• Alternate Text
  • Loading

  • Newsletters
  • Podcast
  • Public Notices
  • 40 Under 40 Nomination
  • Mobile App
  • Subscribe
  • Login
  • News
  • Strategies
  • Entrepreneurs
  • M&A
  • Leadership
  • Regions
    • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    • Manatee-Sarasota
    • Charlotte-Lee-Collier
    • Florida
  • Industries
    • Business Support
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Residential Real Estate
    • Development
    • Finance
    • Food-Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • Manufacturing
    • Retail
    • Sports–Entertainment
    • Technology
    • Travel-Tourism
  • Insights
  • More
    • Advice
    • Transactions
    • 40 Under 40
    • Big Book of Business
    • Subscribe
    • Opinion
    • Executive Diversions
    • Change-Makers
    • Reprints
  • News
  • Strategies
  • Entrepreneurs
  • M&A
  • Leadership
  • Regions
    • Regions
    • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    • Manatee-Sarasota
    • Charlotte-Lee-Collier
    • Florida
  • Industries
    • Industries
    • Business Support
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Residential Real Estate
    • Development
    • Finance
    • Food-Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • Manufacturing
    • Retail
    • Sports–Entertainment
    • Technology
    • Travel-Tourism
  • Insights
  • More
    • More
    • Advice
    • Transactions
    • 40 Under 40
    • Big Book of Business
    • Subscribe
    • Opinion
    • Executive Diversions
    • Change-Makers
    • Reprints
  • Newsletters
  • Podcast
  • Public Notices
  • 40 Under 40 Nomination
  • Mobile App
  • Subscribe
  • Login

Results for:

  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Jim Stinson |
  • August 25, 2023
International CPA turns Fort Myers into her global business hub

Marie Grasmeier didn't fret about starting an international tax accounting firm.

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Louis Llovio |
  • August 25, 2023
A college president who almost didn't go to college

As a young woman, St. Petersburg native Tonjua Williams got an opportunity and has turned it into a career and a calling.

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
  • By Andrew Warfield |
  • January 22, 2026
Sarasota officials approve $2.5M sale of historic downtown building

Architecture Sarasota, a nonprofit, intends to purchase the McCullough Pavilion in downtown Sarasota from the county.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Lesley Dwyer |
  • January 8, 2026
$60M in Manatee County projects coming to Lakewood Ranch area in 2026

Manatee County has multiple projects slated for Lena Road and Premier Sports Campus North.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • By Anastasia Dawson |
  • February 10, 2026
Pinellas boat giant backs CEO amid activist investor's 'failed management' accusations

Donerail has offered to buy MarineMax for nearly $1.1 billion.

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Louis Llovio |
  • June 23, 2025
Judge denies bail for Clearwater businessman charged in $100 million fraud

Leo Joseph Govoni, who was arrested Monday morning by the FBI, will stay in jail at least until Thursday when a detention hearing is scheduled.

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
  • By Kristen Lessig-Schenerlein, Hannah McGowan |
  • February 25, 2026
Defeating impostor syndrome requires responding to self-doubt with clarity, confidence

The passenger seat metaphor is appropos: "If you are going to let self-doubt ride along," the authors say, "don’t let it drive the car. You remain in control of your actions."

  • Advice
  • By Kristen Lessig-Schenerlein, Hannah McGowan |
  • January 14, 2026
Leaders can help promote humble confidence, erase impostor syndrome

Helping teammates overcome impostor syndrome starts at the top.

  • Advice
  • By Louis Llovio |
  • May 11, 2026
Texas developer pays $6.5M for Hillsborough land, plans industrial park

In the week's top commercial real estate news, a Bradenton workforce housing project gets a loan, a historic St. Pete Beach hotel sells, and a Cape Coral retail center changes hands.

  • Florida
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • October 12, 2007
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Edens & Avant buys Colonial CrossingsLiberty Investment Properties plans second Fort Myers hotelLocation Finders plans small retail stripHoliday Cove RV Resort sold, may turn condoAmsdell family buys site for self storageTempus Electronic owner building new home, moreInvestors acquire Largo's Wachovia buildingBayfront Health System buys suites in St. PeteSterndrive Engineering moving to Oldsmar

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • October 23, 2008
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Juniper Communities buys Naples ALFFort Myers hoteliersbuy Naples Super 8 MotelBelleair Development Groupplans Skyline Boulevard 7-ElevenJBM Realty Advisorslisting River Reach ApartmentsHealth Care REIT funding Windsor facility in VeniceHide-Away Storage Servicesplanning Fruitville facilitySpec Building Materialsbuys Bradenton warehouseStarwood Land Venturesinks N.C.-acquisition dealKennedy Investments buys Hanna warehouseProBuild Holdingsbuys Plant City warehouseDEV Hospitalitybuys Clearwater Wingate Road, Shops at Wiregrass,set to open in October

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Beth Luberecki |
  • June 2, 2023
Naples storm window manufacturer embraces winds of change

A major innovation launched Advanced Hurricane Technology. That creative spirit rolls on as the family business grows under its second generation.

  • Technology
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • May 21, 2007
Coffee Talk

Shareholders question Source Interlink acquisition: Shareholders didn't share the enthusiasm of Source Interlink's management when the Bonita Springs-based magazine distributor announced it was jumping into the publishing business.New construction company comes to town: Competition for Gulf Coast construction projects will be getting a little stiffer with the announcement that West Palm Beach-based Suffolk Construction will be opening an office in Lakewood Ranch.Florida nets four thrifts: Research firm SNL Financial recently released its annual list of the top 100 thrifts in the nation and only four Florida institutions made the 2006 rankings.Start off new employees well - or else: Coffee Talk readers are all too aware about the perils of making a bad call when hiring employees. But a new survey says that even good calls can turn bad - rather quickly - if there isn't a healthy amount of training and orientation given to the employee from the first day.Hodges boosts Naples university: International College, an independent four-year institution for working adults, received a $12 million gift from Naples funeral-business owner Earl Hodges and his wife Thelma Hodges.A new kind of letter to the editor: Time was, when you didn't like something you read in the newspaper or a magazine, you simply wrote a letter to the editor.Look for the blue, ValPak blue, that is: Largo-based ValPak Direct Marketing Systems, a pioneer in direct mail, w

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • October 7, 2005
Ahead of The Curve

The Bonita Bay Group plans to replicate its successful business model throughout Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Adam Hughes |
  • October 20, 2005
'A Class Act'

Tampa trial lawyer Bennie Lazzara has amassed $150 million in jury verdicts since he switched to civil law in the mid-'90s. Expect more: he's not done.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • October 23, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ Economic incentives:Be careful what you getAs is the case with just about every daily newspaper in the country, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, owned by the New York Times Co., is struggling to survive the economic downturn.+ Ellert leavesFifth Third BankAfter just nine months as president and chief executive officer of Fifth Third Bank South Florida, Kent Ellert has left the bank.+ ForeclosuresDaily falters,but will continueIt is somewhat counterintuitive that a company focused on foreclosures should be in desperate financial straights.+ Gulf Coast entrepreneurto run for local officeAlan Zirkelbach, one of the more accomplished entrepreneurs on the Gulf Coast, is making a run in the political arena.+ Early Halloween scare:Economist's predictionsIt's not even Halloween yet and Robert Allsbrook, the chief economist for Regions Bank, is already scaring the wits out of business owners on the Gulf Coast. + Africa is calling.Is the Gulf Coast answering?What area is rich in natural resources, has a good workforce and is looking for Gulf Coast industries to partner and do business with?+ Homebuilders groupstake out the 'homebuilders'Apparently, there's a lot in a name. Just ask Jane Goodwin, executive vice president of the organization formerly known as the Home Builders Association of Sarasota County.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • November 14, 2008
Corporate Report

SeaBridge barge service tolink Port Manatee and TexasChico's October, quartershows continued sales declineSunovia, Precision-Lightingfinalize $2-million LED dealHurricane Glass Shield namedas authorized PGT dealerUnilens Vision of Largodebuts custom toric lensCooper Notification partnerswith Virginia security firmAlico declares dividend,sets annual meeting dateMETI's iStansimulator appears on 'Grey's Anatomy' METI's iStansimulator appears on 'Grey's Anatomy'

  • Industries
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • September 19, 2003
Coffee Talk

This week's items: Quote from Michael Kovac Executive Director of High Technology Engineering Development Old Station in Fort Myers soldCell phone linking to UPC bar codes in Fort MyersJudicial Qualifications Commission case

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • April 16, 2004
Russ Stahl is Different

The 61-year-old Tampa attorney seems unfazed by the child-sex charges facing him. He recently won an $18 million jury award for an injured client. 'I am not a normal person,' he says.

  • Entrepreneurs
  • For Subscribers Only
  • By Business Observer Staff |
  • July 25, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ Dupe the media!Rake in profits!Someone finally figured out how to make money on the stock of WCI Communities, a stock that has fallen from the $20 range into $1 territory.+ Student housingin growing demandNot all of real estate has slowed to a crawl.+ Battle heats up oversoutheast Lee CountyAn epic legal battle is looking more certain with the resignation of a well-respected development consultant from a committee formed to examine land uses in southeast Lee County.+ Hot hogs focusof shocking studyTampa's Stinger Systems Inc. had a problem. It needed to prove the cardiac safety of its key product, the Stinger S-200 electro-stun gun, but it's hard to find human volunteers willing to endure the repeated shocks, close study and eventual surgery required.+ New C12 groupin Fort MyersC12, a nationwide group of organizations for Christian chief executive officers, has added a new franchise in Fort Myers. + Flagler Westshore purchaseexpensive, development delayedCoral Gables-based Flagler Development Group appears to be waging a big bet on its new Westshore property.+ Fight to widenPine Island RoadBuilders in Cape Coral plan to redouble their efforts to widen the busy Pine Island Road corridor despite the governor's veto.+ Not your parents'flea marketYou may have thought flea markets were a thing of the past, but a newly built one in Collier County takes the concept to a whole new level.

  • News
« 860 861 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 »
The best of Business Observer, delivered directly to your inbox

Get the latest business and commercial real estate news from Tampa Bay to Naples.

Sign Up

Contact

  • 1970 Main St.
  • Third Floor
  • Sarasota, FL 34236
  • Phone: 941-362-4848

Extra, Extra!

  • Newsletters
  • App
  • Podcast
  • Big Book of Business

more

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Distribution Points
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Accessibility Options

sister sites

  • Your Observer
  • Jax Daily Record
  • Orange Observer
  • Accessibility Options
  • Copyright © 2026 Observer Media Group Inc., All Rights Reserved
×
3 Articles Remaining!
Not a Subscriber?

Click here to Subscribe

Already a Subscriber?

Click here to Login

Sign Up for Daily Brief

Start your day with the top Gulf Coast business news you need to succeed.

Sign Up for CRE Central

Stay updated with a weekly roundup of big deals, market shifts and the people shaping commercial real estate from Tampa Bay to Naples.


Smart People Subscribe.

Turn headlines into game plans. The playbook’s right here.
Subscribe to the Business Observer today.

Subscribe Now