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Talk of the Bay

These companies keep workplace a flexible one

By TIMES WIRES
Published January 29, 2007

Folks looking for a flexible work schedule might want to check out a couple of Tampa employers recently honored by the nonprofit Families and Work Institute in New York City. Accounting firm Kingery & Crouse and Retail Merchanding Xpress were among 113 winners nationwide of Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence. The businesses were judged based on employer and workers views of the company's flexibility. Kingery & Crouse has 23 employees, but only two have to show up for standard office hours. Retail Merchandising Xpress, which gets manufacturers' products on supermarket shelves around the country, has about two dozen staffers in Tampa with 4,000 part-time workers who pick assignments and create their own schedules by computer. Got time? They have work.

Get an education in scratch 'n sniff

If the Florida citrus industry and the University of South Florida don't seem to share common ground, think again. The university's new Lakeland campus, still in its infancy, has plans to offer specialized flavor-and-fragrance education and training based on citrus. Don't laugh. Developing and manufacturing flavors for foods and fragrances for everything from soaps to room fresheners is one big and growing industry. And it couldn't hurt Florida's citrus industry to try some more diversification of its products. Just don't ask USF to change its colors from green and gold to orange.

Disney scores with Beckham deal, too

While the paparazzi stalks Hollywood for any sign of David Beckham, above as Prince Phillip, and wife Victoria (Posh Spice) moving to Los Angeles, Walt Disney World in Orlando had the soccer celeb's image in the can for an upcoming magazine promotion of its Year of a Million Dreams drawings. In Disney World ads slated to appear in Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ and the New Yorker, Beckham appears as Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty on a white charger, Scarlett Johansson is a slipperless Cinderella and Beyonce Knowles, Oliver Platt and Lyle Lovett are frocked as Alice in Wonderland characters swirling in a teacup. Beckham did the shoot in Spain a month before his $250-million deal to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy was revealed.

Track progress

Follow developments in the Trans Continental investment case at blogs.tampabay.com/money.

[Last modified January 29, 2007, 06:03:07]