Rosen determining tax plan’s impact.

Harris Rosen, founder and president of Rosen Hotels, said he has professionals working hard on determining the impact of the GOP tax-cut plan on his business, and might consider giving some kind of bonus or raise to his thousands of employees soon.

But he said knowing the impact isn’t an easy task, considering the closure of certain loopholes and other issues.

“I think a lot of people are taking a hard look at the tax situation and scratching their head trying to figure it out,” Rosen said in an interview.

“We’ve had experts looking at it for months and they haven’t been able to determine the impact,” he said.

Rosen, 78, is known not only as a hotelier with seven properties in Orlando, but also for his philanthropy, for running his businesses on a debt-free basis and for providing employees with health care.

Also planning several expansions, Rosen said they must be done on a debt-free basis.

“We must have sufficient funds available before we start,” he said.

The company expects to break ground this year on two new staff buildings at Rosen Shingle Creek, his largest property. The project includes a four-story building with a parking garage and operations offices, and another building for laundry service. Rosen Shingle Creek is also planning a later addition of a 16-story condo hotel with 320 units.

“I suspect the next decade will be very good for business, but we must all pray for peace and pray there’s no other disruptions,” Rosen said.

Among the cool technologies that Lockheed Martin showed off in a media tour last week was its relatively new Advanced Manufacturing Lab, which focuses on rapid prototyping for parts using 3-D printers.

The lab is part of the company’s Rotary and Mission Systems' [RMS] Training and Logistics Solutions division, which is based in East Orlando at 100 Global Innovation Circle.

Company officials said the lab has sped up many procedures that used to take months to complete to a matter of a day or two.

The company has printed over 10,000 end-use parts at the lab so far.

Staff at the plant showed how a shadowbox for a drill can made quickly. They scanned the drill using infrared cameras that snap pictures by the millisecond. The precise measurements of the drill are then turned into an image on a screen and fed into the 3-D printer, which uses extruded plastic to make a tray that fits the drill like a glove.

The 3-D scanner is a commercial product sold by Canada-based Creaform.

The technology also allows testing of parts. For example, parts can be printed cheaply to test

whether a mechanic’s hand can fit into it for repairs. The company also prints parts used in building the cockpit of its F-35 flight simulators.

Port parking

Port Canaveral, one of the busiest cruise ports in the nation, says a new larger parking lot will be a shot in the arm for the restaurants and businesses at The Cove area.

The lot will add 337 spaces, an increase of 150 percent over the current space. There’s an official ribbon-cutting at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday with the Cove Merchants Association, Canaveral Port Authority Commissioners, Port CEO John Murray and Port staff.

Motorcoach shuttle

Orlando-based luxury motor coach transportation service RedCoach said it will add a free shuttle service from UCF to its Orlando station.

Florencia Cirigliano, the head of marketing at RedCoach, said students in particular are not using cars as much anymore.

"People are changing the way they get around. We've seen how they don't use their cars anymore because it's more convenient to get an Uber or a Lyft. But they can't take that for long distances, so they have RedCoach instead,” Cirigliano said. “The whole idea is to let someone else do the driving for you either on your daily commute or across the state."

Rates vary by route with Orlando to Miami starting from $25. For the first month, the shuttle service will be available for every RedCoach rider free of charge.

The motorcoaches have free Wi-Fi, oversized reclining leather seats and ondemand movies. RedCoach has more than 13 stops in the state, including Miami, West Palm Beach, Tallahassee, Fort Pierce, Fort Lauderdale, Gainesville, Naples and Ocala. The company launched in May 2010.