July 26, 2010
SECOND QUARTER
ECONOMIC SUMMARY SET FOR AUGUST 6
– Volusia County Economic Development will host its quarterly economic
briefing on Friday, August 6, in the Volusia Room of Daytona Beach
International Airport. Breakfast will be served at 7:45 a.m. Volusia
County Chair Frank Bruno will welcome the group at 8 a.m. To make a
reservation, call 386-248-8048 by Monday, August 2. Seating is limited.
WANTED – COMPANIES
READY TO GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF GROWTH
– Six Volusia County companies are taking advantage of the Florida
Economic Gardening program. Once accepted into the program, CEOs are
paired with an Economic Gardening Team that operates as an extension of
the CEO’s staff, providing businesses with relevant information mined
from high-powered databases, geographic information systems, and other
tools. With these advantages, companies can discover and expand sales
opportunities, create supply chain efficiencies and understand their
competition. Additional information is available at:
growfl.com or call
Paul Mitchell at Volusia County Economic Development at 386-248-8048.
U.S. 1 CORRIDOR PLANNING UNDER WAY
– Representatives from the cities and the county along the U.S. 1
corridor in Volusia County met recently to discuss ways of working
together to improve the corridor and use their combined leverage to
develop a coordinated approach to future planning. Similar to the
efforts of the International Speedway Boulevard corridor planning group,
the U.S. 1 group seeks to develop a positive face on this major
north-south commercial highway. For more information, or to participate
contact Patty Rippey, South Daytona Community Development Director, at
386-322-3016, or Pedro Leon at Volusia County Economic Development at
386-248-8048.
PARTNERSHIPS SEEKING TO MAKE HOMES MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT
-- The University of Central Florida and University of Florida are
participating in two of 15 partnerships that will split $30 million from
the U.S. Department of Energy to develop energy-efficiency strategies
for American homes. These partnerships are the Building America
Partnership for Improved Residential Construction research team led by
UCF’s Florida Solar Energy Center, and the Building Energy Efficient
Homes for America partnership led by the University of Florida and
University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Home energy efficiency is one of the
easiest, most immediate and most cost-effective ways to reduce carbon
pollution and save money on energy bills, while creating new jobs.
FLORIDA FIRST IN
WORKFORCE RANKINGS
– Florida is ranked first in the nation for its workforce in CNBC’s
newly released annual America’s Top States for Business rankings.
Florida moved up from the third spot in 2009, reclaiming the top ranking
it held in 2008. The workforce rankings in CNBC’s annual study are based
on several indicators including the education level of the workforce,
the number of available workers, union membership, and the relative
success of each state’s worker training programs in placing participants
in jobs. The workforce ranking is one of the most heavily weighted
categories in determining each state’s total score in the CNBC study,
along with the cost of doing business and quality of life. This year,
Florida placed 28th in the study’s overall ranking for top business
states for the second consecutive year. The rankings can be viewed
online at:
cnbc.com/id/37516706.
CALCULATOR TOTALS
HOME APPLIANCE ENERGY USE
-- A study by the Environmental Change Institute at the University of
Oxford shows a 5 percent to 15 percent reduction in power use just by
providing energy information to consumers. One tool that could help
trace electricity use is the Consumer Electronics Association's Energy
Calculator at:
http://3.ly/gp2M. People fill in data on how much they use
specific devices in their home per day or per month. The site calculates
typical watts per device and figures out the energy-consumption costs
for each over a month or a year, and then adds the totals for each
device.
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.
