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

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

Leaders may kill industrial authority. (Hillsborough County Industrial Development Authority)
March 27, 1998... A controversial proposal to abolish the Hillsborough County Industrial Development Authority is just one of several possible actions the Hillsborough County Commission could take this week while re-examining its role in economic development...

Bosses could set priority for development funding. (Hillsborough County Commission)
March 27, 1998... The Hillsborough County Commission plans to take a hard look this week at bow it doles out tax dollars to economic development groups. Concerned about the increasing number of requests from such organizations, the commission could end up...

Cable wars heat up. (Pinellas County, Florida; cable television industry)
March 27, 1998... GTE takes 20% share in its area The competitive battle for cable TV subscribers in Pinellas County is taking on the characteristics of a guerrilla marketing campaign as Time Warner Inc. digs in against rapidly expanding newcomer GTE Americast...

Just wholesale prices, not sky, that's falling. (Tampa Bay Area)
March 27, 1998... The scenario: Currency crises and economic declines pressure manufacturers in Asia and the Pacific Rim to slash prices on their products. Cheap goods flood the markets in the United States, forcing companies here to cut their own prices to...

Firm hopes to power its dreams from water. (Toups Technology Licensing Inc.)
March 27, 1998... Picture it. Automobile fuel lighter than air, cheaper than gasoline and, when burned, nearly pollution free. Sound like some improbable late-night television commercial? Try just one of a trio of products being peddled by Toups Technology...

New flags to fly in wake of hotel sales. (Tampa Bay Area hotels)
March 27, 1998... A robust economy and lower interest rates have ignited a flurry of hotel purchases, a trend that could likely lead to new names for a number of Bay Area hotels. "When a hotel goes through an ownership or management change, the name will most...

USF, All Children's to build research center. (University of South Florida; All Children's Hospital)
March 27, 1998... Land donation secures project St. Petersburg plans to transfer ownership of a city block to the University of South Florida which will use it to build a $12 million pediatric medical research facility. Up to 100 researchers could...

Local stock index lags behind major barometers. (Tampa Bay Area)
March 27, 1998... Bay Area stocks advanced last week but lagged their counterparts nationally, as weakness in the technology sector held back some regional leaders. The Bay Area 50 regional stock average gained 1.02 percent for the week ended March 24, its...

CEO profile: John F. Robenalt. (Just Like Home Inc.)(Company Profile)
March 27, 1998... PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: John F. Robenalt. Title: President, CEO and COO of Just Like Home Inc. Education: Bachelor's degree in history and juris doctorate from Ohio Northern University. Home: Osprey. BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY...

Aetna moving jobs to Tampa center. (Aetna US Healthcare)
March 20, 1998... Aetna US Healthcare is hiring more than 160 people at its operations center in Tampa and will likely hire more employees there throughout this year. The Westshore offices, which have about 450 employees, are being beefed up because of...

Pinellas gets drug test firm; Covance opens in Safety Harbor. (Pinellas County, Florida)
March 20, 1998... Covance Inc., one of the world's largest pharmaceutical contract research organizations with nearly $600 million in 1997 revenue, has opened a Safety Harbor office to manage clinical tests of central nervous system drugs. Those drugs will be...

Rising demos draw retailers. (retail boom in Tampa Bay Area, Florida)
March 20, 1998... It's the question on the lips of every single retail expert in the Bay Area. It's a puzzle for shoppers, for real estate professionals, for anyone who's ever set foot inside a Bay Area mall. What's a nice store like Saks doing in a place...

El Nino dampens area tourist trade. (Tampa Bay Area, Florida)
March 20, 1998... When Bay Area hotels and attractions dissect their mediocre winter season, they'll blame it on El Nino. Unseasonably warm winter weather up North and record rainfall in the Bay Area has deflated hopes for a strong winter tourist season, local...

Community colleges may host incubators. (business incubators)
March 20, 1998... Network would help startups Several Florida community colleges, including three in the Tampa Bay Area, are being considered as sites for a proposed network of business incubators to service high-technology startups. The plan is backed by...

Region's banks post strong year despite buyouts, rocky quarter. (Tampa Bay Area, Florida)
March 20, 1998... [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] Bay Area banks scored solid growth in 1997, increasing their assets, revenues and earnings despite shrinking in number, and despite a tough fourth quarter for many companies. According to newly released statistics...

County mulling impact fee plan. (Hillsborough County, Florida)
March 20, 1998... Developers would be allowed to transfer impact fee credits to other projects or other developers under a proposal being considered by the Hillsborough County Commission. The decision not only would improve developers' ability to market their...

Agribusiness firms, Justice officials reach settlement. (Norsk Hydro Inc.; Farmland Industries Inc.; Dept. of Justice)
March 20, 1998... Two agribusiness giants recently agreed to a tentative civil settlement in a federal antitrust action concerning a bid for a lease at the Port of Tampa. Officials with New York-based Norsk Hydro Inc., the world's largest distributor of...

FCCI takes steps it says will make it more competitive in future. (FCCI Insurance Group Inc.)(Special Report: Insurance & Employment Benefits)
March 20, 1998... Sarasota workers' comp insurer to build new headquarters and create a holding company For a "very conservative company," FCCI Insurance Group Inc. has been making some surprisingly progressive moves lately. The nearly 40-year-old company,...

USF unit lands drug research deals. (University of South Florida's Clinical Alliance for Research, Education and Service)
March 13, 1998... Boosters hope the University of South Florida one day will be seen as a top medical research institution, with break-through findings and resultant acclaim. Regional economic developers also want to see USF lauded for "discovery and...

Columbia sues to reduce its property tax bills. (Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.)
March 13, 1998... Appraisers take issue with 'corporate greed' Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. is suing government officials across Florida in an ongoing effort to slash its property tax bills by millions of dollars, according to Bay Area county property...

City leaders push to develop Tampa. (Florida)
March 13, 1998... A bulldozer rambled forward, pushing dirt at the groundbreaking for the new Marriott convention hotel in downtown Tampa this week. But instead of a worker in flannels and a hard hat, the driver was Mayor Dick Greco. The ceremonial scene...

Melitta perks up merger strategy. (Melitta North America)
March 13, 1998... Melitta has been pursuing the perfect cup of coffee since 1908, long before the recent coffee craze. Now, a more educated, demanding and discriminating coffee consumer is creating a new growth spurt for the industry. Melitta North America, a...

Tropicana Field vendors to serve variety for fans.
March 13, 1998... As basketball and baseball fans pour into Tropicana Field this month, a new and improved variety of food choices will greet them. Tropicana Field is 320,000 square feet larger than the original ThunderDome. Volume Services transformed much of...

Firms may form team for grant.
March 13, 1998... Bay Area businesses may team up to seek a state grant to help promote international trade in West Central Florida. The Tampa Bay Partnership, a nonprofit economic development organization that serves a seven-county region, is advocating its...

Hospital owner sets $300M sale; Hernando deal planned. (sale of securities by Health Management Associates Inc. to acquire Regional Healthcare Inc. in Hernando County, Florida)
March 13, 1998... Health Management Associates Inc., a Naples-based owner of 30 mostly rural Southeast and Southwest hospitals, has filed plans to sell up to $300 million in securities. HMA, which has had nine straight years of operating earnings growth,...

Most firms in survey say business is better.
March 13, 1998... TALLAHASSEE - Economic confidence is at an all-time high for Florida businesses, with most reporting higher profits in a survey of business executives conducted last month for the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Company chiefs responding to the...

Women crack commercial real estate sales force; minorities remain poorly represented.(Real Estate Monthly)
March 13, 1998... Minorities remain poorly represented If you hire a Realtor to help sell your home, chances are the broker is a woman. But if you're selling an office building or buying a warehouse, the broker is likely a white man. While women have...

Established business rolls out new lines; jewelry maker sees hemp clothes as money maker. (Kuaii & Company Inc.)(Small Business Enterprise)
March 13, 1998... Jewelry maker sees hemp clothes as money maker Nearly a quarter-century ago, Alan Liebowitz hawked incense burners to hippies. These days, he's pushing hemp clothing and jewelry to modern hipsters. Founder and president of Kuaii & Co. Inc....

Job growth booming in Bay Area. (Tampa Bay Area)
March 6, 1998... New businesses, growing local companies and a healthy economy vaulted two Bay Area markets among the top 10 U.S. metropolitan areas in private-sector job growth. Sarasota-Bradenton ranked No. 1 and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater ranked...

Blood storage concern bullish. (Cryo-Cell International Inc.)
March 6, 1998... Clearwater's Cryo-Cell International Inc., which freezes and stores newborns' umbilical cord blood for future medical use, probably lost a bundle last year. Indeed, for the nine months ended Aug. 31, the Nasdaq Small Cap company lost...

New boss to build tech firm. (ECWerks Inc. CEO James Pollard)
March 6, 1998... A former top executive with Tech Data Corp. has joined a Tampa electronic commerce company and plans to lead the startup on an acquisition and expansion campaign this year. James Pollard, former chief informationofficer for computer...

Downtown hotel may be catalyst to business; hoteliers hope for spillover. (Tampa, Florida; Marriott Convention Center Hotel project)
March 6, 1998... The Marriott Convention Center Hotel ground breaking March 11 marks the spot where the 320-foot skyscraper will rise up to meet Tampa's convention dreams. Area hotels hope the project will also help them reach new heights in business. The...

Developers eye other parcels. (hotel developers in Tampa, Florida)(Downtown Hotel May Be Catalyst to Business)
March 6, 1998... Ask John Twomey about the future of the Garrison Channel district in downtown Tampa, and eventually the conversation meanders to a discussion about Memphis and San Antonio. Why? Both Memphis, Tenn., and San Antonio, Texas, have bustling...

Pizza chain to expand outside Bay Area. (Lenny and Vinny's; Tampa Bay Area)
March 6, 1998... Lenny & Vinny's eyes North, South Florida Two new franchise agreements will help Lenny & Vinny's expand this year beyond its Bay Area base for the first time. A five-year plan calls for 30 new locations throughout Florida. The pizza chain...

Sykes, banks spark urban renewal plan. (businessman John Sykes; Tampa, Florida)
March 6, 1998... The sprit of the moment inspired John Sykes. Now, it may inspire other Tampa businesses people and residents of two of Tampa's poorest neighborhoods. The moment came as John and Susan Sykes of Tampa accepted an award for their humanitarian...

Rental project may be built. (apartment development in Belmont Heights, Tampa, Florida)
March 6, 1998... A partnership between two nonprofit groups and a developer may give birth to a new apartment development in Belmont Heights, one of Tampa's poorest neighborhoods. Five years in the making, the $3.5 million project is jointly sponsored by...

Fence company finds a place to call home. (Child Protection Restraint Inc.)(Company Profile)
March 6, 1998... Major retailer set to boost sales of local business A Small Business Administration loan helped John Sendo, a former car mechanic, get his pool fence company started in 1996. A new contract with Home Depot should propel Child Protection...