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Results for:

  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • January 6, 2006
Stand Up Guy

Northern Trust economist Robert G. Dederick uses humor to make his predictions about 2006.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • March 24, 2006
Pay Dirt

The rapid growth at Metro Development Group - from $80 million in revenues to $200 million in one year - proves there's big time money buried in the Florida dirt. Digging it out takes a team of engineers who come up with creative ways for builders to use the land.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • February 10, 2012
Better Ventures

The venture-capital business is thawing from the recession's freeze as investors find opportunities to buy and sell stakes in promising Florida companies.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • March 17, 2012
Fancy Plumage

Mechanical ingenuity, craftsmanship and knowledge of customers have been the keys to success for SA Feather Company.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Kevin McQuaid |
  • March 6, 2020
Vanguard Land weighs risk vs. rewards when investing

Sarasota company bought properties with seemingly little upside coming out of the recession. Several have had impressive turnarounds.

  • Commercial Real Estate
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Brian Hartz |
  • November 23, 2018
Event horizon: Faced with failure, entrepreneurs tackle a new frontier

EventPower Inc. founder Frank Powell was forced to reinvent his Tampa-based business when government budget cuts destroyed his revenue stream.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Grier Ferguson |
  • August 17, 2018
Entrepreneur's journey takes him from night clerk to store owner

John Nguyen worked his way up from a 7-Eleven night clerk to a franchisee with three stores. Success, he says, stems from systems — and a willingness to take out the trash.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Mark Gordon |
  • December 2, 2016
Mr. Sandman

A sand and sun-kissed hobby can really be a thriving business. Mark Mason has done it for nearly 25 years.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Traci McMillan Beach |
  • June 30, 2017
Space for Culture

Companies are trying to be more creative with their office spaces, going smaller, yet with greater impact. But the first step in redesigning office space comes from someplace deeper: company culture.

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Janet Leiser |
  • October 9, 2025
Janessa Weiland, 39

40 Under 40 winner Janessa Weiland is COO and managing partner of Chapman Insurance Group.

  • Class of 2025
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Beth Luberecki |
  • September 4, 2024
$80M Naples hotel to target 'nearly' five-star travelers, locals

A Key West investment firm built a high-end hotel on its home turf. A second one is because the company is "intoxicated with the strength of the Naples hospitality market."

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • By Lesley Dwyer |
  • March 19, 2026
Water slides, bowling, go-karts and lots more coming to Lakewood Ranch

Several entertainment options are under construction on the Sarasota County side of Lakewood Ranch.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • August 3, 2007
10 years: Ambition trumped good sense

Navel gazing hasn't been our thing. You know, talking about yourself ... boring people with the most overused word in the dictionary: "I." But indulge us for a little of that - just for a little while. The Gulf Coast Business Review is 10.

  • Opinion
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • March 21, 2008
Mission: Possible

Brian Jones has gone two years without a paycheck to build his company, Adventure Training Concepts. But the retired U.S. Army Ranger hasn't given up and it's starting to pay off.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • October 9, 2008
Thomson: Comment

A former FDIC chairman who now lives on the Gulf Coast has been instrumental in leading the charge against the bailout. He has an alternative.

  • Opinion
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • April 10, 2009
The next shoe

Commercial real estate lending is the bread-and-butter-business of community banking on the Gulf Coast. With vacancies rising, could this sector overwhelm banks with bad loans?

  • Finance
  • 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 Beth Luberecki |
  • August 25, 2017
Wheel and Deal

Rodney Dessberg often goes against market conventions — with a high degree of success. What's his formula?

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • By Mark Gordon |
  • May 15, 2026
Roberta Beranek: Turns Naples Fashion Week into a must-go event

"I'm constantly competing with myself, reflecting on what went wrong, what went right." –Roberta Beranek

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • September 23, 2005
Calendar of Events

The Calendar of Events is available free of charge.

  • Entrepreneurs
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