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Results for:

  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • February 14, 2014
Top Gun

What's a British film producer doing buying a shooting range in the middle of the Florida swamp? Bloody good question.

  • Industries
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Denise Kalette |
  • December 6, 2012
Ready for Takeoff

Steven Santo ordered his planes to stand-down. The cost was high, but not doing it might have been costlier.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Mark Gordon |
  • October 20, 2023
$564M homebuilder sets its sights on new counties, multifamily market

Homes by WestBay, in following a pattern since it was founded more than a decade ago, makes some bold moves to stay ahead of trends — and grab more market share.

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • April 13, 2007
Coffee Talk

Telovations Inc. CEO Rick Schonbrun says the Tampa-based startup is poised to expand now that it has received $6.5 million in venture capital.When Joe Hice, a marketing executive for places as varied as the University of Florida, Segway and Harley Davidson, talks about using the Internet to promote a business, he's not referring to any old Web site. Those days, says Hice, are over. Service has long been a buzzword in residential real estate, but the definition has always been tough to define. One customer's idea of the perfect agent is another's idea of the perfect bust. Scott Sosso, president of Prudential Palms Realty, a 250-plus agent firm covering Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties, is trying to get a more precise definition, starting with having all Prudential agents attend Quality Service Certification training.In June, Enterprise Florida, the statewide economic development arm, is taking an export sales trade mission to Bogota and Medellin, two of the more populous cities in the South American country. The Bank of Tampa and its co-founder and CEO, A. Gerald Divers, were recently profiled in the Review. After 23 years of overseeing and nurturing what some call "Jerry's Bank," Divers is slowly relinquishing control.Internet chat rooms have been buzzing about a Web site that analyzes sales for various residential projects by Bonita Springs-based developer WCI Communities.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Traci McMillan Beach |
  • September 9, 2016
Open door

Bob Briesacher has spent three decades building the name of his garage door company. He's done it so well, competitors have become copycats of the brand.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Louis Llovio |
  • April 15, 2025
Former Navy Seal's Tampa firm brings solar power to Manatee arts school

Manatee School for the Arts' planned solar project includes 3,000 panels and was drawn up by former U.S. Navy Seal Steve Rutherford, who used technology to protect soldiers in Afghanistan.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • September 25, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ Analyst claimsHMA selling overdoneDid investors overreact to the recent resignation of Health Management Associates Chief Executive Officer Burke Whitman?+ New home permitshit new all-time lowThe city of North Port, a onetime tiny retirement village in southern Sarasota County, has grown so fast it recently overtook Sarasota as the biggest city in the county in terms of total population.+ Where's the beef?Making the female pitchTampa-based family sports restaurant chain, Beef 'O' Brady's, is feeling the pinch like all restaurants these days. Bailout watch:Everyone wants a pieceGulf Coast real estate investors are watching the government's proposed bailout closely, wondering if that's going to stem foreclosures and home-price declines.+ Engel steps downafter long EDC tenureThe Manatee County Economic Development Council is adding a new twist to its mission to recruit and keep companies.+ Frozen markets thawed -enough to finish dealNot even one of the biggest collapses on Wall Street and in U.S. financial history could stop The Plasencia Group, a Tampa hotel brokerage, from closing a sale recently.+ Million-dollar problemsgo national in JournalSarasota and Bradenton were recently featured prominently in a long Wall Street Journal story. But it wasn't the type of clip the Chamber of Commerce will be framing anytime soon.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Brian Hartz |
  • June 12, 2022
Waste-disposal firm joins effort to recruit, train more truck drivers

Waste Pro USA Inc. has taken creative steps to address the nationwide shortage of big-rig jockeys.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • May 14, 2013
Hertz CEO already has Naples roots

Naples has always been known as a haven for Fortune 500 CEOs who want to get away from the corporate life.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 13, 2020
Lost college football season is a loss for Florida college towns

Revenue losses could cut deep.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • March 22, 2019
Company marks Pi Day with pie-themed employee event

For Sarasota-based PropLogix, Pi Day meant employees getting several pies to the face.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • October 6, 2017
Damage done

And now it's time to study the aftermath.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • May 6, 2016
Forget the east coast

The chamber of commerce couldn't have written it any better: An April 28 Wall Street Journal story, titled “Get More for Your Vacation Home Dollar,” trumpeted Sarasota over Palm Beach.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • July 10, 2015
Wal-Mart's Polk center gets $12M tax break

Wal-Mart's planned distribution center for Polk County might create more than 600 jobs that pay slightly more than the annual wage there — but it will be a decade before the county government can benefit.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Louis Llovio |
  • July 6, 2024
84-unit affordable housing community to open in Sarasota

Cypress Square opens at a time when finding affordable or attainable housing is getting more difficult and bridges “the affordable housing supply-demand gap.”

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Mark Gordon |
  • October 20, 2025
Florida rises in national rankings for electric vehicle sales

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation report found Florida has the second-biggest market share gain in buying EVs.

  • Florida
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • July 15, 2004
Consumer Victory?

Plaintiffs in a truth-in-lending action against Bill Heard Chevrolet Inc.-Plant City win a favorable ruling on appeal.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • April 2, 2004
Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana edition)

This week's items: Two petitions say court record moratorium is 'damaging'An Internet site by the bail bond industry is taking area judges to taskInfinium Labs Inc. filed a lawsui over a HardOCP.com article

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Beth Luberecki |
  • October 9, 2025
Justin Pavey, 35

40 Under 40 winner Justin Pavey is founder of Coastal Marine Management/Coastal Management Group.

  • Class of 2025
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Mark Gordon |
  • December 12, 2022
Entrepreneur raises $1.2M, creates unique outsourcing salesforce

A veteran executive ditches the corporate world with a new idea to build a high-level salesforce. He’s off to a fast start.

  • Entrepreneurs
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