5 Florida restaurants win Michelin Stars
Five Florida restaurants have earned the coveted Michelin Star status. It’s an honor that many recognize as a hallmark of culinary excellence. The selection was announced Thursday evening at Disney’s luxury resort in Orlando. “Florida has proven to be an international culinary destination, with the expansion to three new cities and five restaurants being welcomed into the Michelin Star family in this year’s selection,” said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guides. More from WFLA and the Miami Herald.
Business Beat - Week of April 18th
Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video newsbrief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.
This group tells Florida cities how much growth they need to account for
Florida is adding 1,000 new residents every day, according to the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, also known as BEBR. The group is contracted by the state of Florida to tell every city and county how many people they need to account for in the coming decades. These cities and counties must then follow state guidelines based on these projections. [Source: Click Orlando]
More Florida counties enact burn bans as drought worsens, number of wildfires increases
Florida's drought conditions continue to worsen, with no rain in the forecast through the Easter weekend. Seventy-one wildfires are burning in the state, affecting 3,033 acres. Eleven counties have enacted burn bans. Conditions are worse north of Interstate 4 and across coastal sections of South Florida. Those areas are experiencing rainfall of 4" to 6” below normal, the Florida Department of Emergency Management said. [Source: Palm Beach Post]
Business is booming for self-storage industry in Florida
It seems like everywhere you look, a new self-storage business is popping up. According to research by Storage Cafe, it's indicative of all the growth happening across Florida. The report shows Florida is home to 13 of the country's fastest-growing cities. Davenport, located in the Lakeland metro area of Central Florida, is the fourth fastest-growing city in the U.S., according to the report. Other areas seeing a population boom are Miami, Orlando and Tampa. [Source: WPTV]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› CSX earnings fall but CEO says tariffs aren’t yet an issue
CSX Corp. reported lower first-quarter earnings that were below expectations, but the global trade war is not having a big impact, CEO Joe Hinrichs said. “In the near term, our demand is pretty strong from most of our customer segments,” Hinrichs said in an April 17 interview. However, predicting future results is difficult. “The key word you’re hearing from everybody is uncertainty,” he said.
› Consumer confidence is slipping nationally. Here's what's happening in Orlando.
Consumer confidence is up in Orlando That's according to the inaugural Metropolitan Consumer Sentiment Index, a new quarterly data set that will offer exclusive visibility into consumer confidence in Orlando and 45 other major U.S. metro areas. Central Floridians expect their personal situation to be better than buying conditions, with 44.86% believing their finances will be better off in the next 12 months, while 67% say buying conditions will be good or neither good nor bad.
› Spirit Airlines names new CEO after emerging from bankruptcy
Spirit Airlines on Thursday appointed Dave Davis as its new chief executive officer, weeks after the U.S. discount carrier emerged from bankruptcy and reconstituted its board. Davis, joining from rival Sun Country Airlines where he was the finance chief since 2018, will be tasked with a business overhaul as Spirit works to move away from its no-frills image and rebrand itself as a premium airline, after years of mounting losses.
› Tampa Bay Times won’t return to its historic building damaged by hurricane
The employees of the Times, including its reporters, editors, photojournalists, executives and advertising staff have all been working from home and other remote locations since Hurricane Milton sent a crane crashing through multiple floors in October, leaving behind concrete rubble and a gaping hole that remains open to the elements. Since then, the offices have been uninhabitable because of structural and mold concerns.
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› From homes and a hotel to warehouses: A plan gets scaled back for the Agricultural Reserve
Palm Beach County officials say they only support part of a proposal to redevelop a swath of land near Florida’s Turnpike in West Delray: A panel favors revamping 10 acres to the south of Atlantic Avenue but opposes a larger component that calls for reshaping about 51 acres to the north of the corridor.
› FIS buying credit processing business for $13.5 billion
Fidelity National Information Services Inc., or FIS, announced a $13.5 billion agreement April 17 to buy the credit processing business of Global Payments Inc. At the same time, Jacksonville-based FIS will sell its 45% stake in payments processing company Worldpay to Global Payments for $6.6 billion.
› Florida’s Anchor Insurance is reborn as Patriot Select with $29M in capital
It was once known as Anchor Property & Casualty Insurance Co., based in St. Petersburg, Florida, and launched in 2014. Then it was known as another Florida carrier that had slipped into financial troubles and was placed into an orderly runoff during the height of the claims litigation crisis. Today, it has been born again as Patriot Select Property and Casualty Insurance, the latest entry (or re-entry) into the reformed Florida market. Company leaders hope to have at least 40,000 policies in force by the end of this year.
› How ‘Florida firsts’ are defining Aventura Mall. Here are some of the newcomers
A taste of Italy is coming to Aventura Mall, along with other business openings for the summer. Look for the much-anticipated Eataly food hall and marketplace in the Nordstrom wing of the mall in June, the first in Florida. “The ambition for us is to replicate what Italy is today,” Tommaso Bruso, the Italian brand’s CEO for North America, told the Miami Herald.