Jan. 26, 2009

Q1 COMMUNITY ECONOMIC BRIEFING FEB. 6 – The Volusia County Department of Economic Development will brief business, banking, education and local government leaders at 7:45 a.m. Friday, Feb. 6, in the Volusia Room at Daytona Beach International Airport. The briefing will highlight the area’s employment trends, commercial and residential building activities, and residential foreclosure rates for October, November and December 2008. Seating for this event is limited to 120 registrants. To reserve your space, please call the Department of Economic Development at (386) 248-8048 by Monday, Feb. 2. Breakfast will be provided.

$8.2 BILLION IN LOCAL BANKS – According to the most recent report issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC), 28 financial institutions are in Volusia County with 165 individual office locations. Volusia County banks report $8.2 billion in local deposits. Leading this group is Wachovia Bank with 24.3 percent of the total deposits, second is SunTrust Bank with 20.1 percent, and Bank of America is third with 14.4 percent of all deposits.

VENTURE CAPITAL FORUM ANNOUNCED – According to venture capital (VC) firms from across the nation, Florida’s strengths in areas with some immunity from recession are aviation and aerospace; homeland security and defense; clean energy; life sciences; and information technology niches such as wireless, digital media and modeling and simulation. Many VC firms will be attending the 2009 Florida Venture Capital Conference Feb. 3 - 4 in Naples, Florida, to network with entrepreneurs and service providers from across the state.

LOCAL STIMULUS LIST TOPS $1 BILLION – Volusia County and its local governments have compiled a list of more than 250 proposed capital projects totaling more than $1.2 billion as part of the national “Economic Stimulus” request under consideration by the U.S. Congress. These projects include major road construction improvements throughout the county, the South Jetty project at Ponce Inlet, a wide range of alternative energy projects, water drainage projects, airport improvements, recreational trails, clean up of contaminated sites, and employment and economic development projects.

NEW PILOT LOAN PROGRAM ANNOUNCED – SB 38A passed by the Florida Legislature includes a loan pilot program of $10 million to support Florida’s small businesses that have between 10 and 99 employees and meet certain characteristics indicating that the company has high growth potential. The loans’ terms are for four years at 2-percent interest. The maximum loan amount is $250,000. No payment is due until the 12th of each month, when interest-only is due. Subsequently, interest and principal are due each month. The loans, not to exceed $250,000 per business, would be used for capital purchases, employee training, and salaries for new jobs. The bill also includes $1.5 million for technical assistance. The program will be managed by the state’s Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, Details are being developed.

OCEAN CENTER GRAND OPENING SEMINARS – One of the elements of the Ocean Center open house and grand opening will be seminars presented by various divisions of Volusia County Government. Staff and volunteers will share information about their programs, activities and initiatives during seminars and presentations from 1 - 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22. The seminars will be free to the public, as are all elements of the Feb. 22 Ocean Center grand opening/open house.

SBA ONLINE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS – The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering Web chats to help small businesses across the country weather the recession. One is a Web chat dubbed, “How small businesses can deal with the credit crunch,” designed to help small business owners and entrepreneurs get answers about credit, borrowing and other resources to help them access the financial markets. Participants can chat online and ask questions about real-world strategies to employ during economic downturns, and how they can sustain themselves through the credit crunch. The federal agency also dedicated a number of other resources, referrals and training courses for small businesses at its Web site, www.sba.gov.

NEWS ITEMS WANTED! – We welcome your business news items! Please send them to Dave Byron, Volusia County Community Information Director, by fax at (386) 822-5072 or by e-mail at dbyron@co.volusia.fl.us.