Florida's vote in the Democratic primary may not have counted, but it certainly will here. For the second year running, we are asking our readers to help choose a winner in The Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge.
For Italian fashion designer Anna Molinari, Miami was the perfect fit for the opening of Blumarine's first U.S. store. She believes women here share her taste in fashion and a lifestyle similar to that of her native Italy.
South Beach's Royal Palm hotel enjoys a prime location in one of the country's hottest vacation markets, built with a subsidy most developers only see in their dreams.
Costs are rising. Incomes aren't. And it's likely to be that way for a while, he says, because GDP doesn't tell you everything.
JOB FILE
If you've ever booked a hotel or been club-hopping in the 33139 ZIP code, you know South Beach hospitality often leaves much to be desired.
SMALL BUSINESS
As John Kunkel searched for the perfect spot to open a second bakery, he stumbled across an overgrown alley on Alton Road. Instead of expanding his coffee/smoothie/sandwich operation, he decided to launch a Mexican concept that had been, as he puts it, floating around his desk.
Q: I am in a new role that requires significant interaction with executives, and I'm not very comfortable rubbing shoulders with CEOs and other high-level executives at this point. Besides the usual acknowledgment that we all put our pants (or pantyhose) on one leg at a time, how can I become less intimidated and more at ease?
ASK DOCTOR LAW
Q: We operate a small vacation hotel in a popular Florida resort area. Our best business for rooms, food and drink occurs during holiday time. That is also when we have the most problems with disorderly guests. What can we do if their conduct is so bad that we want them to leave the premises?
RESTAURANTS
The oysters and beer kept flowing at Monty's in Coconut Grove last year. That's the word from a recent stock filing by the iconic restaurant's parent company, HMG/Courtland Properties. The Coconut Grove company is publicly traded but relies on a few businesses for revenue, including a 50 percent share of Monty's, the Grove Isle hotel and spa, and marinas in both places.
There's far more to story of ethanol blends Your article [''A cleaner fuel print,'' April 26] leads with the words ''cleaner gasoline'' heralding a bright new day for South Floridians. Unfortunately, as many recent tests confirm -- especially in California -- ethanol blended in gasoline actually produces a dirtier, more dangerous (i.e. carcinogenic) exhaust that can result in a toxic smog much worse than the garden variety produced from regular unleaded.
The ethanol giants of southeastern Brazil have transformed how 185 million residents of this South American nation power their cars and trucks. Now, they say they're ready to start the same ethanol revolution in the rest of the world, if only the world will let them.
EDITOR'S NOTE
At first glance, the shiny new Staples on Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 21st Street doesn't look unusual. But it's the office-supply chain's very first store to be built to the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards.
Here are the film and TV productions in Miami-Dade County this week: Telemundo-RTI, 7355 NW 41st St., Miami. ''Pecados ajenos.'' Tuesday, Port of Miami.
Biz to Biz Networking: Business card exchange includes appetizers and drink specials; 5:30 p.m.; Bonefish Grill, 6282 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale; $10 per person. 954-838-9644 or biztobiznetworking.com.
AIRLINES Michael Witcher has been appointed as managing director of customer services for American Airlines in Miami. He has 23 years of experience in various posts within American Airlines. For the last two years, he has been the manager of ramp services at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.
BUSINESS BOOKS
Powerhouse Principles: The Billionaire Blueprint for Real Estate Success. Jorge Perez. Celebra. 288 pages. If Jorge Perez were not a successful Miami-based developer, I'd probably never open this book. No knock on him, but most tomes professing ''this is how I did it; this is how you can do it'' are boring and loaded with self-righteous pontification, glad-handing, name-dropping and other effluvia.
Initial public offerings planned this week: Colfax Corp., Richmond, Va.; 18.8 million; $15 to $17; Merrill Lynch, Lehman Bros. and UBS Investment Bank; proposed NYSE symbol: CFX; supplier of fluid handling products including pumps and specialty valves.
Location: 1510 NW 79th Ave. Seller: Conosur Investments, represented by Fernando J. Carpaneto, manager. Buyer: Edgewater 1510, represented by Ulysses Vazquez, managing member.
Filings for the Southern District of Florida: FCI Acquisitions, 1866 NW 82nd Ave., Miami. Chapter 7. Matthew J. Militzok, 954-727-8570.
BUSINESS BOOKS
Communicating to persuade or motivate is a challenge for many businesspeople. Being literate and intelligent is not enough. Creativity is involved, but it requires the suggestion of images, emotions and other connections in order to achieve the desired effect. Even when the message is solely composed of text, images and other sensual cues are evoked to stimulate and create interest. Here are three recent books that look at ways to arouse emotion and connect the feeling to the action.
