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Results for:

  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • December 30, 2005
30-Year Plan

Ricardo Espino was all set to be his own boss. Then he got an offer he couldn't refuse. In a year and a half, Universal Insurance's premiums have topped $130 million a year.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • March 10, 2006
Dreaming BIG

Developer Joel Cantor plans to build what he says will be downtown St. Petersburg's tallest and best mixed-used tower. He signed up a star architect to design the $160 million, 35-story building. Trump Tower 'is going to be nice,' Cantor says. 'But I think we're going to trump Trump.'

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • March 10, 2006
Coffee Talk

Chicos stock takes a hit: As every novice investor learns, past performance is no indication of future returns.Villares leaves GravityFree: GravityFree, Sarasota's oldest web-design company, is undergoing a leadership change.Ringling would like to thank the Academy: It could grow into a nice trend. For the second straight year, Sarasota's Ringling School of Art and Design grads were nominated for Academy Awards.Venice company in award spotlight, too: Speaking of awards, a Venice-based company took home the top prize for its industry at an awards show in Las Vegas last month.A tale of two 'WCI's: Sarasota upscale home builder and developer Westwater Construction Inc. is dropping the "CI" from its revised logo.Shareholder shakes up Source Interlink: California billionaire Ron Burkle appears frustrated with the go-nowhere stock of Bonita Springs-based Source Interlink.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • April 7, 2006
Coffee Talk

Game on: It looks like Naples-based luxury developer Lutgert Cos. is going to enter the Sarasota real estate market with a big hitter.Times change: At least one Sarasota-area developer has gone past the condo market slump phase and headed straight for the total bust phase.Miva top executives leaving, but not empty-handed: Craig Pisaris-Henderson, 36, resigned from his post as chairman and chief executive officer of Fort Myers-based Internet company Miva April 4.Watching the construction pump: It seems builders have been watching material suppliers as much as most drivers watch the gas pump.Goodbye retirement: After more than 35 years in the Tampa Bay area real estate market, Jim Shapiro was ready to retire, or at least that's what he thought.Loan funds to get tighter?: Pinellas Park bank analyst Richard X. Bove is reading behind the headlines again.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • April 17, 2006
Walsh: Housing schemes will make the shortage worse

It's like the March of the Penguins.Throughout Florida, in county after county, city after city, elected representatives are marching one behind the other into the frozen idea that new laws mandating and coercing developers to build "affordable" houses will relieve the state's housing shortage in any meaningful way.

  • Opinion
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • April 28, 2006
'A Giant Within'

A college dropout strikes it rich in a real estate niche. After seven years, he and his business partner now want to try something new.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • May 7, 2006
Coining Success

Oscar Horton takes a ruthless approach to running his truck dealership, demanding that all employees follow the company mantra if they want to keep their jobs. He holds himself to the same high standards, too.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • October 28, 2005
Winner: MadahCom Inc.

How do you convince someone you can solve their problem if they don't believe the problem exists? In its early years, MadahCom Inc., a Sarasota-based provider of public warning systems for homeland security, was faced with this very challenge - trying to convince the public that there was a need for its product.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • November 21, 2005
BusTracker

Sarasota serial tech-entrepreneur Brad Baker is back again with a new company that monitors the whereabouts of school buses.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • November 26, 2005
DREAMTIME Hits Big Time

Former TV reporter John Biffar started his film production company by borrowing equipment from his employer. Now he's shooting for the History Channel and National Geographic.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • December 5, 2005
Fixer

Persystent Technology's Ray Weadock believes he has software that will transform the computer world. It fixes your PC every time you boot up. Techies beware.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • July 14, 2008
Walsh Review and Comment

Tax-swap amendment will fuel the economy

  • Opinion
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • September 11, 2008
Help Desk Help

Tampa's Numara Software made products to help IT professionals run their help desks, kept improving those products and has reaped the benefits.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • September 25, 2008
The Old Neighborhood

Greg Sembler took the helm of The Sembler Company at a tough timeand is steering it back to what it does well: neighborhood shopping centers.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • October 23, 2008
Walsh: Review and Comment

The best way to restart the economy: Donothing

  • Opinion
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 28, 2008
Market RUBDOWN

Opening 10 massage stores during an economic slump might sound crazy. But growing like that is comfort food to one Gulf Coast entrepreneur.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • December 29, 2008
Chemical ROMANCE

A $100 million Gulf Coast family-run business that revolves around chlorine continues to clean up - despite economic uncertainty and other looming challenges.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • January 8, 2009
Image Maker

Medi spas and a tougher economy have affected plastic surgery, but physician Randall Harrell has adjusted to the industry's non-surgical growth and has thrived.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • May 15, 2008
ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR Tampa Bay: RICHARD SANCHEZ

Richard Sanchez retired from Exxon but came back to start Advantica EyeCare. 'Our mission is saving sight. It's real simple.'

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • April 18, 2008
'A Horror Show'

An Ohio business owner nearly jumped at the chance to move most of his $15 million company to the Gulf Coast. Now he'd jump for just about anything else.

  • Entrepreneurs
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