American Banker named OZK Labs, a St. Petersburg-based division of Bank OZK, one of the 2019 Best Places to Work in Financial Technology. OZK Labs is led by Marcio deOliveira and has 31 developers, engineers and technology professionals who develop next-generation banking tools.
Fast Frontier LLC, based in St. Petersburg and operating as Cricket Wireless, paid $41,677 in back wages to 111 employees for violating minimum wage, overtime and record keeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The back wages went to workers at 54 locations in Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana, the U.S. Department of Labor said.
NWI Enterprises, a Tampa-based supplier of specialty hardware, has acquired RailFx. Financial terms were not disclosed. RailFx, headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., manufactures branded specialty aluminum railing systems. The railings incorporate a cable railing infill that's made by Nationwide Industries, a subsidiary of NWI.
The Tampa-St. Pete area had one of the highest gains in small business jobs in the nation in February, according to the Paychex/HIS Markit Small Business Employment Watch. Jobs at companies with fewer than 50 workers jumped 2.13 percent year-over-year. Wage growth was not as robust. Hourly earnings averaged $24.30, up 1.67 percent in the past year.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis cited Tampa Bay Technical High School as a successful example of workforce education in his State of the State address. He has proposed a plan improve Florida’s workforce education, including grants for apprenticeships, money to train teachers in computer science and funds for workforce programs within the state college system.
Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor and St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa are among the top large community hospitals in the U.S., according to Watson Health's new Top 100 Hospitals list. Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (since renamed AdventHealth Wesley Chapel) was named one of the best small community hospitals.
Highwoods Properties (NYSE: HIW) will write off about $12 million as a result of Laser Spine Institute's decision to cease operations. Laser Spine leased a 176,000 square-foot, six-story building developed by Highwoods in Tampa's Westshore district.
Heritage Insurance Holdings (NYSE: HRTG) had $27.2 million in income, or $1.04 a share, on revenue of $480.2 million in 2018. It was a turnaround for the Clearwater property and casualty insurer, which had a loss of $1.1 million, or 4 cents a share, on revenue of $406.6 million in 2017. Heritage was licensed in two new states last year.
Osceola Capital Management, a private equity firm in Tampa, bought 360 Quote, a Tampa company that operates lead generation websites in the insurance segment, with a focus on auto insurance. The purchase price was not disclosed. The digital marketing channel in the insurance sector has strong growth potential, said Ben Moe, managing part of Osceola.
Sixteen companies from the Tampa-St. Pete area made the Seminole 100, a list of the 100 fastest-growing businesses owned or managed by Florida State University alumni. Boomerang Transportation, a Tampa logistics company offering freight transportation services, was the highest-ranked local company.
Publix Super Markets Inc. reported $2.4 billion in net earnings on $36.1 billion in sales for 2018. Net earnings were up 3.9 percent and sales were up 4.4 percent year-over-year, a news release said. Sales also were up in the fourth quarter, but earnings dropped in Q4 because of an accounting rule change and a one-time tax adjustment.
Jordan Raynor has stepped down as CEO of Threshold 360, a Tampa tech company with 360 degree imagery of locations worldwide. Daniel Krause, a tech veteran most recently at ShareIQ, was named CEO, in a move that allows Threshold 360 to grow to a greater scale. Raymond said he will remain as executive chairman.
