Gainesville
Silver Airways announces flights to and from Orlando and Tampa
• Silver Airways, formerly Gulfstream International Airlines, will start offering once daily flights to and from Orlando and once daily flights to and from Tampa. The round trip cost will be around $100.
• Silver is also moving its maintenance facility from Ft. Lauderdale to Gainesville Regional Airport. The company expects to initially create about 65 jobs and expand to 100 jobs long-term.
Source: The Gainesville Sun, February 29, 2012
Gatornationals among biggest local economic drivers
Commission approves incentive program for businesses to locate in CRA
• The Gainesville County Commission approved two incentive programs for business to locate in Innovation Square and Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center. One incentive is that relocation costs will be reimbursed up to 50%. The other incentive is that companies that create high-wage jobs (at least 150% of the average wage) will receive a payout according to how much each job pays. • The program has been criticized for only incentivizing the creation of high-wage jobs, and not low-wage ones.
Source: The Gainesville Sun, March 15, 2011
• Gatornationals, a local racing event, generates a minimum economic impact of $60 million according to the general manager of Auto-Plus Raceway. • The event is larger than a UF football game, drawing over 100,000 people.
• Hotels fill up every year, and charge increased rates for the weekend of the race. Race sponsors offer entertainment for racing teams, often generating more income for local restaurants and other businesses. Source: The Gainesville Sun, March 7, 2012
Where state cuts will hurt locally
• Shands at the University of Florida will see cuts mostly to its Medicaid reimbursement. It may have to stop offering treatment to some patients on the plan. • The school board has received a budget increase but it may still have to lay off workers due to increases in costs and the Student Success Act which requires bonuses for high-performing teachers.
• Alachua County will also suffer from Medicaid cuts and new legislation which requires counties to pay a large portion of unpaid Medicare bills. Source: The Gainesville Sun, March 14, 2012 Institute for Economic Competitiveness
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