GULF COAST
NOVEMBER 18 – NOVEMBER 24, 2011
Business Review
THREE DollarS
FIRST UP:
BUYING LOCAL
A group of entrepreneurs uses the Groupon model to give back. Page 6
COLUMN ON PAGE 18
Take Action
destructors SEE PAGE 8
How to stop resisting change and address the tough issues in your business.
Technology innovations that create new markets by destroying old ones.
Companies • Trends • Entrepreneurs • CEOs
The Weekly Newspaper for Gulf Coast Business Leaders
3 STEPS TO SUCCESS
Five years ago, Tech Data was losing money. With a new leader and strategy, it’s more profitable than ever. PAGE 12
GULF COAST BUSINESS BUZZ
+ Tough year might end with happy news
This could be a good year for bonuses, despite the recession. In fact, 30% of executives with companies that gave a bonus in 2010 say they plan to give higher bonuses in 2011,
+ Elderly focused agency grows up fast
A Sarasota-based think tank that studies the impact of aging on businesses and the community is moving at speeds not normally associated with its subjects. To wit: The agency, the Institute for the Ages, which officially launched last spring, received a $1.2 million funding commitment from Sarasota County officials in July. And earlier this month the institute held a workshop, Innovation for the Ages, that drew a high-powered
group of nationwide researchers, executives and government officials to town. “The progress over the past few months has been extremely satisfying,” says Tim Dutton, the Institute’s interim executive director. “This is a marker of how big this has become.” The institute’s formation rests on the fact that Sarasota County, with 30.5% of its 369,675 people 65 or older, according to 2009 U.S. Census figures, is the oldest large county in the country. That’s out of 3,850 counties. Those demographics were a magnet for people who attend-
ed the two-day workshop Nov. 9-10. “The purpose was to bring these people together,” Dutton tells Coffee Talk. “The idea is to think about how they can do the work better, faster and smarter.” Attendees included cultural anthropologists; a representative from Hallmark; New York City Health Department officials; employees from chemical company BASF; and researchers with the Stanford Center on Longevity. Several other universities sent elderly experts to the workshop, along with RTI
See coffee talk on page 3
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COFFEE TALK
according to a new survey from Robert Half International. Only 14% of the respondents, meanwhile, expect to provide smaller bonuses. Human resource managers, at 42%, were the most optimistic about higher 2011 bonuses. Technology executives followed at 25%, the survey states. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Robert Half, a specialized professional staffing firm, polled more than 1,250 senior executives nationwide from companies that offered employee bonuses in 2010.