- December 16, 2025
-
-
Loading
Loading
PwC files WARN notice
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP informed state authorities that it will lay off 280 workers at its Tampa operations by Dec. 31. The notification was made through the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification law, which requires companies to formally post job cuts.
The affected positions include professional, scientific and technical services. PwC previously announced it would cut 500 information technology positions in Tampa.
The layoff announcement is the single largest job cut in the Tampa Bay market this year, topping the 275 cuts posted in June by Medline Industries Inc. in Clearwater.
Firm expands management
WellCare Health Plans Inc. changed the structure of its management team recently.
Walter Cooper is WellCare's new chief administrative officer, the company announced in a release. Moreover, COO Rex Adams said he will leave the Tampa-based firm, effective Nov. 1.
Cooper joined WellCare in 2006, and since March he's been serving the company as both its chief marketing officer and as president of the firm's specialty business unit. Cooper served in a number of senior-level positions with UnitedHealth Group prior to joining WellCare.
WellCare also recently announced that Marc Russo would join the company as president of its North division, a market that includes operations in Illinois, New York, and Ohio.
Rays attendance lags
The Tampa Bay Rays drew just under 2 million fans this past season, averaging 23,000 per game despite one of its best years ever on the field and earning their second American League East title. Attendance figures were well below expectations of the Rays' ownership, which seeks to replace St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field with a new stadium.
While the Rays sold out the Trop for three home games in the AL Division Series, attendance fell to as low as 12,000 for some important games, prompting complaints by key players. The Rays ranked 22nd out of 30 Major League Baseball teams in attendance during the regular season, in which it won 96 games.
Although the Rays fared far better in television ratings, setting records on the Sun Sports cable network, thousands of empty blue seats were evident most games.
Algenol plant opens
Algenol Biofuels opened a 40,000-square-foot research laboratory and refinery in Fort Myers that will produce ethanol from algae. The facility is being funded in part by federal and local government subsidies.
Algenol is working with Dow Chemical, Valero Services and other energy companies to develop processes to produce ethanol cheaper than corn-derived ethanol. The company has been awarded $25 million from the federal government and $10 million from Lee County for the project.
The property will also house Algenol's bioreactors, in which algae will grow and convert carbon dioxide into ethanol.
Canadian-born entrepreneur Paul Woods and some partners founded Algenol in 2006 with $70 million. Woods grew and sold natural-gas companies in Canada before moving to Bonita Springs.
Airport traffic rises
Passenger traffic through Southwest Florida International Airport rose 4.1% in September compared with the same month a year ago. In September, 374,590 passengers passed through the Fort Myers airport. Year-to-date, passenger traffic is down 0.6% from the first nine months of 2009.
The top five airlines at the airport in September were Delta, AirTran, Southwest, JetBlue and USAirways.
Home sales fall
Sales and median prices of existing single-family homes in Naples fell in September compared with the same month a year ago, according to the Naples Area Board of Realtors.
The number of sales of existing single-family homes fell 17% to 265 in September and the median price fell 9% to $173,000.
The sharpest decline in median prices of single-family existing homes was in the $500,000-to-$1 million price range, which fell 6% last month compared to September 2009.
At the current sales pace there is a 16-month supply of existing single-family homes for sale in the Naples area.
Growth plan approved
In a 3-2 vote, Manatee County commissioners approved a developer's proposal for a commercial project on the outskirts of a residential neighborhood.
The developer, Covered Bridge Holdings II LLC, plans to build a 23,000-sqaure-foot plaza made up of a retail store, a fast-food restaurant and a gas station. The three-acre site, in the Tallevast neighborhood, was previously zoned for suburban agriculture and light industrial. But the commission voted to alter the zoning to planned development commercial, despite please from some local residents to deny the developer's request.
The site is at the intersection of U.S. 301 and Tallevast Road, near the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.
Businesses add employees
Two manufacturing companies in Sarasota County intend to hire 274 new employees over the next five years.
The companies, Tervis Tumbler and Sarasota Medical Products, will benefit from $710,000 in performance-based subsidies from the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County. Each new employee must earn a wage that exceeds the current county annual average for the companies to receive the funds.
Venice-based Tervis Tumbler, which makes drinkware and related gift products, could receive up to $350,000 if it adds 214 jobs over the next five years, an EDC release says. Sarasota Medical Products, meanwhile, could get $360,000 if it adds 60 jobs.
Company acquires peer
Sarasota-based Integrated Freight Corp., a motor-freight company, bought Wichita-based Bruenger Trucking Co. and its subsidiary, M. Bruenger & Co. Inc. The transaction is worth about $11 million.
Integrated Freight expects the purchase to add $21 million to the firm's annual revenues, which would push total revenues above the $60 million mark, a company release says. Former Bruenger CEO Butch Bruenger will be appointed to a leadership role with Integrated Freight after the transaction.
