Business

By Chris Balzer May this Holiday season fill your home with joy, your heart with love and your life with laughter.  This is sincere and we will speak or receive similar greetings this month. But for many, the holidays bring stress and not good tidings:  finding the perfect gifts and...

Jack Smith had a dream. A dream of retiring on the Emerald Coast, spending his days fishing in the turquoise waters. He looked forward to playing the Panhandle’s championship golf courses and after building a house on Lake Powell, settled in to begin his life of leisure. This well-designed...

By Ashley Vannoy Keeping a close watch on permits and the economic development efforts of a literal army of professionals we have across the panhandle, it is easy to identify prospective businesses both large and small that are coming to our area. An actual feasibility study is being performed by...

By: Rita L. Sherwood 23 years and counting in the health care insurance industry, spanning three generations as a family business, Billy Drennan and his wife, Angelea grew up in insurance and know no other industry. That’s a good thing, especially when it comes to trying to navigate the often...

By Chris Balzar I once heard that the definition of maturity is deciding to do things you don’t want to do because they need to get done. If that’s true, then most of us are super mature. We all have our own lists of things we don’t want to do...

By Rita L. Sherwood Andrea Mandel and her family have owned property here since the 1950s. A proud Auburn alumni with a degree in education, Andrea says, “I have been blessed to grow up on the beach.” Her family has all moved back to the local area and she says,...

By Alan Roberts How safe did you feel the last time you used a rideshare service? Did the driver open the door for you? Were you treated like a guest and feel special? There are so many questions, so little justification for what Americans are currently experiencing throughout the industry....

By Chris Balzer If you are like most people when your electric bill arrives every month, you place it in the “to pay” folder and open it later.  When we do get around to opening the electric bill, we look at the amount owed; some sign, some grunt, some grin,...

Part of being a good business owner means giving back to the community. If your only focus is about making profits to grow your business, you won’t get very far.  Giving back not only benefits people in need, but your brand as well. Making an effort to help your community...

By Victoria Ostrosky   Hurricane deductible. Wind/Hail deductible. Named Storm deductible. These are synonymous terms, right? Wrong. If you don’t know which deductible you have, you may one day deal with more than damage to your home, but severe damage to your bank account as well. For wind coverage in Florida,...