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Music site renamed
Tampa's largest outdoor music venue has a new name: 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre. Physicians Group, owned by Sarasota chiropractor Gary Kompothecras, will pay about $380,000 annually for naming rights over the next three years.
The 20,000-seat complex, on Interstate 4 at the Florida State Fairgrounds, is operated by Live Nation Worldwide Inc. It was originally called the Ford Amphitheatre, with Southern Ford Dealers paying $775,000 a year.
The familiar toll-free number operates as a referral service directing injured clients to medical clinics and lawyers.
Credit unions merge
Tampa-based Bay Gulf Credit Union, facing scrutiny by state financial regulators, agreed June 15 to merge with MidFlorida Credit Union of Lakeland. The combined institution will have $1.6 billion in assets, 150,000 members and 33 branches in 14 counties.
Bay Gulf, which began in 1954 and has $141 million in assets, received a cease-and-desist order in April from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation after falling below 6% required minimum capitalization. Executives with the credit union said the merger is not related to the order.
MidFlorida has had a long-standing goal of expanding into Hillsborough County. Its acquisition of Bay Gulf is subject to approval by regulators and credit union members.
Skateboarding curbed
Tampa police are taking a harder line on skateboarding at downtown buildings, especially overnight, after arresting seven skaters in the parking garage at Bank of America Plaza. Those arrested in the early morning hours of June 10 range in age from 18 to 48, with the oldest adult taken into custody for violating his probation.
Skateboarding has been a long-standing issue for property owners in downtown Tampa, with boards and wheels causing thousands of dollars in damage to railings and granite at some of the city's most prestigious office buildings. The city has skate parks, but users complain they aren't open late enough on summer nights.
Investors eye TIB
A trio of former bankers plans to help Naples-based banking company TIB Financial raise $150 million in the next three months, the company recently announced.
If their capital raise is successful, the agreement calls for Marty Adams, Kevin Thompson and John Loeber to become the bank's CEO, chief financial officer and chief credit officer, respectively. It also calls for the reconstitution of the company's board of directors.
Until 2007, Adams was CEO and Thompson was chief financial officer of Sky Financial Group, a publicly held bank-holding company in Ohio that was sold to Huntington Bancshares. Loeber was chief credit officer at banks in Indiana and West Virginia.
TIB Financial is the parent company of TIB Bank, with $1.7 billion in assets and branches from Venice to the Florida Keys.
Cat picks Gates
Earthmoving-equipment giant Caterpillar has selected Naples-based Gates to manage the construction of the company's demonstration center in Panama.
The Caterpillar campus on 250 acres will include a service center, a call center and it will serve as a distribution hub. The campus is located at the western entrance to the Panama Canal, which will be widened by 2014.
Gates has expanded to Panama in recent years as construction and development projects have dwindled in Florida.
Hotel revenues fall
Revenue per available room at Lee County hotels fell 8.3% in April compared to the same month a year ago, according to data from Davidson Peterson Associates.
The drop indicates hoteliers couldn't fill rooms despite lowering the average daily rate in April by 6.4% to $147.39. Average occupancies fell 2.1% to 58.3% in April.
Local company acquired
A publicly traded global energy and home services conglomerate with offices in England and Canada bought Sarasota-based Clockwork Home Services in an all-cash deal announced June 10.
Direct Energy paid $183 million for Clockwork, which provides plumbing, electrical and air-conditioning and heating services through three brands: Ben Franklin Plumbing, One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating and Mister Sparky. Clockwork's franchisees are in 47 states and serve more than one million households.
Clockwork co-founder and CEO Jim Abrams will remain with the new entity for two years and he will report to Direct Energy President Eddy Collier. Collier says Direct Energy, a subsidiary of Windsor, England-based Centrica PLC, does not plan to move the company's Sarasota headquarters.
Tourism executive retires
Longtime Bradenton and statewide tourism advocate Larry White announced his retirement after more than 30 years in the business.
White most recently ran the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, a position he held since 1991. Before that he held executive roles in tourism agencies in Panama City Beach. White also founded the Florida Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus and he served on the board of Visit Florida for 25 years.
In Manatee County, White was well known for his efforts to revitalize the formerly run-down Powel Crosley mansion, which now hosts weddings and festivals. White is also credited with being one of the first tourism executives in Florida to actively push the state as a tourist attraction to Europeans.
Office adds duties
The Manatee County Tax Collector's office will become the county's full-service driver's license center in 2011, replacing a state office that will be closed due to budget cutbacks.
The tax collector's office already handles driver's license renewals and other minor services.
The state Legislature defunded that office in the most recent session.
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