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Talk of the Bay

It's not all bad when Forbes pokes fun at your business. Tampa's EarthFirst Technologies Inc. got prominent mention in a recent magazine story about penny-stock operators who attract investors by promising to have the solution to the world's energy woes.

By Times staff
Published February 26, 2007

Forbes mention puts EarthFirst back in the flow 

It's not all bad when Forbes pokes fun at your business. Tampa's EarthFirst Technologies Inc. got prominent mention in a recent magazine story about penny-stock operators who attract investors by promising to have the solution to the world's energy woes. EarthFirst is run by John Stanton, former chief executive of Keller Financial Services, a bankrupt used-car finance business in Clearwater. Though it has been losing money and recently canceled a reverse merger with a Tampa company that makes concrete parking bumpers, EarthFirst said it has sold more than 1-million gallons of palm-oil-based biodiesel and soon hopes to be able to distill gas and oil from used tires. EarthFirst's stock, which was as high as 18 cents a year ago, had been languishing at 5 cents for about a month. It closed Friday at 7 cents.

Technically, we have a lot to offer

Florida is where smart people come to work. At least that's the message touted by the Florida High Tech Corridor Council. It has lured career center directors from 60 universities - including Princeton, Cornell and New York University - to Orlando for its inaugural Career Expo today and Tuesday. Organizers want the career directors to steer their best and brightest graduates down South, to the high-tech jobs offered in the 23-county corridor. "When they think Central Florida and Tampa Bay, they think Busch Gardens, Disney World," said spokesman Justin Campfield. "We're hoping that we can open their eyes to what's going on down here." More than 65 companies are scheduled to attend, including Tech Data of Clearwater, L-3 Communications of Sarasota and HSBC of Tampa.

Trading playbooks for business books

Take it from Tiki Barber: A career in football can't last forever. For those players who still feel the need to make money after the NFL, the league's Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program will help them get ready. The program, in its third year, is facilitating business crash courses lasting three to six days at Harvard, Northwestern, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania. Several Buccaneers are among the 116 players ready for class. Cornell Green and Dave Moore should be in class this week at Harvard. Same goes for Dewayne White at the University of Pennsylvania. Chris Hovan will sharpen his brand-development skills at Northwestern in April.

[Last modified February 26, 2007, 05:59:23]