Collier Citizen Business

Dr. Loan Lam never doubted she’d have a career in medicine. After all, she grew up in a family full of physicians and dentists, but she wasn’t sure which kind of medicine she’d practice until midway through college, when a couple of broken toes helped make up her mind. Since then, Lam completed her residency at Yale in 2007 and was recruited by Physicians Regional to open Comprehensive Foot & Ankle Centers in Naples and on Marco. She admits that although she was trained to do a variety of surgeries, she believes in a philosophy of proactive foot care.
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Thanksgiving is upon us, ushering in the holiday season. The frenzy of shopping, planning, traveling and partying can push you into a 12-step program to counter the “Twelve Days” of Christmas. Anything that helps reduce the tension is therefore welcome. This is one explanation for the explosive growth of gift cards. Some $26 billion worth of gift cards were sold last year. Full story »

Tae Kwon Do. Kempo. Hagannah. Karate. The words are both familiar and foreign, but for Natalie Cavin, it’s the language of success. Cavin and her husband Paulo Ribeiro are the owners of the recently-opened Gracie Barra Naples, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu and martial arts school. Full story »

The baseball player, Yogi Berra, famous for his “profound” aphorisms, once declared, “Its déjà vu all over again,” when an experience was repeated. Well, here we are with $2 gasoline; its déjà vu all over again. My first thought: where’s the gratitude? Full story »

It’s naptime. The kids are settled comfortably in their “rooms,” snoozing to dulcet tones of classical music. It’s just like any other daycare, with one significant exception – those being cared for are, well, dogs. Full story »

Americans are fickle. We flow with the latest trends because it fulfills our need for peer approval. We like the comfort of crowd mindsets because it is easier to go along than to stand alone; fitting in is cool. Youth is especially prone to the coolness syndrome, but adults are far from immune. Full story »

The economy is in recession, which means the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is contracting. GDP measures U.S. economic production by tracking four elements: Full story »

Pedro Prado had a porker of an idea: Why not offer whole pieces of meat for sale to the public at wholesale prices? Full story »

In a political sense, there are two broad freedoms: personal and economic. Personal freedom involves the ability to choose behavior and beliefs such as Full story »

Raspberry puree. That was the color du jour about a decade ago. But, Carla Doner, owner of Bathcrest of Naples, says the flurry of pink came and went rather fast. Full story »

Fairness is a human concept. Animals never ask what’s fair, they just go on naturally. Full story »

After 30 years as a salesman in upstate New York, Steve Labonte wanted a quieter lifestyle. He also wanted to start a fun business that would allow him to interact with lots of people Full story »

Protecting and beautifying your biggest asset – your home – is what Rembrandt Painting is all about. With more than four decades of experience between them, Scott Ritter and Tom Orban are just the ones to take on the job. Rembrandt is a residential painting company specializing in high-quality interior and exterior painting for both new construction and remodel jobs. Full story »

Every economic crisis in the past 50 years has occurred in the context of financial excesses: banks pushing the envelope of acceptable risks and credit standards; government policy vacillation and confusion -- cut taxes, raise taxes, lower interest rates, raise interest rates, more regulation, less regulation; stock market crashes... Full story »

Trillions in stock market value — gone. Trillions in retirement savings — gone. A huge chunk of the money you paid for your house, the money you're saving for college, the money your boss needs to make payroll — gone, gone, gone. Whether you're a stock broker or Joe Six-pack, if you have a 401(k), a mutual fund or a college savings plan, tumbling stock markets and sagging home prices mean you've lost a whole lot of the money that was right there on your account statements just a few months ago Full story »