BUSINESS OBSERVER

+ Chamber honors construction company for its service
 Willis A. Smith Construction Inc. earned the Milestone Anniversary of Service Award from the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce First Salute to Business.

The award was presented to the company Oct. 22, at the Winner’s Circle event before the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce 92nd annual meeting and luncheon.

“The fact that we have been recognized as one of the chamber member businesses that are positively impacting our community and moving it forward is truly gratifying,” said William A. Smith President Dave Sessions. The chamber’s members selected William A. Smith Construction in a survey.

The construction company is the oldest in Sarasota.
 
+ Taylor Morrison rep named as panelist
Taylor Morrison sales-and-marketing representative Cammie Longenecker was named as a panelist at the sixth International Real-Estate Congress and Sarasota Showcase.

The conference for real-estate professionals was held Nov. 4 through Nov. 6, at the Lido Beach Resort.

Along with keynote speaker Dr. John Tuccillo, Florida Realtors chief economist, Longenecker offered a tour of the area’s real estate on a dinner cruise, including a viewing of Taylor Morrison’s recently opened Esplanade at Lakewood Ranch.

Before that, the Global Business Council of the Sarasota Association of Realtors led two mornings of presentations and a tour of Sarasota neighborhoods with homes for sale.

+ John Neal Homes reports record third quarter sales
John Neal Homes reported record-breaking third quarter sales in its recently released report.

The Manatee County custom homebuilder sold 14 homes totaling $10,255,000 in the third quarter of 2012, according to a press release.

That number more than doubled the sales for the same period last year.

During the third quarter in 2011, John Neal Homes sold six homes totaling nearly $4 million.

“We are experiencing tremendous growth,” said John Neal, president of the Lakewood Ranch based new-home building company. “There are a number of factors that we attribute this record-breaking season to, including our increasing referral rate as our company grows, our unmatched customer service rating and a market on the rebound.”
 
+ Salt and Light Productions receives Emmy nod
 The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences nominated Salt and Light Productions’ Senior Producer Don Gangnagel for two regional Emmy Awards.

The nominations, announced Nov. 7 through a press release, were received for a short-form documentary about ShelterBox USA and a long-form documentary about the Florida Highway Patrol. Both pieces were nominated in the category “Documentary-Topical.”

These two documentaries are the sixth and seventh Emmy nominations for Gangnagel. In 2009 and 2010, Gangnagel won Emmy Awards for two Salt and Light Productions films created for Micaiah Ministries and the Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center (SPARCC).
 
+ New leader heads Neal Communities’ expansion south
Neal Communities hired Michael Greenberg as vice president of building.

Greenberg will lead the homebuilder’s entry into the Southwest Florida market in Lee and Collier counties, with several new ventures and communities getting ready to open this season. Those communities include: Verandah in Fort Myers; Villa Palmeras and Esencia in Estero; and a new community in Naples.
Greenberg has more than 34 years of experience in the residential real-estate industry.

He has been involved in the acquisition, design, sales, development and construction of over 25,000 homes worth more than $10 billion dollars throughout the United States during his career.