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Business Today

Five lawyers leave Holland & Knight

By wire services
Published February 2, 2006

The five partners who comprised Holland & Knight's media practice in Tampa are leaving to start a law firm.

Gregg D. Thomas, who headed the Holland & Knight group, will be joined by Carol LoCicero, James L. McGuire, Susan Bunch and James B. Lake at the Tampa practice Thomas & LoCicero. While at Holland & Knight, the partners' client roster has included the New York Times Co., Tribune Co., Knight-Ridder Inc. and Media General Inc. The lawyers, all long-time Holland & Knight employees, said they were leaving in part because of conflicts of interest and a desire to practice in a smaller firm. Their resignations come a week after 12 lawyers from Holland & Knight's former St. Petersburg office joined Trenam Kemker.

System Council U-8 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers voted late Tuesday to ratify a three-year contract with Progress Energy Florida of St. Petersburg. The pact provides annual pay raises of 3.25 percent, 3.2 percent and 3 percent, respectively, increases in health-insurance deductibles and changes in work rules. The IBEW represents about 2,100 of Progress' 4,600 Florida employees.

Verizon Communications began offering its FiOS television service to portions of southern Manatee County on Wednesday. It's the second area to get the service in Florida, after the rollout in Temple Terrace in December. The company continues to install the network and negotiate franchise agreements in other areas, though it has not given a timetable for when service will be available elsewhere.

Manufacturing activity in the United States expanded at a slower pace in January than in the previous month, according to report Wednesday by a private research group. The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index was 54.8 in January versus 55.6 in December. Analysts had expected a January reading of 55.5.

Ben Bernanke was sworn in Wednesday to be the 14th chairman of the Federal Reserve. The oath of office was administered to Bernanke in the Fed's board room by vice chairman Roger Ferguson.

The Kentucky Derby will have a sponsor for the first time, striking a five-year deal with a fast-food restaurant company that owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

Yum Brands Inc. of Louisville, Ky., becomes the first named sponsor of the Derby at Churchill Downs, and the race will be referred to as the Kentucky Derby, presented by Yum Brands, it was announced Wednesday.

The Yum logo will appear under the famed twin spires for the Derby on May 6, and will be shown on a sign above the starting gate, on the jackets of the pony riders who escort the horses during the post parade, on television billboards and elsewhere around the track.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The Bush administration, faced with the need to finance a rising federal budget deficit, announced Wednesday it will bring back the 30-year bond next week.

The initial sale of $14-billion of the securities, on Feb. 9, will mark the first time the government has sold the long-term bonds in five years.

Analysts predicted they would receive a good reception from investors who have been seeking ways to lock in guaranteed returns for a longer period.

The 30-year bond was discontinued in 2001, when the government was running large budget surpluses and did not need to borrow as much as it had in previous years of high deficits.

GREENSPAN A BRITISH ADVISER: Outgoing U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has agreed to become an honorary adviser to Britain's Treasury chief Gordon Brown, the Treasury Office said Wednesday. The office said Greenspan will advise Brown on issues relating to global economic change.

GOOGLE ADDS NEW TOOLBAR: Google has released an updated version of its toolbar for Web browsers. The toolbar allows users to create their own buttons and store lists of their favorite Web sites, said Sundar Pichai, a Google group product manager.

HCA Inc.: The Nashville hospital chain, which has nine hospitals in the Tampa Bay area, said hurricane expenses net of expected insurance recoveries were about

Time Warner Inc.: The media giant, whose properties includes HBO, CNN, Warner Bros. and Time magazine, said profits rose 21.2 percent on strong results from the company's cable TV, movie studios and cable networks businesses.

Boeing Co.: The huge Chicago aerospace company's earnings more than doubled as its resurgent commercial airplane division posted strong gains.

JetBlue Airways Corp.: The New York airlines said its quarterly loss widened, as increased revenue could not offset the effect of sharply higher fuel costs. The airline also forecast losses for the first quarter and full year 2006.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc.: The nation's biggest brewer said profit plunged 39.5 percent as its sales were virtually steady compared with a year ago.

Starbucks Corp.: The Seattle company said its fiscal-quarter earnings rose 20 percent over last year, driven by strong holiday sales of its many coffee drinks.

First Community Bank Corp. of America: The Pinellas Park bank has $325-million in assets and is the holding company for First Community Bank of America with offices in St. Petersburg, Pinellas Park, Largo and Port Charlotte.

Information from the Associated Press and Bloomberg News was used in this report.

[Last modified February 2, 2006, 02:15:36]