Corporate report

Mortgage Bankers Association installs board of governors
The Mortgage Bankers Association of Southwest Florida inducted its 2015-2016 board of governors. Nigel Fullick of Christensen Financial Inc. is the new president of the board and Karen Kohler of Access Title Agency is president-elect. SueAnn Zornes of Wood, Weidenmiller, Michetti & Rudnick is secretary and Mary Adams of Christensen Financial is treasurer. Lisa Rudy of Regions Mortgage, Robert Slaughter of EverBank, Kimberly Fell of Florida Community Bank and John Irons of BB&T were all named governors. Teresa Walker of Florida Community Bank is the past president.

Coastal Orthopedics conducting new spinal-cord research
Menlo Park, Calif.-based medical device company Nevro has selected Coastal Orthopedics Sports Medicine and Pain Management in Bradenton to participate in a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of the company's spinal-cord stimulators in treating chronic neck and arm pain. Coastal Orthopedic says the study has the potential to mark a major shift in how pain management physicians treat ongoing upper extremity body pain.

The 75-patient Nevro study will include 10 to 15 patients of Dr. Richard Bundschu, an interventional pain specialist with Coastal Orthopedics. Bundschu has been a pain management researcher for several years and has worked with Nevro on two previous studies.

The current research trial is scheduled to take two years to complete.

Jabil reaches agreement to grow in Vietnam
Jabil Circuit Inc. (symbol: JBL; recent price: $20.50), has signed a memorandum of understanding with the management board of Saigon Hi-Tech Park in Vietnam to allow the company to expand its current operations there.

The new facility, scheduled to start construction in 2017, will focus on the high-volume production of technology products.

“The Vietnamese government's support of our expansion was critical and marks an important new milestone for Jabil in Vietnam and greater Asia,” Alessandro Parimbelli, executive vice president and chief executive officer of enterprise and infrastructure for Jabil, says in a press release. “As we continue to expand our services for customers in the region, we are also helping to support the growth and economic strength of Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam.”

Parimbelli says Jabil is planning to develop local talent for future leadership positions through training and development opportunities. The firm's goal is to create more than 3,000 new jobs in the local area over the next five years.

Jabil expects the expansion to give it access to a large pool of workers, mid-level engineers and managers in a region with low labor costs. It currently has 2,600 employees in the country.

Saigon Hi-Tech Park is a state-owned industrial park, which offers companies, such as Jabil, tax incentives.

Three Bayshore Solutions websites win American Business Awards Stevies
Three websites created by Tampa's Bayshore Solutions won Stevies at The American Business Awards. The national business awards program recognized the websites of J.C. Newman Diamond Crown cigars, BioSpine Institute and HealthPlan Services.

More than 3,300 nominations were submitted for the awards.
Bayshore Solutions' website design for J.C. Newman Diamond Crown Cigars won a Silver Stevie Award in the consumer products websites category. Bronze awards were given to BioSpine Institute in the category of health care websites and to HealthPlan Services for insurance websites.

Innovative Food Holdings subsidiary growing Chicago area presence
Artisan Specialty Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bonita Springs-based Innovative Food Holdings (symbol: IVFH; recent price: $1.20) paid $890,000 to acquire a new 28,000-square-foot distribution facility in Broadview, Ill. The facility is expected to more than double the firm's distribution capacity, particularly to the Chicago metro area.

“Given the strong increase in Artisan's business during the first quarter and the overall strength in the specialty ingredient market, we needed a much larger distribution facility to support our growth,” Justin Wiernasz, president of Innovative Food Holdings, says in a press release. “Beyond alleviating space constraints, the new facility allows us to execute our core competency of building new specialty food platforms, like private label. The facility's increased capacity also helps us eliminate third-party storage costs....”

Action Automatic Door & Gate expands to Manatee County
Fort Myers-based Action Automatic Door & Gate has expanded its residential and commercial door and gate services business to Manatee County. Company founder and CEO George Ebel announced the county's contractor licensing board has approved it to begin operating in the county.

“This is a business decision that I made based on the reality of our current business growth, an assessment of the needs of this new market for us and my faith in the rebound of the U.S. economy,” Ebel says in a press release.

The company currently operates from two locations: 275 Airport Road N., Naples, and 11360 Metro Parkway, Fort Myers.