2013 Start Ups by Kat Hughes

GULF COAST

JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

Business Review

THREE DollarS

COLUMN ON PAGE 15

Make your priorities

TO WATCH in 2013

Time management is the key to achieving goals. So why are we so bad at it?

PAGES 5 – 12 New companies ready to have a breakthrough year. Companies • Trends • Entrepreneurs • CEOs

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Crazy Chins’ products may be silly, but its model is all business. PAGE 10

Mark Wemple

review & comment

The word for America in 2013: Freedom lost in the minds of the American electorate and barely taught in the generations behind us. Sure, out of the 127 million votes cast last November for a presidential candidate, you almost could expect 127 million different reasons why each voter selected the candidate he did. And while the following may be presumptuous, it also is correct to conclude that 50% of the Americans who voted in last year’s presidential election clearly did not make freedom their top priority

when they cast their vote for Barack Obama. If they truly believed in embracing and defending the principles that our nation’s founders inscribed and adopted in the U.S. Constitution, the outcome would have been far different. Freedom for the individual is nowhere to be found in Barack Obama’s philosophy. This is not to devolve into a harangue against Obama. Rather, it’s to make the case that among the primary reasons the United

States is an unstoppable train chugging down “The Road to Serfdom” toward the Europeanization of America (i.e. bankruptcy), is because too few people are advancing and too few people are living the cause for freedom — especially economic freedom. How many times, for instance, did you ever hear Barack Obama or Mitt Romney even say the word “freedom” or “liberty” in their cam-

See COMMENT on page 19

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MATT WALSH

Happy New Year. The word for 2013 is “freedom.” Economic freedom. Personal freedom. Freedom. We have a tradition. Each year on New Year’s Eve, we announce at a family gathering our word for the year — the one word that describes how we are going to focus our lives during the New Year. In our humble view, all of America should adopt the word “freedom.” It is becoming increasingly lost in American culture and certainly

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COFFEE TALK C1 Bank is moving on after scuttling its planned high-profile merger with Miamibased U.S. Century Bank. Instead, C1 is preparing to put its name on a U.S. Century branch located on prestigious Brickell Avenue in Miami, and it has been busy interviewing lenders. “We’ve always had a Plan B,” says C1 Bank CEO Trevor Burgess. Under the new plan, for now, the St. Petersburgbased bank will focus on growing by making loans, rather than through acquisition. Burgess opted not to proceed with the merger, which would have more than doubled C1’s $900 million assets, because certain conditions weren’t able to be fulfilled in a timely way. “I made the decision,” he tells Coffee Talk. “I chose to withdraw my application with the FDIC.” He says he believes FDIC would have approved the merger. In the meantime, C1 is expanding in St. Petersburg. “We’re desperately in need of more space,” says Burgess. “We’re hiring every day.” As it moves into the Miami market, the hiring pace will increase. “We’re going to need compliance people, credit people, and operations people,” he says. By late 2013, an estimated 115 people will work at the headquarters, up from about 85 now. As for a Plan B merger, Burgess has held early-stage talks with a couple of banks— nothing concrete. “I’ve always got a list of 10 banks that I’m looking at.”

+ Real estate agent closes 2012 in a blur Looming tax changes for 2013 meant many Gulf Coast real estate dealmakers had super-busy Decembers. Take Cheryl Loeffler, a 25-year residential real estate veteran. Loeffler, with the Sarasota office of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, says the last month of 2012 was a flurry of activity. In fact, Loeffler juggled six pending sales of properties less than a week before Christmas, from a downtown Sarasota condo to a home on Anna Maria Island. All the buyers, Loeffler tells Coffee Talk, sought to close the deals by Dec. 31. Many of the sellers, added Loeffler, wanted to close by the end of the year to avoid paying more in capital gains taxes in 2013. The value of the properties being sold, Loeffler says, ranged from $1.9 million to $4.4 million — so some big commissions were at stake. “It’s been a challenge,” says

Ray Sandelli joins CRE Raymond Sandelli is well recognized in commercial real estate circles across Florida, so it was big news when he joined an entrepreneurial firm in Fort Myers. Most recently, Sandelli was senior managing director of commercial brokerage CBRE’s statewide operations from 2000 to 2006 and the firm’s recovery and restructuring operations Sandelli until 2012. He joined CBRE (formerly known as CB Richard Ellis) in Tampa in 1995 as managing director. Now, Sandelli has joined Fort Myers-based CRE Consultants as the managing partner of the commercial brokerage firm. He will oversee the company’s offices in Fort Myers, Naples and Stuart. “His knowledge and leadership in the industry throughout Florida, and across other U.S. markets for that matter, are incredible,” says Randal Mercer, a CRE Consultants founder and partner, in a statement. “What a great addition to our team and another benefit for our clients and future clients.” In addition to his successful career in commercial real estate, Sandelli served a tour as a member of the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy’s Flight Demonstration team. Sandelli served as an aircraft carrier aviator and flight instructor. Loeffler, “but an interesting challenge.” The hurdles to a final close weren’t out of the ordinary, with issues like title typos and inspection questions. But the accelerated time frame was certainly unique. “It’s been a long time since the boom days,” says Loeffler, “when I had this much work in this short a period of time.”

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+ Hoteliers continue discounts Hotel occupancies in Lee County continue to rise, but hoteliers are still aggressive with the rates that drive heads in beds. Data from Smith Travel Research

See COFFEE TALK page 4

ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT

building investment september business investment ($ in millions)

Annual Area Building Change Naples $33.7 20.5% Cape Coral-Fort Myers $56.2 14.6% Sarasota-Bradenton $53 12.3% Tampa-St. Petersburg $184 8.3% Punta Gorda $10.8 -7.1%

What it means: With the exception of Punta Gorda, building investment surged Source: Florida Legislature Office of Economic & Demographic Research in September on an annual percentage-change basis. Naples, Fort Myers and Sarasota exceeded the statewide increase of 9.4% Forecast: Residential homebuilders are busy and likely to sell more new homes by a healthy margin. In fact, Naples this year on the Gulf Coast. That means posted the strongest growth of any commercial construction isn’t far area in the state in September. The behind. Commercial building usually surprise drop in follows its residential cousin by about Punta Gorda is 18 months to two years. Anecdotally, likely an abercommercial builders are reporting ration. increased activity in areas ranging from health care to retailing. Barring unforeseen economic events, expect this trend to continue well into 2013.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

+ Hospital looks to future with new partnership January marks the beginning of a big shift in back-office operations at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. The nonprofit community hospital, one of the largest in the Sarasota-Bradenton region, recently signed a five-year strategic alliance with Clearwater-based BayCare Health System. The agreement calls for BayCare to use its leverage to help SMH with buying supplies and negotiating contracts. Most of the changes, says an SMH spokeswoman, will take place behind the scenes, with no transfer of assets or changes that affect patients or physician referrals. The agreement, further, isn’t a sale, lease or merger, says Sarasota County Public Hospital Board Chairman Dick Merritt.

+ ‘Lady Columbia’ sign lights up Ybor City

COFFEE TALK posted by the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau shows a slight dip in average daily room rate in October compared with the same month one year ago, suggesting competition among hoteliers remains surprisingly stiff despite sharply higher occupancies. In addition, the dip in October’s average daily rate of $98.47, less than a 1% drop from the same month a year ago, also shows how consumers remain price sensitive when it comes to making hotel reservations. Hoteliers always weigh rates with occupancy, trying to find the perfect balance. The function of those two numbers is revenue per available room, which rose 9.1% in October in Lee County to $47.99 compared with October 2011. That’s due solely to the fact that occupancies rose 4.2 percentage points to 48.7% in October.

The 806-bed hospital, with a $500 million operating budget, will remain an independent public medical facility governed by its nine-member elected board. “Sarasota Memorial is a valuable community asset, and this alliance will help ensure it stays exactly that,” Merritt says in a release. “We are not changing hands or the way we are governed — Sarasota Memorial will continue to operate for the benefit of Sarasota County citizens and remain committed to serving our community’s needs.” Still, the agreement is an indication SMH officials recognize the health care industry is going through seismic changes. “Although we’re very strong now,” says Merritt, “we have to look down the road five and 10 years from now.” BayCare operates 10 hospitals on the Gulf Coast. The list includes Mease Countryside, Mease Dunedin, Morton Plant and the St. Joseph’s system.

+ Capital gains threat drives commercial sales boom Commercial brokers couldn’t get much rest this holiday season and, compared with the prior lackluster activity since the real estate market decline, most are grateful for it. December is typically a strong month for sales, but commercial brokerages say last month’s transaction volume was larger than normal. Probably the biggest contributing factor was the real threat of higher capital gains taxes. This drove a flurry of 1031 tax-deferred exchanges, as investors looked to reduce their taxable income. At the same time, banks and special servicers continued to approach the end of the year with a renewed willingness to bargain on property prices to clear dis-

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Clearwater-based USAmeriBank bowed to history as it raised an 11-foot sign at its new Ybor City branch, housed in the former Columbia Bank building. The sign reflects the style of the Lady Columbia sign that graced the building in the ‘40s and ‘50s, complete with neon lights. The old Columbia Bank opened in Ybor City at the height of the Great Depression, in 1936, and managed to thrive in the neighborhood for decades. USAmeriBank chose the distinctive image rather than a standard bank sign because it fit the culture on Seventh Avenue, Shari Middleton, senior vice president and branch manager, tells Coffee Talk. “The Lady Columbia sign was such an iconic sign back in the day. That was always part of our thought process, to bring her back.” StudioMax Design, a Tampa-based design and advertising company, and Thomas Sign & Awning Co., a Clearwater sign manufacturer, collaborated on the sign for the Ybor site. But the sign is only part of the story. Inside, in additional touches with historical echoes, USAmeriBank installed tin tressed assets. “This year is the strongest year we’ve had since the crash in 2006, and December is the strongest month all year,” says Tony Veldkamp, managing director of Sperry Van Ness Commercial Advisory Group in Sarasota. “We’re probably doing 30% of our business for the year this month.” Lee Arnold, CEO of the Arnold Cos., which includes Colliers International Tampa Bay, says the increased transactions spurred sales-related businesses, such as engineers, consultants and appraisers, to charge premiums to meet the Dec. 31 deadline. Speaking on Dec. 20, Arnold said his brokerage’s December

S EL

GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW JANUARY 4 – january 10, 2013

ceilings and marble floors. The restoration, for which USAmeriBank CEO Joe Chillura was the driving force, was important to the bank’s strategy in embracing the community, says Middleton. And the community has responded in kind. Many residents and merchants in the district have joined the bank as customers since the branch opened in March. “Ever since Columbia Bank left, Ybor City has never had a community bank,” the branch manager says. But Middleton, too, has reason to appreciate local history. “My very first job was at the Columbia Restaurant. I used to wash, dry, and fold the table linen there,” she says. “My mother worked here in Ybor as a child, with my grandmother— so my roots are very deep in Ybor City, so I feel like I’m back home,” she notes. revenues were already up 25% from December 2011. “This dramatic increase in closing activity really started to accelerate after the elections,” he says. While the spillover of deals into January could be smaller than in past years, brokers are predicting another increase in sales this year over 2012. “It’s not going to be setting the world on fire,” says Greg Andretta of Andretta Properties in Tampa. “But compared to the ’09, ‘10 and ‘11 levels it may seem like the world’s on fire. People are starting to think about building buildings. It may not happen this year, but you’re at least going to start to see people drawing up plans.”

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By Jean Gruss | Editor/Lee-Collier

In the spirit of the New Year, we thought we’d bring you some new companies looking to make 2013 their year for growth & prosperity. We found a variety of businesses — from app inventors to commercial contractors — that have started in the past 12 months. Just like their companies, the startups’ challenges are unique. Some are looking for capital, while others are still fine tuning how they’ll market their products to boost sales. The statistics say half of all new businesses will fail in their first five years. But the new year is a time for optimism. These companies just might be ones to put on your watch list for the future.

Can you build a product in China without ever setting foot there? Just ask entrepreneur Simon Morris.

s a mortgage broker in Fort Myers, Simon Morris started using computer tablets to make presentations to clients. Today’s touch-screen devices are sometimes difficult to manage, especially with the cheap styli on the market today. “We just decided we could make a better model,” says Morris, who was discussing the problem with a former business partner. But Morris had no engineering knowledge and no contacts in manufacturing. He grew up in Cape Coral after his British parents settled in the area when he was 9 years old, earning a degree in education teaching special-needs children. He worked in sales for a few years for technology research firm Gartner in Fort Myers and then became a mortgage broker. “I’ve made it through the tough times,” he says. Morris was undeterred. He started by surfing the Internet on a site called Alibaba.com, a business-to-business website that connects buyers and manufacturers globally. While searching for stylus manufacturers on the website, Morris started an online conversation with someone named Sunnie. “I don’t know if it’s a Ed Clement man or a woman,” Morris chuckles. In fact, Morris doesn’t even know the per- Simon Morris balances the iAM Digit on his finger. The double-tipped, magnetic stylus is son’s last name, except that the person designed for tablets and smart phones. is Chinese and has connections with manuFOR STARTERS facturers of styli in Name: iAM-Innovations Shenzhen, near Hong Kong. Founders/owners: Simon Morris The first prototype of When founded: May 21 what would be called Initial investment: $10,000 iAM Digit cost $300. “I Sales: Not disclosed it could stick to the months, Morris says he’s sold about 180 wired the funds into an Fun fact: Simon Morris only Apple SmartCover iAM Digit styli, all through his website: HSBC Bank account,” knows his Chinese contact by one for iPads. None of iamstylus.com. Each one costs $29.99. Morris says. “By then I name, Sunnie. his competitors has Morris says he’s explored selling them was pretty sure we’d get those attributes, he through other means, such as retailers, something back.” says; “They didn’t but he hasn’t lined up any deals yet. He’s Fact is, the Chinese also handed them out to bloggers who contact wanted to know that Morris feel like a natural writing instrument.” It took about a year to get the design review products for online publications was legitimate too, he says. “They took a right, Morris says. That included a delay such as 9to5 Mac and has earned some chance on us,” he says. To get the design right, Morris says he when Apple changed the design of its good press. Morris still works as a mortgage brohad to use simple language that Chinese SmartCover, costing Morris 90 days and ker and he spends most of his evenings people could translate easily. Morris says about $400 in design changes. Initially, the Chinese wanted Morris to on his company, iAM-Innovations. He his teaching skills with special-needs children came in handy. “I boiled it down buy 3,000 styli, but he negotiated a fa- declines to share sales figures and is vorable price for 1,000. “I used my sales hesitant to forecast future sales, but he to its simplest items,” he says. Morris knew what he wanted: A sty- skills,” he says. In all, Morris says he’s in- says he’s ready if a big order comes. “If lus that had weight like a top-quality vested about $10,000 in the project. “It this were to take off, my goal is to conwriting instrument, two different tips (a was done over the Internet with no face- cept other products and take them down the same path,” he says. “It’s given me a smaller one for the iPhone and a larger to-face contact,” Morris notes. Since launching the stylus in recent bounce in my step.” one for the iPad) and magnets so that

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Simon Morris, iAM-Innovations: “It was done over the Internet with no face-to-face contact.”

The secret of getting more publicity

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.”

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GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

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up before one of the 10-by-16-foot screens. Or they can zero in on one hole. The player can putt or hit the ball full force and watch it fly, while the simulator charts its distance and analyzes the ball’s speed, launch angle and swing path as the player perfects his game. Players can also By Denise Kalette | Editor/ Tampa Bay compete in leagues. When Jeff Sproat whacks the ball onto the Amen Corner of the Augusta National Golf Club, site of the annual Masters Tournament, it strikes the screen with force. The ball appears to travel hundreds of feet, Entrepreneurs Jeff and but in the tap room, it falls harmlessly at the foot of the screen. Brenda Sproat have come Indoor golf is rare in Florida, says Sproat, up with an indoor golf cafe an Ohio native. “There are more [facilities] up north because of the winter, when where patrons can perfect golfers are craving the ability to play. But I their swing without getting believe the South is a great market for it, especially in Florida.” a sunburn. Sprout got the idea for the business when t Golfer’s Grail Indoor Golf & Tap in he saw the simulators at a practice facility Tampa, not only can a patron try out after a particularly sweltering round. an Australian or German golf course Scorching Gulf Coast summers make inusing a simulator, he also can vent frustra- door golf a welcome refuge, while in wintion by smacking a ball through a factory ter, as northern snowbirds flock to Florida window in a game of demolition golf. courses, the crowds make outdoor access The business is the remore difficult, Sproat alized dream of golf ensays. Those factors FOR STARTERS thusiast Jeff Sproat, a remake for a great poName: Golfer’s Grail Indoor tired software executive tential market in a Golf & Tap and entrepreneur who state where golf is a Founders/owners: Jeff and founded the company leading industry. Brenda Sproat with his wife, Brenda, a According to a retired telecommuniWhen founded: September study by the Univercations sales manager. sity of Florida, the Who’s invested: Jeff and Set in a shopping cendirect economic imBrenda Sproat ter storefront on North pact of the state’s golf Sales: Not disclosed Dale Mabry Highway, industry in 2007 was Growth Projected for 2013: the business opened in $7.5 billion, with a Expansion to second location September. It provides combined direct and Fun Fact: A popular virtual a club-like atmosphere, indirect impact of challenge: Amen Corner of the serving beer and wine $13.8 billion. Golf faAugusta National Golf Club from a small bar. cility operations made Four massive screens up the largest single dominate the interior, where visitors can share, $3.4 billion. sit at tables and watch the golfers tee off, or At their small business, the Sproats infollow a football game on a TV. Patrons can vested $200,000 in the four simulators, play nine or 18 holes on more than 50 vir- each a GolfBlaster3D, high-definition tual courses from across the globe, teeing model. They declined to disclose the cost of

Tee for Two

Mark Wemple

Sensors detect information from the golf ball and the club head at Golfer’s Grail, an indoor course founded by Jeff and Brenda Sproat. the facility’s build-out or rent. Players pay $35 an hour to use a simulator, and several players can split the cost. The entire facility can be rented for $200 an hour, says Sproat. “They can use any of the options on a simulator and they can also use the screens for a TV if they want— for instance, for a football game like the Super Bowl.” A golfer who’s had a rough day at work can switch to a demolition program and choose whether to smash a window in an abandoned factory or a house. When the ball hits, speakers blast the sound of shattering glass as shards fly onscreen. While many of the golfers are men, the company is forming a league for women to

accommodate their growing interest. And Brenda Sproat says she is also surprised at the interest in golf shown by teens in high school. The facility hosts junior clinics with kids as young as 5. Although the business is just months old, traffic has increased so steadily that the Sproats plan to expand in 2013, adding a franchise location. Virtual golf isn’t intended to replace outdoor golf, but it can be habit-forming for players, says Brenda Sproat. “I’ve had men come in and say they love this, because they can come in after work, play a round of golf and go home,” she says. “There’s no evidence they’ve been on the golf course—no hat head, no sunburn.”

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Gulf coast Business Review JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

By Mark Gordon | Deputy Managing Editor

Save Up An ultra-crowded industry didn’t scare off Gerrid Smith. He aims to translate bravery — and a charityfocused business model — into success.

now has signed up more than 5,000 companies. Recent examples of deals and coupons on the site include 75% off certain cruises through Expedia; 30% off any Banana Republic order; and 25% off toys at the Mattel online shop. The Save1 site lists the offers, and under the text is a note stating how many coupons or deals are left at that price. A user clicks on an offer and if a purchase is completed at a partner’s site, the donation is made from the Save1 commission. Save1’s current charitable partners are Action Against Hunger, Feeding America and Project Peanut Butter, some of the larger and more prominent hunger groups. The biggest challenge Lori Sax The online coupon company Gerrid Smith co-founded, Save1, takes a percentage of the commission it makes for 2013, says Smith, is from retail partners, like Target, and donates it to charitable groups. The charities focus on feeding children. to generate strong, sustainable buzz about what ployees, is a for-profit enterprise with a Save1 is and the savings it offers. FOR STARTERS mission, says Smith, for users to “save Marketing, therefore, is the company’s money, save lives.” In that regard the firm biggest expense, both internal and with Name: SAVE1 is like Santa Monica, Calif.-based TOMS an outside firm. Smith, moreover, isn’t Founders: Gerrid Smith, Todd Smith Shoes, a for-profit company that donates afraid to go big. In one promotion, for and Josh Cearbaugh. one pair of shoes for every pair sold. That example, on Black Friday, Save1 sent a Initial investment: More than firm, whose founder, Blake Mycoskie, company media packet along with a bag $100,000 goes by the title Chief Shoe Giver, has of coffee to 400 personal finance journalSales: Less than $10,000 since Oct. 1 donated more than 2 million shoes since ists nationwide. The company uses FaceSales projected for 2013: $175,000 2006. It recently expanded to include book extensively, too, and had more than Fun fact: The charitable side of Save1 eyewear. 43,000 likes through mid-December. for Gerrid Smith is partially personal, Smith, 26, hopes the social entrepreSmith got into online businesses while not just business: Smith and his wife, neurship model catches on even more, in high school, more than a decade ago. Jessica, adopted a child from Africa in both for Save1 and other businesses. “So He later started several companies, in2011. The experience, says Smith, is why many people view charity as only a non- cluding what has become his biggest one, he wanted to start a business that’s profit thing,” he says. “But we want to SmithSEO, an Internet marketing firm connected to worldwide hunger charities. merge businesses with nonprofits.” for law firms. He likes the independence The first phase of the startup process and control of running his own business. “I knew I didn’t want to go to college,” the world is what inspired us to start with Save1, says Smith, was to find retail partners. That effort started slowly, says Smith. “I wanted to be an entrepreSave1.” The company, with four full-time em- but has since grown quickly, and Save1 neur and do my own thing.”

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GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

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Joe Volpe recently founded Car-Dek Inc. The firm’s product, PetDek, is a portable and removable shelf for the backseat of a car that can protect dogs for the ride.

By Mark Gordon | Deputy Managing Editor

Pet Protection

Dogs will no longer be second-class citizens in the backseats of cars with Joe Volpe’s patented invention. Mass market vindication, and sales, are his next challenges.

oe Volpe used to wince when he put his 100-pound Labrador or his smaller shih tzu in the backseat of his Cadillac CTS Sports Wagon. Volpe’s problem was common to many dog owners. The dogs would slip and slide during sharp turns and panic stops, a dangerous proposition. It wasn’t only a pet issue, either. Pizzas and other flat items on the backseat would slip off sometimes, says Volpe, and golf clubs would rattle and clank. A onetime engineer for Chrysler, Volpe didn’t just sit back in frustration. He invented a solution. “I said ‘I can do this,’” says Volpe. “I can engineer and design a system that can work.” That system is PetDek, a molded backseat shelf. The product, which was recently awarded patents in the U.S. and registration protection in Europe, looks

Lori Sax

FOR STARTERS Name: Car-Dek Inc. Founder: Joe Volpe Founded: 2012 (work on product began in 2008) Initial investment: $150,000, mostly from an undisclosed investor based on the east coast of Florida. Will likely be at least $500,000 in total startup capital. Sales: Not disclosed Sales projected for 2013: $2.5 million Fun fact: Volpe worked on an engineering team with Chrysler in the 1960s formed solely to build the fastest drag racing car in the world. “It was a fantastic job,” says Volpe. “I went all over the world building car engines.”

like a smaller version of a fold-up card table. Only this one has two adjustable legs, not four poles. There are leveling blocks on the bottom, opposite the legs, which raise the rear and can eliminate the angle on a car’s backseat. It can hold up to 200 pounds, Volpe says. The result is a rectangle-shaped platform that covers the backseat and can hold anything from a cooler to Cujo. The product, says Volpe, can also be folded and stowed in a trunk when it isn’t needed. Volpe began to invent the PetDek in 2008. He started with a pair of old closet doors, and he worked in the garage of his Siesta Key home. Then, earlier this year, he formed a company, Car-Dek Inc., and partnered with Lifetime, a Clearfield, Utah-based product design firm, to manufacture and ship it to customers. Volpe and a business partner, an investor on the east coast of Florida, have invested $150,000 into Car-Dek. Volpe projects the total capital investment will reach at least $500,000. In addition to capital, the four-year process, from invention to market, was grueling. Quips Volpe: “People say to me all the time, ‘this is so simple, how come no one else did it?’ I say this was four years of simple.” The patent process, for instance, was far from simple. Volpe, who has owned an RV parts supplier and a software firm,

did some of the patent work sans attorney. Turns out that process was essential. Not only for the patent, but Volpe says the multitude of conversations he had with patent officers was good intelligence gathering on the marketplace for the product. One competing product is like a hammock, for example, but Volpe says it doesn’t necessarily protect the backseat like PetDek. “People have tried to solve this problem,” says Volpe, “but no one has managed to do it.” Volpe’s next big challenge will be to generate sales. He sells the products online, priced from $99 to $129, and he also wants to get into product catalogs, like Frontgate. He hired Sarasota-based Design Marketing Group to handle the website and assorted marketing, including logos, print ads, public relations and packaging. The big goal with marketing, says Volpe, is to eventually get PetDek into PetSmart and/or Petco, where the $57 billion pet industry is in growth mode. Volpe says he realizes that could be a ways away, though, and his goal now and through 2013 is to create market demand while selling enough to become profitable. He realizes, however, the plan will be an uphill climb. “When you have a one-product company,” Volpe says, “it’s hard to get your foot in the door.”

Gulf coast Business Review JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

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By Jean Gruss | Editor/ Lee-Collier

Fresh Start F

or 17 years, Charles Gutekunst led the Fort Myers office of Reynolds, Smith & Hills, a large Jacksonville-based architecture firm. Under his direction, the firm designed high-profile buildings for Florida Gulf Coast University, Edison State College and Lee and Charlotte County FOR STARTERS schools with a team Name: RG Architects of 17 people. “Our office was one of the Founders/owners: Charles biggest,” Gutekunst Gutekunst and Ryan Richards says. When founded: May 15 When the ecoInitial investment: $40,000 nomic downturn fiSales: $250,000 gross billings nally forced RS&H in the first five months out of Fort Myers, Fun fact: The duo furnished Gutekunst, 62, was their office with two carloads laid off. “We were of Ikea furniture. busy through 2010 and 2011, but they felt it was going to play itself out,” Gutekunst says. While most 62-year-olds might decide to retire and hit the golf course, Gutekunst teamed up with a younger colleague, Ryan Richards, 36, to start RG Architects. The letters in the name stand for the partners’ last names. “We just went out and did it,” Gutekunst says. There wasn’t a long time to draft a business plan because the layoff came swiftly, though they hired an accountant from the start. “Going into business when you just jump is the best thing to do,” Gutekunst says. In the first five months, the firm grossed $250,000 in billings. “We thought it would take a year,” Gutekunst says.

Civil engineers are a good source of referrals because they’re among the first to speak with developers and builders about their plans. So are other firms that need help with projects. For example, RG teamed up with Cristina Meyer, the principal of CC+M Design Group, on a country club project. But Gutekunst is careful not to project early success into the future. “The toughest year in business is not the first year,” he says. “It’s the second.” Long before his corporate career in Fort Myers, Gutekunst had formed an architecture firm for a few years. He was surprised this time around how much more affordable it is, from furniture to insurance. “The experience is that it’s cheaper in a lot of ways,” he says. For example, the duo purchased their furniture at Ikea

“

When a large architecture firm pulled out of Fort Myers, two architects left behind started their own business. It’s never too late to begin.

Charles Gutekunst, RG Architects: “It’s been more fun than I expected.”

in Tampa for several thousand dollars, loading up two carloads to save on delivery costs. One Steelcase cubicle at RS&H could cost as much as $5,000, Gutekunst says. “Online banking is a blessing,” Richards adds. A liability insurance policy cost $3,000, a third of what it would have cost 20 years ago. Architecture software was the only significant expense other than rent, they say. Gutekunst and Richards saved $10,000 on a new plotter (a printer for architects) because they had given their old plotter to Fort Myers builder Lynn Murtaugh when RS&H upgraded them a new one a few years ago and told them to get rid of the old one. Murtaugh gave them the plotter back when they opened for business. “Things like that just happened,” Gutekunst chuckles. The two partners used their savings to start the business, avoiding debt. “It’s been more fun than I expected,” Gutekunst says. “It was a great thing to wake up in the morning and say this is us.” For starters, there’s no lengthy corporate decision-making process. “I just have to look at Ryan and say, ‘what do

Brian Tietz

Charles Gutekunst, left, and Ryan Richards, right, formed RG Architects in Fort Myers. They’ve teamed up on some projects with Cristina Meyer, principal with CC+M Design Group.

you think?’” The corporate fixation on billable hours is also gone. “We’re nimble and flexible and we can do things pretty quickly,” Gutekunst says. To generate business, Gutekunst has visited many of the clients he’s worked with in his 17-year career with RS&H in Fort Myers. He’s noticed that people have more time to see you during the downturn than at the peak of the boom. “You want to make sure they don’t forget,” he says.

Diagnosing Your Car By Denise Kalette | Editor/ Tampa Bay

Carvoyant hopes drivers, auto dealers and repair shops will adopt its system, which could bring in thousands of new data customers.

ne of the more frustrating moments for car owners occurs when the check-engine light comes on, signaling a need for maintenance. But what exactly is wrong with the car, and what will it cost to fix the problem? That’s the issue that inspired Bret Tobey, CEO of Tampa-based Carvoyant, to found his year-old company with partners Renz Kuipers, CFO, and Matt Galvin, chief technology officer. They have developed a device that can be inserted under the dashboard in a car’s diagnostic port, to deliver ongoing information about the car’s performance, anticipate routine required servicing, and alert a designated repair shop or the driver when a problem arises. The driver can control how the data is used, says Tobey. It can be scanned to a dealership or independent shop, or made available to the motorist, who can then decide where to take the car. Carvoyant captures the car’s past maintenance history and current performance data, and acts as a neutral third party in automotive servicing. “A lot of times, people feel ripped off,” says Tobey. “If we can provide more in-

Mark Wemple

Bret Tobey, CEO of Tampa-based Carvoyant, is launching a system that will electronically monitor auto servicing needs.

FOR STARTERS Name: Carvoyant Founders/owners: Bret Tobey, CEO, Matt Galvin, CTO, Renz Kuipers, CFO When founded: August 2011 Who’s invested: Angels, Stage 1 Ventures, SK Ventures Sales: Not disclosed Sales Projected for 2013: More than $1 million Fun Fact: Half the team rides bikes to work.

formation and make the repair shop more aware — whether it’s a dealer or an independent shop — that the driver has more information, there’s less opportunity for somebody to try to pull the wool over [a car owner’s] eyes.” In January, Carvoyant plans to launch a program with two Tampa-area car dealers, a BMW and a Toyota dealership, to begin distributing the devices to their customers, says Kuipers, who is based in Los Angeles, but travels to Tampa. He spoke at the Tampa headquarters, a modest building where a pool table, key-

board, drum set and exercise bike, items belonging to the landlord, share space with the Carvoyant cubicles. The intent is that the dealers and repair shops Carvoyant signs up for a monthly fee of $6 or $8 apiece, will in turn persuade their customers to install the monitors. The basic Bluetooth monitor device costs $30. In January, the company will begin offering car owners direct access to their data. The direct-to-consumer platform aims to provide consumers with access to the system that is not tied to the car dealer, Kuipers says. Eventually the company also plans to offer aggregated data to application developers. This could provide valuable information on consumer behaviors, car maintenance trends and other data the automotive industry might find useful. Carvoyant has 400 beta users of its platform, says Kuipers. After the dealership and consumer programs launch, the founders hope more dealers will invest in the program. “There are 17,000 car dealerships around the country, and each of them has a database. So, there’s big numbers if this all proves out,” says Kuipers. But the challenge lies in persuading the dealers and independent shops to participate. “The biggest hurdle is, they’re not necessarily the early adopters of new technology, so they need evidence that this works,” adds Kuipers. The founders provided the two early Tampa dealers with special pricing as an incentive, as they develop their early database. “Then all of a sudden we have a whole queue of dealers in Tampa and a queue of dealers in Los Angeles waiting to see these metrics,” Kuipers says. “So what this means is, this puts us on the sales map.”

GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

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TECHNOLOGY

by Mark Gordon | Deputy Managing Editor

Chin Up

Tim Walsh, a toy inventor and designer, founded Crazy Chins in 2011. The Sarasota-based company sells a toy that combines live play with a software app.

S It really is all fun and games for toy entrepreneur Tim Walsh. But — no joke — he thinks he might have a big hit ready for market.

oon after Tim Walsh Monopoly, Othello REVIEW SUMMARY includes graduated from coland Yahtzee. lege, back in 1989 in a Now, 20 years later, Walsh Business. Crazy Chins, one-bedroom apartment in is back with another startSarasota Sarasota, he and two budup business that faces long Industry. Toys, retail, dies invented TriBond. odds. startups The idea was to create This time it’s Crazy Chins, Key. Marketplace timing an adult board game that a new product for a novel is a key component for combined trivia with probcategory of toys called many startup ventures. lem solving, where players AppCessories — real toys connect three clues to one that connect with devices answer. and gadgets, like smart phones and Even in his wildest fantasies, Walsh tablets. Crazy Chins, says Walsh, allow — maybe — thought he would sell a few kids to make and share goofy upsidethousand games. But after five years of re- down chin-face videos. jections and multiple revisions, TriBond The first part of the product is chin became a mega-hit. By 1996 it had sold 1 masks, anything from monkeys to squirmillion units, and by 2010 it had surpassed rels to scary monsters. The next part 3 million sales in 14 countries. It’s one of 22 is portable, fold-up screens and green board games in production for more than screens, with a hole where the chin mask a decade with continuous sales, a list that fits through. The third part is an iPhone or

Mark Wemple

FOR STARTERS Name: Crazy Chins Founder: Tim Walsh Founded: December 2011 Initial investment: $20,000 Sales: Less than $6,000 Product sales projected for 2013: $1.5 million to $2 million (firm projects an additional $200,000-$500,000 in sales through software apps.) Fun fact: Walsh played professional baseball in Mexico, and he earned a tryout with the Chicago White Sox in 1989, when the team held spring training in Sarasota. He also was also a wide receiver for Colgate University in upstate New York, though he was recruited to play quarterback.

Gulf coast Business Review JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

‘Screen time’

In addition to those internal challenges, Walsh faces a possible external huddle that has short-circuited many startup projects: market timing. Indeed, Jim Wilson, editor of Timetoplaymag.com, a toy industry website, says Crazy Chins and other like-minded AppCessories might be too futuristic. Wilson

in October, when Crazy Chins won a contest sponsored by American Airlines that sought the best ways entrepreneurs use travel connections to boost their business. The crux of the contest, Flights Camera Action, was to create a video, which Walsh turned into a 60-second commercial for Crazy Chins. (See the video: http:// www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_ embedded&v=LWOC2jwTizI). Walsh’s entry not only earned the company some exposure, but the prize included 60,000 Business ExtrAA points for flights and two tickets to the Inc. 500/5000 conference in Phoenix.

Crack up

Walsh, who has written two books on toys, including “Wham-O Super Book,” a historical account of some famous toys, says the Crazy Chins concept is simpler than it might appear. It’s really just kids goofing around, and the advances of tech-

Tim Walsh, toy inventor/designer, Crazy Chins: ‘This is the kind of product that could spree and fade away or we can sell 25 million. This is a very unique item. It could be a Furby.’ That’s exactly what happened in 2012. The software app launched over the summer, and there were more than 60,000 free downloads of it through mid-December. Even though the actual chin masks haven’t been released, Abbott says the company made $5,000 or so in 2012 through selling the background screens at 99 cents apiece. Those sales give Walsh a jolt of confidence. Walsh thinks like someone who wears T-shirts with funny designs to work, smiles a lot and has been in the toy industry for 20 years. In other words: He dreams big. “This is the kind of product that could spree and fade away or we can sell 25 million,” he says. “This is a very unique item. It could be a Furby.” The Furby, a plush electronic toy that looks like an owl and speaks its own language,

says the category shows promise, though the industry has been slow to embrace it. One reason, he says, is many parents, in general, seek to separate hard toys from rationed “screen” time. He also says some products just didn’t make the connection between toy and app right. “It’s a category that will grow,” Wilson says, “but right now the market hasn’t been too well executed.” Wilson, nonetheless, says Crazy Chins could catch on, especially if the marketing proves how this way of play can’t be duplicated with homemade toys or online. Big toy players, like Disney and Fisher Price, have been somewhat successful with AppCessories in that regard. Of course, the marketing budget for Crazy Chins is miniature in comparison to those companies. Low-cost help came

Great potential

The Crazy Chins idea, meanwhile, goes back to when Walsh was 10 years old. That’s when he drew upside down chin characters, covered his face with a towel and made his sister crack up with laughter. Walsh called the made-up character Chinface Man. “It was (and is) a pretty funny thing to see,” Walsh writes on his toy blog. “It’s also a bit unsettling, which I think adds some freakiness to the fun. You know you’re looking at a human mouth, but the tiny face makes it weird in a wonderful way.” Walsh began to think more seriously about the business a few years ago. At one point, he even licensed it to a company in Orlando that wanted to make it into a face-painting toy. That effort flopped. “It never even got off the shelf,” says Walsh. “They didn’t do well with it at all.” That experience taught Walsh the lesson of being sure to find the right partners. He has since had discussions with a wide range of possible distribution entities. The list includes toy giant Hasbro and Kevin Harrington, a well-known Tampa TV products entrepreneur and chairman of As Seen on TV. The company is exploring other opportunities, too. It’s working on several licensing deals, with characters popular among young children. Walsh will also spend the first few months of 2013 going to toy shows with Crazy Chins, from Hong Kong to New York. “I’m definitely excited about it,” says Walsh. “The potential for this is greater than anything I’ve ever done.”

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Another million-selling product Walsh, 48, invented, is Blurt!, a vocabularybuilding board game for children. Born on Christmas, Walsh, furthermore, is a professional speaker on the toy industry and how to inject fun into the workplace. He also was a creative consultant and featured in the 2010 documentary “Toyland,” which was bought by the Documentary Channel.

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nology make it easier to share than ever before. “There are a lot of toys that are extension of physical play,” Walsh says. “People threw pie plates before the Frisbee.” A native of Voorhees, N.J, a small south Jersey town, Walsh got into the toy industry after TriBond in 1990. That game was born from a conversation Walsh and his friends had one night while they sat around the dorms at Colgate University, in upstate New York. The group had heard a rumor that the creators of Trivial Pursuit went to school there. Walsh and his friends decided that despite its huge commercial success, Trivial Pursuit was lacking. Players who didn’t know an answer, just didn’t know. Their response was to create TriBond, where the questions are clues. It made its debut at a toy fair in 1990.

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sold 40 million units in the late 1990s. To reach anything close to Furby level, Walsh and Abbott say 2013 will be a telling year for Crazy Chins. Key tasks include: securing licensing deals with at least two prominent kids characters; finding an American manufacturing partner; and, possibly most importantly, making sure the final product resonates with children consumers, a notoriously fickle bunch. Says Walsh: “It will be an interesting 12 months.”

“

iPad app that connects the first two parts through dozens of backgrounds. The app is free, but additional background settings, from a blue sky to a bamboo jungle, cost 99 cents each — a key part of the Crazy Chin hardware/software revenue model. The final product, a recorded skit, can then go to the ultimate showoff land for kids: YouTube. Walsh’s business partner in the venture, Sarasota entrepreneur Chris Abbott, handles the technology-app side of the business. Abbott runs the Abbeton Accelerator Fund, a startup seed money operation that assists local companies, both with advice and actual funds. Abbott works out of the HuB in Sarasota, a business incubator. Abbott says the AppCessories model, the ability to monetize the same idea twice, is what drew him to the project. “There could be no products on the shelf,” says Abbott, “and we will still make money.”

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GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

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Nancy DeNike

Neil Simon, president of EnviroStruct, and Stephen McKenna Jr., vice president, started their commercial construction firm as the economic recovery was beginning. One of their clients is auto dealership Sutherlin Nissan.

New Structures Neil Simon and Stephen McKenna Jr. launched their commercial construction firm in late 2011. Good timing. By Jean Gruss | Editor/Lee-Collier

Simon, 37, president, and McKenna, 38, vice president, had good jobs working construction rebound was no sure for DeAngelis Diamond, a well-regarded thing in October 2011. commercial construction company in NaHomebuilding was starting to ples. “We leaped into it,” says McKenna. pick up, but commercial construction Fortunately, commercial construction remained weak. Still, Neil Simon and had reached the bottom in 2011 and new Stephen McKenna Jr. knew instinctively projects were coming up for bid. In its they should start their Bonita Springs- first year, EnviroStruct posted $3 million based commercial construction firm, En- in revenues. “Now it’s over that for the viroStruct. In past economic cycles, com- first quarter on the books,” says Simon. mercial construction always followed McKenna and Simon never really subresidential building by 18 to 24 scribed to the notion months. that there was zero com“I think we were spot on,” REVIEW SUMMARY mercial construction says McKenna. “We were pretty work available. “There’s Company. EnviroStruct happy with the timing,” agrees always been work out Industry. Construction Simon. there,” McKenna says. Key. Timing the But looking back, they’re not EnviroStruct got off to economic cycle helps sure if they would have made a great start when it won startups become it if they had launched their a prestigious Pinnacle successful. company in 2010 or earlier. award from the Lee

Building Industry Association in 2012 for best commercial contractor project for a renovation of an existing structure. The project, a renovation of Sandcastle Beach Club in Fort Myers Beach, was EnviroStruct’s first client as a young company. “We’ve invited them back with our back building to complete our second phase,” says Adam Cowles, the resort’s manager.

Florida lifestyle beckons

Simon and McKenna both got their start on large commercial construction projects in northern states where they were raised. “What are we doing freezing in ChiTown?” Simon says he recalls telling his wife, referring to the nickname for Chicago. While he was overseeing construction projects such as a Trump tower in Chicago, Simon always dreamed of starting his own firm. “To start a business in Chicago is really hard because of the unions,” he says. “It was all about who you knew.” By contrast, the cost of starting a company in Naples is considerably lower. Simon and McKenna estimate they’ve spent about $20,000 of their savings to

FOR STARTERS Name: EnviroStruct Founders/owners: Neil Simon and Stephen McKenna Jr. When founded: October 2011 Initial investment: $20,000 Sales: $3 million Sales projected for 2013: $12 million Fun fact: The company’s first project won a Pinnacle Award from the Lee Building Industry Association this year. start EnviroStruct, not counting their hours. “There’s more room for a young, ambitious company down here,” Simon says. Both men moved to Florida and went to work for DeAngelis Diamond during the boom years of the mid-2000s, lured by the construction extravaganza in Southwest Florida. “More money, nicer weather,” says McKenna, who was a project manager in construction at Philadelphia International Airport before moving to Naples. But as Simon and McKenna started working on projects together, they real-

Gulf coast Business Review JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

Stephen McKenna Jr., EnviroStruct: “The biggest challenge is finding people who think like you.” nificant risk. In particular, McKenna has a child with cystic fibrosis. He sold one of his cars and moved in with his motherin-law for a short time until he was certain EnviroStruct was on sound footing. “We took a major pay cut,” Simon says. “It’s worth the sweat equity,” McKenna adds.

Sub support

When they launched their company, Simon and McKenna established good relationships with their subcontractors. Subcontractors are a great way of finding out what jobs are available, McKenna says. “We had their full support,” Simon says. Simon and McKenna say they’re competitive because their overhead is low and they take care of their subcontractors. “We pay our subs early,” McKenna says. “We get some good pricing next time around.” The duo says they picked the name EnviroStruct because of their sensitivity to environmental issues. Increasingly, customers are demanding adherence to construction standards that include recycling and energy conservation, they say.

were great to work with.” At another project, EnviroStruct rebuilt the gatehouse of Audubon Country Club in Naples after a garbage truck plowed into it. One of the requirements was that the gate be functional while the company was rebuilding the gatehouse, says the community’s general manager, Steve Pietrzyk. “The other contractors panicked when we said that and the price went up,” he recalls. By contrast, Pietrzyk says Simon and McKenna didn’t have such concerns. “You had this feeling that they were going to get it done and get it done right,” he says. Certainly, the reputation they earned at DeAngelis Diamond helped Simon and McKenna’s credibility. “It sets you apart from two guys in a pickup truck,” McKenna chuckles. Simon and McKenna know they’ll have to hire employees if the firm keeps growing the way it does. At this pace, EnviroStruct could hit $12 million in revenues next year. “The biggest challenge is finding people who think like you,” McKenna says.

UPCOMING

Calendar of Events January 8

January 17

Lunch with Alex Sink: Commercial Real Estate Women Tampa Bay plan to honor former banker, state chief financial officer and gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink as a trailblazer at Sink its January luncheon. The event will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Tampa - Downtown Convention Center, 513 S. Florida Ave., Tampa. Cost is $45 for members and $55 non-members. For more information visit crewtampabay.org.

Money managers forecast: Louise Purtle, chief strategist at CreditSights, will among the speakers at the CFA Society’s January forecast dinner. The event will run from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Waldorf Astoria, 475 Seagate Drive, Naples. Cost is $50 for members and $80 for others. For more information visit cfanaples.org.

January 15 Economic outlook: Brian Beaulieu, CEO of economic-forecasting firm ITR, will be the keynote speaker at a Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce meeting. The event will run from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at The Westin Beaulieu Tampa Harbour Island, 725 S. Harbour Island Blvd., Tampa. Cost is $45 for members and $55 for others. For more information visit tampachamber.com.

January 16 Land use: Margaret Wuerstle, executive director of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, will discuss the changing development environment. The event will run from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Veranda Restaurant, Younger Room, 2122 Second St., Fort Myers. Cost is $25 for members and $30 for others. For more information call 800-321-5011 and mention code 8118-1307.

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Fed president: Sandra Pianalto, Federal Reserve Bank president and CEO for the fourth district, will be the keynote speaker at the Bonita Estero Market Pulse event. The meeting will also feature Bradley Hunter, Pianalto director of Metrostudy’s South Florida Division, and Gary Jackson, director of the Regional Economic and Research Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University. The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Florida Gulf Coast University, 10501 FGCU Blvd. S., student union ballroom, Fort Myers. For information, call 239-992-2943 or visit BonitaSpringsChamber.com.

April 10 Influential women: Actress Viola Davis will be the keynote speaker at the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce Women of Influence luncheon. The event will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the A La Carte Event Pavilion, 4050 Dana Shores Drive, Tampa. Cost is $75 for members and $90 for others. For more information visit tampachamber.com.

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The owners also don’t want to be pigeonholed into specific kinds of projects, saying diversification is key to future sales. Sandcastle Beach Club, a timeshare complex on Fort Myers Beach, was their first client. “The elements have ravaged this place over 32 years,” says Cowles, the resort’s manager. Cowles says the timeshare resort was open while EnviroStruct was doing the renovations at the height of the tourism season from November 2011 to February. “I have over 1,479 owners of all the weeks I have at this timeshare and I haven’t had one complaint,” says Cowles. “These guys

“

ized they both had the entrepreneurial bug. “There’s a lot of people who just want to come to work and collect a paycheck,” says McKenna. “We have the same ethics.” It’s not unusual for entrepreneurial employees in construction companies to start their own firm. Indeed, the founders of DeAngelis Diamond did the same thing to start their company, splitting off from Naples-based Boran Craig Barber Engel. Simon and McKenna say they made a clean break, too. But Simon and McKenna both have young families and they were taking sig-

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CORPORATE REPORT

by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

American Idol judge Randy Jackson premiering guitar line on HSN

Producer, music manager and American Idol judge Randy Jackson launched his first guitar collection, exclusively for St. Petersburg-based multimedia retailer HSN Dec. 16. The “Randy Jackson Diamond Edition Guitar Collection” combines numbered, limited-edition guitars with an instructional DVD featuring Jackson and guitar expert Scott Goldbaum. “HSN’s connection to the entertainment industry and their passion for storytelling makes it the right platform for me to share my inspiration behind this new launch,” he says in a press release. The limited-edition guitar package includes a choice of either a solid-body electric or an acoustic electric guitar that includes an instructional DVD, a 15W amp, custom case, guitar strap, chord chart poster, polishing cloth, designer picks, certificate of authenticity and more for less than $300.

Florida Hospital Tampa surgeons offering robotic gallbladder surgery Florida Hospital Tampa is pioneering a new method of gallbladder removal surgery designed to be safer and less costly. The hospital says its surgeons Dr. Sharona Ross and Dr. Alexander Rosemurgy are the first physicians in the United States to perform Laparo-Endoscopic Single-Site (LESS) gallbladder surgeries under an epidural. The two have reportedly done more than 100 of the robot-assisted surgeries. LESS surgery requires a single incision compared to more tradition four-incision laparoscopy gallbladder surgery and can be done under epidural anesthesia, avoiding the costs and adverse effects of general anesthesia. General anesthesia can be associated with many post-operative complications including nausea, vomiting, sore throat and muscle tenderness. The surgeries started as a research study of LESS cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) surgery conducted from June 2010 to July 2011.The primary goal was to assess the safety of doing the procedures under epidural anesthesia.

First America Bank hires Barr for Sarasota market Florida Blue, NCH Healthcare System partner on Accountable Care Program

Naples-based NCH Healthcare System has reached an agreement with Florida Blue, Florida’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield company, to participate in the Florida Blue Accountable Care Program. The NCH system includes the NCH Downtown Naples Hospital, the NCH North Naples Hospital and the 64 physicians and 25 nurse practitioners and physician assistants employed by NCH. The program introduces a new payment system with the goals of improving patient care and health and decreasing medical costs. It is one of the first commercial accountable care programs in the state. Starting early next year, only Florida Blue members participating in fully insured commercial products will be included in the program. The program will then be expanded to other Florida Blue members in future years. “Both organizations realize the importance of moving away from the feefor-service model to one that focuses on quality outcomes and cost containment,” Dr. Jonathan Gavras, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Florida Blue, says in a press release.

MobAdWin discounts/promo app launched for Tampa Bay

Clearwater-based MobAdWin LLC has launched its self-named mobile application MobAdWin (short for Mobile Advertising Win-Win) for iOS and Android in Tampa Bay. The new app offers users discount specials and goodies from advertisers and cash payments for providing feedback on the offers. Advertisers select their target audience by demographics, geography, interests and more, then approve a budget, generally $1 per person. MobAdWin says the budget is only charged when a certain threshold of responders has been reached and feedback has been provided or the promotion/special has been purchased. MobAdWin says it also does not take a cut of advertisers’ sales.

myMatrixx awarded accreditation for benefit management

Tampa-based pharmacy benefit management and medical services company myMatrixx has received accreditation for Workers’ Compensation and Property and Casualty Pharmacy Benefit Management from URAC. Washington, D.C.based URAC is a health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry.

First America Bank has hired Greg Barr as its Sarasota market executive. Barr has more than 26 years of commercial lending experience in Sarasota and Manatee counties as well as banking experience in Southwest Florida.

SouthTech’s Snyder appointed Community Association tech chair

SouthTech’s Business Development Consultant Jessica Snyder has been appointed chair of the technology committee of the ComSnyder munity Association Institute’s West Florida Chapter. The committee determines, negotiates and researches all IT-related projects for the Community Association Institute for board approval.

Vista System International sign sold to Le Caudan mall

Sarasota’s Vista System International recently supplied its directory wayfinding signage to “Arplex Signalétique Ltd. Mauritius” for installation at the prestigious shopping mall Le Caudan Water Front Mall in Port Louis, Mauritius, an island east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Le Caudan Water Front Mall is a luxury mall featuring 120 shops. Vista System International says the mall wanted signage that fit in with the interior design of the shops and was easily updatable.

Governor’s Business Innovators Award honors Voalte executive

Trey Lauderdale, founder and vice president of innovation for Sarasotabased Voalte, earned the prestigious Governor’s Innovators in Business Award for “Innovators Under 40” in 2012. The awards program recognizes Florida companies and business leaders who made outstanding contributions to the state’s economic growth. Lauderdale founded Voalte in 2008 to replace older medical communication tools such as voice badges, pagers and bulky telephones with smartphone technology. Joined by serial entrepreneur and former Apple and Microsoft executive Rob Campbell, who serves as Voalte’s CEO, Lauderdale was instrumental in growing the company from a four-person startup to a business that employs more than 50.

Drs. Ross and Rosemurgy

“Trey is an incredibly talented entrepreneur,” Campbell says in a press release. “His creativity and drive positioned Voalte for strong early growth, and his passion for delivering exceptional customer service through innovation have been key factors in our ability to achieve marketplace leadership in mobile healthcare in just a few years.” Lauderdale worked at FP&L, Siemens and Emergin prior to founding Voalte.

Former St. Petersburg mayor joins The Edwards Group as president

Former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker has agreed to become president of The Edwards Group, a group of companies involved in commercial real estate, hotels, entertainment, The Club at Treasure Island, Baywalk and more. Baker previously practiced corporate and business law, with an emphasis on business acquisitions, at Fisher & Sauls PA from 1981 to 2001. He left as the firm’s president when he was elected mayor of St. Petersburg, serving from 2001 to 2010. After leaving office, Baker joined The University of South Florida, where he currently serves as the vice president of economic development. He will leave USF to join The Edwards Group in January. “Rick Baker is a proven and transformative success story, in both the public and private sectors, who can hit the ground running,” Bill Edwards, chairman of the Edwards Group, says in a press release.

Coldwell Banker FL West Coast director promoted to state director

Jaye Love of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT has been promoted to state commercial director for Florida. With more than 26 years Love of experience in commercial real estate, Love has been the commercial director for the West Central Florida region since 2011. Prior to that, she was the Florida director of commercial operations for Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT for seven years. She is a past president of the Florida Gulfcoast Commercial Association of Realtors. “Jaye has a rich history of leadership for our company, and we’re confident that her solid commercial experience will lead to continued growth for Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT in Florida,” Clark Toole, president of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT, Florida, says in a press release. Love will continue to be based from Coldwell Banker’s Tampa Southwest office at 5010 W. Kennedy Blvd.

Blake Medical performs county’s first specialty heart valve surgery

The cardiology team at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton has successfully performed the first transcatheter aortic valve replacement in Manatee County. The procedure is designed to replace a patient’s diseased aortic heart valve without traditional open-heart surgery, using an artificial valve. Blake Medical Center is among a select group of hospitals in the United States treating patients with the recently approved Edwards SAPIEN Transcatheter Heart Valve. The Edwards device received Food and Drug Administration approval in November 2011. Prior to the creation of the transcatheter aortic valve replacement, there was no definitive treatment for patients who were unable to undergo surgical aortic valve replacement. The Blake Medical Center physician team that successfully performed the TAVR procedure included cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons Alessandro Golino and Richard Peterson, interventional cardiologists Gino Sedillo, Srinivas Iyengar and Enrique Rivera and anesthesiologist Tobias Gibson.

Yippy Labs launches consumer level YippyHUB browser extension

Yippy Labs Inc., Fort Myers-based Yippy Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary, has released the YippyHUB, a consumer version of its browser extension. The YippyHUB provides users the ability to access filtered content from all search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing anywhere on the Web. It is compatible with all major browsers, including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera and Google Chrome. “The YippyHUB was designed to provide its users with access to the best of the Web, while filtering out the objectionable and irrelevant websites,” Ed Noel, CEO of Yippy Inc., says in a press release. “YippyHUB provides direct access to the Yippy Search Engine, as well as multiple applications such as games, videos, news and much more.” The browser extension is available for download at yippyHUB.com.

Gulf coast Business Review JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

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bottom-line behavior

by Denise Federer, Ph.D

The art of time management How to choose and balance your priorities to achieve your 2013 goals. With the start of a new year, you’re probably ready to start fresh. You’ve gotten through the hectic schedule of the holidays, and perhaps even used some of your time off to reflect on your procrastinating ways. Now, armed with fresh New Year’s resolutions and 2013 goals you are determined to achieve, you reason that this year will be different. This is the year you will change your bad DENISE habits and will better FEDERER manage your worklife balance. You’re going to get to the gym, while not sacrificing your work load. When you’re in the office, you resolve to more wisely allocate your time spent between dreaming and doing, so you don’t miss a chance to look at the big picture. You will have a better plan to prioritize and achieve. Sounds good. Now how do you do it? Time management is the key to getting those things that are truly important done, while allowing you to still have a life outside of the office. Especially in our fastpaced, technologically advanced world where the expectation is to be available 24/7, time management is a hot topic relevant year round. There have been numerous books and

What is a value?

articles written about this subject suggesting techniques for becoming the master of your own time. While making lists and power-blocking time are all important behavioral skills — I suggest that the most essential time-management strategy is a better understanding of yourself and your priorities. Clearly, when we are dedicated to a person, issue or project there is no limit to what we will do to accomplish a necessary task. Conversely, when we are not fully present or committed, the outcome can have potential negative consequences. Consider how many times you reluctantly agree to attend a meeting with coworkers or are on the phone with a client or employee and find yourself multi-tasking, perhaps simultaneously emailing or texting? As a result, not only are you unfocused and unproductive, but chances are the other person is aware you are not fully present and you are inadvertently doing damage to that relationship. Now imagine that you are just as busy at work, but you are being audited by the IRS or you are involved in a potential lawsuit. If your C.P.A. or your attorney wanted to meet with you to discuss the situation, how many of you would make it a priority to meet with these advisers or be unfocused in your conversations with them? And on a personal level, I imagine if your tooth broke or a dear friend was terminally ill you would “find” the time for a dentist appointment or to visit a dying friend, regardless of the demands you were experiencing. In these situations the critical elements that determine how we will manage and prioritize our time are our values, needs and motivation.

According to the researchers Raths, Harmin and Simon, for a belief to be considered a full value it must meet three criteria: choosing, prizing and acting. Choosing — It must be chosen freely from other alternatives after thoughtful consideration is given to the consequences of each alternative. Prizing — The value must be cherished and made known to other people. You must be comfortable affirming it publicly. Acting — The value must be translated into behaviors that are consistent with the chosen value and integrated into the lifestyle. Take a moment and make a list of your top 10 values. Be sure that they meet the aforementioned criteria. Now eliminate five of them and rank them in order of importance. In all likelihood you are currently prioritizing tasks and making decisions about how you manage time in alignment with these values. Keep in mind that values not only shape our behavior, but they change over time in response to life changing experiences.

Needs and motivation

Just as significant as understanding your values and behaviors, is acknowledging your needs or what motivates you. David McClelland, a pioneer in motivational research suggested that an individual’s specific needs are also acquired over time and are shaped by our life experiences. He felt there were three basic needs: Need for achievement. This person exhibits a strong desire to succeed and excel in their endeavors. Need for power. This person has a high

need to be influential and make an impact on others. Need for affiliation. This person seeks to have friendly relationships and wants to be regarded well. It is important to note that we all possess varying degrees of each of these needs and they are not mutually exclusive of one another.

Getting it done

Motivation is much more complicated than a single need compelling us to do something. For us to prioritize an activity either the anticipated outcome needs to be appealing or we must believe it will result in avoiding something unpleasant. For example, if by preparing documents or meeting with my attorney can potentially avoid a costly lawsuit, in all likelihood it will move up on my “to do” list. Clearly defined priorities combined with a sense of urgency will translate into “finding the time” to get it done every time. Once you have completed your lists, you can use them as a guidepost to sort out what needs to be done right now, based on your needs, not always others. Sticking to your own values, needs and motivation will help you achieve all the other things that are important and crucial to your well-being, not just the things that are most urgent right now. Denise P. Federer, Ph.D. is founder and principal of Federer Performance Management Group. She has 27 years of experience working with key executives, business leaders and Fortune 500 companies as a behavioral psychologist, consultant, coach and trainer. Contact her at: dfederer@fpmg.info

January 25, 2013 Special Issue:

CommErCIal rEal EStatE Space reservation deadline: January 17, 2013 Capitalize on The Review’s unparalleled coverage of the Gulf Coast commercial real estate market and reach the decision-makers who rely on it. With special issue coverage each month in 2013, The Review reports the latest developments, news and trends along with timely market-wide analysis, making it the right environment to put your advertising message to work.

Our lineup of 2013 special issues offers an entire year of opportunities to advertise and reach Florida’s Gulf Coast business leaders. To receive more information or our 2013 Editorial Calendar, call Diane Schaefer at (941) 362-4848.

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commercial real estate TAMPA BAY by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Henderson Hammock school sells for $11.45M Isram Group of Cos. buys Bayside Bridge Plaza BUYER: Isram Bayside Bridge LLC (princi-

BUYER: Red Apple at Henderson Hammock LLC (RR Charter Trust), Fort Lauderdale SELLER: Ryan Cos. US Inc. PROPERTY: 10322 Henderson Road, Tampa PRICE: $11.45 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $775,000, February 2012

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: An affiliate of Charter Schools USA purchased the Henderson Hammock Charter School for $11.45 million. The price equated to $179 per square foot. The school has 64,000 square feet of space and 70 classrooms. The charter school company’s development partner, Ryan Cos. US Inc., purchased the approximately 16.5-acre property and developed the school. The charter school opened in August. Charter Schools USA always planned to buy the property back from Ryan Cos. US. According to Scott Woodrey of Red Apple Development, the school is fully enrolled and has a waiting list for the grades it is currently serving (kindergarten through sixth). It plans to add seventh- and eighth-grade classes soon. The purchase entity Red Apple at Henderson Hammock LLC mortgaged the property to Church Loans & Investments Trust for $11.56 million.

pals: Shaul Rikman and Shai Moschowits), Hallandale SELLER: Goral Tov ADA Compliant Ltd. fka Goral Tov Ltd. PROPERTY: 1520 N. McMullen Booth Road, Clearwater PRICE: $17.25 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $6.73 million, February 1993 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Weisman & Margolies PA, Boca Raton PLANS, DESCRIPTION: An affiliate of the Hallandale-based Isram Group of Cos. purchased the 172,596-square-foot Bayside Bridge Plaza for $17.25 million. The price equated to $100 per square foot. Built in 1989 and last updated in 2010, the center is anchored by a 42,112-square-foot Publix supermarket. Other tenants include Family Fitness, Gatti Town Restaurant, Dollar Tree, Pet Supplies Plus and Ace Hardware. In addition, the property includes three owned outparcels: Bank of America, Checkers and Tires Plus. Bayside Bridge Plaza was 91% occupied at the time of the sale. CBRE’s Miami-based National Retail Investment Group Team for Florida represented the seller. “Isram was interested in high quality in-fill real estate and a property with the potential for cash flow growth,” Casey Rosen, a senior vice president with CBRE in Miami, says in a press release. “The sale will enable Dalfen [America Corp.] to successfully exit from one of its earliest investments and reinvest proceeds into industrial assets — the com-

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Transactions Deeds/Mortgages

The following real estate transactions more than $1,000,000 were filed in Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota county courthouses. The information lists the seller, buyer, amount of sale, mortgage and lender, if available, address and book and page of the document.

CHARLOTTE COUNTY Bryan W. Paul Family Limited Liability Partnership sold to Bryan Paul Inc., $1,800,000, orchard, groves or citrus, 12100 and 12260 Burnt Store Road, 2141946. Port Charlotte MMR LLC sold to SLS Holdings III LLC, $1,525,000, drive-in restaurants, Starbucks Coffee, 925 Kings Highway, 2142785.

COLLIER COUNTY Bear Creek of Naples Ltd. sold to Naples Laurel LLC, $6,960,000, Mortgage: $6,960,000, Lenox Financial Services LLC, multifamily, 6767 Airport Road N., 4773692. Auto Enterprises LLC sold to Pollo Del Mer LLC, $5,550,000, single-family, 3330 Gin Lane, 47688866. Invenio Park Shore LLC sold to Ophthalmology Research Foundation Inc., $2,850,000, vacant commercial, 978 Michigan Ave., mixed-use store, 3860 and 3898 Tamiami Trail, and store, 3880 Tamiami Trail N., 4770621. J&J Marco Inc. sold to Sami Marco LLC, $1,709,240, mixed-use (store and residential), 820 Bald Eagle Drive, 4774982. G-S Partners sold to Shello LLC (98% interest), Gerald Roberts and Mark Wallace, $1,164,000, warehousing or distribution terminal, 3750 Exchange Ave., 4772792.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY USF 2 D/E/P LLC sold to 13702 North 42nd Street LLC, $49,000,000, multifamily residential, 13702

N. 42nd St. and 4201 Woodspring Lane, Tampa, 2012440893. Prisa Rocky Point FL LLC sold to Waterford Place LLC, $43,550,000, multi-story office, 7650 W. Courtney Campbell Causeway, Tampa, 2012432957.

Prisa Rocky Point FL LLC sold to Island Center Group LLC, $41,950,000, Mortgage: $29,375,000, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, multi-story office, 2701 Rocky Point Drive, Tampa, 2012432958. Ryan Cos. US Inc. sold to Red Apple at Henderson Hammock LLC, $11,450,000, Mortgage: $11,559,600, Church Loans & Investments Trust, private school, 10322 Henderson Road, Tampa, 2012439995. Frank Morsani sold to Precision Motorcars Inc., $6,000,000, Mortgage: $4,500,000, Frank Morsani, auto dealership 4600 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa and commercial parking lot, 3809 and 3901 W. Alva St. and 3906 W. Alva and Church St. Ave., Tampa, 2012432092. Diamond Senior Living II LLC sold to Pentathlon RE Fairway LLC, $5,776,726, Mortgage: $86,000,000, General Electric Capital Corp., nursing, 13806 N. 46th St., Tampa, 2012444887. Cortland Realty Partners V LLC sold to Grand Oaks of Tampa LLC, $4,900,000, Mortgage: $3,720,000, USAmeriBank, Grand Oaks Condominium, in SEC 35-28S-17E,2012450400. Ravi and Nisha Asnani (50% interest) and Mohan and Bina Asnani (50%) sold to JHR Linton LLC, $2,370,000, fast food, 2201 E. Highway 60, Valrico, 2012443299. Corsi Corp. sold to Meritage Homes of Florida Inc., $2,280,000, lots 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 16, 17-21, 24-27 and 29-31, Hillandale Reserve Phase 1, 2012445159. Redus Florida Commercial LLC sold to Misci LLC, $2,200,000, in SEC 17-29S-18E, 2012447975. Bonnie McDonald and James Calhoun II, individually as trustees of the Calhoun Living Trust sold to Bay Villa Development Group LLC, $1,737,500, vacant residential, 11381 Ravinia Park Blvd., Tampa, 2012450625. Flowbake Tampa East LLC sold to OD Flowers

Etc…

• A private investor, 4248 South Dale Mabry Highway LLC of Staten Island, N.Y., purchased a Krystal fast food store at 4248 S. Dale Mabry, Tampa from The Krystal Co. for $773,333. The sale was done as part of a sale-leaseback agreement, and Krystal agreed to a new 20-year triple-net lease. Patrick Nutt and Michael Zimmerman of Calkain Realty Advisors, the private market division of Calkain Cos., represented the buyer and Scott Tarbet of Atlanta-based RCG Ventures represented the seller. • Prosthetic Fabrication Inc. purchased a 0.41-acre vacant lot at 7920 Rutillio Court, New Port Richey from Regions Bank. Ross Realty Group Inc. handled the transaction. • Ybor Property Holdings LLC purchased an 8,400-square-foot former dialysis center at 1602 N. 21st St., Tampa from Pattillo Properties Corp. from $736,875. Moe Derbala of Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office handled the transaction. • Hudson Springs Plaza Corp. purchased a 7,000-square-foot multi-tenant building at 14832 U.S. 19, Hudson from Branch Banking and Trust Co. for $190,000. Dennis Bush and John Stoner of The Ross Realty Group Inc. pany’s current area of focus.” The purchase entity Isram Bayside Bridge LLC mortgaged the property to ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Co. for $11.2 million.

Tampa LLC, $1,684,057, 1.62 acres, open storage a portion of Tampa East Boulevard in SEC 13-29S19E, Tampa, 2012449886. Hodell Warehouse Co. LLC sold to Bailey Investment Holdings LLC, $1,600,000, warehouse, 2601 E. Second Ave., Tampa, 2012451399. University Corners of Tampa Inc. sold to Algalia LLC, $1,550,000, strip center, 11106 N. 30th St., Tampa, 2012435931. KB Development 1 LLC sold to Vinchem USA Corp., $1,425,000, Mortgage: $1,353,750, KB Development 1 LLC, strip center, 3840 W. Waters Ave., Tampa and additional vacant commercial, land, 0.83 acres south of West Waters Avenue, Tampa, 2012432373.

represented the seller and Frank Boullosa of The Ross Realty Group Inc. represented the buyer. • Jonathan Ruprai of Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office handled the sale of a 53-room Quality Inn in Hinesville, Ga. • SJR Holdings LLC purchased a 6,462-square-foot, 11-unit building development at 409 Eighth St. N., St. Petersburg from Synovus Bank for $210,000. The Ross Realty Group Lender Services represented the seller. • Michael Regan and Francesco Carriera of Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office handled the $8.65 million sale of the 236-unit Cleveland Heights apartment community in Lakeland. • Aspen Dental is opening a new Aspen Dental office at 9219 US 19, Port Richey. • Tampa builder Javic Homes has been selected for membership in the Southern Living Custom Builder Program for Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Javic is one of 100 builders chosen for the 20th year of the Southern Living builder program. Each year, Southern Living selects members based on their reputation among local businesses and consumers; strength of presence in their respective markets; quality and attention to detail; style; and other criteria. The Isram Group of Cos. currently owns, leases and manages 2 million square feet of primarily retail neighborhood and community shopping centers in Florida.

MANATEE COUNTY The Concession Land Development LLC sold to CLP Lots LLC, $7,898,300, lots 1-22, block B, phase II and lots 1-39, 44-75, 78-88, 90-97 and 100, phase III Concession, phase II, block B and Phase III, 02449-2487. Extended Investment Holdings LLC sold to City of Bradenton, $1,325,000, single-family, 1723, 1623, 1625 and 1630 W. Eighth Ave., 1810, 1820 and 1822 W. Ninth Ave. and 1720, 1732, 1734 and 1740 Ballard Park Drive, Bradenton, 02448-2993.

PASCO COUNTY

BJF IV LLC sold to Donald and Cathy Foreman, $1,200,000, store, 13029 S. U.S. 301, Riverview, 2012440208.

Health Care REIT Inc. sold to AP2012-Heritage Park LLC, $9,611,900, Mortgage: $177,039,677 (includes additional property in Florida), Capital One NA, homes for the aged, Heritage Park, 37135 Coleman Ave., Dade City, 8790-3626.

BSS Properties LLC sold to University of Tampa Inc., $1,188,889, multi-story office, 813 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, 2012432128.

PINELLAS COUNTY

Louis Alfano as successor trustee of The Foundation for Abdominal Surgery sold to Harileela Realestate LLC, $1,100,000, Mortgage: $550,000, Patriot Bank, clubhouse, lodge or union hall, 11606 McKinley Drive, Tampa in Tampa Industrial Park, 2012431961. American Momentum Bank sold to D.R. Horton Inc., $1,065,000, lots 1-5, 20, 33, 34, 36, 37, 43-45, 47, 48, 53-56, 58, 69 and 70-72, Bimini Bay. phase 2, and lots 33, 36, 42, 43 and 44, Block 1, Bimini Bay, 2012443039. Douglas Holmberg sold to LMJS Properties LLC, $1,017,575, pasture land, 60.39 acres, north of Sydney Road and a portion of Gallagher Road, Dover, 2012447880. Raj 118 LLC sold in lieu of foreclosure to Florida Community Bank NA, $1,042,842.22, warehouse, 13906 Lynmar Blvd, Tampa in Lynmar Commerce Park, 2012440160.

LEE COUNTY Lakes of Corkscrew LLC sold to Corkscrew Lakes LLC, $14,787,500, Corkscrew Woods, 2012000274956. RCS-Corkscrew Lakes LLC sold to Lakes of Corkscrew LLC, $14,650,000, Corkscrew Woods, 2012000274946. Greenbriar Land Trust LLC sold to Greenbriar Lehigh Subdivision, $2,684,000, vacant residential, various lots, Greenbriar, Lehigh Acres, 2012000263491.

None

SARASOTA COUNTY Rodney Dessberg sold to Gary Apts Inc., Reko Apts Inc., Santillane Apts. Inc. and Marko Terrace Apts Inc., $2,900,000, Mortgage: $1,400,000, Biscayne Bank, general commercial, 4104 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 2012159202. Amprop Holdings Jacaranda LLC sold to Des Moines Retirement Center LLC, $2,085,000, Mortgage: $1,435,000, First National Bank of the Gulf Coast, general commercial, 4060 S. Tamiami Trail, Venice, 2012157960. General Electric Credit Equities Inc. sold to Serenoa Golf Club LP, $2,000,000, Mortgage; $1,500,000, Branch Banking and Trust Co., residential estate, 233.5 acres, 6771 Serenoa Drive, Sarasota, 2012160984. Maraba LLC sold to Twin Distribution LLC, $1,300,000, Mortgage: $850,000, Hancock Bank, planned industrial development, 8290, 8294, 8296, 8300, 8304, 8330, 8326, 8322, 8318 and 8314 Consumer Court, Sarasota also known as units 101-105, 201-205, Blackfin Landing condominium, 2012160793. The Platinum Group Inc. sold to RH Property Holdings LLC, $1,050,000, industrial light warehouse, 733 Commerce Drive, Venice in Sarasota County Interstate Business Center, 2012163539. Marsh Creek Holdings Ltd. sold to Heron Creek Associates Ltd., $1,045,000, 14.51 acres, in SEC 21 and 22-39S-21E, 2012158909.

Gulf coast Business Review JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

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commercial real estate LEE-COLLIER-CHARLOTTE by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Englewood couple buys All American Boat, Dry Storage

BUYER: Safe Cove Inc., (principals: Jaroslav and Kerrie Cervenka) Port Charlotte SELLER: Richard and Patricia Bossey PROPERTY: 10450 Winborough Drive, Port Charlotte PRICE: $1.64 million and $695,000 PREVIOUS PRICE: $242,000, July 1998 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Berlin-Patten PLLC, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Jaroslav and Kerrie Cervenka of Englewood purchased the All American Boat and Dry Storage and an adjacent parcel for $2.34 million. The couple also acquired the business assets of the marina. Located adjacent to All American Self Storage, the marina property features one wet slip and 400 dry storage spaces, including 52 hanger structures. It also has a boat ramp, hauling well, 35-ton marina travel lift and a 25-ton hydraulics trailer. The facility can haul and store vessels up to 55 feet and accommodate yachts up to 65 feet in the water at the docks. Michelle Ash of Simply Marinas in Coral Gables represented the seller and Kevin Miller of KMX Group LLC in Orlando represented the buyer. “The former owners created the business 14 years ago from scratch and it has been very successful,” says Ash. “Its condition was really immaculate. The property has no environmental contamination. It has good occupancy and good cash flow. The buyer has been a client of the boat storage for years and had always been fascinated by it as a business.” Ash, who sells marinas all over the state, says the Port Charlotte facility was in unusually good financial and business shape. The purchase price equated to a 10% payoff ratio based on income (capitalization rate). The purchase entity Safe Cove Inc. mortgaged the property to Englewood Bank & Trust for $1.73 million and to the sellers Richard and Patricia Bossey for $500,000.

Etc…

• Stevens Construction has completed the construction of the Cape Health Surgery Center at 665 Del Prado Blvd. in Cape Cor-

al. Stevens Construction converted a vacant, existing building into a 5,124-square-foot ambulatory surgery center serving three physicians. Cape Health Surgery Center features one operating room, two procedure rooms, four pre-op beds and six recovery beds. Cape Health Surgery Center is the 11th surgical facility built by Stevens Construction. • Odin Investments LLC purchased 1793 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte 8 from Edgewater United Methodist Church Inc. for $735,000. Ronald Struthers PA of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT handled the transaction. • 5 Tool Development LLC leased 14,085 square feet of industrial flex space at 12100 Commerce Lakes Drive, Fort Myers from Cambridge Associates of SW Florida LLC. Clint Sherwood of Investment Properties Corp. handled the transaction. • PTS 4 LLC purchased 3,178 square feet of office space in The Fountains Professional Park at 3368 Woods Edge Circle, Bonita Springs from SA Florida One LLC for $230,850. Craig Timmins and Clint Sherwood of Investment Properties Corp. handled the transaction. • Fountainside Properties LLC dba Express Employment Professionals purchased 3,178 square feet of office space in The Fountains Professional Park at 3358 Woods Edge Circle, Bonita Springs from SA Florida One LLC for $266,952. Craig Timmins and Clint Sherwood of Investment Properties Corp. represented the seller and Ron Sanson of Downing Frye Realty Inc. represented the buyer. • Florida Cancer Specialists PL leased 10,111 square feet of office space at 12451 Gateway Blvd, Fort Myers from Sonia Lee Investments LLC. Randal Mercer and Brandon Stoneburner of CRE Consultants handled the transaction. • Treadheads Specialty Tire Inc. leased 3,375 square feet of industrial space at 11350 Metro Parkway, Fort Myers from Corrion Enterprises LLC. Tim Schneider of CRE Consultants represented the tenant. • La Mesa RV Center Inc. leased a 44,181-square-foot industrial building at 9650 Kelly Tractor Drive, Fort Myers from Kelly Tractor Co. & Pantropic Power Inc. Bob Johnston, Jerry Messonnier and Derek Bornhorst of Lee & Associates’ Naples-Fort Myers office handled the transaction. • Italian Terrazzo and Tile Co. of Brevard LLC leased a 12,495-square-foot industrial building at 4678 Elevation Way,

Investors buy home lots in Buckingham’s Remington Oaks BUYER: Remington Oaks 1 LLC, Remington

Oaks 2 LLC, Remington Oaks 3 LLC and Remington Oaks 4 LLC (principal for all: Randy Thibaut), Fort Myers SELLER: Riverview Homes (Remington Oaks 1, 2 and 4) and Shannon Danielle Pirron (Remington Oaks 3 and 4) PROPERTY: a portion of Buckingham Road north of Orange River Boulevard, Fort Myers PRICE: $201,923 (Remington Oaks 1), $201,923 (Remington Oaks 2) $121,200 (Remington Oaks 3), $137,400 and $343,269 (Remington Oaks 4) LAW FIRM ON DEED: Bolaños Truxton PA, Fort Myers

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: An investor group managed by Randy Thibaut of Land Solutions Inc. purchased 52 one-acre

Fort Myers from LTR Properties Partnership. Bob Johnston, Jerry Messonnier and Derek Bornhorst of Lee & Associates’ Naples-Fort Myers office represented the tenant and Tim Schneider of CRE Consultants represented the landlord.

homes in the Remington Oaks community for a total of $1.05 million. The price equated to $20,192 per acre. Remington Oaks is a partially developed community with 14 single-family homes. The investors purchased the remaining undeveloped home sites on Buckingham Road as an investment for the future. “They are planning to wait for the market to recover,” Thibaut says. “It was a unique property originally developed by Ryland Homes. They later sold it, moving the assets to Riverview Homes. All they intend to do is to get the project cleaned up so they are prepared when the market for these home sites improves.” Land Solutions also handled the transaction. The purchase was handled as a 1031 tax-deferred exchange. • StudioPlus LLC leased 2,640 square feet of office space at 12730 New Brittany Blvd., Fort Myers from Commonwealth Property Associates. Bill Mankin of Colliers International Southwest Florida represented the landlord.

Change is in the air... 83020

The Gulf Coast Business Review will become the Business Observer on January 18.

GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

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commercial real estate SARASOTA-MANATEE

by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Sarasota investors buy Riverview Plaza center Downtown entrepreneur set to buy Main Street buildings PRICE: $2.97 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.56 million, February

BUYER: 4789 Swift Road LLC (principals: Frank Cassata and Daniella Salvatore), Lakewood Ranch SELLER: 3D Realty Florida LLC PROPERTY: 4789 Swift Road, Sarasota

2005 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Icard Merrill Cullis Timm

Furen & Ginsburg PA, Bradenton

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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 74955

Email requests to: slater@lindellproperties.com 813.286.3807

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Long-time real estate developer Frank Cassata and Daniella Salvatore purchased the 15,224-square-foot Riverview Plaza strip center building for $2.97 million. The price equated to $195 per square foot. The 10-unit retail center houses a 7-Eleven, Bangkok Restaurant and an Edward Jones office. Built in 1983, the property was last renovated in 1992. Joe Boguszewski of Coldwell Banker Residential’s St. Armands Circle office represented the seller and Atchley International Realty represented the buyer. “There was one vacant space,” says Boguszewski. “There were no physical improvements need. It had a roof issue, but the seller corrected it before the sale. We ended up in a bidding war. It just shows how good investments are very hard to find these days.” The purchase price equated to a payoff ratio based on income (capitalization rate) of more than 7%. The purchase entity 4789 Swift Road LLC mortgaged the property to Florida Community Bank NA for $900,000.

West Coast Mattress of Venice plans future move, expansion BUYER: KSS of Southwest Florida LLC (princi-

pals: Kanwarjit and Keith Sawhney), Venice SELLER: Caravel Brazil LLC PROPERTY: 500 S. U.S. 41 Bypass, Venice PRICE: $1 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.3 million, January 2005 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Snyder Law Group PA,

Bradenton

Father Kanwarjit Sawhney and his son Keith Sawhney, owners of West Coast Mattress of Venice, purchased a retail building and a smaller industrial building for $1 million. The price equated to $65 per square foot. The 2.4-acre property features the 12,860-square-foot former home of The Lighthouse and a 2,460-square-foot light industrial warehouse building. Both buildings were built in 1971. West Coast Mattress of Venice is facing the threat of losing its existing building at 101 North U.S. 41 Bypass to future PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

Etc… • Michael Davenport, broker of King Realty Associates and an instructor with the Sarasota School of Real Estate, received the President’s Award from the Sarasota Association of Realtors. • Boof LLC purchased 6321 Porter Road, Unit 5, Sarasota from Clara Gingerich for $126,000. Nick DeVito and Debbie Anglin of Ian Black Real Estate and Kevin Robbins of Harry E Robbins Associates Inc. handled the transaction. • William Geller, an agent with Re/ Max Platinum Realty, has been recognized with the Realtor of the Year award from the Sarasota Association of Realtors. Geller was recognized for his business accomplishments and contribution to the community. He was president of

Sarasota businessman Jesse Biter is working on a deal to purchase 10 storefronts fronting mid-Main Street in downtown Sarasota. The sale will reportedly encompass two buildings for a total of 200 feet of commercial storefront on Main Street. Biter confirmed to the Sarasota Observer that he was looking at property on Main Street but declined to discuss details of the deal before it closed. Both of the buildings, immediately adjacent to each other at 1564 Main St. and 1560 Main St., are under contract, according to several tenants currently renting space in the building who were notified of the pending transactions. If the deal goes through, it would be the third major downtown property investment in the past two years for Biter, an entrepreneur who sold his $16 million auto sales software firm in 2010. In December 2011 Biter entered 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 of 2011 for $2.8 million. Brooke Misantone, co-owner of the

Bullet Hole, says current negotiations were under way for the sale of the building that houses his store, but he did not know any details. The Bullet Hole, located at 1576 Main St., is one of five storefronts in the building. The other current tenants include: Pho Cali, the Drunken Poet and Pangea Lounge. That building houses 9,700-square-feet of commercial space, currently owned by 1564 Main Street LLC, of New York and is currently under contract, confirmed Michael Saunders & Co. Realtor Lee DeLieto Jr., who is representing the seller. “That building has been on the market,” DeLieto says. “The seller found that the offer is acceptable.” If the contract is approved, the purchase could close by the end of the year, DeLieto says. The separate, neighboring building to the east is said to be part of another prospective Biter purchase. That building, which is currently owned by Suzanne Krill, houses 8,150 square feet of commercial space. Martin Hyde, owner of Gulf Business Systems’ Copy Center, 1548 Main St., says the building is old and in need of renovations, and Hyde was encouraged after he heard from his current landlord that someone was investing in the property. “I think it’s a good thing a young person with a vision wants to go forward,” Hyde says. He eventually expects Biter to announce long-term plans for the properties. The two properties have development potential. Under the city’s downtown zoning, up to 10 stories could be built. — reporting by Roger Drouin, correspondent

road expansion. The two nearby buildings were purchased as the future home of the 3-year-old mattress store and as a replacement for rented warehouse space. “It’s probably going to be a year or more before the expansion happens there,” Keith Sawhney says. “We’ll be leasing it out until then. It’s definitely bigger. Our existing store is 3,200 square feet and our warehouse is 3,800 square feet. Eventually, when we move we will probably share some of the space with another business, but we’ll still have more space and a bigger showroom.” In the near term, the new owners are planning to renovate the signage and

cleanup the property. Kanwarjit Sawhney says he’s considering buying some additional property either for a future West Coast Mattress of Venice expansion or strictly as an investment. “Real estate is starting to move, but it’s still fairly reasonable,” he says. “If I wanted to pick up some more real estate, now might be the time to do it.” Tom Farr of the Commercial Division of Michael Saunders & Co., represented the seller and Farr and Jackie Kennedy, a residential agent with the Venice office of Michael Saunders & Co., represented the buyer.

the Sarasota Association of Realtors in 2009 and is a past-president and board member of the Brazil-Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce.

Anthony Migliore of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT represented the landlord and Debbie Anglin of Ian Black Real Estate represented the tenant. • Centex has started development on 85 single-family home sites at The Reserve at Crossing Creek at 44th Avenue East and 69th Street East in Bradenton. One- and two-story homes at The Reserve Crossing Creek will be priced from the low $200,000s. The homebuilder expects to start construction on two model homes and a sales center early next year. • Tidewell Health Services LLC leased 5,600 square feet of retail space at Bird Bay Plaza, 523 U.S. 41 Bypass N., Venice for a thrift store called Treasures benefiting Tidewell. Bill Preissner of Hembree & Associates Inc. and Sam Camarota of Commodore Realty handled the transaction.

• Spirandreas and Jeanne Kambitsis leased 2,400 square feet of retail space at 7290 55th Ave. E., Bradenton. Massey & Lancaster of the commercial division of Michael Saunders & Co. handled the transaction. • Marcus Medical LLC leased 17,472 square feet of industrial space at 6423 Parkland Drive, Sarasota from High Properties. Janet Lincoln and Janet Robinson of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT handled the transaction. • Sands and Associates PLC leased 2,016 square feet of office space at 6151 Lake Osprey Drive, Sarasota from University Commons Office Center Ltd.

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COMMENT from page 1 paign sound bites? Read the Republican and Democratic parties’ platforms. They are devoid of any references to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” You have to look hard even to find the words “freedom” or “liberty” or references to founding principles in the Constitution. The Republicans came closest to articulating founding principles in their preamble: “We possess an owner’s manual: the Constitution of the United States, the greatest political document ever written. That sacred document shows us the path forward. Trust the people. Limit government. Respect federalism. Guarantee opportunity, not outcomes. Adhere to the rule of law. Reaffirm that our rights come from God, are protected by government, and that the only just government is one that truly governs with the consent of the governed.” “Respect federalism”? “Guarantee opportunity”? Not a mention of freedom. The absence of the defense and promotion of individual and economic freedom from our cultural-political lexicon is alarming enough. The absence of the teachings, or even debate, about economic freedom and free-market capitalism in our public education systems is criminal. If Americans truly believed in and understood the nation’s founding principles, if they truly believed in and understood free-market capitalism, we would not be where we are today — $16 trillion in debt. Today, the United States is a nation of government entitlements, not at all a nation of free-market capitalism. Redistribution of wealth (taking from one to bestow an unearned benefit on another) and government confiscation of property (the income tax, estate tax, Social Security tax, Medicare tax, etc.) are thought of as normal, social norms, rights. But that makes us wonder: What would John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton say if they saw all of this? When they drafted the Constitution, they knew that American colonists would revolt a second time at even the suggestion of an income tax — it was so repulsive. And yet, it’s astounding today that so many Americans believe “the rich” should be forced by the government’s gun to forfeit larger percentages of their income than everyone else. So much for equal treatment under the law.

Unequal treatment for all

You can thank Abraham Lincoln for initiating this “ability-to-pay,” progressive tax doctrine. Start with Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution. It said, “No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.” Translated: When taxed, everyone was to be treated the same. But when Lincoln needed funds to execute the Civil War, he persuaded Congress to adopt an ability-to-pay income

HOW STATES RANK IN FREEDOM

THE NARRATIVE ON FLORIDA FREEDOM Here’s what the Mercatus Center’s analysis of freedom in Florida concludes:

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University ranks the states on the basis of personal and economic freedom. When it combines the measurements, it arrives at an index ranking the states according to their overall freedom. New Hampshire is the freest state. To read the entire report, go to: mercatus.org. 1. New Hampshire 2. South Dakota 3. Indiana 4. Idaho 5. Missouri 6. Nevada 7. Colorado 8. Oregon 9. Virginia 10. North Dakota 11. Florida 12. Oklahoma 13. Iowa 14. Texas 15. Georgia 16. Tennessee 17. Kansas 18. North Carolina 19. Alabama 20. Utah 21. Wyoming 22. Arizona 23. Nebraska 24. Mississippi 25. Wisconsin 26. South Carolina 27. Michigan 28. Arkansas 29. Montana 30. Vermont 31. Pennsylvania 32. Kentucky 33. Maine 34. Minnesota 35. Louisiana 36. West Virginia 37. New Mexico 38. Connecticut 39. Delaware 40. Washington 41. Illinois 42. Ohio 43. Maryland 44. Alaska 45. Rhode Island 46. Massachusetts 47. Hawaii 48. California 49. New Jersey 50. New York

Despite lacking a personal-income tax, Florida is average in almost all fiscal categories, rising well above average only on decentralization, local budget constraints and government employment. Property and general sales taxes are higher than average. Florida’s gun laws are about average nationally, but below average for the South. Marijuana laws are generally quite restrictive, and there is a Salvia ban. Florida is one of the few states to mandate personal-injury coverage in auto-insurance plans. Other than mandatory registration, Florida’s regulation of private schools is minimal, and homeschooling is also lightly regulated apart from record-keeping requirements. Land-use planning has gone very far in Florida, and greater room for local flexibility in development plans is probably warranted. Florida has improved by allowing the federal minimum wage to catch up, and the state also benefits from right-to-work laws and a relatively good workers’ compensation regime. To its credit, Florida has gone further than any other state in reforming eminent domain. Health-insurance coverage mandates have gotten much worse, with an 8.5% jump in policy-attributable premium costs between 2007 and 2009. Contribution limits on grassroots PACs are unnecessarily restrictive for such a large state. Smoking bans exist, but there is some local flexibility for bars, while cigarette taxes are low. Florida has RFRA and bans raw milk.

0.441 0.414 0.344 0.343 0.315 0.315 0.303 0.285 0.274 0.225 0.224 0.223 0.221 0.211 0.188 0.168 0.161 0.158 0.151 0.141 0.119 0.092 0.082 0.061 0.026 0.014 0.013 0.000 –0.007 –0.047 –0.050 –0.053 –0.060 –0.140 –0.143 –0.146 –0.178 –0.180 –0.196 –0.196 –0.200 –0.215 –0.268 –0.300 –0.383 –0.393 –0.445 –0.487 –0.505 –0.752

Policy Recommendations

(1) Stop adding health-insurance coverage mandates and consider repealing the ones that exist. (2) Raise campaign contribution limits to candidates, particularly for individuals and grassroots PACs. (3) End mandatory registration of private schools.

Source: Mercatus Center, George Mason University

tax (3% on anyone earning more than $600 a year); they called it an “excise” tax to skirt the Constitution. Luckily, the tax ended in 1872. But 25 years after the war, proponents of ability-to-pay taxation and class warfare had gained full acceptance as political causes. The Populists of the 1890s targeted the “robber barons” and “bloated

rich.” In 1893, newly elected President Grover Cleveland asked Congress for an income tax. It approved a 2% income tax. The Supreme Court later ruled it unconstitutional. Class warfare continued. In 1913, the Populists were victorious again. The 16th Amendment became law, allowing Congress to tax incomes “without regard to any census or enumeration.” Since then, Americans have not been

“created equal.” It has become an article of belief in America that those who earn more than others must contribute more to the common good. Barack Obama says haughtily: “They can afford it.” On this point, it’s worth invoking philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand: “America’s abundance was not created by public sacrifices to ‘the common good,’ but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. “They did not starve the people to pay for America’s industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented,” she wrote. Most people forget that side of the coin. While the late Steve Jobs may have accumulated billions upon billions of dollars in personal wealth, look at the hundreds and hundreds of millions of “free riders” who are able to afford and have the benefits of his creations? Through free-market capitalism, the iPhone became affordable; it was not just for the rich. All those voters who think the rich should pay more forget how they have benefited from the ingenuity of the creators and producers. The Mitt Romneys and Jeff Bezoses (Amazon) and Larry Pages (Google) of this country are not the villains. They shouldn’t be punished. They’re heroes.

Shout the meaning of freedom

But Americans don’t get that. The man in the White House doesn’t talk about individual freedom or economic freedom. He doesn’t embrace the concept that the freer we are, the more prosperous we become. “Freer” means less taxation, fewer regulations, less government spending — removing as much of the state from our lives as possible. In their 2011 detailed study of personal and economic freedom by state, authors William P. Ruger and Jason Sorens (“Freedom in the 50 States,” George Mason University), offered this unsurprising conclusion: “Two of the most intriguing findings of our statistical analysis are that Americans are voting with their feet and moving to states with more economic and personal freedom and that economic freedom correlates with income growth.” As you watched Washington’s incompetence on “the fiscal cliff,” you had to become disgusted and disheartened. Look at that horrific mess we have let our “public servants” perpetrate on us, and then look at your children and grandchildren. They are destined to be slaves to the state and to a declining standard of living. This is why freedom should be the word for 2013, 2014 and beyond. If the next generations do not understand and know the truths of our nation’s founding principles or the miraculousness of freemarket capitalism, they are doomed. We will have doomed them. We need to teach and shout the meaning of freedom.

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GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 10, 2013

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