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Strategies

    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 19, 2008
Looking Inland

Lehigh Acres is one of the areas of the Gulf Coast hardest hit by the real estate bust. So why is a group of investors betting a new bank will succeed there?

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 19, 2008
Gulf Coast Week

Ethanol plant changes: Litigation and water challenges in finding financing have led a company to abandon plans for an ethanol production plant at the Port of Tampa.Verizon changing command: Alan Ciamporcero, who led Verizon's operations on the Gulf Coast and throughout the Southeast the past five years, is retiring July 25.Project holdups linger: Delays are once again plaguing a development in downtown Bradenton involving property once controlled by St. Petersburg developer and entrepreneur Frank Maggio.Buchanan honored by USF: The business education side of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus has been renamed the Vernon G. Buchanan College of Business Wing after the congressman, who gave the school $100,000 last year.Sarasota County saves jobs: In an effort to avoid more layoffs and wage freezes, Sarasota County Administrator Jim Ley recommended to Sarasota County commissioners that the county dip into it's so-called stabilization fundNew Fort Myers hospital: Boca Raton-based Promise Healthcare Inc., a long-term acute care hospital company, plans to build a new hospital in Fort Myers.Air Berlin adds flight: Air Berlin, the German airline that recently acquired rival LTU, plans to boost the number of flights from Germany to Southwest Florida International Airport this summer.EDC chief takes buyout: Regina Smith, the executive director of the Lee County Economic Development Office, recently announced

  • Finance
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 13, 2008
'Growaholic'

Larry Morgan can look back on a lot of success as an entrepreneur, but prefers to plan the next business conquest.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 13, 2008
Business prospects on hold in Lee County

Business prospects in Lee County are dim, but there are some hopeful signs, according to a quarterly survey of more than 200 companies conducted for the Horizon Council, a business group in Fort Myers.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 13, 2008
Calendar of Events

View events from around the Gulf Coast for free.

  • Strategies
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 13, 2008
Sensing Success

Alaka'i, an engineering research and development firm, is seeing consistent growth through its bomb-detecting sensors.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 13, 2008
Around the World

In the high-stakes world of running an international travel agency, it helps to be opportunistic. Never take no for an answer.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 13, 2008
Leaving the comfort zone

Ben Nelson Jr. says spending time away from his marine-construction business made him a better boss and made is company more successful. Now, he faces the biggest test of that as the newly elected mayor of Bonita Springs.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 13, 2008
Gulf Coast Week

Trump Tower trumped: The $225 million Trump Tower in downtown Tampa that began with such fanfare in early 2005 appears to be headed for a quiet, ignominious end.Rays' lead-off lawyer: The Tampa Bay Rays may be riding high on the field this season, but they are in critical need of support from the Pinellas County Commission later this summer to move ahead on a new bayfront stadiumManatee cuts jobs: At least 85 jobs in Manatee County could be eliminated over the next few months, as the county begins to respond to what could be as much as $44 million in budget cuts.New Publix planned: An abandoned newspaper office could be turned into one of the largest Publix supermarkets in the area in and around downtown SarasotaEmbarq closes call center: Telephone service provider Embarq will close its Fort Myers customer call center Aug. 8 and lay off 108 employees, the company says.Creeks preserve opens: Lee County opened the Caloosahatchee Creeks Preserve May 20, a 1,261-acre site on which the county spent $2.1 million to improve 200 acres with restrooms, a canoe launch, parking areas, picnic shelters, trails and observation decks.BioFlorida starts chapter: BioFlorida, the state's bioscience industry association, has launched a Southwest Florida chapter, its sixth in the state, according to the Economic Development Council of Collier County.

  • Finance
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 13, 2008
International Flavor

A Mexican businesswoman happily discovers that American challenges, such as a stifling economy, beat the worries she faced back home.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 13, 2008
Flying Low

Tourism has been one of the few economic bright spots on the Gulf Coast, but the airlines' woes may crimp the industry's growth. One potential salvation: international visitors.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 13, 2008
The Right Balance

Doubling the size of a retail operation during an economic downturn takes a few essentials. Capital, for one. Experience helps, too. The biggest factor? Guts.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 13, 2008
Corporate Report

Alico ends ethanol efforts, New Planet Energy continuesBrown & Brown Inc. buys California company assetsTech Data Corp. plans $100 million stock buybackMedia Vista Group moves TV show taping siteChico's FAS reports reduced sales, comparablesThree area health pros buyHome Instead Senior CareSunovia Energy Tech sells lights to Texas cityFox Electronics expands XpressO product lineMarineMax extends Meridian

  • Industries
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 6, 2008
The Swedish Maestro

Starting a hurricane-shutter business during a housing downturn is not for the faint of heart. But one Swedish entrepreneur is betting on a new business model for the industry.

  • Entrepreneurs
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 6, 2008
Impact resistant?

Market realities have forced PGT Industries, one of the oldest, and largest, window and door manufacturers on the Gulf Coast, to make some big changes.

  • Entrepreneurs
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