Builder profile: ‘Britt’ Williams, president & CEO, Bruce Williams Homes

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How long have you been building in the Tampa Bay area? Bruce Williams Homes has been building in the Tampa Bay Area since 1969. Britt has been with the Company full time since 1991.

How did you get into the industry? Britt grew up in the Business hanging around his father & founder of Bruce Williams Homes, Lloyd Williams. After graduating from Auburn in 1991 Britt came back to help with the family business for a “short time” before going back to Alabama. Britt ended up loving the business, staying… …read more

How CenterState’s loans are being put to use

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Loan growth helped power a nearly 200 percent earnings gains at CenterState Banks Inc. in 2015.

CenterState (NASDAQ: CSFL) reported 2015 earnings of 85 cents a share, compared to 31 cents a share in 2014. Net income for the full year of 2015 was $39.3 million, compared to $13 million in 2014.

The Davenport-based banking company also hit a new asset benchmark in 2015, ending the year with $4.022 billion in total assets.

As one of the largest banks in Florida — and the No. 2 bank headquartered… …read more

Failed project lands Trump in Florida appeals court

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While Donald Trump banks on his brand to boost him into the White House, a Florida appeals court will hear arguments Tuesday in lawsuits accusing the Republican presidential front runner of misrepresenting his role in a failed beachfront project in Fort Lauderdale.

The 4th District Court of Appeal will hear arguments in two lawsuits related to what was pitched as a swanky, Trump-branded hotel/condominium. Investors have battled in court for years to get back hundreds of thousands of dollars in deposits… …read more

Accardi brothers buy historic Ybor building

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The Accardi brothers have added a historic building in Ybor City to their portfolio of downtown Tampa real estate.

They purchased the Larmon Furniture building at 1324 E. 7th Ave. for $1.375 million in a deal that closed Friday, Jason Accardi said. They also picked up an adjacent, 45-spot surface parking lot for $250,000.

The 20,000-square-foot, two-story building was used as a furniture showroom for more than 40 years, until Larmon vacated the building in 2013.

It is across the street from where… …read more

Kevin Harrington made a CEO cry — and it was good for business

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Kevin Harrington, one of the original celebrity investors on ABC TV’s “Shark Tank,” spends much of his time these days helping companies and their workers uncover their inner entrepreneur.

Harrington has worked with about 40 corporations, including Pfizer, AT&T and Microsoft, to create “Shark Tank”-type competitions that tap employees’ ideas for new products and process improvements that can be game-changers.

At one such event, the CEO of a company he won’t identify was in tears after… …read more

Paint by numbers: How this artist finds inspiration in economics

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Editor’s note: “You can’t be what you can’t see.” It’s a line from Marian Wright Edelman, a children’s rights activist and the founder of the Children’s Defense Fund. You hear that quote a lot in the conversations around women in business: “Why aren’t there more women in tech? Well you can’t be what you can’t see.” In support of that theory, we decided to start highlighting women with intriguing jobs across all industries — jobs so cool they make you stop and think, “Is it too late to start doing… …read more

Sarasota bank looks to fill in Pinellas lending gaps

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Insignia Bank has hired a veteran Tampa Bay banker as it expands its commercial lending division into Pinellas County.

T. Bullitt McCoun IV was named vice president of commercial lending for Insignia. McCoun, who previously worked in commercial lending for Stonegate Bank, BankUnited, BB&T and SunTrust Bank, is based out of Insignia’s new loan production office in Station House, at 260 1st Ave. S in St. Petersburg.

Insignia, with $215 million in assets as of Dec. 31, has two offices in Sarasota… …read more

The Bizwomen Interview: Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, CEO of Earth Friendly Products

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Not many CEOs find themselves taking the top position in the wake of personal tragedy. And not many could continue building a family legacy despite overwhelming grief.

Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks took over as CEO of Earth Friendly Products 2014 after her father unexpectedly passed away. Van Vlahakis led the company for 47 years, growing Earth Friendly Products into one of the world’s top sellers of sustainable cleaning products. Earth Friendly Products manufactures more than 150 products sold in major… …read more

Tampa firm gets new credit line to create ‘vibrant’ senior communities

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A $50 million line of credit from Hancock Bank is giving Validus Senior Living the fuel it needs to acquire or refinance senior living communities.

Validus, a Tampa-based owner of senior living communities, used the line of credit to buy Inspired Living at Tampa at 5130 Kelly Road last month, and is in the process of purchasing Inspired Living at Bonita Springs, in a deal expected to close before the end of March.

The company also refinanced Inspiring Living at Sun City Center. All three are new… …read more

What these spec mansions, in Culbreath Isles and Davis Islands, say about Tampa’s housing market (Photos) (Video)

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Over the last year, a low-slung, 1960s brown-brick home on the Davis Islands waterfront has given way to a 7,600-square-foot West Indies-style mansion, built on a speculative basis.

The home is the fifth speculative mansion that a local development group has built — and the highest priced so far. Listed at $5.995 million, the home went under contract on its second showing, a few weeks before Christmas, to a local buyer who is slated to close next month.

Eight miles away, on Culbreath Isles, the… …read more