Feb. 16, 2009

OCEAN CENTER GRAND OPENING SET FOR FEB. 22 – The Ocean Center is open after a $76 million expansion, and it’s time to celebrate. After a ribbon cutting by the Volusia County Council at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, the facility will welcome visitors to enjoy an afternoon of FREE fun, with food, entertainment, free parking in the south and west lots, mementos, seminars and bounce houses, until 5 p.m. Canned goods brought to the Ocean Center Sunday will benefit United Way agencies, and $25,000 of the sponsorship funds given by businesses and community partners also will be donated to United Way. NASCAR, International Speedway Corporation and Daytona International Speedway are the presenting sponsors for the grand opening events. Ocean Center grand opening sponsorship committee co-chairs Frank T. Bruno Jr. Volusia County Chair; Glenn Ritchey, mayor of Daytona Beach; Lisa Ford Williams, DeLand-based Ford Properties; and J. Hyatt Brown, president/CEO of Brown & Brown Inc., raised $400,000 in financial and in-kind support for the Ocean Center grand opening events, which include the Feb. 22 official grand opening and open house, a Feb. 28 Evening Showcase marketing event and meeting planner familiarization tour scheduled for late April. With the expansion that doubled its size, the Ocean Center offers more than 205,000 square feet of interior space, has a footprint of 500,000 square feet and is in the second tier of convention facilities throughout the nation. 

GETTING THE M.O.S.T. TRAINING – Four Volusia County-based companies – Microflex, FloMet, Custom Tube Products and Magga Products – took advantage of sponsorship by the Volusia County Department of Economic Development to have 14 of their employees take a one-day course. The course in Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing was provided by the Florida Manufacturing and Extension Partnership. The training was conducted in the MEP’s new mobile training unit (Mobile Operator Skills Training), which parked at the Daytona Beach International Airport for the day. This and other training courses can be arranged to increase your employees’ skills, too. For more information, contact Paul Mitchell at the Department of Economic Development at (386) 248-8048 or Paula Heiret at the MEP at (407) 473-3429. 

TECHNOLOGY FOR PROFIT – Southern Technology Group is conducting a series of classes designed to assist business owners.  The classes are at the Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce on Fridays from 9 - 10:30 a.m., and will focus on how to use technology to improve productivity and profitability. Cost is $10 for chamber members and $20 for non-members. For more information or to register, call the SEV Chamber at (386) 248-2449. 

WORKERS COMPENSATION RATES INCREASE – Insurance regulators approved a 6.4-percent increase in workers compensation insurance rates for 2009, the first increase in more than five years. The increase will add about $172 million in insurance costs for Florida employers. But combined with an 18.6-percent rate decrease that took effect Jan. 1, the net savings to Florida employers is estimated to total $438 million.   

DELAND OPENING NEW INDUSTRIAL AREA – The City of DeLand is in the process of constructing a new roadway and infrastructure to expand the city’s industrial acreage in the northwest area of the DeLand Municipal Airport. The estimated completion date is June 1. There will be a total of 125 new acres as part of the expansion that will be pre-permitted for development. The city will divide the property into any lot configuration needed. For the best-fit prospects, they will clear the land and make the property “shovel ready.” For more information, contact Taver Cornett at (386) 734-4331 or by e-mail at cornettt@deland.org. 

MANDATORY ELECTRONIC EXPORT FILING – The federal government now requires mandatory filing of export information electronically through the Automated Export System (AES) for all U.S. export shipments that previously required a Shipper's Export Declaration (SED). Failure to file, filing late, or false filing of export information could result in costly penalties and seizure of shipments. The U.S. Commercial Service is offering "Compliance with the Automated Export System (AES)," a seminar and workshop on the new regulations June 9 - 10 in Tampa. To register and pay online, visit http://www.buyusa.gov/florida/aes.html. Questions? Please call (727) 893-3738 or e-mail George.Martinez@mail.doc.gov.  

BUSINESS ACTIVITY RESEARCH – YourEconomy.org is a free research tool that allows visitors to take a closer look at business activity across the country. Look at local and state business formation, state rankings, and business activity over time. The site tracks resident or in-state based business activity as a category and those outside the state. The site has a helpful user’s guide and a glossary of terms. Give it a try at www.youreconomy.org. 

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.