Florida Trend Exclusive
Florida Trend earns five 2025 ASBPE Regional Awards, advances as national finalist
Florida Trend Media Company has once again received top honors for editorial excellence from the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE). The American Society of Business Publication Editors' (ASBPE) Azbee Awards of Excellence program is one of the most competitive there is for business-to-business, trade, association, and professional publications. More from Florida Trend.
Florida insurer Mangrove accepts 30,000 policies in Citizens transfer plan
Mangrove Property Insurance has assumed 30,000 policies from Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. as part of the state’s ongoing depopulation efforts. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation previously authorized Mangrove to assume up to 81,040 policies between April and June. The company reported an acceptance rate of 86.4% for the April cycle and intends to follow the same strategy during the June assumption period. More from Insurance Business Magazine.
US Supreme Court rebuffs CSX bid to revive antitrust suit against Norfolk Southern
The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear freight rail giant CSX's bid to revive its antitrust lawsuit accusing rival Norfolk Southern of illegally restricting access to a key East Coast terminal in Virginia, costing CSX hundreds of millions of dollars in lost profits. The justices turned away an appeal by CSX of a lower court's ruling last year that the Jacksonville, Florida-based company sued too late, missing a four-year window to bring claims for U.S. antitrust law violations. More from Reuters.
Florida gas prices fell 11 cents last week, but price hike predicted soon
Gas prices in Florida dropped 11 cents last week to $3 per gallon Sunday, the lowest daily average in about a month, according to AAA. Sunday’s state average was 2 cents less than on March 24 and 59 cents cheaper than this time last year. But things are likely to get pricier, AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins said. More from Florida Politics.
Lines at Miami’s DMV offices stretch for hours. What’s being done?
Online portals for the 15 DMV offices in Broward and Miami-Dade routinely show no openings available — even eight weeks out. Lines for walk-up slots at the offices start forming hours before the doors open — and sometimes even the night before. Newly elected Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez says change is coming with AI and a revamped appointment system. More from the Miami Herald.
Transportation
The Cross Bay Ferry ends soon. Will it come back?
Hillsborough County terminated its contract with the Cross Bay Ferry last week, pulling the plug on a service that has linked both sides of Tampa Bay for nearly a decade. The operator, HMS Ferries, wanted to replace its current boat with a slower vessel that would take two hours to cross from the Tampa Convention Center to the Port of St. Pete. Instead, local governments moved to end the service months early, on April 30. Something new is expected to take its place.
» More from Tampa Bay Times.
Business Profile
OnCourse built an AI-powered sales rep, and it’s already closing deals
Gregory Sukornyk has built five startups across three countries. But it wasn’t until he relocated to South Florida that he saw a pattern too persistent to ignore: Real estate agents and hotel operators were drowning in sales leads, and most of them were slipping through the cracks. “These teams were spending a ton of time grinding through conversations that often led nowhere,” Sukornyk said. “The follow-up work was repetitive, inconsistent, and time-consuming. We knew we could build something better.”
» Read more from Refresh Miami.