Local Business

A chance encounter about 30 years ago rippled to affect lives today. When Scott Mishner and physician Stuart Bederman met at a movie theater, they realized their families had something in common: their children “fell between the cracks,” as they were highly functioning and motivated but in need of structured help. From this friendship, they founded

As Lisa Marie Presley traveled and performed across the country, 38-year-old Chris Kingen (pictured left) spent hours on her tour buses, slicing vegetables and washing fruit. Kingen, Presley’s bodyguard at the time, was rarely caught without a blender and a few extra bananas, which he used to create on-the-go smoothies. Presley’s tour bus driver and

Near the center of downtown Miami, Braman Enterprises is hard to miss. One of Florida’s largest car dealership companies, it commands a large portion of 20th Street. But this facility does more than sell cars. After a major expansion about five years ago, Braman created a wing dedicated to education, in which dozens of young

Diamond Strike Lanes Number of lanes: 32 What’s striking: It’s been around since 1958, and it’s still going strong. Diamond Strike has a nostalgic and casual vibe that’s complemented by something you don’t see every day at a bowling center—live music. Singers and bands take the stage at Rip’s Sports Bar & Grill (check the

Claudio Sorrentino hasn’t built a burgeoning empire entirely on other people’s regret, but the continuing growth of Body Details certainly can be attributed, in part, to that emotion. That’s because the state-of-the-art PicoWay laser used at the company’s multiple South Florida locations provides more than just hair removal and skin rejuvenation. The Class IV laser,

If you spend some time with Mark Zoradi, CEO of the Cinemark USA theater chain, it won’t take long for him to try to persuade you that watching a movie in the comfort of your family room is fine—but that going out to the cinema is an entirely different experience. Especially at Cinemark Palace 20

South Florida is one of the few regions where you can see an authentic Cuban band, a rising jazz star and a legendary hardcore act performing in different cities along a 70-mile stretch. It’s that variety—and the sheer number of clubs, theaters and bars where someone can catch a live set on any given night—that

Four gluten-free grams of carbs and less than 20 calories. That’s all it took for Alfonso Tejada to secure $300,000 of funding on the ninth season of the ABC television program “Shark Tank.” “It’s hard to believe this actually happened,” says Tejada, whose pitch to the show’s “sharks” was featured in an episode that aired

An avid outdoorsman, Richard Bendit of Wynmoor would sometimes run 15 miles a day. Then there were the hours of weight training. After that, he’d swim laps in the pool, so many that he wasn’t able to keep track. After he was diagnosed with melanoma 10 years ago, his workouts didn’t slow down. When he

In what some might consider a gratifying character arc, the owner of Docking Bay 94 had humble beginnings in the comic industry. Under different ownership, Docking Bay 94 was John Miller’s go-to spot in 1998; it was where he got his weekly comic fix and even worked part time—first as an errand boy paid in

Coconut Creek residents might recognize Emerald Transportation’s trucks as the city’s contracted towing company. But what they might not know is that the company also is home to Towers with a Heart, a nonprofit organization that began in 2012 to educate Florida drivers about the so-called “move-over” law. Jim Jennings, a member of the organization’s

Vincent Iafano hails from Detroit, where half his family is retired from Ford Motor Company, the other half from General Motors. It was natural for him to go into business with Warren Henry Automotive, a local group run by a father and son, Warren and Larry Zinn, that sells Audis, Lamborghinis, Jaguars, Infinitis and Land