TOURIST TRAVEL UP – The research department of Visit Florida
recently released key statistics on tourists traveling to the Sunshine
State. During the period of July through September 2007, 21.1 million
tourists visited Florida – a 4.8-percent increase over the same period
in 2006. Of this total, 9.4 million people – or 44.5 percent – traveled
by air.
CUSTOM TUBE INVESTS IN ROBOTICS – Employees from Custom Tube
Products Inc. in Edgewater recently completed training on their new
robotic manufacturing equipment. Training costs were covered in part by
funding received from the Center for Business Excellence’s Employed
Worker Training Program. For more information about possible funding for
your company's training program, please contact Paul Mitchell, Volusia
County Department of Economic Development, at 386/248-8048.
SEE WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES – Have you ever wanted to find more
information on government spending? Have you wondered where federal
contracting dollars and grant awards go? Or, as a citizen, would you
just like to know what the government is doing with your money? The
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006
(Transparency Act) requires a single searchable web site, accessible by
the public for free that includes each federal award. Check it out at
http://www.usaspending.gov/index.php.
GOOGLE FLORIDA – Governor Charlie Crist has announced a new
partnership between Florida and Google Inc. Florida agencies that now
can be accessed include Department of State, Department of Business and
Professional Regulation, Florida Department of Environmental Protection,
Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Agency for Workforce
Innovation. Additional agencies will be added in the coming weeks as
their web site information is made available. For more information on
the Office of Open Government, please visit
http://www.flgov.com/og_home.
For information on how a government agency can make it easier to search
for hard-to-find public information, visit
http://www.google.com/publicsector.
TIPS FOR QUICK HOME SALES – When trying to price your house
competitively, go to the Volusia County property appraiser's web site at
http://webserver.vcgov.org/Address.html, and type in your address.
Your property record card will come up. At the bottom of the page click
on “map it.” On the map page, click on “map contents,” then check
“recent sales.” You can zoom out to expand the search area, and if you
click on the “sale,” it will bring up the record. Look at recent
comparable sale prices for homes near yours. And, check the asking price
for places currently on the market.
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT ON THE BEST AND MOST OVERRATED CAREERS –
It looks glamorous on TV. Or, you've got an uncle who does it and seems
to like it. Or, you heard you could earn a lot of money at it without
much extra training. People pick careers for a lot of reasons, including
some bad ones. So in addition to identifying the best careers, U.S. News
& World Report also has highlighted 10 occupations with a mystique that
exceeds reality. This list is purely subjective, and, of course, many
people are happy in those careers. To find the list of the “best”
careers, go to
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/best_careers_2007/careertable-njs.htm.
The “overrated” ones are listed at
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/061218/18overrated.intro.htm.
HALIFAX HEALTH CENTER OF EXCELLENCE – Halifax Health has been
certified by the Joint Commission as the only medical center in Central
Florida with a Center of Excellence for Acute Myocardial Infarction
(AMI) or heart attack care. The 50-year-old Joint Commission is an
independent, nonprofit organization that accredits and certifies
exceptional health care organizations and programs on their level of
safety and quality of care.
NEWS ITEMS WANTED! – Please send your business news items to Dave
Byron, Volusia County Community Information Director, 123 W. Indiana
Ave., DeLand, 32720-4612, by fax at (386) 822-5072 or by e-mail at
dbyron@co.volusia.fl.us
Department of Economic Development
700 Catalina Drive, Suite 200,
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Telephone:
386-248-8048
FAX: 386 238-4761 Toll Free: 800-554-3801
