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Strategies

  • For Subscribers Only
    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
  • For Subscribers Only
    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
  • For Subscribers Only
    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
  • For Subscribers Only
    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
  • For Subscribers Only
    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
  • For Subscribers Only
    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
  • For Subscribers Only
    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
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 29, 2008
Getting it back

Steve Delaney lost a lucrative book-printing deal a year ago to low-cost Chinese competitors, but he won it back when the Olympics disrupted business there. The deal shows how American businesses can take advantage of the perils of offshoring.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 29, 2008
Corporate Report

Study: SinoFresh spray kills MRSA in nosesIntertape Polymer Groupreleases new roof productCryo-Cell, EndGenitor planjoint research programMIVA rearranging itsEuropean operationstate approves site forSeminole clean coal unitHSN Inc. leaves IAC,listed on NASDAQWellCare Health Plansmakes payment agreementGevity plans 5-cent dividend,31st quarterly paymentBrown & Brown buys assetsof Pennsylvania-based firm

  • Industries
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 29, 2008
Calendar of Events

View Events from around the Gulf Coast for free.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 29, 2008
Opportunity Time

Despite the real estate downturn, Ray Sandelli believes strong fundamentals will mean good news for commercial real estate on the Gulf Coast.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 25, 2008
Attractive debt

Large institutional investors, including the largest pension fund in the U.S., are finding debt funds more attractive than stocks. It could be a risky, but lucrative, bet if the economy turns around.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 25, 2008
Tent Revival

Brian Boyle and his two sons survived some early mistakes in their first family-runentrepreneurial effort. Now the business is actually growing in a down economy.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 25, 2008
Gulf Coast Week

Animal park hits snagA proposed animal safari tour business, developed by the chief executive of Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, has been delayed because of government red tape.Raytheon pledges cleanupFacing a class-action lawsuit from nearby residents, Raytheon says it will clean up the groundwater contamination near its St. Petersburg defense plant, but that the project, which will cost millions, could take more than five years.Wal-Mart project approvedA group of neighborhood organizations in South Sarasota County have taken the unusual step of supporting a plan to bring a Wal-Mart to town. YMCA to expandThe congested section of Lakewood Ranch north of State Road 70 and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard could get busier with a major expansion of the Lakewood Ranch YMCA branch. FM waterfront developmentThe City of Fort Myers selected Acquest Realty Advisors, a Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based developer, to redevelop five downtown acres along the Caloosahatchee River.Naples festival chooses chefThe Naples Winter Wine Festival will host Emeril Lagasse and 16 other star chefs Feb. 6-8 to raise money for children's charities in Collier County.Valpak for saleAfter finishing a new printing plant in St. Petersburg, Valpak has learned that its Atlanta-based parent company, Cox Enterprises Inc., is trying to sell Valpak.

  • Finance
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • August 25, 2008
Block by Block

During the boom, as much as 90% of Boran Craig Barber Engel Construction Co.'s business was building condominiums. The company is returning to commercial construction andexploring new avenues to replace lost condo business, including insurance and small projects.

  • Entrepreneurs
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