Business Briefs
Roger Mercado earns insurance industry designation
Roger Mercado Jr., a personal lines associate with Oswald Trippe and Company, has successfully completed the requirements for the personal lines coverage specialist designation.
The PLCS is the most complete professional learning program available for insurance industry professionals seeking to master the subject of personal lines coverage. Students completing the program have demonstrated extensive knowledge in the critical functional areas of property and casualty insurance-practice policy coverage, and have applied that knowledge through real-life case study exercises.
Based in OTC’s Fort Myers office, Mercado also holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and a master’s in social work from Barry University, Miami.
Founded in 1982, Oswald Trippe and Company is the largest employee-owned insurance agency in Southwest Florida. OTC provides comprehensive insurance and risk-management services to families and businesses throughout Florida and North Carolina. The agency’s 200 professionals offer protection from the nation’s leading insurance companies. Oswald Trippe has offices in Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Coral Springs, Holmes Beach, Lakewood Ranch, Miami, Naples, Ocala, Port Charlotte, Sarasota and Weston, Fla., as well as Cornelius, Denver, Hickory and Wilmington, N.C. For more information visit: www.otc1.com.
Management Groups taff grows 25 percent in last quarter of 2008
Management Group 1, a full-service real estate marketing and property management firm based in Fort Myers, Florida, announced a 25 percent growth in staff during the fourth quarter of 2008 and plans to add an additional 25 percent to its work force in the coming months.
Commitment to providing top-notch customer service has certainly been the path to new growth for Management Group 1. The company’s Web-based property management system allows staff to manage from anywhere Internet access is available. Tenants are able to make repair requests online and submit all applications via the web to help insure a timely, smooth response.
Management Group 1 is a full-service real estate firm specializing in the advertising, selling, leasing and management of investment and residential properties. Currently, the company manages 200 residential properties and 20,000 square feet of commercial space from Ft. Myers, to Naples and Port St. Lucie to West Palm Beach, Florida. The company generated more than $6 million in real estate sales in 2008 and plans to double that figure in 2009, with sales already in excess of $1 million for this year. For more information including a listing of the complete range of residential real estate services offered by Management Group 1, visit their Web site at: www.mg1fl.com.
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company earns top ranking
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated is pleased to announce that its Equity Research Group finished #1 in Stock Picking and #1 in Earnings Estimate Accuracy out of 264 firms in StarMine’s 2008 domestic rankings. Building upon the momentum from its #1 rank in earnings estimate accuracy in 2007, Stifel has enhanced its record for high quality research by earning both #1 rankings in 2008.
In compiling these rankings, StarMine employs the same methodology used in its annual Best Brokerage Analysts Survey, released in conjunction with the Financial Times. In the most recent FT/StarMine survey, issued in May 2008, Stifel research analysts won a total of 14 awards, ranking the firm eighth among more than 235 firms.
StarMine is one of the world’s largest and most trusted sources of objective equity research performance ratings. Its analytics and equity research management tools help investment firms around the globe generate alpha and process equity information more efficiently. StarMine pioneered the quantitative measurement of research performance and has set standards of excellence for both buy-side and sell-side equity research departments around the world. As of 2008, StarMine is a Thomson Reuters company.
Founded in 1890, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated is the principal subsidiary of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF), a financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis. Stifel Nicolaus is a full-service retail and institutional brokerage and investment banking firm with 203 offices in 36 states and the District of Columbia, and 3 European offices through Stifel Nicolaus Limited. To learn more about Stifel, please visit the company’s Web site at: www.stifel.com.
Patients needed for medical research
Primus Medical Research INC located in Cape Coral offers people free medical treatments and also provides a patient stipend if they qualify for any of their on-going medical research trials. Great opportunity for patients needed medical treatment and also looking to make a little extra cash.
Bank of Florida-Southwest promotes Buschle
Bank of Florida-Southwest Senior Vice President Andrew L. Buschle has been promoted to the position of market manager for Collier and Lee counties. He is responsible for business development, relationship management and the profitability of the bank’s five Southwest Florida financial centers.
Buschle joined Bank of Florida-Southwest in mid-2008 with more than 16 years of financial industry experience. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and statistics from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a master’s in business administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati. He has lived in Southwest Florida since 2005, serves on the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Florida and as a Big Brother and is active in YMCA youth sports.
Bank of Florida-Southwest, a subsidiary of Bank of Florida Corporation, operates financial centers in Bonita Springs, Fort Myers and Naples and delivers customized banking solutions, progressive cash management services and comprehensive financial planning for entrepreneurs, professionals and businesses. To learn more, log on to: www.BankofFlorida.com.
Smoak to oversee new Colonial Bank office
Mary Ann Smoak has joined Colonial Bank as branch manager and assistant vice president of the new North Fort Myers office. In this role, Smoak will manage business development initiatives and oversee day-to-day operations. The North Fort Myers office, located on the corner of North Cleveland Avenue and Pine Island Road, is scheduled to open in January.
Smoak has 25 years of banking experience, most recently as assistant branch manager for another local financial institution. She holds a bachelor’s degree in management from International College as well as an annuity license. Smoak is a member of Saint Andrew Catholic Church.
Colonial Bank is a division of the Montgomery, Alabama-based Colonial BancGroup, Inc., a $26 billion bank holding company with more than 340 offices in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Nevada and Texas. The Colonial BancGroup, Inc., is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CNB, and located online at www.colonialbank.com.
Land offered for new Red Sox complex
As the site selection team charged with finding a location for the new Boston Red Sox Spring Training Sports Complex considers its options, one land owner has thrown a property situated in a prime location into the ring. With expensive infrastructure improvements already in place, a site central to all of Southwest Florida, and high visibility from I-75 and Treeline Ave., the Millennium Corporate Centre offers what is commonly thought the most important advantage in real estate: location, location, location.
Millennium Corporate Centre, which submitted its proposal to Lee County under the name Glevin 275/Slevin 275, is offering anywhere from 80 to 200 acres near Southwest Florida International Airport, for a cash outlay of just $84,000 an acre. The site already has the basic zoning approvals necessary, roads and utilities in place and its Treeline Avenue location is readily accessible from I-75 in the heart of the Southwest Florida area. This property offers the County a fiscally sound alternative over other options,” said Dan Delisi, Vice President of Delisi Fitzgerald, a land planning and engineering firm based in Fort Myers. “The cost of building even a short four-lane road to a site that does not currently have access has been estimated at $20 million and more. On our site, traffic can be efficiently managed by existing and planned roads.”
The Millennium Corporate Centre, a 310-acre planned mixed-use business park designed for corporate offices, research and technology, light manufacturing and retail, is located along the path of the proposed new I-75 interchange and between Alico Road and Daniels Parkway.
Random Art House relocates
The Cape Coral advertising agency, Random Art House, is now located in the Ferrarri Gallery art building at 4635 Coronado Pkwy. Now in one location you can view and collect fine contemporary and modern art from Ferrarri Gallery, digital and photographic artwork that comes to life through video and music at Random Art House, and eclectic and fun furniture and artwork at Su Casa. Not to mention, the Cape Coral Arts Studio is located one block away.
In addition to providing printing services, Random Art House also has the ability to photograph your work for portfolios and duplications. They are a full service ad agency with creative and modern solutions in marketing. Come by Jan. 29 and meet their team.
Ferrarri Gallery is now open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m .to 5 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Please call gallery curator Veron Ennis for any questions or details at 699.3949, e-mail to veron@ferrarigalleryart.com or visit: www.ferrarigalleryart.com.
John Hagan earns LEED AP certification
John Hagan, an estimator with Stevens Construction, has earned the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional certification from the Green Building Certification Institute, announced Mark Stevens, company president.
Hagan’s certification demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of green building practices, principles and the LEED rating system. The LEED program is a nationally accepted standard for design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.
Hagan has a bachelor of science in building construction management from Purdue University.
Based in Fort Myers, Stevens Construction specializes in providing construction management, general contracting, and consulting services to clients and design professionals. Other services include site and design team selection, budgeting, project scheduling, permitting, cost and quality control, and warranty service. The company builds health care, commercial and hospitality facilities. For information, visit: www.stevensconstructioninc.com or call 239-936-9006.