- March 28, 2024
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Sabadell Bank opens
Sabadell Bank & Trust opened an office in Naples and named Scott Kellett executive vice president and market executive. Kellett is the former CEO of Bank of Florida Trust Co.
Sabadell Bank & Trust is the wealth-management unit of Sabadell United Bank, which is owned by Banco Sabadell, Spain's fourth-largest banking group.
Sabadell United Bank is the eighth-largest bank headquartered in Florida, with $3.67 billion in assets. The Miami-based bank currently serves South Florida with 20 branches in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The Naples office is the company's third office on the West Coast of Florida.
TGM opens Chile office
Cape Coral-based Turbine Generator Maintenance has opened an office in Chile, forming a new company there called TGM, Limitada.
TGM says the new company and office will serve the South American region. TGM inspects, maintains and repairs large steam and gas turbines. Besides its headquarters in Cape Coral, TGM also has a training and logistics center in Knoxville, Tenn.
Home prices mixed
Prices of existing single-family homes rose in the Fort Myers area but fell in Naples in November, according to the two areas' Realtor associations.
The median existing single-family home prices in the Fort Myers area rose 25% to $103,900 in November compared with the same month a year ago, according to the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach.
In Naples, the median price of an existing single-family home fell 12% to $179,000 in November compared with November 2010, according to the Naples Area Board of Realtors.
Southwest expands service
Southwest Airlines plans to start nonstop service to Hartford, Conn., and Providence, R.I. from Fort Myers in the busy spring tourist season.
The seasonal nonstop flights between Southwest Florida International Airport and Hartford and Providence will begin Feb. 12 and operate daily until April 9. Southwest Airlines inaugurated service to Fort Myers in 2005.
Bank offers settlement
A division of Goldman Sachs agreed to a settlement worth almost $10 million in the case of Arthur Nadel, the Sarasota-based financier convicted last year of a $162 million Ponzi scheme.
The settlement offer, $9.85 million, would be the largest sum recovered in the Nadel case. Nadel was sentenced to 14 years in prison last October for bilking hundreds out of $162 million.
New York-based Goldman Sachs didn't admit to any wrongdoing in how it handled hedge funds run by Nadel. But the agreement, worked out with Tampa attorney Burt Wiand, the receiver in the case who seeks money for victims, avoids a lengthy court battle.
Unemployment rate drops
The unemployment rate in Manatee and Sarasota counties fell slightly last month, according to Florida Department of Economic Opportunity data.
The unemployment rate in Manatee County was 10.2% in November, down from 10.4% in October. In Sarasota, the unemployment figure dropped to 10% in November, from 10.4% in October.
The state posted similar decreases in joblessness data. The unemployment rate statewide was 10% in November, down 0.4 percentage points from October. Employers created 8,500 net jobs in the state in November, the DEO estimates. Also, net jobs are up 98,100 since November 2010, a 1.4% increase over the year.
Home sales rise
Monthly home sales in Sarasota had a solid increase in November on an annualized basis, according to data from the Sarasota Association of Realtors.
Overall, there were 602 sales in November, up 12.7% from November 2010. The median price of a single-family home in November, meanwhile, $162,000, was up slightly over November 2010, when it was $160,100. The median condo sales price, however, dropped, from $159,000 in November 2010 to $127,000 this past November.
Jabil CEO gets raise
Jabil Circuit CEO Timothy Main earned $10.3 million in total compensation in the company's 2011 fiscal year, as the firm set a new record with its revenues.
Jabil brought in more than $16.5 billion in its recently completed fiscal year, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows. The total represents a 23% over-the-year increase.
Operating income was up 77% to $578.7 million, and net income grew 126% to $381.1 million.
Main's base salary grew by 5%, to $1.05 million, while his stock-based compensation increased 23.4% to $7.28 million. He also received $1.97 million in cash-based incentive pay, bringing total compensation to $10.3 million, up 5% from last year's pay of $9.8 million.
2012 events show promise
Even beyond the Republican National Convention and the NCAA's Frozen Four men's hockey championship, events in Tampa could pump millions in delegate spending into the local economy.
Not including those two headline events, Tampa Bay & Co. estimates other scheduled conferences could bring $24.5 million in tourist spending to Tampa businesses. Among the events scheduled for 2012 are:
Moose Annual Convention 2012: Moose International Inc., a worldwide caregiving organization, is set to bring 3,000 delegates to the area, buying 17,500 hotel room nights and spending $2.5 million;
Technology Expo: An event organized for February by the American Trucking Association could bring 3,000 delegates, producing 7,400 hotel room nights and $2.2 million in spending.