Panera Bread in Palm Coast, long awaited, opened to a special reception for a few hundred people on Tuesday at the State Road 100 location, with a grand public opening on Wednesday. The company is planning a second location on Palm Coast Parkway by early 2013.
Local Business
Palm Coast Data Revenue Now Half Its 2008 Level, When It Signed Job-Creation Deals
Palm Coast Data’s revenue was down to $15.6 million in the last quarter, less than half the $32.2 million it recorded in the quarter preceding its agreement to consolidate in Palm Coast. The company won’t say how many jobs are on its Palm Coast payroll.
From Depression to Mere Recession Flagler Unemployment Falls to 12.7%
Flagler’s improving numbers also show a net increase of nearly 800 people with jobs, reversing previous months’ declines in both the labor force and actual employment. Florida’s unemployment rate also fell, to 9.4 percent.
Rites of Spring: Flagler’s Jobs Council Retreats to Princess Place for Goal-Setting With CEO
For the third time in three years, an economic development effort gets under way to “to lead Flagler County out of the dismal economic landscape” of the last few years, hoping, this time, to make a mark.
Bait, Tackle and BBQ at Bings Landing as Flagler Cooks Up Park’s Latest Shop Lease
Captain’s BBQ at Bings Landing will operate the concession shop and kayak,canoe and bike rentals for $500 a month’s rent in Flagler County’s latest attempt to give life to a handsome but commercially problematic location.
Flagler Residents Would See $84-a-Year Jump in FPL’s Base Rate Despite Solid Profits
Despite higher profits than most industries, Florida Power & Light (FPL) is requesting the $690.4 million rate increase in 2013. FPL says the increase would be offset by fuel cost decreases, at least in 2013, reducing the net bill increase to $2.48 a month.
Flagler Fish Company and Blue at the Topaz Join for Charity “Blue Fish Dinner”
Blue at the Topaz and Flagler Fish Company in Flagler Beach are joining chefs Gary Maresca and Chris Casper to offer dinner for 12 at a place of your choosing, with 10 percent of proceeds going to charity.
In Field Trip Across Western Flagler, Jobs Council Learns of Unheralded Ag Power
Flagler County’s jobs council went on a field trip today—the latest in a series designed to educate its members about the county’s economy—through western Flagler, for a first-hand look at the second-largest economic engine locally: agriculture.
Conflicted Incubator: A Divided Palm Coast Council May Relax Home-Based Bakeries
The issue, prompted by a couple looking to start a home bakery, illustrates two contradicting strains in Palm Coast’s idea of itself–the quiet residential town as opposed to the depressed and unemployed city looking for rejuvenation summed up in its economic-development slogan, “Prosperity 2021.”
Ice Cream Truck 1, Jane Mealy 0: Mobile Vendor Restrictions Fail in Flagler Beach
A proposed ordinance to restrict mobile vendors and favored by Commissioner Mealy had no support and was tabled indefinitely as a popular rally on behalf of an ice cream truck owner Sandy Kinney proved successful.
Details Emerge in Strathmore Deli Collapse as Landlord and Lender Sue
The reality of the closure of the popular Palm Coast deli is more complicated than its owners let on as a lender just sued the owners over a loan default and the landlord sued them in December over $20,000 in back rent.
Sparing RVs, Palm Coast Takes On Truckers Making Rest Stops of Box Store Parking Lots
Truckers like using box stores’ parking lots as rest stops. Store managers haven’t objected and nearby restaurants love it. But Palm Coast is cracking down on the practice at council member Bill Lewis’s urging, though another council member says it’s not been an issue.
Perth Amboy’s Van Eckert Accepts Flagler’s Offer To Be Economic Development CEO
Helga Van Eckert has accepted Flagler County’s government’s offer to become its latest economic development CEO. She will start in late February with a salary of close to $110,000 a year. The future of Greg Rawls, the previous CEO still serving through the transition, is unclear.
Debt, Divorce, Downsizing and Death: The Thriving State of Estate Sales in Palm Coast
Estate Sales have been the lifeblood of Diana Minotti’s business in Palm Coast in the last four years, underscoring the extent–and occasional upside–of a recession as people retrench and sell off luxuries from fine art to historic furniture.
JoAnne King, Who Oversaw Florida Hospital Flagler’s Hospice Expansion, Is Elevated to VP
As administrative director JoAnne King oversaw Florida Hospital Flagler’s expansion into hospice care across county lines last year, a first for a Florida Hospital. She was promoted to vice president for ancillary services, overseeing a half dozen departments, including hospice.
Flagler’s Unemployment Falls to 13.9%, But Labor Force Is Down 3.6% Over the Past Year
Flagler’s rate is the lowest in three years, suggesting sustained, if slow, improvement, but the workforce has shrunk by 1,200, raising concerns that the county is losing population or attraction as a place to work.
Palm Coast’s Business Assistance Center Offering Three Training Sessions in January
The training sessions, ranging in themes on how to start your business to managing cash flow to developing a marketing strategy, are priced between $15 and $35.
New Garbage Contract: Hazardous Waste Option and Lower Monthly Cost, to Around $19
Only very faint public objections were raised Tuesday to Palm Coast’s new 5-year contract with Waste Pro for garbage, which would add curbside hazardous waste pick-up and lower the overall cost, assuming fuel prices don’t rise.
Palm Coast Observer Taking On News-Tribune As It Aims for Twice A Week By April
The Palm Coast Observer’s move would be a frontal assault on the Daytona Beach News-Journal’s diminishing hold on the Flagler market, where the paper has also been contending with competition from three new radio stations and online media.
No Surprise: Waste Pro Will Be Palm Coast’s Trash Hauler for Another 5 Years & $38 Million
Residents may see a negligible difference in their roughly $20-a-month trash bill, if that, as the city council, convinced by Waste Pro’s low bid, complies with what the city administration had wanted all along.
Crediting FPC, 2 Manfres Develop Energy-Saving Product With Broad Applications
FPC graduate Alec Manfre is the COO of Bractlet, a start-up company that received $40,000 from the Chilean government to develop an energy-saving device he and colleagues invented at Georgia Tech. Manfre’s sister Catherine, also an FPC graduate, heads the company’s marketing.
For 1,200 News-Journal Pensioners, a Bittersweet Victory in Appeals Court’s Overrule
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an Orlando district judge misread Florida law when he brushed aside a $26.5 million claim from the federal PBGC to cover present and future retirement payments for Daytona Beach News-Journal employees.
Senate Sweep: More Slots, Lower Gambling Taxes, Only Minor Internet Cafe Regulations
A Senate committee Monday considers a sweeping proposal that would allow three mega-casinos in Florida, offer more slots at pari-mutuel facilities and rein in Internet cafes a little.
1 Architect, 1 Banker, 1 Health Consultant. Mix. Serve. Result: Thai Korner Restaurant.
Palm Coast’s Thai Korner Restaurant, open one year, is the result of an unlikely partnership between three vastly different latter-day restaurateurs willing to defy a climate murderous to new businesses.
Garage Sale: NYT Sells 16 Papers To News- Journal For Less Than $10 Million Apiece
Each title went for barely $9 million, less than half the $20 million Halifax Media paid for the Daytona Beach News-Journal alone when it acquired that paper in April 2010–at discount from the $300 million price originally set by a federal judge in 2006.
News-Journal Owner Halifax Media Buying New York Times’s 16 Regional Papers
The New York Times confirmed today that Halifax Media Group, owner of the Daytona Beach News-Journal since 2010, is buying the 16 newspapers in The New York Times Regional Group in what would represent a significant cultural and ideological shift away from centrism and liberalism for those 14 papers.
Of Art and Soul: Erin Walker’s Pottery Studio For All Creators Coils Into Palm Coast
The Art and Soul Studio at 25 Pine Cone Drive in Palm Coast is recreational paint-your-own-pottery shop for all ages and many occasions, including birthday parties and Wednesdays’ Wine-d Down, a bring-your-own-wine ladies night.
Palm Coast Accepts Garbage Hauling Bids But Doesn’t Open Them Publicly
The method continues a pattern that’s been less than transparent since fall when the city manager recommended renewing the contract with Waste Pro and skipping the bidding process.
Flagler’s 7 Governments Gather to Hear How Well Their Economic Development Is Doing
Despite enduringly high unemployment and a year of fraying rather than unity among local governments, the county hosted an intergovernmental summit Tuesday that piled back-patting on exclamation marks.
Palm Coast Would Underwrite Small Business Loans With Tax Dollars as New Incentive
The city’s loan-guarantee program would set aside $55,000 for existing, for-profit businesses looking to expand–or survive. The program is part of a series of economic development initiatives centered around the seven-month-old Business Assistance Center.
A Suicide in Walmart’s Parking Lot; Victim, 28, Was Connected to Tuesday’s Cop Escapee
Mike Saunders, 28, was found dead in his car in the Walmart parking lot Wednesday, of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning. He had been at the wheel of the same car, with Mochael Testa, when Testa was arrested near Marvin’s Gardens the day before–and escaped from a cop car.
Daytona’s Pier Restaurant Lease: $275,000 a Year; Flagler Beach’s: $36,000
Both cities spent the better part of the year negotiating new deals with restaurant owners, but while Flagler Beach city commissioners were criticized for selling their property short, the Daytona numbers are not necessarily better than Flagler Beach’s when several adjustments are factored in.
Palm Coast’s Strathmore Deli Closes, Citing Overhead; Another Strip Now Stressed
Strathmore Deli, renamed Best Bagels & Deli, was the high-traffic anchor for the Parkway Plaza strip between Plam Coast Parkway and Cypress Point. Its abrupt closure four years after it opened is rippling with consequences.
Charges Dropped: European Village Store Owner Was Falsely Accused of Gun Assault
Dan Ferrena, owner of Palm Coast Gold Buyers at European Village, was falsely accused of threatening a customer and his children with a gun. Ferrena now faces a long road to expunge his record.
Workers’ Black Fridays: Florida Second in Mass Layoffs in October; Chill Winds Ahead
While mass media’s attention has deflected attention to the annual post-Thanksgiving shopping craze known as black Friday, indicators point to conflicting and worrisome trends ahead for Florida’s and America’s pocketbooks.
Palm Coast Observer Bucks Bleaker Newspaper Trends As Weekly Nears 2-Year Mark
The Palm Coast Observer’s latest audit shows a weekly print run of 25,000 and a household reach in Palm Coast exceeding 60 percent, compared with the News-Journal’s daily reach of 20 percent.
Exodus at Flagler Chamber of Commerce As Four Staffers Resign in Four Weeks
After Peggy Heiser announced her resignation as tourism’s VP, Lauren Walsh, Nick Langille and Laura Gamba followed, though Chamber President Doug Baxter assures: “It’s got nothing to do with me,” while the TDC wondered if pay is adequate.
Revels + 8 As Commission Appoints Economic Development Council, With Dash of Snub
The seven men and two women on the economic development council have more business than racial, political or geographic diversity, with one voice from western Flagler and one–Revels–from Flagler Beach.
News-Journal Circulation Drops Another 4.5%, Now Below 9,000 in Flagler Households
The News-Journal’s losses–the paper now reaches just a fifth of Flagler households–are at odds with gains at the St. Augustine Record and an end to declines, for now, at the Orlando Sentinel and the Jacksonville Times-Union.
Darrell Smith’s Coda to Flagler Beach’s New Doggie Dining Menu
“I’m sorry,” Writes Smitty, “I didn’t think it would go this far. Look at what I filmed at an unnamed Flagler Beach restaurant yesterday.” He graciously apologizes, too.
200 Opponents of a Matanzas Woods Complex Tantalized By City Hints of a Solution
Palm Coast Manager Jim Landon told opponents of the Sawgrass Villas project that the city might entice the bank that owns the land to open a branch on SR100, buying city land and enabling the city to buy the Matanzas Woods property.
In a Switch, Flagler Beach Backs Doggie Dining At Some Restaurants, With Regulations
Dog-friendly dining in Flagler Beach, never exactly absent from some restaurants, is now entirely legal and embraced by the city commission that had sought to ban it just a few weeks ago.
Drawing Mayor’s Rebuke, Palm Coast Manager’s Trash Talk Skips Agenda Notice
Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon drew up bid restrictions for the city’s $35 million trash contract designed to favor Waste Pro, the current hauler, while virtually disqualifying others–and preventing two potential new city council members from having a say in the contract.
Mike Taschler, Palm Coast Data VP and COO, Is Out as Revenue Continues to Fall
Taschler’s departure follows less than three months after the resignation of Palm Coast Data CEO John Meneough, and three weeks after the company posted another steep revenue decline.
Palm Coast’s First Business-to-Business Expo: How-To For Recession-Defying Entrepreneurs
Some 60 businesses and agencies turned up for the day-long business-to-business expo organized by Palm Coast’s Business Assistance Center to focus on local, small and emerging businesses.
All-Business Snub: Flagler County Can’t Fill Its Own Economic Development Council Seats
Only four people have applied for the county commission’s eight-member economic development council, an embarrassing result for the government that dissolved Enterprise Flagler, claiming it could do the job better.
At European Village Jewelry Store, Two Unspeakable Words, One Charge, Then Jail
Dan and Edith Ferrena have run Palm Coast Gold Buyers at European Village for more than two years. At noon Friday, their world unraveled in a brief confrontation with a man who threw a supreme insult at Edith and accused Dan of pointing a gun at him.
Florida Hospital Flagler Breaks Ground on $15 Million Satellite Near Palm Coast Parkway
The 34,000 square foot medical plaza in Cobblestone Village near Walmart will give Florida Hospital Flagler an imprint on the northern side of town and add between 15 and 25 jobs by next summer.
Palm Coast Civic Association to the Rescue: O’Donnell Crafts Creekside Compromise
The compromise gives the chamber of commerce a face-saving bail-out and allows all political candidates for Palm Coast City Council to meet Creekside visitors under the Flagler Palm Coast Civic Association’s tent.
Town Simmer: City Retreats From Four-Laning Bulldog Drive or Condemning Ajram Property
Lack of money and traffic and the threat of a lawsuit forced Palm Coast to keep Bulldog Drive a two-lane road for now, beautifying it, but also dropping its long-running condemnation threat against property owner Gus Ajram.