Nov
21
Secondhand gets the upper hand
Filed Under Economic Development, Going "Green", Trends, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
In tough economy, “gently loved” gains greater appeal
By SARA FITZPATRICK
Associate Editor
Storefronts plastered with “out of business” signs compose an increasingly familiar ghost town landscape of Southwest Florida’s retail districts.
Among the tumbleweeds, though, is an oasis. It’s not a mirage; one retail sector really is booming: Consignment shops, secondhand stores and other resellers are seeing an increase in traffic and actual sales.
Nov
21
Loose lips sink careers
Filed Under Business Builders, Trends | Leave a Comment
Strategies for beating office gossip
In the face of a bleak economy, many employees may find themselves huddled in groups trying to anticipate their boss’s next move. The uncertainty over job security is leading more people to be prone to gossip.
A new national survey suggests the consequences of the trend are far from positive.
Eighty-four percent of advertising and marketing executives polled said it’s common for employees to engage in office gossip, and nearly two-thirds (63 percent) said it has a negative effect on the workplace.
Oct
24
Death is business as usual
Filed Under Economic Development, Trends, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Always in demand, funeral directors sell choice and reputation
By SARA FITZPATRICK
Associate Editor
“In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” wrote Benjamin Franklin in 1812. Fortunately, both at least create lucrative business opportunities.
Take death, for instance.
“Purchasing the typical funeral arrangements is currently likely to be the third largest expense that any household will face in their generation – right up there with buying a house or an automobile,” said Charles Swain, president of Florida Funeral and Cemetery Consumers Advocacy.
According to the Florida Funeral Directors’ Association, the average price of a given funeral arrangement is now more than $8,000.
These are not easy numbers to digest, however robust the economy. Add to that the emotional turmoil when a loved one passes on, and the situation could be devastating.
Area businesses are doing what they can to ease the pain.
Oct
24
Florida’s worst crop failure: new farmers
Filed Under Agriculture, Economic Development, Trends, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Young growth not replacing old in critical profession
By JOYCE SCHENK
Business Writer
This is the last of a three-part series dealing with current issues in agriculture.
More than a third of all the country’s farmers are within 10 years of retirement.
Data from the federal government indicates that farmers older than 65 outnumber those younger than 35 by more than three to one nationwide.
This sobering information shows an industry in crisis.
According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau report, the average age of the Florida farmer is 57.
Given these statistics, the topic of farm transition – the shifting of the business to the next generation of farmers and ranchers – has become a huge issue in maintaining the strength of the farming industry. Read more
Oct
24
New company uses romantic concept to get business people talking
By JAMILLA BROOKS
Business Writer
You’ve been there, right? You’re at a networking event with 50 other people, first milling about for hours to make, if you’re lucky, just a few business contacts. Then you discover that a third of the participants in the room are in your industry, making them not potential contacts but competitors.
Chad Elkins has found a way around such a waste of time and effort – and he has done it using a cutting-edge, if bizarre, social ritual: speed dating.
That’s the basis for Elkins’ Face Time 5, a regional addition to the new wave of networking that’s just starting to catch on.
Oct
24
Career colleges produce most grads for fastest growing occupations
Filed Under Economic Development, Trends | Leave a Comment
Staff Report
Florida career colleges are providing the majority of graduates for Florida’s fastest growing occupations, according to a study conducted by the Florida Association of Postsecondary Schools and Colleges (FAPSC).
Florida has more than 800 state-licensed and regulated private career schools and colleges that educate more than 265,000 students each year. In 2007-2008, more than 90,000 students graduated and received a certificate, two-year, four-year, masters or PhD degree from a Florida career school or college.
“Most people don’t realize that we are the backbone of Florida’s workforce,” said Kathy Mizereck, executive director of FAPSC. “Our schools truly focus on professional and technical, career-specific programs that help place students into jobs.”
Rasmussen College, a regionally accredited career college, has three campuses in Florida – one in Fort Myers – and has produced more than 1,200 graduates since 2004. Rasmussen College offers more than forty degree programs and offers career placement assistance to its graduates. Over the past year, the career placement rate average for the Florida campuses was 95 percent for in-field placement.
The fast growing careers in Florida include court reporting, information technology, health and allied health and transportation, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.
According to the FAPSC study, 64 percent of new graduate employees working in technology and information sciences and almost 55 percent of new graduate employees working in health care are graduates of career colleges.
Source: PRWeb
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