St. Cloud Incubator gets some Ink

Here's a story from the Orlando Business Journal about Osceola County's first incubator. A second is scheduled to open next month. Both are operating in a partnership with UCF, the county and the cities of St. Cloud and Kissimmee. http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2010/09/27/story10.html?b=1285560000^3994551

Incentive money helps keep film business in Central Florida

VIA the Orlando Sentinel: Visit the set of any film being shot in and around Orlando and you're likely to see Michael Finn. A veteran assistant director, he has been on local productions from "The Waterboy" in 1998 to "The Final Destination" in 2009. It's finding work here that's always a problem. So Finn often ends up traveling to Tennessee or Michigan, California or Utah, "where the work is." But these days Finn is back in Central Florida working on a local project, thanks in part to the Florida Legislature's approval of $53.5 million to fund film-business incentive credits this year. That's more than double the amount of previous incentives and will total $242 million during the next five years. Full story here.

Florida business tax amnesty deadline Thursday

   Businesses are rushing to pay overdue taxes without penalty before Florida's tax amnesty period ends Thursday, reports the Bradenton Herald. Bunesses are coming forward in a hurry to pay their overdue taxes without penalty and at a reduced interest payment. Florida's tax amnesty program is set to expire Thursday and state officials and local tax professionals say they're seeing increased activity as a result.Renee Watters, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Revenue, says the state has collected nearly $69 million from more than 24,000 signed amnesty agreements. The state estimated it will collect $121 million, Watters said.
    The Florida Legislature in April approved House Bill 5801 to implement the state's first tax amnesty program since 2003. The program, which started July 1, applies to all taxes other than unemployment tax and lets businesses avoid paying a penalty that could be as much as a $50 per month late fee and realize some savings on their interest payments.

Gartner Symposium brings IT heavyweights to Central Florida

   The Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the industry's largest and most strategic conference for senior IT and business professionals. More than 6,000 senior business and IT strategists will gather for the insights, tools and solutions they need to ensure that their IT initiatives are key contributors to and drivers of their enterprise's success.The 20th anniverary event is set for Oct. 17-21 at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel.
    In celebrating its 20th anniversary, some of the most influential leaders in technology will take to the Symposium/ITxpo stage to provide their perspective on the future of IT and its impact on their businesses.
   Mastermind Interview Keynotes include:

• Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, Salesforce.com, on Tuesday, October 19
• John Chambers, chairman and CEO, Cisco Systems, on Wednesday, October 20
• Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft Corp., on Thursday, October 21     

CBRE presenting Wednesday in NYC

   CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG) announced that Gil Borok, Chief Financial Officer, will be presenting at the JMP Securities Financial Services & Real Estate Conference in New York on Wednesday, September 29, at 11 a.m. eastern time.
    A live audio webcast of the presentation will be accessible via the Investor Relations section of the Company's web site at www.cbre.com/ir. An audio replay of the webcast will be posted within 24 hours of the live event and available at this url for 90 days thereafter.
About Richard Ellis
    CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world's largest commercial real estate services firm (in terms of 2009 revenue). The Company has approximately 29,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 300 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CB Richard Ellis offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. Please visit our Web site at www.cbre.com.

ESPN 3D

   The Consumer Electronics Association teamed up with ESPN to show and educate consumers all that 3D TV offers in the world of sports.
   ESPN has a long history of leading in technology and sports including developing high definition sports seven years ago and is doing it again with developing content in 3D for sports. In the course of the year ESPN will have nearly a hundred events telecast in 3D including college basketball, pro basketball, college football and the X Games from Los Angeles and Aspen.
   3D TV technology, that is available to consumers in 60 million households, creates an opportunity to provide a lot of people with engaging content and will grow faster than HD TV grew. In contrast, when high definition programming first launched there was virtually no one who could see it.
    Megan Pollack of the Consumer Electronics Association and Bryan Burns from ESPN discuss the future of 3D TV and sports. See the video: http://yourupdate.tv/technology/3D_demo_days/
    To find out more about 3D TV technology you can check out digitaltips.org.

ESPN 3D strikes deals

    Disney/ABC Television Group, ESPN and Time Warner Cable have entered into a long-term, wide-ranging agreement that will provide Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks cable customers the programming of ABC Family, Disney Channel, Disney XD, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes, and SOAPnet, as well as WABC in New York, KABC in Los Angeles, WTVD in Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville, WTVG in Toledo, and associated HD cable networks. Subscribers will also have unprecedented digital access to online content and expanded Video On Demand services.
     The addition of ESPN3.com, ESPN's live sports broadband network, which will be available to all Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks subscribers who get ESPN. ESPN3.com gives Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks fans a 24/7 online destination that delivers more than 3,500 live, global sports events annually as part of TV Everywhere. This addition also gives Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks the rights to feature cleared content from ESPN3.com on its sports tier.

Tupperware Jubilee

   Earlier this summer Osceola County-based Tupperware hosted nearly 6,000 members of the Tupperware US and Canada sales force—the largest gathering to date— for its annual Jubilee sales convention. Tupperware consultants spent threedays celebrating their accomplishments, learning about new products, participating in career-specific classes and sharing their personal Tupperware stories and successes with one another.
    Unique to this year’s Jubilee, Chef Stuart O’Keeffe (star of the Food Network’s “Private Chefs of Beverly Hills” program) and Chef Lucas Lucceti participated in cooking demonstrations featuring new Tupperware® products at the Jubilee Expo. Additionally, fashion designer and “Project Runway” season six winner, Irina Shabayeva, participated in an onstage interview to share her passion and her story of confidence. Immediately following the interview, Irina showcased several of her exclusive designs created using Tupperware materials that were originally unveiled at New York Fashion Week in February 2010.
    The event marked the 56th year that Tupperware has held its annual Jubilee event
    “Everything we do at Tupperware is for our sales force,” said Rick Goings, CEO and Chairman of Tupperware Brands Corporation. “This marks a banner year for Tupperware US and Canada with its highest record of Jubilee attendees ever, and we are proud to have a sales force that continues to evolve and expand in such leaps in bounds while maintaining such passion and drive for their business and the Brand.”

Gartner Outsourcing & Vendor Management Summit

   Neoris, a global business and IT consulting company that specializes in SAP and application outsourcing, announced its sponsorship and participation in the Gartner Outsourcing & Vendor Management Summit 2010 that was held at Gaylord Palms.
   At the event, Neoris gave a presentation on Earned Value, which helps businesses reduce risk, manage costs and streamline operations on IT outsourcing initiatives.
    Neoris’ experience and focus in SAP solutions and nearshore outsourcing has gained industry recognition in 2010. Gartner Inc. named Neoris one of the top 20 IT services providers with the highest market share in Latin America based on revenue. Neoris also was recently named to the 2010 Global Services 100 and recognized by SAP for its leadership with customers, the SAP community, and its revenue contribution across Latin America.
   About Neoris
   Neoris is a global business and IT consulting company that specializes in SAP and application outsourcing. Neoris is the largest IT consulting and systems integration company in Mexico and the second largest in Latin America. Neoris offers systems integration, custom application development, IT consulting and software deployment and support solutions. The company is a leading provider of nearshore outsourcing services through a global delivery model leveraging six worldwide software development centers. In 2009, Global Services ranked Neoris as the Best IT Service Provider in Latin America. Headquartered in Miami, Fla., Neoris has operations in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.neoris.com.

A-Life Hospital exhibits at Gaylord

   A-Life Medical, Inc., the pioneer in and leading provider of computer-assisted coding (CAC) products and services for the healthcare industry and its wholly owned subsidiary, A-Life Hospital are exhibiting and demonstrating its pioneering CAC offering including its Actus® solution during leading industry trade association platform.
    Demonstrations to highlight Actus’ capabilities as well as its ICD-10 features and functionality. In addition, Mark Morsch, vice president of technology at A-Life, will present on Saturday (September 25) at 1 p.m inn the Osceola Room 4-6 at the Gaylord Palms Hotel and Convention Center on the topic of “Computer-Assisted Coding of Medicare Advantage (Part C) Hierarchical Condition Codes - A Case Study.”

Early Stage Venture Capital Conference,

   The Florida Venture Forum has selected 16 Florida companies to present at its Early Stage Venture Capital Conference, to be held at the Omni ChampionsGate on October 5. Sixteen of Florida’s best early-stage prospects for equity financing will make 10-minute presentations to an audience of venture capitalists, private equity investors, angel investors, investment bankers, financial intermediaries and entrepreneurs.
    Presenting FROM Central Florida is:
Unikey Technologies, Inc., which develops passive access control products such as residential door locks, commercial door locks, computer access, financial transactions and more. These devices are controlled by a single key, a cellular phone, with a mobile application to enable the ultimate level of convenience.

    About The Florida Venture Forum
The Florida Venture Forum is Florida’s oldest, largest and most prestigious statewide support group for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, helping emerging growth companies come together with sources of capital from across the country. Throughout the year, the Florida Venture Forum provides monthly programs on a statewide basis.

Channel Intelligence recognized

   Channel Intelligence supplies e-commerce solutions for many of North America's largest retailers, and has been named one of the top retail technology providers for 2010. The Guide to E-Commerce Technology, recently published by Internet Retailer, lists Channel Intelligence (CI) as a leading provider in the Comparison Shopping Engine Feeds category.
   Channel Intelligence manages online commerce for 30 of the Top 100 retailers in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. Those 30 retailers represent 59 percent of the total revenue reported by the aggregated Top 100, making CI the largest provider of comparison shopping engine services in North America.
   "Our industry-leading clients include six of the Top 10 retailers on the Internet Retailer list," said Rob Wight, Channel Intelligence CEO. "Those Top 10 retailers represent almost 50 percent of the revenue reported by the entire Top 500, illustrating that a majority of the very largest players in online retailing value our solutions and entrust their considerable success to a partnership with Channel Intelligence."
   Retailers interested in learning more about CI's Managed Shopping Engine Solution can contact the company by e-mail at performancemarketing@channelintelligence.com or by phone at (321) 939-5129.

Osceola Regional expands cardiovascular research

    Osceola Regional Medical Center has signed an agreement with Sarah Cannon Research Institute, one of the largest clinical research programs in the nation, to be a major cardiovascular clinical research strategic site. The agreement will allow the Central Florida Cardiac & Vascular Institute of Osceola Regional Medical Center to expand its cardiovascular research program and offer physicians and patients the opportunity to participate in clinical trials locally.
     Osceola Regional Medical Center will initially conduct clinical trials in several different cardiovascular specialties including interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, and cardiac and vascular surgery.
     “Osceola Regional Medical Center has a stellar reputation for delivering quality and innovative cardiovascular care in multiple specialty areas,” said Steven V. Manoukian, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.S.C.A.I., director of cardiovascular research for SCRI. “Working with Osceola Regional will help SCRI reach our goal of advancing therapies for patients through our growing cardiovascular clinical research network.”
    “Because of our agreement with SCRI, our patients will have access to the latest advancements in cardiovascular disease therapy,” said Brian Marger, F.A.C.H.E., chief operating officer at Osceola Regional Medical Center. “We look forward to expanding our cardiovascular research through clinical trials, which means we can offer our patients additional cutting-edge treatment options for many conditions.”
      As part of the agreement, SCRI will help manage quality assurance and regulatory compliance as well as provide information technology capabilities and support. In addition, the staff will have access to SCRI’s physician experts and clinical research team.