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Southwest Fla. & Tampa Bay Business Briefs - Sept. 2008
Bonita Springs
WCI Communities filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. Prudential Florida WCI Realty, WCI Mortgage and some joint ventures associated with WCI were excluded from the filing. Jerry Starkey is out as CEO.
BRADENTON
PEO Gevity is seeking proposals from potential buyers. One possibility might be General Atlantic Service, a Connecticut company that owns 9.5% of Gevity.
Fort Myers
Frito-Lay is building a 35,000-sq.-ft. distribution facility at Westbury Park.
LaBelle
City commissioners approved plans for Bonita Bay Group’s South LaBelle Village, a 1,018-acre development of regional impact that could include as many as 2,500 homes.
Lakeland
Firmenich, a Swiss fragrance company, is adding a 12,000-sq.-ft. building to its Lakeland operation. The company will also add 80 jobs.
Lakewood Ranch
Fishkind & Associates is studying the feasibility of Lakewood Ranch becoming an incorporated city. Results of the $35,000 study, paid for by local business and community leaders, will be released later this fall.
Lutz
Opinicus, a flight-simulator manufacturer, has been selected to build flight deck simulators for an Italian air force training program.
Naples
The University of Florida’s College of Dentistry is building a $5.4-million dental clinic on the campus of Edison College.
» TGR Financial is opening a new bank, First National Bank of the Gulf Coast, in January.
North Port
City officials have agreed to pay $92,000 to a Tennessee-based marketing company to create an image campaign for the city.
Polk County
Polk Community College’s Supply Chain Management Institute has a won a $1.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to expand the institute’s curriculum, establish a high-tech training lab and fund scholarships.
St. Petersburg
Construction is under way on a $6-million, 21,000-sq.-ft. medical office building in the city’s Grand Central district.
Tampa
Spain-based solar power plant maker Renovalia has signed an agreement with Seminole Electric to build a solar power plant in Florida and sell the electricity to the Tampa utility. The announcement came after Gov. Charlie Crist’s 12-day trade mission to Europe, which included a tour of a Renovalia-built solar plant.
» IRX Therapeutics, a University of South Florida pharmaceuticals spinoff, announced it raised $25 million through a preferred stock offering.
Tampa Bay
Governments from both sides of Tampa Bay are chipping in incentives to entice Massachusetts-based Charles Stark Draper Laboratory to open research labs in St. Petersburg and at USF in Tampa. The incentives so far total $30 million, including $15 million from the state.
