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Results for:

  • By Elizabeth King |
  • February 23, 2026
Manatee manufacturer adds 185K-square-foot facility

Pierce Manufacturing is adding a facility near its Bradenton campus to increase its ability to make fire apparatus.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • September 13, 2005
The Annuity Racket

A Tampa law firm joins attorneys and attorneys general in three states to recover funds from an Iowa insurer that targets retirees for annuity sales.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Carl Cronan |
  • July 16, 2010
Smokin' Degrees

Argosy University's Tampa campus now occupies a cigar factory along I-275 that dates back more than a century. The school anticipates attracting more students within its hallowed walls.

  • Industries
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • July 25, 2014
Trades are Back

Warehouses and other industrial buildings are filling up with construction trades as homebuilding recovers in the Fort Myers and Naples areas.

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Beth Luberecki |
  • March 19, 2023
Travel agency emerges from pandemic stronger than ever

Preferred Travel of Naples was able to move quickly when the world started traveling again, thanks to some smart and shrewd decisions made during the pandemic.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 9, 2007
e-Learning Entrepreneurs

Brent and Rachel Fisher have created a company that offers online education to businesses, non-profits and organizations, such as school systems.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • April 13, 2007
Mastery Now

Research and long-term planning are key parts of the growth plan for a sign-making franchise company that grew more than 25% in 2006.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • September 23, 2005
Coffee Talk (Tampa)

Still not coasting: There isn't a community bank in the Tampa Bay area that is moving faster than Coast Bank of Florida.Bust or boom: Will Sarasota County's upward trek in real estate prices continue or is the bubble about to pop?New bank makes it: The first local bank to open in booming south Hillsborough County since the 1980s has become reality. CEO: Chico's will grow faster: The president and chief executive officer of Fort Myers-based Chico FAS Inc. says his company will double sales in the next three years.It could have been worse: Brenda P. Murray, chief administrative law judge at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, hit a Raymond James Financial Inc. subsidiary with a stiff fine earlier this month.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • October 7, 2005
Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana)

Saunders donates $100,00O to USF's Sarasota-Manatee campus: Michael Saunders, the head of the well-known Sarasota-based real estate firm that bears her name, is donating $100,000 to the University of South Florida's Sarasota-Manatee campus.First Watch continues aggressive growth: First Watch Restaurants Inc. has beefed up its management team with three newly created positions in an effort to support its aggressive growth strategy.Sanibel resorts for sale in a "seller's market": Meristar Hospitality Corp., a publicly traded real estate investment trust in Northern Virginia, has five properties for sale on Sanibel Island in Lee County.Confusion from our bank rankings: Well, we know the bankers are reading our annual banking edition. We heard from them.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • April 8, 2005
Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana)

Rodriguez's encore: Sarasota developer Henry Rodriguez is expected to unveil his next real estate project in the next several weeks.We're No. 1: Does the Tampa Bay area have more white-collar crooks than anywhere else in Florida?Hooter en Espanol: Sarasota-based Nuevo Advertising Group and Provident Advertising and Marketing are designing a Hispanic marketing plan for the restaurant chain Original Hooters, which operates 16 Hooters locations.Kolter weighs options: After acquiring the three-acre former Metropolitan property at U.S. 41 and Gulf Stream Avenue in downtown Sarasota, Toronto-based Kolter Property Co. appears to be taking its time digesting its new purchase.Restaurateur buys Fumble In: Miles and Mindy Millwee, owners of Hillview Grill and Madfish Grill restaurants, purchased the Bradenton icon Fumble In Sports Pub & Grill, 2505 Manatee Ave. E., Bradenton, for $990,000.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • April 15, 2005
Coffee Talk (Tampa)

Best laid plans: Only 100 days into her first term in office, Hillsborough Clerk of the Court Pat Frank has lost a key member of her senior management team.Business support: Judges in the Hillsborough and Pinellas-Pasco courts have an unlikely ally: Associated Industries of Florida. A little late for taxpayers: Local news media this week marked the first anniversary of a span collapse at a Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway construction project by tallying the costly aftermath.DeLay reaction: After the Terri Schiavo tragedy, Tampa solo practitioner Herbert M. Berkowitz has one question:Why didn't one of the many judges to rule in the case sanction U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas?New beginnings: After five years, Phil Wolff has split from Sarasota's Levin Tannenbaum Wolff Band Gates & Pugh PL.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • September 25, 2008
Gulf Coast Week

Hyde Park Village changingEight tenants at Tampa's Old Hyde Park Village urban shopping center got notices to vacate or move to smaller spaces as the upscale retail center looks for ways to boost revenue amid a changing retail environment locally and nationally.Universal Health Care movesUniversal Health Care Group signed a lease as the first major tenant to move into 100 Bay Central in downtown St. Petersburg, the former domed corporate headquarters building of Progress Energy.Building departments mergeThe cities of Venice and North Port in Sarasota County have teamed up with Charlotte County to form a joint building department.Mining development deniedEven though Manatee County commissioners finally voted on a mining proposal for a 1,500-acre tract in northeast Manatee County, the issue is not closed. Lee comp plan changesLee County commissioners are debating 20 changes to the county's comprehensive land-use plan in a series of meetings, some of them more controversial than others.Long live CollierMagazines love lists.Fort Myers raises taxesThe Fort Myers City Council recently approved a 15% increase in the property tax millage rate that will result in a 12% increase in tax revenues, taking into account a 2.7% drop in property values.Tampa Ritz-Carlton deadTampa's chance to land a Ritz-Carlton hotel on the Courtney Campbell Causeway, between Tampa and Clearwater, has ended.

  • Finance
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • May 9, 2008
Building New

Is this any time to start a construction company? Two Gulf Coast entrepreneurs are betting it is.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • April 9, 2004
Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana edition)

This week's items: Highwall Technologies' Sentinel has been certified as interoperable with Computer Associates International Inc.'s Wireless Option Two local businesspeople discussing environmentally-friendly homebuilding

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • August 20, 2010
Chasing the Sun

Two German engineers moved to the Gulf Coast for its sunny lifestyle. But the sun chasers also satisfied their irrepressible urge to create technology and a new company.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • December 7, 2012
Corporate Report: December 7

A roundup of the top corporate news of the week.

  • Strategies
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jean Gruss |
  • January 6, 2012
Skill, Luck and Divine Intervention

Restaurant veteran Ralph Desiano didn't turn back when friends told him he was crazy to open a restaurant during the recession. Good thing he didn't listen.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Louis Llovio |
  • May 20, 2021
Tampa restaurant group owner believes personal touch is key to running her eateries

Natalia Levey has her own spin on the restaurant business.

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Grier Ferguson |
  • January 3, 2020
Area developer moves forward on future apartments, restaurants

Naples-based Stock Development and its Stock Luxury Apartment Living division is developing Fruitville Commons in Sarasota.

  • Construction-Development
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Kevin McQuaid |
  • July 19, 2019
At St. Armands Circle, investor popularity goes around and comes around

The popular St. Armands Circle retail district in Sarasota is receiving renewed attention after a spate of high-profile transactions involving the Columbia Restaurant Group and Benderson Development Co.

  • Commercial Real Estate
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