March 28, 2024

Around the State

| 7/1/1997
Fort Myers

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First Independence Bank agreed to merge its three Lee County banks, with $74 million in assets, into Montgomery, Ala.-based Colonial BancGroup's (NYSE-CNB) subsidiary, Colonial Bank. Colonial BancGroup operates 169 banks in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee with total assets of $6 billion.

Palmer Wireless has agreed to be bought by New York-based Price Communications for $17.50 a share or $880 million, including $380 in debt assumption. Palmer, which owns and operates cellular telephone systems in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, had 1996 net income of $4.7 million.

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Manatee County

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Mader Electric will move from Sarasota to Manatee County, where it will build a 30,000- square-foot facility and expects to hire 25 engineers and semi-skilled workers at an average annual salary of $37,000. To finance the facility, Manatee commissioners approved a $3 million Industrial Development Bond. Mader makes, repairs and distributes motors, control panels and control systems used in automated factory machines. A Florida appeals court ruled that Florida Power & Light (FPL) should get a second chance to present its proposal to burn Orimulsion to Gov. Chiles and the Cabinet, which rejected its use a year ago. FPL, Florida's largest utility, wants to convert its Manatee plant to the controversial tar fuel, which it says will save customers $4 billion over 20 years. The Manatee plant would be the first in the U.S. to burn the Venezuelan fuel.

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St. Petersburg

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HSN (Nasdaq-HSNI), the parent company of Home Shopping Network, agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Los Angeles-based Ticketmaster Group. HSN will buy billionaire investor Paul Allen's 47.5% equity interest for up to $209 million in a stock-for-stock deal. HSN plans to consolidate the two electronic commerce companies.

Progress Energy, a subsidiary of Florida Progress Corp., has an agreement to form a partnership with Ionics Inc, of Watertown, Mass., to build a desalination plant on the Anclote River in southern Pasco County. The plant, which requires approval of the West Coast Regional Water Supply Authority, would produce 20 million to 50 million gallons of desalinated seawater a day.

Times Holding, which owns stock in Times Publishing Company, agreed to purchase a group of nine news and advertising publications that circulate in west Pinellas County. The weeklies, which emphasize advertising content and community bulletin-board news, will operate as Tampa Bay Newspapers Inc. and function separately from Times Publishing Co. publications the St. Petersburg Times and Florida Trend.

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Sarasota

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The Sarasota County Committee of 100 tapped Frank Tamberrino as executive director, replacing William B. Little, who retired in February. Tamberrino, an 18-year economic development veteran, was most recently senior vice president of economic development for the Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce.

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Tampa

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A US Airways' plan to consolidate many of its maintenance operations nationwide could mean additional jobs for Tampa International Airport. The carrier is also cutting unprofitable Florida flights to Daytona Beach and Melbourne.

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Tags: Florida Small Business, Politics & Law, Southwest, Business Florida

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