AirTran Airways unveiled its new state-of-the-art System Operations Control Center and announced plans to open a pilot base in Orlando. The base will initially employ 100 pilots, including a chief pilot. (Read more)

Port Canaveral officials have announced an agreement with a new cargo operations company that eventually will bring in more than a million dollars in annual revenue to the port and possibly upwards of 500 jobs. (Read more)

The University of North Florida's School of Engineering has received a combined $9.4 million in federal contracts from the Army and Department of Energy for a fuel cell research project - the highest-funded project in the school's history. The research has two goals: develop and then commercialize a direct methanol fuel cell power source for two laptops - one for American soldiers, the other for ordinary consumers. (Read more)

Florida hospitals earned top marks in their specialties on U.S. News & World Report's recent rankings of America's Best Hospitals. (Read more)

Siemens Energy is planning to design, install, and operate a pilot plant at the Tampa Electric Big Bend Station to demonstrate POSTCAP technology for capturing carbon gas. The primary goal of this project will be to reduce the large amounts of energy traditionally needed to operate carbon capture technologies. (Read more)

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division has conducted the first successful flight of an Airborne Laser Mine Detection System. This cutting-edge application that revolutionizes the Navy's ability to conduct Airborne Mine Countermeasures was developed by a U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman team. (Read more)

Insurer Universal North America says it will add about 80 jobs in the next year at its U.S. headquarters in Sarasota County. Universal, which is on a pace to collect about $285 million in premiums this year, says it is ready to start the next phase of growth in its U.S. strategy. (Read more)

Clean and Green Enterprises, Inc., a renewable energy company, has established a research and development operation in Melbourne, Florida. Clean and Green Enterprises, Inc. is a clean energy company with proprietary technology for harnessing electricity from ocean waves, and is directly involved in efforts to create jobs in the emerging green economy. (Read more)

Fast-growing, Orlando-headquartered Intelligent Global Pooling Systems (iGPS) has announced plans to expand its operations into a larger 23,000 sf facility in downtown Orlando. With this expansion, the company also intends to hire 75 new employees over the next three years, nearly doubling its local employment. (Read more)

Florida has been ranked number one in the nation for its workforce on CNBC's fourth annual America's Top States for Business rankings. The workforce rankings in CNBC's annual study are based on several indicators, including the education level of the workforce, the number of available workers, union membership and the relative success of each state's worker training programs in placing participants in jobs. (Read more)

Oldsmar is about to become the headquarters of a medical manufacturing company, which will bring about 100 high-wage jobs to the area. MicroLumen, whose medical tubing products are used in catheters, stents and other devices, is building a 60,000-square-foot facility at the Brooker Creek Corporate Center. (Read more)

Prommis Solutions, LLC, is expanding its current operating footprint to include two new Florida offices-one in Orlando, and the other in Ft. Lauderdale. The company, a leading national provider of processing solutions to the mortgage banking industry, now maintains 16 office locations nationwide. (Read more)