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Results for:

  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 17, 2006
Coffee Talk

Icahn buys 4% of WCI, credit downgradedSource Interlink chief resignsNaples-based TIB Financial Corp., the parent of TIB Bank, acquired The Bank of Venice for about $16 million. That's about 1.9 times book value.Private companies in need of capital might find what they're looking for at the Florida Venture Forum's 16th annual conference Feb. 6-7 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton.Goldman Sachs investment banking division co-chief Scott Kapnick and his family recently gave $10 million to the Naples Botanical Garden for the development of 160 acres that will include cultivated gardens at Bayshore and Thomasson drives.Naples-based International College named its business school for Kenneth Oscar Johnson, a former ExxonMobil executive and CEO of Florida-based Belcher Oil.eal Estate executives from across the country converge on the Gulf Coast to talk strategy.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • February 16, 2007
Coffee Talk

A recent statewide survey from the National Federation of Independent Business reads as if it's coming out of Taxachusetts, not the Sunshine State. Almost nine out of every 10 business owners that responded to the survey said their commercial property taxes have increased over the last year. Bradenton is losing a company headquarters, as breakfast and lunch franchise operation Peach's is moving to a Columbus, Ohio suburb. As promised, Shutts & Bowen continues to add top-ranked litigators to its first Gulf Coast office, which opened in Tampa last March. The Review is seeking the best and brightest Gulf Coast entrepreneurs for the newspaper's 10th annual Entrepreneur Award. Charlie Kleman's surprise resignation as chief financial officer of Fort Myers-based women's retailer Chico's FAS has some investors scratching their heads as to who could possibly replace him.Florida is projected to become the third most populous state between 2015 and 2020, as the state hits the 21.8-million mark and passes New York to come in behind California and Texas, even though the state's annual growth rate has slowed to about 2%, according to economists.Bonita Springs-based homebuilder WCI Communities has hired Goldman Sachs to evaluate the possible sale of the company.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • October 26, 2007
Coffee Talk

Big payout looms for Radiation Therapy: Who says private equity deals are dead?Switching up,not giving up: To a developer with major moxie, bad news is just a niggling detail - even bad news like, say, a seriously slumping housing market, where in particular, downtown Sarasota condo sales are as rare as towels in a nudist colony.Another knock against Hometown Democracy: Add Tampa land broker Bruce Erhardt to the list of business people questioning the wisdom of Florida Hometown Democracy, a statewide ballot movement that, if passed, would require citizens to make all major land-use decisions via referendums.Expansion knows no bounds: Brown & Brown, a Tampa- and Daytona Beach-based insurance company, continued its national expansion march this month with the acquisition of Professional Risk Managers of New York.A complicated simplification: Gevity, the Lakewood Ranch-based human resources outsourcing firm struggling with a battered stock price and more recently, a resigned chief executive, says the answer to its problems is to regroup and undertake a simplified and solidified approach to its business.Exodus continues from troubled WCI: The exodus from the corporate ranks of WCI Communities continues as the Bonita Springs-based homebuilder struggles with a brutal housing market.Atlanta nightclub owner hits the links in Naples: Atlanta-based strip club owner Jack E. Galardi of Galardi South Enterprises, has turned his attention

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • July 6, 2006
Real Estate Briefs

American Retirement Corp. pays $95 million for Freedom VillageAutoMaxx owner buysdealership, nearby landParadise Communities prepares start of Valencia at BurnsNorth Naples Storage owner buys land for more growthWaterman Development Group acquires Lehigh Acres landEmergency Consultants buys home for subsidiaryEquity One acquires Sunpoint Shopping CenterLowe Enterprises Real Estate acquires Land O' Lake property

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • September 2, 2005
Traveling Man

Lawrence Hutson led the design and launch of Travelocity.com in 1996. Now, the software visionary is taking the online travel industry to the 'next generation' with Nexgen Travel Distribution Inc.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • March 26, 2004
The McDonald's of Home Services (Tampa edition)

Forget the plumber jokes. VenVest sees heating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical services as a huge market ready for standardization and consolidation.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • August 12, 2005
How Growth Brought Chaos

Craig Pisaris-Henderson, CEO of Miva, learned the consequences of making four acquisitions and doubling his company's size in a year.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • February 24, 2006
Killer Tomatoes

The Fresh Market sees Florida ripe for the taking. Publix and Whole Foods: Beware.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • June 6, 2008
Corporate Report

Clockwork Home Services buys plumbing, electric companynFinanSe plans $15 million credit lineOdyssey Marine protects new shipwreck sitesStinger Systems Band-It orders already beat 2007Source Interlink doubling Kentucky warehouse spaceAdministrative Concepts expands into California

  • Industries
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • August 22, 2003
Real Estate Briefs

Richard Zipes and Tarragon Realty Investors pay more than $200 a square foot for downtown Sarasota property.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Grier Ferguson and Mark Gordon |
  • February 5, 2021
Homebuyers from Tampa to Naples increasingly arrive from new states

California and Texas top the list of states that aren’t traditionally feeder markets where more area buyers are coming from.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Brian Hartz |
  • June 22, 2018
Venerable uniform company looks ahead, not back

Formerly known as Superior Uniform Group, the newly christened Superior Group of Companies has embarked on a spree of acquisitions as it looks to grow in new markets.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • May 22, 2008
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

GLL Partners buys Naples PromenadeNew York investment firm buys Laguna Bay unitsPunta Gorda company buys Wal-Mart storeBOOKS-A-MILLION SET FOR MERCATO IN NAPLESPreston family sells 46 acres for SevenShoresTJM Properties acquires Bradenton OaksWal-Mart Stores plans to expand Cattlemen storeEola Capital closes on Westshore landGoodwill Industries-Suncoast buys ex-motel, vacant landInternational firm Praxair buys Tampa warehouse

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Louis Llovio |
  • August 5, 2022
Massive downtown redevelopment now goes to the voters

Clearwater’s City Council approved two major projects that now need the approval of residents.

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Denise Federer |
  • October 10, 2022
How to get leadership transition right — the first time

When a CEO or founder, finally, leaves an organization, the stakes are high for the new leader. Rules and structure to the succession are key.

  • Advice
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Alex Walsh |
  • October 14, 2022
Shawn Osborne, 35

Shawn Osborne, 35

  • Class of 2022
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Brian Murphy |
  • December 2, 2022
How to take your company from startup to unicorn

Cybersecurity entrepreneur Brian Murphy built a company from nothing to a valuation of more than $1 billion. His road there had "no pause button."

  • Advice
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Brian Hartz |
  • September 23, 2022
With merger, long-independent bank welcomes fintech shift

First National Bank of Pasco, looking to avoid irrelevancy, has embraced banking technology with an unusual vigor.

  • Finance
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 3, 2006
Gulf Coast Impact Fees Go Up, Up, Up

Impact fees are rising all along the Gulf Coast, sometimes at breathtaking rates.Governments say the increases are needed to pay for rising land and construction costs for new roads, schools, libraries and other services. While local government leaders contend the fees help keep overall taxes down for current residents, they are also a politically palatable way to raise taxes as the fees are enacted theoretically on newcomers. The problem is that anyone who builds a new house must pay the tax.Impact fees become a huge tax on new housing, new commercial businesses, new office buildings, new restaurants and so on.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • January 12, 2007
Vanilla Investing, Sweet Returns

James Pappas' long-term strategy sometimes even pays off for him and his clients in the short-term.

  • Entrepreneurs
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