► A group of Sarasota businesswomen, including three members of Ian Black Real Estate and representatives from Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, Gulfside Bank, and others, filed to establish a Sarasota-Manatee chapter of the Commercial Real Estate Women Network.
► Tidewell Hospice, a member of Empath Health, in Sarasota, appointed Gary Butler, executive director of the Military Heritage Museum, in Punta Gorda, to the Tidewell Hospice Board of Trustees.
► Compass Florida added The Michelle Ward Properties Group, led by Michelle Ward, and her team of 19 agents, to its Sarasota office.
► Allen and Kaye Butler were named the 2024 Distinguished Citizens of the Year by the Manatee River Fair Association.
► The Education Foundation of Sarasota County purchased property, at 100 S. Washington Blvd., in downtown Sarasota, for $6 million.
► Sarasota couple, Jerry and Karen Kolschowsky, donated $25 million to Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, to be used for innovation, education and research.
► George Nicolopoulos joined ServisFirst Bank Sarasota as vice president, commercial banking.
► Bill Haley, who spent nearly 40 years with Cummins, an engine manufacturing company, has been named chief logistics and supply chain officer with All Faiths Food Bank, in Sarasota.
► Manatee County commissioners voted, unanimously, to buy Crooked River Ranch, along the Manatee River, for $11.2 million.
► Pezzi, a tech startup with offices in Tampa and Sarasota that uses artificial intelligence to create accounting software for small businesses, has raised $120,000 from undisclosed investors.
► The Tidewell Foundation, in Sarasota, named Delesa Morris as its new President.
► New College of Florida, in Sarasota, has taken its first steps to acquire the land beneath its East Campus it currently leases from the Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority.
► Caragiulos Italian American plans to move to 1833 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota.
► Solmart Media, a Sarasota-based Latino-owned and -operated radio station company, has acquired a radio station owned by Salem Media Group with reach in the Tampa-Clearwater and Orlando markets.
► The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota has named industry veteran Mark Sherwin as its general manager.
► Tsunami Sushi & Hibachi Grill opened, at 11627 State Road 70 E., in Lakewood Ranch.
► BayFirst National Bank opened its 11th full-service banking center, in the Newtown Community, at 1782 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Sarasota.