• JMX Brands, the largest online retailer of Amish furniture at dutchcrafters.com, was named a 2022 Next 1000 company by Digital Commerce 360, a source of research and data collection for global e-commerce brands for more than 20 years.

The Next 1000 database ranks North American midsize online retailers by annual web sales. JMX Brands, of Sarasota, ranked No. 1,306 overall and No. 30 in the primary merchandise category of housewares/home furnishings.

This is the 10th time JMX Brands has been named to a Digital Commerce 360 list.

JMX Brands is a niche internet retailer, selling more than 15,000 products on a variety of websites, including its flagship Amish furniture site, https://www.dutchcrafters.com.

• SRQ Castle Keepers, of Sarasota, has earned accreditation from the National Home Watch Association.

The NHWA was formed to establish and maintain the highest industry standards for home watch services in the United States and Canada.

Owner Gary Rhodus founded a new company two years ago to provide and conduct contract courier services. He subsequently started SRQ Castle Keepers.

Rhodus founded and ran a state and local tax compliance and consulting business for 28 years, specializing in telecommunications taxation. He sold that business in 2018.

Previously, he worked at a big, national accounting firm as a state and local telecommunication tax consultant and at a large telephone corporation designing and developing a new, “automated” state and local tax compliance software package.

Rhodus has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Kansas State University.

• At the Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers summer conference, the FCCC Best Practices Committee awarded the Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller with a Recognition of Excellence in each category of the FCCC’s Best Practices in Excellence Program.

The program was established last year as an opportunity for clerks to receive Recognition of Excellence certificates for completing assessments that evaluate the acceptance of specific best practices.

The Manatee Clerk & Comptroller’s office received recognition in all 12 categories: Bail Bonds, Compliance Services, Confidential Judicial Records, Eviction, Evidence Storage and Destruction, Exploitation of Vulnerable Adult Injunction, Guardianship Audits, Marriage License, Public Records Requests, Recording Fundamentals, Requests to Redact Exempt Personal Information and Service of Documents by Clerks for Pro Se Litigants.

Outgoing FCCC President and Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller Angel Colonneso accepted the certificates on behalf of the Clerk & Comptroller's office.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: JMX Brands ranks high for web sales, Manatee County clerk recognized