Gulf Coast bank, medical company welcome new board members

Two Gulf Coast companies — Raymond James Bank and Bovie Medical Corp. — will welcome new members to its boards of directors.

Elizabeth Fowler has joined the board of Raymond James Bank in St. Petersburg, bringing what executives there say are more than 30 years of financial services experience to the nine-member board.

Fowler began her career in 1984 in Bank of America's corporate banking division in Tampa, eventually becoming a senior vice president. She joined the Park Foundation in 1997, an Ithaca, N.Y.-based charity group that aids and supports education, public broadcasting and the environment. The foundation was founded in 1966 by Fowler's grandfather, Roy Park Sr.

Fowler serves on a number of boards, including Frameworks of Tampa Bay, Academy Prep Center of Tampa, and the Lowry Park Zoo Endowment Board.

George Seegers and Stephen Story retired from the Raymond James Bank board. Seegers served since 2005, and worked at Citigroup for 27 years, serving as president and COO of Citigroup Tampa.

Story joined in 1994, and is a retired partner of the law firm Culverhouse Botts & Story, and an original owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Hugh Culverhouse.

Bovie Medical, which operates its American headquarters out of Clearwater, has appointed Charles Orsatti to its board of directors, replacing the outgoing Ian Sheffield.

Orsatti will represent Great Point Partners LLC, which provided a $7 million equity investment in Bovie in December 2013.

Orsatti is the chairman of board of Biotronic Neuronetwork Inc. in Michigan, and was on the board for SRI Surgical Inc. of Tampa until 2011. SRI was acquired by Synergy Health in 2012.

Bovie, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BVX, reported a net loss of $876,000, or 69 cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31. That compared to a $9.6 million, or 55 cents per share, loss the year before. Revenue was $6.1 million this past quarter, down from $6.5 million the year before.