Identifying Local Opportunities

1. "Marriott Banning Little Shampoo Bottles By 2020"
https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2019/08/28/marriott-banning-little-shampoo-bottles-by-2020/

This story is essentially how Marriott has made a mission to phase out all small shampoo bottles by 2020. They're the worlds largest hotel chain, with 7,000 venues in more than 131 countries. They've been trying to get rid of them for years, but now the President feels as though they can appropriately get the job done now. The problem in this is that they'll need a new supplier of bio-degradable packaging quite soon, which is a business that will be booming in the oncoming years, with most corporations being urged to switch. I believe starting a business that creates bio-degradable packaging would be extremely beneficial to the environment and bigger corporations like Marriott.

2. "Walmart to Stop Selling Handgun Ammunition"
https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2019/09/03/walmart-to-stop-selling-handgun-ammunition/

This story is about how Walmart has made the decision to stop selling short-barrel and handgun ammunition after the shootings last month, one of which happening inside a Walmart store. The problem here is that, although this may help people with mental illnesses, many hunters in rural areas depend on Walmart for their ammunition. This means that they'll either have to look for ways online to get it, or not go hunting at all. I think Walmart should look for a better way to resolve this problem. One way would be allowing Walmart to have free mental health checks, which would help make sure the buyers of their ammunition are mentally secure, and they wouldn't lose any more customers.

3. "Home Sales and Prices Jump In Parts of Tampa Bay"
https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2019/08/21/homes-sales-and-prices-jump-in-parts-of-tampa-bay/

This story is about how many places in West Florida are finding an increase in house prices and sales. In Hernando, sales have increased 17%, and in Pasco, prices have risen 10.2%. Although there were talks of a recession, this seemed to have zero impact on the market. The problem here is how realtors were going to sell these houses, that were increasing in price, during the threat of a recession. One way to solve this would be offering larger payment plans or less money down to begin with, in order to hook customers before a possible recession hit.

4. "Climate Change is Turning Florida's Sea Turtles Female. How Long Can These Species Survive?"
https://www.tampabay.com/business/climate-change-is-turning-floridas-sea-turtles-female-how-long-can-these-species-survive-20190812/

This story is about turtles and their female transitions. Turtle gender is determined by heat, so if it gets too hot, then the gender for all turtles will be female. Climate change is causing this change. The problem that the government will end up dealing with is how to keep some of these turtles male during this heat change. One way would be setting up covers over turtle nests to lower the temperature. I'm sure starting a turtle-nest-covering business would be sponsored by the government and make a lot of money.

5. "Dorian Didn't Come To Tampa Bay... So Where Are My Amazon Orders?"

https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2019/09/04/dorian-didnt-come-to-tampa-bay-so-where-are-my-amazon-orders/

This story is about how, because of Hurricane Dorian, people weren't getting their Amazon orders (even though the hurricane missed the majority of Florida). This was also because most Amazon Flex drivers were not online, most evacuating, meaning a mass of packages not getting delivered. Amazon could solve this problem by providing incentive to get back on the road as quickly as possible for these drivers. Or adding zones that pay more (where more people haven't received packages).