Commissioner Murman quoted in this top 12 memorable business quotes in the Tampa Bay Times:
A dozen memorable business quotes: Who said this stuff?
- By Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist
Robert Trigaux, Times Columnist
ROBERT TRIGAUXTIMES BUSINESS COLUMNIST
ROBERT TRIGAUXTampa Bay Times
Friday, January 3, 2014 5:27pm
There is nothing like a memorable quote to sear an event in your mind.
Here are a dozen gems quoted in the Tampa Bay Times from our business community in recent months.
Were you paying attention?
Who said this stuff? (Answers are at the end of this column.)
• • •
1. “This is bigger than landing the Super Bowl, a National Convention or the Olympics. It’s a mega-storm of growth that’s hitting our county with feeder bands that will create economic growth all over this area.”
a) Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch on the potential impact of this coming fall’s county referendum on mass transit.
b) Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman about Amazon’s decision to build a giant warehouse facility near Ruskin.
c) The Guinness Book of World Records for Hyperbole.
2. “Florida is the most bat-s— crazy state in the union.”
a) Response by Boston magazine defending tax-heavy Massachusetts from Florida Gov. Scott’s recruiting businesses in the state.
b) Response by Chicago magazine defending tax-heavy Illinois from Florida Gov. Scott’s recruiting businesses in the state.
c) Sooner or later, most folks who move here.
3. “I’m not giving it all up to Tampa. When it comes to quality of life, we’re the better city. I don’t say that as a slam to Tampa … I just don’t think we’ve been going out there.”
a) Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, in remarks made after admitting he smoked crack “in a drunken stupor.”
b) Mike Duggan, newly sworn-in mayor of bankrupt Detroit.
c) Rick Kriseman, newly installed mayor of St. Petersburg.
4. “We concluded that nuclear was too risky for us, our shareholders and our customers.”
a) Owner of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant.
b) TECO Energy CEO John Ramil.
c) Duke Energy Florida CEO Alex Glenn.
5. “Who will step up in Tampa Bay to be the celebrity investor that generates social proof for our startups? We’ve come up short to date.”
a) Jimmy Wales, co-founder in St. Petersburg of Wikipedia.
b) Daniel Scott, associate director of the USF St. Petersburg Entrepreneurship Program.
c) Tampa socialite Jill Kelley.
6. “You guys are overreaching, and in my experience whenever someone overreaches we cut off their hands. I am giving you the opportunity to keep your hands.”
a) Someone actually said that?
b) The Godfather Vito Corleone, testing an early line before perfecting his “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
c) Santosh Govindaraju, Liberty Channelside LLC investor, criticizing the Tampa Port Authority for undermining Liberty’s bid for Channelside Bay Plaza.
7. “Selling a Whopper at $3.79 is a good price. Selling it at $8 is not.”
a) Options analyst James Cordier of Tampa’s Liberty Trading Group on rising beef prices and their impact on consumers.
b) Area Burger King franchise owner Daniel Fitzpatrick on what happens if the fast-food industry faced a $15 minimum hourly wage.
c) But selling it for 99 cents? Priceless.
8. “That movie appeared to me to be just a bunch of thugs.”
a) St. Pete Beach Mayor Steve McFarlin at the start of local filming of Spring Break.
b) Winter the dolphin after getting a sneak peek at Dolphin Tale 2.
c) SeaWorld Entertainment CEO Jim Atchison referring to the so-called experts in Blackfish, the documentary critical of keeping orcas in captivity.
9. “It’s all about relationships, and we had a great relationship. … We should’ve never lost that store.”
a) Former St. Petersburg deputy mayor Goliath Davis insisting Sweetbay’s anchor grocery store in the Midtown neighborhood would not have closed if city leaders had paid attention.
b) Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn complaining that the Saks Fifth Avenue store at WestShore Plaza should not have left town in 2013.
c) Does it matter? Sooner or later, every store will be Walmarts, right?
10. “Our future years look stronger and stronger. If Bollywood can deliver the way it’s supposed to deliver … we’re projecting a very good year.”
a) Andre Timmins of Wizcraft International Entertainment, the Mumbai company staging the Bollywood Oscars in Tampa this spring.
b) A confused Dolly Parton hoping Tampa’s “Dollywood Oscars” will revive her acting career.
c) Santiago Corrada, Visit Tampa Bay CEO, on wooing Bollywood film awards to Tampa.
11. “Why don’t we do a Florida Inventors Hall of Fame? Why don’t we plant the flag?”
a) Paul Sanberg, USF’s senior vice president for research and innovation.
b) Tampa (“Oxyclean”) infomercial promoter Anthony Sullivan.
c) USF dance professor Merry Lynn Morris, inventor of the Rolling Dance Chair to help the disabled.
12. “I know people think I’m a nut. I’ve got no delusions about that.”
a) USF mascot Rocky the Bull.
b) Tampa’s Harry S. Dent Jr., financial author and bear market forecaster.
c) Robert Trigaux, Tampa Bay Times business columnist.
• • •
ANSWERS:
1b; 2a; 3c; 4b; 5b; 6c (Govindaraju later apologized); 7b; 8a; 9a; 10c; 11a; 12b
Contact Robert Trigaux at trigaux@tampabay.com.
A dozen memorable business quotes: Who said this stuff?
01/03/14 [Last modified: Friday, January 3, 2014 5:45pm]
