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Strategies

    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • September 4, 2008
Writedown Countdown

Investors are implementing writedowns checkson bank stocks as a new Wall Street ritual.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • September 4, 2008
Tier Trouble

One of many ratios banks are judged on is all the rage these days for those seeking to spot the next bank failure. But is it accurate?

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • September 4, 2008
Bank Beachhead

USAmeriBank, unaffected by real estate loans, is focusing onserving commercial customers and expanding in central Florida.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • September 4, 2008
Group Growth

With a foothold already in place in St. Petersburg and Jacksonville, the Florida Bank Group is now setting its sights on Sarasota. After that, it's the rest of Florida.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • September 4, 2008
Growing the Wealth

Ray Ifert brings his knowledge of west central Florida to Bank of New York Mellon, which established a Tampa office in January to seek and serve the affluent.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • September 4, 2008
Bond Buyers

Forget stocks. Bonds are where the action is this year. Wasmer, Schroeder & Co. is one of the most skillful at picking fixed-income investments.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • September 4, 2008
Corporate Report

Dermazone Solutions gainsprescription-drug permitProgress Energy Floridato cut jobs, restructureHealth Management Associatesfinishes Little Rock hospital sale

  • Industries
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • September 4, 2008
Gulf Coast Week

Utilities seek rate hikesProgress Energy and Tampa Electric have both asked the Florida Public Service Commission for permission to raise electricity rates in January to cover the rising cost of coal, oil and natural gas.Brownfield grants redevelopThe Pinellas County Commission this week accepted a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding three brownfield cleanup grants totaling $600,000.Ritz-Carlton seeks expansionThe Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota already the go-to spot for luxury hotels in Greater Sarasota, could be adding another title to its mantle within the next two years: Biggest hotel in Greater Sarasota.Project receives green lightA mix-used project for Englewood, in the southern reaches of Sarasota County, has been given the preliminarily go-ahead by Sarasota County commissioners. Lee permits stay lowLee County issued permits for 37 single-family homes in August compared with 55 issued in August 2007, a 33% decline. The numbers are evidence that builders of new homes continue to face a tough market.nti-growthers win in LeeThree Republican incumbents on the Lee County commission who ran on anti-growth platforms won their primaries, paving the way for their reelection in November in the heavily Republican area.Tax on road buildersA consultant hired by Lee County commissioners is recommending the county tax businesses that mine rock used in road building. The new so-called "imp

  • Finance
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • September 4, 2008
Public Challenge

Investors flocked to publicly traded banks during the recent boom. But they've punished the banking sector in the downturn, pushing down stock prices to multi-year lows. The Florida stigma hasn't helped.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 29, 2008
Gulf Coast Week

City budget proposedWater pipe repairs, a new downtown art museum and widening Bruce B. Downs Boulevard are among the items in the city budget proposed by Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.History center grantOne of the Gulf Coast's emerging attractions, the Tampa Bay History Center, recently received a $1 million grant from the Kresge Foundation, but it must continue its fundraising to meet a deadline for the grant.Alligator Alley lessorsSix companies are vying to lease Alligator Alley, the 78-mile toll stretch of Interstate 75 that crosses the Everglades from Collier to Broward counties.Fort Myers airport traffic dropsPassenger traffic at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers fell 6.1% to 503,000 in July compared with the same month last year.Naples visitor count risesThe number of visitors staying at hotels in the Naples area rose 3.5% to 110,700 in June compared with the same month last year, according to Research Data Services.Local company expandsL-3 Aviation Recorders, one of the world's largest manufacturers of airplane cockpit voice and flight data recording systems known as black boxes, has committed to remain in Sarasota for at least another decade.Soccer moves forwardThe effort to bring back the Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer team took another step forward recently as an investment group filed documents to rezone land so they can build a 5,000-seat soccer stadium in Town n' Country, a northwest suburb of

  • Finance
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 29, 2008
Young Minds

Steve Morris saw an untapped market in teaching kids and teens the ABCs of entrepreneurialism. Now he's gone global.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 29, 2008
Retail is Alive (Really!)

Reports of the death of Florida retail aregreatly exaggerated. For now, an objective look at commercial real estate vacancies and rents doesn't show widespread distress.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 29, 2008
Smart Charlotte

Developers and builders have skipped over Charlotte County because of its reputation as an unfriendly place to do business. The county's 34-year-old director of growth management wants to change that.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 29, 2008
Passionate for Patterson

How do you run an charity that grew itsendowment from $3 million to $225 million overnight? Debra Jacobs, a former Gulf Coast banking executive turned local philanthropic guru, is about to find out.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 29, 2008
A Buying Binz

One of the last remaining pre-World War II commercial buildings in downtown Sarasota is up for sale.

  • Entrepreneurs
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