Orlando Business Journal articles from November 2000

Orlando Business Journal archives from November 2000

Politically Nielsen.
November 24, 2000... Yes, that was Congressman John Mica sitting next to Carrie (Star Wars) Fisher on a recent episode of Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. Mica, along with columnist Betsey Hart, held up the conservative end of the no-holds-barred talk show....

Developer drops bond bomb.
November 24, 2000... World Expo's Rob Miller calls off legal fight, but not efforts to get public funds. KISSIMMEE -- Facing years of litigation over bond financing for the World Expo Center, Rob Miller has opted out of his court battle with the state. ...

High-flying deal puts firm in catbird seat.
November 24, 2000... ORLANDO -- In a $152 million deal marrying two of the biggest players in aviation services, Orlando's Signature Flight Support Corp. is acquiring a South Carolina-based firm specializing in aviation investments. Details remain sketchy....

Citrus Bowl squeezed by title sponsor loss.
November 24, 2000... For second time in two years, college bowl title sponsor opts out. ORLANDO -- In the beginning there was the Tangerine Bowl. And the Tangerine Bowl begat the Florida Citrus Bowl, which begat the CompUSA Florida Citrus Bowl. And that begat...

Stalled.
November 24, 2000... Why did CNL stall on Jaymont? As reported in October, CNL was still interested in helping launch a mixed-use project on the Jaymont property at the northeast corner of Orange Avenue and Church Street, but the company's real estate arm didn't...

Mr. Rosen goes to Washington.
November 24, 2000... Rosen Hotels & Resorts is opening a sales office in the nation's capital. The company has hired Jeffrey Poole to head up group sales in Washington, home to some of the nation's largest trade associations. Poole will be responsible...

So much love in this room.
November 24, 2000... HTE Inc. and an Orlando high-tech start-up led by four ex-execs are ending their 4-month-long court tussle. In May, HTE Inc. filed a lawsuit in Orange Circuit Civil Court against the executives' new company, Public Safety Group Inc.,...

Brand-name baskets.
November 24, 2000... Winter Park wine buffs bid a teary goodbye to vino vender Park Avenue Wine & Cheese Cellar earlier this year. But all is not lost. Owner Jo Anne Gates has joint-ventured with the Restaurant Partners-owned Pebbles chain to market a line of...

Such a deal.
November 24, 2000... Speaking of the luxury life, here's the bill for the recent Orlando Chamber-sponsored regional meeting at the Amelia Island Ritz. The conference cost was just under $1,000. The a la carte menu offered such ritzy bargains as $26 for a...

Moving in.
November 24, 2000... Jarett's Grill & Catering Co. (www.JarrettsGrill.com) has moved into the Townsend's Fish House location on Michigan Avenue. Little has changed inside one of the area's best-known singles hangouts, and guests still get a Stairmaster workout...

Graphics staff takes home 8 awards.
November 24, 2000... The graphics staff at Orlando Business Journal picked up eight awards at the Florida Press Association Display Advertising Contest. OBJ competed against other non-daily newspapers with a circulation between 5,000 and 15,000 for the annual...

Lab worker sues Frito-Lay, alleging toxic exposure.
November 24, 2000... Snack company denies testing chips led to need for lung transplant. ORLANDO -- When Gwendolyn Crenshaw started coughing in 1999, the 42-year-old Frito-Lay lab worker thought she had a simple cold. But by spring of this year, Crenshaw...

Even without eyelashes, these players score.
November 24, 2000... MAITLAND -- Forgive the game designers at Electronic Arts Tiburon for leaving eyelashes off more than 200 animated football players in the PlayStation 2 edition of Madden Football 2001. After adding elbow pads, turf tape, face mask clips...

Gamers push port to top cruise spot in the country.
November 24, 2000... PORT CANAVERAL -- Are they No.1? The Canaveral Port Authority has announced its fiscal year 2000 passenger counts and, at least on paper, the Brevard County port has edged past the Miami-Dade Seaport as the busiest cruise terminal in...

You're a mean, green, entertaining machine, Mr. Grinch.
November 24, 2000... Let's be frank, here. The Grinch has always been the best Dr. Seuss character. Sure, the Lorax is righteous and we're all a Sneetch at heart, but when it comes right down to it, the Grinch rules. That's why there always seems to have been...

Thrillride.com.
November 24, 2000... Keeping with Universal, the Thrillride.com reader's poll is out and Islands of Adventure cleaned up. Out of nine ride categories, Universal placed first in four and second in three more. First place for Favorite Whitewater Rapids...

Guinness World Records Experience.
November 24, 2000... Finally -- another exhibit that rivals the 300-pound tumor at Guinness World Records Experience. New at Ripley's Believe it or Not! is... the world's largest collection of bed pans. It's part of the attraction's partially opened renovation,...

Tax court: Mimi Martin had 'no hand' in returns.
November 24, 2000... WASHINGTON -- Glenn H. Martin continues to languish in prison over diverted insurance premiums, but his wife, Mimi, has caught a break from a federal tax court judge. In a 19-page U.S. Tax Court opinion, Judge Joel Gerber exonerated Mimi...

Stealth spells wealth for Dutch-owned travel biz.
November 24, 2000... ORLANDO -- WorldTravel Partners of Orlando -- and other WorldTravel locations throughout the United States -- will have a new moniker come Jan. 1, 2001, as parent company BCD Holdings gets ready to change its trade name to WorldTravel BTI....

Halifax, Nemours team up on pediatric critical care.
November 24, 2000... Nemours Children's Clinic-Orlando has signed a deal to provide pediatric critical care services at Halifax Medical Center -- a contract that may double the number of seriously ill children the hospital can treat. Nemours, which also...

Stomping out medical fraud.
November 24, 2000... The Florida Board of Medicine has adopted a new rule that will hold doctors responsible for billing fraud, even if they don't own the facility they practice in. "The major medical fraud cases have been in instances where doctors worked...

Tasty contracts.
November 24, 2000... CBIZ Benefits & Insurance Services of Florida just inked deals to provide services to Sunbeam Corp., Papa John's Pizza and Wolverine Tube Inc. CBIZ is an Orlando-based national firm that provides employee benefits enrollment and...

Vance Realty Web site deemed virtually great.
November 24, 2000... The official Web site of south Orlando-based Vance Realty Group -- www.vancerealty.com -- received a pat on the back from the Florida Association of Realtors in its November Florida Realtor magazine; ranking among Florida's top five real...

Sell, sell, sell.
November 24, 2000... Renar Development Co. is one of the Central Florida home builders leading the pack in 2000. From January to October, the company's Orlando division has closed 144 transactions for nearly $18 million, which is double its numbers from the...

Whistle-blower warned off by state exec.
November 24, 2000... TALLAHASSEE -- The contract-bidding saga with Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) lurches on. Appeals and hearings continue for the agency, guardian of an $8.8 billion annual state health care budget -- and so does the...

Mad Chef stirs up food, fun for homeless.
November 24, 2000... ORLANDO -- The Mad Chef, Jon Ashton, whipped up a five-star meal recently for 105 homeless women and children living at the Women's Residential and Counseling Center. The center, located at 107 E. Hillcrest St. in downtown Orlando, is...

Dave Dalton's incredible treasure trove.
November 24, 2000... Lakeland furniture business draws customers from Central Florida and beyond. LAKELAND -- Dave Dalton's incredible list of stuff to sell -- charcoal grills, silk trees, orange crate labels and Santa-in-Florida greeting cards, to name a...

Publix tackles online grocery shopping.
November 24, 2000... LAKELAND -- Publix Super Markets has announced plans to wade into what some analysts call the "dot-com deadpool." Undeterred by PriceLine.com's online grocery fiasco, PublixDirect is the name of the 70-year-old chain's upcoming online...

On the move.
November 24, 2000... SANFORD -- Florida Solar Technology is branching out all over. The pool heating systems contractor is expanding into Marion County, where sales are anticipated to exceed more than $1 million annually, according to company President Skip...

CCI video best in state.
November 24, 2000... CAPE CANAVERAL -- The Florida Motion Picture & Television Association gave two Crystal Reel Awards to Communications Concepts Inc., including the Best Corporate Film or Video/Special Program produced in the state. The Crystal Reel awards...

On display.
November 24, 2000... LAKE COUNTY -- After a seven-month display at the National Building Museum in Washington. D.C., the scale model of the White House will return to Lake county and be on display through July 4, 2001. The miniature replica, which is housed...

Job market looks good in Melbourne, Daytona Beach.
November 24, 2000... MELBOURNE -- Everything's looking rosy for job seekers in the Melbourne area, according to the First Quarter 2001 Employment Outlook Survey conducted by Manpower Inc. The quarterly survey is based on telephone interviews with 16,000...

Bookmark.
November 24, 2000... The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to do About It Author: Michael E. Gerber Publisher: Harperbusiness Price: $15 Topic: Because an entrepreneur is not a manager, that's why

www.quicken.com.
November 24, 2000... Visit Quicken.com: http://www.quicken.com/smallbusiness What's there: Everything an entrepreneur needs to get a business up and running, including info on managing and running a business, and dealing with employees, as well as links to...

Mr. MG, certified Type A, takes to the airwaves.
November 24, 2000... Peripatetic investment adviser finds it tough to slow down. ORLANDO -- Michael Gold could be a poster child for Type "A" personalities. Known as "MG" to thousands of radio listeners, Gold is the stunningly energetic half of Talking...

SMALL BIZ Snapshot.
November 24, 2000... For 18 years, Warnon Bell was a fixture at Orlando International Airport. He installed 80 percent of the electronics at the airport and handled the electronic needs since then. But in 1995, he decided to go out on his own. "I had many...

Low-cost measures prevent online fraud.
November 24, 2000... Have high hopes for your Internet storefront this holiday shopping rush? Be aware that the number of online shoppers is not the only thing expected to skyrocket this season. Online credit card fraud is expected to rise as well, costing...

On The Move.
November 24, 2000... ARCHITECTS Karen Moorefield has joined Hunton Brady Pryor Maso Architects P.A. as director of corporate development. Moorefield will develop and implement a complete human resources program and organize and lead marketing efforts for the...

BIRTHDAYS.
November 24, 2000... L. Virgil Schenck Jr., vice president, Schenck Co. of Cocoa; 76, on Nov. 27. Tom Ackert, executive director, Orange County Convention Center; 57, on Nov. 27. Reinardo (Rey) Malave, principal and vice president, Bowyer-Singleton &...

Davis Construction Inc.
November 24, 2000... Davis Construction Inc. of Orlando recently completed the new SunTrust at Lake Harris and the lobby renovation for Florida Hospital Altamonte. The company also was selected by Orlanda Regional Healthcare System to construct the new cardiac...

Scherer Construction & Engineering.
November 24, 2000... Scherer Construction & Engineering of Central Florida LLC completed construction on an Eckerd Drug Store located at 780 E. State Road 434 in Winter Springs. The firm also started construction on another Eckerd Drug Store in Daytona Beach....

Professional Engineering Consultants Inc.
November 24, 2000... Professional Engineering Consultants Inc. is providing construction administration services for the city of Ocoee's $10 million Maguire Road widening project. PEC recently had completed the design and permitting of this project. Fursan...

Finfrock Industries Inc.
November 24, 2000... Finfrock Industries Inc., as part of the design-build team headed by The Auchter Co., has completed the new parking structure for South Miami Hospital. The garage has one ground level, eight elevated levels, and holds 756 cars.

Ardaman & Associates Inc.
November 24, 2000... The Orlando branch office of Ardaman & Associates Inc., geotechnical engineers, has completed its contract with HHCP Architects Inc. to provide the pre-construction services of geotechnical exploration for an addition to the biological...

Brasfield & Gorrie.
November 24, 2000... Brasfield & Gorrie broke ground Oct. 23 on the Wycliffe Bible Translators Corporate Headquarters in Orlando. The project includes a 148,000-square-foot office building and reception center. The architect for the project is Hunton Brady Pryor...

The Pizzuti Cos.
November 24, 2000... The Pizzuti Cos., developer of the Heathrow International Business Center, hoisted its banner on a 150-ton mobile tower crane, erected to pour the fifth and final floor at 1001 Heathrow Park Lane. The 192,000-square-foot office building is...

Southeastern Realty Group.
November 24, 2000... Al Clark of Southeastern Realty Group and Michael Kanady with Coldwell Banker negotiated the $250,000 sale of a vacant lot at 755 W. Highway 434 in Longwood to Design Enterprises. Lofgren Trust was the seller.

Oros Risk Solutions LLC.
November 24, 2000... Oros Risk Solutions LLC and Orlando's Sehnert Lumbra Robinson & Associates Insurance have struck a joint agreement to establish a statewide medical professional liability company serving hospitals, doctors and clinics. Sehnert partner Kenneth...

Fairwinds Credit Union.
November 24, 2000... Fairwinds Credit Union has opened a new downtown service center at 345 N. Orange Ave. The opening follows state approval for the 51-year-old credit union to grant membership to anyone living or working in Orange or Seminole counties.

Covenant House Florida.
November 24, 2000... Covenant House Florida recently dedicated its new Orlando shelter and commemorated five years of community service to runaway and homeless youth at 5931 E. Colonial Drive. Bishop Norbert M. Dorsey of Orlando blessed the shelter and Sister...

Vista Lakes.
November 24, 2000... Vista Lakes recently launched its new Web site at www.vistalakes.com. Vista Lakes is one of the area's new master-planned communities located in the fast-growing Orlando International Airport corridor. The site is designed to provide...

THE CHURCH AND ITS STEEPLE.
November 24, 2000... McCree General Contractors and Architects was selected as the design-build contractor for the new $3.1 million First United Methodist Church Tavares. The 22,000-square-foot facility is located on the corner of State Road 19 and Lanthe Street...

EMPLOYMENT.
November 24, 2000... ON BOARD. Tim Franklin was named editor of the Orlando Sentinel. The former editor of the Indianapolis Star, Franklin replaces John Haile, who retired earlier this year. CHANGES AT THE TOP. World Commerce Online Inc. founder Bob Shaw...

MILES OF SMILES.
November 24, 2000... Say cheese! Delta Express, the low-fare carrier of Delta Air Lines, is offering to process passengers' 35 mm film containing vacation photos for free -- and is launching the service in Orlando. The service will be provided by Snapfish, an...

CHOWING DOWN.
November 24, 2000... Orlando food manufacturer Galaxy Foods Co. is jointly developing a Veggie Cafe prototype with General Nutrition Center. GNC sells vitamins and nutritional supplements in 4,000 locations worldwide. Galaxy develops and manufactures dairy...

MORE MONEY.
November 24, 2000... Mesh Networks Inc., a developer of broadband wireless Internet technology, raised $26 million in its second round of financing, bringing the total raised since the company's inception in February 2000 to over $27 million. This latest round...

PRECISION PROFITS.
November 24, 2000... Orlando medical manufacturer SurgiLight Inc. (OTCBB: SRGL) announced its profits for the nine months ended Sept. 30 were 20 percent higher -- $249,000, or 1 cent per share -- in comparison to $207,000 for the same period in 1999. Revenue...

CASH CARS.
November 24, 2000... Winter Park investment bank Poole Carbone Eckbert agreed to provide $4.25 million in second-round financing for a Jacksonville Internet-based auto part operation. In February the bank raised $2 million for launching International Parts'...

TARGETED DEAL.
November 24, 2000... Orlando-based Lockheed Martin Information Systems (NYSE: LMT) will provide and install military target equipment as part of a 5-year Army contract. The contract starts at $7.7 million and could grow to $87 million over five years.

ROLLING AWAY.
November 24, 2000... International Speedway Corp. is selling off Competition Tire West Inc. and Competition Tire South Inc., divisions of its wholly-owned subsidiary 88 Corp. Delaware-based Competition Tire LLC is buying the divisions for $8 million.

EUROPEAN FLAVOR.
November 24, 2000... Sunterra Corp. has decided not to sell its European subsidiary. Grand Vacation Co.

GVC.
November 24, 2000... GVC, with 29 properties in eight countries, has more than 75,000 members. Sun-terra is the world's largest vacation ownership company with 89 resort locations and more than 300,000 owners worldwide.

HTE Inc.
November 24, 2000... Lake Mary software developer HTE Inc. announced a six-year deal with the Village of Biscayne Park in Dade County for the use of Internet-based software applications. The village signed up for CitySoft Online, a system recently introduced...

CENTEX TAKES THE LEAD.
November 24, 2000... In the first nine months of 2000, Centex Homes' Altamonte Springs-based Orlando division reported clearing 740 homes sales totaling $141.2 million, the highest figures for any Central Florida home builder. The nine-month figures...

TOP DOG.
November 24, 2000... John Hillen-meyer, CEO and president of Orlando Regional Healthcare System, was installed as the 2000-2001 chairman of the Florida Hospital Association. He succeeds Don Steigman, senior vice president of operations for Tenet...

HTE JUST SAYS NO TO TYLER.
November 24, 2000... Shareholders of HTE Inc., the publicly held Lake Mary software manufacturer, slammed shut the door to Tyley Technologies, a Dallas-based software concern which had purchased 32 percent of HTE with an eye to merging the companies. HTE...

Hitting the target.
November 24, 2000... ORLANDO -- When First Commercial Bank of Florida opened in Orlando last year, it didn't have to look too far -- or re-invent its business plan -- to comply with the Community Reinvestment Act. Under the federal CRA, banks and thrifts are...

Educators' Credit union poised for growth.
November 24, 2000... ORLANDO -- With a game plan that includes opening several new branches during the next several years, Central Florida Educators' Credit Union appears ready to keep building on its status as Central Florida's largest credit union. Central...

Turkey trot.
November 24, 2000... * Cheer up, bunkie, there's plenty to be grateful about this Thanksgiving, and not just because you don't have to count ballots in Palm Beach County for a living. To prove it, we offer our annua1 Turkey 2000, the definitive guide to all...

Life lessons from the (revised) Man Handbook.
November 24, 2000... Yep, I'm a guy. And in the Man Handbook, chapter two, Page 68, it says: "A man shall spend Saturday afternoons in November parked in front of a television watching college football." Toward the back of the Man Handbook, in print so...

Rockin' the vote back to the Stone Ages.
November 24, 2000... No matter how the presidential election turns out, Florida is going to be a notorious footnote to the 2000 elephant-donkey Olympics. And that's no mean feat, considering this is the year a dead man was elected to the U.S. Senate in...

Homes & Estates.
November 24, 2000... Exclusive Residential Communities and Listings in Central Florida THE CAMBRIDGE AT WESTOVER RESERVE Westover Reserve is a gated community with a full perimeter wall and a prestigious Windemere address. Enter a beautiful tree-lined...

CORRECTION.
November 24, 2000... In the Nov. 17 edition of Orlando Business Journal, the proposed Harmony, residential and business development in Osceola County was incorrectly characterized, Harmony, designated as a community development district, will not be incorporated.

East West Partners.
November 24, 2000... * East West Partners has launched the next phase of construction for Windsong's $1 million amenity package. The 251-home luxury lakefront community on the Winter Park chain of lakes is an environmentally sensitive development that already...

ERA Breeze.
November 24, 2000... * ERA Breeze, Craft, Hensley Real Estate has been named the exclusive sales and marketing representative for Creek-side, a new community located off of Dean Road and Lake Underhill in east Orlando. The Altamonte Springs-based firm will...

LaserSight Inc.
November 24, 2000... NASDAQ: LASE SPLITS: NONE LaserSight stock already had scraped to a new 52-week low when Pacific Equities downgraded it from a "strong buy" to a "buy." Yet the company had some brighter news in recent weeks. A court ruling on a key...

Galaxy Nutritional Foods Inc.
November 24, 2000... AMEX: GXY SPLITS: 12-FEB-99 [1:7] A newly struck retail contract and an initiative aimed at cutting labor cost helped keep Galaxy stock at the $4 range. The company announced it would jointly develop a Veggie Cafe prototype with...

HTE Inc.
November 24, 2000... NASDAQ: HTEI SPLITS: 19-JUN-98 [2:1] Stock of HTE continued to hover at between $1-$2 after news that it appears to have successfully damped any more takeover talk by Tyler Technologies, the Dallas-based software concern which had...

Employment by Industry.
November 24, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

[0] Finfrock Industries Inc.
November 24, 2000... Finfrock Industries Inc. has been awarded its first contract with Crescent Resources for the design, manufacture and construction of a new 1,100-car parking structure for Corporate Center II at International Plaza Construction is scheduled to...

That's Entertainment.
November 17, 2000... E! Entertainment was in town Nov. 13-14 to shoot an upcoming half-hour special on filming in Central Florida. (See photo, Page 2.) The E! team visited Nickelodeon, Haxan Films, Universal Studios, Disney i.d.e.a.s. and the set of Sheena,...

Wordplay.
November 17, 2000... The original marketing theme for Madden 2001, the hit PlayStation 2 game developed from scratch in Maitland by Electronic Arts Tiburon, was a little racier than what is being featured in television ads. The ads feature gladiator-like...

Go'fer more.
November 17, 2000... Smart Go'fer just signed its first contract, and it's a doozy. The contract with Florida Hospital calls for the home repair and maintenance concierge service to provide services to more than 137,000 of the hospital's elderly patients and...

In chambers.
November 17, 2000... For three days last week, Jacob Stuart and his Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce team relocated much of Central Florida's business elite to Amelia Island for a seminar on regionalism. Stuart had attended a similar event in Michigan...