Loading
Coffee Talk (Tampa edition)
CAPCO update
No wonder the enthusiasm for certified capital companies has waned in Florida.
State Auditor General William O. Monroe recently released a report that appears to confirm what critics of a 6-year-old program, which provides seed money to CAPCOs, have been saying for a while: State subsidies to startups donit produce many jobs.
A little background is in order. Florida legislators passed the Certified Capital Company Act in 1998. The law created a pool of venture capital. Insurance companies were granted state tax credits in exchange for investing in fledgling enterprises around Florida.
Under the first phase of the program, the insurance companies put up $150 million for CAPCOs and received $15 million in annual tax credits on their premium income over a decade.
But the reporting requirements imposed on CAPCOs have been inconsistent and the oversight by state regulators has been sporadic, says Monroe. That has resulted in CAPCOs not having to describe how they spent approximately $52 million of the subsidies they received, the auditor general says.
Despite the slipshod reporting, Monroe was able to track $83 million, on an at-cost basis, after it was invested. The recipients received an average infusion of $2.5 million for each CAPCO. At the time of the investment, the 33 CAPCOs employed 820 workers. As of last Dec. 31, the companies were down to 658 workers.
Letis stipulate that the past five years have not been kind to startups and that includes those in Florida. But Monroeis figures seem to suggest that either the CAPCOs have gotten incredibly efficient since accepting their cash from the insurers, or maybe they were never cut out to be big job producers.
Venom ER
Nothing like calling on a snake doctor to make your case. But thatis exactly what lawyer Karen Wasson did earlier this month in a medical malpractice trial against two Bayfront Medical Center physicians.
Wasson represents Lakewood Ranch couple Victor and Maria Lema, whose 2-year-old son, Derek, died in 2000 after being bit by an eastern diamondback rattlesnake.
To show that the Bayfront physicians erred, Wasson put Dr. Sean Bush, host of the Venom ER reality show on the Animal Planet, on the stand. Bush, an emergency room doctor in South San Bernardino, Calif., testified that only 10 people die each year from snakebites.
Bush contends the boy died from low blood pressure not treated quickly enough.
The Lemas are suing Bayfront and Drs. Anthony Acosta and Steven G. Epstein in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court. Closing arguments were scheduled for Nov. 18 after GCBRis deadline.
Wasson of Jacobs & Goodman PA in Altamonte Springs was up against defense attorney Kenneth Beytin of Tampais Burton Schulte Wekley Hoeler Robbins & Beytin.
Movini up?
The downtown Tampa office of Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns LLP moved last week to the Northern Trust Bank building at 425 N. Florida Ave. from the 18th floor of the Bank of America building.
Renovations to the Northern Trust buildingis second level took months. And rumor has it the firm owns the building. But no one at the firm or bank returned calls by deadline.
A law firm employee says about 30 people work in the Tampa office, including the venerable Guy Burns, who wasnit available for comment.
Frontrunners
Speculation heated up right after the general election that the next Florida governor just might be a lawyer from the Tampa Bay area o whether a Republican or Democrat.
For months, there has been talk among local legal and political circles that U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, D-Tampa, and Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, a Republican, are among the leading contenders to replace Gov. Jeb Bush, whose final term expires in 2006.
Itis not a foregone conclusion, however. There are a lot of names being tossed about as Bushis replacement. Thereis former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox, head of the state Democratic Party, and state Sen. Rod Smith, D-Gainesville, chairman-designate of the Senate Agriculture Committee. On the Republican side, there is speculation about state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher and Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings, a former Senate president.
So Coffee Talk had to ask Crist about his future plans during a brief interview at the Safety Harbor Resort & Spa. Heis not tipping his hand, however. iTalk to me later,i he says with his trademark white smile.
Meet Judge Barber
Itis always good to know a little bit more than the adversary about the judge assigned to a lawsuit. So lawyers might find it helpful to know that newly appointed Hillsborough County Judge Thomas P. Barber served as president of the Tampa Bay chapter of the Federal Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, a group of conservatives and libertarians focused on issues that affect the current state of the legal order.
Gov. Jeb Bush recently appointed Barber to replace newly appointed Circuit Judge Mark Wolfe. Up until his appointment, Barber practiced business litigation law in the Tampa office of Carlton Fields PA. He primarily represented individuals and businesses with governmental administrative and criminal investigations. A graduate of the University of Florida, Barber earned a law degree in 1992 from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.
Against type
Think everybody in the financial services industry is onboard with President George W. Bushis push to privatize Social Security? Better think again.
The conventional wisdom is that anybody who sells investment products for a living is dying to handle a portion of Americansi employee contributions to the Social Security Trust Fund for the fee and transaction income it would generate.
But visitors to the Florida Bankers Associationis Web site arenit so keen on the idea. The FBA conducts regular online polls, presumably for its members to let the associationis leadership know what is on their minds.
A recent FBA question asked: iHow do you feel about privatizing Social Security?i
The balloting, which ended Nov. 16, resulted in 51% of respondents saying it was a ibad idea.i That left 49% that approved of letting workers invest some of their Social Security contributions.
Wall Street may love the concept. Those Main Street wealth managers? Maybe not so much.
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
