The Rise of the Rest Bus Tour, an initiative by Revolution’s Steve Case to spotlight promising startups in areas outside of the major tech hubs, will start its day-long May 1 visit to the Tampa Bay area in St. Petersburg. Station House will host a private kickoff event and discussion with local leaders.
Two medical device sites previously owned by Johnson & Johnson now are integrated with Jabil Inc., as part of a larger deal between the two companies. Jabil (NYSE: JBL), a St. Petersburg-based electronics manufacturing services company, also said that it posted $67.6 million in net income, or 43 cents a share, on revenue of $6.1 billion for the quarter ended Feb. 28.
HCA Healthcare is buying a stake in Galen College of Nursing and will become the majority owner when the deal closes. Financial terms were not disclosed. Galen provides nursing education to about 1,200 students in St. Petersburg at its new campus opened last fall. HCA (NYSE: HCA) is the largest for-profit hospital operator in the Tampa Bay area.
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Tampa-St. Pete residents use 28.4 percent of the available credit on their credit cards, lower than the national average. The Tampa metro ranked No. 43 among the 50 largest U.S. cities in a study from CompareCards.com. The average utilization rate was 30.2 percent. Most experts recommend that consumers keep their rate no higher than 30 percent.
Apyx Medical Corp. (Nasdaq: APYX) had $16.7 million in revenue from continuing operations in 2018, up 63 percent from 2017. The loss from continuing operations was $9.5 million, compared a $13.7 million loss in 2017. Clearwater-based Apyx, formerly Bovie, sold its legacy business last year and now focuses on medical devices in the cosmetic and surgical markets.
Technology from SiteAware, one of the companies in the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator's current cohort, powered the drones that were used to inspect Salesforce Tower, the tallest building in San Francisco. SiteAware's software automates the drone flights and digitally scans building photos to identify potential problem areas. The company was profiled in the March 11 San Francisco Chronicle.
CenterState Bank Corp. expects to finalize its $850 million purchase of National Commerce Corp. on April 1. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System just signed off on the plan, and it won shareholder approval from each bank last week. CenterState, based in Winter Haven, has 10 offices in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.
Florida added 8,300 jobs, less than half of the state’s typical monthly gain in the past year, Wells Fargo Securities said. The manufacturing sector showed surprising strength, employment in the leisure and hospitality sector was unchanged, and healthcare and social assistance showed an uncharacteristically weak 3,300-job loss, the report said.
The Innovation Scholars Career Exploration Program at USF St. Petersburg matches incoming first-year students with companies and professionals in downtown St. Petersburg to offer experiences in the professional world. Mentors have until April 30 to apply, with a July 30 deadline for student applications. More here.
Voalte, a Sarasota company that developed technology to let healthcare teams securely exchange information, agreed to be bought by Hill-Rom Holdings (NYSE: HRC). Hill-Rom will pay $180 million in cash and up to $15 million more if Voalte achieves certain commercial milestones, a news release said.
Walker & Dunlop structured $65.2 million in financing for The Hermitage, a 348-unit Class A apartment building in downtown St. Petersburg. The commercial real estate finance firm competed the debt deal for Brass Enterprises, who bought the property for $107.6 million.
