Tampa Bay's Latest Business News

October 2010

Pinellas County Success Story: Handyman Matters: Small Business, Big Success in Pinellas.  For more than two years, Julie Daniels, owner of Handyman Matters in Palm Harbor, Florida, has found great success as a small business owner.  Despite the challenges of running a small business in a tough economy, the retired U.S. Air Force captain continues to move ahead, growing her franchise nearly 200% over the past year.  “It’s been a terrific run,” Daniels attests, “and I’m nowhere near stopping yet!  I’ve been working with Pinellas County’s Small Business Development Center the past eight months, exploring opportunities that will allow Handyman Matters to continue building, literally and figuratively.”  Handyman Matters offers professional assistance with everyday home repairs, improvements, and remodels across the United States and Canada.  Drawing on previous experience on construction sites and her determination to open her own business, Daniels purchased a Handyman Matters franchise in 2008.  Continue this story at http://www.pced.org/?ltid=5947.

Pinellas County Economic Development (PCED) Announces the Pinellas County Small Business Development Center (PCSBDC), Beginning Oct. 1.  Through new partnerships forged with the University of South Florida’s Small Business Development Network, Pinellas County will this year expand business course offerings, while offering the same personalized business counseling so essential for start ups and entrepreneurs.  Come in, take a class or give us a call.   Find all the details online at http://www.pced.org/sbdc.

Making $ense of Green, Sustainable Business Conference and Expo, Oct. 21 – 23.  Businesses, licensed professionals, and municipal and county government managers and staff are invited to participate in this event.  Workshops and presentations will feature the topics of   energy, sustainable building design, water/ waste water, and sustainable practices, policies and regulations. Exhibitors will be invited to demonstrate featured services and products in these same sustainable topic areas.  Visit www.sustainableseminole.com to register and for more information.

Oct. 29, Meet Potential Business Partners as you introduce your company’s products, services and technologies to a powerful audience at the Pinellas Technology Business and Innovation Exchange (PTBIE).  Now in its 4th year, PTBIE annually draws 50 exhibiting and sponsoring companies that directly benefit from exposure to selectively invited business development and supply chain representatives from nearly 25 of our nation’s leading defense firms.  Past attendees have also included senior Department of Defense personnel and Congressional staff.  Visit www.pinellastechnology.com for more information and to register.  To read about the benefits of exhibiting at PTBIE from a local company, click here.

International Economic Development Council Real Estate Development and Reuse in Tampa, Nov. 4 – 5.  Learn about the various financing tools that are available at the local, regional and state level, including tax increment financing, bond financing, land assembly and brownfield redevelopment.
Details at www.iedconline.org/?p=Training_Real_Estate_FL.

Monthly Hazardous Waste Collection for Businesses: Oct. 13.  Dispose of unwanted hazardous electronics and chemical waste at the EnviroBusiness collections, scheduled for the second Wednesday of each month.  Collections will be taken from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Household Electronics & Chemical Collection Center, 2990 110th Ave. N., St. Petersburg.  Any Pinellas County business may drop off its hazardous electronics. To drop off chemicals, businesses need to qualify as small waste generators, (producing less than 25 gallons, or 220 pounds, of chemical waste per month). About ninety percent of all the electronic equipment brought in is either reused or recycled.
Visit www.pinellascounty.org/bizwaste to learn more.

Moffitt Cancer Center’s Business of Biotech  – Call for Exhibitors. Attention Tampa Bay medical device manufacturers and biotechnology businesses: if you are interested in showcasing the capabilities of your business at the 5th Annual Business of Biotech, please contact Danielle Ruiz at druiz@pinellascounty.org.  Business of Biotech will be held on Jan. 31, 2011; more details will be posted as they are announced.

Can Your Business Use Free Technical and/or Engineering Assistance?  The Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP) can provide Florida small businesses with up to 40 hours of free assistance from aerospace industry experts.  SATOP utilizes the technical resources of the U.S. Space Program participants and contractors, NASA centers, and universities and colleges to aid small businesses in the fields of manufacturing, mechanical, electrical, fluids, chemical, structural, robotics, materials and more.  Learn more and submit a Request for Technical Assistance at www.spacetechsolutions.com or contact Scott Talcott at (727) 464-7353 or stalcott@pinellascounty.org.