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Entrepreneurs

    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • May 27, 2011
Back in the Salsa

An entrepreneur with a potentially tasty opportunity is on the hunt for investors.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • May 20, 2011
Anchors Away

A pair of diligent and persistent business partners with diverse backgrounds dips deep into the maritime industry. It's a risky course.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Jean Gruss
  • May 20, 2011
The Egg Man

Craig Sweet, a Fort Myers fertility doctor, says there's a business solution to abandoned embryos. He's encouraging their owners to donate them to his company.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • May 6, 2011
Free Fall

The wild spending ways of the federal government have driven one entrepreneur mad. He hopes for change.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Jean Gruss
  • May 6, 2011
TV in Paradise

Two former New York City television producers who moved to Naples found a niche in the area's hotels. Paradise Coast TV can now be seen in 5,000 rooms.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • May 6, 2011
Collared Dreams

A Gulf Coast inventor-entrepreneur wants to shake up an industry — menswear — that has been pretty staid. He dreams big.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Carl Cronan
  • April 29, 2011
Stuck on an Idea

Debra Weisser invented Hem-Eze while looking for a solution to varying pants lengths. After introducing the product on HSN, she's moving into mass marketing with Walgreen's.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • April 29, 2011
Cool Opportunity

Service and repair industry entrepreneur John Barbour delayed growth plans for five years. But the time to grow, Barbour believes, is now.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • April 22, 2011
Bounce Back

A partner dispute cost Kristi Bonsack a lot, including control of the firm she founded. But Bonsack made a big comeback.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • April 22, 2011
Just Did It

Heather Hackett grew up 'hunky and chunky.' The experience is the driving force behind her entrepreneurial venture.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • April 22, 2011
A Wise Move

Courtney Wise left Florida for California, but she came back for the chance to run a business. Challenges abound, but she has no regrets.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Jean Gruss
  • April 22, 2011
Client Driven

Samantha Howes says her entrepreneurial clients urged her to strike out on her own. She now has 50 clients six months after she formed her accounting firm.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Jean Gruss
  • April 22, 2011
Heavenly Hair

When she was just 16, Christa Lemonakis watched her best friend lose all her hair to cancer. She started a company vowing to help cancer patients and others deal with hair loss.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Carl Cronan
  • April 22, 2011
Creating Connections

Jessica Rivelli started Working Women of Tampa Bay as a networking group that has now expanded into a motivational and educational service, as well as a new job for herself.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Jean Gruss
  • April 22, 2011
Diva Sisters

Sisters Shawnda Cook and Shannon Redden plan to open a hair-products store in Lehigh Acres, where the market is growing and competitors are limited. They plan to treat their customers like divas.

  • Entrepreneurs
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