Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid P.A. announced that Fisher & Sauls, P.A. will be joining them as of Monday. The new partnership will join two of the oldest and most respected law firms in St. Petersburg. Battaglia's main office will remain on Central Avenue as well as the Riverview office. This partnership will significantly grow the Firm's practices in the areas of estate planning, probate, real estate and business law, according to a news release. The attorneys joining the firm due to the merger include Robert Kapusta (business, estate planning, real estate), Laurie Valentine (estate planning and probate), Hunter Rawls (Probate, estate planning and probate litigation), Kenneth "Kip" Thornton (real estate), and Bruce Marger (estate planning).
Clearwater-based startup KnowBe4 Inc. (NASDAQ: KNBE), provider of the leading security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, has exceeded expectations for its Q2 earnings. KnowBe4 had a record annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $241 million and over 41,000 customers. "We are excited about the extremely positive response to the release of our newest product, Compliance Plus, which reaches an entirely new but adjacent market for us. This product allows us to leverage the automation and other advanced capabilities of our existing platform while tapping into a massive compliance market," KnowBe4 Founder and CEO Stu Sjouwerman said in a release. "We also continue to benefit from a regulatory environment that recognizes the growing threat of social engineering and look forward to capitalizing on the current environment to further our growth strategies." The company recently completed an initial public offering of its Class A common stock and issued and sold a total of 10.425 million shares of Class A common stock for net proceeds of $156 million.
The seventh annual SHINE Mural Festival takes place Oct. 15-24. The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance has announced that space remains for one additional local artist. Qualified applicants must be 18 years of age or older and live or work in St. Petersburg. Artist will be provided with paint, supplies, and $1,000 stipend. Click here for the application.
On Friday, Florida Blue announced a $750,000 gift to the Tampa Innovation Partnership. The group tweeted, "we will have increased support to work with partners to disrupt the cycle of generational poverty in Uptown" with the funds. The Uptown District in Tampa is home to the University of South Florida and the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, but the area is known for its high-crime neighborhoods. The partnership's goal is to revitalize the area and spur more economic activity.
The 7,186-square-foot Romano's Macaroni Grill at 2302 Tyrone Blvd N. is slated to be redeveloped into a Portillo's location. Portillo’s, an iconic restaurant chain in the greater Chicago area, will redevelop the site into a 7,800-square-foot drive-thru restaurant. Portillo's is known for its Chicago-style hot dogs and Italian beef. The chain has locations in Tampa, Brandon, and opened its newest location in Orlando in June.
St. Pete-based First Home Bank, a community bank with six banking centers in the Tampa Bay area, reported earnings of $13.02 million in Q2. Key drivers of this profitability were the Bank’s recognition of $14.73 million in PPP origination fees, as well as the origination of $522 million in new residential loans. "We were very well positioned in SBA loans and we repurposed that line during the pandemic to facilitate PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] funds to struggling businesses and built a mortgage and refinance business line," CEO Tony Leo told the St. Pete Catalyst. The bank is reverting back to its normal SBA business line.
Professional Bank, based in the Miami area, is planning to open a loan office in downtown St. Petersburg. The bank is also planning to open another office in Jacksonville. Chairman and CEO of Professional Bank and Professional Holding Corp. Daniel Sheehan said in a release that the bank has been interested in the sites for a long time. The group expects to finalize leases in both cities in the next several weeks, according to reports.
Rebecca Schulkowski, who currently serves as the director of operations for Mease Countryside and Mease Dunedin hospitals in Pinellas County, was named president of BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel. The Wesley Chapel campus is under construction and will open in 2023. Schulkowski has been closely involved in the construction of the new campus. She also played a major part in construction projects at the Mease hospitals and at St. Anthony's Hospital, where she previously served as an exec. Although the hospital will not be open for several years, she starts her new role on Aug. 22. A search for a new Director of Operations for the Mease hospitals will begin immediately.
Washlava has closed $9MM in recapitalization and equity financing from the Jacksonville-based Monterey Private Capital, and the Tampa-based David A. Straz Jr. Foundation. In addition, the company announced the arrival of Tommy Hart as interim Chief Executive Officer and Michael Wik as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Hart replaces current CEO Todd Belveal, who is leaving the company.
St. Petersburg-based Climate First Bank, the nation’s only bank founded specifically to combat the climate crisis, announced four new hires to its team all of whom are female millennials. The additions include Holly Bridwell as marketing director who will provide administrative support to CEO Ken LaRoe; Lauren Dubé as vice president and director of client and mission partnerships; Blaine Worak as senior vice president, senior credit administrator and loan operations manager; and Rachel Yorston as commercial and government-guaranteed lending associate. First Climate has dubbed these hires as the "Mighty Millennials."
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority is donating a bus to Reach St. Pete to use as a mobile grocery store. The nonprofit Reach St. Pete's mission is to eliminate homelessness. The bus will provide access to fresh produce and pantry items to those in the most deprived areas in the city. The bus is expected to be up and running in 2022. Those interested in helping with the mobile grocery store concept can donate here.
Clearwater swimmer Bobby Finke won the gold in the debut of the men’s 800-meter swimming freestyle event at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Wednesday. Finke’s winning time was 7 minutes, 41.87 seconds. The 21-year-old swimmer passed the three competing swimmers in front of him on the last lap. The men’s 800 freestyle was added to the Olympic program for the Tokyo Games, marking the first time that approximate distance was contested by the men since there was an 880-yard race at the 1904 St. Louis Games, according to the AP.
