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Coffee Talk (Tampa)
Hooting it up
Coffee Talk hears the U.S. Attorney's Office doesn't plan to retry Hooters restaurant co-founder Lynn "L.D." Stewart on tax evasion charges.
U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew declared a mistrial last month after jurors said they couldn't reach a verdict. Stewart was accused of conspiring with accountant Michael Maricle to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.
It couldn't have helped government prosecutors when Maricle, their star witness, admitted at trial he had stolen millions from Stewart, who was once his friend.
The IRS says Stewart underreported his income by about $11 million in 1997 and 1998 when he sold his ownership in Hooters Inc., which started with a restaurant in Clearwater. Stewart testified he'd merely relied on his accountant for advice.
Maricle, who has pleaded guilty to tax evasion, was sentenced in 2003 to 30 months in federal prison, followed by 12 months supervised release. Federal Judge Richard Lazzara allowed Maricle to remain free for the past two years while charges against his former clients, including Stewart, were pending.
UT dean steps down
At University of Tampa's recent annual family business awards luncheon, Joseph McCann III, the business school's dean, didn't mention he planned to step down from his post.
But he did stop the Nov. 18 awards ceremony midstream as UT President Ronald Vaughn and John H. Sykes, benefactor to the business school named in his honor, tried to surreptitiously steal from the room soon after the ceremony started.
Of course, McCann only pointed out to the audience how important the two men are, especially Sykes, to the continued success of the entrepreneurship program at UT.
Sykes, founder of Sykes Enterprises, has donated more than $30 million to UT over the years. A $7.5 million donation in 1997 to UT's John H. Sykes College of Business is among one of the largest given to a business school, according to the Association of Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
Last week, McCann announced he was stepping down as business dean after five years in the post. But he'll continue to hold his tenured professorship.
Sykes says McCann has done a wonderful job. "We're really proud of him," he adds. "There comes a time - I did this myself - when you say, 'Hey, I really need to do something else for awhile.' " Sykes says McCann loves teaching, and now he'll be able to focus on it.
Trump trumped?
Several days after a blog told about Amon Investments' plan to build twin towers taller than the Trump Tower planned for downtown Tampa, the Daytona Beach developer pulled information on the project from its Web site.
The blog, called Sticks of Fire, told readers that Amon, whose revenue has increased from $8 million to $308 million over the past four years, wants to build two 51-story towers connected by sky bridges. The towers would be 625 feet tall, compared to the 52-story Trump Tower projected to be 593 feet.
Felix Amon is assembling land and looking for investors for the project that would include 472 residences, 10,000 square feet of retail and a nine-story parking garage.
Persystent recognition
Persystent Technology Corp., profiled in last week's Review, is out to transform the computer industry with its software that automatically repairs PC malfunctions.
CEO Ray Weadock, a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur, says his startup has patent-pending software that will eliminate many of the problems related to computers. A mere boot-up will correct malfunctions.
What the Review didn't tell you in the article is that Persystent Technology was recognized at the Tampa Bay Technology Forum's Nov. 10 dinner with the "Entrepreneurial Technology Company Award."
Other companies recognized by TBTF were TransGenex Nanobiotech Inc., SAS 70 Solutions Inc., Healthcare Capital Advisors and Gold Standard Inc.
Rocky mountains, why?
The Florida Bankers Association is out with a detailed schedule for the group's 2006 convention. There will be horseback riding, trips to the zoo and an ice cream social. But none of this activity will be taking place in Florida.
As Coffee Talk previously reported with some puzzlement, the bankers are taking their biggest annual gathering to Colorado Springs next year.
True, there is nowhere in the Sunshine State where conventioneers and their families could climb 14,110 feet up the side of a mountain, as you can at Pikes Peak. But there are places to ride horses, look at exotic animals and lap ice cream in Florida.
Why the Broadmoor resort in Colorado and not, for example, the Breakers in Palm Beach?
We tried to find out from Sarasota's own Charlie Murphy, president and chief executive of the Bank of Commerce, who is serving as the convention chairman. We also attempted to contact Crissy Lee, assistant director of special projects at the bankers association. Both were out of the office and couldn't be reached before deadline.
The convention site sends a message to other groups looking at Florida. After two straight busy hurricane seasons in the Caribbean, state tourism officials are afraid hoteliers will be stuck with many vacancies next summer.
Vanessa Welter, communications director for VisitFlorida, says her tourism bureau is working to keep local groups from moving their meetings elsewhere. We passed along the name of the bankers association, so she can get to work keeping them here in 2007.
A top priority
The Tampa Bay Partnership has come up with a list of five "initiatives" to make the Bay area a more attractive place for business.
The first initiative is "transportation improvement," including "implementing a regional mass transit initiative."
If that means getting a light-rail system up and running before area roads are perpetually clogged, like Atlanta's have become, that would show some real initiative. Of course, it would be nice if at least one of these initiatives that the partnership is initiating actually gets completed.
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