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Coffee Talk (Tampa)
Long way to go
The president of the National Venture Capital Association reiterated the obvious to local entrepreneurs and investment bankers recently.
"The fact that there are so few venture capitalists in the state is a huge problem," says Mark G. Heesen.
Heesen brought along some new statistics for members of the Florida Venture Forum and the CEO Council of Tampa Bay to ponder.
Just 6% of the measly $1.1 billion of venture capital that was invested in Florida over the past three years came from within the state, according to figures from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/Venture Economics/NVCA's quarterly surveys.
That means startup companies are doing much better elsewhere.
In 2003, VC-backed companies in California generated $438 billion in annual revenue. That was best in the nation, according to industry analysts at Global Insight.
The usual suspects follow: Texas, with $188 billion in VC-backed company revenue for 2003; Massachusetts with $107 billion; and Washington state with $102 billion.
Florida, with more than twice the population of either Massachusetts or Washington, produced just $61 billion in 2003 revenue from its VC-backed companies - which also placed it behind Pennsylvania, Georgia, New York and Virginia.
Heesen doesn't see Florida's standing improving in the near future, in spite of the potential of a Scripps Research Institute campus in Palm Beach County.
The Scripps facility won't be able to attract top scientists for biomedical research, predicts Heesen. At least not as long as the governor is the brother of a U.S. president who opposes expanding scientific study of embryonic stem cells.
"Jeb Bush will find it difficult to defy his brother," says Heesen.
Head for Rio
Criminal defense lawyer Denis deVlaming makes a lucrative living helping people on the wrong end of the law defend themselves. His long list of impressive clients includes the Rev. Henry Lyons, the fallen leader of the country's largest black religious organization, and the late Robert Merkle, a Tampa Bay area federal prosecutor who was accused of punching a motorist.
Now, deVlaming isn't cheap or affordable. but he's good at what he does. He has even taken on the Church of Scientology.
Still, deVlaming says he was surprised to hear Tampa attorney Barry Cohen garnered a $10 million retainer from a businessman facing a federal criminal investigation. (See Cover Story.)
Cohen, who has won acquittals for high-profile clients over the years, is fighting a lawsuit by Mark Zboch that claims Cohen violated Florida's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Zboch, who paid Cohen $4.5 million up front, doesn't want to pay another $5.5 million he'd previously agreed to in a promissory note.
As for deVlaming, he jokingly says he'd head for Rio if he had $10 million in his bank account.
It seems the legend of Cohen grows even bigger.
Businessmen honored
The Tampa Bay area group of the American Diabetes Association recently honored four local businessmen as outstanding fathers: Richard Gonzmart, president of the Columbia Restaurant Group; Dr. Pit Gills III, a board certified ophthalmologist at St. Luke's Cataract and Laser Institute; Dave Ross, vice president and general manager of the Auburndale-based Tri-P Region of Brighthouse Networks; and Steve Morgan, vice president of The Electric Co. Inc., Lakeland.
"The fathers we have chosen this year are so impressive in their professional and personal lives," says Doreen Gottschalk, president of the Tampa Bay ADA Leadership Council.
The men were recognized June 2 at the Wyndham West Shore for serving as a positive role model for their families and making a difference in the community.
Gonzmart has created numerous charitable foundations, including the Cesar Gonzmart Memorial Golf Tournament and "Richard's Run for Life" to benefit cancer research. Gills, a triathlete and 1996 Hawaii Ironman, has been instrumental in medical missions to the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Ross is a longtime supporter of cancer and diabetes causes and he works with Junior Achievement. And the Steven Christopher Morgan Memorial Golf Classic, in honor of Morgan's late son, has raised more than $170,000 to benefit charities, including the ADA.
Hyde Park Capital lands another
John H. Sykes, who retired last year from the Tampa call-center company he founded, is the latest high-profile addition to Hyde Park Capital Partners LLC's advisory board.
Sykes has agreed to help scout deals for John H. Hill Jr., senior managing director at the Tampa investment bank. Hill used to be an investment banker for Sykes Enterprises Inc. Hyde Park Capital has already recruited former Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Tampa lawyer Bill McBride as well as retired securities executive Jerry Williams to its advisory board. Sykes grew up in Charlotte, where Hyde Park Capital recently opened its second office.
Don't call it a branch
The Bank of Commerce is adding a second location in Sarasota. But don't let Charles O. Murphy catch you calling it a branch of his bank.
"We have found customers do not view 'branches' positively, with a perception that a branch is merely an offshoot of a 'main' office," observes Bank of Commerce President and Chief Executive Murphy in a May 25 news release.
The customers are always right.
Murphy favors the term "banking center" for his new office at Cattleman Road and Cattleridge Drive. "We want our customers to know they are working with empowered, decision-making managers and executives at every location of The Bank of Commerce," adds Murphy.
Bank of Commerce, 5 years old this summer with $234 million in assets as of March 31, bills itself as the leading independent bank serving Sarasota County.
The bank, owned by Bank of Commerce Holdings Inc., had a 1.53% share of county deposits on June 30 of last year. Century Bank was the only locally based competitor with a bigger share, 2.41%, but technically it is a federally chartered thrift.
Richard S. Moore, a senior vice president at Bank of Commerce, will head up - OK, if it will make Mr. Murphy feel better - the Cattleman Banking Center. But Coffee Talk doesn't want to hear about any loan officers on Cattleman Road having to call downtown for an OK.
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