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Results for:

  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • October 13, 2006
King of the City

An engineering and planning firm overcomes expansion anxiety. Its antidote is success, such as a 126% revenue jump since 2003, to more than $32 million in 2005.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • April 20, 2007
Always on his mind

Being laid off was the tipping point for a marketing guru who long dreamed about starting his own firm. A timely run-in with country legend Willie Nelson was the inspiration.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • April 27, 2007
Finding 'The Perfect Customer'

A two-year-old postcard marketing business thrives by flipping around the meaning of junk mail. It's delivered almost $2 million in revenues so far.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • January 11, 2008
The Dawn of Digital

Jud Parker and his firm, Digital Legal, has gone beyond digital records to working with law firms on organizing data so they can win cases and serve clients better

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • March 29, 2008
Show me the Mooney

Meridian Construction & Development is a small construction company that is nimble and agile.That's critical in an industry that's being buffeted by economic headwinds.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • July 3, 2006
Matt Walsh: We should resolve to restore our liberty

On the eve of our nation's 230 birthday, it would be nice to say that the American experiment is alive, well and still surpassing new heights. Truth is, this two-and-a-half-century experiment is dying a death by a thousand cuts. And the cuts are occurring with increasing frequency.

  • Opinion
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • March 24, 2006
Coffee Talk

Domino's founder backs Naples bank: Domino's Pizza founder and Catholic philanthropist Tom Monaghan is behind the formation of a new commercial bank in Naples called Gulf Coast Bank.Changesat RJ Bank?: The chief financial officer at Raymond James Financial Inc. recently disclosed a bit of the internal thinking at the firm regarding one of its best-performing subsidiaries.Manufacturing cell phone messages?: It put Coffee Talk off guard to see Peter Straw as the head of a non-manufacturing company, and one on in Tampa, no less. The Germans are coming: Coffee Talk knows German tourists love Southwest Florida. Apparently, so do investment bankers.Bye-Bye, Bill: Bill Theroux, executive director of the Bradenton Downtown Development Authority, hoped the major improvements to Manatee Avenue would prove a capstone to his time with the city.Brisk business: Pinellas County's Class A vacancy rate dropped to 12% by the end of 2005, yet the coastal county's average rental rate of $18.92 per square foot is still $2 less than Tampa, according to an analysis of the 2005 commercial real estate market by Randy Smith of GVA Advantis.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Mark Gordon |
  • January 23, 2009
Silo Subtraction

A onetime military attorney is tackling the Gulf Coast commercial real estate industry by refining a teamwork-first approach. But the market dip is proving to be a big foe.

  • Industries
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Rod Thomson |
  • April 17, 2009
Crist's insurance follies ruinous

Gov. Charlie Crist's policies are wrecking the insurance market and imperiling Florida taxpayers.

  • Opinion
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • September 3, 2004
Off the Bench

Old pros, newcomers to square off in Hillsborough, Pinellas clerk finals; Tampa prosecutor Ober bests challenger.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Mark Gordon |
  • February 19, 2010
Scary Times

Paul Purcell, chief executive of a nearly $700 million financial services firm, reveres free markets, entrepreneurs and capitalism. No surprise: President Obama gives him nightmares.

  • Industries
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Alex Walsh |
  • January 22, 2010
Brewing Success

Ted Abrams used to love the turnaround — getting a struggling business back on track. But nine years after righting his last ship, he's still with the same company — and the ship has long turned around.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • September 24, 2010
Precious Coral

Naples-based Coral Hospitality is quickly gaining a reputation for managing luxury resorts. Demand for the firm's skill will grow as banks foreclose on extravagant hotels financed during the boom.

  • Industries
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Carl Cronan |
  • July 9, 2010
Linking Expertise

The downturn has affected engineering as much as any industry, yet it also creates the opportunity for mergers and acquisitions among those with like minds and varied disciplines.

  • Industries
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Grier Ferguson |
  • May 23, 2019
Top Entrepreneurs: Ice cream company owner scoops out winning formula

Matt Eastman is building off sweet success to gain big time clients and expand Lickity Splits Ice Cream across Florida. One key: relentless determination.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Mark Gordon |
  • April 5, 2022
Want to be a better leader? Rumble with vulnerability

From tough conversations to simply being tougher in the face of doubt, being OK with being vulnerable is an essential asset.

  • Leadership
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Traci McMillan Beach |
  • May 19, 2017
Jump for Joy

Sharing victories is nice. But in Joy Randels' world, it's just as crucial to talk about, and learn from, defeats.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Mark Gordon |
  • March 25, 2025
Prominent Sarasota civic leader, lumber entrepreneur dies at 95

Charlie Stottlemyer was known as being easy-going, all-around friendly and the "epitome of a pillar of the community."

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Laura Lyon |
  • May 9, 2024
Mike Quillen's quest for constant improvement continues

“One of the things that drives my success is, every day you wake up there’s a different problem, and you just hope you can solve those problems.” –Mike Quillen, Gecko’s Hospitality Group, Watershed Hospitality Concepts

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jay Heater |
  • July 24, 2025
Sarasota County park project estimate grows from $40M to $60M

The planning process for the Nathan Benderson Park expansion is nearly complete. Up next: a lot of fundraising.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
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