- December 16, 2025
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DeBartolo on Forbes 400
Edward DeBartolo Jr., a Tampa resident whose father is credited with pioneering the indoor shopping mall concept in the late 1940s, is on the latest Forbes 400 list, ranked at No. 269 with a net worth of $1.5 billion. He is the only person on the list who lives in the Gulf Coast region.
DeBartolo, the former owner of football's San Francisco 49ers, relocated to Tampa in 1999 to launch a real estate development firm. He also owns part of the Famous Famiglia pizza chain and offers agent representation of pro athletes through DeBartolo Sports & Entertainment.
In addition to being a major stakeholder in Simon Property Group, DeBartolo is involved in various real estate investments in Florida, including the former Georgetown Apartments in south Tampa.
McClelland resigns
Stan McClelland, CFO of Pinellas Park-based First Community Bank Corp., resigned Sept. 30. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission did not specify a reason for the departure.
McClelland had been with First Community for the last four years and served as CFO since January 2007. He was previously director of cost development, pricing and finance with Certegy Payment Services from 1998 to 2006, and was also a finance officer for 19 years with Barnett Bank and NCNB.
First Community posted assets of $518.1 million at midyear, down 7% from mid-2009. It also recorded a loss of $8.5 million in this year's second quarter.
Progressive hiring
The Progressive Corp. plans to boost its workforce by 10% at its auto insurance call center in Riverview by Jan. 31, 2011. The 240 positions are in sales, service and claims.
The phone representatives will sell policies, answer customer questions and assist with filing claims after car accidents. The positions offer paid training and could be appealing to people looking to start new careers as licensed insurance agents.
Mayfield Village, Ohio-based Progressive is the nation's fourth-largest auto insurer. It has 2,450 employees at its complex on Crescent Park Drive south of Falkenburg Road.
Foreclosure sets record
A $28.9 million foreclosure judgment recently handed down against two Bradenton development firms set a record for the largest default in Manatee County.
Wells Fargo Bank sued the developers, Fountain Lake of Bradenton LLC and Palm Cove Development of Bradenton LLC, earlier this year. The developers, according to court records, were unsuccessful in an attempt to turn more than 500 apartments into condos in 2005. The developers borrowed the money from Wachovia, which was bought by Wells Fargo.
Riviera Southshore, a failed project made up of waterfront condos in north Manatee County, represented the previous foreclosure judgment record in the county at $22.3 million. A separate $56 million foreclosure case was dropped before a judgment, when the project was sold.
Stations join forces
Sarasota-based ABC 7 WWSB TV and St. Petersburg's 10 News have formed a newsgathering partnership in an attempt to provide more complete news coverage to both markets.
ABC 7 covers Sarasota and Manatee counties, while 10 News covers both the Tampa Bay area and the Sarasota market. Ken Tonning, president at 10 News, expects the partnership to improve the timeliness of his CBS affiliate's news coverage. “When something happens in Sarasota that our viewers need to know, there will be no travel delay,” Tonning says in a release.
ABC 7 News is part of Southern Broadcast Corp. of Sarasota, while Gannett owns 10 News.
Port receives funds
The Port of Manatee received a $3.34 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The grant is part of the DOT's new waterway development effort, the America's Marine Highway program. The Port of Manatee represents one endpoint of the Cross Gulf Container Expansion Project, which connects to the Port of Brownsville in Texas. The federal money will be used to modify two barges and purchase equipment that will increase fuel efficiency.
The investment could reduce diesel fuel usage by 2.7 million gallons a year, a DOT release says. The Port of Manatee was declared eligible for funding for the marine highway program last month.
Fed bank enforcement
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and Naples-based TIB Financial agreed to an enforcement action against the company to boost capital.
The “written agreement” signed Sept. 13 and made public on Sept. 22 calls on TIB to maintain sufficient capital within 60 days. On July 2, TIB entered into an enforcement order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation that also called for the company to boost its capital at its subsidiary bank, TIB Bank.
North American Financial Holdings, a group of investors headed by former Bank of America executives, plans to invest $175 million and recently obtained regulatory approval to do so.
Airport traffic drops
Passenger traffic through Southwest Florida International Airport fell 2.2% in August compared with the same month one year ago. In August, 444,714 passengers passed through the Fort Myers airport. For the year, passenger traffic is down 1%.
Hotel revenues fall
Occupancies and rates at Collier County hotels fell, pushing revenues down in August compared with the same month a year ago.
Revenue per available room fell 8.2% in August to $41.40 compared with August 2009. Occupancies fell two percentage points to 43.7% and average daily rate fell 3.9% to $94.80 in August, according to Research Data Services Inc.
Fort Myers accountant dies
Martin Clifford “Cliff” Chaipel, 64, a well-known accountant in Fort Myers, died unexpectedly on Sept. 23.
Chaipel was one of the founding partners of Schultz, Chaipel & Co. in Fort Myers. LarsonAllen acquired the firm in 2007.
