Meet the winners of Orlando's 2023 Diversity in Business Awards

Welcome to Orlando Business Journal's weekly LinkedIn newsletter. I'm Digital Producer/Senior Staff Writer Richard Bilbao, rounding up Orlando business news to keep you in the know when time is short.

Orlando Business Journal?introduces the 2023 Diversity in Business Awards honorees.

This year, our annual awards program will highlight 18 Central Florida companies, organizations and business leaders who are leading the charge in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. They have taken steps to embrace inclusion and equality across all areas of diversity within their companies, industries and/or the community at large.

A total of eight individuals and 10 companies or organizations in the Orlando region were chosen as our 2023 winners.

Read more about the winners here.

And now onto other big business deals, transactions and activity headlines from the week.

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Real estate news of the week

• Time to say goodbye to Church Street Ballroom — demolition starts (PHOTOS): The 23,273-square-foot iconic building dates back to 1994 according to Orange County Property Appraiser records.
• Big $170M project near Disney secures construction loan. What to know. The money will be used to build the first and second phases of the mixed-use development.
• See where the developer of The Villages just made a massive land buy: The selling entity was a trust for a group of investors including and represented by longtime Orlando land broker?Daryl Carter.

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Orlando news bites

You don't want to miss these top stories:

• Micross Components grows in Apopka with new facility: The semiconductor maker is capitalizing on a growing local boom in specialty electronics manufacturing.
• New AdventHealth concept is expanding. See where it will open next.: The Altamonte Springs-based health system has opened two more locations.
• France-based clean tech giant enters U.S. market here: The company will buy 309 acres of county-owned land in phases.

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Restaurant news & notes

We're always hungry for new places to eat. Check these out:

• 6 questions with new Tijuana Flats CEO Joe Christina on franchise growth, more: He?plans to ramp up the presence of the Tex-Mex restaurant chain in Orlando, across Florida and the Southeast.
• This restaurant chain is expanding — but not in downtown. See why.: The co-founder said he wants to have 100 locations some day. Here's what his eatery has planned next.
• Pizza Bruno founder to open new Dizzy Donuts restaurant concept in Orlando soon: It will serve doughnuts and Japanese fried chicken.

(Personal note from Richard: The one meal I can be assured my 6-year-old daughter will eat without a fuss? Pizza. Anything else is a gamble. #parenting)

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Nominations & Events

Things to put on your busy calendar:

• Join us at the 2023 Women Who Mean Business event,?to be held March 30.
• Nominate now for the 2023 Best Places to Work.?The deadline is April 7.
• Come help us celebrate the 2023 40 Under 40 winners on April 20 at Mango's Tropical Cafe Orlando!

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Finally ... make your voice heard!

These?OBJ?polls are live. Let us know what you're thinking.

• Vote now in the final round of 2023 Inno Madness! Vote for the one you would invest in if you had the chance to help us name this year's winner.
• How do you feel about Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf hosting an Orlando area event?
• Would you ride the Sunshine Corridor to the theme parks or convention center?

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That's all for this week's top headlines, and thanks for supporting?OBJ.

This weekly round-up of Orlando business news was compiled by Richard Bilbao, digital producer/senior staff writer. Questions? Comments? Concerns? News tips? Send them to [email protected].