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Southwest Florida Business Briefs - July 2007
BONITA SPRINGS —
» The Bonita Bay Group has cut 30 positions.
BRANDON —
» Coca-Cola Enterprises is hiring 200 employees at its Brandon Shared Services Center.
» The 12-year-old Westfield Brandon mall underwent a $60-million makeover, adding a 150,000-sq.-ft. wing with 13 new stores.
FORT MYERS —
» Conservation 20/20 has purchased 400 acres off Corkscrew Road in southern Lee County from the Sam Galloway Sr. Trust for $5.85 million.\
» Miva Inc., an internet marketing company, has reduced its workforce by 320, or 20%.
» Robb & Stucky Interiors has opened a showroom in Costa Rica.
HERNANDO/PASCO COUNTIES —
» Citizens Property Insurance renewal policies for Pasco and Hernando County customers will not automatically cover sinkholes after Sept. 1. Those who wish to have sinkhole coverage must opt in.
LAKELAND —
» Burton-Katzman,a Michigan-based developer, is planning to build a 600,000-sq.-ft. business park on 64 acres off Mall Hill Drive in Lakeland.
LARGO —
» Raytheon Network Centric Systems is closing its engineering center in St. Petersburg and moving its 600 employees to the former Eckerd Corp. headquarters in Largo.
NAPLES —
» Engel & Völkers Florida, an upscale real estate agency, opened an office in Naples to serve as the statewide headquarters of the firm’s new master franchise operation.
» Construction is under way on a 29-slip private marina and yacht harbor at Aqua at Pelican Isle Yacht Club.
» International College has renamed itself Hodges University and changed from college status to university status after receiving a $12-million gift from Earl and Thelma Hodges.
PASCO COUNTY —
» Creative Contractors of Clearwater signed a contract to build the county’s first environment-friendly “green” school.
PINELLAS COUNTY —
» Palmetto GBA, a subsidiary of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, is closing its Palm Harbor office.
SARASOTA —
» Demolition has begun on the Sarasota Quay, a waterfront commercial development to be replaced by a $1-billion mixed-use project.
SARASOTA COUNTY —
» Crossgate Partners of Georgia and Waterford Cos. of Venice plan to build Bay Street Village & Towncenter, a mixed-use development with 550 homes in Osprey ranging from $295,000 to $795,000.
» The county will lose 125 manufacturing jobs as Honeywell International closes a plant that makes speed and direction sensors.
ST. PETERSBURG —
» Jabil Circuit (NYSE-JBL) recently opened an assembly plant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
» The non-profit International Ocean Institute has chosen the University of South Florida St. Petersburg for its first U.S. center.
» The Florida Green Building Coalition has designated St. Petersburg as the only “green city” in the state. The city uses biodiesel fuel and hybrid vehicles, has a large reclaimed water system, a recycling program and a waste-to-mulch program, among other initiatives.
» Bayfront Medical Center will open a $40-million outpatient cardiac care unit, the Bayfront Heart Center, this summer.
TAMPA —
» Entrepreneur Donald Adam, chairman of American Momentum Bank, contributed $20.4 million to the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute for a melanoma research center. It is the largest single gift in Moffitt’s history.
» Donald Trump has backed out of the proposed 52-story Trump Tower condominium project.
» Hellman & Friedman will purchase Catalina Marketing Corp. for $1.7 billion, outbidding ValueAct Capital Partners.
» TECO Energy (NYSE-TE) has settled a shareholder lawsuit for $17.4 million. Plaintiffs alleged that the company hid the risks of its merchant power activities in 2001 and 2002.
» APAC Customer Services, which operates inbound call centers, has opened a call center for United Parcel Service in Tampa.
» New Century Financial Corp., a California-based subprime lender, laid off 177 in Tampa as it prepares to close.
» RedVector.com, a provider of online education for the architectural, engineering and contractor markets, has acquired Care2Learn.com, an online continuing education company for professionals in long-term care, home health, hospice and rehabilitation.
