Business Observer

Founded in 1997 as the Gulf Coast Business Review, this newspaper stands out as the top source for business and economic news in the Gulf Coast area, stretching from Tampa Bay to Naples. It focuses on covering industry developments and economic trends in the region, highlighting new companies, corporate strategies, and profiling emerging entrepreneurs and influential business leaders. Additionally, it keeps its audience informed about government actions at the state, regional, and local levels that impact the business landscape and economy.

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Tampa health tech firm to lay off nearly 100 employees, blames Trump administration

1 day ago | businessobserverfl.com | Louis Llovio

GroundGame.Health in Tampa is laying off 97 employees — blaming a change in how the government in Washington, D.C. approaches health care.
Sarasota Orchestra picks up $10M gift

1 day ago | businessobserverfl.com | Mark Gordon

Longtime Sarasota Orchestra supporters Jack and Priscilla Schlegel have made a $10 million gift to the organization — coming three months after it received an anonymous $50 million gift. The funds are set to go toward the orchestra’s planned Music Center on its 32-acre site at 5701 Fruitville Road. The Schlegels. who relocated from Washington, D.C., to Sarasota in 1998, have been active supporters of the local arts community for more than two decades, according to a statement.
Tampa Bay Lightning get new broadcast home

1 day ago | businessobserverfl.com | Louis Llovio

The Tampa Bay Lightning have a signed a multiyear media deal that will bring the team’s games to some Gulf Coast viewers free. The team has reached an agreement with E.W. Scripps Co.’s Scripps Sports allowing games to be shown over the air. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, and a Scripp’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Noted resort developer, entrepreneur dies at 84

1 day ago | businessobserverfl.com | Mark Gordon

Entrepreneur and developer Allen Gilbert Ten Broek, who once helped run one of the largest employers in Lee County, taught his son Bryan several valuable lessons for leadership — and life. Like this one: “He told me, ‘Remember, people don’t work for you,’” Bryan Ten Broek recalls. “‘They work with you.’” Bryan says that and several other dad-sayings — another one was "Plan the work; work the plan" — were part of what made his father successful in multiple parts of his life and career.
Pasco County man gets prison time for nearly $800K mortgage scam

2 days ago | businessobserverfl.com | Louis Llovio

A federal judge has sentenced John Alberto Stolard to prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a scheme that involved filing quit claim deeds for properties he did not own. The 48-year-old Wesley Chapel resident was ordered to serve one year and one day and must forfeit $747,388.30. Stolard pleaded guilty in October.
Pasco County man gets prison time for nearly $800K mortgage scam

2 days ago | businessobserverfl.com | Louis Llovio

A federal judge has sentenced John Alberto Stolard to prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a scheme that involved filing quit claim deeds for properties he did not own. The 48-year-old Wesley Chapel resident was ordered to serve one year and one day and must forfeit $747,388.30. Stolard pleaded guilty in October.
Struggling downtown Clearwater gets two new merchants

2 days ago | businessobserverfl.com | Louis Llovio

Downtown Clearwater, a long-desolate district that’s ever-so-slowly rebounding, is getting two new businesses. The businesses will be in what’s being optimistically marketed as the Historic Cleveland Street District, a nod to what once a vibrant downtown that lost its luster decades ago and has since been struggling to reemerge.
$2.6B global tech firm buys Fort Myers company

2 days ago | businessobserverfl.com | Mark Gordon

Global technology installation giant Convergint is expanding in Florida with the acquisition of Fort Myers-based Fiber Solutions. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Fiber Solutions, according to a statement, is “a leading integrator that specializes in the design, installation, and maintenance of fiber optic, structured cabling, electronic security, and audio/video networks.” It has offices in Fort Myers in Nashville.
Fort Myers industrial park sold for $87 million

3 days ago | businessobserverfl.com | Louis Llovio

Legacy at Oriole Park, a 34-acre Fort Myers industrial complex, has been sold to EQT Exeter, the same company that paid $92 million about a year ago for a neighboring industrial park. This time, the Pennsylvania real estate investment trust paid $87 million. Legacy at Oriole Park is a 500,000-square-foot development made up of two 250,000-square-foot buildings with 32-inch clear heights, 72 trailer parking stalls and bay spacing.
$2B wealth management team leaves UBS, launches independent firm

3 days ago | businessobserverfl.com | Mark Gordon

A wealth management team with a dual headquarters in Ohio and Fort Myers that collectively managed $2 billion under UBS has split from its parent entity to launch an independent advisory firm. The new firm is 1280 Financial Partners; the 1280 refers to the miles between its two headquarters of Sandusky, Ohio, and Fort Myers, according to a statement. The firm has other offices in North Augusta, South Carolina and Miami.