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Business Of The Year Finalists Named

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By Joyce McKenzie of The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 8, 2008

CTEMPLE TERRACE - Its sense of community, its proximity to the Hillsborough River, its major university and its wide range of activities that appeal to all ages draw a diverse population to the Temple Terrace area.
There is another factor that helps define the community's quality of life – its businesses, according to Cheri Donohue, executive director of the Greater Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce.
"What if these companies chose to do business in another part of the county? What would that mean to our community?" Donohue asked.
That was the thought process used in selecting four finalists out of 21 nominees for the 2007 Ed Hanna Business of the Year award that will be announced Wednesday during the a luncheon at the Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club.
The annual tribute to locally owned and managed businesses began in 1990 and is named for longtime chamber member Ed Hanna, who modeled it after the Tampa Chamber of Commerce's annual awards presentations to business leaders. Nominees are judged on their growth, improvements and economic effect on the community.
In the running for the Greater Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce honor are Bloomingdays Flower Shop, 1141 E. Fletcher Ave.; Century 21 Sunshine Realty, 9250 N. 56th St.; Marc Morris Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, 119 Bullard Parkway; and Sherwood Forest of Temple Terrace, 10935-B N. 56th St.
In a market where similar businesses are experiencing a downturn in consumer spending, Bloomingdays Flower Shop owner Christine Vasconcelo said her sales have soared.
"We're growing when everyone else is hurting," said Vasconcelo, who now runs the shop her father, David, gave to her mother, Leisla, as an anniversary gift in 1987.
Last year, Vasconcelo, a certified Florida state master designer, tripled the store's size to 6,000 square feet, which includes a 1,200-square-foot retail center and a 4,800-square-foot design room. The project caught the attention of Florist Review magazine, which ran a story and photos about the store's expansion in its August 2007 issue.
Vasconcelo employs a full-time staff of 10 people who assist her in bouquet arrangements and in selling other gift items such as candles, chocolates, Sorrelli jewelry and Womar polished glass.
"It's great," said Vasconcelo in response to learning her business was selected as an award finalist. "When I joined the chamber four years ago, I went to the business of the year luncheon. I remember thinking to myself, 'Maybe one day.'"
Jane Land, broker for the Century 21 Sunshine Realty office in Temple Terrace, also was delighted to learn her firm was a finalist in the competition.
Since its opening in 1975, the office has generated more than $1 billion in sales. In 2007, 36 percent of the homes sold were in Temple Terrace. In addition, more than half of its 28 agents own homes in the community. For the past three years, the office has been awarded the company's Gold Medallion distinction, an honor that represents its earning more than $1 million in commissions each of those years.
"Just to be nominated is very exciting for me and the agents," Land said. "I think it's because we've kind of been a staple here for a long time, we've got tons of experience and because we're a full-service agency in that we handle everything from start to finish."
Marc Morris Air Conditioning & Refrigeration began in the Temple Terrace home of owners Marc and Ruth Morris in 1996 as a company that serves residential customers and provides commercial refrigeration service to restaurants, schools, food banks and produce businesses throughout the county.
Three years later, the business incorporated. It has since opened a retail office and showroom on Bullard Parkway and expanded to eight employees and five service trucks. Over the past four years, the company has more than doubled its sales, from $263,210 in 2004 to $535,000 in 2007, and referrals make up 95 percent of its new business.
Marc Morris said the company's motto — "Service Good Enough To Wear My Name" — is much more than mere words on its trucks and business cards.
"It's a message I stand by," he said.
Sherwood Forest of Temple Terrace owners Paul and Sherrill Tomasino, who purchased the office and retail complex in 1984, also stand behind their business's motto, "Sherwood Forest — The Place To Be in Temple Terrace."
"From the beginning, Sherrill and I have made it our mission to make Sherwood Forest the model for all commercial areas in Temple Terrace," Paul Tomasino said. "We believe we have achieved that and are proud for our efforts to be recognized."
In the 23 years they've owned the center, they've trimmed and added lights to the once-overgrown oak trees, added sidewalks and shrubbery, repaved the parking lot and upgraded its buildings.
Throughout the past three years, the Tomasinos have maintained an 85 percent to 100 percent occupancy rate. The longtime Temple Terrace residents project a 19 percent increase in the center's 2008 income compared with last year, which posted an increase of 20 percent more income than in 2006.
"There is no doubt that Sherwood Forest has been a major contributor to economic development in the city," Sherrill Tomasino said. "The fact that we, as [business] owners and residents, have chosen to invest our lives in the community is icing on the cake."

Reporter Joyce McKenzie can be reached at (813) 865-4849 or jmckenzie@tampatrib.com.

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