Things To Do In SW Florida

Assured Information Technology Engineering President Jason Eddy said his company was founded on a “people-driven” growth model that provides value to the burgeoning information technology industry through its engineering talent.

Eddy’s foundational principles have paid off as AIT Engineering is the Orlando Sentinel’s 2024 Top Workplaces in Central Florida winner in small company category for the second consecutive year.

AIT Engineering, founded in 2010 by Eddy, works to create database and software development solutions for clients like the federal government — primarily the Department of Defense.

Eddy said placing the company’s focus on the quality of engineering talent coming in and work being done helped boost the morale of employees seeking a “well-respected team.”

“We’ve been able to grow as fast as we can recruit and retain top engineering talent,” he said. “Having our engineers know that they’re working with some of the best in their field has been the thing, at least in my perspective, that kind of keeps everybody happy.” read more

While the players on the court are often the stars of the show, all 310 employees who make up the Orlando Magic organization are vital to the team’s success on and off the hardwood.

For creating a winning workplace organization, the Orlando Magic are the Orlando Sentinel’s 2024 Top Workplaces in Central Florida winner in midsize company category.

Magic CEO Alex Martins described the work environment as “collaborative” and stressed the organization strives to maintain a healthy balance between hard work and a welcoming, entertaining atmosphere.

“It’s really a work-hard-play-hard type of environment, and we try to create a culture where everybody is inspired to come to work every day, knows that their contributions matter and are important to the success of the organization,” he said. “And at the same time, we’re trying to create that environment where everybody really enjoys coming to work.”

Martins knows the work environment of the Magic well, working his way up the organization from the team’s public relations director in 1989 to CEO in 2006. read more

Hyatt Hotels aims to offer top-notch services to guests at its Central Florida locations and to make sure its more than 1,400 employees feel cared for, too.

The effort to keep employees happy and thriving in their workplace earned Hyatt Hotels the distinction of being the Orlando Sentinel’s 2024 Top Workplaces in Central Florida in the large business category for the second year in a row.

“Hyatt’s purpose is to care for people so that they can be their best,” said Lauren Vogel, an assistant director of human resources. “Our purpose is always going to be at the forefront of our mind, with every conversation we have. Whether it’s with a colleague or a guest, any decision that we make and any time we encounter a colleague, we want to make sure that we have that purpose in our minds.”

To keep employees happy and engaged, Vogel said Hyatt provides numerous opportunities for colleagues to connect, such as bringing in food trucks on Fridays.

There are also several opportunities for employees to be recognized by the company, with each area Hyatt holding its own annual awards banquet. read more

CAPE CANAVERAL — The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June welcomed their new ride home with Sunday’s arrival of a SpaceX capsule.

SpaceX launched the rescue mission on Saturday with a downsized crew of two astronauts and two empty seats reserved for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who will return next year. The Dragon capsule docked in darkness as the two craft soared 265 miles  above Botswana.

NASA switched Wilmore and Williams to SpaceX following concerns over the safety of their Boeing Starliner capsule. It was the first Starliner test flight with a crew, and NASA decided the thruster failures and helium leaks that cropped up after liftoff were too serious and poorly understood to risk the test pilots’ return. So Starliner returned to Earth empty earlier this month.

The Dragon carrying NASA’s Nick Hague and the Russian Space Agency’s Alexander Gorbunov will remain at the space station until February, turning what should have been a weeklong trip for Wilmore and Williams into a mission lasting more than eight months. read more

SpaceX celebrated the first human spaceflight from its Cape Canaveral launch site on Saturday, and while the two humans aboard the Crew Dragon Freedom are safely on their way to the International Space Station, a problem arose with the rocket’s second stage that prompted the company to shut down future launches for now.

“After today’s successful launch of Crew-9, Falcon 9’s second stage was disposed in the ocean as planned, but experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn,” SpaceX posted on X. “As a result, the second stage safely landed in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area. We will resume launching after we better understand root cause.”

SpaceX and Boeing Starliner saga continues with Crew-9 launch to ISS

The first victim of the shutdown was a planned launch Sunday from California of a Falcon 9 with a plan to send up the OneWeb Launch 20 mission for EutelsatGroup.

The Federal Aviation Administration still has that launch on its operations plan advisory for as early as Oct. 1, but the last two times SpaceX had an “off-nominal” issue with a Falcon 9 launch, the FAA had grounded the rocket. read more