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Coffee Talk
+ Ooh la Latina!
Erika Pena, the Fort Myers jewelry designer, was listed among the 10 most stylish Latinas on the popular Stylist section of AOL.com recently.
Pena was listed among other famous women, including Jennifer Lopez, Eva Longoria and Penelope Cruz. They were among the 10 Latinas cited for "expanding the definition of style and beauty for all women."
The Stylist judges say Pena may not yet be a household name, "but with her urban chic jewelry featured in Vogue and her baubles worn by celebrities like Beyonce and Brooke Shields, get ready to hear more."
Of course, regular readers of the Review know all about Pena and her company, Erika Pena Designs. She and her sister, Bielka, were featured in the July 6 issue. For Pena's latest designs, check out her Web site: www.erikapena.com.
+ Tomorrow is
just a day away
The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce is climbing aboard the tough times caravan.
In a recent letter to a group of Chamber members, Steve Queior, president, and Tom Dabney, chairman, wrote that Sarasota's "prosperity and progress are under threat" due to a litany of economic concerns and anti-business regulation. In response, the Chamber polled more than 100 top area business leaders to see both exactly what the problems are and what can be done about it.
The result is Sarasota Tomorrow, which according to the Chamber is a "strategic, concerted and carefully sequenced action plan." Queior declined to release the report, telling Coffee Talk the Chamber is aiming for a big public unveiling Dec. 1.
Until then, Queior and Dabney wrote in their letter to Chamber members, "Sarasota Tomorrow will require an extraordinary effort, and extraordinary funding." The Chamber is setting up a Sarasota Tomorrow Campaign Development Council to facilitate the effort.
While Queior declined to go into detail on the report or survey results, the letter did list some of the biggest threats, few of which would be breaking news to regular Coffee Talk readers. They include:
• Excessive regulation and bureaucracy, which, Queior writes, impedes even the most thoughtful economic development;
• Impact fees and taxes that could deter businesses seeking to locate in the area;
• Property costs and rising insurance premiums that make homes and sites costly, especially for the workers required to deliver good and services;
• A lack of a "consistent vision for the future of Greater Sarasota's economy," which impedes efforts to grow; and
• A lack of transportation infrastructure that lengthens commutes.
+ Electric utilities
consolidating?
Nothing official yet, but talk is heating up again about possible mergers in the electric utility industry. With the number of people they employ, this could be a bomb.
Progress Energy Chief Financial Officer Peter Scott said recently at an industry conference you could make a case that Progress, parent of Progress Energy Florida, and Duke Energy could merge.
For years, there has been speculation about an out-of-town behemoth buying TECO Energy, Tampa-based parent company of Tampa Electric Co. The company has traditionally deflected the rumors by pointing to its rising stock price. But the price has fluctuated since then.
+ Gulf Coast Realtor
'joins' the Navy
The Gulf Coast business community has no shortage of executives willing to serve on community and charity-related boards, from school councils to civic groups to national foundations.
Many good causes are represented, too, but few are as unique as the one Sarasota Realtor Gail Yonov recently joined. Yonov, an associate with Sarasota-based Michael Saunders & Co., was appointed regional vice president of the board of trustees for the U.S. Naval War College Foundation in Newport, R.I.
How did Yonov, a Pasadena, Calif.-born and raised Realtor of downtown Sarasota condos, get hooked up with one of the oldest and most prestigious defense institutions in the world?
Turns out Yonov's late husband Serge Yonov - a Latvia native who moved to the U.S. when he was 10 years old in 1949 - was not only a graduate of the Naval War College, but a captain in the U.S. Navy. Serge Yonov, who also taught strategy and policy at the school and was a member of the foundation, died in 2005.
The school approached Gail Yonov earlier this year about a position on the board, a nonprofit organization with 5,000 members that handles the college's fundraising and capital campaigns. The 122-year-old college has students and teachers from the U.S. as well as from other allied nations.
Yonov tells Coffee Talk she was touched the school sought her out, so she took on the role despite living full time in Sarasota and trying to find her way through the real estate downturn. Says Yonov: "I truly believe in what the Naval War College stands for."
Yonov adds that not only is she likely the only Realtor on the board, she's also one of only two women on the panel.
+ Getting good exposure
on the tube
Tampa-based tech company Actsoft Inc. got some national exposure recently and didn't pay a dime for it: on the TV series "CSI: Miami."
The fall premiere, which aired Sept. 24, featured the company's electronic ankle bracelet that keeps track of the wearer's location through a GPS function. A CSI producer called Actsoft after reading about the product.
The Actsoft logo appeared at least six times on the screen.
+ Help us find the
top tech companies
Technology rules. From Tampa to Sarasota, Fort Myers and Naples, entrepreneurs have developed amazing technologies that wowed us with their ingenuity. For five years, the Review has highlighted their successes with our annual Technology Innovation Award issue.
Going on its sixth year, the Review is again seeking nominations for the best innovations in technology from Tampa Bay to Naples.
We are looking for achievers who create or apply technology to a business or not-for-profit venture in a way that changes an industry, creates greater profits or efficiencies or improves quality of life in a meaningful way. It doesn't matter what industry. Past winners include technology to recycle auto tires, a manufacturer of tiny robots and a product that keeps sewage from backing up in restaurants.
Nominations should include the particulars of the company and the technology, along with contact information, including phone numbers and e-mail. Please send nominations to [email protected]. The deadline for submissions is Oct. 19.
+ Legal battles
continue for OSI
Three months ago, OSI Restaurant Partners shareholders approved a management buyout of the Tampa parent company of Outback Steakhouse, but legal work remains.
Two suits claim the company accepted too low of a bid. Next month, a Tampa judge will hear arguments about a proposed $5 million settlement for the complaints.
Existing home sales and prices continue to drop
August is a particularly slow month for existing home sales on the Gulf Coast. Still, prices and transactions mostly continued their decline to pre-boom levels.
On a statewide basis, some people might take comfort in the fact that the median price of a home in August was still 64% higher than it was in August 2002, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.
Below are the latest figures for areas of the Gulf Coast (Naples Area Board of Realtors doesn't release figures).
Single-family existing homes
Realtor sales Median sales price
Area 08/2006 08/2007 %chg. 08/2006 08/2007 %chg.
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 691 520 ?25% $264,100 $250,800 ?5%
Punta Gorda 274 223 ?19% $210,400 $186,500 ?11%
Sarasota-Bradenton 791 687 ?13% $308,100 $273,500 ?11%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater 3,029 2,154 ?29% $232,400 $214,100 ?8%
Statewide 15,252 11,279 ?26% $246,800 $231,900 ?6%
Existing condominiums
Realtor sales Median sales price
Area 08/2006 08/2007 %chg. 08/2006 08/2007 %chg.
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 100 96 ?4% $237,500 $218,800 ?8%
Punta Gorda 32 24 ?25% 155,000 $166,700 8%
Sarasota-Bradenton 216 201 ?7% $242,900 $219,800 ?10%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater 774 553 ?29% $171,600 $173,900 1%
Statewide 4,522 3,380 ?25% $201,900 $196,800 ?3%
Guaranteeing a good time (to buy)
A second Sarasota-area developer has announced a 100% guarantee program.
The latest comes from Enterprise Associates of Sarasota, which developed the Marquee en Ville, a luxury condo complex in downtown Sarasota on the corner of Fruitville and Cocoanut. (Enterprise Associates, run by local developer Sam Hamad, owns the building in downtown Sarasota where the Observer Group, parent of the Review, leases space).
Here's the deal: If the value of the purchase goes down after a buyer closes on it, Enterprise Associates will refund the difference. Enterprise will pay for three independent appraisals in one or two years from the purchase date. If the value is lower then what a buyer paid, Enterprise will pay the difference.
Says Carolyn Spizzirro, a Marquee en Ville sales consultant: "It's a remarkable opportunity and a great way to motivate people who want to buy in Sarasota but may be hesitant due to current market conditions."
Marquee en Ville has a total of 29 residences, with 5 remaining unsold. Amenities include rooftop terraces, private two-car garages and private elevators. Residences also include spiral staircases and gourmet kitchens. Prices start in the high-800,000s.
The Enterprise Associates guarantee comes on the heels of a similar guarantee with the condos at Summer Cove on Siesta Key. The developers of that project, instituted a 100% satisfaction guarantee last month.
+ Bright House,
Verizon: Round Four
In the continuing, bloody, chair hammering, table-crashing telecommunications Florida cage match between Verizon and Bright House comes this: Bright House is getting into the cell phone business.
In August, Bright House and Sprint launched Pivot, a wireless service in Orlando. If that test market does well, the cableTV/telecommunications company will bring it to the Tampa Bay area early next year. The two companies already compete for television viewers, Internet access and land-line phone service.
+ Four-star university
for hospitality management
Florida Gulf Coast University's new resort and hospitality management academic building might give the Ritz Carlton a little competition.
When it opens in the fall of 2008, the 40,000-square-foot Herbert J. Sugden Hall will resemble a hotel so that students can learn on the job.
The building will include ballrooms, a commercial kitchen, an Internet cafe, a wine cellar with food and wine-tasting lab, a spa facility with a steam room, sauna, whirlpool, hair salon and treatment rooms. In addition, the golf management program housed there will have a club-repair shop, a simulated swing station and putting a green.
+ Investing and financial gurus return to Sarasota
Steve Forbes, the national flat-tax guru and the editor-in-chief of the business magazine that bears his family name, will be returning to Sarasota later this year for an investor education event, with the proceeds going to children's charities in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
The event, put together by a nonprofit organization, Wall Street Live, will also include appearances by New York based analyst Joe Battipaglia, Venice-based money manger Ned Davis and personal investing expert Louis Navellier.
Forbes, who has spoken or appeared at several events in Sarasota over the past year, will be part of a panel discussion called "The Stock Market in 2008: Perils and Possibilities."
The Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice has joined Wall Street Live and Caring for Children Charities/Florida Winefest & Auction in presenting this year's event. In past years, Wall Street Live has awarded more than $6.1 million in funding to Sarasota and Manatee county children's charities.
The daylong event is scheduled for Nov. 30, from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at the Hyatt Sarasota. For more information or tickets call (800) 970-4355 or go to www.WallStreetLive.net.
+ Odyssey finds
more treasure
Ahoy mates: Odyssey Marine Exploration, the Tampa company that scans the ocean floor for valuable shipwrecks, got $7 million recently from Fortress Investment Group, a New York-based investment management firm.
Odyssey issued preferred stock to Fortress, which is the company's second-biggest shareholder, with 8.7% of Odyssey.
The money will help Odyssey resolve a costly legal battle with Spain over ownership of treasure from the 17th-century Black Swan shipwreck. Odyssey yanked more than 500,000 coins from the Atlantic, estimated to be worth about $500 million.
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