Florida: News

Florida is home to 269 of America's leading companies -- the 5th largest number in the U.S. -- as reported on the recently released Inc 5,000 list. (more)

Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami all rank among America's Best Cities for Technology Jobs. (more)

LYF Holdings is moving its headquarters out of Washington, D.C. and into West Palm Beach, creating 91 new Florida jobs. (Read more)

MAKO Surgical Corp. is expanding in Davie, creating 100 new Florida jobs. (Read more)

H2Ocean, headquartered in Martin County, plans to add 30 employees in the next 36 months and will explore additional space when they reach capacity in their current location. (Read more)

USF opened a comprehensive center that integrates patient-centered care, education and research with innovative design and state-of-the-art technology and announced two new grants for diabetes research: a $3.5 million grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and a $55.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. (Read more)

France-based PrestaShop, an e-commerce solutions provider, opened its first U.S. office with 3,500-square feet of space in Miami, creating 85 direct jobs. (Read more)

CareCentrix, Inc., the nation's leading provider of home health benefits management services, announced today the expansion of its Tampa operations. The opening of a second facility at Westlake Corporate Center made room for 152 new jobs bringing the total CareCentrix workforce in Tampa to more than 500 employees. (Read more)

Motorcycle giant Harley-Davidson Inc. has relocated its Latin American division from Milwaukee to Florida, and is opening its new headquarters for Latin America operations in Doral. (Read more)

Bolivia-based Damo USA purchased a 40,000-square-foot warehouse in Hialeah to produce fine cookies, investing $4.5 million and creating 47 direct jobs. (Read more)

Progressive, the auto insurance subsidiary of The Progressive Corp., will hire 130 new sales, service and claims representatives between now and the end of the year for its Riverview contact center. (Read more)

Amcor Rigid Plastics, the manufacturing subsidiary of Australia's Amcor PET Packaging, has announced plans to expand their presence in the city of Orlando, making a capital investment of $19.4 million and bringing their total employment in the region to 126. (Read more)

Tropicana Products Inc. will reinvest $60 million at its Fort Pierce location for new packaging and pulping operations. (Read more)

Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, today joined with state and regional economic development leaders to announce plans to create a new $100 million high-tech center on its Palm Bay campus that will become the centerpiece for some of the company's most advanced engineering efforts. (Read more)

The Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, Inc. announced that two companies have decided to expand their operations adding 60 new jobs for local residents. (Read more)

Pharma Chemie, Inc., a pet supplement and pet flavor manufacturing business, is expanding its operations into Melbourne. (Read more)

(Read more)

November 2011 Highlights:

·  Saveology.com Creates 700 New Florida Jobs

·  The Boeing Company Plans New FL Operations, Adds 550 FL Jobs

·   Five Florida Cities are Named International Innovation Leaders

·   Enterprise Florida Chosen as 7th World Bank Private Sector Liaison Officer

Read Full Newsletter

October 2011 Highlights:

· Time Warner Creates 500 Florida Jobs

· C Products Defense Inc. Relocates to FL & Creates 100 Jobs

· Florida Ranks Among the Nation's Top 5 Best States for Business

· In Motion: Port of Miami Expected to Create 33,000 New Jobs

Read Full Newsletter

The University of Florida has helped to forge a deal between the Kingdom of Spain and the state of Florida initiating the groundwork for collaborative research that could boost the state's aerospace industry. (Read more)

Anna.aero named MIA 'U.S. Airport with the Most New Airlines in 2011'. (Read more)

Saveology.com, an Internet company offering daily deals and comparison-shopping websites, plans to add 700 new jobs in Broward County over the next three years. (Read more)

Florida is home to 7 of America's Best Communities for Young People presented by ING -- more than any other state except California which also has 7 communities on the list. (Read more)

Escent Technologies/Escent LifeSciences, LLC, a company that utilizes a patented spectroscopy technology, is expanding into Florida and creating 50 Palm Bay jobs. (Read more)

The new four-story building, designated Building 4, will be the largest building on any Valencia campus - with 150,000 square feet in academic and support space. (Read more)

Florida ranks 4th among the 50 states in its number of women-owned businesses, and many of them are exceptionally healthy, says a new survey by Florida International Unversity. (Read more)

Elections, reappointments to Enterprise Florida board

Call center operator OneTouch Direct has pledged to keep its corporate headquarters in Tampa and add 700 jobs here over the next two years. (Read more)

Enterprise Florida board to meet Thursday in Fort Lauderdale

Contact: Stuart W. Doyle

(407) 956-5689

(407) 276-5125

sdoyle@eflorida.com

Media Advisory
Enterprise Florida board to meet Thursday in Fort Lauderdale

What: Quarterly meeting of the Enterprise Florida Board of Directors

When: Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011  8:30 a.m. – noon

Where: Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six S.E. 17th St. Causeway, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

Dial-in-Number: (888) 557-8511 Access Code: 8414249#

Enterprise Florida, Inc. is a partnership between Florida's business and government leaders and is the principal economic development organization for the state of Florida.  Headquartered in Orlando, Enterprise Florida’s mission is to diversify Florida’s economy and create better-paying jobs for its citizens by supporting, attracting and helping to create businesses in innovative, high-growth industries.  In pursuit of its mission, Enterprise Florida works closely with a statewide network of economic development partners and is funded both by the State of Florida and by private-sector businesses.

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Enterprise Florida announces Griff Salmon as executive vice president, COO

Contact: Stuart Doyle

(407) 956-5689

sdoyle@eflorida.com

Enterprise Florida announces Griff Salmon as executive vice president, COO

ORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 2, 2011) – Griff Salmon will join Enterprise Florida as the corporation’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, effective December 2, reporting toPresident & CEO Gray Swoope.

“The newly created role of the EVP/COO will oversee Enterprise Florida’s operations and support me as I fulfill my obligations as Florida’s secretary of commerce as well as chief executive of Enterprise Florida,” President & CEO Gray Swoope.  “Griff’s broad experience will allow us to better serve a state as large and diverse as Florida.”

Salmon, 38, currently is the director of the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA)’s Global Business division, which generates new investment into Mississippi and promotes that state’s products in markets worldwide.  In this position he also has managed both the agency’s Investment Bureau, which markets Mississippi to domestic and international businesses, and its Trade Bureau, which provides international marketing and export development consulting services to the state’s businesses.  Additionally, he has managed MDA’s international offices in Chile, China, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom, which support the agency’s global marketing efforts as they pertain to both trade and business recruitment.

Previously, Salmon was a congressional liaison and project manager in the Federal Congressional Liaison Bureau.  In this role he worked closely with the Department of Defense in support of military bases targeted for BRAC closures, helping them to operate more cost-effectively.  The result was cost-savings to the government and continuing operations at those bases.

A Mississippi native, Salmon earned a master’s degree in public policy administration at Mississippi State University and a B.S. from Millsaps College, located in Jackson, Miss. 

He is a member of the Mississippi Economic Development Council, the Industrial Asset Management Council and CoreNet Global.

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Enterprise Florida, Inc. (www.eflorida.com) is a partnership between Florida's business and government leaders and is the principal economic development organization for the state of Florida.  Headquartered in Orlando, Enterprise Florida’s mission is to diversify Florida’s economy and create better paying jobs for its citizens by supporting, attracting and helping to create globally competitive businesses in innovative, high-growth industries. In pursuit of its mission, Enterprise Florida works closely with a statewide network of economic development partners and is funded both by the State of Florida and by private-sector businesses.

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