COVER UPDATE: Think Big

Vince Scuilla refuses to let the recession dampen the optimistic outlook for his company, which produces private-label lines of laboratory-made bacteria used primarily for wastewater treatment.

“You could sit back and say recession this and recession that,” says Scuilla, which is pronounced Shula. “Or you could look for areas where you can grow.”

Scuilla has followed that line to near-perfection lately. His company, Sarasota-based Osprey Biotechnics, is now planning to enter the research and development phase of a new market in 2010: Laboratory-made fungi to be sold as biological agents that can control weeds and wipe out pests and insects, including roaches.