Work is underway on a 23-story high-rise designed to address the needs for off-campus housing for University of Tampa students. The project is at East Tyler Street and North Ashley Drive, and named The Henry, as a nod to railroad tycoon Henry Plant. It will have 188 apartments, housing 537 residents, as well as 1,800 square feet of restaurant and retail space on the ground floor. It's expected to open in fall 2021. Developers are Development Ventures Group of New York and Orlando, InTown Group in Tampa and Halstatt Real Estate Partners, a women-owned real estate private equity firm in Naples.
SynsorMed, a tech company with a remote patient monitoring system and chronic care management solutions, was the winner of the pitch competition at the Frontier Fall Forum Tuesday in Tampa. SynsorMed, which was in Tampa Bay Wave's recent TechDiversity cohort, won $3,000 worth of Frontier’s cloud security services, four club level tickets to a Buccaneers game, a game parking pass and bragging rights, a news release said. Three other health-tech start-ups that grew their businesses at Tampa Bay Wave also pitched. They are: MetaSense Analytics, which uses data to help companies accelerate their health insights; RXLive, a personalized telehealth service that connects patients and expert clinical pharmacists; and Verapy, a physical and occupational therapy platform that turns standard exercises into fun and immersive virtual reality games. Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FTR), Tampa Bay Wave and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosted the event at the AdventHealth Training Center.
The University of South Florida Center for Entrepreneurship's graduate program ranks No. 8 in the nation on a new list from Princeton Review. Among public schools, USF was No. 3. Graduates have launched 68 startups in the last five years, and raised $15 million in funding, according to Entrepreneur magazine. The University of Tampa Lowth Entrepreneurship Center ranked No. 37 among best undergraduate programs for entrepreneurs.UT grads have launched 300 startups over the last five yeas, and raised $4 million, Entrepreneur said.
Small and mid-size business leaders in Florida are divided on the impact of increased U.S. tariffs on goods from other countries, a new survey from The PNC Financial Services Group found. Nearly half of those surveyed, or 48, are in support of tariffs on goods from other countries, even if other countries retaliate with increased tariffs on U.S. goods and services, the survey said. That's up sharply from 24 percent in fall 2018. Thirty-two percent are against increased tariffs and 19 percent are uncertain. The vast majority of respondents, 88 percent, have made no changes to their business in response to tariffs, the survey said.
A federal judge in Massachusetts has sentenced St. Petersburg resident Gregory M. Bercowy to 17 months in prison, after he pled guilty to securities fraud. The judge also ordered Bercowy to pay $3.3 million in restitution and serve one year of supervised release, a Nov. 12 news release said. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier charged Bercowy with manipulating the stock price of Aureus Inc., a penny stock company incorporated in Nevada. A federal judge in Tampa ordered Bercowy to pay a civil penalty of $507,513, and permanently barred him from participating in an offering of a penny stock.
The Bank of Tampa has opened a loan production office in New Port Richey. It's the bank's first presence in Pasco County. The new office is led by Angie Gardner, vice president, commercial relationship manager, and a veteran Pasco County banker, most recently with SunTrust. The Bank of Tampa is the largest community bank in the Tampa-St. Pete area, with total assets of $1.8 billion and 12 full-service banking offices, in addition to a loan production office in Plant City.
Apyx Medical Corp. (Nasdaq: APYX), a Clearwater medical device firm, posted $7.6 million in revenue from continuing operations in the third quarter of 2019, up 106 percent over Q3 2018. The company’s net loss for the three months ended Sept. 30 was $4.3 million, or 13 cents a share. The company, formerly named Bovie Medical, revamped its operations after selling its legacy electrosurgical business in 2018. Apyx expects total revenue in the range of $27.4 million to $27.9 million and a net loss in the range of $20.3 million to $19.8 million for the full year of fiscal 2019, a news release said. Apyx had the best performing stock among Tampa-St. Pete area public companies in 2018 and the stock price has risen about 12 percent since the first of the year.
Real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) expanded its valuation and advisory platform with the addition of a 10-person team from Beshears & Associates, a boutique valuation firm in Tampa. The new team will focus on a wide variety of property types, primarily in Florida and the southeast, a news release said. The team is led by David Beshears, who joins as executive director. Other team members are: Michael Green, Chris Larkin and John Sabatini, all senior directors; Rachel Weideman and Robert Tyson, both directors; Jordan Menke and Catherine Butler, who are associate directors; Jack Tait, an associate; and Rita Martino, administrative assistant.
Bridge, a Tampa technology company with an ecommerce beverage alcohol store, received $917,000 from Florida Funders, a venture capital fund and crowd-funding platform. The Florida Funders Impact Fund provided $500,000 in capital, and the rest came from the organization's accredited investor network, a news release said. Tom Wallace, managing partners of Florida Funders, said Bridge is the first company the fund has seen that brings critical consumer data to wholesalers, suppliers and retailers to offer them insights needed to better manage their products, inventory, and sales force. Just a few months after launch, Bridge, formerly known as Proof Network Ventures, is generating monthly recurring revenue, according to the news release.
Employees at companies that are members of Tampa Bay Tech will have an opportunity to serve as mentors to children in the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay, through a new partnership with Think Big for Kids, a Tampa nonprofit founded by entrepreneur Tony DiBenedetto. The partnership, announced Nov. 8 at Tampa Bay Tech's poweredUP awards show, allows tech professionals to guide and enable kids to take part in educational, skills development and career planning, and to help them become employed after high school. The goal is to eliminate the cycle of poverty in the area. Think Big For Kids will also offer a matching program, up to $50,000, to all Tampa Bay Tech member companies who donate to their programs and initiatives. Tampa Bay Tech is one of the oldest and largest technology councils in the nation.
Barbara Karasek, CEO of Paradise Advertising, a full-service agency headquartered in downtown St. Petersburg, was honored as one of 30 executives to receive 2019 Cynopsis Digital "IT List" Award recognition. Karasek was honored for the development of Paradise Data Depot, an analytics platform launched in 2018. Other honorees of the Cynopsis Digital "IT List" include BET, Comedy Central, Digitas, Disney, Hulu, NASCAR, NBC, and Publicis, among others.
MarineMax expanded its financing facility to borrow up to $440 million from the previous limit of $400 million. The additional borrowing capacity reflects recent acquisitions and looks toward the future, Michael McLamb, chief financial officer, said in a news release. Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance is agent for the financing facility, which includes M&T Bank, Bank of the West and BB&T. MarineMax (NYSE: HZO), a Clearwater-based recreational boat and yacht retailer, said borrowings under the facility are secured primarily by inventory and the company's real estate is not pledged.
