'Unreasonable' CEO Describes Rise of Acosta

Many people would be offended if you told them they were being unreasonable. But Gary Chartrand would consider it a compliment. Chartrand, the executive chairman and former CEO of Jacksonville-based Acosta Inc., thinks you need an unreasonable leader to grow a company successfully. “My unreasonable leadership definition is a positive one,” he said. Chartrand feels so strongly about it that he has written a book on the subject called “Unreasonable Leadership.” The book details how unreasonable leadership sparked the growth of Acosta, a sales and marketing company serving the supermarket industry. The unreasonableness of Chartrand and his predecessor as CEO, Del Dallas, helped Acosta grow from a Jacksonville company with 26 employees in 1974 to a national leader in its industry today with $1 billion in annual revenue and 17,000 employees in the U.S. and Canada. [Source: Florida Times-Union]

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The Business Behind College Basketball

UCF basketball's historic first appearance in the Top 25 this week is more than a source of bragging rights for the team, its boosters and fans.

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The national ranking couldn't come at a better time for the business behind the basketball. The University of Central Florida's home court is the centerpiece of the largest construction project in the school's history: a $242 million development that includes the 10,000-seat arena, retail shops, student housing and a parking garage. The complex opened in the fall of 2007, just before the worst recession since World War II got under way. As a result, the economy has taken its toll on the town-like social center near the school's new football stadium. High turnover and empty storefronts plague the retail space. The pull-back in consumer spending has slowed ticket sales and concession revenue for concerts and other events. And a naming-rights deal for the arena itself — projected before the start of construction to be worth $250,000 a year — never materialized. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

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To Defenders, Some Earmarks Are Sound Politics

As GOP leaders in Congress consider whether to ban earmarks, there are some willing to speak up for the practice. In Florida, they include environmentalists concerned about finding money for Everglades restoration and local officials with big projects to fund, such as the dredging of Miami’s port. There are few places in Miami more important to the region's economy. It's one of the busiest cruise ship ports in the nation. But Bill Johnson, director of Miami's port, has really just one thing he wants to talk about now: a planned dredging project to accommodate massive cargo ships that will soon use an expanded Panama Canal. "It would finish before the Panama Canal [expansion] opens in late 2014," Johnson says. Finish, that is, if the project receives $75 million in federal money. To lock in his funding, Johnson has been making his case for the federal dollars to anyone who will listen. Recently, Johnson met with Florida's incoming governor, Republican Rick Scott. Scott says he likes what he hears about the Miami port expansion but wants to study it. As for funding it, Scott says: "I don't support any earmarks on the federal level." Earmarks have a long and checkered history in Florida and in national politics. [Source: NPR]

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Routine Cellar Search Reveals $30,000 Bottle of Wine

A few times a month, the sommeliers at Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa go hunting for wine lost and forgotten in the restaurant's cellars.

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They climb the shelves, crawl over cases and shine a flashlight on anything not on the inventory list. It's like mining for gems, says restaurant owner David Laxer. You never know what you'll find. This spring, they struck gold. A double magnum 1947 bottle of Chateau Latour. The selling price: $30,000. The first-growth Bordeaux will be on the 61st edition of Bern's wine list due out in early January. It's by far the most expensive wine in the restaurant's history. Senior sommelier Eric Renaud found the bottle during a "project day'' at the restaurant. He was working in the rare wine room when he saw the bottle tucked away on a high shelf in the back. It was on its side, instead of pointed outward like the rest. "It looked like someone had hid it there a long time ago,'' he said. "The second I saw it, I almost had a heart attack.'' Laxer figures his father, Bern, who founded restaurant in 1956, bought it a half century ago for about $100. It had probably been sitting there for decades, gathering dust but improving with age. He thinks fewer than two dozen bottles of it exist worldwide. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]

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Graham Center Awarded $3M to Promote Civic Engagement

A new grant will allow the Bob Graham Center for Public Service to use technology to encourage civic engagement. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced Tuesday that it was awarding the $3 million grant to the University of Florida center. It will be used for efforts that include an electronic "great civil debate wall," an online course on citizenship and a fellowship program. Graham Center Director Ann Henderson said the efforts aim to address a lack of civic engagement, illustrated by such measures as low voter turnout rates. "We need to be more deliberate in the education of our citizens," she said. The civil debate wall is among the high-tech ways being used in an attempt to turn the tide. Henderson said the electronic installation will be constructed in Pugh Hall, home of the Graham Center, and will feature public policy questions. An example would be gauging support of off-shore oil drilling. People will be able to vote on the issue and be presented with a photo and the comments of someone with an opposing position. The wall is meant to show people that those with opposing views are normal and have well-reasoned opinions. "The idea here is we're trying to practice debating in a civil way," Henderson said. [Source: Gainesville Sun]

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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Teeth Are a Big Business in Manatee County [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Each adult human is supposed to have 32 of them, and they are big business in Manatee County. Teeth -- dentistry, that is -- means jobs for Manatee County residents. From dental offices to prosthetic labs and orthodontic product manufacturers, the business of caring for the nation's teeth has found a home in Manatee. According to GBI Research, the U.S. dental market in 2009 was valued at $2.2 billion and is forecast to grow to reach $4.2 billion by 2016. The forecast for growth is closely tied to aging baby boomers, who will require more dental care as they age and are more likely to have the wherewithal to afford cosmetic dentistry. Manatee County businesses are poised to capitalize on that surge. Dental Care Alliance, or DCA, is a dental practice management company that started in Sarasota in the early 1990s, when the founder fled Michigan's winters. DCA has since become one of the largest dental practice management companies in the nation, with 80 practices under management in seven states. The business has 43 employees at its local headquarters, plus 1,100 employees at practices managed nationwide.

› CSX's Ward, Others Help Justice Coalition Pull through Crisis [Florida Times-Union]
Less than a week after Jacksonville’s Justice Coalition pleaded with the community for help, corporate and private donations have ensured the nonprofit agency’s survival. The Michael Ward Foundation announced that it will give $2 for every dollar donated to the Justice Coalition, up to $100,000. The agency gives crime victims support as they navigate the police and court system, publishes a newspaper and offers rewards for information leading to suspects. It recently became a victim itself by a staff member who bilked the agency out of $150,000. Ward, CSX chairman, president and CEO, said the coalition’s financial situation reminded him of the classic holiday film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” where character George Bailey found himself in a crisis not of his making and looked to the community for help. “The Justice Coalition is our George Bailey this Christmas and we need to step up and help this wonderful organization,” he said.
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› Makeover for Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
There is a certain responsibility that comes with the address 1 E. Las Olas Blvd., where Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Art is undergoing a million-dollar makeover. After all, at the opposite end of the city's tourist-friendly boulevard is the visual and visceral splendor of the Atlantic Ocean. "I'm not sure we can match the power of the Atlantic, but we should be a portal to the city at the other end," executive director Irvin Lippman said. "We're bookends." Fittingly, when the museum face lift is complete next month you may find actual bookends at the Museum of Art, which will become home to a boutique outpost of Coral Gables-based Books & Books. The popular independent book shop is one of several enhancements that Lippman hopes will transform the museum's entrance into a public gathering space, one that "extends the cultural life of the museum into the city."
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› Scott Team's Key Word: Shakeup [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Gov.-elect Rick Scott is being urged to spend his first year in office shaking up state government and changing a host of state programs aimed at issues from health care to the poor to control over local development. The proposed changes include: Eliminating the state Department of Environmental Protection as a separate agency, merging it into a new, massive agency that would also include the Department of Transportation. Allowing parents with children in public schools to take up to 85 percent of what the state spends annually per public school student and apply it to private schools. Disbanding the state Department of Health and putting it under a new agency that would not require it to be led by a physician. The far-reaching proposals are included in a series of reports being given this week to Scott by the transition teams he appointed to scour state government.

› Tampa Electric: Residents Deserved Better Info Before Project [St. Petersburg Times]
Tampa Electric's million-dollar project to replace scores of power poles along several Ybor City streets is nearly done, but hard feelings remain. Residents complain they were caught by surprise this year when the utility replaced old wooden poles on their streets with larger steel or concrete poles. Now residents say they feel disrespected and even deceived. Some worry that the new poles are ugly enough to jeopardize Ybor's status as a National Historic Landmark District. "There's a huge difference visually, and visually makes all the difference in the world in a nationally designated historic district," East Ybor resident Jim Singleton told two Tampa Electric executives at a meeting Tuesday. During the meeting, the utility's director of community relations, Stephanie Agliano, acknowledged the company should have provided better information to residents about the project before work began.

› Report Puts $69 Million Pricetag on Giving Docs Medicaid Immunity [Herald/Times]
As Gov.-elect Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature consider giving doctors immunity from lawsuits in return for treating Medicaid patients, a new report warns such an arrangement could cost taxpayers at least $69 million a year. Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who lost to Scott in November, commissioned the actuarial report last month after lawmakers indicated they are considering extending the state cap on legal liability, known as sovereign immunity, to Medicaid providers. The report concludes that if legislators give state immunity to doctors and hospitals, "the state basically takes the place of a doctor who commits a negligent act." When a patient sues, taxpayers would pick up the tab of any medical malpractice claim up to $300,000. The cost of defending and investigating an estimated 551 claims a year would be $69 million a year, the report claims.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Tampa Ikea Doing Well Despite Home Furnishings Downturn [St. Petersburg Times]
Despite opening in the teeth of a recession that hobbled most of the home furnishings industry, Ikea's first Tampa store did well enough in its initial 18 months that managers are now fine-tuning their approach to the market. The Tampa-ization of the assemble-it-yourself furniture giant ranges from longer store hours to adding a Cuban sandwich (made, of course, with bread from La Segunda Bakery) to a restaurant menu best known for Swedish meatballs. "Ikea is all about quality design for the masses at low prices, so we tend to do better in hard times," explained Monica Varela, 48-year-old store manager. "With people staying put because of the housing market (collapse), they are sprucing up where they are. We've also benefited from people furnishing rental apartments and condos" bought as second homes. Exact sales figures won't be released. But officials confirm the store exceeded expectations its first year (translation: sales topped Ikea's $100 million per store average) and are running ahead of that pace since then. The performance comes despite privately held Ikea, the worlds largest furniture retailer, reporting a "tough year" globally in 2009 and a 1.1 percent decline in same store sales.

› Ponzi Schemer Diamond to Learn Fate Today [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Beau Diamond -- the Sarasota currency trader whose mom and dad were best-selling diet book authors -- will find out today how many years he will spend in a federal prison for running an investment club that turned out to be a Ponzi scheme. If prosecutors have their way, the 32-year-old could be in his fifties when he resumes civilian life. Diamond, who has already been incarcerated since September 2009, faces up to 20 more years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, which call for a sentence ranging from 17½ to nearly 22 years. Prosecutors, in their recent sentencing memorandum, urged Judge James Moody, who oversaw Diamond's trial and conviction, to stick to those guidelines and not give Diamond any slack.

› Florida Man Linked to Smurfs Sentenced in NY Extortion Bid [Wall Street Journal]
A Florida businessman who once factored in the Smurfs cartoon empire lost a bid Tuesday to withdraw his guilty plea in an $11 million shakedown plot targeting his financier son-in-law. With that, Stuart R. Ross was sentenced to the five years' probation he was promised when he pleaded guilty in August to attempted grand larceny. But his lawyer said he now plans to ask an appeals court to let Ross take back the plea, which he says Ross entered while pressured by medical problems. In his plea, Ross admitted threatening to destroy son-in-law David S. Blitzer's professional reputation if not paid $5.5 million. Ross also acknowledged offering to give up any rights to see his grandchildren for another $5.5 million. Ross has recently lived in Aventura, Fla. He owned certain rights to the Smurfs years ago, according to civil court papers filed by Ross and Blitzer, who is a senior managing director at the financial services firm The Blackstone Group LP. Ross says he bought North American rights to the sky-blue, gnome-like characters after seeing them in their native Belgium in 1976.

› Kaplan Practice Harms Black Applicants, EEOC Charges [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Kaplan Higher Education Corp., which has 2,600 employees in South Florida, engaged in a pattern or practice of unlawful discrimination by refusing to hire a class of black job applicants nationwide, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in a lawsuit Tuesday. Since at least 2008, Kaplan Higher Education has rejected job applicants based on their credit history. This practice has an unlawful discriminatory impact because of race and is neither job-related nor justified by business necessity, the EEOC charged in its lawsuit. Kaplan spokeswoman Michele Pore said on Tuesday that Kaplan conducts background checks on all prospective employees. "For employees whose responsibilities include financial matters, such as those who advise students on financial aid, background checks also include credit histories," she said. The EEOC also says in the lawsuit that the private university has violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is a violation of Title VII to use hiring practices that have a discriminatory impact because of race and that are not job-related and justified by business necessity.

› Oil-Claims Official Promotes Payments [Florida Today]
The administrator of the fund paying claims related to the BP oil spill on Monday acknowledged inconsistencies in payments but said rules providing greater transparency will be released within two weeks. Ken Feinberg told the USA Today editorial board that inconsistencies are unavoidable in a process that has paid 170,000 claims worth $2.5 billion. But he also said neighbors comparing notes about payments might not be familiar with how each claim was resolved. Feinberg, independent administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, urged people who are upset with their emergency payments to apply again for a final payment as an alternative to filing a lawsuit that could drag on for years. "I don't need a CPA to bring all that documentation to me in a wheelbarrow, but don't come to me with nothing, (thinking) that we do everything here with a handshake," Feinberg said.

› UF Hoping for Green Christmas with Energy Savings [Gainesville Sun]
Don’t be upset if you fail to receive a Christmas card in the mail from the University of Florida president. UF President Bernie Machen and his wife, Chris, sent an electronic version of their Christmas card. They’ve done the same thing for the past few years as a way to save postage, trees and the fuel required to deliver the cards. It’s among UF’s environmental efforts during the holidays. Most significantly, UF’s Physical Plant will be turning down air handlers from Dec. 24 through Jan. 2 to save energy and money. Temperatures in most offices and classrooms will be allowed to fall to 64 degrees or rise to 82 degrees before the ventilation system is activated. The program saves $10,000 per day and also helps UF reduce its carbon footprint, Vice President for Business Affairs Ed Poppell said.

› National Enquirer Owner Slated to Exit Bankruptcy [Associated Press]
National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc. said Monday a judge in New York has approved its plan to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection sometime before the end of this month. The decision by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York clears the way for American Media to emerge from bankruptcy with a stronger capital structure, less debt on its books and improved cash reserves, the company said. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company, whose publications account for more than a fifth of the newsstand circulation in the U.S. and Canada, sought bankruptcy protection last month with about $879 million in debt. American Media filed a so-called pre-packaged bankruptcy, in which a company coordinates a plan to reorganize its debt with creditors before officially turning to the court.