- December 13, 2025
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BP: Proximity no problem
Even though the BP oil spill was hundreds of miles from reaching Tampa Bay beaches, local businesses and individuals are not precluded from claims against the company, according to Kenneth Feinberg, Gulf Coast claims administrator for BP.
Feinberg pointed that out while answering questions from Florida elected officials about the broader impact of the spill on the state economy. He said proximity will not bar the processing of legitimate claims.
Claims are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and claimants still have to prove that their damages resulted from the spill. BP has paid nearly $1 billion in Gulf Coast claims over the last six weeks.
PBSJ buyout done
The acquisition of Tampa-based PBSJ Corp. by British design firm WS Atkins plc was completed Oct. 1, with 99% of voting PBSJ stockholders approving the $280 million transaction. The civil engineering consulting firm was one of the largest privately owned companies in the Tampa Bay area.
The purchase price is based on the previously agreed-upon offer of $17.137 for each share of PBSJ stock. The shares were not publicly traded and owned only by the company's employees and directors.
PBSJ, which has 3,500 employees and revenue of $799 million, is the parent company of PBS&J and Peter R. Brown Construction Inc. It relocated its headquarters to the MetWest International office complex in Westshore earlier this year.
'Clean zone' surrounds Trop
The Tampa Bay Rays and St. Petersburg city officials will enforce a “clean zone” within 30 blocks surrounding Tropicana Field throughout the team's post-season schedule, which began this past week with two American League Division Series home games.
The zone was established at the request of Major League Baseball to regulate commercial activity surrounding major sporting events. Vendors within the perimeter must obtain permits and sales of secondary tickets or unlicensed merchandise is not allowed.
A similar zone around the Trop was established during the Rays' World Series games in 2008, as well as the NCAA Men's Final Four basketball tournament in 1999.
HMA buys hospitals
Naples-based hospital operator Health Management Associates acquired the two hospitals of Wuesthoff Health System on Florida's east coast.
HMA paid $152 million for a total of 413 hospital beds that generate about $290 million of net annual revenues. The two Florida hospitals include the 298-bed Wuesthoff Medical Center in Rockledge and the 115-bed Wuesthoff Medical Center in Melbourne.
HMA now operates 60 hospitals with about 9,000 beds primarily in non-urban communities. The company's stock (symbol: HMA) recently traded near $7 a share.
CallMiner lands $3 million
A state-backed venture capital fund has invested $3 million in CallMiner, a Fort Myers-based speech analytics firm.
Asset management firm Hamilton Lane is investing funds from the Florida State Board of Administration in Florida-based companies such as CallMiner. The $3 million investment by The Florida Growth Fund is in addition to another $4 million CallMiner raised recently in its third round of venture financing.
CallMiner uses software to analyze millions of recorded conversations for large companies with call centers. Customers include Microsoft, Comcast and Verizon.
Permits remain depressed
Despite the talk about a rebound in homebuilding, builders in Lee County pulled fewer permits for single-family homes in September than they did in the same month last year.
Traditionally a slow month, builders pulled permits to build 23 single-family homes in Lee County in September. That's 26% less than the 31 they pulled in September 2009.
Builders pulled zero permits for multi-family residences in September, down from four in the same month last year.
Agency receives funds
Manatee County Area Transit received $15.9 million in federal funds to update its 26th Avenue East facility.
The money is part of the Federal Transit Administration's State of Good Repair program, which will dole out $775 million to 152 projects nationwide. A Manatee County press release didn't reference plans for how the agency will spend the money, but MCAT manager Ralf Heseler acknowledged the funds would be a boost.
“We'll be better positioned to be a regional transportation leader in terms of overall transportation,” Heseler says in the release. The $15.9 million represents the largest grant MCAT has received in at least the last 10 years.
Company plans expansion
Bradenton-based dental prosthetic manufacturer Natural Prosthetic Dental Lab Inc. says it will close its overseas manufacturing operations and add 283 jobs to the local facility over the next five years.
The company has worked with Minnesota-based tech giant 3M to reduce its manufacturing costs, and can now afford to bring production jobs back to the United States, according to a press release.
In addition to hiring local workers, NPDL plans to break ground this fall on a 15,000-square-foot facility in east Bradenton, the release states. The company expects to move into the larger facility by next spring.
Manatee County Commissioners approved a performance-based incentive of $283,000 to assist NPDL's expansion efforts. NPDL has done business in the Bradenton area for 26 years.
County chases debt
Sarasota County recently wrote off more than $3.5 million worth of unpaid bills.
The action is part of an annual exercise to balance the county's books, but it doesn't mean the county will stop trying to collect the unpaid debt. Almost all of the money, $3.1 million, comes from patients who failed to pay emergency medical bills, such as ambulance service.
