Marion County Procurement Services invites local vendors interested in doing business with Marion County government to attend a Local Vendor Open House held on March 30th from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the Procurement Services office (McPherson Government Complex, 2511 SE Third Street, Ocala).

This event will help area businesses learn the ins and outs of selling goods and services to the County.

To learn more, view the news release from Marion County.

The luck of the Irish seems to be smiling on our community today as two exciting GREEN announcements have been made. IHMC has received LEED Gold certification for the renovation of their building; and the Ocala Utility Services is helping customers save some green by lowering their electric rates.

According to IHMC, the recognition is particularly gratifying since the primary recipients of gold-level certifications are new construction projects. It is exceptional for a renovation to achieve higher than a silver-level distinction.

The City of Ocala shares that for the fifth time since the peak of 2008, the Ocala City Council has lowered electric rates.

The latest decrease, which takes effect April 1 for Ocala Utility Services customers, will reduce residential rates by 3.9 percent and commercial and industrial rates by 4.1 percent on average.

To learn more about the electric rate decrease, read the City of Ocala’s announcement on their Web site.

With a 4-0 vote, Ocala City Council members instructed City staff to proceed with the next steps for American Fresh Farms, LLC to locate four hydroponic glass greenhouses to introduce the emerging technology of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) to the southeast. The Ocala Business Park at Ocala International Airport (OBP) is being considered as the location for this exciting venture.

The vote by Council enables the City staff and EDC to take the project through the Financial Review Committee process to conduct further due diligence on the project, and Marc Mondell, Executive Director of Municipal Development, will also meet with FAA officials this week to learn more about land purchase/lease options. The AFF presentation delivered to City Council is available for you to view.

Phase one project highlights:

• 90 permanent jobs with average annual salary of $31,630.00
• Approximately 500 construction jobs
• 1,635,500 square-foot building
• Projected $28 million capital investment
• Projected taxes and utility revenues of $449,593.10
• Collaborative project with the University of Florida