The Business Journal (Serving Greater Tampa Bay) articles from June 1993

The Business Journal (Serving Greater Tampa Bay) archives from June 1993

RayJay drops Homestyle. (Raymond James Financial Inc.; Homestyle Buffet Inc.)
June 25, 1993... As Palm Harbor-based Homestyle Buffet continues to serve up losses, the struggling restaurant company has been hit with another blow. St. Petersburg-based Raymond James Financial, one of the last brokerages to follow the company, has dropped...

Change in the offing for PMSV. (Pharmacy Management Services Inc.)
June 25, 1993... Look for major structural and possible personnel changes at Tampa's Pharmacy Management Services Inc. now that new President and COO Bertram Martin Jr. has moved in. The company announced Tuesday (June 22) that Martin, vice president of...

Annual scramble on to find black teachers. (Hillsborough county schools)
June 25, 1993... An annual ritual is taking place in Hillsborough County schools this month that is as regular -- though hardly as sentimental -- as the rites of graduation, winter break and final exams. It's the summer scramble to find black teachers....

Company puts quality faith in foam future. (Quality Products)
June 25, 1993... If Dustin Hoffman's character in the 1967 movie "The Graduate" had asked for business advice today, chances are he wouldn't be told to go for "plastics." Instead, the watchword is foam. As in foam puzzles, ducks and spa covers. "There is...

GTE plans don't worry Intermedia Communications. (GTE Florida Inc.)
June 25, 1993... It's yet another David versus Goliath story; this time, with the battle over high-technology communications services. And at least for now, David seems to have the upper hand. Tampa Bay's Goliath, GTE Florida Inc., is getting ready to...

Hot spots: these pinellas communities are the most popular new developments so far this year. (Real Estate Month)
June 25, 1993... Here's what's hot in the Pinellas County real estate market these days: East Lake Woodlands and Boot Ranch in Palm Harbor and Dolphin Cay in St. Petersburg. That's according to statistics from January to April recorded by Rose Residential...

Barnett move would open first Florida space. (Barnett Bank of Tampa N.A.) (Real Estate Month)
June 25, 1993... If Barnett Bank of Tampa decides to move its downtown Tampa operations out of the First Florida Tower, the 20-year-old building may have up to 14 floors and 225,000 square feet of space to fill in an already glutted downtown market. The...

Chamber split over president. (Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce)
June 18, 1993... For the past two weeks, two of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce's top leaders have had a series of private, one-on-one meetings with other volunteer chamber members. The topic of conversation: The continued tenure of Harvey Schmitt as...

Snoopy provides comfort for tiny high-tech firm. (Knott's Camp Snoopy amusement ride; Lasergate Systems Inc.)
June 18, 1993... Tiny Lasergate Systems is betting its financial roller coaster ride has ended. Since going public in 1987, the Clearwater company has lost more than $2.5 million. And its stock is so thinly traded that price quotes aren't available. But...

Upscale store raises area land values. (Kash n' Karry supermarket)
June 18, 1993... The new Kash n' Karry supermarket on Swann Avenue in south Tampa is a mixed blessing for Grace Burts. On one hand, the store's opening this past spring will boost the value of the eight lots Burts Hardware and Builder's Supply owns on the...

Friends in right places might juice country pub. (TwoStep Country Music magazine)
June 18, 1993... Country music lover and St. Petersburg publisher Mike Culotta wants to capitalize on the country music craze in Tampa Bay. With some help from the area's No. 1-rated radio station, Culotta is trying to sell his 9-month-old TwoStep Country...

Mystery group offers $18 mil for Centurion. (Centurion Hospital)
June 18, 1993... The group that wants to buy Centurion Hospital of Carrollwood is offering almost $18 million for the Tampa hospital's assets. Centurion has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since December 1991. In an amended...

Securities lawyers 'on a crusade' for investors. (Law)
June 18, 1993... If Robin Hood had been an attorney, he would have worked at Goodman & Nekvasil. While other people relax at nearby Safety Harbor Spa & Fitness Center, attorneys Joel Goodman and Kalju Nekvasil sharpen their arrows for another round of...

Law firms play lead role in arts support. (Law)
June 18, 1993... Most boards of Bay Area arts organizations read like a who's who of business. And law firms usually are the most well-represented industry on the lists. Tampa-based Carlton Fields Ward Emmanuel Smith & Cutler, for instance, is one of about...

Diversity is spice of law administrative life. (Law)
June 18, 1993... A ballet dancer, an oil company executive, a business major, a lieutenant colonel in the Army, a real estate broker and a G-man. What's the common thread that binds these six people together? All of them today are professional legal...

Swap shop: oldline firms give birth to new practices as attorneys branch out on their own. (Law)
June 18, 1993... During the past 18 months, at least half a dozen law firms made up of former partners or associates of larger, more established firms have opened their doors in Tampa Bay. Such spin-off firms are nothing new, according to the lawyers...

Park's popularity boosts hotel. (Sabal Park; Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza)
June 11, 1993... The Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza is back and stronger than ever. Occupancy at the Sabal Park hotel in east Hillsborough County has climbed 25% from the first three months of 1992 to the first quarter of 1993. The hotel has gone from 65%...

Lightning tenure at Expo Hall may lessen. (Tampa Bay Lightning; Expo Hall, Tampa Bay, Florida)
June 11, 1993... When the first puck was dropped in Tampa Bay, local hockey fans knew the Tampa Bay Lightning's stint at Expo Hall was temporary until a larger, permanent home could be built. But it's now possible the stint could be shorter than expected....

President/owner leaves TRS Commercial for west. (TRS Commercial Real Estate Services)
June 11, 1993... Gary Hollenbeck, the owner and president of TRS Commercial Real Estate Services, is moving to Colorado Springs to run a commercial brokerage there. TRS is the exclusive third-party agent for Talquin Development, the real estate arm of...

Secret suitor wants Centurion. (Centurion Hospital of Carrollwood)
June 11, 1993... Centurion Hospital of Carrollwood is back at the altar. The 120-bed hospital reached a tentative agreement May 20 to sell its assets to an unnamed entity, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The buyer's name is...

Monthly magazine hires new editor, shuffles staff. (Maddux Report Magazine)
June 11, 1993... A small St. Petersburg publishing company has beefed up its staff and brought its editorial writing in-house. The changes come thanks to an increase in revenue at Maddux Publishing Inc. John Craddock, recently a business writer with the...

Profitable not-for-profits. (proprietary hospitals)
June 11, 1993... Nationwide and in Florida, private, not-for-profit hospitals and their tax exemptions are facing increased scrutiny in the wake of continued concerns about the rising cost of health care. Florida's not-for-profit hospitals ought to keep an...

Price cut on mammograms changing market.
June 11, 1993... It sounds like an ad for discount tires. And indeed, Morton Plant Hospital's limited-time-only price slash for a basic mammogram has had a similar effect. In March, the Clearwater hospital reduced its charge for a basic breast X-ray from $55...

Jobs and health care reform could clash, NFIB study says. (National Federation of Independent Business.)
June 11, 1993... National health reform proposals that increase employers' responsibility for health insurance could "wreak havoc" on the job market by drawing resources away from salaries and benefits, says a study conducted for a national small-business...

Checkers Drive-In Restaurants. (proxy report excerpts) (Company Profile)
June 11, 1993... 600 Cleveland St., #1050, Clearwater 34615 (813) 441-3500 Checkers Drive-in Restaurants operates a fast-growing chain of double-drive-through burger chains. As of Dec. 31, 1992, Checkers operated 102 company-owned restaurants and 121...

Ex-TGH boss hints he'd return. (Newell France, former president of Tampa General Hospital)
June 4, 1993... As Tampa General Hospital President David Bussone grapples with anger and anxiety after a major layoff at the 1,000-bed public hospital, former President Newell France is making it known he would be willing to return. That prospect is...

Champion of change. (Francis Williams, chief executive officer of Kimmins Environmental Service Corp.)(includes related article) (Company Profile)
June 4, 1993... Fran Williams has remade his company every year since 1986. He says he's ready for the future. Wall Street isn't so sure. Francis Williams strides across a concrete parking lot and up the steps of a metal trailer. It's the office of TransCor...

Lightning ready to provide cash to help finance arena. (Tampa Bay Lightning)
June 4, 1993... The Tampa Bay Lightning is ready to dig deep into private pockets -- including its own -- to help pay for a hockey arena in Hillsborough County. The move would minimize the need for financial help from Hillsborough County or the city of...

Penny gives freedom to Pinellas commuters. (one-cent sales tax used as funding for construction on new roads) (Focus on Transportation)
June 4, 1993... Abraham Lincoln, who freed an enslaved race more than a century ago, has given Pinellas County some freedom from its congested roads. Across the bay, Hillsborough County can only wish for such clout. That's because the county's road program is...

District boasts high level of project completions. (Florida Department of Transportation Distric VII) (Focus on Transportation)
June 4, 1993... The Florida Department of Transportation's District VII will be chasing Bay Area growth for some time. But a change in the way the agency operates has helped it meet its five-year work program through 1998, says Bill McDaniel, District VII...

Talk resumes on road privatization efforts. (Focus on Transportation)
June 4, 1993... The song of Florida road building soon may have a familiar tune as privatization attempts a comeback. The National Transportation Authority, a joint venture between Dallas-based Greiner Inc. and The Perot Group, also in Dallas, is leading...

Agencies reserve judgment on eight-county initiative. (Metropolitan Tampa Bay Capital Initiative) (Focus on Transportation)
June 4, 1993... The jury's still out on the Metropolitan Tampa Bay Capital Initiative. While the region's transportation agencies have consulted with the eight-county group since November, and while officials say they hope the initiative can push...

TECO Energy. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
June 4, 1993... TECO Plaza, 702 N. Franklin St., Tampa 33602 (813) 228-4111 TECO is the parent of Tampa Electric Co., which provides electrical power to customers in West Central Florida. The company also has operations in such areas as coal, methane gas and...