led a campaign that raised $6.7 million to rebuild the 116-foot, 52-bell tower.
REAL ESTATE
The $420-million Westin Cocoa Beach Resort & Spa has been topped off, a major milestone in the development of the 502-key resort. The 15.7-acre oceanfront property will boast 72,000 square feet of open-air and 51,500 square feet of indoor space for meetings and events when it opens in 2027.
MANUFACTURING
Kalogon, a company that specializes in "smart seating" — technology that relieves the physical stress of being seated for long periods of time for people in wheelchairs as well as truck drivers and pilots — has opened a $50-million production facility in Melbourne.
AEROSPACE
Defense industry supplier L3Harris Technologies has sold a controlling stake in its space propulsion and power systems to AE Industrial Partners — a Boca Raton-based private equity firm — for $845 million and has reorganized its corporate structure accordingly, reducing its business segments from four to three: space and mission systems, communications and spectrum dominance, and missile solutions. L3Harris will maintain a 40% ownership stake in the space propulsion and power systems division.
HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Millennium Physician Group, a health care group based in Fort Myers, has inked agreements with eight primary care clinics that will expand its footprint in Brevard and Indian River counties, adding 37,000 active patients to its roster. More than 900 Florida health care providers are part of Millennium, which operates in North Carolina, Georgia and Texas as well.
CR Fitness Holdings, one of the largest Crunch Fitness franchisees in the country, recently surpassed 1 million members nationwide. The company operates 93 gyms in Florida and in December opened its latest location, a $5-million, 37,000-sq.-ft. facility along Dr. Phillips Boulevard in Orlando.
Michael Mewhirter assumed the role of CEO of AdventHealth Celebration in February. He served as the hospital's vice president and COO before being named CEO of AdventHealth East Orlando. Mewhirter succeeds Amanda Maggard, who remains with the company as chief people officer of its Multi-State Division.
Recovery Centers of America, a Pennsylvania-based company that specializes in mental health and addiction treatment, has opened its first treatment center in Florida. Located in Mount Dora, northwest of Orlando, the 19-acre campus has 124 patient beds.
ENERGY
Duke Energy Florida has opened a demonstration facility capable of producing, storing and combusting green hydrogen, a clean energy source used in sectors such as heavy industry, shipping and aviation. Located at the utility's solar energy site in Volusia County, Duke says the DeBary Hydrogen Production Storage System is the first of its kind in the U.S., and the energy it produces can be unleashed to power combustion turbines during times of high demand.
TRANSPORTATION
A University of Central Florida trustee and postdoctoral student are studying the feasibility of advanced air mobility — flying cars, essentially — as a transportation system. UCF Board of Trustees Chairman Subith Vasu and postdoctoral scholar Justin Urso, who earned a Ph.D. from UCF in 2022, received a $750,000 grant from NASA to conduct research at Ocala International Airport, which is regarded as a prime location for a vertiport that would cater to air taxis.
TOURISM
Pedal pubs won't be rolling down the streets of New Smyrna Beach anytime soon, as the city commission voted unanimously to reject an application from resident Christopher Smith to amend city code to allow the operation of "commercial megacycles," as the slow-moving, boozy tourist attractions are also known.
Bagel Boss
Jeff's Bagel Run, a fast-growing chain of bagel shops based in Orlando, fell short of its goal of reaching 50 locations in 2025, but President Justin Wetherill is pleased with the 13 stores it opened.
As the calendar flipped to 2026, the company went on a growth spree, adding 12 shops early in the year, bringing its total to 36 nationwide. A quarter of all sales came from orders placed via a mobile app that launched in 2025.
"The stores that are opening are outperforming our expectations," he says. "We hope to be somewhere between 60 and 70 by the end of 2026."
The majority of Jeff's Bagel Run locations are franchises, which can lengthen the store development timeline, but Wetherill doesn't anticipate that business model changing.
"The goals of the corporate stores are a little bit different," he says, "so in an effort to make sure our interests are aligned with the franchisees who are investing a lot of money in our brand to open these stores, we'll stay pretty focused on franchising."
Wild Flamingos
University of Central Florida researchers have made some surprising discoveries about the state's flamingo population. Their study, published in the American Ornithological Society's Ornithological Applications journal, found that flamingos, even those bred in captivity, are more genetically diverse than previously thought, despite being nearly wiped out by hunting and habitat loss a century ago. Wild flamingos remain rare in the state, though UCF's team argues that reclassifying them as a threatened species could pave the way for a resurgence.