• 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
    • Healthcare
    • 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
    • Healthcare
    • 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

  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • August 30, 2013
Will to Win

From sawdust to sweaters, Judith Williams has an unbridled energy to sell it. She also has one of a business owners' most potent weapons: She's fearless.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • August 30, 2013
Quick Churn

The delicate business of dying has turned into a fast-growth opportunity for a local entrepreneur. Her challenge is to harness it.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • August 23, 2013
Living the Dream

The spend-money-to-make-money philosophy is perfect for a local businessman behind a package delivery operation. He has extra-large growth goals.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Janet Leiser
  • August 23, 2013
Fish Tails

When it comes to mermaids and the underwater world, Eric Ducharme, founder of Mertailor LLC, is charmed. It appears his customers are, too.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Janet Leiser
  • July 26, 2013
Dream catcher

The owner of the Columbia Restaurant expects a new concept in Tampa Heights to spark redevelopment of the blighted area, where nearly half the residents live in poverty.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Janet Leiser
  • July 19, 2013
Betting on Bob

Outback Steakhouse's story is legendary in Tampa: Three friends, with a hunger for success and loans from relatives, grew one restaurant into a multibillion-dollar company. Will one of the founders work his magic again?

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • July 19, 2013
Patriotic part

Selling stuff only made in America sounds like a surefire business concept. A gung-ho entrepreneur will test the theory.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • July 12, 2013
Toilet Travails

Going from invention to market success can be one of the most difficult tasks in business. One local company injects humor into the process.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Jean Gruss
  • July 5, 2013
Show me the door

Entrepreneurs whose companies survived the recession are now thinking about retirement. George Ebel highlights the succession issues they face.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Janet Leiser
  • June 28, 2013
Leader of the pack

A specialty veterinary business started by brothers has grown to 31 clinics in 12 states. Revenues surpassed $100 million last year.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • June 14, 2013
Art of deal

Tampa investor and entrepreneur Bob Gries scored a $75 million payday recently on one transaction. His mission, though, remains the same: To swell the portfolios of his eclectic client list.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • June 14, 2013
Startup Station

Floridians have yet to embrace passenger rail service. An entrepreneurial company with historical connections to Henry Flagler will nonetheless give big-time rail a go.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • June 7, 2013
Model behavior

Taking a charter school from startup to long-term success can be a treacherous task. Some accomplished local entrepreneurs are about to take it on anyway.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Jean Gruss
  • May 31, 2013
Python hunter

Naples entrepreneur Tom Mooney escapes to the Everglades to hunt pythons and view the area's abundant wildlife.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • May 31, 2013
Rinse and repeat

A pair of entrepreneurs hopes to make good, for a second time, on an auto racing business. The risks, however, are thornier this go-around.

  • Entrepreneurs
« 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 »
The best of Business Observer, delivered directly to your inbox

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

Sign Up

Latest News

1
  • May 17, 2026
$203B wealth management firm expands in state with Naples debut
2
  • May 17, 2026
Fort Myers land zoned for single-family houses sold
3
  • May 16, 2026
Naples retail building sold by Hoffmann in 2023 is sold, again
4
  • May 15, 2026
Fort Myers memorial to veterans to be done by America 250 celebration
5
  • May 15, 2026
Watersports business relocates in Sarasota County

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 © 2026 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