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Results for:

  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Mark Gordon |
  • April 4, 2014
Sweet Lou

Buying insurance can be confusing, if not maddening. One executive aims to take away the pain, an approach that clearly works: Annual premiums at his firm are up almost 60% since 2011.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • November 5, 2009
Bear Trap

Legendary Naples investor Bruce Sherman built a spectacular track record at Private Capital Management, managing billions of dollars for wealthy individuals and institutions. Then, Bear Stearns collapsed and with it went Sherman's envious record and more than $1 billion of his investors' money. Now, Sherman wants justice.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Grier Ferguson |
  • November 9, 2018
Facing worker shortage, insurance industry turns to young professionals

Area insurance companies seize solutions — and creativity — to attract and retain talent.

  • Insurance
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Andrew Warfield |
  • December 21, 2018
Teaching by example

Florida Gulf Coast University Institute of Entrepreneurship rockets to success under leadership of Sandra Kauanui

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Laura Lyon |
  • May 23, 2025
Tampa Bay 3D printing entrepreneur beats the odds with moxie, fortitude

Roy Kirchner has made a career out of comebacks. His next big foe: dealing with tariffs.

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Louis Llovio |
  • August 25, 2022
Trio of projects set to transform a portion of downtown Sarasota

The flurry of activity from three major downtown-area projects in the fast-growing, art-infused city is too much for some but just right for others.

  • Commercial Real Estate
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • June 13, 2005
Made in China

China is taking on Detroit with its new line of luxury automobiles at affordable prices. Sarasota's Bill Fisher is part of the Chery movement.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 28, 2003
Sarasota Arena: How Big a Drain?

Read the consultants' report on a new arena at Sarasota County's fairgrounds. It provides plenty of information to question the project's viability.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Mark Gordon |
  • February 25, 2025
Slay your impostor: How CEOs can defeat self-doubt

The self-doubt many high-achieving leaders and entrepreneurs have, the voice that says you aren’t good enough? There are ways to silence it.

  • Leadership
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 24, 2006
Profitable Environmentalism

For every ounce of gold that Creative Recycling Systems recycles from discarded electronics, it saves the world 20 tons of mine waste.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • April 20, 2007
Doing the Dirty Work

Spaulding Decon takes on Gulf Coast jobs most people don't want to see. It's an unusual niche with plenty of dirty work to go around.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • July 17, 2006
Executive Session: Moving Up

Scott Stafford is a regional manager for retail and private banking for RBC Bank. His coverage area runs from State Road 70 in Manatee County south to Port Charlotte. Stafford is in charge of eight offices. With more growth along the Gulf Coast, the bank recently changed its management structure.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • May 15, 2008
TO WATCH (Lee-Collier): George Ghanem

George Ghanem's party palace is almost ready. By this summer, Ghanem's company will have moved into its new corporate headquarters in Fort Myers. The 60,000-square-foot, $8-million building will house the company's commercial laundry, a showroom and will have enough parking so that employees can load 10 delivery trucks at a time with tents, chairs and all the equipment for a party.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • May 15, 2008
TO WATCH (Lee-Collier): Tony Phelan

Restaurants are notorious for their short lives. In an economic downturn, their survival rates are even more dismal. Tony Phelan knows all about that, but he's not going to be one of the casualties this time around. Phelan owns a chain of seven seafood restaurants from Sarasota to Naples called Pinchers Crab Shack.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • September 3, 2004
Hillsborough Incumbents Prevail

Thirteenth Circuit judges, most of them appointees, hold their seats.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • January 7, 2010
CEO Fitness: Ironman Thriller

Jack Voth, co-owner of an information technology company in Bonita Springs called The Client Server, completed the Ironman championship in Kona, Hawaii in October. The grueling race includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • May 6, 2011
What would Ayn Rand say?

From high-speed rail to Jackson Laboratory and the Boston Red Sox spring training stadium, Florida politicians and bureaucrats keep meddling in the markets, says Yaron Brook. His message: Get out of the way and let entrepreneurs fuel the recovery.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • August 30, 2013
Hardy Returns

Naples developer Paul Hardy is back in the real estate business, scouting opportunities in areas hit hard by the recession.

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Matt Walsh |
  • February 18, 2011
Rail rejection shows Scott means what he says

He's not a politician. Hallelujah!

  • Opinion
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Columnist . |
  • June 3, 2020
Safeguard your business — ahead of an economic downturn

One key to the coming economic upheaval: plan for many what ifs.

  • Advice
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