Need to catch up on business news in Southwest Florida? No problem. Here are the top stories of the week pulled from our daily newsletter, Gulfshore Business Daily.
Friday, Aug. 2
LEE COUNTY TO SERVE AS HOST CITY FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE SUMMIT
Lee County will be one of four host communities in Florida to welcome companies from seven countries as part of the second annual International Trade Summit. Organized by The International Trade Hub at Port Manatee, the 2019 Global Business opportunity series will visit Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Bradenton/Sarasota and Tampa for one day each from Aug. 26 to 29. The local event will be from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 27, in Conference Room 118 in the Administration East Building, 2201 Second St., Fort Myers. The co-hosts for the local event are the Lee County Economic Development Office, Southwest Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Southwest Regional Manufacturers Association. The sponsor is Seminole Gulf Railway. International companies from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Spain, Peru and more will feature wine, snack food, coffee, fruits, apparel, artisanal goods, merchandise companies and state-of-the-art cooking systems during the summit. The mission of the International Trade Hub at Port Manatee is to be the leading platform for global trade in Southwest Florida. For more information, visit www.internationalhubportmanatee.com.
Thursday, Aug. 1
SWFL FIRMS NAMED AMONG TOP FLORIDA COMPANIES TO WATCH
Cottrell Title & Escrow of Collier County and Mettauer Environmental and VeraData of Lee County have been named to the latest Florida Companies to Watch list, a statewide program managed by economic development group GrowFL, in association with the Edward Lowe Foundation. These Southwest Florida businesses are among 50 second-stage Florida companies included on the list for expected growth over the next several years. They were selected from hundreds of nominees. From 2015 through 2018, these 50 companies generated $923 million in revenue and added 935 employees, reflecting a 123.9 percent increase in revenue and 131 percent increase in jobs for the four-year period, according to a press release. Companies named to the list will be officially recognized at the ninth annual Florida Companies to Watch Celebration on Nov. 14 at the Hard Rock Live, Universal City Walk in Orlando. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.growfl.com/flctw19/about-flctw/.
Wednesday, July 31
FLORIDA DEO OFFERS $85 MILLION THROUGH REBUILD FLORIDA PROGRAM
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) has made $85 million available to local governments in communities impacted by Hurricane Irma through the Rebuild Florida Infrastructure Repair Program. Grant funding can be used by local governments to restore and improve infrastructure in areas damaged by Hurricane Irma or as match funding for other federal programs to carry out eligible, federal Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) infrastructure activity. Local governments may apply individually or as a regional group for funding to propose projects that meet program requirements, including demonstrating Hurricane Irma impact and primarily benefiting low- to moderate-income populations. Funding can also be used as leverage to match funding for other federal programs to carry out eligible, federal CDBG-DR infrastructure activity. To complete an application by the Aug. 30 deadline, or for more information, click here.
Best Home Services
Tuesday, July 30
BEST HOME SERVICES EXPANDS WITH PARTNERSHIP
Alpine Investors has invested in Naples-based Best Home Services and Frank Gay Services in Orlando. The partnership of these two businesses will serve as the foundation of Apex Service Partners. Apex will be a partnership of the leading home and commercial services companies across the nation. The businesses will continue to operate independently under their respective brands. Best Home Services and Frank Gay will be able to leverage their brands to expand their respective residential and commercial services across the state of Florida. They plan to grow to a $200 million a year revenue operation in Florida with the new partnership. To accelerate and support this growth throughout the state, Best Home Services will build a new state headquarters in Southwest Florida, creating more than 100 new jobs in the next two years, a press release states.
