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Results for:

  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • July 21, 2011
No Vacancy

The hotel market in the Naples area is the strongest on the Gulf Coast, but data show a lack of pricing power.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Mark Gordon |
  • June 15, 2012
Smooth Moves

A recession might not be the best time to open two smoothie stores. But one entrepreneurial couple has defied the economy.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • June 3, 2020
Marketing firm aims to help pandemic-stuck companies

Pushing the Envelope targets smaller, shorter client contracts — with a big push for long-term success.

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Elizabeth King |
  • March 27, 2025
Prominent Sarasota nonprofit leader to retire after 10 years

Teri Hansen, the president and CEO of Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, was initially hired as the organization's first employee.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Bequest |
  • February 5, 2024
Solve Your Income Challenge in 2024 with Bequest Funds

The Bequest Platinum Event will take place on February 22, 2024 in downtown Sarasota.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
Sponsored Content
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 12, 2004
Fear of Heights

How high is too high? The fight for the air up there.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • April 28, 2006
Chic Business

In fewer than 20 years, Chico's FAS has gone from selling folk art to more than $1 billion worth of women's clothes. Its customers have shown tremendous loyalty as competitors start to attack.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Lesley Dwyer |
  • May 7, 2025
Manatee County OKs $23.5M administrative building purchase out east

The project to move administrative functions is expected to cost about $35 million.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • July 8, 2005
Coffee Talk (Tampa)

It's not the Rays; the problem is the stadium, location: In the early 1960s, the pathetic Boston Red Sox couldn't attract more than 4,000 baseball fans for a home game. Why, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays draw twice that to St. Petersburg on a bad night.Banks' books say it all; but FDIC is worrying: Florida community banks saw their return on assets rise to an average of 1.19% during the first quarter of 2005, riding strong loan demand from the state's housing construction boom.Moving across town: Lonnie Homenuk has left his job as executive vice president at Tampa's Chesapeake Atlantic Holdings Inc. after about five years.Motion picture group seeks recourse: Paramount Pictures Corp. is suing John Doe in Tampa federal court over the illegal distribution of 7,500 bootleg copies of "Sahara," a movie that won't be released officially on DVD or VHS until next month.Coast Bank settles suit: Two subsidiaries of Coast Financial Holdings Inc. have settled a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former employee, according to a June 28 regulatory filing.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Grier Ferguson |
  • July 27, 2018
Small, former post office home to big dreams for new cafe

Ann Michelle Stoltzfus has plans in the works for a new restaurant — Postal 98 Cafe — in the former U.S. Post Office in the Pinecraft community of Sarasota.

  • Commercial Real Estate
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Kevin McQuaid |
  • June 23, 2017
Executive Profile - David Stevens

Principal, Investment Properties Corp., Naples

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • August 14, 2015
Gas Tax: Out of Gas

Fuel-efficient cars are shrinking the state's gas-tax collections and the funds for roads. The answer: paying by the miles you drive.

  • Industries
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • October 2, 2008
Sweet or unsweet?

Just as it was putting its house in order, Alico was hit with news that the state plans to buy U.S. Sugar, its biggest customer. It's just one of the challenges Dan Gunter faces as Alico's new chief executive.

  • 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 Jay Brady |
  • February 25, 2011
Track-shun

An effort by legislators to bypass Gov. Scott's rejection of high-speed rail seems to be unraveling as financially challenged local governments try to take it on.

  • Florida
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Andrew Warfield |
  • February 7, 2025
Group buys historic Sarasota hotel for Black community for $700K

At least one other proposal, which wasn't approved, called for demolition of the Colson Hotel building in Sarasota's Rosemary District.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Elizabeth King |
  • May 17, 2024
Softball bat maker plans to double workforce, add baseball bats

The owner of Pure Sports Technologies moves to Manatee County with his eye on the ball — baseball — as he expands his bat manufacturing business.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • September 21, 2007
Drive to Succeed

From poor beginnings to pouring concrete, Bill Manfull has come a long - and prosperous - way in a colorful life. Says Manfull: "I'm just a simple working guy who happened to make a lot of money."

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • February 20, 2006
Coffee Talk

Better terms: Young companies starting to make money are having an easier time finding additional capital than they have in five years, says Tampa attorney David S. Felman.Florida Gulf Coast University simulates Wall Street: Business-school students at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers will learn what it feels like to work on the trading floor of a major brokerage firm.Grande unveiling: Does West Palm Beach-based Kolter Communities have the staying power to make a profit in the tough Sarasota $1 million-plus condo market? We're about to find out.Construction's contribution: If we thought construction was leading economic growth in the Gulf Coast, our area isn't alone.Poop Power: The solution to the United State's oil dependency may be coming from the University of Florida - via your neighborhood farm.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • September 1, 2006
It's beginning to look a lot like ...a boom

A population spurt is driving growth in shopping centers all along the Gulf Coast. Highlights include a new JCPenny concept, a Best Buy in every market and a segment of tiny national retailers.

  • Entrepreneurs
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