Corporate Report: July 19

Javic Homes hires Marshall Advertising
Javic Homes has hired Tampa's Marshall Advertising as its media-buying agency. Marshall Advertising will work on all aspects of the builder's advertising and marketing, including the Tampa Showcase Home it will build through its relationship as a Southern Living Magazine Builder.

White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes sponsoring stand-up comedians
Tarpon Springs-based White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes has reached an endorsement deal with several stand-up comedians touring the United States. The agreement calls for the comedians to use the product on stage, but no product mentions are required.
The company's Fling disposable electronic cigarettes will also be offered free to patrons.

“We wanted customers to be able to see the product used in a natural setting and also be offered a sample on the spot,” Matt Steingraber, managing director of White Cloud Cigarettes, says in a press release.

The company says many comedy clubs, bars and restaurants are enforcing smoking bans, which don't apply to e-cigarettes.

White Cloud says it is only sponsoring comedians who smoke cigarettes and are making the switch to electronic cigarettes.

MagneGas Cocoa Beach refinery starts producing gas at Cut It Up HQ
Tampa-based MagneGas Corp. says that its 300-kilowatt recycler at the Cocoa Beach headquarters of Cut It Up Gas & Supplies Inc. has gone online. Production and sale of MagneGas fuel has started and will extend throughout the east coast of Florida.

Cut It Up is a distributor of metal cutting gases servicing the central and eastern parts of Florida. The location allows Cut It Up to distribute MagneGas fuel locally by truck and by rail and sea shipments.

MagneGas is clean-burning liquid fuel created from liquid waste.

Superior Uniform Group buys Georgia's HPI Direct
Seminole-based Superior Uniform Group Inc. has acquired most of the assets and some of the liabilities of HPI Direct Inc. The 20-year-old Alpharetta, Ga., company specializes in designing, manufacturing and distributing uniforms to major domestic retailers, foodservice chains, transportation and other service industries throughout the United States.

The transaction also includes the acquisition of the corporate offices and warehouse distribution facility from an entity related to HPI Direct. HPI had revenues for the first six months of 2013 of $16 million.

The purchase price consisted of $32.5 million in cash, $2.3 million in Superior Uniform Group shares and the potential future payment of up to $7.2 million based on the performance of the assets through 2017.

“We are very pleased to combine our financial strength and vast resources with HPI's strong leadership and reputation for excellence,” Michael Benstock, CEO of Superior Uniform Group, says in a press release. “Their outstanding customer base will further enhance our overall position in the retail, food service, transportation and other markets that they serve.”

HPI Direct will continue to service its customers from Alpharetta as a division of Superior Uniform Group. The three principals of HPI Direct, Kirby Sims, Fred Hill and Richard Sosebee, will remain with the division under long-term agreements.

South American countries shipping corn through Port Manatee
Port Manatee in Palmetto says it has received three shipments of corn since November. Recently, the M/V Medi Segesta docked at Port Manatee to discharge more than 42,120 metric tons of corn from Argentina, imported to offset U.S. shortfalls. The corn will be used for animal feed.

The previous two shipments were imported from Brazil.

The corn is being off-loaded by clam bucket, deposited into hoppers and transported by truck to port warehouses or rail cars destined for Georgia and North Carolina.

“These corn shipments represent the flexibility our [dock laborers] have in handling special commodities that are not handled at the port on a regular basis,” Port Manatee Executive Director Carlos Buqueras says in a press release. “We are continuing to pursue special commodities on a global scale that will stimulate local hiring and generate economic growth in our region.”

Stevedoring company Logistec USA Inc. is handling the cargo discharge and terminal management at Port Manatee, and A.R. Savage & Son Inc. is the shipping agent.