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Results for:

  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Louis Llovio |
  • September 26, 2024
Pasco, Lee hospitals named in $20M federal settlement

The U.S. Department of Justice had alleged that Acadia Healthcare, among other violations, admitted people not eligible for inpatient treatment and failed to release people no longer in need of care.

  • Florida
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • July 20, 2006
Coffee Talk

WCI Communities: A buying opportunity?: At what point do the stocks of homebuilders become so ridiculously cheap that they're worth buying?Military salute: Sarasota resident Burt Bershon has been recognized for his efforts to bring military academies back to U.S. communities. Bershon, who founded the Sarasota Military Academy in 2002, was recently awarded an Eagle Laureate for creating The Charter Military Schools Development Corp. in late 2003.Former Buccaneer Warren Sapp is back: NFL Star Warren Sapp, a defensive tackle who helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win their only Super Bowl, plans to open a HipHopSodaShop on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, near the University of South Florida.Davis Lucas offers business-ethics insight: Davis Lucas, the chairman of Bonita Springs-based residential developer The Bonita Bay Group, makes few public appearances and when he does, it's usually for the benefit of a local charity.Condominium's loss is apartment's gain: So with the condo conversion market way down, is it truly gloom-and-doom time for the apartment market? Not completely.Paying premium prices at the pump: The high price of gas is reaching into entrepreneurs and executives' pockets yet again.Bleak showing for Florida venture capitalists:Just two Florida firms made Entrepreneur magazine's 2005 list of the top 100 venture capital firms, and both, Palm Beach Capital Partners and HIG Capital Management of Miami, are based in South Florida.

  • News
  • 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 Business Observer Staff |
  • August 27, 2004
Banker of the Year: John O'Neill

John O'Neill says Century Bank is on the way up because he stuck with the executives he found there - and they with him.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 28, 2003
The Art of Banking

Veteran Bay area banker Joseph M. Wheeler came out of retirement to work where he can truly practice his craft. He says decent earnings will come eventually at Atlantic States Bank.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Beth Luberecki |
  • June 16, 2017
Young Guns

Five top bankers in the region share their stories — and secrets behind their success.

  • Finance
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Matt Walsh |
  • October 6, 2023
Is Matt Gaetz really the bad guy?

Matt Gaetz’s outspokenness wouldn’t make it in a business. But his brazenness just may be the disruption that is needed in Washington. Finally.

  • Opinion
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Beth Luberecki |
  • October 11, 2019
Firm turns complicated data into revenue streams

Harnessing the power of data means big growth potential for Fort Myers firm.

  • Technology
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Lesley Dwyer |
  • July 16, 2025
Manatee receives threat of litigation over increased impact fees

Freedom Housing Alliance Inc. says the impact fee increase — it could go from $13,442 for a house to more than $33,000 — violates state statute.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • By Elizabeth King |
  • March 13, 2026
$5 million Sarasota-Manatee pet retail business starts franchising

The franchise market for retail dog food and toys is lucrative. Entrepreneurs — and passionate dog parents — Rob and Linda Emery enter it with a litter full of in-the-field experience.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • January 15, 2009
Baseball Miracle

Can Fort Myers support two minor-league baseball teams? It's tough making money in that business, but the Fort Myers Miracle is witnessing growing attendance even as the economy slows.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Brian Hartz |
  • January 3, 2020
Baseball franchise's cloudy future in region grows darker

With Montreal vying to be the team's part-time home, 2020 could be a make-or-break year for the Tampa Bay Rays' future in the Tampa region.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • September 7, 2007
'Heart and Soul'

A banking career that started as a teller in Palmetto 25 years ago has led Anne Lee to running the bank at the epicenter of the current real estate slowdown.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • March 12, 2004
David Smith: City Advocate (Tampa edition)

As Tampa's newly appointed city attorney, David L. Smith wants to focus on proactive legal strategies and improved communications.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • March 12, 2004
Dealing with NIMBYs

Debra Garrett's efforts to win approval for a Publix in east Sarasota County show the new reality for developers. Before you file for anything, be aggressive getting out the facts and be willing to make a lot of concessions.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • September 11, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ Game, set . . .tennis exec watchedOne of the Gulf Coast's leading sports industry executives might be in line for a big promotion. + World bankeroptimistic about FloridaSheila Bair, chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. - also known as the world's second most powerful woman, according to the Aug. 27 issue of Forbes - hit Sarasota recently with a sobering message for Gulf Coast bankers: The worst is yet to come. + Builders burnedabout election resultsMichael Reitmann thinks Lee County is on its way to becoming more like Collier County after a trio of Republican incumbents won their Lee County Commission primaries on anti-growth platforms.+ The commissioneris coming to townThe buildup to Tampa's Super Bowl XLIII preparation will heat up a little more Oct. 13 when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell comes to town.+ Philosopher brokerleads Tampa officeLucas Hewett, the new managing director of the Tampa region for GVA Advantis, does not hold an MBA or accounting degree. Nor did he intern at a financial services firm in college.+ Lee leaders seekstimulus packageEconomic stimulus and rescue packages are all the rage these days.+ Gulf Coast Apple guruutilizes advantageHere's one way to beat the economic blues: Run a business that is devoted to all things Apple - the computer company that continues to outperform its peers in an industry-wide slump, thanks to hot sellers like the iPod and the i

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • October 9, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ Lee development... in 2014?Investors betting on future residential land development in Lee County may have to wait a little longer than anticipated, if a recent deal there is any indication.+ Are you in?Ad campaign hopes soWhat do a police chief, a bombastic Hall of Fame TV sports personality and the president of an arts and design college have in common?+ Winning changes everything,on and off the fieldWhat a difference a year makes at the ol' ballgame.+ Ayn Randfor every studentEvery student at Florida Gulf Coast University who signs up for the new free-markets course that will be taught there will receive a copy of Atlas Shrugged, the pro-capitalist novel by Ayn Rand.+ + Incumbent congressmanbuilds big lead in one pollOne of the most contested congressional races in the country taking place in Sarasota and Manatee counties might not be much of a contest after all, if a new poll is accurate. + Florida businesshopes to attract neighborsThe Florida real estate market is really hot after all. + Goodbye, bulletin boards, Hello, eDeanThe days of posters and paper stapled and tacked to cork college bulletin boards outside of class buildings and in libraries and dining halls may be quickly coming to an end, thanks to a two-year-old Tampa technology company.+ Put away the Capeopolyuntil next yearCapeopoly, the annual Cape Coral confab that used to draw hundreds of real estate business executi

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • August 27, 2004
Giving Back

William J. Schifino Jr.: Hillsborough County Bar president, managing partner of Williams Schifino Mangione & Steady PA, father of three and community volunteer.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • May 14, 2004
A Lawyer's Lawyer

John F. Germany, the son of a farmer, captured the American Dream. He attended Harvard Law School, co-founded what has become Florida's largest law firm and made a difference in the community.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Brian Hartz |
  • April 19, 2019
Bank shot: CEO returns to his roots with strategic acquisition

Katz Capital, a multifaceted Tampa, Florida, investment and finance holding company, has acquired Camp Grove State Bank, a tiny bank serving farmers in rural Illinois. CEO Brian Katz explains the thought process behind the purchase.

  • Finance
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