4.22.16 by Kat Hughes

A PR I L 22 - A PR I L 28 , 2016 | TH R E E D O LL A R S

FLOR IDA’S NE WSPAPER FOR T HE C - SUI T E

Health care | Company captures market for doctors’ house calls. PG.14 PASCO • H ILL SBOROUG H • PIN ELL AS • P OLK • M A N ATEE • SA R ASOTA • C H A R LOT TE • LEE • COLLIER

Bright Lights With a focus on the blazing Hispanic market, TV station firm Media Vista has come a long way. How will it sustain the growth? PAGE 12

Mayela and Orlando Rosales | FOUNDERS, MEDIA VISTA GROUP

TOP DEALS

DATA SNAPSHOT

STRATEGIES

Houses of Horrors

Gone Baby Gone

A property management company has handled succession — mostly — with aplomb. Some lessons standout. PAGE 8

A deep-dive discovery leads to a new business for Autumn Blum. Now she searches for a stream of customers. PAGE 11

TECHNOLOGY

ENTREPRENEURS

CORPORATE REPORT

Wise Guys

Greener Grass

Fresh Capital

An insider’s look at the cost of building a home leaves developers frustrated. Is the angst legitimate? PAGE 6

Fast-growing Tampa-based tech firm ConnectWise potentially targets Wall Street for more growth. PAGE 7

Lotion in Motion

Hedge funds open larger investments in a Venice-based window and door manufacturer. PAGE 15

Mid-size firms hold strong in competition with industry giants. 16 Real estate lender says bargains are available for the taking. 17 Lee County industrial rental rates rise. 18

PAGE

3 Post-mortem: What really happens in Tallahassee.

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Blake Crawford successfully uses the lean systems of auto manufacturing at his $13 million landscaping firm. PAGE 10

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BUSINESS OBSERVER | APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

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APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

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COMMERCIAL

REAL ESTATE

LEADERS

BY MATT WALSH | EDITOR AND PUBLISHER

Two lawmakers’ post-mortems on the Legislature

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They say House members are all about power and climbing to the next level and that state government is not as bad as people think.

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many of the constraints on them that would make them reticent to tell it like it is; to share their postmortems on how the Legislature works; and what they would do differently if given the magic wand. For those who know the two senators, then, you will not be surprised by the knife-like candor of Sen. Detert, her trademark; or that Richter is more reserved in his assessment. He is, after all, a careful banker. How the Legislature has changed since 1998. In a 90-minute discussion, Detert expresses her harshest critique for the new lawmakers coming into the Legislature, especially into the House of Representatives. “They’re getting younger. And more arrogant,” she says. “I don’t see courage. I don’t see commitment. It’s not about principles. They see it as an entry-level job to use to climb to the next step. They’ve had no life experiences. They’re politicians.” She’s getting revved up. “You don’t argue issues,” she adds. “They don’t read the bills. Everything is a trade. It’s not the floor of the House; it’s like the floor of the stock exchange. Everything is about power, climbing and trading.” The difference between the House and Senate. “The House is like diving into a mosh pit,” Detert says. “The Senate is like walking into a library.” Richter describes the House as more like a fraternity than governing. “In the Senate, it’s like watching the grass grow,” he says. Or put it this way: In the House, the speaker and his pro-tem and majority whips whip the party members to stay on the speaker’s game plan. It’s all topdown, say Detert and Richter. And it causes many newly elected lawmakers almost the moment they are elected to begin lobbying their peers and horse-trading legislation for leadership slots. If you don’t get tabbed or, say, go against leadership on important legislation, your career can easily stall. Richter remembers a 118-2 vote in the House. Afterward, the two who voted no lost their committee chairs.

See COMMENT page 19

It’s not the floor of the House; it’s like the floor of the stock exchange. Everything is about power, climbing and trading. Sen. Nancy Detert

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lorida Sens. Nancy Detert, R-Sarasota, and Garrett Richter, R-Naples, are no longer as intelligent, as funny, as interesting or as tall as they were six weeks ago in Tallahassee. The two two-term senators completed their final legislative sessions March 11. And come Nov. 9, they will be “formers” — former Sens. Detert and Richter. Sen. Richter ran into the wall — the eight-year term limit. Sen. Detert, on the other hand, hit another wall. She decided it was time, even though, because of redistricting, she could have served another two years. That would have given her 18 years in Tallahassee — from 1998-2006 in the House and from 2008 to 2018 in the Senate. But she had that feeling throughout the the most recent session. “You knew it was time to go,” she said recently over a salad at a Venice Cracker Barrel. “It was a wonderful, awesome eight years, and I’m glad we finished in an orderly manner. But I don’t want to go back.” For Richter, a banker at heart (45 years and counting) and a legislator for 10 (including two years in the House, and unopposed in three elections), the experience was equally memorable. When he reflected on his decade in his office, he cited three perks: the people he met and with whom he worked; learning all that he did about Florida and the issues it faces; and the satisfaction that comes from helping a constituent. “Their gratitude is overwhelming,” he said. Detert and Richter are now in transition mode, detoxing from the capital scene, where, Richter says, there is a Kool-Aid stand on every corner. That’s the Kool-Aid, he joked, that many legislators drink, making them think they suddenly are smarter, funnier, more interesting and taller than before they were elected. Although they are serving out their terms until their successors take the oath in January 2017, Richter is back in his role as president of Naples-based First Florida Integrity Bank, and Detert is beginning to focus on campaigning in the Republican primary for a Sarasota County Commission seat. With their departures from the Senate, Detert and Richter no longer have

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BUSINESS OBSERVER | APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

BusinessObserverFL.com

SARASOTA-MANATEE

Ohio company to hire 100 people Total Quality Logistics, a Cincinnati-based freight brokerage firm with $2.2 billion in sales in 2015, plans to create 100 jobs in downtown Sarasota. The company will open its Sarasota office, at 1800 Second St., June 6, according to a statement. It will have a founding team of six employees and at least four people will be hired in the first hiring class prior to opening. TQL’s Sarasota office will be its seventh in Florida and comes with a $600,000 capital investment. The company says it will fill the 100 jobs by 2020.

Builder plans high-rise project The boom in condominium development in downtown Sarasota continues with the announcement of a new highrise building: The Grande at the Ritz-Carlton Residences. West Palm Beach-based developer Kolter plans to break ground on the 18-story luxury tower next to the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota next spring. Michael Saunders & Co. will oversee

quote of theweek If you don’t have a succession plan, your widow and her lawyer will have a plan a week later. Martin Newby | Newby Management SEE PAGE 8

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sales of the units, which start at $2 million. Kolter is also behind Vue Sarasota Bay, the 18-story hotel and condo project under construction at the intersection of North Tamiami Trail and Gulfstream Avenue. Kolter also bought two properties on State Street for $5.5 million in anticipation of the Mark, an 11-story, 157-condo mixed-use building. CHARLOTTE-LEE-COLLIER

Club launches major renovation D. Garrett Construction started a $7.6 million renovation of the clubhouse at The Country Club of Naples. This is the first full renovation of the 26,600-square-foot clubhouse in 25 years. Improvements include expanded casual dining, new locker rooms, a multi-purpose room for meetings and activities, new air conditioning, plumbing and electrical systems and new interior decorating. The construction firm will add a veranda for outdoor dining overlooking the golf course. The project is scheduled for completion by Thanksgiving. The golf course underwent

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a complete restoration in 2009 from Naples golf architect Gordon Lewis.

Home sales drop, prices rise Homebuyers purchased fewer existing single-family homes and condos in Naples in March than they did the same month one year ago. Homebuyers purchased 391 existing single-family homes in the Naples area in March, a 15% drop compared with the same month in 2015. Also, buyers purchased 403 existing condos in March, a 33% decline from March 2015, according to the Naples Area Board of Realtors. Still, the median price of an existing single-family home in the Naples area rose 5% in March to $400,000 compared with March 2015. The median price of an existing condo rose 3% to $258,000 in the same period, the association reports. TAMPA BAY

Yacht retailer buys Massachusetts dealer MarineMax, the largest recreational boat and yacht retailer in the United States, acquired

Massachusetts-based Russo Marine. With more than $35 million in revenues in 2015, Russo is the largest privately owned boat dealer in the Northeast, a statement says. It has three locations that serve the Massachusetts and Rhode Island coastal markets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Clearwater-based MarineMax currently has 56 retail locations serving 16 states.

Electronics firm expands reach Electronics distributor DOW Electronics acquired Georgiabased dB South Distributing. The acquisition will bring additional customers and vendor relationships to Tampa-based DOW, along with an increase in territory agreements, according to a statement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. DOW Electronics has seven locations and serves 11 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Its areas of business include appliances, satellite television and surveillance, among others.

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APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

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CoffeeTalk

MAIN STREET, SARASOTA, MAY BE OUR HOME BASE, BUT OUR CLIENTS COME FROM ALL ACROSS THE UNITED STATES

IN MEMORIAM

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COURTESY

about what a community newspaper should be,” says Hackworth, who joined the company in 1995 after working for Knight Ridder, a onetime newspaper industry giant. “He was ahead of his time 20 years ago.” Hackworth says Dunn-Rankin was one of the sharpest and shrewdest businessmen he ever met, but the gentlemanly publisher also had a lesser-known soft side. It was bittersweet, adds Hackworth, that DunnRankin died a few days before the Charlotte Sun won a Pulitzer Prize for a series of editorials that probed an inmate’s death at the Charlotte Correctional Institute. “He really cared about his papers, his employees and his community,” Hackworth says. Walsh agrees, calling DunnRankin one of the “most likable, lovable, happy guys you’d ever meet” and an inspiration in community journalism. “Early in the life of the Business Observer, we were partners with Derek and his company,” says Walsh. “I relished then whatever time I was able to sit with Derek and talk shop. To this day, I still share some of Derek’s golden nuggets of wisdom with our staff.” Dunn-Rankin is survived by his wife, four sons, a daughter and several grandchildren. No funeral or memorial service information was available at press time.

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Even as Derek Dunn-Rankin approached his 90s, he kept true to certain rituals and routines. A big one: Every July Fourth he swam a mile across the Peace River. Dunn-Rankin, say several people who knew him well, was faithfully consistent in many aspects of his life, particularly his devotion to his family and community journalism. The founder and chairman of the Charlotte County-based Sun Coast Media Group, a collection of daily, weekly and twice weekly newspapers, Dunn-Rankin died the weekend of April 16 at his home in Venice. He was 88. “I can’t imagine a Florida Press Association convention without Derek in his seersucker suit and bow tie,” says Matt Walsh, editor and CEO of the Observer Media Group, publisher of the Business Observer. “He was the dean of Florida newspaper entrepreneurs — and clearly looked and lived the part.” Dunn-Rankin got his start in the business early, when he was a delivery boy for the Miami News at 11 years old, according to a Charlotte Sun story. He was editor of the student paper at Rollins College and in his senior year he was the sports editor of the Sanford Daily Herald. Dunn-Rankin later worked for newspapers in North Carolina and Virginia. He returned to Florida and bought the Venice Gondolier in 1977, launching the Sun Coast Media Group in rented office space. The paper used subcontracted printers. A few weeks later the company bought some other publications, including the Advertiser in Venice and the Englewood Times. In 1979 the company bought the Charlotte Sun, and by 1995 it owned its buildings and printing presses in Venice and Port Charlotte. The Charlotte Sun started publishing a daily edition in 1987. The latest expansion occurred during the recession, when Sun Coast Media Group bought several Polk County publications, including the Polk County Democrat, the Lake Wales News and the Fort Meade Leader. It was counterintuitive purchases like that, in a down market, which impressed Charlotte Sun Editor John Hackworth. “I learned so much from him

BUSINESS OBSERVER | APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

BusinessObserverFL.com

datasnapshot |

BY MARK GORDON | MANAGING EDITOR

DEVELOPMENT DASH

A GAME OF SKILL AND CHANCE

COURTESY

Irvine, Calif.-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting recently created this game, Development Dash, that looks at the ups, downs and hassles of homebuilding.

Developer’s lament Homebuilders often cite the high cost of regulations as a reason there are affordable housing predicaments in so many markets nationwide. John Burns Real Estate Consulting, an Irvine, Calif.-based data firm with a Florida office in Fort Myers, recently decided to check that theory. “After hearing many horror stories of cost increases that were far more than just materials and labor, we formally surveyed more than 100 home building

executives across the country for specific examples of new home construction costs that did not exist 10 years ago,” the firm says in a statement. “We were overwhelmed by the reply as well as the builders’ level of frustration.” One issue that came up repeatedly in multiple states is energy code costs. Builders in Florida, Pennsylvania and California, among other states, cited $8,000 or more per house in new energy code costs. Other national issues

included sprinklers in townhomes at more than $5,000 per home, understaffed planning offices, and lengthy utility delays. Respondents in Florida had some state-specific responses, including: n $5,000 or more per house in additional school fees for one city; n $5,000 or more to raise homes one foot above flood elevation levels per new FEMA maps; n $5,000 or more per house in infra-

structure improvements that benefit the city, but not the project. n $7,000 per house increase in fees, including utility hookups; n $2,000 per house in new “beatification” landscaping requirements. Tellingly, given the us vs. them dynamic in homebuilding and government oversight, the firm “intentionally omitted city names for fear of city retaliation against our survey participants.”

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APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

infocus | strategies |

BusinessObserverFL.com

BY TRACI MCMILLAN BEACH | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Breaking

Wise

Tampa-based ConnectWise recently merged multiple companies in which it invested. Up next for the fast-growth tech firm: a possible trip to Wall Street. MARK WEMPLE

ARNIE BELLINI is CEO of Tampa-based ConnectWise, which has more than $100 million a year in sales.

n 1982, brothers Arnie and David Bellini thought they were starting a business to service PCs in Tampa Bay. But their next company really grew out of a necessity to solve their first business’s problems so they could get to dinner at a reasonable time. That next company is ConnectWise, a business management software firm for technology companies. Fast-forward 34 years and ConnectWise has more than 100,000 users in 62 countries. Arnie Bellini is CEO and chief products officer and David Bellini runs the company’s international expansion. At a recent Tech Talk in Tampa, Arnie Bellini announced the company is considering an initial public offering. A major Tampa firm going public would be a noteworthy event, partially because it’s relatively rare. The national IPO market has also been in the dumps going back to last summer, although a report on CNBC projects the market could improve by the end of the spring. Arnie Bellini declined to comment on ConnectWise’s recent financial performance or projections, saying the company is considering the IPO. ConnectWise, which earns business largely through direct sales, mostly telesales, would

certainly be justified in going public. It posted double-digit revenue and partner growth in 2015 in the U.S., for one. It also reported that purchases of its LabTech product grew more than 50% and purchases for other ConnectWise products grew more than 60% in 2015 in the United Kingdom. ConnectWise, according to a January 2015 Business Observer story, had $109 million in annual revenues in 2014. It now has more than 750 employees. Here’s an overview of how ConnectWise has grown over the years, and the future of what a public ConnectWise could look like: EARLY DAYS: The company started in 1996 as a way to integrate several programs the Bellini brothers used daily at their PC business. Those included invoicing, tracking time and expenses, ticketing, projects, scheduling, inventory and client data. They built a program to connect what Bellini called “silos of chaos.” It took two years of people knocking at their door asking to buy their program before they decided to sell it as a platform. EXPANSION PHASE: The company, says Bellini, then “basically became a venture

capitalist.” It invested in remote management software company LabTech in 2010, quoting and proposal software firm Quosal in 2011 and remote control company ScreenConnect in early 2015. The companies initially operated as separate entities, with ConnectWise owning 50% of each. “We needed those CEOs, we wanted to keep them around and work it out,” Bellini says. “We put money into the company and then the real goal is to grow their business.” ConnectWise merged LabTech, Quosal and ScreenConnect into a single company and brand late last year. The strategy going ahead under one unit, says Bellini, is to “land and expand.” That means looking for new markets, both geographically and in new industries. More partnerships with other large entities, such as Clearwaterbased Tech Data, is another goal. Bellini says the firm’s merger and acquisition strategy “wasn’t rocket science.” He looked at what products were popular with his existing customers and “it was like peanut butter and chocolate — let’s make a Reese’s.”

MAKING MISTAKES Tampa-based ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini says he doesn’t regret any of his business decisions “because every one I learned from.” Bellini, an open water swimmer, says it’s similar to how he felt the first time he attempted to swim the English Channel, a 20-mile swim. He maxed out four miles short of the finish in 62-degree water. Instead of feeling defeated, Bellini went home and made a list of the 20 things he could improve on and focused on each of those in his training. A year later, he completed the swim. “If you learn from your mistakes,” Bellini says, “they’re successes.”

GLOBAL OUTLOOK: Bellini says the company’s greatest opportunity for growth is international. There is a lot of tech activity in the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany, he says. That’s why the company opened a London office for the European headquarters two years ago, and seeks to open an Australian office for an Asia/Pacific headquarters. The London office now has 25 employees. ConnectWise has also been working on making its programs multilingual. “You can’t sell in Germany unless in German,” Bellini says. “Culturally it doesn’t work.”

If you learn from your mistakes, they’re successes. Arnie Bellini | ConnectWise

8 infocus | strategies |

BUSINESS OBSERVER | APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

BusinessObserverFL.com

BY MARK GORDON | MANAGING EDITOR

Exit Plans

COURTESY

MARTIN NEWBY, center, founded Ellenton-based Newby Management in 1975. His nephews, TODD NEWBY, left, and TIM NEWBY, right, now run the business.

Succession doesn’t have to be the root canal of a business plan. One family-run firm discovered a better bite.

e t i r e d ent r e pr ene u r Martin Newby, 75, who founded what’s now a 200-employee niche property management company, has a stock line when people ask him about succession planning: “If you don’t have a succession plan,” says Newby, “your widow and her lawyer will have a plan a week later.” Newby, like many other business owners, came by his succession wisdom the hard way — through mistakes. The company he founded in 1975, Ellenton-based Newby Management, which oversees RV home parks and manufactured home communities, is now run by a nephew, Tim Newby, 58. A second nephew, Todd Newby, 51, is president and being groomed to run the company. “You need to start thinking about succession a week after you start the company,” Martin Newby says. “It should be a part of the business plan.” Despite the early missteps, the Newbys succession strategy went so well overall they’ve embarked on a speaking tour about it. One stop last year included

Orlando, at an annual meeting of C12, an executive roundtable group that uses Christian principles to guide decisions. “The worst thing we can do is go to the bank and say here’s our business,” says Tim Newby. “We have to look at this as a legacy.” Here’s a look at the five most important steps to a successful succession, according to the Newbys. HIRE WELL: This seemingly obvious step, notes Martin Newby, is often overlooked because small business owners let their ego get in the way. Not only hire people smarter than you, says Newby, but also groom them for ownership from the onset. He did at least 20 years ago with Todd Newby, his brother’s oldest son, and two other employees. The other two — not because they weren’t family, says the elder Newby — didn’t pan out. One key characteristic to look for, says Newby, is a business owners’ passion. “You mentor all of them,” he says. “But not everyone proceeds like you think they should.”

REMAIN ENGAGED: The mentoring, says Tim Newby, must go on for long past the decision of who will run the business next. Says Newby: “Too often companies just abandon and go.” Tim Newby says he chats with his brother every day about the business, calling it a privilege to work with his sibling. They talk about decisions big and small, and when and where the business will grow. “If you can’t leave the company in better shape than you found it,” says Tim Newby, “we are doing something wrong.” GO LONG: Martin Newby says one of the biggest mistakes he made in succession was he sprung it on Tim Newby, with no notice or conversation. Looking back, he likens it to a flying instructor telling a student, out of the blue, “Why don’t you fly solo today?” “We had some growing pains in the beginning,” acknowledges Tim Newby. He adds that he and his brother have had multiple succession conversations.

STAY CLEAR: Another misstep, says Martin Newby, was the company didn’t have clearly laid out job descriptions. It had hardly any descriptions. This led to overlap, confusion and even some standoffs. Now, says Tim Newby, job descriptions at Newby Management are “critical.” LET GO: This can be the most difficult step, particularly for a company founder. Martin Newby, who took on the chairman role when he named Todd Newby CEO, eventually had to vacate his office in the company headquarters to work from home. It was too hard to see someone else, even someone he trusted, make key decisions. “I was an entrepreneur, and I didn’t like the way he was parenting,” Newby says. The process went smoother in the ensuing months and years. Says Newby: “I realized I had to get out of the way.” Follow Mark Gordon on Twitter @markigordon

If you don’t have a succession plan, your widow and her lawyer will have a plan a week later. Martin Newby | Newby Management

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

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10 infocus | entrepreneurs |

BUSINESS OBSERVER | APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

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BY JEAN GRUSS | EDITOR/LEE-COLLIER

Measured landscapes Blake Crawford applied auto-manufacturing techniques to his landscaping company, boosting productivity and efficiency.

hen he was working in the auto industry, Blake Crawford remembers teams of employees assigned to evaluate every step in a production line. “You have to continuously refine your processes,” Crawford remembers. “Then you’d squeeze out 15% efficiency.” Crawford, 43, grew up in the auto industry working in his father’s parts plants at Cambridge Industries. There, he learned that every step in the manufacturing process could be measured and improved. So when Crawford started a landscaping company in Naples in 2004, he borrowed some of the techniques that have boosted the efficiency of auto manufacturers. ISO 9000, kaizen and lean manufacturing aren’t foreign words at Crawford Landscaping Group. The results have been impressive. Crawford estimates revenues will be $13 million this year from 220 clients in Lee and Collier counties, up from $12.5 million last year. Customers include large upscale community associations such as Grey Oaks and Pelican Bay and the company employs 170 people. Craw ford says ma nu fact u r i ng’s measures and efficiencies can best be applied to administrative tasks. They document every administrative process in great detail, a laborious but necessary task. At Crawford Landscaping, for example, the company has 130 such docu-

ments such as the flow of work orders, inventory management and billing. Crawford is frequently updating them himself. “I just did another one the other day,” Crawford says. But the landscaping business isn’t like manufacturing because of its unpredictability and customer preferences. For example, some bushes may have grown faster than expected, rain might change the order of the work or a customer might make a special request. Crawford says lean-manufacturing techniques can’t easily be applied well to landscapers in the field because they have wide latitude over how to do their job well. “How do you take discretion out of the landscape process? It’s very difficult,” Crawford says. Besides, Crawford says he’s careful not to get too carried away with measurement techniques he learned in manufacturing. “It reaches a point of diminishing returns,” he says. For example, the ISO certification process may be too rigid for companies outside manufacturing. “They take that ISO discipline almost too far,” Crawford says. “They become enslaved to the process.” Crawford relies on other management techniques to keep his business running smoothly, including rewarding key employees with stock in the company. “It’s a way to retain and involve people in the day-to-day decisions,” says Crawford.

ED CLEMENT

BLAKE CRAWFORD, owner of Crawford Landscaping Group, and KEITH MAHAN, president and owner, project revenues will reach $13 million this year. For example, Keith Mahan joined Crawford in 2009 as irrigation-systems director and recently became president of the company with an ownership stake in the business. “We want people to be a part of something bigger,” Crawford says. Something bigger means growing the company. For example, Crawford hired

master arborist Phil Buck to grow the company’s arbor division. That division and 19 employees contributed $1.1 million in sales to the company last year. “We see opportunities all over the East Coast and through Central Florida,” Crawford says. Follow Jean Gruss on Twitter @JeanGruss

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APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

infocus | strategy |

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BY STEVEN BENNA | STAFF WRITER

Sea of Opportunity The idea for her company started during a scuba diving trip. Now Autumn Blum, with financial support far from the water, aims for a big splash.

utumn Blum was struck with her latest business idea during a 2014 scuba diving trip in Palau. While sitting in the boat in the western Pacific Ocean, Blum noticed a big oil slick in the water surrounding a group of about 100 snorkelers. She paid close attention to it for the rest of the week. Blum’s discovery: It was from their sunscreen. With a background in organic chemistry and experience starting and selling companies, Blum immediately approached the problem with a business mindset. “I was trying to find the next thing, and I just knew this was it,” she says. When Blum returned from Palau, she constantly mulled over the idea. Eventually, she was ready to pursue it. She quit her job with healthy product manufacturer Nutraceutical Corp. to begin working on her own product line. In Aug ust 2015, Blum of f icia l ly launched Stream2Sea, a skin, sun and hair care product line “concerned with what goes on the body and into the environment,” she says of the company’s mission. “I knew what was safe for the body,” she says. “The aquatic standards were much different.” Specifically, sunscreens are incorrectly labeled as coral reef safe, largely

Products available at Stream2Sea: n Sunscreen n Shampoo and body wash n Leave-in conditioner n Body lotion n Sun and sting relief gel n Lip balm n Ingredients-to-avoid information card because it’s a “very loosely regulated” sector, she says. Oxybenzone, an ingredient found in more than 3,500 sunscreens, has proven to come off of swimmers and pollute coral reefs, according to information from a study by the Haereticus Environmental Laboratory. Blum and Stream2Sea also cite research from the National Park Service, which says between 4,000 and 6,000 tons of sunscreen enters into reefs each year. Blum, who grew up in Sarasota, operates her business out of Hardee County, 50 miles east of Bradenton, because of economic incentives officials offered her there. That includes more than $640,000 in funding provided by the Hardee County Industrial Development Authority in return for at least 10 fulltime jobs by June 30, according to public records. The company has seven employees, plus four more who work indirectly though the manufacturer, and Blum says all the products are produced and distributed through the relationship with Hardee County’s incubator program. Blum says consumer education is a crucial task as she works to grow her

COURTESY

AUTUMN BLUM had the idea for Stream2Sea during a diving trip in Palau. business. For one, the dangers of sunscreen to coral reefs isn’t widely discussed and likely not at all considered by beachgoers on vacation. Regular shoppers of health-oriented stores, for example, might constantly read product ingredients and know what to look for, she says. “Other average consumers look at the SPF and the cute monkey on the bottle.” Blum plans to take the standard routes to educating consumers: social media, PR and consumer word of mouth. But persuading non-health obsessed consumers to buy a more expensive — ranging from $6.95 to $16.95 per bottle — product is unlikely. Because of that, she won’t be taking the usual

route of business-to-business tradeshows. Rather, she plans to target consumers directly through niche retailers, she says. The company, in the early stages, has grown rapidly, adding 80 new wholesale accounts in the fourth quarter of 2015. She declines to discuss specific sales figures. Stream2Sea had about 250 accounts at the end of the first quarter. By year’s end, the goal is 1,000, Blum says. And as the business scales, consumer education is just one task. “Finding employees is very difficult,” Blum says. “Staffing is a huge challenge.” Follow Steven Benna on Twitter @steve_benna

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MEDIA

hen Me d ia V i st a Group acquired more television stations in 2013, the economic outlook was still uncertain. Media Vista, founded and operated by Venezuelan-born entrepreneurs Orlando and Mayela Rosales, acquired Univision-affiliated television stations in Fort Myers-Naples, Kansas City and Minneapolis in March 2013 for an undisclosed sum. “When we acquired the stations they were losing money,” says Orlando Rosales, the company’s CEO. But the Rosaleses turned the stations around, including investing $500,000 in a new efficient programming system just as the advertising revenues were rebounding. “It was good timing,” says Mayela Rosales, executive vice president of Media Vista. “The economy turned around.” Now, Media Vista has acquired a building fronting U.S. 41 in Bonita Springs that will be the company’s new high-profile headquarters. The flagship building is twice the size of the company’s current facility tucked away in an industrial area of Naples from where they’ve operated the Azteca America-affiliated station for about a decade. “We wanted to be seen,” Mayela Rosales says. The husband-and-wife team has come a long way since 2001, when they started the business with a single camera, some microphones and an editing station. At the time, the startup costs totaled $15,000. “It’s amazing,” Mayela Rosales laughs when reminded of the company’s humble roots. But it’s no surprise because Southwest Florida’s large and growing Hispanic population is fertile ground for advertisers. In Collier County, for example, nearly 27% of the population is Hispanic, according to 2014 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. In Lee County, it’s almost 20%. Even cities like Kansas City and Minneapolis present opportunities for media entrepreneurs. “Those have great potential because the Hispanic population is growing,” says Mayela Rosales. LOCAL PROGRAMMING Media Vista doesn’t just rebroadcast national programs from affiliations with Univision and Azteca America. It produces its own shows and content that entertain and educate local viewers. The Rosales say local programming is the key to drawing viewers and advertisers, and they adopted that formula for success from the outset. The couple moved to Naples from Venezuela in 1996 in their early 30s. Orlando Rosales had been hired to manage software issues for a company in Naples, but Mayela Rosales had no outlet for her background in journalism. So the Rosaleses bought some airtime on the UPN affiliate and they rented some space in an office park. They purchased a camera, some microphones and an editing station, and Orlando

BY JEAN GRUSS | EDITOR/LEE-COLLIER

Bigger Vista

Media Vista is benefiting from the economic rebound as more advertisers target the fast-growing Hispanic market.

ED CLEMENT

MAYELA and ORLANDO ROSALES plan to move their Spanish-language media company, Media Vista Group, to a new high-profile headquarters building in Bonita Springs this summer.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Company. Media Vista Industry. Media Key. The growing Hispanic market is attracting advertisers.

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

Rosales taught himself how to use it. The couple started airing a half-hour talk show in 2002 called “Que Pasa SW Florida” at 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays. Mayela Rosales hosted the show, which included a mix of local news and interviews with local officials on a broad range of issues from housing to politics and health. “Que Pasa” was a hit with viewers and advertisers because no one had created such a show for Southwest Florida’s Hispanic audience. Their first advertising customers were McDonald’s and NCH Healthcare System, a hospital operator. They rena med t he show “D’Latinos al Dia” in 2004 and lengthened the program to 90 minutes. The show sold out of advertising spots, and because of the demand it started airing daily. In 2006, the Rosaleses purchased an interest in a Fort Myers-Naples Spanish-language television station affiliated with Azteca America but that lacked local programming. They added a magazine called D’Latinos (circulation: 15,000) and websites they can sell as packages to advertisers. “Our local programming is our brand,” says Mayela Rosales. POWERED THROUGH RECESSION Media companies that benefited during the boom were whipsawed the other way during the downturn as companies slashed marketing and advertising budgets. Media Vista had no choice but to do the same to survive. The O V E R

6 5

Y E A R S

Rosaleses cut the staff to a dozen people from 20 during the boom. “Orlando made a strategic plan to survive,” says Mayela Rosales. Indeed, Orla ndo Rosa les wanted to position the company so it could take advantage of the economic recovery. With the help of an undisclosed family investment fund from Boston, Media Vista obtained a loan backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration to acquire the Univision stations in Fort Myers, Kansas City and Minneapolis in March 2013. “The first year was more intense,” says Orlando Rosales. Media Vista had to cut staff to lower expenses at the newly acquired stations in Kansas City and Minneapolis and it invested $500,000 in a master-control system used to organize the programming and advertisements. Previously, that task had been outsourced. Orlando Rosales expects the smaller-market Midwest stations to be profitable this year as advertising continues to grow. “The markets are not as strong as Fort Myers,” he acknowledges. The staff has grown to a total of about 40 people and the Naples office employs more people than it did before the downturn. “We have an amazing team,” says Orlando Rosales, who was inducted with Mayela Rosales into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame for Collier County in 2013. Media Vista has seen an increase in advertising, especially from the large brands such as McDonald’s, Toyota and Florida Power and Light. Orlando Rosales says it’s still challenging to

201865

A GROWING SHARE The Hispanic population is a growing share of the total population of every county on the Gulf Coast, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. % Hispanic, 2010 6.7% 5.8%

Charlotte

26.7% 25.9%

% Hispanic, 2014 26.5%

24.9%

19.6%

15.7%

13.4%

8.8%

19.6%

14.9%

11.7%

8.0%

17.7%

7.9%

Lee

Manatee

Pasco

Pinellas

Polk

Sarasota

Collier Hillsborough

sell local businesses despite clear evidence of Hispanics’ buying power. “We continue to educate the advertiser,” says Orlando Rosales, pointing to the fact that one out of three people in the desirable 18-to-49 age group is Hispanic and spends money at a faster rate than non-Hispanics. Orlando Rosales declines to share Media Vista’s annual sales, but he says revenues have grown at a 10% to 12% annual rate since 2013. “I think we are successful now,” he says. GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES Starting in July, Media Vista will have a high-profile home on busy U.S. 41 in Bonita Springs. The company paid $820,000 for an existing building fronting the main north-south artery and is spending another $800,000 to renovate it. The facility will have a new television studio and will serve as a community center for gatherings and events. Mayela Rosales says there also will be a running track around the building to promote health and fitness. “We want to be the station of the community,” Mayela

Alison C. Hussey

Rosales says. But the Rosaleses are thinking beyond that, of course. For starters, they’re considering expanding the distribution of D’Latinos magazine throughout the state, including the Miami area. “The main challenge has been to find good sales people,” says Orlando Rosales. The advertising outlook remains good, especially as political advertising ramps up for the national elections. “It will come in the third and fourth quarter,” Mayela Rosales says. The Rosaleses are also scouting for future television stations. Although they won’t say where they’re looking, major markets are unlikely hunting grounds. “We can’t buy a station in New York or Miami,” Orlando Rosales says. But there are markets where Hispanics represent 10% to 15% of the population and the Rosales say they’re looking for metro areas with at least 200,000 Hispanics. “We will always go where the Hispanic market is growing,” says Mayela Rosales. Stay tuned.

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STRATEGIES

BY STEVEN BENNA | STAFF WRITER

Growth on the Go

MARK WEMPLE

JEFF WACKSMAN and JOANNE TURNER are both executives with New Port Richey-based Mobile Physician Services.

Mobile Physician Services’ doctors are on the go, working at patients’ homes rather than hospitals. That’s just one unique aspect of the business.

he average patient for Mobile Physician Services is much different than the typical hospital

patient.

New Port Richey-based Mobile Physician Services treats only homebound, and some bedridden pat ients, which means they are unable to get themselves to a hospital or doctor’s office. “Homebound patients are relatively invisible to the health care system,” says Jeff Wacksman, vice president of operations for the company. Patients treated by MPS generally have much more complex illnesses, Wacksman says. One patient, for example, had taken 30 ambulance rides in a 45-day span prior to using MPS, he says. Because of the high amount of homebound pat ients in Florida, hospitals aren’t the only competition for Mobile Physician Services. There are other home-call services in

Florida, but Wacksman has taken a unique approach with his management philosophy. He says that has given Mobile Physician Service a competitive edge over the others. The most unique aspect of the business, he says, is its true nature as a home-call health care provider. Other non-hospital based providers either work out of assisted-living facilities or only accept cash. MPS, which uses vendors to obtain equipment like X-ray machines, shows up directly to each patient’s home and accepts insurance, Wacksman says. The only equipment limitation is the company does not have access to an MRI or CT scan machine. STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE The core to Wacksman’s management philosophy starts with recruiting. His approach is to bring in seasoned medical providers and offer them a unique benefit: They can thoroughly take their time to give each pa-

I consider it a failure if people don’t know doctors still do house calls.

Jeff Wacksman | Mobile Physician Services, New Port Richey tient the care they need. Generally, a physician seeing a patient at an office visit only has a set amount of time with each person. Mobile Physician Ser vices doesn’t deem that beneficial for care purposes. Doctors for the company see an average of seven patients per day, says Joanne Turner, Mobile Physician Services’ clinical

director. “We give them as much time as they need with each patient,” Wacksman says. “They may be slightly late to the next, but it’s necessary to take the time to provide quality care.” In add it ion to remov ing time limits on patient care, the company also covers 100% of health, life, vision and dental insurance for employees — another recruiting edge. “It’s very important as a business in health care to cover the costs of keeping employees healthy,” he says. T he recr u it i ng ex penses and energy the company puts out are worth it, officials say, because having top seasoned providers is imperative for the model to work. “When you’re in a home, you’re it,” Wacksman says. Equally as crucial as recruiting is monitoring the emotions of staff members if a patient passes away. Turner uses an experience of hers as an example. Turner says she became very

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Company. Mobile Physician Services Industry. Health care Key. Expanding health care options for homebound patients.

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

corporatereport | CHARLOTTE-LEE-COLLIER

Construction firm hires project manager Fort Myers-based Owen-AmesKimball Co. hired Rick Mercer as a project m a n a g e r, a statement says. Mercer has more t ha n 25 years’ exper ienc e i n the construcMERCER tion industry in roles as a construction engineer, land development director and operations manager, among others. He most recently served as director of construction for all 171 of Florida’s state parks, from Pensacola to Key West. Owen-Ames-Kimball provides general contracting, design-and-build and construction management services. The firm ranked sixth on the Business Observer’s Top 50 Contractors list with 2015 revenues of $151.5 million.

College names director of corporate sponsorships The Florida SouthWestern State College Foundation named Kevin Anderson its new director of corporate sponsorships. Anderson will focus on establishing and maintaining relationships with regional corporations to benefit the college and its 22,000 students, a statement says. “Kevin will serve as the liaison between the foundation and major corporations

close with a bedbound patient a nd watched t he pat ient’s health slowly deteriorate over time. “Patients become like family,” she says. “It’s important to have a supporting staff for each other.” The relationship between patients and providers grows enough to the point where Mobile Physician Services providers, and even office staff members, attend funerals. On the flip side, it’s all worth it when things turn around for a patient, Wacksman and Turner say. Wacksman recalls a patient who was on a “crazy amount of oxygen” and was sent home from a nursing home. He called MPS and they started working with him at his home. “We slowly got him off of his ventilator,” Wacksman says. “Eventually, he was able to take an automatic scooter to his kid’s baseball game.” PAYING OFF Mobile Physician Ser v ices, founded in 2006, has grown f rom ser v i ng fou r Flor ida counties two years ago to serving an estimated 20 counties. Wacksman says it will soon enter Miami-Dade and Volusia counties. The firm declines to release specific annual revenue figures. The growth has required a significant increase in staff. In 2010, the firm had six employees. That figure now sits at 38, split between 20 providers and

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calendar

BY STEVEN BENNA | STAFF WRITER

looking to invest in athletics, the arts or academic programs for our students, says Dr. Lou Traina, vice president of institutional advancement at the college. Anderson previously spent 10 years as director of employer relations at Hodges University, where he worked with 102 corporate partners. He also served as Southwest Florida area manager for American Building Maintenance in Fort Myers. SARASOTA-MANATEE

Health platform grows customer base by 83% In the last few months, Sarasota-based Voalte has signed contracts with 125 hospitals, including Ta mpa Genera l, to deploy Voa lte Platform, a digital tool for care team communication. This inc re a s e s t he Voa lt e c u stomer base to 275, a statement says, up 83% in fiscal 2016. “The health LAUDERDALE c a re i ndu stry’s trend toward consolidation and valuebased care is prompting the move to a communication platform that can scale across the care continuum,” says Voalte founder and CEO Trey Lauderdale in the statement. “Voalte has demonstrated success in replacing legacy phones, pagers and voice badges with smartphones inside and outside the hospital. The result is an enter-

18 office staff members, and will break 50 in the second quarter of 2016. Wacksman expects to double the employee total by the end of the year. A ll of the grow th Mobile Physician Services has experienced over the past few years has come without the firm spending “a single dollar in true advertising,” Wacksman says. Instead, the firm has two marketers who meet with caregivers and others at hospitals and home health care agencies, Turner says. Marketing is important for the company, and coupling that with its unique model helps bring in patients. It helps that house-call service is “a huge need,” Wacksman says. Accord i ng to i n for mat ion from the American Academy of Home Care Physicians, there are 2 million chronically homebound patients in the United States. “We need to get the word out,” Wacksman says. “I consider it a failure if people don’t know doctors still do house calls.” That task is steeper than it sounds, though, because Medicare reimbursement, their largest challenge, limits their marketing budget. Reimbursement rates have decreased in recent years, and many health care entities struggle to recoup lost income. But so far, the company believes it’s meeting a large need. The National Committee for

of prise-wide platform that connects clinicians seamlessly, no matter where they are.” Voalte was founded in Sarasota in 2008. The privately held company offers its products and solutions to more than 132,000 caregivers in the United States.

Hedge funds increase investment Four hedge funds increased their investment in PGT Inc., a Venice-based manufacturer and supplier of impact-resistant residential windows and doors. All together, the hedge funds pu r c h a s e d a n add it ion a l 302,831 shares of PGT’s stock during t he fourt h quarter. These are the hedge funds that boosted their position in the company: Emerald Advisers Inc. PA purchased an additional 111,340 shares. It now owns 774,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,817,000. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust boosted its position by 149,669 shares. It now owns 772,639 shares valued at $8.8 million. Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD bought an additional 40,209 shares. It now owns 134,816 shares valued at $1,536,000. California State Teachers Retirement System purchased 1,613 shares during the period. It now owns 88,519 shares valued at $1,008,000. PGT Inc. (symbol: PGTI; recent price: $10.46) had $93 million in revenues in the fourth quarter.

TAMPA BAY

Kahwa Coffee to open 10th location As part of its celebration of its 10-year anniversary, Kahwa Coffee Roasting Co. has announced plans to open its 10th café. The new café, at 2919 W. Bay Drive, Belleair Bluffs, will be Kahwa’s first Pinellas County location outside of St. Petersburg, a statement says. It is expected to open in late April. Kahwa Coffee has four cafes in St. Petersburg, four in Tampa and one in Sarasota. It also has a mobile storefront called the Kahwagon. In addition to its retail locations, Kahwa is distributed in nearly 500 restaurants and five-star hotels nationwide.

Insurance company expands to Georgia Heritage Property and Casualty Co., a subsidiary of Clearwater-based Heritage Insurance Holdings, has been approved by the Georgia Office of Insurance Regulation to write property and casualty policies in the state. Georgia is the sixth state Heritage P&C has been approved to write insurance in, a statement says. The firm also writes policies in Florida and North Carolina and has been approved in South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi. Zephyr Insurance Co., another subsidiary of Heritage, writes policies in Hawaii. Heritage Insurance Holdings writes more than $590 million of personal and commercial residential premiums.

MARKET POTENTIAL The clients Mobile Physician Services treats and works with usually are 65 or older and often have complex illnesses. In Florida, this is a large pool of potential clients. Here’s a glance at the number of people, in some of the counties the firm is licensed to work in, that would qualify for homebound care. On a statewide basis, the firm says nearly 1 million people qualify for homebound care. Patients

County Hillsborough

42,012

Pinellas

47,660

Pasco

28,672

Sarasota

34,635 987,207

Florida

SOURCE: MOBILE PHYSICIAN SERVICES

Quality Assurance recently recognized it as a Patient Centered Medical Home, which “makes a health care organization responsible for the total needs of a patient,” Turner says. Only a few house-call firms nationwide received the recognition, but it’s fitting with the high quality of service for which MPS wants to be known. Wacksman and Turner hope they can continue their expansion and eventually break into new states like New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. But serving Florida is their first focus. “I have worries about Miami,” Wacksman says.

events

APRIL 26

RURAL LANDS: Collier County officials will discuss future development on 77,000 acres called the rural fringe east of Collier Boulevard and north of U.S. 41. The meeting will take place at South Regional Library, 8065 Lely Cultural Blvd., Naples. There is no cost. For more information, visit colliergov.net/gmprestudies.

APRIL 28 HOUSING ECONOMICS: Douglas Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist for Fannie Mae, will discuss current housing economics at a meeting of the Global Interdependence Center from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at New College of Florida’s Mildred Sainer Pavilion, 5313 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota. Cost is $20. Register at donate.ncf.edu/ events. ARGUS DINNER: Meet government officials at the Argus Foundation’s Low Country Boil. The all-you-can-eat event will begin at 5:30 p.m. at Sarasota Outboard Club, 1604 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota. Cost is $90 for members and $100 for others. Register at argusfoundation.org. CITY PLANNING: CityWorks(X) po Florida will bring together professionals and government officials from across the state to discuss ideas for city planning. The two-day event will take place at Heartland Church, 225 Ave. B. N.W., Winter Haven. Cost is $195 per person. Register at cityworksxpofl.com. LAKE RELEASES: Jonathan Steverson, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, will address the Chamber of Southwest Florida on the topic of water releases from Lake Okeechobee. The meeting will be held at the Crowne Plaza, 13051 Bell Tower Drive, Fort Myers, from 7:30 a.m. until 1:15 p.m. Cost is $60 for members and $70 for others. Register at chamberswfl.com.

MAY 5 GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS: John Hale III, director of small and disadvantaged business utilization at the U.S. Department of Energy, will be a keynote speaker at the annual government small business conference. The meeting is hosted by the Small Business Development Center at the University of South Florida. The meeting will last from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Tampa Westshore, 700 N. Westshore Blvd., Tampa. Cost is $225. Register at sbdctampabay.com/govcon2016.

MAY 6 JABIL KEYNOTE: Jabil’s Mudit Bajaj, vice president of advanced analytics solutions, and Ross Valentine, director of solution innovation, will discuss supply chains at the International Town Hall event at Port Tampa Bay. The meeting is organized by the Tampa Bay Export Alliance and will last from 7:30 a.m. until 10 a.m. at Cruise Terminal Two, 651 Channelside Drive, Tampa. Cost is $45 per person. Register at tampabayexportalliance.com.

commercial real estate

BUSINESS OBSERVER | APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

BusinessObserverFL.com

Being David Mid-sized brokerage firms are finding unique ways to battle the Gulf Coast area industry giants.

hen commercial real estate brokerages DTZ and Cushman & Wakef ield pa ired up last summer, officials from both firms — as well as their competition — touted the idea that consolidation provided a platform to better compete in today’s environment. But in the wake of that $2 billion merger aimed at competing better against rival giants CBRE and JLL, further consolidation in the industry not only hasn’t occurred along the Gulf Coast, but mid-sized brokerage firms here have held fast to their independence. Moreover, companies like Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, AvisonYoung, Frank lin Street, Colliers International and Sperry Van Ness maintain that their size provides them with a tactical advantage when it comes to focusing on clients and serving their needs. “Clients generally have one commonality,” says Pike Rowley, managing director of Florida operations for Avison Young, a Canadian-based commercial brokerage that maintains seven offices with 65 agents in the state. “They want to know if they’re going to be a priority. We’ve been very deliberate and strategic about our current and intended size,” he adds. “We’re not striving to be CBRE or JLL. We’re a mid-sized firm, but we pride ourselves on having a sophistication level that’s as good as anyone.” Frank lin Street and New mark Grubb, meanwhile, says they’ve differentiated themselves by going after unique lines of business, such as property insurance, and by incentivizing agents to be more entrepreneurial while also being client-centric. “We’re not focused on getting transactions done,” says Franklin Street Real Estate and Management Ser v ices President Kurt Keaton. “We’re in this to solve whatever problem you as a client might have.” To do that, Franklin Street holds weekly training sessions with its agents to keep them up on technology, the latest business trends and to hone their real estate skills. The largest firms, too, smaller brokerages say, can be weighed down by bureaucracy and by a focus that is almost exclusively on multinational companies and Fortune 500 firms. The combined Cushman & Wakefield, for instance, is expected to generate about $5 billion annually in revenue this year, while managing more than 4 billion square feet of commercial space. In Tampa, the firm has 50 real estate agents and 120 professionals. Officials there and at JLL and CBRE, however, contend that rather than being a liability, their larger size allows them to better integrate a variety of services on a larger platform. In some cases, the very structure of some mid-sized brokerage firms has been altered from a traditional model to attract and retain talent, which they say is key to success in today’s environment. New ma rk Gr ubb a nd Av ison

MARK WEMPLE

Colliers International Tampa Bay, Central Florida and Southwest Florida President RYAN KRATZ says his firm competes with larger rivals like CBRE and JLL by empowering agents to work collaboratively and by maintaining the latest in technology and intellectual databases. Young, for instance, both provide agents with the ability to own stock in their respective privately held companies. “We’re all moving in the same direction,” says Newmark Grubb Senior Managing Director Rick Narkiewicz. “We’ve adopted a player/coach model here and eliminated layers of management. For us, it all boils down to the culture we’re developing here and our people.” To demonstrate how its model is working, Narkiewicz says last year Newmark Grubb’s nine Tampa-based agents generated transactional volume of $553 million. Likewise, agent collaboration, an entrepreneurial mindset and technological have set Colliers International Tampa Bay, Central Florida and Southwest Florida apart, says president Ryan Kratz. “The business has changed a lot in the past five years. There’s so much data to be had now, and it’s everywhere, so what we’ve focused on is the humanization of the business. To succeed now, talent and resources combined is what it takes.” Not that Colliers International, which is part of a global network of more than 500 offices in 67 countries, hasn’t also focused on technological prowess. Kratz says agents there have married local knowledge with that of emerging, worldwide trends in business and real estate to effectively differentiate the firm.

We’ve been very deliberate and strategic about our current and intended size. Pike Rowley | Avison Young managing director, Florida

And while the regional affiliate was sold to Colliers International’s corporate parent in January, the Gulf Coast firm remains autonomous — independence that allows it to make swifter decisions for clients. “Bigger companies tend to chase bigger deals, but that means there’s still a lot of business to be done by mid-sized firms in mid-sized markets,” says Ray Sandelli, a former top CBRE executive for Florida who is now managing director of CRE Consultants, a firm that maintains offices in Fort Myers and Naples. Avison Young’s Rowley takes that idea a step further. “A lot of consolidation in the (real estate) services industry today is happening purely as a return on investment driver for passive investors,” he says. “We started with an architecture that’s the exact opposite of that. Ours is a totally different mindset. “The larger firms tend to generate business differently. Our agents generate on the ground, whereas the larger companies have business development of f icers who generate business and then hand it off to agents. We eliminated all those middlemen. Our agents have a direct role with the client, and we think that makes them a little more accountable.” Rowley says, too, that that structure is also more lucrative for the agents in its 75 offices. – K.L. McQuaid

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

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Leases

BY K.L. MCQUAID | COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE EDITOR

national Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute subcommittees. Do you see anything that could curtail the current commercial real estate growth in Southwest Florida? In Charlotte County, where I am based and my expertise lies, the commercial real estate sector has a lot of positive momentum. I base that on recent figures that show increased absorption of space, declining vacancies and increased sales, especially of (residential) condominiums and retail and office spaces. And in a few property-specific sectors, there’s been some nice appreciation in the past two to three years, especially.

MARYANN MIZE Senior VP and Senior Credit Officer, Charlotte State Bank and Trust, Murdock Maryann Mize has been with Charlotte State Bank and Trust, one of Charlotte County and Southwest Florida’s leading commercial real estate lenders, for 26 years. She is responsible for overseeing the bank’s commercial lending operations. In addition to her knowledge of banking, Mize also is CCIM certified, a prestigious designation earned by fewer than 10% of all commercial real estate professionals. In 2008, she began teaching CCIM classes, giving her added insight into commercial real estate trends. Today, she also serves on

Why do you think there hasn’t been a tremendous amount of office development in Southwest Florida this cycle, amid the residential growth? In Charlotte County specifically, but really throughout much of the region here, we’re still in an absorption phase, the result of overbuilding and frothiness from a decade ago, when more new product came to market than could be absorbed. As such, there are still a lot of good bargains out there, and very little justification for new construction. How does this cycle differ from the extended growth period of a decade ago? I think, and hopefully this is true, that stakeholders learned some valuable lessons from the Great Recession. A decade ago, for instance, the commercial real estate market here and elsewhere had a lot of speculative building, in all

transactions | DEEDS/MORTGAGES The following real estate transactions more than $1 million were filed in Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota county courthouses. The information lists the seller, buyer, amount of sale, previous price and date, mortgage and lender, if available, address and book and page of the document. CHARLOTTE NONE COLLIER Buyer: The Moorings Inc. Seller: HCC MP LLC Address: Naples Property Type: Vacant land Price: $38,422,359.86 Buyer: Fast Forward Fitness LLC Seller: ACN Holdings LLC Address: 6800 Golden Gate Parkway, Naples Property Type: Commercial building Price: $7,982,500 Previous Price: $1,000,000, March 2004 Buyer: Puglisi Family Limited Partnership Seller: 6631 Dudley Drive LLC Address 6631 Dudley Drive, Naples Property Type: Restaurants Price: $3,150,000 Previous Price: $2,000,000, March 2010 HILLSBOROUGH Buyer: Tampa Oaks Office Center LLC Seller: Opus Real Estate FL VII TO2 LLC Address: 12906 Tampa Oaks Blvd., Temple Terrace Property Type: Office building Price: $12,944,000 Previous Price: $1,655,100, November 2002 Buyer: Brandon Apartments LLC Seller: 301 and Bloomingdale LLC Address: 3333 W. Kennedy Blvd., Suite 206, Tampa Property Type: Commercial use Price: $3,840,000

different product types. There was a lot of new office space that came out of the ground, as I mentioned before. And of course, there were a lot of single-family homes that were built, too, which seeds commercial development. Charlotte County first noticed the green shoots of recovery in 2012. What’s the biggest change in commercial real estate financing that you’ve witnessed in recent years? I think the biggest change to underwriting is found in the fact that there are still bargains to be had out there. That underpins everything else, from finance to construction. You can still buy at prices that are much lower than the cost to build, and that influences financing decisions. There’s been considerable attention paid to the role of non-traditional lenders in this cycle. How are lenders like Charlotte State competing in that new environment? There have always been non-traditional lenders in the market, but because there are billions of dollars being allocated annually by foreign and domestic investors to commercial real estate, I think lenders like community banks will always get a share of that pie. They will always have a big role to play, because of the fact that they can often do more creative financing, community banks typically have superior local market knowledge and they can make swifter decisions and have faster closings. And non-traditional lenders often don’t have an appetite for all sectors or geographic markets.

BY STEVEN BENNA | STAFF WRITER

Buyer: Lennar Homes LLC Seller: 301 Tampa LLC Address: Dover Road, Dover Property Type: Vacant land Price: $2,748,000 Previous Price: $1,104,000, March 2013 LEE Buyer: National retail Properties LP Seller: BJ Cape Coral Portfolio LP Address: 1929 N.E. Pine Island Road, Cape Coral Property Type: Department store Price: $18,290,000 Previous Price: $17,700,000, September 2005 Buyer: South Winds Limited Partnership Seller: Quail West Holdings LLC Address: 5891 Burnham Road, Naples Property Type: Residential land Price: $1,693,775 Previous Price: $449,990, February 2013 MANATEE Buyer: Centre Court Harmony Housing LLC Seller: Centre Court on 53rd Ltd. Address: 4255 W. 52nd Place, Bradenton Property Type: Apartment units Price: $12,250,000 Previous Price: $1,245,000, February 2000 Buyer: Bradenton Hotel Investment LLC Seller: BW Hotels LLC Address: 648 E. 67th St. Circle, Bradenton Property Type: Hotel Price: $2,900,000 Previous Price: $4,020,000, November 2015 PASCO Buyer: A.V. Automotive Inc. Seller: Gunn Highway Holdings LLC Address: 1900 Gunn Highway, Odessa Property Type: Office building Price: $1,375,000 Previous Price: $1,390,000, September 2011 Buyer: F&H Electrical Contractors Inc. Seller: John David Jones Address: 7325 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Land

O’ Lakes Property Type: Store Price: $1,000,000 Previous Price: $2,060,000, March 2007 PINELLAS Buyer: Madison Place Clearwater LLC Seller: RH MacArthur Park LLC Address: 2690 Drew St., Clearwater Property Type: Apartment units Price: $35,600,000 Previous Price: $21,500,000, April 2013 Buyer: The Housing Authority of the City of St. Petersburg, Florida Seller: Wallysburg Apartment Inc. Address: 5006 First St. N., St. Petersburg Property Type: Condo conversion Price: $1,750,000 Buyer: Surface Engineering & Alloy Company Inc. Seller: Heritage Property Investments LLC Address: 2880 46th Ave. N., St. Petersburg Property Type: Manufacturing plant Price: $1,115,000 Previous Price: $580,000, October 2003 POLK NONE SARASOTA Buyer: Sarasota Military Academy Inc. Seller: SMA Prep LLC Address: 3101 Bethel Lane, Sarasota Property Type: School Price: $7,419,204.94 Previous Price: $710,000, January 2014 Buyer: BC School Ave LLC Seller: Sun Center Village LLC Address: 41 School Ave., Sarasota Property Type: Commercial use Price: $2,250,000 Previous Price: $1,442,000, May 2014 Buyer: Summerplace at Sarasota LLC Seller: Sarasota GC Land 2014 LLC Address: Sarasota Property Type: Residential land Price: $1,200,000

TAMPA BAY ¡¡ TRAK Microwave leased 117,000 square feet of space at 4726 Eisenhower Blvd., Tampa from The Chew Family Trust LLC. Clay Wommack of Franklin Street handled the transaction. ¡¡ Shane McNocols leased 1,500 square feet of space at 5555 W. Linebaugh Ave., Tampa from Real Capital Holdings. Dennis P. Bush of RMC of Ross Realty negotiated the transaction. SARASOTA-MANATEE ¡¡ Go Touch Down Travel & Tours Inc. leased 4,831 square feet of office space at 1 S. School Ave., Suite 400, Sarasota from Sarasota Sun Center LLC. Amy MacDougall and Jag Grewal of Ian Black Real Estate represented the tenant. Melissa Harris and Ian Black of Ian Black Real Estate represented the landlord. ¡¡ Michigan Commercial Insurance Mutual Corp. leased 9,583 square feet of office space at 6948 Professional Parkway E., Sarasota from Lakewood Investment Partnership. Peter Bartys of Sperry Van Ness and Melissa Harris of Ian Black Real Estate negotiated the transaction. ¡¡ TLC Engineering for Architecture Inc. leased 3,112 square feet of office space at 6371 Business Blvd., Suite 108, Sarasota from LWR Equity Holdings. Melissa Harris of Ian Black Real Estate handled the transaction. CHARLOTTE-LEE-COLLIER ¡¡ The United Group leased 2,170 square feet of retail space at 27180 Bay Landing Drive, Suite 6, Bonita Springs from Thies Pickenpack. Bill Young and Biagio Bernard of CRE Consultants handled the transaction. ¡¡ Charlotte Sewing Studio Inc. leased 10,000 square feet of retail space at 1109 Tamiami Trail, Units 1 and 2, Port Charlotte from Trojan electronic Supply Co. Inc. Ron Struthers and Natalie Rodriguez of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT handled the transaction. ¡¡ Buffalo Wings and Rings leased 6,500 square feet of retail space on South Cleveland Avenue, Fort Myers from 2010 Palm Pointe Limited. Tod Whipple and Mike COncilla of Equity Inc. negotiated the transaction. To submit leases for publication, email Steven Benna at sbenna@businessobserverfl. com

18 marketspotlight |

BUSINESS OBSERVER | APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016

BusinessObserverFL.com

BY K.L. MCQUAID | COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE EDITOR

Lee County Industrial Market L

ee County’s industrial market, which consists of roughly 2,170 buildings totaling 30.55 million square feet of space in Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, the city of Fort Myers, Estero, Lehigh, North and South Fort Myers and its islands, had an overall vacancy rate of 5.8% at the end of the first quarter of this year. That rate compared with 12.7% overall vacancy in the second quarter of 2012, according to CoStar Group data. In another sign of market recovery, Lee County also has two buildings under construction, totaling 223,943 square feet. Both projects are fully leased, according to CoStar.

COURTESY

Built in 2007, the Veronica Business Park is a flex project representative of the industrial space that has become popular in Fort Myers. The 27,964-square-foot building, at 4331 Veronica S. Shoemaker Blvd., consists of 16 individual condominium units for sale with 18-foot clear ceiling height. The property is being marketed by Lee & Associates, a Fort Myers-based commercial real estate brokerage firm.

$6.30

$6.68

4.7%

835

92,164

114,337

Rental rates per square foot in the county as of March 31, vs. $5.02 per square foot for the same space four years ago.

Average rental rate for all industrial supply in the three-county area that comprises Southwest Florida.

Vacancy rate as of March 31 for all industrial product in Southwest Florida, which CoStar defines as Charlotte, Collier and Lee counties. Ending 2009, the rate was 14%.

Number of industrial buildings in the South Fort Myers/San Carlos submarket, the largest of Lee County’s eight submarkets.

Square footage of the largest industrial lease signed in the first quarter of 2016, a renewal by FedEx at 2670 Colonial Blvd., in South Fort Myers.

Amount of industrial square footage absorbed in the first quarter in Southwest Florida. For the final quarter of 2015, the figure was 715,051.

SOURCE: COSTAR GROUP, AS OF MARCH 31

CoffeeTalk From struggle to success There was a time when Brandon Phillips had so little money he had to choose between filling his car with gasoline to visit a prospective client or buying food for dinner. He picked the gas. Phillips, founder of Fort Myers-based Global HR Research, PHILLIPS which provides employee background screening for businesses, including Fortune 500 companies, sold his company last year for $42 million to Patriot National. Phillips recounted the struggle to build the company during a recent Founder’s Talk organized by Tamiami Angel Funds in Naples. Speaking to the group of investors and entrepreneurs, Phillips talked about his humble origins as the child of a single mother. Through perseverance and determination, Phillips started and grew Global HR from a tiny startup in a 150-square-foot office. He remains president and CEO. Global HR’s first customer was developer Bonita Bay Group, and soon the company landed contracts with bigger clients, including hospital giant Health Management Associates. “It was enough to keep the doors open,” Phillips says. To grow the company, Phillips sold a majority stake to Austin Shanfelter, former CEO and president of Miami contracting giant Mas-Tec. The move echoed a theme throughout the presentation: “I couldn’t have done it on my own,” says Phillips.

FROM PAGE 5

Shift work gets a lift The gig economy is making shift work cool — at least it’s trying to. And a Chicago-based company that aims to capitalize on the trend, Shiftgig, recently expanded to the Gulf Coast with an office in Tampa. The Shiftgig model is to connect businesses, mostly in hospitality and retail, with people who seek ondemand temp jobs. Shiftgig does the matchmaking through a mobile app. Businesses can post open shifts on the app, and employees, vetted by Shiftgig, scroll through and pick the ones they want. When a shift is filled, the company sends the employer a picture, and a ratings sheet of the shiftfiller. “We have made short-term job assignments much easier,” says Laura Turner, a 17-year recruiting industry veteran hired to run the Tampa office. “This really fits into TURNER the gig economy.” Turner tells Coffee Talk Shiftgig has been well received in Tampa, and early clients include Steinbrenner Field and Raymond James Stadium for baseball games and concerts. Yet the gig economy hype might be overrated, so far. Two recent studies, one from the JPMorgan Chase Institute and one from researchers at Harvard and Princeton, according to the Wall Street Journal, report online gigs are mostly connected to one company: Uber. Shiftgig is undeterred. The Tampa office has set up 200 employees,

people it calls specialists, for gigs in its first two months in town. It hopes to set up shifts for at least another 800 specialists in the next four months.

Tap the expert In Florida, the politics of water are as complicated as the system of canals and dikes that control flooding south of Orlando. Fortunately, you can now hire a guide to wade through that swamp. Dan DeLisi recently returned to private practice from his stint as chief of staff for the South Florida Water Management District. DeLisi, now president of DeLisi Land Use Planning & Water Policy in Wellington, is familiar to many business people in Southwest Florida. He represented Bonita Springs-based developer Bonita Bay Group during the housing boom years and founded an engineering firm in Fort Myers in 2006. As the high-profile water district’s chief of staff, DeLisi oversaw external affairs, real estate acquisitions and legislative affairs for a government organization with 1,500 employees and an annual budget of $720 million. Lately, DeLisi has been speaking with community organizations in the Fort Myers area about the impact of excessive rain in January on Lake Okeechobee and water flows down the Caloosahatchee River. He’s sought out for his expertise as an engineer and an understanding of government workings. As a lunch meeting of the Real Estate Investment Society in Fort Myers recently, DeLisi praised State Rep. Matt

Get on the best list The Gulf Coast 500, which the Business Observer will publish this summer, is the most comprehensive look at the largest companies in the region. Rankings include top revenues, fastest-growing, largest employers and women-owned businesses. Rankings will also be broken down by industry. The 2106 edition will be revamped from previous years, and include detailed looks at how and why some of these companies are so successful. For readers, it’s a don’t-miss issue. For companies, the issue represents a sought after spot to highlight sustainable success. Now’s the chance to get in the issue: The deadline is April 29. For more information email Jean Gruss at jgruss@businessobserverfl.com or follow this link to apply: http://www.businessobserverfl.com/section/detail/ gulf-coast-500-2016/

Caldwell, R-North Fort Myers, and State Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers. He lauded the legislators for their support of the construction of a giant reservoir in Hendry County, east of Fort Myers. The reservoir will help store water during the rainy season so managers can release it during the dry season when it’s needed. “It’s a very big deal,” DeLisi says.

APRIL 22 – APRIL 28, 2016 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

COMMENT from page 3 The common refrain about being in the House is: “You can’t get anything done” — a belief that Detert rejects and one that irritates her “because they pass that culture on” from one class to the next. The Senate, on the other hand, avoids the top-down culture. Richter offers a simple mathematical explanation: “80,” he says. That’s the difference between the number of House and Senate members — 120 to 40. There are far fewer opinions with which to contend. “There is more ownership and independence in the Senate than in the House,” Richter says. Detert explains it less diplomatically: “We’re all grownups. You don’t whip senators. It’s very businesslike. Many of the members have been House members, and they’ve matured. The senators who are not politicians have done things in business or for their communities. There’s more respect. And the culture is to work things out in advance.” The effects of term limits. Detert and Richter believe eight-year limits have demonstrative negative effects. Detert attributes the House’s culture of power seekers to term limits. She and Richter also echo the common belief that term limits have increased lawmakers’ reliance on their staffs and lobbyists. Those groups have the institutional memory. But don’t interpret that as confirmation that the legislative staffs and lobbyists run Tallahassee. Detert and Richter say that’s a myth. In fact, both senators give high marks to the competence and commitment of their staffs. Detert says many people have lost faith in government. But ever since she has been in the Legislature, she has conducted her own poll among new lawmakers on their opinion of state government after they’ve seen it action a while. “One-hundred percent say it runs better than they thought,” Detert says. “They’re not deadbeat bureaucrats. They’re hard-working people who care.” In Richter’s farewell speech to the Senate, the first people he mentioned and praised were his Tallahassee staff members — “friends that I hold in the highest esteem … compassionate, dependable, caring, smart, hardworking and humble.” Their views of lobbyists are similarly sanguine. “Lobbyists are a platform to present

KNOW YOUR BASIC CIVICS If you think you need help from the Legislature to change an existing law or adopt a new one, Sen. Nancy Detert offers the following advice: 1) Know your basic civics. “I’m not in charge of Roe v. Wade,” she says. “Or Social Security or Obamacare. And I’m not your personal lawyer.” 2) Call your legislator if you need help. Don’t send canned or group emails. Personal, direct calls make a difference. 3) Don’t wait until session starts. By then, it’s too late. Start on your issue immediately after a session ends or during the summer. 4) Call and visit all of the senators and representatives in your region. Be ready to outline your issue. Propose a solution. 5) Work with the lawmakers through the summer and into the session. 6) Be patient. Says Detert: “Sometimes the simplest things take four years.”

information and facts,” Richter says. “The pros and cons, why for and why against. They’re presenting the best cases of each side. It’s up to you to make up your mind.” Detert looked at lobbyists simply as marketing representatives, making their case to make a sale, “just doing their job.” She listened to all of them — “unless they lied; then they weren’t allowed in my office anymore.” If Detert and Richter had their way, they would extend lawmakers’ terms to 12 years. The media. “They love to stir it up,” Richter says. Still, he concedes: They “absolutely” influence the course of the Legislature. Predictably, Detert is more direct and less complimentary. She has watched the media deteriorate over the years. “Everything is now a ‘narrative,’ she says, imitating quote marks. “That’s just spin. They’re no longer reporting straight facts.” Detert says the 24-hour news cycle contributes to the dumbing down of reporting. She notes: “You can’t have good government without having good media.” Their signature legislative accomplishment. For Richter, it was insurance. By 2007, the state-owned, taxpayerbacked Citizens Property Insurance Corp. had grown to 1 million policies and $500 trillion in property exposure. Through a series of Richter- and Rep. Nelson Bryan-led legislative changes — and help from Mother Nature — Citizens reduced a proliferation of sinkhole fraud claims and sold off and shifted more than 500,000 policies to the private sector. Citizens’ exposure is now below $200 trillion, and, Richter says, the legislation helped remove a potential $12 billion assessment from Florida taxpayers. Detert calls her signature legislation her “obituary bill” — the Nancy C. Detert Common Sense and Compassion Independent Living Act. It started in 2002 when she was in the House. A teen-age girl from Charlotte County walked into Detert’s Tallahassee office on Foster Care Day. At the time, Detert was chair of the House Committee on Children and Family Services. The girl was brutally direct. “Why does the state of Florida keep screwing up my life?” she asked Detert. “You’re spending all this money, and you’re not helping me.” Says Detert: “She was like, ‘Fix it.’” For the next two hours, Detert’s staff took notes. And so began an 11-year legislative journey. In 2002, Detert’s first foster care bill became law, limiting how many times a child could be moved. By 2013, the Legislature and governor adopted reforms that, most significantly, shifted a broken system from a relationship between a foster child and a state caseworker to one between the foster child and foster family. This was so groundbreaking that Congress asked Detert to go to Washington and explain it, after which Congress adopted the reforms federally. That was also the same year Florida extended foster care services up to age 21, from 18 — no longer leaving 18-year-olds to fend for themselves. “Just that was worth being in the Senate,” Detert says.

BusinessObserverFL.com

FATHERLY & LEGISLATIVE ADVICE LESSONS FROM RICHTER’S FATHER

ADVICE FOR ASPIRING LAWMAKERS

The following is an excerpt from Sen. Garrett Richter’s farewell to the Senate: “As I reflect on the past 10 years, I’m also reflecting back over my lifetime to various meaningful pieces of advice I got from my father. Early on, Dad told me that above all, ‘be true unto yourself.’… He told me that I didn’t have a good enough memory to lie. “When I got my first job out of high school, a janitor at Mellon Bank, my Dad told me to ‘dress for the job you want, not the job you have.’ When I returned home from Vietnam, my Dad told me that the windshield is 100 times larger than the rear-view mirror. He was proud of my military service, but he let me know the future was in front of me, not behind me. He suggested that I glance into the rear-view mirror from time to time to see where I’ve been, but he encouraged me to focus on the windshield. “And finally, he told me that a great recipe for life is to “Learn, Earn and Return.”

In 2006, soon after Garrett Richter and his partner, Gary Tice, sold their first Naples bank, First National Bank of Florida, Richter received encouragement to seek election to the Legislature. He visited two friends in Tallahassee, Cliff and Lee Hinkle, long-time veterans and observers of the Tallahassee legislative scene. Cliff Hinkle, now deceased, gave Richter two pieces of advice: 1) “There are only two reasons people want to be a legislator. They want to be something. Or they want to do something. “If you want to be something, go home and rethink this.” 2) “If you want to do something and get elected, don’t drink the Kool-Aid.” Or, don’t let your position inflate your ego. Richter says he managed to stay off the Kool-Aid “most of the time,” thanks almost entirely to the fact his wife, Diana, was able to live with him in Tallahassee during the sessions. Says Richter: “She provided me good counsel.”

GARRETT RICHTER, R-NAPLES

ED CLEMENT

NANCY DETERT, R-SARASOTA

If they had a magic wand. Richter: “I don’t see a critical need to change anything.” Detert: “Regardless of legalities and if I were the queen, I’d eliminate dark money.” It’s ridiculous, she says, that an individual can give you $500 for a campaign, but individuals and organizations can contribute, say, $50,000 or more to Florida’s seven other types of campaign funding committees and organizations. Says Detert: “It’s becoming pay to play.” FILE PHOTO

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