The Business Journal (Serving Greater Tampa Bay) articles from February 1998

The Business Journal (Serving Greater Tampa Bay) archives from February 1998

Doctors plot HMO strategy. (Florida Medical Association and other state physicians lobby for laws to control health management organizations)
February 27, 1998... For years, doctors have complained about losing power to managed care. This year, if they have their way, Florida doctors will do something about it. Florida physicians are trying to make what they call "mangled care" a top issue for...

Developers reach back to tradition. (so-called neo-traditional neighborhood developments in Tampa Bay, FL, area)
February 27, 1998... When Lance Smith's grandparents started raising cattle and growing citrus at their Zephyrhills farm in the 1930s, the rules for designing a neighborhood were simple. Every town had a square, or a main street. Homes were built near stores and...

Building boomlet is silver lining amidst tragedy. (storm-related small construction boom in Central Florida)
February 27, 1998... WINTER GARDEN - It didn't take long for Walter Toole to tote up the damages. Just hours after windstorms shredded the roof and walls of his Winter Garden Ace Hardware store, the franchisee had already pegged his losses at a minimum of...

Officials seek to cut cleanup study costs. (Tampa, FL, officials; environmental contamination studies)
February 27, 1998... Efforts may spur economic development in Ybor City, Channel District Tampa officials are working on a plan to reduce the cost to study environmental contamination on several city-owned properties. Once such a study is completed, at least...

IRS rules at issue in Hough bond deal. (William R. Hough and Co bond sale in Duval County, FL, in 1992)
February 27, 1998... William R. Hough & Co. may have exceeded federal profit guidelines when it negotiated a 1992 bond sale in Duval County, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Unless the Duval County School District and Hough come to an agreement, the...

Lykes Pasco debuts flavored, frozen fruit juice lime.
February 27, 1998... In one of its largest citrus product offerings, Lykes Brothers Inc. has introduced a new line of flavored, frozen fruit juices to Canada. part of a larger product introduction strategy throughout the United States and Canada. Lykes Marketing...

Cleanup settlement reached over Hillsborough landfill. (Hillsborough County, FL, contaminated landfill)
February 27, 1998... Years of legal wrangling over the contaminated Taylor Road Landfill in east central Hillsborough County ended earlier this month, when the Environmental Protection Agency filed a consent agreement in federal court approving the Superfund site's...

A breeding ground for scientific development. (University of South Florida)
February 27, 1998... Several Bay Area technology firms were started by current or former USF researchers The University of South Florida produces its share of scientists. The nations 13th-largest university, USF also spawns a fair number of researchers looking...

Computer age bolsters Woodside Industries. (Woodside Industries Inc)
February 27, 1998... Pressure-sensitive labels are something many businesses take for granted until they need them. Then they want high-quality stickers formatted specifically for their industry. And they want them fast. For more than 30 years, Woodside...

Education provides opportunity for Bisk. (Totaltape Publishing Chairman Nathan M. Bisk)
February 27, 1998... Attorney/CPA grows a business by teaching others If there's any truth at all to the old saying, "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach," it doesn't apply to Nathan M. Bisk. Through the company he founded in 1971 as Bisk Publishing...

BellSouth to expand by 200 jobs.
February 20, 1998... As BellSouth gears up to launch wireless service in the Bay Area, the telecommunications giant plans to hire up to 200 people in the next 18 months to staff its new regional headquarters in Tampa. Company spokesman Bob Burroughs said about...

Bigger Ybor City projects hit some snags.
February 20, 1998... It is a typical weekday in Ybor City. Groups of visitors talk and laugh as they walk along Seventh Avenue, peering in store windows and studying the menus outside restaurants. Cars make a muffled thump-thump-thump as they roll over Ybor's brick...

USF and TGH mulling drug testing venture. (University of South Florida and Tampa General Hospital's opening of a facility where human testing of drugs will be performed)
February 20, 1998... The University of South Florida and Tampa General Hospital may soon open a facility at TGH's Davis Islands campus where USF doctors would perform initial human testing of drugs for pharmaceutical companies. Exactly how the test site would be...

Watson Clinic nears management deal. (possible management agreement between Watson Clinic and PhyCor Inc.)
February 20, 1998... Lakeland physician group could soon be managed by a national company Watson Clinic in Lakeland, which has 165 doctors, is inching closer to a deal with PhyCor Inc., a national company that manages some 23,000 doctors. Watson, one of the...

Court Street merchants join in area revival effort. (Tampa, Florida)
February 20, 1998... As the Pinellas Trail blazes through downtown Clearwater, retailers on Court Street hope for a renewed passage of visitors to their area shops and restaurants. A small group of business owners are slowly orchestrating a grassroots effort to...

Port increases its potential for container trade. (Port of Tampa, Florida)
February 20, 1998... The Port of Tampa could gain a significant piece of the containerized cargo trade without making huge capital investments, but port officials need to move quickly before the window of opportunity slams shut. That's the conclusion of a report...

The new envelope, please. (direct-mail advertising firm Cox Target Media Inc.)
February 20, 1998... Cox Target Media gets set to roll out its redesign of the Carole Wright direct marketing brand The next time you open your mailbox and see that brown paper envelope with slick paper coupons, it will have a different look on the inside and...

Development furnished opportunities. (furniture dealer Freedman Office Furniture)(Company Profile)
February 20, 1998... Office furniture dealer started from scratch, grew with the times Steve Freedman stands in front of a classroom and peers out through the sea of raised hands. As his eyes glance around the room, the president of Freedman Office Furniture of...

Morton Plant seeks merger. (Morton Plant Mease Health System)
February 20, 1998... Attorneys for Morton Plant Mease Health System have asked federal and state antitrust officials to review the North Pinellas County market in hopes of gaining government backing for a complete merger of the system. If the government...

Officials tighten screws on HMO; state reviews bids for sale of Tampa's Ultramedix Health Care Systems. (health maintenance organizations)
February 13, 1998... State regulators virtually took control of a Tampa-based health maintenance organization this week, occupying the HMO's offices to review purchase offers made quickly by bargain-hunting competitors. The sale of Ultramedix Health Care Systems...

TIA's growth brings promise and pain; land sales anger some small businesses. (Tampa International Airport)
February 13, 1998... A $7.7 million deal allowed the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority to buy land and move Tampa Maid Foods Inc. to Lakeland to make room for the expansion of Tampa International Air port. While that arrangement pleased Tampa Maid, it upset...

Drew Park hit by airport's expansion plan. (Tampa International Airport)
February 13, 1998... For nearly rive decades. Drew Park flourished as a site for light-industrial, small-business development. But during the last few years, vacant lots, empty warehouses and X-rated establishments have crept into the west Tampa neighborhood....

Doctors flee fee-splitting practice. (Access Medical Care)
February 13, 1998... Most of the doctors involved in what may be a precedent-setting "fee-splitting" case have left Access Medical Care, the Tampa group practice whose contract with a physician practice manager sparked the issue. Access Care's contract with West...

Ex-prof's firm allies with USF; telecom founder joins Utek board. (former University of Southern Florida professor and Intermedia Communications Inc. founder Barbara Samson)
February 13, 1998... A company founded by a former head of the University of South Florida's Center for Product Ergonomics has formed a strategic alliance with the institution aimed at turning academic research into business profits. Additionally, Barbara...

Travel agencies gain new allies to bolster income.
February 13, 1998... Airline commissions lost, but others created Hotels and resorts are coming to the financial aid of travel agencies, hit hard by reductions in airline commissions. Agencies took the first punch in February 1996 when airline commissions were...

Real estate trusts flex muscle in Bay Area market. (Tampa Bay Area)(includes related article on real estate investment trusts)(Special Report: Real Estate)
February 13, 1998... Despite their small market share, REIT's bought $850 million in local real estate If Hollywood took its cues from the real estate industry, moviegoers wouldn't be watching aliens attacking the White House. Godzilla wouldn't emerge from the...

Corporate moves spike healthy Bay Area market.(Special Report: Real Estate)
February 13, 1998... Choosing a home is a high priority in most people's minds, and making the decision to move is affected by a myriad of outside forces. Bay Area Realtor associations carefully watch emerging trends and try to anticipate the needs of both new...

Executives plunge into new venture. (Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc.)
February 6, 1998... Usually, if a company is described as "under water," it means the outlook is bad. For Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc., however, going underwater means the outlook is finally turning positive. Tampa-based Odyssey has had to bide its time the...

Downtown St. Pete to score financially from X Games. (St. Petersburg, Florida)
February 6, 1998... After winning the summer trials, St. Petersburg is vying to host the full slate of events of the X Games, an international sports event that could bring millions of dollars to the Bay Area. Last year, San Diego reaped an estimated $25 million...

Electronics chain files Chapter 11. (Power Plus USA Inc.; bankruptcy)
February 6, 1998... Power Plus USA Inc., a Sarasota company that runs a chain of specialty electronics stores throughout Florida and a handful of other states, has filed for protection from creditors in bankruptcy court. Such Chapter 11 filings allow a company...

Suit claims Bay Area firm sent 'spam.' (Global Information Services; bulk electronic mail advertising)
February 6, 1998... A Clearwater company is one of five businesses being sued for allegedly forging electronic-mail addresses on unsolicited e-mail, a process known as "spamming." Bulk e-mail advertisers, or spammers, typically use such fake electronic...

Publix sharpens policies. (Publix Super Markets Inc.)
February 6, 1998... A year after the announced settlement of its multimillion-dollar, class-action gender discrimination case, Publix Super Markets Inc. has settled into a new reporting scheme. According to Jennifer Bush, spokeswoman for the Lakeland-based...

Computer firm taps the right markets; clients are served from a converted old farmhouse. (Tingley Systems Inc.)(Small Business Enterprise: Emerging Companies)
February 6, 1998... It's only 8 a.m. on a Monday, but the pace is already hectic at Tingley Systems Inc., a small family-owned software development and Internet-services firm in the north central Pasco County town of San Antonio. Company founder Margie Tingley...

Essilor unit keeps close eye on entire process; St. Petersburg-based U.S. branch makes, markets, distributes and services its lenses accounts. (Essilor of America Inc.; St. Petersburg, Florida)(Health Care Quarterly)
February 6, 1998... Through a series of acquisitions, St. Petersburg-based Essilor of America has positioned itself as one of the leading lens makers in North America. A division of France's Essilor International, the U.S. operation accounts for more than 40...

Cushman & Wakefield forecasts another great year for Florida's commercial real estate industry.(Supplement: Focus on Tampa Bay: 1997 Review and 1998 Forecast)(Industry Overview)
February 6, 1998... There is no better way to put it - 1997 was a banner year in the Sunshine State from an economic, employment and investment standpoint. Florida has been enjoying a three-year "day in the sun" and the state's commercial real estate industry is...

Wave of new construction welcome as office market tightens.(Supplement: Focus on Tampa Bay: 1997 Review and 1998 Forecast)(Industry Overview)
February 6, 1998... The growing demand for office space in Tampa and Pinellas County in 1997 exceeded all expectations and will continue to do so through 1998, according to the research conducted in the Tampa office of Cushman & Wakefield of Florida. A...