Title Town

The lunchtime scene at Nationwide Title Clearing, a fast-growth 315-employee mortgage-processing firm in north Pinellas County, is like being back in high school.

Nearly every employee takes lunch at the same time. Indeed, the rows of cubicles inside the gated 38,000-square-foot complex, a former Christian church and daycare center, are a virtual ghost town during lunch. The Palm Harbor-based company, partially in response to employee requests, sets daily lunchtime from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Some folks gather inside the cafeteria to eat. Others eat lunch at metal picnic tables, where one munches on Doritos and yogurt. Some people huddle off to the side, chatting and smoking cigarettes. Still others eat by themselves while reading a book, curling up against a wall. On one recent Tuesday, a few people left the campus and returned with McDonald's bags.