March 19, 2024

Transportation

Florida's Future

We asked 13 experts in their respective fields to look into their crystal balls. Here are their thoughts on the decade ahead. Read more »
Published on 7/18/2023

Rail Renaissance

In 2018, Brightline — the nation's first privately financed passenger rail service in nearly four decades — debuted service between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. The Miami company opened stations in Aventura and Boca Raton last year and this summer will launch hourly departures between Miami and Orlando. Read more »
Published on 6/15/2023

Out of the Blue

Steve Murawski, a University of South Florida professor, offers an illuminating data point: The economic value of commercial and recreational fishing in Florida is greater than aerospace, citrus and ranching combined. Read more »
Published on 5/31/2023

Moore Odyssey

Roger Moore last year gave a thought to his legacy as the sale of the boat retailing business he co-founded moved toward completion. Read more »
Published on 5/31/2023

Wave of Growth

Northwest Florida's two maritime ports posted strong growth last year, fueling their plans for major expansions. Read more »
Published on 5/31/2023

Driver's Seat

Pursuing a career in transportation made sense to Michelle Maikisch, a ninth-generation Floridian who grew up in a family of engineers and farmers in Cottondale, a rural town in the Florida Panhandle. Her father was an engineer for the State Road Department, the predecessor to the Florida Department of Transportation. Other family members also worked for the transportation department. “I've just about been around transportation my entire life,” she says. Read more »
Published on 5/31/2023

Sunnier Days Ahead

Coming off a record year of passenger traffic, Punta Gorda Airport is expecting business to get even better with the planned opening this year of the 785-room Sunseeker Resort on Charlotte Harbor. Read more »
Published on 5/25/2023

Driving Successes

As president of Tallahassee Community College and a veteran law enforcement official, Jim Murdaugh knows the value of workforce training in helping people improve their circumstances, including those who have had run-ins with the law. Read more »
Published on 5/24/2023

Touting JaxPort

Competition for cruise business south of Jacksonville is fierce, with active ports at Cape Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. However, Jacksonville is a good entry point for local residents or those just north of Jacksonville who otherwise would have to go to Charleston to find a cruise within driving distance, says Alberto Cabrera, director of cargo and cruise development, in talking up JaxPort. Read more »
Published on 5/24/2023

Custom-Made

Peter Quinter doesn't spend much time behind a desk. On any given day, the trade attorney might be at a port warehouse, aboard a freighter or inside a Boeing 747 helping clients deal with import or export hiccups and advocating to get their shipments back on track. Read more »
Published on 5/23/2023

Economic Engine

Brightline's upcoming train service to Orlando is providing an economic boost to Central Florida. The company's $100-million vehicle maintenance facility — dubbed Basecamp — will employ 100 workers, and the train carrier has partnered with Siemens USA (which manufactures its trains), railroad contractor Herzog and Valencia College to create a curriculum to train students for careers as train mechanics. Read more »
Published on 5/22/2023

Keep on Truckin'

FleetForce is expanding in Florida this spring with six new training and testing centers. The truck-driving school, based in Sarasota, projects it will be able to graduate 3,000 commercial drivers annually, to help reduce a shortage that trucking trade experts say is close to 80,000 nationally. Read more »
Published on 5/17/2023

City Center

Along a stretch of I-4 some 25 miles east of Tampa and 60 miles west of Orlando, a new City Furniture campus stretches for a half-mile. The 87-acre development that opened late last year features 1.3 million square feet of warehouse space and a nearly 190,000-sq.-ft. two-story showroom, complete with a wine and coffee bar. Read more »
Published on 5/16/2023

Rocking the Boat

A marine marketing truism holds that the ideal locale for photographing a boat is in the clear blue waters of the Bahamas. Cam Heaps, CEO of electric boat maker Voltari, wanted that Bahamas photo and decided to go for more: Instead of shipping or towing his new Voltari 260 performance boat there, he would seek to set a record for the “first and longest” electric boat overseas crossing — the 91 miles from Key Largo to Bimini. Read more »
Published on 5/15/2023

Name Game

Broward's seaport is one of the three busiest cruise ship home ports in the world. It ranks among the nation's leading container ship ports and is South Florida's main seaport for gas, jet fuel and alternative fuels. Some 7,000 people work at companies that provide direct services at or to the port. Read more »
Published on 4/20/2023

Orlando International Airport debuts its new $2.75-billion,15-gate terminal

Orlando International Airport debuted its new $2.75-billion, 15-gate terminal, which features a slew of technological touches. Among the highlights are: Read more »
Published on 10/31/2022

Virgin Voyages' new palm tree design cruise terminal is open at PortMiami

Virgin Voyages' new cruise terminal is open at PortMiami. The terminal, part of a county project aimed at reducing emissions from vessels at berth, is home to the 2,770-passenger Scarlet Lady... Read more »
Published on 5/31/2022

St. Lucie County gets a green light to reorganize its foreign trade zone

The foreign trade zone in St. Lucie County sat largely dormant for the 26 years since it was created, covering the Treasure Coast Airport near Fort Pierce and three nearby parcels. This year, the county received federal approval to reorganize the zone to allow expedited designation of sites for companies ready to conduct trade-zone activity such as manufacturing. The zone was expanded to include all of St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties... Read more »
Published on 5/31/2022

Northwest Florida's four major airports all had record traffic in 2021

Airport Director Matt Coughlin attributes much of the growth to a jump in tourism brought on, in large part, by the airlines marketing Pensacola... Read more »
Published on 5/31/2022

Pinellas County hoping new downtown-to-beach bus line will get more people hooked on mass transit

Six years ago, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority applied for a federal grant to help it create a rapid-transit bus route connecting downtown St. Petersburg with St. Pete Beach about 10 miles away... Read more »
Published on 5/31/2022

Growth initiatives allow JaxPort to help relieve supply chain issues

Though supply chain issues have plagued the transportation and logistics industry in the last year, Northeast Florida has kept freight moving smoothly from port to consumer, says Robert Peek, director and general manager of business development at JaxPort... Read more »
Published on 5/31/2022

Port Canaveral's cruise business is charting a record pace

More than two years after the pandemic brought cruising to a standstill, the industry is making a comeback. Roughly 741,000 passengers sailed out of Port Canaveral on multi-day cruises during the last quarter of 2021, and the port is poised to break a 4.6 million passenger record set in 2019 if the post-pandemic trajectory holds, port officials say. Read more »
Published on 5/19/2022

Infrastructure: Critical strategies Florida can implement as it grows

Florida is projected to gain 2.5 million new residents by 2030. Here's what that means for schools, roads, homes and other infrastructure needs Read more »
Published on 3/8/2022

The Hsu Innovation Institute and NWF have opened an aviation training center at Bob Sikes Airport

The facility's campus, which includes a large hangar and access to an 8,000-foot runway, will offer students several career training... Read more »
Published on 11/30/2021

One-time ballerina takes unlikely path to lead the Florida Trucking Association

Four years ago, when Alix Miller interviewed for a job as vice president of the Florida Trucking Association... Read more »
Published on 11/30/2021

Florida Business News

Florida News Releases

Florida Trend Video Pick

Incoming income tax instructor indicated
Incoming income tax instructor indicated

Affordable housing remains an issue; Income tax guidance on its way; What's in the 2024 budget; A mysterious threat to endangered sea life; Bass Pro Shops founder's "Florida Dream"

 

Video Picks | Viewpoints@FloridaTrend

Ballot Box

Should Congress ban the popular social media app TikTok in the U.S.?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Need more details
  • What is TikTok?
  • Other (Comment below)

See Results

Florida Trend Media Company
490 1st Ave S
St Petersburg, FL 33701
727.821.5800

© Copyright 2024 Trend Magazines Inc. All rights reserved.