Nov
21
What’s in a name?
Filed Under Economic Development, Technology, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
SW Fla on the verge of creating regional identity
By ANNIE LINDSTROM
Business Writer
We’re not the Space Coast. We’re not the Research Coast. We’re not the Heartland Region or the Tampa Bay Partnership.
Southwest Florida may be the only major region in the state without a readily recognizable identity.
But that’s about to change – soon.
Oct
24
Top Web site pumps up sales professionals
By BOB MASSEY
Editor
Where would you find the largest online community for sales professionals in the world? New York, perhaps? Los Angeles? London?
Would you believe Cape Coral?
With the trademarked tag line “Sales Professionals Are the Elite Athletes of the Business World,” Sales Gravy (www.salesgravy.com) is the self-proclaimed “portal to all things Sales.” And founder Jeb Blount has worked hard to make it that way.
“I was the head of sales for a large, $13 billion company – I handled sales for the Southeast region – and got tired of flying in airplanes all the time,” he said.
So Blount decided he would take a different tack – he just wasn’t sure what.
“While I was waiting to figure it out, my wife said she would divorce me if I didn’t find something else,” he quipped.
But he already had the answer; he just hadn’t recognized it.
Oct
10
Growth taking off around local airports
Filed Under Economic Development, Technology, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Real estate investors get window-seat view of Lee’s future
By JESSICA HEHIR
Business Writer
Few sectors are immune from current economic hardships – and the Lee County Port Authority is no exception. But there is optimism and plans for economic growth and stability on the horizon.
Robert Ball, executive director of the Lee County Port Authority says you have to deal with today’s facts.
“The airline industry is retreating to absorb losses,” he said. “We are seeing about a 15 percent reduction in seat capacity. Flights are not flying if they’re not full. Airlines are using older, smaller, less fuel-efficient planes. You deal with the times that you have. We are supported by air industry.”
With that sentiment the Port Authority is moving ahead with several capital projects. Ball believes there is a direct connection between local airports and growth and development in Southwest Florida. He will expound on those claims as well as give a state of the industry report at the Oct. 14 meeting of the Real Estate Investment Society (REIS).
Sep
26
EnVont makes it big when it comes to smaller
Filed Under Economic Development, Technology | Leave a Comment
Nanotechnology firm wins Collier Entrepreneurship Award
By ROBERT DEANE
Business Writer
While NASA and the Hubble project explore the outer reaches of our universe and beyond, nano scientists explore the inner reaches of our universe on the molecular level and within.
J. Nicholas “Nick” Shevillo, president and COO of EnVont Technologies LLC – which recently moved its headquarters to Naples – saw these possibilities and was ready to look within and beyond.
A Johns Hopkins University graduate who worked his way up through a software company until 2003, Shevillo started an investment management company focused on investing in startup businesses. EnVont is one of the companies in which Shevillo invested – and consequently became its president and chief operating officer.
Shevillo’s efforts propelled EnVont to take the Collier County Economic Development Council’s Entrepreneurship Award.
Formerly based in Chesterfield, Mich., EnVont is a leading advanced research and development company focused on nano-based coatings and materials.
Sep
12
UnReal Estate
Filed Under Technology, Trends | Leave a Comment
Two companies find profitable niches in a troubled market
By BOB MASSEY
Editor
Don’t tell these two companies the real estate market is tanking. They’re doing quite well, thank you.
Their secret? Finding an underserved, nontraditional market. Owners of both firms saw opportunity – and jumped on it. Despite a troubled market – or, more accurately, because of it – Unfinished Construction and Sell Your House to Europe have harnessed the power of the Internet and combined it with the power of opportunity to create real estate firms that work when many others aren’t.
Aug
29
Journey of a wiki-activist
Filed Under Technology, Trends | Leave a Comment
Shareholder drives an Internet stake into the heart of corporate complacency
by SARA FITZPATRICK
Associate Editor
Time to review and update your investment portfolio. Are you ready? Company prospectus. Check. Stock broker or online investing service. Check. Web cam. Che – What?
Does your portfolio management end at the click of the “Buy” button? With your stock purchase, you’re buying part of a company. As part owner, should you really just sit back and trust the management has your interests at heart? After all, if you own a meager amount of stock, your stake is probably not well represented in the corporate board meeting. And if it’s not, maybe you should do something about it. Perhaps launch a campaign to depose the current corporate leadership. Or nominate yourself for the board. But how to get such a brazen message across?
-
Subscribe Now
Get 26 issues of Southwest Florida Business Today! [by major credit card] We'll help you stay on top of your business game. Subscribe Now!