The Business Journal (Serving Greater Tampa Bay) articles from August 1996

The Business Journal (Serving Greater Tampa Bay) archives from August 1996

Chamber hit by sexism charges. (Florida's Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce)
August 30, 1996... A series of allegedly sexist remarks made by a fellow board member has prompted the resignation of the only woman on the Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce's executive committee. Edie Yates, who is a CPA and founder-owner of a Lakeland...

Comp rate reduction recommended. (workers' compensation rates)
August 30, 1996... Small businesses would benefit from cut in premiums Florida insurance regulators are considering changing the state's workers' compensation rates for the first time in three years. Unlike most rate changes in the past, this time it's likely...

Physicians with highest lawsuits counts targeted.
August 30, 1996... Advocacy group puts out list of docs with the most 'mistakes' Slit bladders, burned-through bowels and impaired vision. Missed diagnoses, slipshod surgery, resultant infection and repeat hospitalizations. Negligence and coverups. All...

Medical data bill raises fears over privacy.
August 30, 1996... Feds may adopt patient 'identifier' The passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act promises flexibility and portability for all workers. But in the process, medical data confidentiality may be compromised. At least...

Vivra to give physicians networks a go in Orlando. (Vivra Specialty Partners; Orlando, Florida)
August 30, 1996... Despite a recent rebuff from Bay Area County doctors, Vivra Specialty Partners hopes to sign a contract soon with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida's Health Options to set up physician specialty networks in the Orlando area. Vivra is a...

Burdines may become Bloomies, as well as Macy's.
August 30, 1996... The region's retail trade is chattering about when Burdines will change its name and what that change will be. Originally, it had been thought that Federated Department Stores would switch all of its Burdines stores to Macy's, either later...

Canadian trade group gets creative; members show up. (Canadian American International Business Council of Tampa Bay)
August 30, 1996... If you're tired of the usual rubber-chicken-and-speech routine at business-club meetings, you might try following the example of the Canadian American International Business Council of Tampa Bay. The trade-promotion group's August meeting was...

Your sales success is tied to self-discipline.
August 30, 1996... There is a sales adage that says: Your chances for success increase in proportion to the number of sales calls you make. It's amazing how the math can be so simple. If it's so simple, why don't you do it? Good fundamental sales skills and...

Remember, computers can't think for themselves.
August 30, 1996... Question: Even though I bought highly-recommended accounting software about a year ago, I find that there is a great deal of error in what takes place around the office. Why is this? Answer: Your problem reflects a common exaggeration about...

Will your company be required to file electronically?
August 30, 1996... The one thing that annoys business owners about Washington, D.C., is the fact that they often find out about a new rule or regulation well after it has been signed into law. Most recently, thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses have...

Workers' comp firm to add 225 jobs. (MetroComp Inc.)
August 23, 1996... MetraComp Inc., the workers' compensation arm of giant United HealthCare Corp., is boosting its Tampa home office workforce by 225 people and plans to lease 65,000 additional square feet in the Westshore district. The expansion in Tampa is...

Inner-city jobs program draws fire. (Tampa Inner-City Manufacturing Center)
August 23, 1996... It began with celebrations and high hopes of creating jobs so that inner-city residents could gain workplace skills and become self-sufficient. But today, as its federal funding runs out, the 2-year-old Tampa Inner-City Manufacturing Center is...

Lucent Tech searches for new space. (telecommunications company Lucent Technologies)
August 23, 1996... Lucent Technologies, the AT&T spinoff that employs 250 people at its operations in Largo, is now looking to more than double its space in a search that has focused on the Bay Area but could well take the division out of state. The move...

Uniform lending guidelines likely due. (for banks and financial institutions)
August 23, 1996... Rising discrimination caseload prompts plan Banks and other financial institutions may soon have to adopt uniform examination standards to reduce the rising number of fair-lending discrimination cases involving small businesses and...

Bay Area about to trade up to online international leads. (Trade Point Tampa Bay will connect Florida companies to UN Global Trade Point Network)
August 23, 1996... The Bay Area is set to become an important link in the world's largest online trading network. And given that the system is expected to set internationally recognized standards for electronic trading, businesses involved in overseas trade...

Hyatt Westshore sold for $62M. (Hyatt Regency Westshore hotel)
August 16, 1996... An affiliate of the Hyatt Corp. has bought the landmark Hyatt Regency Westshore hotel for more than $62 million. The Wilson Co., which during the 1980s led the development of the Tampa end of the Courtney Campbell Parkway, sold its interest...

Law firm expands Tampa operation. (Foley Lardner Weissburg & Aronson)
August 16, 1996... Foley Lardner quadruples securities unit Looking to capitalize on Tampa's growing reputation as a statewide business center, Milwaukee-based Foley Lardner Weissburg & Aronson is expanding its corporate and securities law division at its...

Giant buys TGH ER operation. (Tampa General Hospital Emergency Room)
August 16, 1996... A 30-physician Tampa company that provides emergency room doctors to Tampa General Hospital and All Children's Hospital has been acquired by the nation's largest physician practice management firm. Med Partners/Mullikin Inc.'s stock swap to...

Raymond James puts key players in place at new equity capital unit. (Raymond James Financial Inc.)
August 16, 1996... With the creation of a new division, some familiar faces in new offices have been showing up all over Raymond James Financial, the Bay Area's largest locally based investment firm. The St. Petersburg-based company launched its new Equity...

Paradyne to take lid off data cruncher.
August 16, 1996... Paradyne, the Largo-based modem manufacturer, will soon unveil a new product that promises to save time and money for customers in the highly competitive frame relay technology sector. Jim DesRosiers, Paradyne's director of frame relay...

FKQ Advertising beefs up to meet work demand. (FKQ Advertising Inc.)
August 16, 1996... McDonald's account fuels an already growing ad agency Creative talent will always be important in advertising, but in today's markets, it isn't enough by itself. Clients' needs require that an agency also be committed to state-of-the-art...

Florida Progress Corp. (proxy excerpts report)
August 16, 1996... P.O. Box 33028, St. Petersburg 33733 (813) 824-6418 Florida Progress is a diversified utility holding company whose principal subsidiary is Florida Power Corp., the state's second largest electric utility. The company is now spinning off...

Payphone firm dials for new connection. (Elcotel Inc.)
August 9, 1996... For the last three years, Sarasota smart pay-phone maker Elcotel Inc. looked positively golden. Profits were climbing. Fresh products were just around the corner. Plum international markets were emerging. All this, however, was before a...

Bourbon Street Boxers hikes up its shorts, heading out of Ybor.
August 9, 1996... Robert Geller is finally pulling out of Ybor City. The owner of Bourbon Street Boxers, one of the first of a new breed of retailers to locate in the revitalized Tampa district, is packing up his boxer shorts and planning to open stores in the...

Pinellas firm helps wheelchairs roll easier. (Cybermedix Inc.)
August 9, 1996... As Ted Turner sees things, sometimes a morn can be the, well, mother of invention. In fact, it was when Turner's father-in-law and business partner, Paul Simmons, took his 92-year-old mother to a flea market one day several months ago and...

Engel turns Manatee team into viable competitor; economic development organization may now be envy of her neighbors. (Nancy Engel; Manatee County, Florida)
August 9, 1996... When Manatee County economic development officials pursue a business relocation, they don't rely on the booze 'era and schmooze 'em methods often endemic to the industry. Instead, they rely on the finesse of the director of the county's...

Mettle winning routine: time investment about to pay off with new center for Jeff LaFleur.(Small Business Enterprise)
August 9, 1996... When your business is training athletes for world-class competition, success isn't measured only in profits. For Jeff LaFleur, founder and president of Jeff LaFleur Gymnastics in northwest Tampa, the profits have been slow to accumulate. But...

Davel Communications Group Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
August 9, 1996... (DAVL, Nasdaq) 1429 Massaro Blvd., Tampa 3,3619 (813) 623-3545 Davel Communications operates pay telephones throughout the United States and is a long-distance service provider. The company posted a record 1995, with revenues up 30...

Colliers Arnold shifts to new team approach. (real estate firm)
August 2, 1996... In a move designed to provide its customers with greater service, Colliers Arnold has maligned its various real estate-related companies so that most large projects are handled by a team, rather than an individual. "We're trying to get away...

Salsa company puts the lid on its IPO. (Jesse Foods Inc. freezes initial public offering)
August 2, 1996... Jesse Foods Inc., whose Laredo & Lefty's salsa can be found on grocery store shelves nationwide, has shelved plans to go public and is now reorganizing its management and operations. The decision to put the IPO on ice isn't surprising: Its...

GTE dominance rides on notion of one-stop shopping. (GTE Corp.'s service package)
August 2, 1996... Telecom leader to push bundled services as competitors line up It wasn't the kind of demonstration Peter Daks had in mind. In his sun-dappled office on the 37th floor of the Barnett Bank building in downtown Tampa, the GTE Florida president...

Time Warner dialing up its own brave new world. (Time Warner Inc.'s telephone services)
August 2, 1996... Region's cable TV giant to piggyback into local phone service industry Time Warner Inc. wants to become a major player in local telephone service. And it's pouring millions of dollars into the Bay Area to do it. The entertainment and...

St. Pete firm's disinfectant finding new markets. (Veridien Corp.'s Virahal brand disinfectant)
August 2, 1996... Time was, you sprayed a commercial disinfectant on some germ-infested surface and the concoction might evaporate before you could be sure all the beasties were blasted. Worse yet, the fumes from the toxic chemicals might do a number on you....

Solar-powered survival. (Solar Source's solar pool heater)
August 2, 1996... Pool heating installer finds growth opportunities after industry shakes out As Wayne Wallace discovered 10 years ago, when your business relies on government policies, one minute you can be walking on sunshine, the next minute you're out in...

Discount Auto Parts Inc. (DAP, NYSE). (proxy report excerpts)
August 2, 1996... 4900 Frontage Road S., Lakeland 33801 (941) 687-9226 Discount Auto Parts describes itself as Florida's leading specialty retailer of automotive replacement parts, maintenance items and accessories for the do-it-yourself customer. For fiscal...