March 29, 2010

MYSTIC POWERBOATS UP TO SPEED – Mystic Powerboats manufactures turbine-powered speedboats that can travel at speeds exceeding 200 mph. The DeLand company produces high performance boats for a variety of customers using its own engineering and computer design and the latest materials. For information go to: mysticpowerboats.com and to see speed in action go to: tinyurl.com/mystic210mph.

FLORIDA FOURTH LARGEST STATE ECONOMY -- GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced by an economy in a given year. According to 2008 data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Florida remained the fourth largest economy among U.S. states with current-dollar GDP exceeding $744.1 billion. Florida's real GDP (adjusted for inflation) fell by 1.6 percent in 2008, but grew 16 percent between 2003 and 2008. This compares to national growth of 0.4 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively, over the same time periods.

DO YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY CONTACT? -- In an emergency could law enforcement personnel contact someone for you? They could if your information was in the Emergency Contact Information System. The system allows Floridians to provide voluntarily emergency contact information online. Law enforcement has immediate access to this information making it easier and quicker for them to speak with someone in an emergency. For details go to: toinformfamiliesfirst.org.

BACK TO WORK INCENTIVES AVAILABLE – The Florida Back to Work Program is set to receive its first installment of $61.2 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To be administered by the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI), the funds are part of $200 million the state will receive to support the hiring and training of new employees by businesses. Florida Back to Work uses federal dollars to pay for up to 95 percent of a new hire’s salary. New employees must meet federal low-income guidelines and have a dependent child in the home to be eligible for the positions. For more information go to http://floridajobs.org/workforce/backtowork.

STETSON’S MBA PROGRAM IN TOP 15 IN U.S. -- The Princeton Review’s second annual Student Opinion Honors for Business Schools has ranked Stetson University’s MBA program in the top 15 in the nation for its strength in the area of finance. Stetson’s highly regarded MBA, which is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, requires two courses in finance and offers three additional finance courses as electives. Other disciplines covered by the MBA include accounting, management, information systems, marketing, management, and production and operations management.

WORLD’S LARGEST MEDICAL TRADE SHOW UPCOMING – Last year 25 Florida businesses participated in Enterprise Florida's (EFI) Florida pavilion at MEDICA 2009 in Dusseldorf, Germany. Participants reported actual and anticipated sales of $64.5 million, which is 22 percent higher than 2008 sales. MEDICA is the world's largest medical device and technology trade show with 138,000 visitors from 100 countries and 4,300 exhibitors from 60 counties. Companies looking to break into global markets may be eligible to participate in EFI's highly successful international trade events and grants are available. For more information or to receive a schedule of EFI's upcoming events contact Paul Mitchell at the Volusia County Department of Economic Development at: pmitchell@co.volusia.fl.us.

SHARE A LITTLE SUNSHINE; WIN A LITTLE FUN TIME -- Invite someone to visit Florida, and you could win your own great Florida vacation. The more invites you send, the more you're entered to win a contest sponsored by Visit Florida, the state’s tourism promotion agency. Click to visitflorida.com/share to select an electronic post card or video, invite someone to visit Florida, and help our state's economy. The more people we share our state with, the more our local economies benefit.

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