Merger transformation: Industry slowdowns are often times to re-evaluate your business model and although the Gulf Coast real estate market is still moving fast, evidence of at least two companies revisiting their strategic is already emerging. There could be more.Don't worry, feel happy: A new survey by the International Profit Associates Small Business Research Board shows that small business owners and executive managers are starting to feeling positive about the outlook for 2006.Boyd Realty targeting Fortune 500?: Brenda Boyd May's new partner in her Manatee County real-estate company Boyd Realty has a decidedly corporate background.Colliers Arnold bulks up its Fort Myers office: The booming commercial real estate market in Fort Myers is not a secret anymore and Clearwater-based Colliers Arnold is doubling its staff there.Speaking of hot markets...: The figures coming out of Lee County Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson's office show just how frenzied the real estate market was last year.Buying in, selling out: If your private company has a problem, it is unwise to leave early investors or later buyers in the dark.Private Capital Management's 'difficult' year: Bruce Sherman, chief executive officer of Naples-based Private Capital Management, isn't used to losing.But 2005 was not his money management's year to shine.