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Around the bay

California's loss is Florida's citrus gain

By TIMES WIRES
Published January 29, 2007

It is a gorgeous day for picking oranges at Flying "W" Farms, and John White knows it. The 74-year-old retiree from Brooksville jokes that you have to be crazy to try to make a living growing oranges. But on this day he can barely keep up with the loads of ripe navel oranges rolling down a conveyor belt and stacking up in large wooden crates, ready to be sold or squeezed into juice. If only California growers were blessed with the same 70-degree weather and plenty of sun. "I feel sorry for them," White said before quickly changing his mind and adding that he didn't get a single sympathy card from California when a freeze in 1983 wiped out his entire crop and the rest of Florida's. A recent cold snap across California has caused widespread damage to the state's produce, including its vast supply of navel oranges. As a result, orange juice prices at big-name stores across the United States have jumped 3.5 percent, the most in two months. White and his wife, Margaret, who have been selling oranges and freshly squeezed juice from their stand on Pleasant Grove Road since 1983, haven't seen too many new customers. But White said a friend in Brooksville, a grower who produces orange juice, has had more business than usual. White, who has had only two profitable years selling oranges, said he wouldn't mind cashing in on California's loss. But he won't be too bothered if he doesn't. Running his grove and fruit stand is more a hobby than a business. "You gotta be a little stupid to do it," he said, noting that canker outbreaks and hurricanes make growing oranges a risky business venture. "Basically, you have to enjoy it."

Speaker mixes humor with her message

No man wants to hear the question, but bank executive Jim Kimbrough had to answer it - in front of more than a hundred of his business colleagues. That question, of course: Honey, do these pants make me look fat? Kimbrough, of SunTrust Bank Nature Coast, turned red in the face and said no. Luckily for him, the woman asking the question was not a significant other, but Connie Podesta, a therapist and comedian. And she was only trying to make a point. "Stop asking this question," Podesta told the crowd, specifically the women, gathered at Spartan Manor for the start of the 14th annual Business Development Week. "You have a scale. Get on it. If the number is high, the butt is big." On the face of it, the Men-are-from-Mars, Women-are-from-Venus shtick may not have a lot to do with business. But Podesta, a Dallas professional speaker frequently hired by corporations, said she does not separate the personal from the professional. And she never misses a chance to inject humor into her speeches on the workplace. "How about an hour of comedy and therapy?" she asked the audience of business leaders. She often hears from people who complain that work isn't fun. Her response, she says, is that no one forces them to go to that job in the morning. "The company didn't send a van to pick you up," she said, as the audience laughed. "Grow up. Do something different. I'm tired of people taking the company's money ... and then talking about the company behind its back."

Justlookitup.com to find a local business

The Web may be worldwide, but Mike Alstott is trying to bring it closer to home. "We want to focus on the local community and make it strong," said Alstott, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fullback who partnered last year with business consultant Mike Harter to produce justlookitup.com, a Web site that promotes area businesses. By working with companies in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties that have Web sites, justlookitup.com attempts to channel Web shopping so it can have the greatest effect on the bay area's economy. "People shopping on the Web spend millions of dollars out of our area," said Harter, who runs Bottom Line Publications. "We're not paying attention to it, but we're sending our money to other cities and it's hurting our economy." Harter said the site has about 14,000 listings out of 20,000 business Web sites in the area.

For inspiration, Largo looks to Sarasota

If you want to learn about Largo's prospects for reviving its downtown, it might help to look at Sarasota. That, at least, was why 15 city and business leaders from Largo got on a chartered bus this month for a trip south. About 20 years ago, Sarasota's mostly commercial downtown core was stagnant. Despite efforts to redevelop the area, few developers wanted to build there, Sarasota City Manager Michael McNees said. Today, Sarasota's downtown is bustling. Largo officials and business leaders toured downtown Sarasota to see whether they could apply elements of Sarasota's plan to Largo's West Bay Drive redevelopment area. They can, they said. Largo community development director Mike Staffopoulos said he has applied elements of Sarasota's plan to Largo's. For example, he said, he divided the West Bay area into various character districts.

Big dining chains are disappearing

Two major restaurant chains in highly visible locations closed their doors in Palm Harbor this month. Hooters and Sam Seltzer's Steakhouse restaurants, both along U.S. 19, shut down operations within days of each other. Sam Seltzer's Palm Harbor location was built in June 2005 at 37611 U.S. 19 N. "It's an economic decision," said Ken Cox of Sam Seltzer's. "We felt we cannibalized some of our other business from the Port Richey and Clearwater locations." The restaurant employed about 50 people who will move to other local locations. Hooters is not saying why its Palm Harbor restaurant at 36091 U.S. 19 N closed. Gary Taylor, who co-owns the Pit Boss Bar-B-Q restaurant in the same shopping center, said the restaurant left shortly after owners of the strip mall announced they would raise the rent several hundred dollars per month.

[Last modified January 29, 2007, 06:11:56]