March 29, 2024

Southwest Fla. & Tampa Bay Business Briefs - Sept. 2009

Art Levy | 9/1/2009
Central Command
» Construction is under way on a $60-million Central Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base. Nearly 2,000 military personnel will work in the 250,000-sq.-ft. facility.

BONITA SPRINGS —

» Source Interlink has agreed to create or transfer 350 jobs to its Bonita Springs headquarters, after getting $1 million from Lee County’s First Initiative incentives program.

FORT MYERS —

» Florida and Lee County have committed $615,000 in incentives to NeoGenomics Laboratories, which will use the money to expand its headquarters and add 75 jobs. The lab specializes in cancer genetic testing. Also, NeoGenomics has announced that Abbott Laboratories has purchased a 9.6% stake in the company for $4.8 million.

» Paramount Transportation Logistics Services will get $600,000 in incentives from the state and Lee County to open a headquarters in Fort Myers.

FORT MYERS BEACH —

» Scott Janke was fired as town manager after council members discovered his wife, Anabela Mota, has acted in pornographic films.

NAPLES —

» A planned merger between Naples-based Partners Financial and Casselberry’s Semoran Financial has been called off.

PASCO COUNTY —

» Mary Jane Stanley, who led the Pasco Economic Development Council for 10 years, has resigned.

POLK COUNTY —

The University of South Florida Polytechnic will open two business incubators this fall, one called Blue Sky West in Lakeland and another called Blue Sky East in Winter Haven.

» Polk Community College has removed “community” from its name. The school will now offer four-year degrees and is called Polk State College.

SARASOTA —

» In a $31.2-million deal, the Baltimore Orioles have agreed to move their spring training facilities to Sarasota, which had been looking to land a new team after losing the Cincinnati Reds to Arizona.

» The Department of Veterans Affairs has committed $17.4 million for a 50-acre addition to Sarasota National Cemetery. Construction is scheduled to start in 2011.

ST. PETERSBURG —

» After 31 years as president of St. Petersburg College, Carl Kuttler announced plans to retire. Kuttler, 69, will remain on the job until a successor is found. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker is among the possible replacements.

TAMPA —

» Cutrale Citrus Juices USA, a subsidiary of the Brazilian-based orange grower and processor Sucocitrico Cutrale, will spend up to $30 million at the Port of Tampa to create storage tanks for up to 8 million gallons of juice.

» Ernie Haire Ford, after 39 years in business, has closed.

WESLEY CHAPEL —

» The developers of the 1-million-sq.-ft. Cypress Creek Town Center have agreed to pay nearly $297,000 in penalties for allowing mud to wash into Cypress Creek during the shopping center’s construction.

Tags: Southwest

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