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Results for:

  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • July 13, 2007
Coffee Talk

Sour grapes drench Southwest Florida: If Meritage were a wine varietal, the taste would be pretty sour.Politician makes both sides happy: Keith Fitzgerald has only been a state legislator for one session, but the Democrat who doubles as a political science professor at Sarasota-based New College is making friends in some surprising places.Chico's Chairman to the rescue: Michael Weiss, the chairman of Chico's FAS, is coming to the rescue.Jabil Circuit stock rises on rumors: On Tuesday, July 10, shares of Jabil Circuit surged 5.3%, or $1.17, to $23.39, amid speculation that a private-equity firm was interested in the company.Homebuilder parties like it's 2003: Lakewood Ranch-based homebuilder Pat Neal is one of several Gulf Coast executives who have been saying for a few months that the cyclical real estate market is showing signs of beginning to make a positive turn in the cycle.Fighting the hometown scam: Florida Chamber of Commerce executives are fanning across the state to push a new Web site to fight the Hometown Democracy movement, www.thehometownscam.com.Entrepreneur finally gives up on convention center: Oscar Parsons, the crotchety 85-year-old entrepreneur who has spent the past five years trying to make a go out of a privately owned convention center - think using a garden hose to extinguish a raging warehouse fire - is finally admitting defeat.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • July 20, 2007
Coffee Talk

Can Big Sugar save the planet?: Florida Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, fresh from the environmental lovefest in Miami featuring California's "Governator," predicted Florida's sugarcane farmers would be able to produce ethanol more cheaply than Midwestern corn growers.Sun continues to rise in Sarasota: Sarasota and Bradenton are not known for their public company stars, not at least when compared to say Fort Myers, with Chico's or Clearwater, home to Tech Data.Florida company exits mortgage business: The continuing storm in the national mortgage industry brushed up against Sarasota late last month when a Vero Beach firm with a niche in federal government mortgages, such as those produced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, exited the industry.Pasco growing in other ways: A month ago, we reported on the boom in retail development in south central Pasco County. But there's more than a retail boom.Southeast partner takes USF post: Irv Cohen, a partner with Southeast Capital Partners, is the latest high-profile business adviser to be named an Executive-in-Residence at the University of South Florida's College of Business in Tampa.Miva founder now selling shutters: What happened to Craig Pisaris-Henderson?

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • April 6, 2007
Free to Grow?

There's no such thing as quiet expansion in the heavily regulated - and highly competitive - Gulf Coast banking industry.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 29, 2007
Coffee Talk

Businesses fight back: We're not bad: The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce is out to prove that businesses, both big ones and small ones, from developers to diamond sellers, aren't the enemy of the good life on the Gulf Coast.Judge advocates secrecy pact: The Spanish government got another step closer to getting long-awaited details of the estimated $500 million in sunken treasure salvaged by Tampa-based deep-sea explorers thisWestshore projects slow down and stop: South West Shore Boulevard has some of the last large tracts of waterfront land in South Tampa available for redevelopment.Company seeks motivation in new name: An entrepreneur's two-year quest to stop a sales slide and focus on a new direction has led to one of the riskiest decisions a company could make: A name change.ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • March 5, 2004
In the Clear?

Ex-Hillsborough County Attorney Emeline C. Acton avoids criminal prosecution. But her husband says the ailing lawyer has other things to worry about.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • March 19, 2004
Bond Counsel & Deal Maker (Tampa edition)

Frank Fleischer, now part of GrayRobinson in Tampa, has worked as counsel on about $8 billion in public finance deals.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • March 26, 2004
Persuasive Debate (Tampa edition)

Tampa Bay area business and political leaders hear spirited arguments for and against proposed reforms to the state's citizen ballot initiative process.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 20, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ Dust off the robes,and start foreclosingThe rise in foreclosures in Lee County has been so large that retired judges are getting called up for duty, says Lee County Clerk of Courts Charlie Green. + Entrepreneurial superstarssearch continuesTwo successful entrepreneurs in Sarasota - one being one of the most successful businessmen on the Gulf Coast - are trying to spread the build-a-business love. Local bank surprise:Free moneyMost bankers aren't fond of handing out cash on the street to total strangers.+ Golfing for charity,building a businessIf you hear a little music, a little laughter, a blue tent and beer when you pull your golf cart up to the next hole, you may have discovered a new Gulf Coast business started by Clearwater entrepreneurs Pam Delaney and Justina Hopkins.+ Tampa Bay becomesa championship hostSomewhere, maybe everywhere, there are hoteliers cheering.+ Christmas shoppingfor a cancer cureWith the holidays approaching, Tampa's Moffitt Cancer Center and Mall Networks, a provider of merchant-funded loyalty shopping concepts, have come up with a way to marry shopping and fundraising for cancer research.AUGUST AUTO SALESWhat the data shows: August taxable sales of autos and accessories include the sale of new and used cars, repair shops, auto-supply stores and taxable sales at gasoline stations.Waiting in the wingsThe softer economy has touched just about every Gulf Coa

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • December 17, 2004
Real Estate Briefs (Sara/Mana edition)

This week's items: Group buys Tidemark Resort, saves from bankruptcyConstruction starts on new phase of University Health ParkMGA Insurance Services constructing new buildingFirst Priority Bank plans new branch

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Grier Ferguson |
  • October 8, 2020
Flower-related businesses experience ups and downs during pandemic

Area businesses have had to contend with initial closings, changing delivery procedures, supply chain issues and a Mother’s Day bloom boom.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Andrew Warfield |
  • May 22, 2019
Always be closing: sales guru shares secrets of success

Top sales trainer turns his company’s attention toward teaching sales and customer service to college students. Are they ready to give it a try?

  • Education
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Louis Llovio |
  • March 17, 2022
No end in sight: Health care providers keep building and building in region

Health care groups are busy building across the state to reach more patients — and more people on their way to the region.

  • Commercial Real Estate
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Brian Hartz |
  • March 17, 2022
Wage warrior: CEO goes above and beyond for worker pay

Tampa-based Volt Lighting has raised its starting hourly pay rate to double the state’s minimum wage.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Brian Hartz |
  • March 3, 2022
Sauce is the secret for young entrepreneur with an 'old soul'

Starting out with just a dream in his parents' kitchen, David Habib's star has risen like a rocket in the food industry as his Clearwater, Florida-based company, Yo Mama's Foods, sees rapid growth.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Brian Hartz |
  • March 31, 2022
Competitive fires flare up over alleged poaching of doctors, patients

A pair of Tampa Bay area health care firms fought a years-long legal battle over noncompete agreements. The result, beyond a $3.3 million payout, can teach employers valuable lessons.

  • Law
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • June 27, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ I'll take the Obama girl dress: It's called the Tank Leaf Print dress, but Chico's FAS should rename it The Michelle Obama dress. Or come next year, maybe the White House dress.+ Quick I-75 relief comes from hard work, luck: Thousands of commuters and drivers in northern Manatee County were happy, relatively speaking, to be back on the road heading southbound on Interstate 75 to start the workweek June 23.+ Infinity acquisition comes through the Review pages: Dale Ott decided about 10 months ago that his Sarasota-based technology-consulting firm, Vitil Solutions, was getting too big and unwieldy.+ WCI Communities: An Icahn transaction?: In a recent filing for Bonita Springs-based WCI Communities, Carl Icahn says he may enter into a "transaction" with the builder.+ Accountant fights in Washington D.C.: It might only have been five minutes, but Bradenton accountant Byron Shinn didn't hold anything back when he got a chance to speak before a U.S Congressional committee about challenges facing small businesses.+ Getting 245 mpg electric in Clearwater: Gulf Coast residents have heard a lot about electric cars, but they haven't been easy to find.Going green in St. Pete: Part environmental, part marketing, whatever the motivation, the green trend seems here to say.GULF COAST UNEMPLOYMENT RATEFort Myers area sees no foreclosure letup: The Cape Coral-Fort Myers area registered the nation's second-highest foreclosure

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • April 25, 2008
Coffee Talk

Location, pricing ... still the success keys: Amid the gloom surrounding residential real estate, there are pockets of sunshine based on the fundamentals of the industry.Fort Myers back on Grubb & Ellis map: Grubb & Ellis is back in Fort Myers.Southwest Florida still bankers' trouble spot: Of all the regions in Florida, the southwest area and Lee County in particular, remain tough places for bankers. Pro-business campaign receiving high marks: When a few of Sarasota's top business leaders gathered together late last year to combat a growing anti-business sentiment in the community, they expected a positive responseWait it out, the affluent remain: Companies selling luxury goods and services have felt the changes in the economy. Consumers of those items have seen the impact on their portfolios.Zirkelbach Construction builds for Honda, FedEx: Two of the most well-known brand names in the country - Honda and FedEx - now symbolize a lot more than reliable cars and on-time overnight deliveries to one Manatee County construction firm.Tense times for Tampa Tribune: First there were layoffs at The Tampa Tribune during the last two years. More recently, some sections of the newspaper have been cut or consolidated.Former elected official running for new office: Donna Clarke couldn't stay out of the game for long. The former Florida State representative, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2006, is getting back into poli

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Grier Ferguson |
  • February 28, 2020
From wine to cars to man caves, luxury storage is big opportunity for host of players

One industry expert cautions there's a risk of seizing on demand for luxury storage and going too far with it.

  • Commercial Real Estate
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • February 2, 2007
Comic Reality

Lamar Berry and Dean Young spent more than $4 million to build a franchise support system for Dagwood's before the first sandwich was served. Ambitious plans call for 4,900 locations within five years.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Andrew Warfield |
  • December 7, 2018
Poof! A new invention by a serial product designer

Therapouf inventor Judy Cutler-Teeven

  • Entrepreneurs
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