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5 things to know about Florida's slowly improving job market
Largo's Ditek Corp., a bright spot in manufacturing in the Tampa Bay bay area, plans to add employees. Above, workers assemble and test surge protectors. (Photo: Cheri Diez, Tampa Bay Times.)
Wake up and good morning. We learned last week that Florida's unemployment rate continues to dip and now stands at 8.7 percent. That's a horrendously, punishingly high number that actually looks terrific to us here in the Sunshine State after years of double-digit jobless numbers.
Now let's put a bit more meat on the bones of Florida's job market so we have a better sense of where we stand. Here are 5 things to know about Florida (un)employment right now. ... Read more
Survey: Finest architectural gems in Tampa Bay? Come have a look
The Cuban Club, built in 1917 in Tampa's Ybor City, ranked 18th statewide and No. 1 in the Tampa Bay area in a recent online poll of Florida's best buildings. (Photo: Chris Zuppa, Tampa Bay Times) ... Read more
Despite fervent followers, 'AdSurf' Ponzi schemer Andy Bowdoin pleads guilty to wire fraud
Wake up and good morning. The struggling tiny town of Quincy in Florida's Panhandle probably still isn't sure what's up or down since Andy Bowdoin (above, in a sales video) and his AdSurf Daily multilevel marketing scheme hit the town five years ago and developed a quick cult following of get-rich-quick converts.
It didn't last. Bowdoin pleaded guilty to wire fraud last week after authorities say he duped thousands of investors and misled them about his background in running an Internet Ponzi scheme that raised more than $110 million. Bowdoin (pronounced Bowden), 77, faces a possible maximum sentence of six and a half years and fines up to $175,000. ... Read more
- advertising
- crime
- fraud
- Internet issues
- Legal issues
- Money management
- Ponzi scheme
- Regulatory oversight
- Scams
New online used-auto competitor coming to Tampa Bay with low price promise
Wake up and good morning. A new web site that will sell area used cars at a discount from dealerships is coming to the Tampa Bay area. It's called Mojo Motors, which works with area dealers to list used autos "at the lowest price online." The company says its online site will provide the complete pricing history of every vehicle for sale, the time on the dealer lot and the total price drop. ... Read more
Do you think stock market likes Tampa Trib owner Media General's sale of its newspapers?
Here's a snapshot of what Media General's stock (MEG) is doing this morning since it was announced Warren Buffett was buying all of the company's newspapers for $142 million -- except for the Tampa Tribune. Details here and here. What will be its fate? Will Halifax Media make an offer for it since it recently bought the papers in Sarasota, Lakeland, Ocala and other nearby towns? Or might some local Tampa folks with too much money and an insatiable urge to become local newspaper owners come in -- like they have done in Philadelphia -- and buy the Trib and try to make a go of it?
... Read more
Discrimination state? Florida ranks No. 2 in country in worker complaints to EEOC in 2011
Wake up and good morning. Florida may be the fourth largest state in population but it ranks No. 2 in workplace discrimination complaints filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). So says new data for 2011 just released by the commission that shows Florida workers filed 8,088 complaints last year -- nearly 32 complaints filed on average every working day of 2011.
Of those 8,088, 2,598 were complaints of racial discrimination; 2,406 were complaints of sex discrimination; 1,446 were complaints of discrimination over national origin; 313 were complaints of religious discrimination; 266 were complaints based on color discrimination; 3,231 were complaints related to retaliation; and 1,782 were age discrimination complaints. (Some complaints involved multiple types of discrimination so these individual numbers do not add up to the 8,088 total figure.) ... Read more
Move over, St. Joe, and make room for planned development the size of Rhode Island
Wake up and good morning. When the St. Joe Co., dominating real estate developer and land owner in the Florida Panhandle, decided to pull back and hibernate in the tough economy, nobody thought any mega-projects were forming in that part of the state.
Wrong. State and local officials have approved a 562,000-acre master plan -- timberland roughly the size of Rhode Island -- encompassing gulf coast frontage touching five counties. It's not St. Joe's but rather a parcel owned by some high-profile business types and former diplomats. Their goal: 25,000 new homes and more than 10 million square feet of commercial and industrial office space. ... Read more
- Commercial real estate
- construction
- Economic development
- housing
- real estate
- Regional economies
- St. Joe Co.
A lively show - inside and out - at JPMorgan Chase annual meeting in Tampa
The annual shareholders meeting of JPMorgan Chase took place Tuesday morning at the bank's Treasury operations complex in Tampa, just off I-75 and Martin Luther King. Bank CEO Jamie Dimon managed to avoid the wrath of investors over the recent disclosure of a $2.3 billion trading loss, readily admitting "I can't justify it." Read my column about my attending the annual meeting. Dimon's candor inside the event did not dissuade protesters outside the event from throwing eggs at his image (below). See more photos from the event.
... Read more
Taking action: Can Tampa's USF flex its horsepower surrounded by crumbling neighborhoods?
Wake up and good morning. Time to get this issue more on the Tampa Bay business community's radar: Do the crime, poverty and generally rundown neighborhoods touching Fletcher and Fowler avenues in Tampa prevent the University of South Florida from becoming more of a hotbed of technology or biotech activity as the university has desired for so long?
The simple answer is, yes. Of course. Maybe this quote is a tip-off. "We're a Third World neighborhood in a first class city," Dan Jurman (left), executive director of the University Area Community Development Corp. told TBO.com here. ... Read more
- Biotech
- Economic development
- economic incentives
- Medical technology
- Regional economies
- Technology
- University of South Florida
In lawsuits, former PBS&J executives allege range of financial grievances
Wake up and good morning. PBSJ Corp. was a big, high-profile engineering and construction firm in Tampa Bay that ran into trouble and found itself sold for $280 million about a year ago. It now operates under the name of its new owner, U.K.-based WS Atkins. Read more of that deal here.
As is too often the case, the sale of a company does not necessarily keep its name and former executives out of the spotlight.
Former PBSJ CEO John Zumwalt (left) and Martha Zumwalt recently filed suit in Hillsborough County claiming they are the victim of a Ponzi schemer named Miland Bharvirkar who convinced them to invest in his business to build high-tech gaming kiosks in retail locations. The Zumwalts say they were introduced to Bharvirkar as... wait for it... a fellow congregant at their church. ... Read more
About the blog
Tampa Bay business news and insights are brought to you each day by business columnist Robert Trigaux and his fellow business writers. Venture provides an inside look at Tampa Bay companies as well as events, people, deal, triumphs and failures across the Tampa Bay economy.
E-mail Robert Trigaux: trigaux@tampabay.com
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