March 28, 2024
ATS SW Dec 2021
Domm Holland is the co-founder and CEO of Tampa-based e-commerce checkout-service firm Fast.
ATS SW Dec 2021
Florida Southern College and Louisiana State University will share nearly $1 million from the National Science Foundation to study how climate change could impact Florida's $30-million stone crab industry.
ATS SW Dec 2021
First Watch, a Manatee County-based restaurant chain, has gone public, debuting in October on the Nasdaq exchange under the FWRG symbol.

Southwest Florida Roundup

Tampa-based Fast introduces digital feature allowing consumers to buy directly from sellers

Art Levy | 11/30/2021

INNOVATION

Instant Purchases

Fast, a Tampa-based e-commerce checkout-service firm, has introduced a feature that allows consumers to buy directly from sellers who use Fast’s online and mobile platforms while avoiding logins or online shopping carts. Someone reading an online article about a coffee maker, for instance, might find a Fast link button somewhere in the article. Click it — and you’ve bought the coffee maker.

Consumers can also make purchases by clicking on ads and can shop via QR code. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Amalie Arena have partnered with Fast to allow ticket holders at hockey games and other events to buy merchandise during events.

“Now fans could easily scan a QR code on their cup holder to purchase merchandise, future game tickets, sponsor products or concert merchandise through Fast checkout with just one click from the comfort of their seat,” says Domm Holland, Fast’s co-founder and CEO.

BANKING

  • Mike Smith is the new head of business banking for Fifth Third Bank in Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville. He had been Fifth Third’s business banking market manager for the bank’s Cincinnati region.

EDUCATION

  • Florida Polytechnic University received nearly $150,000 from the National Science Foundation to research the durability and longevity of metals used in 3-D-printed jet engine parts.
  • Saint Leo University hired Mark Gesner to be its new vice president of community engagement and innovation. Most recently, he was executive director of the Hub for Innovation and Community Engaged Learning at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee.

HEALTH CARE

  • Tampa General Hospital has established TGH General Surgeons of the Palm Beaches, a surgery practice based in West Palm Beach. Tampa General’s collaborative efforts include previously announced affiliations with the Cancer Center of South Florida and the Gastro Group of the Palm Beaches.
  • Blake Medical Center in Bradenton appointed Steve Nierman the hospital’s new president and CEO. Nierman is the former president of Winter Haven Hospital and has also been COO of Spring Hill Regional Hospital and Memorial Hospital of Tampa.
  • Anais Aurora Badia, founder of the Florida Skin Center in Fort Myers, was appointed dermatology subspecialty coordinator for Lee Health’s new Florida State University College of Medicine/Internal Medicine Residency Program.
  • The Lung Cancer Metabolism Working Group at Moffitt Cancer Center won a $10.2-million grant to study ways to develop targeted therapy for treating lung cancer.

HOSPITALITY

Mainsail Lodging & Development, which opened the Epicurean Hotel in Tampa in 2013, has opened the Epicurean Atlanta, the Tampa-based hospitality company’s second Epicurean location.

The 212- room Floridan Palace Hotel in downtown Tampa has been sold to 1754 Properties, which also owns the TradeWinds Resort in St. Pete Beach. New York-based Triangle Capital Group partnered with 1754 Properties to buy the hotel. Developer Antonios Markopoulos was the seller. The price was not disclosed.

INSURANCE

  • Neptune Flood, a St. Petersburg-based flood insurance firm, has purchased Jumpstart Insurance Solutions, a California firm that sells earthquake insurance.

REAL ESTATE

  • Gainesville-based Collier Co. paid $5.4 million for 14 acres near I-75 and Fruitville Road in Sarasota, where it plans to develop a $70-million, 300- unit rental development.

TRANSPORTATION

  • Allegiant and Sun Country airlines have started service between Punta Gorda Airport and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

  • Brittany Lamont is the new president and CEO of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance. Lamont was previously vice president of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce.
  • Max Stewart has been promoted to vice president of economic development of the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corp.
  • Genesis Systems, which sells equipment that collects water from air, plans to move its headquarters from Kansas City to Tampa. The company employs 20 but plans to boost its workforce to 125.
  • Global ecommerce company CitrusAd, which has offices in Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom, has opened its U.S. headquarters in St. Petersburg. CitrusAd, which helps connect sellers to consumers, is affiliated with Paris-based Publicis Groupe, a communications company with 80,000 employees in more than 100 countries.
  • Ark Investment Management, an asset management firm founded in New York, has moved its headquarters to downtown St. Petersburg. Led by CEO and lead investor Cathie Wood, the firm also announced plans to partner with the Tampa Bay Innovation Center and Pinellas County to launch the Ark Innovation Center, a business incubator offering support to local entrepreneurs and tech startups.

 

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