Tampa Bay Business News and Top Stories

For a limited time, adult guests who visit The Florida Aquarium can purchase a collector’s cigar made by J.C Newman Cigar Company. Named the “SEA-Gar,” the specially designed El Baton cigar is wrapped with The Aquarium’s logo and a Florida Gar, a type of fish featured at The Florida Aquarium. Aquarium visitors can bring their

2BHospitality plans to open a new location of BellaBrava, in Land O’ Lakes, in December. The company’s third BellaBrava restaurant, BellaBrava Bexley, will be nearly 8,200 square feet, at 16722 Focus Loop. The other two BellaBrava locations are currently located in St. Petersburg and Tampa. Stillwaters Tavern, another concept from 2BHospitality, is also expected to

Preserve Vision Florida will honor Richard Gonzmart and Andrea Gonzmart Williams as its 2024 Persons of Vision, in recognition of their leadership in Tampa Bay. The 45th Annual Person of Vision Award Gala will be held on February 5, at TPepin’s Hospitality Centre, in Tampa. Richard Gonzmart and his daughter, Andrea Gonzmart Williams, are the

CITY Furniture, a family-owned furniture and mattress retailer, is currently promoting its annual Pink Pumpkins fundraiser to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer events. The public can visit any CITY Furniture or Ashley showrooms, which are turned pink during the month of October, to pick up a

Michael D. Swesey has been named president and chief executive officer of the St. Petersburg Area Economic Development Corporation. Swesey has more than 30 years of economic development experience. He previously held a variety of roles at the Greater Des Moines Partnership in Des Moines, Iowa, most recently as executive vice president. He has led

My husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, in August. And, over the years, we promised each other we’d go back to St. Lucia for our monumental celebration of love. It is where we were married. August 10, 2013, was one of the best days of our lives and we wanted to relive it

Beacon, Tampa’s newest rooftop lounge at the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street, opened on Friday, October 6. Beacon has several lounge areas, including an outdoor terrace, a signature bar and a variety of intimate seating spaces. The signature bar space was conceived as the heart of the Beacon experience, with a canopy feature, while the

Developers of The Julia have officially broken ground at the site of the condominium tower, at 100 4th Ave. N., in St. Petersburg. The 19-story condominium gives residents the opportunity to rent their homes for a minimum of 30 days, up to 12 times per year, with management provided by Vacasa, a vacation rental management

New College of Florida’s Board of Trustees has selected Richard Corcoran as the college’s next president, voting to enter contract negotiations at the next Board of Trustees meeting, later this month. Corcoran’s selection comes after a six-month search and selection process. The Board of Trustees Chair, Debra A. Jenks, designated Vice Chair, Ron Christaldi, to

Situated at 887 S Gulfview Blvd., in Clearwater, the home referred to as the “Holdout Home” has been listed for $6,999,000. Built in 1963, it’s the final single-family dwelling on Clearwater Point. The home has a view of Clearwater Harbor and the Gulf of Mexico. The property has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, along with

Marrin Costello, founder of Marrin Costello Jewelry, will open the brand’s first brick-and-mortar location, in Tampa’s Palma Ceia neighborhood. Found in more than 300 boutiques worldwide, Marrin Costello Jewelry is a women-owned and operated brand. Marrin Costello Jewelry doesn’t tarnish and is hypoallergenic and waterproof. The brand also launched a sustainability initiative in which, for

He could be called a boomerang surgeon.  Physician Jim Norman was a surgeon, quit practicing to pursue the dot-com boom of the 1990s and, later, returned to surgery. One might feel a career as a world-renowned surgeon, in the specialty of endocrine surgery, would be quite enough to round out one’s resume. But Norman is