Corporate Report: Oct. 18

Cale America providing meters to Nashua, N.H., for downtown parking
The city of Nashua, N.H., selected Tampa's Cale America Inc., to improve its downtown parking program. Nashua has installed new pay stations that accept debit and credit cards along Main Street and new pay by space stations in a downtown garage.

“Cale America scored very high in all parts of our evaluation process,” Mark Sousa, manager of transportation and parking for the city of Nashua, says in a press release. “Our objective was to find the best technology partner for the city that offered the most reliable and durable parking solution.”

The 15 new terminals have already accepted more than 15,000 payments since installations began in mid-August. In addition to the Main Street units, the city has plans to purchase 16 more parking terminals from Cale America by the end of 2013.

The Colony Group hires two Naples executives
As part of its planned further expansion into Florida, Boston-based The Colony Group has promoted Joseph Salvati of Naples to senior vice president in charge of its Florida offices. The company also hired Jack Clark, a lifelong Florida resident, to work with Salvati in its Naples office.

Salvati, a graduate of Brandeis University has provided comprehensive wealth management services to high-net-worth clients for more than 10 years. He will oversee The Colony Group's growing business in Florida primarily out of its offices in Naples and West Palm Beach. Clark, a graduate of the University of Florida, also earned an M.B.A. from the University of South Florida.

The company reports that of the nearly $3 billion it manages for clients, roughly $300 million is managed for clients who reside in Florida.

Founded in 1986, The Colony Group is a fee-only, wealth management company with offices in Massachusetts and Florida.

USAmeriBancorp's Steans named to top 25 list
Jennifer Steans, chairwoman and a founding director of Clearwater-based USAmeriBancorp Inc., has been named one of “The 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance” by American Banker magazine.

Steans is CEO of Financial Investments Corp., a company with significant ownership stakes in USAmeriBancorp and Cole Taylor Bank, a Chicago-based institution with $5.9 billion in assets.

Tampa's Oragenics, Intrexon form partnership
Tampa-based Oragenics Inc. and Intrexon Corp. of Germantown, Md., have reached an agreement to collaborate on the development and commercialization of genetically modified probiotics (live bacteria) to treat diseases of the oral cavity, throat, sinus and esophagus. The companies expect to initially focus on therapies for canker sores and the autoimmune disorder Behcet's disease, which causes inflammation in blood vessels and sores.

As part of the agreement, Oragenics paid Intrexon a technology access fee of 1.35 million shares of Oragenics' common stock (valued at $6 million) and a promissory note for another $1.96 million. Oragenics will also pay Intrexon for program costs, developmental milestone fees and commercial royalties.

In June 2012, Oragenics and Intrexon entered into a similar collaboration to develop and commercialize lantibiotics, a unique class of broad-spectrum antibiotics, for the treatment of infectious diseases.

Beer distributor building natural gas station
Jupiter-based beer distributor J.J. Taylor Cos. Inc. is developing a compressed natural gas station in Fort Myers. The new natural gas station, scheduled to open in February, will be open to the public and other fleets.

TruStar Energy is constructing the station, which will help transition J.J. Taylor's fleet to natural gas. It expects to have a total of 80 natural gas powered transportation vehicles, equal to 48% of its Florida transportation fleet, by January 2015. The company plans to have converted its entire Florida fleet by 2017.

Earlier this year, the company opened a natural gas station in Tampa.

J.J. Taylor Distributing Florida Inc. currently distributes beer brands in 17 Florida counties covering 13,575 square miles.

General Dynamics receives munitions deals from U.S. valued at $113 million
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, a St. Petersburg business unit of General Dynamics, recently was awarded several U.S. government contracts for a variety of ammunition products and systems with a total value of more than $113 million.

The U.S. Marine Corps System Command awarded General Dynamics a $26.5 million engineering and manufacturing development contract for the Mission Payload Module - Non-Lethal Weapon System. The new system is designed to be mounted on Marine Corps vehicles for crowd control, access or area denial, convoy operations or to engage a threat. The company's Orlando operations were awarded the contract. The project is scheduled to be completed by May 2016.

In addition, the U.S. Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, Ill., awarded General Dynamics a $31 million, five-year contract for the production of 40mm L/60 HEI cartridges used by U.S. Air Force's AC-130 gunship. Work will be performed by the company's Canadian operations and is expected to be completed by September 2015.

The Army Sustainment Command also awarded the company several 20mm and 30mm production contracts valued at more than $55 million. These ammunition contracts will provide both tactical and training ammunition used on a variety of Navy, Air Force and Army platforms. The work will be performed in Marion, Ill., and will be completed by December 2015.