• A Sarasota entrepreneur's years-long goal to give business students real world experience came to an exciting finish recently.

David Chessler, of Chessler Holdings, LCC in Sarasota, began the HUSTLE program at University of South Florida to give students the opportunity to run their own business. (HUSTLE stands for Helping Undergraduate Students Tackle Leadership and Entrepreneurship.)

Judges initially narrowed 64 teams of four students down to three final teams of four to five students each, and the winner was chosen at USF's Muma College of Business in Tampa.

The finalists were given a $250,000 operating budget to place hot food vending machines around Tampa.  The teams presented a business plan, created a budget and reported to the Chessler Holdings LLC board of directors each month.

The winning team received $75,000 in prize money. Runners-up split $35,000. The winners were chosen based on revenue, income and enterprise value.

More information at HustleUSF.com.

• Re/Max Alliance Group has been ranked the No. 1 Re/Max multioffice franchise in Florida for sales by volume, according to a Re/Max report on 2022 performance. The brokerage generated over $2.36 billion in sales volume in 2022.

Re/Max Alliance Group, which offers both residential and commercial real estate services, was also named the No. 1 contributor to the Children’s Miracle Network in 2022.

The company has 350 associates and staff in 13 offices in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties.

Gulf Concierge 4 You, of Bradenton, has earned accreditation from the National Home Watch Association for the second year.

The NHWA was formed in 2009 to establish and maintain the highest industry standards for home watch throughout the United States and Canada.

Owner Krystyna Molnar has worked in sales for more than 20 years.

Artie Molnar, Krystyna’s husband, is a retired detective. He worked in the New York Police Department for 22 years. Now he works with Krystyna performing home watch and concierge services.

Gulf Concierge 4 You serves Manatee County.

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

The NHWA was formed in 2009 to establish and maintain the highest industry standards for home watch throughout the United States and Canada.

Owner Gary Rhodus founded a company two years ago to provide contract courier services. Subsequently, he started SRQ Castle Keepers.

Rhodus founded and ran a state and local tax compliance and consulting business for 28 years.

SRQ Castle Keepers serves Sarasota and Manatee counties, including Siesta Key, Longboat Key, Bird Key, Sarasota, Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Palmer Ranch, Osprey, Nokomis and Casey Key.

• Longtime Sarasota florist Beneva Flowers has changed its name to Beneva as part of a rebranding initiative.

The update follows the acquisition of retail locations in Englewood and Brandon, in addition to the original store in Sarasota. Beneva also purchased a commercial property near the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport and is in the process of building new corporate offices and a centralized production facility.

Along with these acquisitions the company has reorganized into three separate divisions under the Beneva umbrella: Beneva Flowers, Beneva Plantscapes and Beneva Weddings & Events.

Beneva’s new logo and visual branding materials were developed by Milestone Marketing Associates.

HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital, in Port Charlotte, has been recertified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by DNV Healthcare, reflecting the highest level of competence for treatment of serious stroke events.

The DNV Healthcare Comprehensive Stroke Center certification affirms that the medical center addresses the full spectrum of stroke care – diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and education – and establishes clear metrics to evaluate outcomes.

Certified comprehensive stroke centers are typically the largest and best equipped hospitals in a given geographical area that can treat any kind of stroke or stroke complication.

• Sarasota Memorial Hospital is now offering a full range of minimally invasive ablative therapies to treat thyroid nodules.

The multidisciplinary team at SMH’s Thyroid and Parathyroid Center reviews each patient’s case to determine the best treatment option based on the type of nodule, the location and the size.

Dr. Ralph P. Tufano, medical director of Head and Neck Endocrine Surgery at SMH, is a world-renowned thyroid and parathyroid surgeon who joined SMH in August 2021. He is an expert in minimally invasive radiofrequency ablation.

Even if they’re benign, thyroid nodules can impact a patient’s quality of life, causing swelling in the neck, difficulty or pain when swallowing, and trouble breathing. Ablative technologies like the Echolaser are used to reduce or shrink the nodules.

The Financial Access Federal Credit Union, a Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution, was recently honored with a grant from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund.

This grant will enable Financial Access to expand access to capital and opportunities for small businesses and employers in Manatee County.

The CDFI program awarded $1.73 billion to 603 organizations nationwide. Financial Access is the only institution chartered in the Sarasota-Manatee region to be awarded this distinction.

Sherod Halliburton, CEO of Financial Access, says that Financial Access actively pursued the grant “to empower local entrepreneurs and small businesses, especially in our area’s low- and moderate-income sectors.

• Re/Max Platinum Realty, a luxury real estate brokerage with 70 associates in Manatee and Sarasota counties, has received recognition for sales volume above $310 million in 2022, according to a Re/Max report. Actual sales volume was $310,812,346, averaging more than $4.44 million per agent.

• Last year, 77 SCORE Manasota volunteers helped create 171 new businesses and 1,470 new jobs.

SCORE Manasota served over 900 local clients by providing them 3,200 mentoring sessions. Furthermore, 4,700 attendees took advantage of 83 educational workshops covering a variety of business topics.

SCORE data shows that entrepreneurs who receive three or more hours of mentoring report higher revenues and increased business growth. SCORE Manasota offers a wealth of resources to guide entrepreneurs in every phase of their small business journey.

Visit https://www.score.org/manasota to learn more about local volunteer opportunities or to request a mentor for your small business.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Students win $75,000 running their own business