Tesla eliminated 22 sales jobs at its Tampa showroom, and cut additional staff in Chicago and Brooklyn, New York, according to Bloomberg. The company confirmed the cuts but did not say how many people were involved, Bloomberg said. Tesla, which has been closing some showrooms in favor of online-ordering, did not respond to a request for comment from the St. Pete Catlayst.
Republic Bank opened a loan production office in Oldsmar. The new office, at 300 State Street East, will make lending easier for clients and will enhance the company’s successful community banking model in the Tampa Bay area, David Feaster, market president, said in a news release. Republic Bank has seven full-service offices in the area.
Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners, a Tampa-based insurance brokerage and risk management firm, bought Lykes Insurance, one of Florida's oldest commercial insurance agencies. It was established in 1925 by Lykes Bros. Inc. to protect both the multi-industry and personal Lykes family assets. Lykes Insurance will inherit the BKS-Partners name over the next few months, Insurance Journal reported.
Fortune’s new list of Best Place to Work in Health Care and Biopharma includes BayCare Health System and InformedDNA, a genetic testing company in St. Petersburg. BayCare, a nonprofit with 15 hospitals and 23,853 employees, ranks No. 7, while InformedDNA, with 108 workers, is No. 21 on the list. Read an interview with BayCare CEO Tommy Inzina about what it takes to create a best workplace here.
A waterfront home in Clearwater owned by Dr. James St. Louis is for sale. Interluxe will auction the six-bedroom, six-bathroom home in cooperation with Phyllis Franklin of Stonebridge Real Estate. It’s listed for $10.849 million, a news release said. St. Louis was a founder of Laser Spine Institute, which closed suddenly earlier this year. He left Laser Spine four years ago and now is with Physician Partners of America.
HealthAxis Group, a Tampa company that provides technology for healthcare payers, has acquired Analytics Partners in Jacksonville. Analytics Partners brings sophisticated data mining and analytic capabilities, said Shilen Patel, HealthAxis CEO. Financial terms were not disclosed in a news release announcing the deal.
Syniverse in Tampa and Affirmed Networks in Acton, Mass. have launched a secure, cloud-based virtual network solution to enable businesses to quickly deploy new Internet of Things (IoT) services. The solution allows businesses to create their own network, similar to a mobile operator, to improve agility while reducing network complexities and costs, a news release said.
The University of South Florida Foundation received a $5 million gift to benefit students and faculty in the USF Muma College of Business. The gift from Monica Wooden, cofounder and chief revenue officer of transportation management systems provider MercuryGate International, will name the Monica Wooden Center for Supply Chain Management & Sustainability.
SOL Global Investments Corp. completed its acquisition of CannCure Investments Inc., the owner of 3 Boys Farms LLC. The purchase price was $41.2 million in stock and cash, a news release said. 3 Boys, with a Florida license to cultivate, process and dispense medical marijuana, has a growing facility in Ruskin.
University of South Florida ranked No. 9 on Value Colleges’ list of the top 25 most affordable online master’s degrees in cybersecurity. Saint Leo University in Pasco County was No. 14 on the list of most affordable online master’s in cybersecurity and No. 19 for most affordable online bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity.
A new contest by Fifth Third Bank gives business owners a chance to have their company’s logo featured on a NASCAR car. The winning logo will be on Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s No. 17 Fifth Third Ford Mustang at the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at the Kentucky Speedway on July 13. Nonprofit organizations also can have their name featured. You can nominate businesses and enter the contest here.
Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger has joined the honorary advisory board of the World’s First Airline Monument Project. The project is focused on raising private funds to build a monument commemorating the 1914 flight of Tony Janus across Tampa Bay from St. Pete to Tampa. It is sponsored by St. Pete-based Flight 2014 Inc.
