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Leiweke new Bolts CEO
The Tampa Bay Lightning hired veteran sports executive Tod Leiweke as the new CEO of the hockey team. He will also have an stake in the Bolts' ownership entity, Tampa Bay Sports and Entertainment.
For the last seven years, Leiweke served as CEO of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and president of Vulcan Sports, which oversees the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers and the MLS' Seattle Sounders. He has prior NHL experience as executive vice president of the Vancouver Canucks and president of the Minnesota Wild.
“I envision a day when the Lightning will regularly play in front of sold-out crowds at the St. Pete Times Forum and be recognized as one of the leading corporate citizens in Tampa Bay,” Leiweke said in accepting his new post.
Decade of home sites
The Tampa Bay area has a backlog of home sites that could take at least this entire decade to absorb, according to a second-quarter report by Houston-based housing research firm Metrostudy. Overbuilding and the faltering economy are the culprits.
Hillsborough County has the largest number of available single-family lots on the Gulf Coast at 9,594, while Pasco County has 6,011. Although Pinellas County has 764 lots, Metrostudy estimates it could take up to 14 years to build and sell all of those at the current sales pace.
Under normal circumstances, a two-year backlog of finished sites would indicate a healthy housing market, said Tony Polito, director of Metrostudy's Tampa office.
'PitchMen' returns to TV
Discovery Channel's reality-based show “PitchMen” is set to return Aug. 19 without one of its original stars.
TV marketing gurus Anthony Sullivan and Billy Mays launched the Tampa-based program in April 2009, just two months before Mays died suddenly. Sullivan said he wants to keep the series going for a second 10-episode season, giving more inventors an opportunity to showcase their products nationally.
The program's premise will remain the same: People from across the country present their innovations to Sullivan, who then determines whether they are worthy to be pitched in lively commercials during cable TV shows.
City raises rates
Sarasota city commissioners approved a higher millage rate for homeowners by a 3-2 vote at a recent meeting.
The vote means the millage rate, currently 2.7771, could be as high as 2.9115 mills next year. One mill equals $1 in property tax for every $1,000 of assessed value.
However, since property values are down more than 10% in many instances, some taxpayers could still see a decrease in their overall bill.
The commission is able to increase the rate through a state law that allows local governments to raise or cut the millage rate to a level where it could collect the same amount in taxes that it did the previous year.
Still, Mayor Kelly Kirschner and Commissioner Terry Turner voted against the move, saying it would be too much of a hardship on city taxpayers.
Currency trader convicted
Sarasota currency trader and money manager Beau Diamond was convicted of 18 fraud charges in a case where federal prosecutors say he bilked clients out of more than $35 million.
Diamond was convicted July 21 after an eight-day trial held in federal court in Tampa. He was convicted on seven counts of wire fraud, seven counts of illegal money transactions, three counts of mail fraud and one count of transportation of stolen property. The mail and wire fraud charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors alleged Diamond, 32, told at least 200 investors that he was able to make money in foreign currency exchanges with little or no risk. He instead built a Ponzi scheme by defrauding the investors.
Diamond's sentence date is scheduled for Oct. 7.
Jackson lab on hold
Collier County commissioners put off a decision about whether to spend $130 million in subsidies for Jackson Laboratory, a Bar Harbor, Maine-based genetic research group.
Commissioners are considering whether to raise property taxes or impose a utility fee to fund the nonprofit's expansion in Collier County. The money would match $130 million pledged by state legislators, for total taxpayer subsidies of $260 million.
If approved, Jackson officials say they will hire 244 people over the next 10 years and operate the lab on land donated by the Barron Collier Cos. near Immokalee. Economic development officials hope the move will spur a cluster of biotech development in eastern Collier.
However, the $130 million in state funding is dependent on Florida receiving federal social-service funds that have not yet been granted because the legislation is bogged down in Congress. Collier County commissioners say they won't fund the county's share until they're certain state funds will be available.
Alico auctions tract
Alico, the LaBelle-based agriculture company, says a 4,157-acre tract of land near Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers will be auctioned on Aug. 18.
Alico, which has foreclosed on the property, had sold the land to Orlando developer Ginn Cos. during the residential boom and holds the $52.2 million mortgage. The company also holds $1.7 million in tax liens on the property.
A portion of the land is currently being used as a rock mine and another portion is entitled for a 336-home community and a 27-hole golf course.
Manufacturers get grant
The Southwest Regional Manufacturers Association has received a $383,000 grant to distribute to eight manufacturers for training.
The state grant will help manufacturers hire and train 168 new workers and upgrade the skills of 261 existing employees.
The eight companies that qualified for the grants are Storm Smart, Air Technology, Forestry Resources, Loos & Co., JRL Ventures/Marine Concepts, Pall Corp., Pelican Wire and Structured Medical.
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