Airport perks
[Times photo: Fraser Hale]
"Riding a plane today is like riding the bus," one frequent flier says. "Airline clubs get you out of the waiting routine." But some complain that those membership clubs are becoming overcrowded and uncomfortable. Airlines continue to look for ways to pamper, and attract more of, their most lucrative passengers.
Joining the clubs
Even if you're not a big-mileage road warrior, you can sample the comforts of airline clubs without paying the $375 to $475 for a one-year membership.
Rapping the facts about flooding
It's not exactly Eminem, and this rap music isn't winning any MTV Music Awards.
Hedging its Olympic bets
With its pledge of $250,000, Bank of America is among the largest contributors to the Tampa Bay area/Orlando bid for the 2012 Olympics. But Florida's largest bank apparently won't be too tearful if another city gets the nod.
Pulling a pep talk out of a tailspin
Times are tough in the tech world, and a little pep talk seemed to be in order at last week's Tampa Bay Technology Forum breakfast.
Shedding the dot-com image
Since it morphed from the corporate shell of NuMed Surgical Inc. about two years ago, DrugMax.com of Largo has shown at least one quality of a dot-com: continuing losses.
The rising cost of retirement planning
Raymond James Financial raised the ire of some of its brokers earlier this year when it started charging $100 an hour for calls to a telephone help line on retirement plans. Some brokers say they only discovered the new policy when they got their first bill last month.
Profile: Madison M. Mosley Jr.
NEW POSITION: Associate professor and director, Law Library and Legal Information Center, Stetson University College of Law, Gulfport.
Climbing the ladder
BANKING:The Private Bank at SouthTrust Bank, Tampa, announced the following appointments: Tom Baker, vice president and private banker; and James Downes, group vice president and private banking team leader. Downes will oversee the Tampa private banking office. Baker was vice president in the commercial banking division at Wilmington Trust Co.; and Downes was vice president and state credit manager with First Union's Private Client Group in Nashville.
Business calendar
"Business Counseling" sessions, by the Service Corps of Retired Executives, will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at the St. Petersburg Business Development Center, 1045 16th St. S; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport Business Center, 4707 140th Ave. N, Suite 311; 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Tarpon Springs Public Library, 138 E Lemon St.; and 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Largo Public Library, 351 East Bay Drive. For an appointment or information, call the Business Development Center, (727) 893-9686; the Clearwater Airport Business Center, (727) 532-6800; the Tarpon Springs Library, (727) 943-4922; and the Largo Public Library, (727) 587-6715.
Company notes
ADVERTISING:FKQ Advertising, 15351 Roosevelt Blvd., Clearwater, won two Citation of Excellence awards for its print ads for Capello Jewelers at the American Advertising Federation's 2001 Annual Conference.
