Business Observer by Kat Hughes

JA N UA RY 18 - JA N UA RY 2 4 , 2013 | T H R E E D o ll ar S

On a Wire | Nik Wallenda brings new business life to his family’s legacy. PG.12 P A S C O • H I L L S B O R O U G H • P I N E L L A s • M A N AT E E • S A R A S O TA • C H A R L O T T E • L E E • C O L L I E R

Movin’on

inside STARTUP

Track Your Kids

The new MamaBear application allows parents to know what their children are up to — and get alerts when they’re doing things they shouldn’t. PAGE 9

MARKETING

Innovate the Pitch

After taking the helm of PODS in August, its new CEO is ready to move into new segments to build market share. PAGE 14

Dave Kennon uses a potential pitfall to help clients better manage their portfolios and sell his services. PAGE 9

RETAIL

Opening Shop

At a time when many retailers are moving their presence from brick-and-mortar to the Web, John Brozek decided to do the opposite. Sales are up. PAGE 10

TECHNOLOGY

Sharing Knowledge

Some real estate websites provide information, but no interaction. One entrepreneur wants to marry the two. PAGE 10

HOMEBUILDING

Like Father, Like Son

John Neal may be following in his father’s footsteps, but he’s found his own niche. PAGE 11

GOVERNMENT

Contracting Results

To provide better service for its residents, the city of Bonita Springs turned to the private sector. PAGE 16

TOP DEALS Hyatt Regency Tampa sells for $63 million. 18 Sarasota investor Jesse Biter closes downtown purchase. 19

John Koch John Koch CEO, PODS ENTERPRISES CEO, PODS ENTERPRISES Mark Wemple

23 A former Adidas marketing exec shares her sales tales. 85356

DON’T MISS

PAGE

Minto Communities buys Sabal Bay Community for $68 million. 20

C1Bank.com • (877) 266-2265

MEMBER FDIC

BUSINESS OBSERVER | JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013

BusinessObserverFL.com

review and comment By Matt walsh | editor and publisher

It’s not the name that counts; it’s the content It is time. Do it. We talked about this on and off for several years — changing the name of the Gulf Coast Business Review. The internal resistance was strong. When I announced my intentions at a staff meeting, the silence was deafening, the stares steely and the unspoken comments … Probably unprintable. Why throw away all of the equity already built up in Gulf Coast Business Review and Review.net? Why alienate or risk losing our customers — our loyal readers and advertisers? It’s a risk, yes. But really, not that big of one. It’s not as if we were toying with dumping the names “CocaCola” or “McDonald’s.” They know us by our name, but they buy us for our content and audience; neither of those will change. In a month, I argued, the name won’t make a difference. Truth is, I’ve regretted the name Gulf Coast Business Review for more than 15 years. We’ve been publishing the paper for 16. When we launched the paper in 1997, the original name was Gulf Coast Review — no “Business.” At the time, the dominant brand among local business papers was “Business Journal,” the moniker spread across America’s metropolitan markets by the American City Business Journals company in Charlotte, N.C. We didn’t want to be a Business Journal. We wanted to be different. So we opted for what was then somewhat of a competing brand name — Review. In South Florida, American Lawyer published three papers, the Miami Daily Review, the Broward Daily Review and Palm Beach Daily Review (They have since added “Business” to their names). And in Tampa, there was the Tampa Bay Review, owned by another publisher. We went with Review. Soon after, readers suggested we add the word “Business” to the title. They said people didn’t know “Gulf Coast Review” was a business paper.

Good suggestion. weeklies, six of which Then it hit: We go by the name “Obshouldn’t have called server” — Longboat, it the Business Review. East County and Sara“Review” says “look sota in Greater Saraback.” We’ve always sota; and Palm Coast, wanted the Business Plant City and Ormond Review to look forward. Beach. (We also pubWhat’s the next trend? lish the Pelican Press Who’s going to be the on Siesta Key.) next big success? Look All too often Business ahead, that’s what we try Review reporters felt to do. compelled to explain In 2001, we acquired themselves to news the Tampa Bay Review. Shortly after, sources in Greater Sarasota that “you we expanded the Gulf Coast Busiknow … we’re part of the Observers.” ness Review to Lee and Collier coun- No more. ties. We covered the coast. The new name also eliminates But then we made another naming any confusion with “Gulfshore” or mistake. Without much research, we people who think the “Gulf Coast” merged the Tampa Bay Review and means the Gulf Coast of Alabama Gulf Coast Business Review to create and Mississippi. one brand. In Tampa Bay, however, Along with the new name, it made the words “Gulf Coast” don’t register. sense to introduce a new, freshened In Lee and Collier counties, another design. That’s important in every publisher branded his publications business. Customers expect you to with “Gulfshore.” continue evolving and improving. We stayed with Gulf Coast BusiYears ago, as a reporter, I profiled ness Review anyway and endured. the CEO of a bullet-manufacturer. Until now. When he arrived at the company, Our new name, as you see on the sales were flat; the company wasn’t page next to this, is Business Obgrowing. Two years into his tenure, server. The website also goes from sales started increasing at doubleReview.net to BusinessObserverFL. digit rates. Asked his secret: Same com. bullets, new features. “You have to There is a lot behind this. give them something new to keep For one, we felt it was time to shake them hooked,” he said. That’s why things up; get out of the routine; Proctor & Gamble always introduces make a new statement; refresh and “new Tide.” rebrand our identity. You have to stay fresh and relevant. Business Observer works for us beI’m betting you’ll like our new cause it brands us with our company design, the expert work and vision — Sarasotaof Steve based CORPORATE NAME CHANGES Antley, a Observer Lakeland Media freelancer. Andersen Consulting..................................... Accenture Group Inc. We BackRub.................................................................Google In addibelieve it’s Brad’s Drink......................................................... PepsiCo tion to the important Cadabra.com...................................................... Amazon Business to keep Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co................... IBM Datsun.................................................................... Nissan Observer, it clean, Government Employees Insurance Co............. GEICO our comsimple and Lucky Goldstar............................................................. LG pany pubeasy to St. Louis Bread Co......................................Panera Bread lishes seven navigate. Sound of Music................................................... Best Buy community Our head-

line fonts have what we believe to be a more modern look and feel. Managing Editor Kat Hughes says they’re “more playful” than our previous, heavy fonts. We think we’ve improved navigation — helping you figure out what to read — with our story summaries on our new page 1 and with key words above the headlines and brief decks that summarize stories. On the real estate pages, you’ll see how we have color-highlighted the most important information. We’ll continue to have compelling photography, a crucial element to your reading experience and enjoyment. We also have added a weekly summary of what’s popular and important on BusinessObserverFL.com, looping the print back to the Web. The look of the website is changing, too. It’s more than “new Tide”; it’s new and improved. But that’s still to come. As technology glitches go, we encountered a few that pushed back the launch of our new BusinessObserverFL.com site. Although we’ve modified the homepage for now, in weeks to come you’ll see a much more dynamic and richer website, with features, daily news, business resources and opportunities for content marketing. Altogether, we’re paying a lot of attention to your “experience” with our print and digital offerings. Our mission hasn’t changed: to publish for our readers and advertisers the best, most relevant business publication in Florida. We say we’re Florida’s weekly paper for the C-suite. We’re guided every day by the simple mantra of publishing information “that the boss needs to know.” We’ll be anxious to hear your feedback. While the new name matters, in the end, as we say in the business, content is king.

The way we were … GULF COAST 15-29, 2001

BUSINESS R

EVIEW

Page 30 JUNE

er 10

Vol. 5, Numb

Take Care

FIVE-YEAR PUBL Pity the sha IC COMPANY reholders. Story on Pag RATINGS e 6.

nts in Kalamazoo. azoo reside to be back n move. Kalam It was a good the Smith family wome 1 from Page conquer around sister — with Continued the most, mother and for rallied harbiggest, have neighbors n Take Care g. — Susanne, her to be the to Friends and Deal or positio offerin harvest bee. ’s crops and took them the next Big in an initial public sing and a family e by immer the Big Payoff suits, brings an apple for vested the closur t brough izes hospice. olive and apolog market. Wise work at a Kalamazoo She wears brothers’ work for lunch her administrative in her f and hersel banana to father she asks In a with her of others. She dealt imposing when h the deaths attributed the help. kable for for throug nt remar is Wise deaths assista growth to a niece, where she mother of No, Take Care’s she is. The married recent letter and its aftermath to health care, Wise got where ters and plane crash — in home 2001 how college-age daugh clung scar of tely landed JUNE 15-29, aged. The years, Wise three cents nd onal ultima primarily for the man for7520 Says husba caring role of traditi to the same y remains. affects ly to the BOB WILLIAMS laundry, clean- the family traged you can tell it still PRENEURS until recent SOUTH WEST FLORID e fall, the kids ESS AND ENTRE cooking, doing SEE PAGE 1B FOR BUSIN Carl: “Com Mom — picking up as NEWSPAPER FOR d A’S NEWSPAPER , taking and time she held the her.” Stafford l and worke BUSINESS FLORIDA’S ing toilets Photo by Alex schoo same to WEST AND ENTRE the back SOUTH l. At azoo hosPRENEURS a way to satisfy ss.” She Wise went at a Kalam from schoo ts, sioner, she found move was busine surgery nurse dialysis patien a medical for family togeth passion to grow profes . The logical g and 75 cents nurse, April 19-Ma I was limited tried nursin in oncology y 2, 2002 pital. She her own inner d as a home health g, but I knew sity. spent a year istration bility “I loved nursin astern Univer toward teachWise: profita e ated ng ally. She worker’s in business admin Southe Susann showi unity then gravit from Nova a proforma predicted failg at a comm but obtained her MBA earned a maste the urgplan with g, ing nursin s and, at the accountant liked nursin with honor decided in two years, college. She husband, d.” didn’t listen. pooled what little being in one ing of her endent ure. They Wise would she didn’t likeone thing. “I’m was spoile the Wises e an indep made a of to becom In mid-May, to place doing person,” Wise an office and • •-• in the image had, leased t a few foldbe the last would entrepreneur good 7-3 n cash they utilities. They bough standard father. Wise elf not a referri one and Southeaster f as t on ng to the her farmer table, teleph credit hers says, ed at Nova an MBA. The deposi to credit hersel nurses. “I a cafeteria business. Wise enroll be the last r ing chairs, al shift for opened for to earn She would nde n. and ng hospit Tampa Wo ter Woma in gnawi as p compu Wonder 12 and 10. couldn’t on flexibility.” worried University bigger challenges was -digit deskto three girls were 14, to say she seek she wouldn’t man. She thrive be the first ched double she is restlessness on the Their figured Wo g. urge to approa I where Wise’s Wise d girls missin “but risk. born and raised who would count hing was have reache support of her It was a big at her as the nursing,” she says, who were l more year. They have the would be the her. Somet and severa l move was take a salary the first the family. without the nd and a staff ages. “I loved Gulf Coast, during childhood. felt she didn’t . , sales to carry d. The logica she MC DONNELL I was limite to work nightsy on Carl’s real estate really hung out.”BY SEAN three her father children, husba loyal. first to say e She moved here — as knew ss.” She continued passion of ely Staff Writer without red to only explod “We were met Carl and on Sunda that is intens times were the no Florida This compa Says Carl: Care’s sales s. Never before They busine during down times couldn’t havre Then she There is one, Take . New Yorker so ay mornings at a bar. ng says “The best and simple From day and Saturd ts figured is native whe ater, studyi ” Wise, 47, he says, not move pure the region local produc Under 40” . niftyyouth, . Friday nights of a 1979 in Coldw have welcome home, coming back reached Tampa with nights in ed. d from desire The history ays in a “40 the growth nursing out marrie they moved she traveled to and y to gener-ably linked with the prominently of her Saturd classes home-care Wise fueled she is with of Mich. In 1982,They clients weekl yeesinexor of water of MBA had two every a break from e the local marby rumors billed her rs are as class. Wise took from a day ta. always it. Spurred of our winne , a — she but she paid her emplo floatfortime. She becam to Saraso tality and the age “They were the support The tastes this time. ed immor . If you Home Health both under cash, in Tampa. n and more. about director for Doctors Ponce de was ate daughters, ily. as their origins tands, Wisebestow gain a cushio g so fast,that she Juan to much rful.” fam diverse not When week wonde her at their nights eternagl youth,the first European she other estate keting n of Columbia-HCA. of two, and ss was growin the workin e stole a peek as likely to see Dr. ercial real the busine istrator’s job, have Leon becam Gulf Coast in the be Carl, a comm it might take divisio over for the admin • •-• Metro Still, y realized she didn’t says would cash. at d g you One neede to explore the nursin Dali Lama. broker, figured a solid earning passed as the director of spent quickl l to keep it going. She ry. espen, and Seuss as the s on sition — 16th Centu firm. Wise landed capita his perRonald Reaga tion gues alway years to get they had an easy propo business early locally-based g in everything ownerhired a crew using his hero is inspira Wise’s collea compassionthem three That’s not He g Nursing, a soakin months later, left behind another draws her as me woman ted. Her at Metro, Another About 18 ers, recruitus bankin fortune and for a first-ti she inheri describe her ce he two years y Spears. ter. ed track. ss — the numb scheduling cially had no previo old sonal no doubt, model family Rico, the provin entre- from Britne the age of third daugh the busine of company severely retard an ate, a trait, his life on the Puerto an y children under home health about deci- their complexities a nurse for needs whose nship. Wise called of thegoverned. He was venture winner bases Wayne Gretzk With three nurses, the g as a president once to meet the mother was influenced Wise’s own ing player his relatio the y workin e e. gh nurses — g ian). hocke me licens began incom of a direc- and althou as nursin Coldwater e, he’s Canad three, Wise children. Thather registered nurse the family discovery dozens of part-ti had been preneuar, In two years business friend in (surprise surpris political gamut, for did result in the from the her father to supplement the girls during the of dozens of patients. the sion to earn Mich., 45 minutes Ponce de company’s bank where older. She asked himnever m nurse ngs. They run fountain, home with Metro, the he has always the progra early morni of a magic and stockh She’d stay in Kalamazoo, bered. He One says director at completed nights and taker tor age, Wise lend it,is still remem and, in so as well. George Bush’s “shaky farm. Wise and work d each year. 0 loan. family risk family to school he would Leon d tine The in double new Patria s. her day nd — the y. She $50,00 banker told Wise note.d St. Augus to oppose for war. Another says, the girls grew would end of, not thed to pursue ned thefounde Wise’s husba own agenc bout path with honor is one The on us premise” most expens was When make sure her shifts she ifdecide how to start her mother co-sig askeddoing, breakfast her. took a rounda es but depending time her her girls ive are scienc long ed restaur Afterward, the urged a he would Iraqis ng it?” ants in Saraso home, feed provid d — we are led 10 “The degree in health after receiving a y been thinki health business of do you need to getta. immortality. ry to what “I never wante bachelor’s had alread he was about “How soon , they wire it?” on hold and, contra ta. time to school. She felt “Can you run a home- , Wise was ready At the time, our list. by the media to put that University in Atlan BY ready MICHAEL and take them do that,” she says. Said Wise: she would to qualify for to believe ITER 1995 began to Emory confines INSIDE she went ContributingofferRat is bound years too old us to stay.” the anyone else job Writer leaving the her own. When l. At night, Gulf Coast • •-• y of want for all their differences, Today, the excited about g to the big city.one the same after schoo the move. wasnd s high-e Wise But well-e to the vitalit headin ,” to make dining in this year’s andestabli thanagain Longb work. stablished 1975, the azoo once e retirees one ever rested shmenber professionals Kalam Key restaur of sits in an odd locatio loan in less in comts go, this two tooat not becaus Septem when she g young ••• ateur, pro- and a few things and meani Sunday in n — tucked youth, off the bank le.” But he ar middle still lookin don’ts know of aa Tamia But on Wise paid crop do have were horrib in the are ng“IPatria’ h her two-ye from New Jersey are ed. Her father offerin hours mi Trail in. The vanish them. gs “Her center, the g the girls diverse blew throug crash on the a the ingred plane shoppi Carl, says. excitement discouraged Southkilled de Leon’s fountais here, mon. always havin when he a year. She in astrip our list has ng ntant of ss wife ients Ponce nery Square er expan for his accou Sarasota Square , just southmachi sive fed” n a busine andbers Every memb ional class tion of remem The Wise’s brothers were expensive. Mall.ater from a farm of When had writte to the d, rested and end of a day. some institu There’s no to Coldw young profess stay. It is the force ed,ofdresse owner though Wise covered portico . Wise still moved to degree from g. Thirteen hold at the “clean Even here is a work “I leadit drop off return ing she courts, apolis from and for limousines ls, but downtown he says. learnin pampeinredMinne juris government, arrived home Sarasotacare of me, too,” to fine-d guests. No the funera your car. expo als. Its higherced degrees. Two have al behind your take ’t carryining establi valet tocouldn It’s allta shortly after and hospit advan a medic “She would shmen . She park sawurge what theyAtlan asphalt, weeks s of your One has schools, banks, sixman. But youShe say: Don’t felt an his new competitor’st only . They most aspect doctorates. y. know judgethe have MBAs traged Indeed. stayed actions touch by its cover. menu, he remarked Inside t of a book degree. Three in Copenhagen, weigh Patria, of the that Saraso Patria’ the skill , life. latest entry s prices “will ta’s copiou studied but energy and into s fine-dining make ambience Susanne Wise Without the profiled in this have ark and Turin, Italy, in market, the the rest of us look great.” er, CEO says ed Denm uals most ambiti this new restaurant were educat rs Aggressive the individ and those Founder, own is the area’s than 35% ous and enterp is also an winne 40” issue, of Sarasota destination apt description go un- more a. Three of our “40 Under to date. More rising new dining Take Care of the attitud Stafford Florid buildings would Photo by AlexSteakh in Sarasota. that so than Ruth’s e like them, would go ouse. More right here Chris Waite permeates Patria children than Micha go studied are all leaders in their More than . built, sick rs serve el’s on the have They food would go wearing newly rebuilt Colony Dining Room East. white gloves fields. They coluntreated, would , and the Bijou Café. or the casts respective and songs t of their established es — into a feel of warmt décor uncooked ed the respec al acclaim. itself as one Patria, in fact, has care servic achiev ta health h and aexpensive wealth. Diner of, if not nomin unsung. and Saraso er of home restaurant s and person y named the most s are met almost 100 in Manatee in Sarasota. four with richly ny — a provid Peruse the d 40 league From the had a holida ia. For colored, earthy her compa menu. If your n-owned firm ber 2000, Take Care’s 430 d, GCBR selecte One even Arcad a “Seared tones of palate is calling largest woma tions receive from Sarasota and g Decem grown to the city of Chick warm the thirdfor leathe for him in year endin first time es and had Seckel stuffin en Breast with r and copper brown young people es who embody is not the ies. For the $11 million in revenu -based home Gruyere / this g ized, count locally and . But most, counti recogn ted Minersha, the Mushroom tables come mind ALSH ’s largest personal Manatee has been Port-Wild Reduction,” alive with BY MATT W etched in her her businesses generacompany is the region their work sional and entrée on tic, bright artisthe least this scene bers Her the profes that distinguishes be the last. the menu, for its fast e Editor Wise has had She remem popu- employees. t nor will it expect to pay expensive weighty ly-colored china, kable not That’s just er. travel. Europ ous. International usanne Smith a grade school girl. commitmen silverware for Mich., about $29. care provid Care is remar Wise is the tion and ambiti Most enjoy busines and was Pecan-Rubb the breast. Steaks start gant glass in Coldwater, the quiet of health of Wise’s Take high profile. In fact, not driven the area’s young is a dynamic and since she a popular destina the and stemw ele- Sarasota a restaur sman and Patria owner ed Rack at $35. If The growth and beef farmer list ess or seems to be of Lamb Gyorgy Matrai: s, she is are by n table, in ant comparable comes with the likes Photos by Lusya This year’s They also enjoy is offered, ventures. father, a grain sitting at the kitche for its flashin e many entrepreneur “My purpos of Versac a price tag to the best Sullivan 30 veggies it for this group. sports and activi, e with idea and next that he pace, nor to be found and, of course of $39. Soups, salads, Riedel. The talk e and Care, Page r versatile group. Ponce de Leon, lation 10,000 hts about his latest in the world’s Patria is to create in of neon. Unlik Take er outdoo gusto esis See the weath around town many , a fine bottle antith g are all a la Hungarian major cities.” Some, like g his thoug ’s passion, from forcarte D of wine, is that owner-entre Florida’s amazin and will PRSRT-ST Gulf Coast 3 a.m., writin ten her father of his time. your final preneur He unities ties accessible to them. U.S. POSTAGE tab. Our modes add significantly to “George” Matrai droppe came to the never forgot says. most Gyorg opport g has the istaPAID Wise g , y seekin Wise d $80,000 $150, includ Main in downt makin t dinner for 543 nd- makes By choice Spanish conqu stay sold PERMIT #ing at Mary’s on eign lands every day, two A, FLtip. And days a week. fixed and Unlike the e of new surrou to MANASOT tle of wine. threw into we didn’t order was with the city’s own Sarasota to outfit in the promis ers of this year’s worked seven ted the grain; an obsession bank, a bot- linens Patria finest china, dor with Bob Smith d and harves in the local is not the The menu . In matte stemware PRSRT-ST ings. Six membin other countries, is “very aggres cattle; plowe the winter; invested D indepen, immortality minds of this and r-of-fact style, U.S. POSTAGE believable, tended the sive,” accord er young d in were born He loved his on the Anoth painte class Matra did. likable PAID he ing and desire t i, Japan. to a internationa PERMIT # a to utmos loved what chain saws 543 MANASOT l businessfrom Guyan rs. A, FL its board. He passion, the Puerto Rico. year’s winne See Patria served on winners on Page 9 was born in and her own Inc. also eight of Sarasota for her energy dence. There are s her father company, Take Care Wise has built Wise credit her years, pours into In only six passion she independence, too. her She loves

BUSINESS RE VIEW Too Good To B e

Hungarian entr epreneur Gyo rgy ‘George’ wants Patria’s Matrai to serv world-class price e world-class dining at s. Is it, is he, for real?

Keeping the

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Leaders

BUSINESS OBSERVER | JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013

BusinessObserverFL.com

The Foundation for Economic Education

Vol. XVII, No. 3

presents

2nd Annual Winter Freedom Academy

A Division of The Observer Media Group

The Foundations of Liberty

BusinessObserverFL.com The Business Observer is Southwest Florida’s newspaper for business leaders. With offices in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties, the Business Observer is the only weekly business newspaper that provides business leaders, entrepreneurs, CEOs and investors with a regional perspective. The Business Observer’s mission is to deliver relevant news and information on Southwest Florida’s leading and growing companies, up-and-coming entrepreneurs and the important economic, industry and government trends affecting business. The Business Observer is also the leading publisher of public notices on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Learn about the foundations of liberty and free-market economics from distinguished speakers and lecturers at this 1½ day symposium

Friday, Feb. 1 - Saturday, Feb. 2 • Naples Beach Hotel Featured Speakers

Editor and Publisher / Matt Walsh, mwalsh@BusinessObserverFL.com

Keynote: Lawrence Reed,

Managing Editor / Kat Hughes, khughes@BusinessObserverFL.com Deputy Managing Editor / Mark Gordon mgordon@BusinessObserverFL.com Editor-Lee/Collier / Jean Gruss jgruss@BusinessObserverFL.com Editor-Tampa Bay/ Denise Kalette dkalette@BusinessObserverFL.com Research Editor / Sean Roth sroth@BusinessObserverFL.com Web Editor / Amanda Heisey aheisey@BusinessObserverFL.com Editorial Design / Nicole Thompson, nthompson@yourobserver.com

FEE president, “Liberty and Character” Barbara Kolm, director, Hayek Institute, Austria, “Europe on the Road to Serfdom • Bradley Birzer, professor, Hillsdale College, “Natural Rights and the Western Tradition” • John Blundell, visiting fellow, Heritage Foundation, “The Next Best Thing to Meeting Lady Thatcher,” and other distinguished speakers, book forums with noted authors and more. An engaging weekend for all who endeavor to sustain the ideas of liberty and free markets.

Reed

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Associate Publisher / Diane Schaefer, dschaefer@BusinessObserverFL.com Sales Consultant / Chris Kelley ckelley@yourobserver.com Director of Legal Advertising / Kristen Boothroyd, kboothroyd@BusinessObserverFL.com Advertising Production Manager / Kathy Payne, kpayne@yourobserver.com Advertising Graphic Designer / Shawna Polana Chief Financial Officer / Laura Keisacker lkeisacker@yourobserver.com Director of Distribution and Subscription Sales & Marketing / Anne Shumate subscriptions@BusinessObserverFL.com

How to reach us

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JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com

CoffeeTalk

Freight firm seeks to add some weight Jim Brosious, chairman of one of the fastest-growing freight service and logistics firms in the region, kicked off 2013 in a serious anti-recession kind of mood. To wit: Brosious’ business, FreightCenter Inc., is in the early stages of a company-transforming move, both in geography and in mission. On location, the 120-employee firm will move from a 9,000-square-foot office in Trinity, Pasco County, to a 16,000-square-foot facility in northern Pinellas County, in Palm Harbor. The move could be complete by March. The move, though, merely precedes the company’s bigger shift: To add a sales department — with at least 70 people — which will aggressively target new clients. FreightCenter, says Brosious, only previously generated sales from marketing and outside Internet searches. That model worked, to the point where the firm had $32 million in sales last year, up 190% from $11 million in 2008. But Brosious and his son, FreightCenter CEO Matthew Brosious, always knew the soft sales approach had a ceiling. “As good as

our core model has been,” Jim Brosious tells Coffee Talk, “we thought we were at the top of the mountain.” The next climb will be difficult, Brosious says, and costly. The company will spend at least $500,000 on the move and investment in new employees, from phones to software. Brosious, for that reason, confidently projects 2013 won’t be FreightCenter’s most profitable year. “We will set sales records,” he says, “but it will be a year of big investment in the company.” FreightCenter, founded by the fatherson Brosious team in 1998, is like an Expedia for the shipping and logistics industry. The company, using proprietary Web tools and software, provides shipping rates and services for companies and individuals. Users and clients include FedEx and UPS. Past the pure cost of expansion, Brosious predicts 2013 will be marked by one other big challenge: The merger of sales methods. Says Brosious: “We are going to figure out how much we can integrate the two groups.”

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Seminole Hard Rock aims for Asia casinos. The game tables and noodle bar are open to all visitors, but they provide a special linguistic welcome to patrons from Asia, with a team of employees conversant in Asian languages. The Seminole Hard Rock has even set up two new website pages for Chinese and Vietnamese speakers who would rather read the menu and other information in their native languages. Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa recently completed a $75 million expansion, making it the world’s sixth-largest casino, based on gaming positions, the total number of seats offered at tables and slot machines.

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The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino has taken aim at a sizable tourist market: Asia. The hotel and casino features a 4,000-square-foot Asian-style gaming room and restaurant, where patrons can taste roast duck, fried dumplings or beef pho at the newly opened Jubao Palace’s 15-seat noodle bar. And they can play Pai Gow Tiles, a game that one employee describes for Coffee Talk as “sort of like Asian dominoes.” Visitors can also choose Asia poker, blackjack or baccarat. The Jubao Palace marks Seminole Gaming’s first entry into the Asian gaming market at any of its seven Florida

Small business marred with hesitation man John Medina in a release. “This will create economic stability and predictability, which will allow small businesses to grow and create jobs.” The uncertainty manifests itself in several ways, according to the survey. For one, 83% of respondents weren’t able to get the financing they needed, up from 78% in the October survey. Another sign of uncertainty, the survey reports, stems from regulations, where 60% of respondents are worried or very worried that regulations, restrictions

See Coffee Talk page 7

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The presidential election was more than two months ago, but the uncertainty for small business owners hasn’t receded. That’s the word from the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s quarterly Small Business Index Survey. In fact, economic uncertainty and access to capital are the major obstacles that prevented small business growth for the third consecutive quarter, the survey reports. “We must fight to make it easier for small business owners to obtain needed capital and financing,” says Florida Chamber Small Business Council Chair-

BUSINESS OBSERVER | JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013

BusinessObserverFL.com

topstories from BusinessObserverFL.com SARASOTA-MANATEE

County to top boss: Don’t leave Manatee County commissioners like County Administrator Ed Hunzeker’s work so much that they asked him to postpone his retirement. Commissioners made their plea publicly to Hunzeker after he presented the county annual report recently. Hunzeker, scheduled to retire this summer, has been their administrator since 2007. “(Hunzeker) has accomplished many money-saving measures in his time here, and he’s given us a peek of an ambitious agenda ahead,” Manatee County Commission Chairman Larry Bustle says. Hunzeker didn’t comment on the commission’s request, though the state’s pension and retirement program could jeopardize some future pay and benefits if he stays.

LWR office vacancies fall below 10% Office vacancies in Lakewood Ranch, a master-planned community in east Manatee County, have dropped below

quote of theweek

“”

There are really four rules to real estate. Location, location, location, and make sure your builder is financially stable. John Neal President, John Neal Homes SEE PAGE 11

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10% for the first time since 2007. The vacancy rate is 9.2%. Lakewood Ranch Commercial Realty President Brian Kennelly says two Lakewood Ranch buildings are 100% leased for the first time since being built. One of those is the HomeBanc building on University Parkway, while the other is the Energy Court Building in the Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park. Lakewood Ranch Main Street’s office spaces are also 100% leased, with the exception of one unit currently being used. Downtown Bradenton remains a lagging market in office vacancies, with a 36.2% rate. Manatee and Sarasota counties have 20.7% and 26.8% office vacancies, respectively. TAMPA BAY

Pinellas home sales climb 35% Single-family home sales in Pinellas County jumped 34.6% from November 2011 to November 2012, according to the National Association of Realtors. At the same time, the average sales price rose by more than 10%. Active listings of single-family homes have

decreased 30.75% over the year ending in November, contributing to the increased prices. The percentage of distressed listings has also fallen. Meanwhile, condo sales rose 37.79% over the same period. A 7.3-month supply of condo inventory is available, compared with a 3.2-month supply of single-family homes.

Upgrades slated for Wells Fargo building After acquiring the 22-story Wells Fargo Center for $44.8 million Jan. 9, Feldman Equities Inc. and Tower Realty Partners plan extensive upgrades to the building, including a new high-end fitness center. The buyers plan to renovate the building’s common corridors and bathrooms, as well as the garage. The 387,477-square-foot building, located across from the Tampa Convention Center, already had undergone multimillion dollar renovations before the sale. Those upgrades modernized the building systems and telecommunications infrastructure as well as the common areas. Anchored by Wells Fargo &

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Co., Phelps Dunbar and UBS, the Wells Fargo Center currently is 77% leased, according to Feldman. The joint venture plans an aggressive leasing program at the high-rise. Feldman will head the leasing efforts while Tower Realty Partners will handle management responsibilities. CHARLOTTE-LEE-COLLIER

Hotel occupancy rises Revenues at hotels in Lee County rose 6.6% in November compared with the same month one year ago. Revenue per available room, a function of average occupancies and daily rates, rose to $55.97 in November from $52.53 in November 2011, according to Smith Travel Research. In 2010, revenue per available room totaled $46.03. The increase in revenues was due mostly to a 6.3% jump in occupancies in November to 53.3%, suggesting that the rebound in tourism continues at a steady pace. But in an indication that competition remains fierce among hoteliers, the average daily room rate rose just 0.2% in November to $105.05 compared with November 2011.

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JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com

CoffeeTalk from page 5

and taxes will negatively impact their ability to do business. More uncertainty: Less than one-third of employers, 29%, plan to hire in the next six months. That’s down slightly from 31% in October. The survey also reports that the failure of the fiscal cliff deal to extend 2001 and 2003 tax cuts will cause 21% of small businesses to halt hiring plans. Another 44% are unsure of hiring plans in the wake of the fiscal cliff deal. Some other findings of the survey, conducted electronically in December and comprised of 679 responses, are more optimistic. Those include: • Nearly half the respondents, 49%,

expect the economy to improve over the next six months. More than half, 60%, expect the economy to improve over the next three years; • The percentage of small business owners who believe they are worse off today than six months ago has dropped, from 35% in October to 26% in the most recent survey. On the flip side, the percentage of respondents who believe their business is better off than six months ago is up, from 28% in October to 32% in December; • More than half the respondents, 53%, expect sales to increase over the next three months, while 66% expect sales to increase over the next year.

Alico stock a top performer Who says agriculture is boring? It turns out some investors may be quite pleased with Alico’s performance last year, a fact that Investor’s Business Daily noted in a recent listing of the 100 companies that led the stock market in 2012. Alico (symbol: ALCO; recent price: $39) shares rose 89% in 2012, benefiting from interest in commodities and rebounding land values. In the newspaper listing, Alico ranked

52nd of 100 top-performing stocks priced higher than $12 at the beginning of the year. Based in Fort Myers, Alico owns about 130,400 acres in Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee and Polk counties. Its agriculture businesses include citrus, sugarcane and cattle. It also receives royalties from rock mining and oil production. For the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, net income totaled $18.5 million on revenues of $127.2 million.

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most of his peers. “It shows what you can achieve with persistence.” Merchant studies the performance drivers of firms competing in emerging markets, as well as service-sector firms. In particular, he focuses on value creation through international joint ventures. “What my studies in general try to do is understand the drivers of stock prices associated with the announcement of joint ventures,” he says in the statement. Merchant “is an important part of our growing focus on globalization, including global business,’’ says Norine Noonan, vice chancellor for academic affairs at USF St. Petersburg. Merchant has been awarded nearly $200,000 in grants, according to USF.

Perfect your pitch When entrepreneurs talk about perfecting their pitch, they’re not talking baseball. Venture X, the new co-working space in Naples, will inaugurate the first “pitch night” Feb. 7. Entrepreneurs will be able to pitch their ventures to investors and other business owners at this special event. Eight entrepreneurs will get five minutes to make their pitch and receive

another five minutes of feedback and questions from the audience. Usually, these kinds of events are closed to all but “accredited” investors, those with at least $1 million to invest. But this event is different: It’s open to the public. Admission will cost $10 and you can register at http://vxpitchnight.eventbrite. com

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Mall industry’s hopes show dents The U.S. shopping center industry can’t ditch the recession tag. The latest gloom comes in a new report from Reis Inc., a New York Citybased real estate research firm. The report, to be sure, shows a quarterly drop in the vacancy rate at malls and strip centers. But that decrease isn’t enough to get the industry excited about 2013. On the shopping mall side, the average vacancy rate in the fourth quarter fell to 8.6%, down from 8.7% in the 2012 third quarter. That’s five consecutive quarters of a decrease. The average vacancy rate at strip centers, meanwhile, dropped to 10.7% in the fourth quarter, from 10.8% in the previous quarter.

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The report, however, is loaded with potential problems. Demand for new tenants, says Reis, remains incredibly weak. The national unemployment rate is still around 8%, and a gross domestic product increase of 2% in 2012, the report states, is a clear disappointment.

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A business professor at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg hasn’t let his teaching load stand in the way of scholarly publication. Hemant Merchant, who specializes in international business strategy, has been ranked the 10th most prolific international management scholar in the world, according to USF. The ranking is based on reports in the top three international business journals from 2001 to 2009. Another study published in Management International Review ranks Merchant the fourth most prolific international management scholar in the United States. “I was extremely surprised,’’ says Merchant in a statement, to learn that his publishing productivity outpaced that of

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BUSINESS OBSERVER | JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013

BusinessObserverFL.com

BTN

economicsnapshot

9.9

Business investment

Percentage growth in business investment statewide in November 2012 compared with November 2011

9 Number of regions (out of 22) that exceeded the state’s annual percentage gain in November over the same month in 2011

.1% Port St. Lucie/Fort Pierce’s growth in November business investment over November 2011, the lowest in the state

$5 billion (Florida statewide) 4 3 2 1

Nov. 2011

Dec. ’11

Jan. ’12

Feb. ’12

Mar. ’12

What the data show Taxable sales in the business investment category include store and office equipment, hotel and restaurant supplies, paper and packaging materials, medical and optical supplies, computers and machinery. The latest data is for October.

Apr. ’12

May ’12

June ’12

July ’12

Aug. ’12

Sept. ’12

OCTOBER BUSINESS INVESTMENT AREA TampaSt. Petersburg

What it means Every area except Fort Myers reported higher taxable sales in the business investment category than the state as a whole (up 9.9%) on an annual percentage-change basis. The Punta Gorda and Sarasota areas were particularly strong, with Punta Gorda showing the highest growth in the state by that measure.

SarasotaBradenton

$ INVESTMENT

Cape CoralFort Myers Naples

($ in millions)

% ANNUAL CHANGE

$572.5 10.9% $139 13.1% $20.1 17.9%

Punta Gorda

Forecast The outcome of the presidential election and the subsequent political wrangling over the country’s fiscal problems likely will be reflected in November and December data. Anecdotally, business owners report increased cautiousness despite a widespread rebound in business activity. In particular, homebuilding and tourism are bright spots in the economies of the Gulf Coast.

Oct. ’12

$114.7 7.8% $66.2 11.1% Source: Florida Legislature Office of Economic & Demographic Research

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JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com

infocus | startup

Protecting Your Cubs S uppose your 15-year-old son decided to skip school and spend the day exploring a casino and saloon. Wouldn’t you want to know? Or suppose three classmates were bullying your 12-year-old daughter through a social media website. Would you want to know? Those are the kinds of scenarios that spurred the creation of MamaBear, a mobile phone app by the Tampa company GeoWaggle LLC. The app is designed to allay parents’ concerns relating to the safety and well-being of their children. Using GPS, the app can track kids’ location or gauge whether they’re driving too fast. It triggers alerts if, for instance, a child has unexpectedly left a school playground. It also monitors kids’ use of Facebook and other social media, notifying parents if certain words are used, indicating a potential safety issue or parenting concern. The company was founded by entrepreneur Steve MacDonald, chairman and CEO of myMatrixx, a pharmacy benefit management firm, with co-founders Stuart Kime and Tom Cardy. Their MamaBear child-tracking app is still in beta mode, but MacDonald and company President Robyn Spoto are drumming up interest through media tours and a marketing campaign that includes visits to schools. The executives aim to line up 100,000 customers for the app before going live and charging an estimated $5 to $10 monthly per customer. Their plan has been to garner local support first, and they did, attracting 10,000 app downloads in the Tampa Bay area. The app is available for Apple and Android phones.

A Tampa company’s MamaBear app is garnering fans and media attention.

MARK WEMPLE

Robyn Spoto, president of MamaBear, and Steve MacDonald, founder, market an app that notifies parents if their child is tagged in an online photo. After a presentation to national media at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the entrepreneurs are shifting their marketing campaign to Los Angeles. “We’re trying to get enough momentum in local markets so we get picked up nationally,” says MacDonald, who has invested $1 million of his own funds in the MamaBear app to date. “We think

that 100,000 [paying customers] creates a stable platform.” That number times $10 per month from subscribers would bring in $12 million per year. In developing his game plan, MacDonald studied the trajectory of the website Pinterest. “Pinterest took off because people started sharing this great new tool. We’re trying to follow the same strategy that Pinterest did. This thing

needs to be a utility. It needs to be something that enhances [subscribers’] lives and gives them a sense of security.” MamaBear has drawn media attention, with CNBC calling it “one of the world’s most promising new companies.” The idea developed after MacDonald and a tech executive began exploring trends in the mobile phone field, and decided that location-based technologies offered untapped opportunities. The initial app helped restaurants and stores target nearby customers with loyalty programs and promotions, says MacDonald. But in a chance conversation with the tech executive, a woman commented that she wished the same technology were available to keep track of her sons and monitor their Facebook sessions. She would use it all the time, she said. MacDonald didn’t brush off the comment when the tech officer told him about it. Instead, he listened. “This is a real opportunity,” he thought. “So we hired another development team. We used the basis of technology that we had already developed.” From start to finish, it took about eight months to launch the first app version on Apple. It resonated with parents. But although newspapers and websites wrote about MamaBear, and teachers expressed interest as thousands of users downloaded the beta app, MacDonald believes he needs even stronger national attention to make the new company fly. “One of my goals is to get on the ‘Today’ show or ‘Good Morning America.’ If we get to that, it’s pretty easy to get to $1 million.” — Denise Kalette

infocus | marketing

Bubble Wrap D ave Kennon made one mistake when he and his wife, Dalanee, decided to move from Pittsburgh to Sarasota in 2009. The lifestyle was doubtlessly an upgrade. So too, obviously, was the weather. And, with three young children, being near a large extended family was a tangible plus. Kennon’s miscalculation: The fast success he found in financial planning in Pittsburgh didn’t materialize at his new firm, Gulf Coast Insurance Advisors, which has offices in Sarasota and Bonita Springs. Kennon, who taught English in Japan after college, built a thriving money-management business in less than five years in western Pennsylvania. By the time he turned 30, Kennon was a member of the Million Dollar Roundtable, an elite group of financial professionals. His firm, Kenmar Financial Advisors, had 1,000 clients. “I was living the life,” says Kennon. “I made more money than anyone else I knew.” But in Sarasota, Kennon, now 36, found the market tough to break into. With proceeds from the sale of his business, which totaled $400,000, Kennon spent $150,000 on marketing and lead generation in his first two years in Sarasota. He took out print newspaper ads. He made speeches at local clubs and groups. He set up investment seminar dinners. But nothing clicked. “Ninety percent of the people only wanted the free steak,” quips Kennon. Then, in 2011, Kennon honed in on what he calls the life insurance bubble — a widely unrealized quirk of the life

Innovative pitches to generate customer leads in the financial planning business are rare. Dave Kennon hopes he latched onto a golden ticket.

Lori Sax

Dave Kennon runs Sarasota-based Gulf Coast Insurance Advisors, which also has an office in Bonita Springs. insurance business. The discovery: That historically low interest rates could have a negative impact on someone’s life insurance policy. That’s because many policies written 20 and 30 years ago, says Kennon, were based on payout calculations that factored in interest rates of 8% to 10%. But with interest rates now significantly lower, the values of those policies could fall drastically.

Several local insurance agents are aware of the potential problem, though some brokers say it can be avoided if a policy is written correctly. “A lot of it depends on how a policy is structured and funded,” says Ric Coffey, a State Farm agent in Sarasota who has been in insurance for nearly 30 years. Kennon nonetheless has turned the purported bubble into the lead generation lifeblood of Gulf Coast Insurance

Advisors, which had revenues in the mid-six figures in 2012. The model, says Kennon, is to draw people into the office on the life insurance bubble issue, then work to convert them to a full moneymanagement client. “I found an issue, and I’m pounding it,” says Kennon, a Business Observer 40 under 40 recipient last year. “It has revolutionized my practice.” Pounding, however, isn’t cheap. Kennon says he’s spent another $150,000 over the last year to get the word out about the looming bubble. That includes TV, radio and Internet ads. The TV spots cost $6,000 a month. Kennon’s long-term goal is to take his insurance bubble-lead generation system national. He recently formed a partnership with a firm in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and has talked with a financial services professional in San Diego. The strategy there, says Kennon, is to go where baby boomers live because that’s the demographic that could see the most damage from the issues. Lead generation, of course, is only one facet of the business. The other side is to turn the leads into clients. Kennon says he currently has about 50 clients/families with a net worth of at least $500,000. His goal is to have 150 high net worth clients within a few years. The biggest challenge, says Kennon, is educating potential clients that this insurance bubble is a legit problemin-waiting. “A universal life insurance policy has many parts,” Kennon says. “You can’t just buy it and never look at it again.” — Mark Gordon

10 infocus | retail

BUSINESS OBSERVER | JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013

BusinessObserverFL.com

Keeping Time T he showcase at John Brozek’s shop in downtown St. Petersburg glitters with rare watches. On any given day, a collector may find a vintage Patek Philippe, a Breitling, Cartier or Tag Heuer. Or, he can choose Brozek’s favorite, the Rolex. Extraordinary wristwatches have long fascinated Brozek. Although many people now check the time on cell phones rather than wristwatches, Brozek’s oneman company keeps on ticking as it services and sells luxury watches and clocks to customers around the globe. The founder and president of QualityTyme Rare & Fine Timepieces, Brozek moved his company to the Northern Trust Bank Building in St. Petersburg in December 2011, after operating online more than a dozen years. The move defies the trend of stores abandoning brickand-mortar locations — and the overhead that goes with them — to go online. The business got its start in 1999, when Brozek marketed a self-published book on Rolexes, which has sold more than 50,000 copies to date. In 2004, he started QualityTyme.net, which took off as it drew watch aficionados. Brozek built a clientele around vintage timepieces, updating his book, buying and selling watches, and developing a coterie of watchmakers with expertise in repairing upscale brands. He added accessories and cast about for yet another product. He found it in his own expertise, and began teaching pawn shop managers how to identify counterfeits.

While many brick-and-mortar stores are closing in search of online sales, John Brozek took his Web store to a shop in St. Pete. So far, sales are up.

MARK WEMPLE

John Brozek has been appraising watches for two decades. He gives lectures on how to spot counterfeits. He found his strongest niche when he discovered that many companies don’t service vintage watches, creating a frustrating dilemma for collectors. “They have nowhere to go,” Brozek says. “So that’s where we started specializing in servicing and restoring old vintage watches.” Using his contacts, he con-

tracts the work out to specialists who are able to service timepieces that can be worth $70,000 or more. But Brozek says his business reached a new turning point when he leased 800 square feet in St. Pete at a low $10 per square foot for the first two years of his five-year lease. “I came over and I was

blown away,” he says. The atrium, ClassA finishes, and location wowed him. “The brick-and-mortar has afforded me a lot of things,” says Brozek. “It’s given me more credibility. My website sales have actually gone up.” Online, he felt separated from his customers, but now they browse his shelves while he explains the history of various models. If there is a lesson that has guided Brozek’s entrepreneurial path, it is to follow the age-old precept of doing what you love. Born in Oklahoma, his early life could scarcely have been farther removed from the sparkling world of Swiss watches. While those in Brozek’s shop average $5,000 to $10,000, the Rolex Daytona he wore on a recent afternoon would retail for $35,000 even without the diamond bezel, he says. He lights up as he recalls the time he got to discuss the Daytona series with the late Paul Newman, after whom a rare Daytona version is named. Yet it took more than love for Brozek’s business to make it through the recession, which Brozek says swiftly took 40% of his portfolio value. He coped by selling old inventory at a loss and investing in new items with stronger demand. Some colleagues refused to mark down expensive merchandise, take the hit and move on. They lost more money trying to recoup their investment. It won’t come back, he says. “Know where you’re putting your money, and realize that at any time this market can shift.” — Denise Kalette

infocus | technology

Wisdom of the Crowds A Naples entrepreneur created WikiRealty, a site he hopes will draw crowds of people interested in talking about real estate.

anjay Kuttemperoor wants to tap into the wisdom of the crowds. The real estate developer wants to get the public and real estate professionals to share real estate insights with a site he created called WikiRealty. It will work much like other “wiki” sites, which depend on people to contribute their knowledge. The idea is to get enough people to contribute information about home listings and sales that it could be as valuable as a multiple-listing service, the closed information systems Realtors have created. “I’m trying to create a central repository for information,” says Kuttemperoor, 44. Kuttemperoor says it’s hard to find specific and useful information about homes from Realtors because many of them have general information about neighborhoods. Websites such as Zillow and Trulia are listing sites that don’t have much public interaction. Initially, WikiRealty is focused on residential real estate and is targeting Naples for its pilot program. But Kuttemperoor says he plans to add commercial real estate later. Kuttemperoor, trained as an attorney, knows all about real estate. He and his family have been in the real estate business for years, including the development of Treviso Bay, a luxury residential community in Naples that was the subject of foreclosure. With his family restructuring the development business and construction virtually at a standstill during the bust, Kuttemperoor decided to create WikiRealty as another business. Surprisingly, the domain name was relatively inexpensive, though Kuttemperoor declines

to cite the price he paid for it. Kuttemperoor started planning WikiRealty two years ago, but he had no luck finding programmers who could help him with his vision. “They all said you can’t do that,” he says. After searching diligently, Kuttemperoor found an engineer in Wisconsin who could engage software programmers in India and Russia. It’s a hugely complex affair, giving homebuyers, home sellers and anyone in the business the ability to share information about any home or neighborhood. So far, he’s spent $300,000 on the venture, which he says would have cost a lot more with U.S. staff. Think of WikiRealty as a sort of TripAdvisor for real estate, where useful and relevant comments about a neighborhood rise to the top. Users (they have to be registered) are limited to 250-word entries, which keep them concise. “You can really get granular with your searches,” Kuttemperoor says. For example, if you search for a home in a specific neighborhood, WikiRealty might have comments posted from local residents about noise issues or a nearby school. Or an attorney who has handled closings there may have dealt with unpaid fees that can derail a deal. Such issues are difficult to discover on a single website, and Kuttemperoor says he hopes WikiRealty can do that. “The only data I’ll be buying is listings,” says Kuttemperoor, noting that he’ll correlate the listings with neighborhood tips. Kuttemperoor is reluctant to share details about the revenue model or the sales and traffic volume he expects. He says advertising could be one significant revenue source, for example.

Nancy DeNike

Sanjay Kuttemperoor says WikiRealty could be the go-to website for people interested in discussing real estate. To get the word out about the pilot program, Kuttemperoor started a socialmedia campaign that drew hundreds of Facebook friends and Twitter followers in just a few days. Because of WikiRealty’s

unique content, Kuttemperoor says the site should pop to the top of search engines such as Google that place a high value on original content. —Jean Gruss

JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

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infocus | homebuilding

Neal 2.0 The luxury homebuilding market, in comeback mode in 2012, could be on the verge of a full-blown rebound in 2013. John Neal has a prime spot to capitalize on the surge.

Mark Wemple

Lakewood Ranch-based John Neal Homes, run by John Neal, builds homes in the Sarasota-Manatee market. The firm had about $30 million in 2012 sales volume.

at Neal is well known in the region for his prolific homebuilding company, one that’s comeback from five recessions over four decades and now generates more than $120 million in annual sales. But Neal might soon become known for another accomplishment: His son, John Neal, is a budding homebuilding star. The younger Neal’s company, Lakewood Ranchbased John Neal Homes, sold 42 custom-made homes in 2012 for roughly $30 million in total revenues, with an average sales price of $725,000. That’s almost double the $18 million in sales volume from 2011. John Neal, 38, focuses on the lux-

At a Glance Year 2010 2011 2012

Home sales Revenues 10 $4.5 million 36 $18 million 42 $30 million*

*projected year-end figures

$30 million 20

$30 million

10 2010

2011

2012

Source: John Neal Homes

“”

ury market, with prices starting at $650,000. He won’t sell houses under that price to avoid competing against Neal Communities, the company Pat Neal has run since 1970. Besides, the upscale market is where the action is. “I think we are trend-setting,” Neal says. “There is a market for the highend buyer. We are in a rising market.” Indeed, homebuilders up and down the Gulf Coast are diving back into luxury. Firms like Longboat Key-based Modus Custom Residences and Naples-based London Bay Homes, for example, report renewed interest from customers in homes priced at more than $700,000. (See box, right.) Neal, meanwhile, projects John Neal Homes will increase its output by 25% in 2013 and likely surpass 50 total sales. The company builds homes in several east Manatee County communities and will do custom-build projects in Sarasota and Bradenton. The firm also recently entered into a partnership to build homes in the Bahamas. A totally separate company from Nea l Communities, John Nea l Homes recently doubled the size of its Lakewood Ranch Main Street office space. Neal plans to hire six employees this year, which would bring the total payroll to 20. Another key facet of the recent success at John Neal Homes: It holds no debt. To Neal, who has worked for and studied under Pat Neal, unofficially

and officially since he was a teenager, that’s a big deal. “There are really four rules of real estate,” Neal says. “Location, location, location, and make sure your builder is financially stable.” Neal has remained stable through some shrewd and sharp land acquisition decisions — much like Pat Neal has done numerous times. For instance, John Neal bought 23 lots in Country Club East in Lakewood Ranch in December 2011 for $2.12 million. Few lots remain in the community, which pumps up the value of Neal’s purchase. Neal studied economics at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. But he left in 1997 after his junior year to join the work force. He jokes that since he’d never be a college professor, he wanted to enter the real world. He worked in the IT department of a mortgage firm in Virginia before he moved back to Manatee County, where he took a job with Neal Communities. John Neal looks forward to the chance to build his own name in homebuilding, though he cherishes the ability to work with and learn from Pat Neal. The father and son talk nearly every day, and they constantly talk business. John Neal, moreover, strives to follow the Neal Communities principles, ethics and goal-driven model. Says Neal: “There are worse companies to be compared to than Neal Communities.” — Mark Gordon

Luxury Lift Several Gulf Coast homebuilders are finding success, once again, in the high-end market. “After four or five years of tough times I think we are going into a good time for builders,” says Mark Wilson, president of Naples-based London Bay Homes, which builds luxury homes in several Gulf Coast communities. “I think we are in for a nice run in 2013, 2014 and 2015.” Wilson says the market for homes priced at $3 million and up is even showing signs of a resurgence, at least in Naples. Wilson believes the uptick is driven by the combination of low inventory in certain price ranges and low interest rates. Other homebuilders cite the same reasons for the rebound. London Bay, moreover, is one of several homebuilders, big and small, that will move quickly in 2013 to meet the increased demand. Lakewood Ranch-based John Neal Homes, for instance, has doubled its office space and plans to add six employees. Other firms, more custom-based, are adding projects. For example, Longboat Key-based Modus Custom Residences is currently building two luxury homes. One is a $4.49 million house on Casey Key Road, a prominent waterfront location in south Sarasota. The 4,400-square-foot home includes plans for a three-story panoramic view of the Gulf of Mexico. Modus also plans to build another home with panoramic Gulf views on Siesta Key, a $7.5 million project.

There are really four rules of real estate. Location, location, location, and make sure your builder is financially stable. John Neal | John Neal Homes

BUSINESS OBSERVER | JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013

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LESSONS LEARNED

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JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

or a guy not yet 34, Nik Wallenda has a bucket full of alternate identities.

He might be most well known for being a seventh-generation member of the Flying Wallendas, a famous family of circus performers. The Sarasota-based husband and father of three young children is also an aerialist, an acrobat, a high-wire artist and a self-described daredevil. Other monikers for Wallenda include: reality TV star, six-time Guinness World Record holder and motivational speaker. But Wallenda can now add one more moniker: highflying entrepreneur. That’s because the business of being Nik Wallenda has become a full-time enterprise Sunny side: Wallenda’s first non-tightrope gig was in the kitchen at the First Watch on Main Street in downtown Sarasota. In fact, in a five-year stint Wallenda did everything at that First Watch. He cooked, bussed tables, served food and, for a time, supervised shifts. He even nearly moved to West Virginia to help open some new locations. Keep going: The Niagara Falls walk, 1,800 feet of wire suspended 200 feet high, was in one sense the easy part for Wallenda. That’s because even to get there it took two years of meetings, hearings and conversations to change the laws in both Canada and the U.S. Wallenda says he learned that winning people over is a delicate combination of having facts and actively listening to concerns. Wallenda says he also discovered that the best way to win the battle is to over-prepare. “Think like a naysayer will think and have the answers before he asks the questions,” he says. “Find a solution to the problem before it becomes a problem.” Detail-oriented: The daily to-dos of running the business, says Wallenda, can be complicated. For example, Wallenda has to get workers’ compensation insurance policies for himself and his crew in every state in which he works. That can be a bureaucratic nightmare. “There is more busi-

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since June 15, when he became the first person to walk a tightrope over Niagara Falls. His mission, he says, isn’t just to find new and bolder feats. He also wants to promote a can-do brand of determination, persistence and fortitude — and sell some hats and books in the process. He clearly was born with a certain talent, but he emphasizes that he will outwork anyone, no matter the task. That goes from researching contracts to walking tightropes. “If you are going to do something, do it to the best of your ability,” Wallenda says. “I believe in working hard. I work my butt off.” Here are some other examples of Wallenda’s work ethic and recently learned business lessons: ness in what we do than anyone cam dream of,” Wallenda says. “It’s not just the physical stuff.” Local star: In the past year, Wallenda has been prominently featured everywhere from the “Today Show” to USA Today. He’s been the subject of feature stories in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and the Science Channel aired a reality show on his feats and his family last year. A book he wrote about his life, “Balance: A Story of Faith, Family and Life on the Line,” is scheduled for release in June. “I love performing,” Wallenda says. “I want to carry on this legacy.” Home cooking: Wallenda regularly shows love for Sarasota. When journalists worldwide ask him where his favorite place to travel is, he always plugs the circus-infused town. “I love this city,” he says. “Anything I can do to help the city, I will.” Big plans: Permits are already secured for Wallenda’s next challenge: A walk across the Grand Canyon, scheduled for sometime this summer. The motivation to try new and different tasks, ones that are seemingly impossible, continues to define his career path. “I won’t stop,” he says. “It’s more about building a legacy than carrying on a business, but we have been blessed in the business.”

The Journey Continues Nik Wallenda is bringing his daredevil show to Sarasota. He’s scheduled to perform in three weeks of shows at Circus Sarasota, from Jan. 25 to Feb. 15. The shows are under the Circus Sarasota Big Top. Visit www.circussarasota.org for more information. Mark Wemple

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BUSINESS OBSERVER | JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013

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STRategies

By Denise Kalette | Tampa bay Editor

PODS are sprouting in driveways across the country. New CEO John Koch tackles the logistics of growth, and may take the company public.

Taking Charge

Mark Wemple

John Koch, the new president & CEO of PODS Enterprises, has a background in systems engineering, and once worked on the Star Wars defense project.

ohn Koch did not spend years working his way up through the ranks of the containerized moving and storage industry. When he was named president and CEO of Clearwaterbased PODS Enterprises, the industry leader, in August, he had no experience at all in the field.

But even as he endured job interviews with as many as seven PODS leaders at a time, Koch undertook exhaustive research. Later, he drew insight from his background as a division president for security company Tyco International’s ADT services. A systems engineer by training, he had risen in the cellular and security industries as he helped chart their growth. Koch’s approach to the top position at PODS could be a textbook case of how to take on the presidency of a company when switching industries. First, he found similarities with his previous positions and built on them. Then he visited employees in their far-flung locations and listened to their concerns and suggestions. He evaluated how PODS’ resources could be used more efficiently, and studied competitors to discern where the company might wrest more market share. Finally, he

established close phone ties with PODS’ private equity owner, Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank, which enabled him to get swift answers and approval to execute new plans. Arcapita bought PODS in 2008 for $451 million. Both the security industry and the moving and storage industry are highly fragmented, with many competitors, Koch realized. And in both cases, customers are often spurred to purchase the service because of an event occurring in their personal lives. In the security field, the trigger might be a burglary that leads to a decision to invest in protection, while a student’s departure for college might trigger a decision by her parents to downsize and request a moving container. “In both types of business models, you need to understand what the triggers are” that drive demand, says Koch. And a CEO needs to make sure the company’s brand is uppermost in the

consumer’s mind when he or she begins researching which service to buy. That means a strong Web presence, with sophisticated search engine marketing and optimization. In a report issued after it acquired PODS, Arcapita noted that the company operates across industry sectors with combined annual revenue of $40 billion, but had captured less than 1% of the total market. Part of Koch’s task is to grow the company in new markets without incurring excessive costs. That means deciding where to invest the company’s resources. “Part of what I’m working with the management team on, is what are the right areas to be focused on?” Koch says. “It’s prioritizing. How do we make sure that the resources are allocated appropriately? One of the things we’re careful about is making sure we’re not spreading ourselves too thin.” That means paying attention to the core services of containers and moving, and sticking to a plan for growth and improved market share. To achieve these goals, he does not plan to drop markets. Currently, PODS has 145,000

containers across the markets served by the company and its franchisees, mainly in North America, although some inter national ser vices are available. The brand is growing faster than the industry, says Koch. When it comes to determining priorities, the leadership team is zeroing in on where to make allocations: Whether to invest in more physical containers or more Web-based customer service agents to assist the growing number of clients. This year’s priority won’t be trucks. “What we’re trying to do is improve routing, improve usage of our trucks, and try to maintain to some degree,” says Koch. “We won’t have a lot of truck purchases this particular year, but we’ll be purchasing more containers.” Typically, PODS places a metal or wooden container on a customer’s property for a few days or weeks while the customer fills it with furniture or other goods, and the container is then stored in a facility until the customer needs it, or it can be transported across town or across the country and unloaded in a new location. And the company is eager to win new customers, a goal Koch

Executive Summary Issue. Leadership in a new industry Industry. Mobile storage and moving Key. Budget carefully, listen to employees, focus on core services.

JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

valued earlier in his career. On the floor propped against his bookcase lies a framed dark silhouette that he brought with him. “That’s just a basic pirate flag,” he says, obtained during his days with a small cellular company. “We were always looking to take market share from smaller companies. That’s always a reminder that we’re trying to steal market share.” Costly regulation As he leads the company into the new year, Koch faces a particularly difficult challenge. Potential federal regulation could cost PODS, an acronym for “portable on-demand storage,” millions of dollars each year. Trucking van lines are lobbying Congress to apply regulations that govern the van lines to the portable moving and storage industry as well, says Rob Vespa, president of the Mobile Self-Storage Association, and chief operating officer of Tampa-based Mango Moving LLC. If PODS and other portable storage firms become regulated, they would likely have to publish pricing tariffs, and some states may require inventories, additional insurance and workmen’s compensation packages, says Vespa. The do-it-yourself movers who favor containers could find a changed market if such rules are applied. Van lines, which compete for moving dollars, are leading the charge to have the rules imposed, adds Vespa. “They were fighting pretty hard right through December.” Asked how he would advise Koch, Vespa replies: “I’d have my own labor in-house. If I was the CEO — king for a day — I would really put a hurt on the van lines and offer full-service moving as well as mobile storage.” However, he adds that he has worked for van lines and understands that they “feel that

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growing force

“”

800

We were always looking to take market share. John Koch | CEO, PODS the playing field is not level.” There is plenty of moving business for both traditional van lines and the newer mobile container firms, Vespa adds. “I think there is an opportunity for co-branding and partnerships.” PODS already is regulated through various trucking and storage rules, says Koch. “It’s something we do pay attention to, because you never know when a competitor may want to steer regulations to benefit them, and potentially disadvantage us.” Nationally, PODS has less than 1% market share of all moving and storage business. Within the portable moving and storage, field, however, “we have the leading market share,” he says. Going public? Although working with a private equity firm was one of the attractions for Koch in accepting the CEO position, he says that taking PODS public is “definitely” under consideration. “We’re trying to position the company for an event in the next couple of years, and that could either be an IPO or, who knows, it might be a sale to another strategic buyer —another private equity firm.” The company and its backers haven’t set a date for a potential sale or IPO, but it’s likely to occur within five years, and perhaps as soon as three years, says Koch, who has an ownership stake in the company. “I have an opportunity to be an owner in the new company whether on a public basis or a private basis,” he adds.

For the present, he likes the private company model, because it offers a less cumbersome path to decision-making than the layers of permissions required before actions can be approved at many public companies. Although a public offering or private sale may be a few years away, PODS is taking steps now that are designed to continue its healthy pace of revenue growth, which Koch projects to be 8% to 11%. The firm doesn’t disclose revenues. “We expect solid growth, in our long-distance revenue as well as our local storage revenue,” he says. One path to growth is a focus on commercial customers. Since the company was established in 1998, some two-thirds of its revenue has come from residential moves and storage. Now, PODS wants to ramp up the commercial side by offering services to companies that are renovating, or growing or shrinking. Associations that store memorabilia such as T-shirts, hats, buttons or pamphlets, also can make use of the containers, says Koch. Although commercial business now accounts for less than 10% of annual revenue, he hopes that will change. “We’d love to see it 30% within the next three-four years.” Over the same period, the CEO will focus on other topics: company associates and franchisees; evaluating a n d i m p rov i n g t h e c u s t o m e r experience from the first viewed ad to the container removed from a property; determining whether

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current solutions are the right ones — if containers are the right size and design; and examining distribution channels, from website orders to sales centers and partnership agreements with people who refer business to PODS. As he outlines core goals and connects with employees in the days ahead, Koch will draw inspiration from enterprise leaders who preceded him. On his shelves are books by Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric. What he learned from Welch is: “Be honest. Confront the brutal facts. Jack Welch always did that,” he says. “Attract the best talent and give them the opportunity to flourish,” he adds. Koch also learned from former Tyco CEO Ed Breen. “He did a magnificent job, coming in after [earlier Tyco CEO] Dennis Kozlowski,” he says. Breen took a company headed for bankruptcy and salvaged its parts, says Koch. But PODS is healthy and growing, and first in its field. After five months, Koch is still pleased with his decision to take on the company presidency. An executive search firm contacted him last spring and asked him to consider the CEO role, he recalls. “Lo and behold, it was exactly what I was looking for.”

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BUSINESS OBSERVER | JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013

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GOVERNMENT

By Jean Gruss | Editor/Lee-Collier

hillip Downs is the owner of Growing Room, a developer and operator of child-development centers in Tallahassee.

So when Downs sought areas around the state to expand his company, one of the cities that made the cut was Bonita Springs, a growing city in south Lee County. When he requested a meeting to discuss his plans, City Manager Carl Schwing was there along with his top assistants at the first meeting. “I have been a resident and business owner in Leon County for 34 years and I could never have set up a meeting that included the city manager and critical officials from government like I did in Bonita Springs, where nobody knew me,” Downs says. “Carl let it be known that Bonita Springs was ‘government right.’” And here’s something that may surprise Downs: the city of Bonita Springs has 14 supervisory employees out of a total staff of about 50 people. That’s because the city outsources almost all of its functions, even planning and permitting. Fire districts provide fire protection, the independent Bonita Springs Utilities provides water and the city contracts with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement. By contrast, when Schwing was working for the city of Cape Coral in 2005, it had 2,000 employees. As the director of community development for that city, Schwing oversaw 210 employees. Granted, Cape Coral has a population of 157,000 and Bonita Springs has 45,000 people, but the difference is still striking. The result of the privatization of city services, says Schwing, is a more responsive staff because they’re accountable by contract. If they don’t perform, the city manager simply terminates the contract. Young city, different path Residents voted to incorporate the city of Bonita Springs in 1999. That’s when leaders decided to outsource most of the city services, in part to keep the city from bloated bureaucracy. “We were going to be a government-light city,” says Schwing. In 2008, for example, the city contracted with privately held Colorado-based engineering firm CH2M Hill to provide a range of community development services, from planning, zoning, building permits and inspection services. Those services were previously performed under contract with Lee County. Bonita Springs Mayor Ben Nelson Jr. was skeptical of the arrangement at first because he wasn’t sure a private firm could do a better job with issues such as zoning applications and building permits. “Privatization can go bad, too,” says Nelson, an entrepreneur and owner of Nelson Marine Construction. But Nelson says he’s been impressed by the work that CH2M Hill has done over the last four years. “They’ve really adopted our philosophy, which is to be customer-friendly and business-friendly,” he says. Still, Nelson says privatization of city services isn’t the financial savings some might think. For the most recent fiscal year, CH2M Hill charged the city $1.34 million for community development services. “I think it’s probably a wash,” says Nelson. “If you want to provide a quality product efficiently and properly, you’ve got to pay them. That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned in my business in 35 years.” That’s especially critical now that the economic recovery is under way. Building permits are rising, businesses are expanding, and it’s important to have a staff that’s well versed in local ordinances and state law. “You need the same people in place,” says Schwing. For example, under its contract with the city, CH2M Hill employees in the community development department must not let

Brian Tietz

Carl Schwing, city manager of Bonita Springs, says cities can outsource most functions to private companies.

Government

Right

How do you run a city with 14 supervisors? Just ask Carl Schwing, the city manager of Bonita Springs.

Executive Summary Municipality. Bonita Springs City Manager. Carl Schwing Key. You can outsource city services.

JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER customers wait more than 15 minutes, and they must return emails and phone calls within four hours. The contract even gives Schwing the authority to fire the person managing the community development department and pick a successor. Another benefit is the city can consult with experts at CH2M Hill, a large national firm. “The thing you get is the expertise that they have in their entire company,” says Christine Ross, president and CEO of the Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce. “They brought people to look at the downtown development area and they make a real point of integrating their staff members into the communities,” says Ross. Keep politics out Turning over a government department such as community services to a private firm also helps remove some of the political interference that is typical in government services. For example, Arleen Hunter, the director of development services, has been assigned to be the city’s busi-

• Wait times not to exceed 15 minutes; • Phone calls and emails returned within four business hours; • New residential-building permit applications reviewed within four business days;

Outlook conference: The Southwest Florida CCIM District will hold its 13th Annual Real Estate Outlook Conference from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Harborside Event Center, 1375 Monroe St., Fort Myers. For more information visit swflccim. com or call 239-281-1290.

• All use permits to be issued within four business days; • Zoning questions to be answered within four business days; • Zoning application comments completed within 21 calendar days; • Commercial-building permit applications reviewed within five to 10 business days, depending on the size; • Comments on major development-order applications due within 20 business days.

business manager for Barron Collier Partnership, will speak at a Leadership Collier Foundation Alumni Association Leadership meeting. The meeting will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Professional Development Center, 615 Third Ave. S., Naples. Cost is $15. For more information visit napleschamber.org.

January 26

February 5

Entrepreneur law school: Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll will be a speaker at the Small Business Development Center’s 14th Annual Entrepreneur’s Law School. The event will run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Florida Gulf Coast University, Cohen Center Ballroom, 10501 FGCU Blvd. S., Fort Myers. Cost is $99 and includes breakfast and lunch. For more information visit sbdc-lawschool.com.

Fraud seminar: Mark Whitacre, the FBI whistleblower against Archer Daniels Midland, will be a speaker at an Institute of Internal Auditors Southwest Florida meeting. The event will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 9931 Interstate Commerce Drive, Fort Myers. Cost is $140 for members and $165 for others. For more information visit theiia. org/swfla or contact Randy McHenry at 239-770-6352 or rlm1508t@ hotmail.com.

January 28

February 12

Pancakes and politics: Sen. Bill Galvano and Reps. Jim Boyd, Darryl Rouson and Greg Steube will speak at the Manatee Chamber of Commerce’s legislative breakfast. The meeting will run from 7:15 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Bradenton Country Club, 4646 Ninth Ave. W. Bradenton. Cost is $25 for members and $35 for others. For more information contact Lisa at 941-748-4842, Ext. 123, or email LisaR@ManateeChamber.com.

January 31

Collier ag: Bob Newsome, agri-

Business of baseball: Jeff Mielke of the Lee County Sports Authority will moderate a panel with officials from the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins, Fort Myers Miracle and the Lee County Hotel Association. The Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business and The Chamber of Southwest Florida will host the breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Plantation Golf & Country Club, 10500 Dartington Drive, Fort Myers. Cost is $30 or $45 on the day of the event. For more information visit swflima.org.

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ness advocate. “Her job is to clear the way,” says Schwing. “Talk to Arleen,” Nelson says when a business comes to him needing assistance with a city issue. “It keeps the politics out of it. That’s a real good template.” Nelson says privatization of city services doesn’t mean the city is “giving anything away,” he says. He explains it this way: “It’s like going to the store and getting great service.” In 2010, the city joined the Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Bonita Springs Fire District and Bonita Springs Utilities to sign a document pledging the timely issuance of building permits, development plans and other land-use permits. It’s the kind of effort that could prevent Downs and other entrepreneurs from picking Bonita Springs for their next expansion. Downs says he had one experience in Tallahassee when a single neighbor complained about a new Growing Room school and a review committee ordered the company to add a wall and more landscaping. “That one citizen cost us $20,000,” Downs says. “We haven’t run into that in Bonita Springs.”

The business-friendly checklist In its contract with the city of Bonita Springs to provide community development services, engineering firm CH2M Hill has agreed to meet these benchmarks, among others:

BusinessObserverFL.com

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By Ronald T. Smith* what to suggest, and what not to propose.” In a short while, this has happened: 1. The Foundation was the subject of two press releases that were totally journalistic. The agency sent the releases to more than 100 editor contacts. 2. Three separate feature articles were arranged. Two will be written by the agency. One will be staff-written by the publication.

Feature article we arranged 260 Parkinson’s patients participate in meeting By Field Notes, Herald-Tribune / Monday, October 15, 2012

Research on Parkinson’s disease was discussed at a meeting in Lakewood Ranch Saturday attended by 260 Parkinson’s patients and their caregivers, and sponsored by the Parkinson Research Foundation. Among information shared by medical professionals was a detailed description of the new Parkinson Place in Sarasota, where patients can participate in programs to improve their lives. Audience participation events included “Dance for Parkinson’s” and “Voice Aerobics,” plus “Eating Well” and “How to Keep Your Body, Mind, and Spirit Up and Moving.”

All of the agency’s people have been writing for 20-30 years. Aside from publicity, you can use them for: • writing ads • writing or rewriting your web site • blogs and tweets • writing or editing literature. For more information , you can contact JournalistPR LLC at 855388-8200 or mail@journalistpr.com.

*Managing Member of JournalistPR, a former editor at United Press International in New York after years of working at major dailies in the U.S.

99481

Recently, Sarasota’s Parkinson’s Research Foundation appointed an unusual agency called JournalistPR LLC to get publicity about the Foundation’s activities. The agency is very different — it is staffed totally by journalists. So when it sets out to get publicity, it has journalists talking to journalists. As the agency says, “When we call an editor, we’re talking the same language, because we were editors and reporters ourselves. We know

18 commercial real estate | tampa BAY |

BUSINESS OBSERVER | JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013

BusinessObserverFL.com

Tarpon Springs

589

Keystone

Cheval

East Lake

Palm Harbor

Citrus Park

586

Oldsmar

580

Dunedin

Safety Harbor

275

693

275

Lake Magdalene

Thonotosassa

93A

Egypt Lake

Town ‘N’ Country

580

1 3

600

East Lake-Orient Park

Tampa

618

Seffner

600

92 574 Dover

301

Brandon

Progress Village

Bay Pines

Treasure Island

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

301

Apollo Beach

St. Petersburg

St. Pete Beach Tierra Verde

Ruskin

Sun City

Greater Sun Center

674

93A

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

North Palm Beach-based Driftwood Hospitality Management LLC purchased the 521-room Hyatt Regency Tampa for $63 million. The price equated to $120,921 per room. The hotel, which features 30,000 square feet of meeting space, had an average occupancy of 63% heading into the sale. The property also includes the Avanzare restaurant and lounge, a heated outdoor pool, rooftop whirlpool, gift shop and fitness center. Driftwood Hospitality plans to spend $13 million on improvements to the property to meet new brand standards as a Hilton hotel. The hotel will be renamed as Hotel Tampa – A Hilton Affiliated Property. Mike Diaz, COO at Driftwood Hospitality Management, says the hotel is also being improved to more effectively compete in the downtown Tampa market. The new owner plans to reconfigure the hotel’s first floor, update the lobby and restaurant and develop a Starbucks storefront. The first-floor lobby work is scheduled for completion by the second quarter. Guest rooms and meeting spaces will be refreshed in late 2013. Diaz says Driftwood Hospitality was attracted to the property because of its pricing, prime downtown location and the ability to convert the property to a Hilton brand. Driftwood Hospitality Management owns a total of 19 hotels with 4,636 rooms of which two hotels are located in Florida.

Baking Co. of Bradenton LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Flowers Foods Inc., as a regional distribution facility. Christopher Cameron, chief financial officer of The O’Donnell Group, says the building fit into the company’s investment strategy to acquire high-quality, well-located industrial real estate nationwide. It was especially attracted by the prospect of Flowers Foods as a tenant, he says. Flowers Foods, which produces and markets packaged bakery foods, has 15 years remaining on its lease. The Tampa warehouse purchase is O’Donnell Strategic Industrial REIT’s first acquisition.

2 O’Donnell Strategic Industrial REIT buys distribution building BUYER: OD Flowers Tampa LLC (O’Donnell Strategic Industrial REIT Inc.), Newport Beach, Calif. SELLER: Flowbake Tampa East LLC PROPERTY: 1930 Tampa E. Blvd., Tampa PRICE: $1.68 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $300,000, November 2011 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Macfarlane Ferguson & McMullen, Clearwater PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

O’Donnell Strategic Industrial REIT Inc. purchased a 12,160-square-foot industrial building on Tampa East Boulevard for $1.68 million. The price equated to $138 per square foot. The building is leased to Flowers

The price equated to $116 per square foot. The building, which is currently 77% leased, is anchored by Wells Fargo & Co., Phelps Dunbar and UBS. Wells Fargo Center also includes a nine-story, 505-space parking garage. Built in 1985, the office building has been institutionally owned and operated since it opened and has gone through several renovations modernizing the building systems, telecommunications and infrastructure and renovating the common areas. The joint-venture buyer is planning extensive upgrades to the building’s amenities, including a high-end fitness center and renovating the garage, bathrooms and common corridors. “Although Wells Fargo Center is one of the top buildings in downtown Tampa, we intend to make it even more attractive to prospective tenants by upgrading the leasing amenity package,” Larry Feldman, president of Feldman Equities, says in a news release. “In addition, we intend to use our low-cost basis in order to aggressively pursue tenants and rapidly lease up the building.” Eastdil Secured represented the seller. HFF represented the buyer and helped the joint venture secure $17.3 million in equity from an international investment management firm. Feldman Equities and Tower Realty Partners own and have improved the occupancy of Fountain Square II and City Center in downtown St. Petersburg.

Feldman Equities, Tower Realty buys Wells Fargo Center BUYER: FRDGS I LLC (Special Situations Investing Group II LLC), Washington, D.C. SELLER: Tampa Equities REIT I PROPERTY: 100 S. Ashley Drive, Tampa PRICE: $44.8 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $42.73 million, January 2001 LAW FIRM ON DEED: USAA Real Estate Co., San Antonio PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

A joint venture of Feldman Equities Inc. and Tower Realty Partners purchased the 22-story, 387,477-squarefoot Wells Fargo Center for $44.8 million.

SELLER: Safeguard Capital Fund LP 400 PROPERTY: Plant City 2501 22nd Ave. N., St. Petersburg 39 PRICE: $6.34 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $3.95 million, April 1999 LAW FIRM ON DEED: King & Spalding LLP, Atlanta

Riverview

Pinellas Park

Seminole

BUYER: 211 North Tampa LLC (principal: David Buddemeyer), North Palm Beach SELLER: VEF IV Funding LLC PROPERTY: 211 N. Tampa St., Tampa PRICE: $63 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $37 million, July 2000 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Levenfeld Pearlstein LLC, Chicago

Highpoint

Largo

Hyatt Regency Tampa sells for $63 million

275

699

SELLER: Safeguard Carrollwood LP PROPERTY: 3708 W. Bearss Ave., Tampa 39 PRICE: $7.47 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.45 million, June 1998

Temple Terrace

Belleair 19

301

Clearwater

Costar

597 Lutz

Westchase

584

595

By sean roth | reAL ESTATE Editor

CPA:17 -Global, a real estate investment trust affiliate of New York City-based W.P. Carey Inc., purchased three self-storage facilities in the Tampa Bay area for $25 million. The price equated to $111 per square foot or $11,111 per unit. Located in Palm Harbor, St. Petersburg and Tampa, the properties were all previously owned by Safeguard Self Storage of Melville, N.Y. They feature a total of 225,569 net rentable square feet broken into 2,250 units. Each property in the Safeguard Self Storage Portfolio is highly visible with street frontage and includes both climate-controlled and non-climatecontrolled storage units. Amenities include gated electronic access, video surveillance and managers’ offices. Extra Space Storage Inc. will manage the properties. “We believe that these are very wellpositioned and attractive assets,” W. P. Carey Executive Director Liz Raun Schlesinger says in a news release. “The quality of the assets in combination with the capabilities of the Extra Space management team and our own experience in the self-storage sector makes us confident that this will be a good and stable investment for our investors.” Michael Mele of Marcus & Millichap’s National Self-Storage Group represented the seller. “With a current [capitalization] rate just north of 6%, this portfolio brings together three strong performers in an equally strong market,” Mele says in a news release. “Tampa’s self-storage occupancy rates spiked 200 basis points in the second half of this year, and with growth in the metro projected to accelerate to 1.4% each year and the jobless rate tightening below 9%, the new investor should see reliable revenue for the foreseeable future.” W. P. Carey is a publicly traded REIT that provides long-term sale-leaseback and build-to-suit financing for companies and manages an investment portfolio valued at $13.3 billion. The purchase entity Tampa Storage 17 (FL) LLC mortgaged the property to Wells Fargo Bank NA for $15 million.

Etc…

Costar

W.P. Carey affiliate buys three self-storage facilities BUYER: Tampa Storage 17 (FL) LLC (CPA:17 Limited Partnership), New York City SELLER: SDG Palm Harbor Holdings LLC PROPERTY: 31100 U.S. 19 North, Palm Harbor PRICE: $11.18 million

• MetWest International, MetLife’s 32-acre, Tampa mixed-use development, garnered two Best of the Best Awards from the Tampa Bay Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), the Commercial Real Estate Development Association. The development was named Best Mixed-Use Project and Taylor & Mathis earned Best Developer honors for a second time for its role in the project’s development. Taylor & Mathis handles office leasing, marketing and management responsibilities for MetLife. The most recent awards represent the fifth and sixth Best of the Best NAIOP Awards for MetWest International since the first phase of the development opened in 2009.

BusinessObserverFL.com

commercial real estate | sarasota–manatee | Beker State Park

301 275

Parrish 75

Palmetto Holmes Beach

Lake Manatee Lower Watershed

Bradenton 41

Bayside 45 Gardens

789

1 301

Upper Myakka River Watershed

Sarasota

Myakka City

780

Osprey 681

Myakka River State Park

Venice

776

North Port

Myakka State Forest

Engelwood

By sean roth | real estate Editor

entrepreneur who sold his $16 million auto sales software firm in 2010. In December 2011, Biter entered into an agreement with the city of Sarasota to buy the 11,000-square-foot retail space on the ground floor of the Palm Avenue parking garage for $1.6 million. Biter was also involved in plans to move the HuB, a for-profit business incubator, to its new headquarters at the site of the former Century Bank on Fruitville Road and Goodrich Avenue. He purchased that building in May 2011 for $2.8 million. Steve Horn and Ian Black of Ian Black Real Estate and Lee DeLeito Jr. of Michael Saunders & Co. handled the transactions. — reporting by Roger Drouin, correspondent

3 Winter Park retail developer buys land for Plaza Venezia BUYER: Laurel Pinebrook LLC (principal: Michael Collard), Winter Park SELLER: Princeton Laurel Land Co. LLC PROPERTY: 2438 Laurel Road E., Venice PRICE: $1.9 million LAW FIRM ON DEED: Clark & Albaugh LLP, Winter Park PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

Costar

Boyle family buys building, lot for U.S. Tent facility expansion BUYER: BCT Enterprises Inc., Sarasota SELLER: 1905 72nd LLC PROPERTY: 1901, 1903, 1905 and 1906 72nd Drive E., Sarasota PRICE: $1.25 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.44 million and $456,000, June 2007 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Vogler Ashton PLLC, Bradenton PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

The Boyle family, owners of U.S. Tent Rental Inc., purchased a 20,858-squarefoot warehouse/distribution building and 1.68 acres of vacant industrial land in Centre Park Industrial Park for $1.25 million. The price equated to $60 per square foot of the building. The building is currently leased to two companies, one of which has already vacated the space. The second tenant, QCMS Inc. (Quality Contract Manufacturing Service), is expected to continue to lease the space for the near future. The Boyle family plans to lease the remainder of the building to U.S. Tent to allow it to expand. The tent-, event-, party-rental and wedding supplies company currently occupies a 20,000-square-foot building at 2006 72nd Drive E. and two condominium units, housing 4,000 square feet of total space, behind the building. The new building will likely take the place of the condominium units, which the Boyles are considering renting. “We bought [the condo units] for the same reason we bought this building, but we filled them up pretty quick,” says CEO Brian Boyle. “We need storage space for our equipment. We plan to start moving over there next week.” The transaction was a short sale approved by Cadence Bank, which also mortgaged the property to the Boyle family for $1 million. Carl Wise of Preferred Commercial Inc. handled the transaction.

2 Sarasota investor Biter buys two Main Street buildings BUYER: Downtown Project LLC (principal: Jesse Biter), Sarasota SELLER: Suzanne Krill PROPERTY: 1560 Main St., Sarasota PRICE: $2.08 million BUYER: LanHole LLC (principal: Jesse Biter), Sarasota SELLER: 1564 Main Street LLC PROPERTY: 1564 Main St., Sarasota PRICE: $2 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $483,400, March 2004 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Berlin-Patten PLLC, Sarasota PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

Sarasota businessman Jesse Biter purchased two buildings covering a total of 17,854 square feet on Main Street for $4.08 million. The price equated to $228 per square foot. The buildings feature 200 feet and eight storefronts along Main Street. Tenants include The Bullet Hole, Pho Cali, the Drunken Poet and Pangea Lounge. Biter plans to meet with city planners to discuss possible development options on the site. For now, he wants to keep the two buildings’ current tenants in place. Biter is also looking to acquire other properties downtown and in the Rosemary District. The entrepreneur said downtown needs residential units working professionals can afford. He is also looking for development land. “We are looking at a few [parcels] that fit my vision for what Sarasota should be,” Biter says. “There will be some purchases in 2013.” The Main Street buildings mark the third major downtown property investment in the last two years for Biter, an

Winter Park-based retail developer Michael Collard Properties purchased 30.9 acres on Laurel Road for $1.9 million. The price equated to $61,588 per acre. The new owner has proposed developing a 68,400-square-foot shopping center on the site called Plaza Venezia. Marketing materials for the center say that extending Pinebrook Road this year north into Honore Avenue will put the new retail center on a major northsouth thoroughfare connecting Venice and Sarasota. The center will be anchored by a 45,600-square-foot Publix grocery store. The developer did not reply to calls for comment prior to deadline. Michael Collard Properties develops retail properties built around grocery and department stores and pharmacies. The purchase entity received a $10.94 million mortgage on the property from Wells Fargo Bank NA.

Etc… • The Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton has raised $4.3 million of the $4.5 million needed to build the school a new athletic complex. The development will include a lighted, 800-seat football/lacrosse/soccer stadium with an eight-lane regulation track, and baseball and softball fields with dugouts, batting cages, press boxes, restrooms and a concession stand. Groundbreaking for the athletic complex is scheduled for March and the new facility should be completed in time for the 2013-2014 school year. • Fort Myers-based J.L. Wallace Inc. has completed the first of two phases of construction on the Bradenton National Guard Armory for the Florida Department of Military Affairs. The first phase consisted of an interior build-out of an existing steel frame building. The project called for spray-foam roof and wall insulation, ADA accessibility features, offices, conference rooms, restrooms, a drill hall with special flooring and hard coated walls, weapons vault and brand new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. Energy-efficient tankless gas water heaters, windows, light fixtures and plumbing fixtures were also installed to lower future utility costs.

The second phase, expected to be completed in February, calls for the construction of building additions on the existing armory and maintenance building, along with site improvements. Renker Eich Parks Architects of St. Petersburg designed the project. • Jag Grewal and Michele Fuller of Ian Black Real Estate and Howard Sadwin of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty handled the sale of the Fairway Crossing Apartments at 3890 Greenway Drive, Sarasota. • Dr. Jonathan Greco and Joseph Greco leased 5,100 square feet of medical office space at 1990 Main St., Sarasota. Massey & Lancaster of the commercial division of Michael Saunders & Co. handled the transaction. Paid Advertisement

Lindell Capital Increases Lending Portfolio With loans on Rental Homes and Brandon Medical Center Carl Lindell Jr., founder of LINDELL CAPITAL, LLC, has announced the expansion of its loan portfolio to include a local entrepreneur with 51 rental homes and another with a fully leased medical center in Brandon. Lindell said “The demand for a lender with over 40 years of local business experience continues to increase and presents us with unique lending opportunities.” “With our longtime presence in the Tampa Bay area, Lindell Capital has become a natural addition to the Lindell Family group of companies, which include Lindell Investments and Lindell Properties.” Dennis Slater, Executive Vice President and CFO for Lindell, said “We expect continued economic growth in the Southwest Florida area. There is increasing opportunity to restart local area projects, creating an affordable end use, in both the commercial and residential markets.” “These two new loan requests were presented to us by local business entrepreneurs, with a sound business plan and a history of success, but were unable to secure traditional credit facilities. We approved and funded the loans within thirty days.” Slater added, “Our ability to close loans is attracting many local business owners, their CPAs and Advisors, with solid acquisition and business plans for review.” Lindell ended his announcement with the simple statement, “If the request makes good business sense, we’ll consider the loan.”

LINDELL CAPITAL Email requests to: slater@lindellproperties.com 813.286.3807

74955

JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

20 commercial real estate | CHARLOTTE-LEE-COLLIER |

BUSINESS OBSERVER | JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2013

BusinessObserverFL.com

Suites for $1 million. The price equated to $19 per square foot. The property features 118 executive suites, two conference rooms, a fitness center and a deli. It also has a community room that seats 100. Originally built in 1982, the previous owners invested $3 million on renovations and improvements. The new owners plan to refurbish it and keep it as executive suites, according to Allan Fox, property manager and rental agent. “It’s in excellent condition right now,” Fox says. “They will just be making changes to the landscaping, enhancing the insides and painting and carpeting it.” The office building was 60% occupied at the time of the sale.

Port Charlotte

776

Rotonda West

Punta Gorda 771 17 75

Fort Myers Shores

80 78

Fort Myers

Lehigh Acres

Cape Coral 867

93 45

Sanibel

San Carlos Park Immokalee 41 29

Bonita Springs

Naples Park

Golden Gate

2 Marco Island

By sean roth | reAL ESTATE Editor

Ochopee 41

BUYER: New Beacon Village LLC, Miami Beach

Costar

1 Miami real estate investors buy Beacon Executive Suites

SELLER: Beacon Villas LC PROPERTY: 8359 Beacon Blvd., Fort Myers PRICE: $1 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $975,000, June 1999 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Madden Law Firm LLC, Fort Myers PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

Miami real estate investors Luis and Virginia Dominquez purchased the 53,301-square-foot Beacon Executive

invites you to hear

2 Minto Communities closes, renames Sabal Bay project BUYER: Minto Sabal Bay LLC, Coconut Creek SELLER: CDC Land Investments Inc. PROPERTY: between Dollar Bay and U.S. 41 East, Naples PRICE: $68 million LAW FIRM ON DEED: Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP, West Palm Beach PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

Dr. Arthur B. Laffer The Father of Supply-Side Economics, and Creator of the “Laffer Curve.” Forecast 2013:

What Comes after the Fiscal Cliff? Wednesday, Feb. 20 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Sarasota Yacht Club 1100 John Ringling Blvd.

Admission: $45 Reservations required by Feb. 15. Call Donna Condon, 366-3468, x301. Pay by credit card or check in advance. Send checks to: Gulf Coast CEO Forum, 1970 Main St., Sarasota, 34236

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