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Southwest Florida Roundup
Drinkware maker Tervis reduces office and factory space during pandemic
SPOTLIGHT
Down-Sizing
Although Tervis is growing — revenue was up 10% last year — the drinkware maker is looking to reduce its office and factory space, thanks to what it learned during the COVID-19 pandemic when it allowed many of its employees to work remotely.
“Our team members proved to be efficient and productive working from home,” says Rogan Donelly, Tervis’ president. “And more importantly, they were happy.”
The company has put its 12½-acre North Venice campus on the market for $14.5 million, including office, factory and warehouse space totaling nearly 119,000 square feet.
Donelly says Tervis wants to stay in Sarasota County. It’s looking for two separate locations — one for a smaller headquarters, mainly with conference rooms and offices for upper management — and the other for a factory. Tervis wants to be in its new locations within a year.
The move, the company says, shouldn’t impact Tervis’ workforce, which now totals about 500.
ECONOMIC DEVEOPMENT
- Hillsborough County created a $3-million fund to help small businesses damaged during protests following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minnesota. In Tampa, some of the worst damage occurred in the area west of the University of South Florida and Moffitt Cancer Center, where businesses were looted and vandalized.
- London-based Pole Star, which uses satellite technology to track ships, is opening an office in St. Petersburg. The company, which has contracts with the Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard, has hired 13 and has plans to hire 10 more within 18 months.
ENVIRONMENT
- Fort Myers-based Alico agreed to sell 10,684 acres of its Southwest Florida ranch to the state for $28.5 million as part of the Florida Forever land-protection program.
HEALTH CARE
- In a partnership between Tampa General Hospital and the Cancer Center of South Florida, two Cancer Center of South Florida locations in Palm Beach County will be renamed the Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute, and patients will gain access to Tampa General physicians, staff and services.
- Elizabeth “Beth” Lindsay-Wood is Moffitt Cancer Center’s new vice president and chief information officer. She had been interim CIO for nearly a year.
- E.J. Ledesma has been appointed CEO of 360 Orthopedics, an orthopedic and sports medicine practice with locations in Sarasota, Venice and Lakewood Ranch.
MANUFACTURING
- Sarasota-based Helios Technologies, which makes hydraulics equipment, has hired Josef Matosevic as president and CEO. He replaced interim President and CEO Tricia Fulton, who will stay on as CFO. Matosevic had been executive vice president and COO of Welbilt, a New Port Richey-based food service equipment company.
REAL ESTATE
- Neal Land & Neighborhoods announced that construction will start later this year on a 300-acre, gated residential development in Venice. Initial plans call for 1,300 homes.
- Tampa-based Blue Sky Communities has started work on Sandpiper Place, a 92-unit apartment complex in Bradenton that will target working families.
- A 13-acre site, once home to Sarasota’s Bath and Racquet Club, has sold for $5.5 million. The buyer, developer Mark Lukas, plans to build a mixed-use/ residential development.
TRANSPORTATION
- The U.S. Department of Transportation has committed $21.8 million to help build a 10-mile bus corridor linking downtown St. Petersburg with the Pinellas County beaches.
WORKFORCE
- Allied Universal, a security and facility services company, held a drive-through recruitment event in Lakeland, where it sought to hire 300 workers for available security guard positions in the Tampa Bay area.
COVID-19 UPDATE
- Facing revenue losses of nearly $50 million during the first three quarters of the year, Tampa International Airport announced it will delay or cut more than $900 million in construction projects over the next five years, including a $690-million plan to add 16 gates to one of the airport’s terminals. Passenger traffic through the airport was down 95% in April.
- The virus has also impacted planned work at Port Tampa Bay. A $5-million project to improve one of the port’s cruise ship terminals saw its budget cut to $500,000, which will only pay to repair the terminal’s leaky roof. Other planned work, such as adding two escalators and installing a canopy, has been postponed.
- Lee County created a $57.5-million fund to help residents and small businesses recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19. Small businesses can qualify for up to $5,000 from the fund, while individuals, needing help with rent, utilities and other bills, can qualify for up to $2,000.
- After a modest 8.5% decline in traffic during the first quarter of the year, Sarasota Bradenton International Airport’s passenger traffic plummeted 95% in April.
Read more in Florida Trend's August issue.
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