'Bittersweet Solution'

The dilemma Ed and Eric Rosenthal faced about the future of their fast-growing fertilizer business was a so-called 'good problem.'

Sales at the Sarasota-based firm, Florikan, have doubled since 2009, to around $30 million last year. Most of that comes courtesy of Florikote, a patented polymer-coated fertilizer with a controlled-release mechanism the company developed with help from NASA — and an investment of more than $500,000. The gist behind the science of the product is less fertilizer on a more even distribution plan is better than more product sprayed sporadically. It's an anti feast-or-famine approach counterintuitive to the industry, but it has resonated with the firm's customer base of growers and agricultural operators.

It resonated so much the potential for more growth is an immediate opportunity the father-son executive duo doesn't want to waste. They seek to expand production to a third and fourth shift and hire at least 20 more people, 10 right away.