Corporate Report

Corporate Report

by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

GunnAllen wins arbitration case filed by ex-manager

Tampa-based GunnAllen reports it has won a $34 million arbitration claim brought against it by former national sales manager David McCoy. As part of the decision, an arbitration panel found that GunnAllen should pay McCoy compensatory damages of $333,000, which is $250,000 less than what McCoy was originally offered in severance in 2005 and some $33.7 million less than what McCoy sought from the arbitration.

The panel found that GunnAllen had the right to terminate McCoy's employment and dismissed all claims against GunnAllen executives.

In addition, it determined that McCoy had to return certain stock he owned to GunnAllen and he was also ordered to repay a promissory note in excess of $180,000. As a result, the net compensatory award to McCoy is slightly more than $150,000.

GunnAllen has filed a separate case in Hillsborough County court for reimbursement of certain attorney's fees and ancillary costs from McCoy stemming from the case.

"The arbitration panel's decision strongly supports our actions," said Richard Frueh, CEO of GunnAllen Financial, in a press release. "We believe McCoy's conduct as a manager was inappropriate and intolerable. If we had to do it all over, we would not change a thing. We are pleased to have closure on this issue."

GunnAllen Financial is a full-service brokerage firm which operates a network of more than 800 independent financial representatives in more than 200 offices throughout the country.

Fort Myers, Tampa firms merge

to form ENTRIX Water Solutions

Water Resource Solutions, a Fort Myers-based company, has merged with Integrated Water Solutions in Tampa to create a new water resource consulting company called ENTRIX Water Solutions. Both companies were recently acquired by ENTRIX Inc. The joint company offers water supply planning and development, water use/consumptive use permitting and aquifer storage and recovery, watershed management, underground injection services, natural resource management and geographic information systems.

West Coast firm sues

Raymond James over auction

The San Francisco law firm of Girard Gibbs LLP filed a class action lawsuit representing people who bought auction rate securities from St. Petersburg-based financial services firm Raymond James Financial Inc., and affiliates Raymond James & Associates Inc., and Raymond James Financial Services Inc., between April 8, 2003 and Feb.13, 2008 and who continued to hold such securities as of Feb. 13.

The suit, filed in the Southern District of New York, accuses Raymond James of deceiving investors about the investment characteristics of auction rate securities and the auction market. The complaint alleges that Raymond James offered and sold auction rate securities to the public as highly liquid cash-management vehicles and as suitable alternatives to money market mutual funds. Auction rate securities, either municipal or corporate debt securities or preferred stock, pay interest at rates set at periodic auctions and generally have long-term maturities or no maturity dates.

The suit charges that many holders of auction rate securities were unable to liquidate their positions in these securities.

Manasota Flooring merges stores;

adds cabinetry, countertop division

Manasota Flooring is combining its store on 14th Street in Bradenton with an existing store at 2510 First St. West, Bradenton. This transition will result in three stores serving Bradenton, Sarasota and Venice.

At the same time, Manasota Flooring is adding a cabinetry and countertop showroom to its store on U.S. 301.

"The addition of a cabinetry division positions us to serve the increasingly popular home-improvement market with kitchens, bathrooms, blinds, flooring and more," Bob Tiffany, CEO of Manasota Flooring, said in a press release.

Progressive Employer Services

markets Salesgenie.com to clients

Sarasota-based professional employer organization Progressive Employer Services has partnered with Salesgenie.com to offer online lead- generation services to its customers at a discounted rate.

"This is [a] great service for our customers," Carlos Cardenas, senior director of marketing and business development for PES, said in a press release. "Our customers have indicated they need new ways to generate more business, and we feel this is a great product that will help them achieve this objective. At the same time, because our customers are part of PES, they will be able to get this service at a discounted rate. It is a win-win-win situation for all of us."

Founded in 1999, Progressive Employer Services has Florida regional offices in Cape Coral, Miami, Palm Harbor, Ocala, Port Orange and West Palm Beach. The company provides payroll administration, workers' compensation risk management, human resources support and benefits administration to about 1,700 clients and 18,000 worksite employees throughout Florida and Georgia.

Data compiler Salesgenie.com, the corporate partner of infoUSA, began providing data for businesses in 1972. Salesgenie's online technology products include a built-in contact manager, business credit reports and mapping to make prospecting and sales calls more productive.

Sunovia and EPIR developing

new solar energy alternative

Sarasota-based Sunovia Energy Technologies Inc. and Illinois-based EPIR Technologies Inc. have partnered to commercialize solar and IR technologies for the renewable energy and night vision markets. Sunovia is the exclusive marketer of all products, technologies and intellectual properties developed by EPIR, and owns a significant equity interest in the company, which works in research and development on materials and devices for IR detection and imaging for night vision, missile tracking, exploration in space and other applications.

The two companies report they are developing new solar cell materials they believe will rival the most efficient, multi-junction solar cell performance in existence today at significantly less cost. Sunovia and EPIR plan to accomplish this technological improvement by combining today's most prevalent photovoltaic semiconductors - which include such materials as cadmium telluride and silicon - into a multi-junction solar cell that leverages the economies of scale and manufacturing infrastructure associated with using these materials.

The companies point to the high-throughput manufacturing technologies for developing cadmium telluride and silicon suggested by studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago and transferred by EPIR into night vision sensors over the past decade.

The companies say this will enable solar-based electricity generation at prices equal to and even lower than current, grid-supplied power from non-renewable sources. CPV (concentrator photovoltaic) systems use optics and tracking mechanisms to concentrate the sun's rays into a smaller area, requiring less solar cell material for the same amount of electricity compared to a traditional flat-plate solar panel.

As the deposition processes are further refined and increased in throughput, low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells for specialty and terrestrial applications, using flat-plate systems as opposed to CPV systems, will be commercialized. In the future, new materials and technologies will be applied in ultra-high volume deposition processes to create thin films on flexible substrates for residential, commercial and utility power generation products with very high production capacities and high velocity time to market deployments.

The companies expect to start seeing revenues from IR materials in 2008 with revenues from the more advanced CPV materials to follow after the IR technology is transferred to EPIR's solar cell manufacturing facilities, currently in development.

"Solar power needs only a reduction in cost to turn the corner and become a primary source of energy here and around the world, and I believe that the EPIR . . . technology can provide the necessary cost reduction," Dr. J. Garland of EPIR Technologies, formerly professor of physics at the University of Illinois, said in a press release.

DBS Consulting changes

name to Ensite

Stephen Sposato and Brian Smith, principals of the Fort Myers-based planning and design firm DBS Consulting, have changed their company's name to Ensite.

"This new name represents our firm's unique ability to see value in spaces and places and the vision for making them special," Sposato said in a press release. "Our name has changed, but the goal remains to provide exceptional customer service and quality site design that enhances the value of property for client's best interest."

Opened in 2005, the firm advises on a variety of kinds of properties including shopping centers, business parks, recreational facilities, master-planned communities and downtown revitalizations. Ensite offers land planning, site design, civil engineering, landscape design, project management, entitlements and geographic information systems.