Corporate Report

Corporate Report

by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Clockwork Home Services buys plumbing, electric company

Sarasota-based home-service franchise operator Clockwork Home Services Inc. has acquired Heating and Plumbing Consultants Inc., based in Webster, Minn., and Woods Electric Inc. in Indianapolis. Heating and Plumbing Consultants Inc. will now operate as a fully owned Clockwork retail unit of the brand name O'Connor One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating.

O'Connor One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating, based in Hastings, Minn., became one of Clockwork's One Hour franchises in 2005. The integration of these units increases the size of the market served by Clockwork in Southeast Minnesota, outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Woods Electric Inc. will operate under the brand name of Mister Sparky America's On-Time Electrician-Indianapolis, also as a Clockwork retail unit.

The prior owners and employees of both companies have remained at each respective company as Clockwork employees.

"Clockwork is focused on growing its franchise brands in key markets across the U.S. and in Canada," Jim Abrams, CEO of Clockwork Home Services, said in a press release. "Acquisitions are a fundamental part of our strategy to expand our geographic footprint in North America with quality independent operations that are committed to Clockwork's best practices and high ethical standards."

Clockwork operates electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning franchises.

+ nFinanSe plans

$15 million credit line

nFinanSe Inc., the Tampa-based financial services company and provider of stored value and prepaid card products, has agreed to a non-binding letter of intent for a $15 million line of credit from a group of institutional investors and company shareholders, including Ballyshannon Partners LP, an affiliate of one of its directors, to expand its Reloadable Prepaid and Gift Cards into 10,000 additional retail locations by the end of the year.

Currently, the company has commitments to offer its cards from retailers representing more than 20,000 stores. The new locations have committed to start offering the cards this summer.

"Our prepaid cards are 'instant issue' and do not require the customer to wait 7-10 days after purchase to receive a card in the mail like the cards sold by our major competitors," Jerry R. Welch, nFinanSe's chairman and CEO, said in a press release. "As a result, we believe this 'instant issue' feature is a major competitive advantage for our company. This credit facility will allow us to fund the cards from the moment they are sold to cardholders even though the actual funds collected at retail have not yet been routed through our distributors to nFinanSe."

+ Odyssey Marine protects new shipwreck sites

Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. started the legal steps to protect two new shipwreck finds. The deep-ocean, shipwreck-exploration company filed suits that request possession of shipwrecks while the identity of stakeholders to the sites are investigated in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

The company says that both sites are within the general area of the English Channel but are outside the territorial waters or contiguous zone of any nation. The sites contain cannons and other artifacts which are believed to date from the Colonial period. Odyssey says it has not yet been able to confirm the identity of either site. For security reasons, no additional information about these sites has been released.

In addition, Odyssey Marine is working with JWM Productions on an 11-part HD TV series on shipwreck exploration for the Discovery Channel, which is expected to debut next year.

Odyssey discovered the Civil War-era shipwreck of the SS Republic in 2003 and recovered more than 50,000 coins and 14,000 artifacts from the site. In May 2007, the company announced the historic deep-ocean treasure recovery of more than 500,000 silver and gold coins, weighing 17 tons, from a Colonial-era site code-named "Black Swan."

Odyssey has several shipwreck projects in various stages of development around the world.

+ Stinger Systems Band-It

orders already beat 2007

Stinger Systems Inc. in Tampa reports that orders for its Band-It prisoner-restraint systems so far this year are almost double the sales for all of 2007.

The Band-It is a remote-activated stun cuff that is placed on a prisoner's leg or arm. Recent new or add-on purchases have come from the U.S. Marshals, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Miami-Dade Correctional Facility.

Stinger Systems develops and sells a number of products using electro, sparc-pulsed technology.

+ Source Interlink doubling

Kentucky warehouse space

The Alliance Entertainment division of Bonita Springs-based Source Interlink Cos. Inc. will open a new 404,000-square-foot distribution center in Shepherdsville, Ky. in June. The multi-year lease deal includes an option for the division to add another 260,000 square feet of warehouse space in the future.

The new facility, which will house material-handling automation equipment, will begin processing customer orders this month, with returns processing scheduled to start in October. When it's fully operational, the high-speed sorting and automated e-commerce packaging equipment at the new distribution center will be capable of sorting and labeling more than two hundred million units each year. It replaces a 170,000-square-foot Shepherdsville warehouse that the company occupied for five years.

According to the company, the new facility is one of the largest, single-building warehousing facilities in the wholesale entertainment product space.

Source Interlink Cos. is one of the largest publishers of magazines and online content for enthusiast audiences and is also a distributor of home entertainment products, including DVDs, music CDs, magazines, video games, books, and related items.

+ Administrative Concepts

expands into California

Bradenton-based PEO Administrative Concepts is expanding into the California market through an affiliated company, PEO Experts.

The two companies have partnered in Florida for more than five years.

"We see this as a perfect fit - we see eye-to-eye with the PEO Experts management team, and this arrangement makes the expansion into California an easier task," George Bushong, chairman of Administrative Concepts, said in a press release. "Through our successful five-year relationship with PEO Experts, we feel confident in this venture because we have seen how seamlessly our business models interlock, we know how our knowledge bases complement each other and we share the ability and desire to grow rapidly."

Officials with Administrative Concepts say the expansion into California will be quick; PEO Experts has a local sales force in place that is ready to expand with ACC throughout Southern California. PEO Experts has a proven track record in building business volume the past seven years, and it plans to implement the strategies that made these endeavors so successful as the partners enter California and set their sights on the Western half of the country.

Etc...

+ Dawning Technologies Inc. releases JavaLin/PDI

Fort Myers-based Dawning Technologies Inc. has released its latest small-footprint interface device in the new JavaLin/PDI Portable Device Interface line. The JavaLin/PDI is the fifth generation of the company's clinical interfaces and is designed to offer a number of new features and capabilities aimed at the connection of clinical instruments to information systems.

The PDI device, which houses two serial and Ethernet ports, allows users to connect one or two analyzers directly to the LIS network without the need for terminal server devices. The device runs the Java-based JResultNet software, which is embedded in the JavaLin/PDI.

Dawning Technologies Inc. is a supplier of connectivity solutions and products to the clinical laboratory market.

+ Nuevo Advertising

completes Spanish guide

Sarasota-based Hispanics-focused advertising company Nuevo Advertising Group has completed the Spanish translation of the Sarasota County Area Transit's Ride Guide. The print piece will be available at local parks, public libraries and county government buildings, and can be mailed upon request.

 "This is a great service for Spanish-speaking riders, and having the Ride Guide available in Spanish will encourage the use of this mass transit system," Pedro Perez, Nuevo Advertising Group's vice president, said in a press release.

+ HMA closes $250 million debt offering

Health Management Associates Inc. in Naples has closed its offering of $250 million of its convertible senior subordinated notes due 2028. The initial purchasers exercised their option to purchase an additional $25 million in notes to cover over-allotments. 

The notes are unsecured senior subordinated obligations and mature on May 1, 2028, but the company may redeem them at any time after May 1, 2014. The notes pay interest at a semi-annual rate of 3.75% per year and are convertible into shares of the company's common stock, cash or a combination of both, at a base conversion rate of 85 shares per $1,000 of debt.

The company plans to use the proceeds from the offering to buy back a portion of its 1.50% convertible senior subordinated notes due 2023.

HMA owns and operates 57 hospitals.

+ Prominent PR mavens

form Briggs & Rogers

Mary Briggs and Carolyn Rogers have formed a new public relations and marketing firm, Briggs & Rogers LLC. The Fort Myers-based company specializes in providing strategic communications for real estate, banking, healthcare and other professional firms plus nonprofit organizations. 

Prior to forming Briggs & Rogers, Briggs was the corporate public relations director with Bonita Springs-based developer Bonita Bay Group. Rogers was previously the principal of Carolyn Rogers Public Relations. 

+ Romark clears first

stage for product trial

Romark Laboratories L.C., a Tampa biopharmaceutical company, has finished collecting participants for its phase II clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of nitazoxanide to help treat chronic hepatitis C in people who have failed to respond to the standard therapy (peginterferon and ribavirin). The company expects to announce interim results at a medical meeting this fall. 

Nitazoxanide belongs to a new class of small-molecule kinase activators called the thiazolides. Like interferons, thiazolides modulate cell- signaling pathways involved in the host cell's innate defense against viruses. Thiazolides can be administered orally and are not associated with the side effects commonly associated with use of interferon. Recent laboratory studies have shown that nitazoxanide does not induce resistance mutations in the viral genome.

The hepatitis C virus affects an estimated 4.1 million Americans.

+ Roper Industries 

announces dividend 

The board of directors for Sarasota-based engineering and manufacturing company Roper Industries Inc., approved a dividend of 7.25 cents per share payable on July 31 to stockholders of record on July 11.

+ Bradenton vet launches FDA-cleared pet sunscreen

Bradenton veterinarian Dr. Michael C. Fleck expects to launch the first pet sunscreen that is compliant with U.S. Food & Drug Administration standards at the end of May. Epi-Pet Sun Protector Spray, which is designed for dogs and horses, is one of several skin care products for pets that Fleck has developed and brought to market in the past two years. 

Clearwater-based Formulated Solution provided research, development and manufacturing services in developing all of Fleck's skin care products.

In addition to the Epi-Pet Sun Protector Spray, the Epi-Pet line of products includes a cleansing-agent shampoo, multi-functional skin enrichment spray and an electrolyte-replacement powder. All of the products, except for the sunscreen, may be used on dogs, cats or horses. Fleck says he is developing a feline-friendly sun protector. 

Fleck's veterinary practice and Epi-Pet offices are at 3102 Cortez Road West in Bradenton. Epi-Pet currently has four employees. Manufacturing remains in Clearwater.

+ Jabil Circuit board

adopts quarter dividend

St. Petersburg-based electronics company Jabil Circuit Inc. reports its board of directors approved a quarterly dividend to shareholders of record as of May 15. The dividend of seven cents per share is payable on June 2.

+ Beasley Broadcast Group

issues quarterly dividend

The board of directors for Naples-based radio broadcaster Beasley Broadcast Group Inc. plans to issue a quarterly cash dividend of 6.25 cents per share of its Class A and Class B common stock. The dividend is payable on July 17 to shareholders of record on June 30.

Founded in 1961, Beasley Broadcast Group owns or operates 44 stations (27 FM and 17 AM) in 11 large- and mid-size markets in the United States.

+ LeBlanc Studios adds

full marketing services

Sarasota-based photography business LeBlanc Studios, founded by Stephen LeBlanc 24 years ago, will now offer a full range of marketing services, including portrait, commercial and architectural photography, marketing program strategy and planning, graphic design, copywriting, print and video production, advertising creation and production, and web design and search engine optimization.

Anticipating the firm's growth, LeBlanc relocated in 2003 from 872 square feet of rented space to a custom-designed, 3000-plus-square-foot freestanding building at 3103 Fruitville Road in Sarasota.

LeBlanc said the business's evolution was the result of his desire to give clients what they need.

"There's no doubt that my clients made me do it," LeBlanc said in a press release. "For example, when clients such as housing developers asked us to photograph their properties, they often also asked about brochures and other marketing tools. That led to our graphic design studio, which we added 17 years ago. Clients also needed the words for the brochures so we began to supply copywriting services. We then began guiding these projects through until we placed finished products in clients' hands, as any advertising or marketing agency would do."

As his photography business was transformed into a marketing firm, LeBlanc changed the company name from LeBlanc Photographic Services to LeBlanc Studios. He decided on the "Studios" concept because he liked the idea of clusters of interrelated services being performed in the setting of a traditionally defined studio.

+ Gevity declares 30th

straight quarterly dividend

Bradenton-based PEO Gevity announced a dividend of five cents per share of common stock, payable on July 31 to shareholders of record on July 15. The new dividend marks the company's 30th consecutive quarterly dividend.

Gevity's services include payroll and payroll administration, benefits and benefits administration, risk management and loss prevention, HR policies and procedures, new hire support, performance management, and employee development and retention.

+ Brooks will manage

Ogletree Deakins' office

Barnett Brooks has assumed the role of managing shareholder for the Tampa office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC, the nation's third-largest labor and employment law firm. In this role, Brooks will oversee the day-to-day operations of the office. Brooks has practiced with law firms in Maryland and Florida, and was assistant general counsel for a Fortune 100 company for many years.