Business: Talk of the bay

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Talk of the bay

By TIMES WIRES
Published November 27, 2006

WATCH THESE TOP FEMALE EXECS FROM AFAR

The Wall Street Journal's recent special section on "50 Women to Watch" did not include any Floridians, but it listed several female executives whose companies have major operations in the Tampa Bay area. Among those singled out were Susan Whiting, CEO of Nielsen Media Research, which has its operations center in Oldsmar; Jerri DeVard, senior vice president, marketing and brand management at Verizon Communications, with a large work force in Tampa; and Amy Woods Brinkley, Global Risk executive at the ubiquitous Bank of America. WSJ noted that although the number of women in senior corporate ranks has barely budged, they lead a broad range of businesses.

Jabil didn't want to see leniency

American judges tend to treat white-collar criminals more gingerly than street thugs. But that didn't stop electronics manufacturer Jabil Circuit from requesting the maximum sentence this month for embezzler and ex-employee Patrick Henry Stewart. General counsel Bob Paver testified that Stewart's theft of $1.8-million was "demoralizing" to his "hard-working" former colleagues, as was the lavish way he spent the stolen money. The scheme nearly caused the St. Petersburg company to postpone its second-quarter financial report last year; only by working round-the-clock did Jabil staff conclude in time that the thefts were not material, Paver said. But Stewart's claim that the antidepressant Paxil caused him to behave uncontrollably persuaded U.S. District Court Judge James Moody Sr. to sentence him to 12 months of home confinement.

Trump: You'll love this vodka

Look out Smirnoff, Absolut and Grey Goose. The top of the bottle doesn't sport a strange, orange comb-over, but the label reads "Trump." Several thousand cases of Trump Super Premium Vodka arrived this month in Florida bars, restaurants, hotels and lounges, just in time for the holiday season. Trump has lent his name to water, cologne, suits and now the most popular distilled spirit in the world. Never mind that the Donald is a teetotaler. His tribute to the spirit promises "success distilled" and is touted as a "first class creation from the recipe to the packaging." We would expect nothing less.

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Talk of the bay