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Tuesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› Florida-based Bankers Insurance Founder Menke Remembered for Entrepreneurial Spirit
Bob Menke, the man who founded St. Petersburg-based Bankers Insurance Co., one of the oldest property insurers in Florida, died last week at age 89. “The company that Bob founded in 1976 has grown into one of the largest privately held financial services companies in the Tampa Bay Area,” Bankers Financial Corp. CEO John Strong and President Rob Menke, Bob’s son, said in a statement. “Today, BFC’s companies provide personal and commercial property insurance, full-service human resource outsourcing, consumer warranty and lifestyle services, insurance and financial services for homebuilders, and the underwriting of surety bond contracts.”
› Land purchase helps The Sarasota Orchestra move forward on building its music center
It's been years in the planning, and now with a prime spot on Fruitville Road, close to I-75, The Sarasota Orchestra can begin the design and engineering of its new music center. The land was purchased with $14 million from private donors. Sarasota Orchestra President and CEO Joe McKenna, said the music center will benefit the entire community.
› Need retail therapy? Coral Gables mall getting new stores, ballet dance school
A Coral Gables outdoor mall is luring new stores at a time when national retail closures are making headlines, exemplifying the strong retailing sector in South Florida. The three-story Shops at Merrick Park, at 358 San Lorenzo Ave., will welcome six retailers by fall, said Carlos Limontes, senior general manager. It’s a sign, Limontes said, of businesses placing big bets on the established and booming Coral Gables, as well as the continuing migration of wealthy newcomers to the wider region.
› North Port to revisit forbidding temporary FEMA mobile homes on single-family lots
A North Port family forced to live in their Hurricane Ian-damaged home because the city refused to allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to put a two-bedroom trailer on their property can temporarily call an apartment at home as they await a judge's decision on their lawsuit over the trailer issue.
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