Corporate Report: September 20

Back to Nature Foods names new chief financial officer
Back to Nature Foods Co. LLC of Naples has appointed Erin McKone to vice president of finance and chief financial officer. McKone began her career at KPMG and has held financial management roles at various companies including Kimberly-Clark Corp. McKone is a certified public accountant, and prior to her appointment, she served as corporate controller.

Back to Nature Foods Company LLC is a manufacturer of all-natural and organic cookies, crackers, granolas, juice, nuts and trail mixes.

Rich Dad Education adds 35 jobs at corporate offices
Cape Coral-based Rich Dad Education Inc. reports that business growth has led it to add 35 new full-time jobs in the company's corporate offices during the past few months.

The new positions included 30 new employees in the customer service department, consisting of 14 program coordinators, 15 program representatives, and one project manager. In addition, the company's marketing department has hired a senior director of marketing, a marketing traffic coordinator, and a social media coordinator. The company has also hired two new elite training advisers for its education department.

The new jobs follow the company's launch of a new training program, Real Options Masters, developed in cooperation with Investor's Business Daily.

Lykes Insurance joins ProSential Group
Tampa-based commercial insurance firm Lykes Insurance is now the West/Central Florida affiliate of ProSential Group LLC, an alliance of independent human resources and benefits advisers. ProSential Group's partners are able to offer a large set of human resources, benefits and compliance services to their clients.

Lykes will be one of only two ProSential affiliates in Florida. The other is in Fort Lauderdale. There are a total of 70 partners nationwide.

NorthStar Bank to open Belleair Bluffs branch
Tampa-based NorthStar Bank has received FDIC approval to open a new office at 715 Indian Rocks Road, Belleair Bluff. NorthStar is targeting a September/October opening for the new Belleair Bluffs office. The location will be NorthStar's second office and its first in Pinellas County.

Founded in 2007, NorthStar Bank is an independent community bank with assets of more than $190 million.

Vykin wins $49 million contract for Department of Defense group
Defense Media Activity has awarded Tampa-based Vykin Corp. a $49 million, more than four-year contract to provide information technology support services at the Defense Media Activity's headquarters and several of its field offices.

Defense Media Activity is the Department of Defense's communication network, which provides news and information to U.S. forces worldwide. The agency present news, information and entertainment on a variety of media platforms, including radio, television, Internet, print media and emerging media technologies.

The contract calls for Vykin to provide the IT network, system, database administration and help desk for Defense Media Activity. The Tampa company will also handle application development, IT security services, integration, configuration management, systems administration and more.

Vykin provides similar support to U.S. government agencies in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and several locations in southwest Asia.

Clearwater's AAMP of America buys Intraphex from Tatmar
AAMP of America Inc., a Clearwater-based Audax Private Equity company, purchased Intraphex, a manufacturer of navigation, rearview mirror display and phone integration products, from Tatmar LLC. With this purchase, AAMP of America acquired all the Intraphex assets and intellectual properties, including its research and development, operations and a distribution facility in Grand Blanc, Mich. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In a statement, company officials say the acquisition will allow AAMP of America to strengthen its position in the mobile electronics industry. AAMP of America previously purchased and merged with Peripheral Electronics and Pacific Accessory Corp. and launched the iSimple brand of devices, which connect smartphones, tablet computers and mp3 players to an automobile, home, or devices on the go.

The Intraphex facility in Grand Blanc will remain open and be integrated into the corporate infrastructure of AAMP of America. The current employees at Intraphex will remain in place and all Intraphex products will retain their current branding, presentation and positioning.

Tampa's PMSI merges with Ohio workers' comp company
Westerville, Ohio-based workers' compensation pharmacy benefits and ancillary services company Progressive Medical Inc. and Tampa's PMSI have entered into a definitive agreement to merge. If it's approved by regulators, the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The combined company will be led by Executive Chairman Eileen Auen from PMSI and Co-CEOs Emry Sisson and Tommy Young from Progressive Medical.

“Bringing together the resources and deep industry expertise of these two companies will enable the combined organization to continue to drive product innovation in the workers' compensation marketplace while delivering operational and service excellence and ever improving clinical and cost containment services to our clients,” Young says in a press release.

Funds managed by Kelso & Co. have agreed to acquire a significant ownership stake in the combined company. StoneRiver Group, the controlling shareholder of Progressive Medical, will also continue to be a significant shareholder in the combined business.