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General Dynamics Ordnance awarded ammunition contract for U.S. Marines
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, a St. Petersburg-based business unit of General Dynamics, recently received a contract from the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command to supply 120mm mortar ammunition for the Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS). The contract has a total potential value of $198.7 million. Two delivery orders totaling $101 million have already been awarded under the contract.
The EFSS ammunition is a family of munitions comprising four rounds types: high explosive, smoke, illumination and practice.
The Marine Corps has used EFSS ammo since 2009.
Triad lands ad deal for Sparknotes.com
Triad Retail Media will sell and manage all online advertising for Sparknotes.com, the company announced. The agreement represents Triad's second major online advertising deal this year.
In January, Triad entered into an exclusive agreement with eBay to manage its online advertising.
SparkNotes brings in 10 million unique visitors a month, combining for 100 million page views, according to company reports. The site provides students with a variety of study aid materials. (CliffsNotes is a major competitor.)
“SparkNotes' distinctive Web presence provides an ideal opportunity for any brand trying to reach this demographic of teens and young adults who have tremendous buying power and peer influence,” says John Crowther, SparkNotes general manager, in a prepared statement.
Greg Murtagh was named the Business Review's Tampa Bay Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010. His company earned $70 million in 2009 revenues, with business more than doubling over the two prior years. The Tampa-based firm changed its name from Triad Digital Media to Triad Retail Media earlier this year.
Bulova's two ammo contracts to contribute $500 million
After landing two significant defense contracts to kick off 2011, Clearwater-based Bulova Technologies Group Inc. (symbol: BLVT) is preparing to release updated earnings projections for the next five years in April.
In January, Bulova won an ammunitions contract with the U.S. Army. Although the contract did not come with a dollar amount, Bulova expects the deal to be worth $300 million in future revenues, based on similar contracts that have already been fulfilled.
Last month, the company won a second ammunitions contract, also with the Army. Bulova expects that contract to be worth $200 million in future revenues, for a total of $500 million in business over the next five years.
Bulova earned $11.7 million in revenues in the year that ended Sept. 30, 2010. But costs exceeded net sales, leading to an operating loss of $3.3 million, and a net loss of $10.4 million. Its common stock trades for 8 cents a share.
Sky Angel adds channels from Entertainment Studios
Naples-based Sky Angel has added four new Entertainment Studios high-definition networks: Cars.TV, My Destination.TV, WealthTV, Pets.TV and Recipe.TV to its nationwide channel lineup.
Sky Angel is a provider of inspirational and family-friendly television and radio programming.
Entertainment Studios Inc. is the largest independent producer and distributor of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. It owns six 24-hour HD television networks.
As their names suggest the stations are devoted to automobiles, pets, travel and cooking.
First Community repaying TARP
Pinellas Park-based First Community Bank Corp. of America says it will pay the U.S. Department of the Treasury $7.2 million to repurchase stock issued under the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program.
It will also repay 72% of its cash assets upon the bank's pending sale to Bradenton-based Community Bank & Co., which was announced in February and is expected to close this summer.
First Community issued 10,685 preferred shares and a warrant for 228,312 common shares when it received $10.7 million in TARP funds in December 2008. CBM Florida Holding Co. is paying $10 million for the bank, which will be dissolved with its investors receiving 27 cents to 35 cents per share.
Scotia Vision, i2eye merge ophthalmic firms
Tampa-based consulting company Scotia Vision LLC has entered into a merger agreement with i2eye Consulting LLC. Scotia Vision LLC says the merger will further strengthen its business model, which focuses on ophthalmic product development and business practices.
Susan Benton, the founder and managing partner of i2eye, will join Michael O'Rourke, the managing partner of Scotia Vision, as equal partners in the new combined entity. The new company will operate under the Scotia Vision name.
Prior to creating Scotia Vision Consultants, O'Rourke was general manager for Bausch+Lomb's U.S. pharmaceutical division.
Benton was previously co-founder and senior vice president of commercial operations for Sirion Therapeutics Inc., an ophthalmic biopharmaceutical company that brought Durezol and Zirga to market. She also worked for Bausch+Lomb as the head of pharmaceutical sales and commercial operations, where she launched its first branded pharmaceutical products, including Lotemax and Alrex.
Tampa's Savtira hires financial matchmaker
Savtira Corp. of Tampa has hired Aria Capital Advisors LLC to help it find a funding partner.
Aria Capital Advisors will act as an introducing broker for Savtira in its bid for new capital to grow its e-commerce platform.
Aria Capital Advisors provides transactional and financial expertise to middle-market companies seeking to restructure or transfer ownership.
BlueGlass Interactive, Ireckon Pty form BlueGlass Australia
Tampa-based Internet marketing company BlueGlass Interactive Inc. has opened an Australian sister company, BlueGlass Australia in a partnership with Ireckon Pty. Ltd.
The sister company will use BlueGlass' Internet marketing tools and staff and Ireckon's expertise in online applications, tools and Web development.
“For us, making Australia the first step in our global expansion was a relatively easy decision,” Greg Boser, president of services and products for BlueGlass Interactive, says in a press release. “It was fueled by a growing need for marketing services on the Australian continent, a strong, stable economy and an amazing partner on the continent that shared our vision for where online marketing services are going.”
BlueGlass Interactive already has offices in Tampa, New York, Salt Lake City and Los Angeles.
Max Media Group adds social media search
Palm Harbor-based Max Media Group Inc. has completed the development of its social-media search. The Max Media Social Search Engine, developed with technology acquired from Internet technology developer BlackStar Entertainment Technologies Inc., will allow users to search all data being generated in real time by Max Media's sites and other social media sites including Twitter, YouTube, Digg, and eventually Facebook.
The largest search engines, Google and Bing, have started to enter real time social-media search by importing Facebook and Twitter feeds. The move toward social-media search is seen as the next logical step for search results, as it returns results tailored to the searcher's existing social footprint.
“... Folks can see in real time what is the latest chatter from Charlie Sheen on Twitter, etc..” James Grady president and CEO of Max Media Group, says in a press release. “In a business application you will be able to see what is being said about your company and your competitors in real time. In beta testing this application was generating eCPM [cost per impression] advertising numbers 10 times our average.”
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