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Results for:

  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • February 11, 2005
A Green Lumberjack

Kimal Lumber Co. looks to technology for increased efficiency and environmental sustainability.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • July 6, 2006
Coffee Talk

Bam! Emeril will return to Naples: Star chef Emeril Lagasse will return to the Naples Winter Wine Festival in January, Coffee Talk hears.A new vision for Fisher: When entrepreneur Bill Fisher resigned as Southeast Division dealer development manager for Visionary Vehicles in late 2005, Coffee Talk had a feeling there might be a story to follow. Big doings in Sarasota: The talk percolating through Sarasota County's economic development circles is that a company with $1 billion in annual revenue soon will be announcing the relocation of its corporate headquarters staff to Sarasota.Builders Split: Some of the largest members of the Pasco Building Association say it's wrong to sue Pasco County over its recently adopted comprehensive growth management plan, even though they disagree with the new rules that they consider anti-growth.Soft landing in Fort Myers?: Southwest Florida International Airport's record-breaking passenger counts may be showing signs of leveling off, the latest numbers show.Banking the campaigns: With two former Sarasota bankers in the running for Katherine Harris' U.S. Congressional seat, Coffee Talk decided to take a peek at what all the potential candidates have been getting from banks in terms of campaign donations.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • July 6, 2006
Still Going Strong

Bankers have a growing list of worries these days. Nonetheless, Florida has been and is expected to remain one of the fastest-growing banking markets.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • September 13, 2005
Coffee Talk (Tampa)

Good news for Phelps Dunbar: At first glance, it looks like the New Orleans headquarters of 240-lawyer Phelps Dunbar LLP - one of the oldest continuously operating law firms in the South - escaped serious injury, as did the firm's employees.The politics of strange bedfellows: Tampa trial lawyer Tom Scarritt apparently endeared himself to colleagues during the first year of his two-year term on the Florida Ethics Commission. They elected him chairman a week or so ago.Weep not for insurers, yet: Insurance companies have only started totting up their losses from Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast. Publicity hound: The publicist for Lexington Homes Inc. is letting local news media know that the New Port Richey homebuilder "is doing it again."Extreme competition: Get ready for extreme competition with help from Peter Fingar of the Greystone Group. Fingar will discuss the 21st century business reformation at a Sept. 14 breakfast that begins at 7:15 a.m. at the Collaborative Labs, EpiCenter, 13805 58th St., N., Largo. The event is part of the "Titans of Technology Business Series," sponsored by the Tampa Bay Technology Forum. For more information, call (813) 259-0345.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • September 23, 2005
Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana)

Still not coasting: There isn't a community bank in the Tampa Bay area that is moving faster than Coast Bank of Florida.CEO: Chico's will grow faster: The president and chief executive officer of Fort Myers-based Chico FAS Inc. says his company will double sales in the next three years.Bust or boom: Will Sarasota County's upward trek in real estate prices continue or is the bubble about to pop?Tuscano: large golf course community: Coffee Talk reported last week that Jacksonville developer Stokes & Co. LLC, used the corporate identity of Tuscano LLC, to purchase 2,398.5 acres in North Port's Thomas Ranch, but officials weren't talking.Lee County's top 10 zoning zones: Tony Palermo agrees he's no David Letterman, but that doesn't mean the senior planner with Lee County's department of community development can't come up with his own top-10 list. Palermo compiled a list of the top areas in Lee County for zoning cases so far this year through Aug. 31, which include but are not limited to rezoning and variance requests.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • September 23, 2005
Coffee Talk (Tampa)

Still not coasting: There isn't a community bank in the Tampa Bay area that is moving faster than Coast Bank of Florida.Bust or boom: Will Sarasota County's upward trek in real estate prices continue or is the bubble about to pop?New bank makes it: The first local bank to open in booming south Hillsborough County since the 1980s has become reality. CEO: Chico's will grow faster: The president and chief executive officer of Fort Myers-based Chico FAS Inc. says his company will double sales in the next three years.It could have been worse: Brenda P. Murray, chief administrative law judge at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, hit a Raymond James Financial Inc. subsidiary with a stiff fine earlier this month.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • October 7, 2005
Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana)

Saunders donates $100,00O to USF's Sarasota-Manatee campus: Michael Saunders, the head of the well-known Sarasota-based real estate firm that bears her name, is donating $100,000 to the University of South Florida's Sarasota-Manatee campus.First Watch continues aggressive growth: First Watch Restaurants Inc. has beefed up its management team with three newly created positions in an effort to support its aggressive growth strategy.Sanibel resorts for sale in a "seller's market": Meristar Hospitality Corp., a publicly traded real estate investment trust in Northern Virginia, has five properties for sale on Sanibel Island in Lee County.Confusion from our bank rankings: Well, we know the bankers are reading our annual banking edition. We heard from them.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • August 12, 2005
Coffee Talk (Tampa)

'A simple man': Associates of Al Pina have contacted the Gulf Coast Business Review at his request to vouch for the minority activist.All things must pass: Tampa commercial real estate broker Kyle Burd recently told his boss the news he didn't want hear.Pity underpaid bank CEOs: Really, Coffee Talk writes that headline with all sincerity.The little firm that can: Lawyers Jon Tileston and Brent Simon took on the Florida Department of Transportation and won $7 million - more than twice what state officials had offered to pay for the taking of nearly 2 acres on the Courtney Campbell Causeway that had housed Scarletts, a topless cabaret, and B.J.'s restaurant.JQC rebuffs Holder: The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission says Hillsborough Circuit Judge Greg Holder is not entitled to legal fees of about $1.8 million because its failed prosecution against him wasn't related to his job as judge.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • June 19, 2006
Builder Beware

Taken alone, 2006 would be a good year for many home builders. But the past three years set a high - and now unreachable - standard. Incentives and price cuts are the first defense.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • November 26, 2005
Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana)

Babcock deal an 'opportunity' for Morgan Stanley: It's pretty clear now the Morgan Stanley real estate funds that are backing the purchase of Florida Babcock Co. with West Palm Beach developer Syd Kitson are called "opportunity funds" for a good reason.South Trail less Friendly: Joe Sandor, Joe Camera and Carmine and Fred D'Ariano, Sarasota-Manatee counties' Friendly's restaurant franchisees, have closed their centrl Sarasota restaurant at 6606 S. Tamiami Trail.Sarbox bash at FGCU: The acronyms flew at the annual W. Thomas Howard lecture sponsored by Florida Gulf Coast University's business school in Fort Myers recently.Sorry, the lot doesn't go with the building: Buy a building and get that lot for free is what a number of real estate investors initially thought when they went to see the former Badcock Home Furnishings building at 1570 Boulevard Of The Arts in Sarasota.Everybody and his uncle facing suits: The second annual Litigation Trends Survey of corporate general counsel produced by the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP doesn't paint a pretty picture of U.S. corporations and in particular the real estate business.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • May 13, 2005
Real Estate Briefs (Tampa)

Sterling Equities LLC buys Cameron Lakes ApartmentsTreasure Island Best WesternSea Castle sold for $9 millionInland Retail Trust buys vacant property on U.S. 19San Diego broker buys restaurant buildingTampa industrial facility sold

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • May 20, 2005
Entrepreneur Runner-Up: Jim Abrams

The founder and CEO of VenVest Inc. was one of this year's runner-ups for Entrepreneur of the Year.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • June 27, 2008
Gulf Coast Week

Tampa wins conference: Tampa will host an international business conference in November that will match entrepreneurs with representatives and business owners from 25 countries in Latin America.Rowdies return to Tampa:A new version of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, a professional soccer team that played in Tampa in the North American Soccer League in the 1970s and 1980s, is coming back to town next year and may build a small stadium in northwest Hillsborough.Pasco sports complex: Next door, in Pasco County, developers want to build a $40 million project called SportsPlex USA, which will include three ice skating rinks, bowling alleys, rock climbing, laser tag and an 18-hole miniature golf course.Encouragement zone dead: A proposal to create more business in and around Port Manatee through tax breaks and other incentives failed in Tallahassee.More growth sought: One of the biggest commercial developments in Sarasota County could be growing significantly over the next decade.New Cape manufacturer: Applied Cooling Technology, a United Kingdom-based marine manufacturer, opened its first U.S. division in Cape Coral.MIVA cuts 15% of workers: Fort Myers technology company Miva plans to cut 15% of its workforce in July.Collier panther protection: A coalition of landowners in eastern Collier County announced a panther-protection program to better manage the recovery of the endangered species.

  • Finance
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • October 16, 2008
Surprise!

Insurance premiums for commercial buildings havebeen falling as competition increases in Florida. It's a good lesson in free markets for regulation-happy legislators.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • October 15, 2004
Good Value in Valrico

A tiny east Hillsborough County bank bounces back just in time to go private. The bank's performance was among the best three in the area.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • December 31, 2004
Firms Plan for Growth

Law firms from Sarasota to Tampa forecast strong demand for their services in 2005.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 19, 2009
Corporate Report: Roper Industries buys UTS, plans to also acquire Verathon

Sarasota-based Roper Industries Inc. has acquired the assets of United Toll Services LLC, a Montgomery-Ala. based provider of software and hardware systems for vehicle toll and traffic adjustment, and also signed a definitive agreement to acquire Verathon Inc. of Bothell, Wash., a maker of specialty medical devices.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Carl Cronan |
  • June 18, 2010
Choice Branches

HomeBanc's Jerry Campbell is trying a new way to expand his young $250 million bank — recycling offices and deposits of those that have closed in Florida. Two former Encore Bank branches in Pinellas County are a start.

  • Finance
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Carl Cronan |
  • June 18, 2010
Underage Banking

Newer banks in the Gulf Coast region appear to have performed better through the first quarter, based on FDIC figures. Missing the mid-2000s real estate loan frenzy helped.

  • Finance
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • April 8, 2010
Corporate Report: April 9 - April 15

New information from First Watch, NCH Healthcare, Vought Defense, and more.

  • Strategies
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