• Alternate Text

  • Loading

  • Newsletters
  • Podcast
  • Public Notices
  • 40 Under 40 Nomination
  • Mobile App
  • Subscribe
  • Login
  • News
  • Strategies
  • Entrepreneurs
  • M&A
  • Leadership
  • Regions
    • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    • Manatee-Sarasota
    • Charlotte-Lee-Collier
    • Florida
  • Industries
    • Business Support
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Residential Real Estate
    • Development
    • Finance
    • Food-Beverage
    • Health Care
    • Manufacturing
    • Retail
    • Sports–Entertainment
    • Technology
    • Travel-Tourism
  • Insights
  • More
    • Advice
    • Transactions
    • 40 Under 40
    • Big Book of Business
    • Subscribe
    • Opinion
    • Executive Diversions
    • Change-Makers
    • Reprints
  • News
  • Strategies
  • Entrepreneurs
  • M&A
  • Leadership
  • Regions
    • Regions
    • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    • Manatee-Sarasota
    • Charlotte-Lee-Collier
    • Florida
  • Industries
    • Industries
    • Business Support
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Residential Real Estate
    • Development
    • Finance
    • Food-Beverage
    • Health Care
    • Manufacturing
    • Retail
    • Sports–Entertainment
    • Technology
    • Travel-Tourism
  • Insights
  • More
    • More
    • Advice
    • Transactions
    • 40 Under 40
    • Big Book of Business
    • Subscribe
    • Opinion
    • Executive Diversions
    • Change-Makers
    • Reprints
  • Newsletters
  • Podcast
  • Public Notices
  • 40 Under 40 Nomination
  • Mobile App
  • Subscribe
  • Login

Entrepreneurs

    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • July 15, 2016
Pizza man

Dan Bavaro is a street-smart entrepreneur with an amateur boxer's toughness. His current fight is to seize growth at the right pace.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • July 15, 2016
Good batch

After success in its homeland, a Polish family looks to grow in the States with a spirit distillery. At least $10 million in sales by 2020 is on the goals list.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • July 1, 2016
Paper power

A paper-based business, founded five years ago by a resolute entrepreneur, defies the digital age.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • June 24, 2016
Speed of sound

Online crowdfunding provided three innovative business partners who share a passion for great sound a powerful kick-start to their business. Now the pressure is on to deliver.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Steven Benna
  • June 17, 2016
Apathy fighter

Frank Maggio has taken an active role in the Sarasota area community. A run for office someday is possible.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • June 10, 2016
Money makers

Selling the services of finding money isn't always as easy it sounds.Tami Wankoff makes it work.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Jean Gruss
  • June 10, 2016
Venture boost

Dieter Kondek is on a mission to attract venture capital to Southwest Florida. For starters, he and his partners plan to raise $5 million for an angel fund and another $30 million for a health care fund.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Jean Gruss
  • June 10, 2016
Give it sizzle

Shelly Stayer created an electric grill specifically designed to cook bratwurst. The small appliance could boost sausage sales.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Elizabeth Morrisey
  • June 10, 2016
Lunge forward

After a life-changing event, Brad Lunz is ready to grow his Lakeland-based architectural firm. The expansion has been cautious, and cathartic.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Steven Benna
  • June 3, 2016
A nook for everyone

A business focused on tiny homes stores big potential. After five years, its founders want to seize it.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Jean Gruss
  • May 27, 2016
Better learner

Adam Hall, the founder of Nervanix, sold a stake in his company to a financial-services technology firm that promises to boost the company's fortunes.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Steven Benna
  • May 23, 2016
Executive Q&A: Fight industry exec does grunt work, too

Tampa marketing executive Michael Weber combines instinct with technology.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Beth Luberecki
  • May 20, 2016
Spirited games

Two former Wilson Sporting Goods executives brought more than 800 competitors and national television coverage to Naples for the first US Open Pickleball Championships.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Beth Luberecki
  • May 20, 2016
Clean start

Joe and Sandy Nelson brought the sparkle back to a local Molly Maid franchise. Hiring the right people — and being unafraid to purge the wrong ones — has driven the comeback.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Steven Benna
  • May 6, 2016
Tap into it

HCI Group invested $25 million to launch a flood insurance business. It has bold ambitions.

  • Entrepreneurs
« 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 »
The best of Business Observer, delivered directly to your inbox

Get the latest business and commecial real estate news from Tampa Bay to Naples.

Sign Up

Latest News

1
  • December 4, 2025
450-unit Nokomis apartment complex opens near Legacy Trail
2
  • December 4, 2025
Developer proposes Tampa's tallest building: 70 stories at $650 million
3
  • December 4, 2025
Airline adds flight from Fort Myers to upstate New York
4
  • December 4, 2025
50-year-old Tampa education-tech firm receives $350M investment
5
  • December 3, 2025
'Distressed' Tampa office building sells for $40M in short sale

Contact

  • 1970 Main St.
  • Third Floor
  • Sarasota, FL 34236
  • Phone: 941-362-4848

Extra, Extra!

  • Newsletters
  • App
  • Podcast
  • Big Book of Business

more

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Distribution Points
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Accessibility Options

sister sites

  • Your Observer
  • Jax Daily Record
  • Orange Observer
  • Accessibility Options
  • Copyright © 2025 Observer Media Group Inc., All Rights Reserved
×
3 Articles Remaining!
Not a Subscriber?

Click here to Subscribe

Already a Subscriber?

Click here to Login

Sign Up for Daily Brief

Start your day with the top Gulf Coast business news you need to succeed.

Sign Up for CRE Central

Stay updated with a weekly roundup of big deals, market shifts and the people shaping commercial real estate from Tampa Bay to Naples.

Smart People Subscribe.

Turn headlines into game plans. The playbook’s right here.
Subscribe to the Business Observer today.

Subscribe Now