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40UNDER40 n a D      , n e d y e h r e Va nd  a ge  35

With sales at his firm expected to triple in the next six months, his future is so bright, he’s gotta wear shades.

PAGE 27

Dan Vanderheyden | OWNER AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, LEGION SYSTEMS GO-GETTER

Mark Adamczyk

STARTER

Anne Frazier

Amy Nichols

Educating students about free enterprise takes a village — and strong leadership.

PAGE 13

Aggressive pursuit of a niche led this attorney to open his own firm.

PAGE 9

INNOVATOR

INVENTOR

Justin Davis

Don’t just make a product. Make an experience.

PAGE 12

Bobby Harris

Hire the right people and create a place where they can excel.

PAGE 16

TOP DEALS Coves of Brighton Bay sells for $36.4 million. 28

What started in a home kitchen has grown to offer a variety of tastes and places.

PAGE 23

Medallion Home-led group buys land near Lakewood Ranch. 28

SLEUTH

Kelsey Thompson

Hiding something? She follows the money.

PAGE 26

New York City apartment investor buys 21st Century Oncology building. 29

30 Are you creating a culture of humility, or arrogance?

PAGE

116578

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BUSINESS OBSERVER | OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013

BusinessObserverFL.com

#/--%2#)!, s 2%3)$%.4)!,

Vol. XVII, No. 39

A DIVISION OF THE OBSERVER MEDIA GROUP

BusinessObserverFL.com The Business Observer, formerly the Gulf Coast Business Review, is Southwest Florida’s newspaper for business leaders. With offices in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties, the Business Observer is the only weekly business newspaper that provides business leaders with a regional perspective. The Business Observer’s mission is to deliver relevant news and information on Southwest Florida’s leading and growing companies, up-and-coming entrepreneurs and the important economic, industry and government trends affecting business. The Business Observer is also the leading publisher of public notices on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

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“The road is cleared,” said Galt. “We are going back to the world.”

He raised his hand and over the desolate earth he traced in space the sign of the dollar.

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

$$

OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com

CoffeeTalk

3

Investor takes stake in Chico’s store for Chico’s is anyone’s guess.

But recently activist shareholders have targeted cash-rich companies to return some of that money to investors. Chico’s is debt free and is sitting on more than $300 million in cash and marketable securities.

But don’t expect any big public shareholder revolt at Chico’s like the one that recently voted to oust the board of directors at Naples-based hospital operator Health Management Associates. “In this regard, Blue Harbour’s investment approach seeks to add value by working collaboratively with company management to design and to implement strategic initiatives that unlock and create shareholder value,�

Blue Harbour’s strategy states.

Re-Imagine

Sleek

Home health care firm grows Local entrepreneur Michael Juceam says it’s the right time to expand his home elderly care business, Right at Home.

The business is a franchise of an Omaha, Neb.-based chain and Juceam has owned Right at Home territories in Charlotte and Sarasota counties since 2004, with limited business in Manatee County. Seeing a need, he recently acquired the rights for full services in Manatee County, which cost about $50,000. “There are huge challenges we face in this industry,� Juceam tells Coffee Talk, “but despite that we are growing the services we provide.�

Those challenges, says Juceam, an attorney who also previously founded a Web-based document management firm that specializes in health care and financial services, include new U.S. Labor Department regulations.

The rules, announced Sept. 17, will require home health care agencies to pay overtime and higher minimum wages to home health aides starting in 2015.

U.S. officials claim the regulations elevate employees in the field above babysitter status. But several business and industry organizations, both in Florida and nationwide, criticized the

changes and countered it will make home health services too expensive.

Juceam is in that camp, and he was even quoted in a Sept. 18 front page Wall Street Journal article on the topic. “The regulators have not fully examined the consequences of enacting this,� Juceam says in the article. “This is really a move by labor unions.�

Juceam nonetheless remains bullish, especially in Florida, where the demographics fit his business model.

Sales grew about 30% a year from 2010 to 2012, he says, before flattening somewhat in 2013. He declines to release specific revenues, though he says his franchise does between $3 million and $10 million in sales a year. “Four straight years of double-digit revenue growth,� says Juceam, “is hard to duplicate.�

Juceam says he will open an office in Manatee County, probably in Lakewood Ranch, in the next few months.

He plans to hire one or two people to staff the office, in addition to 100 or so part-time aides to work with clients throughout the county.

See COFFEE TALK on page 5

EAT IT, TWEET IT, POST IT BellaBrava, one of the betterknown eateries on downtown St. Petersburg’s tony Beach Drive, doesn’t take its popularity for granted.

The restaurant, instead, launched a new ad campaign with a heavy social media component: Do you #BellaBrava? The pound sign, for those uninitiated in social media and Twitter-speak, represents a hashtag about a certain subject. In this case that subject is BellaBrava customer feedback. “People are talking online,� BellaBrava co-owner Robert Sanderson says, “but it’s usually a one-sided conversation about our restaurant in the form of photos, reviews and comments.�

With this campaign, however, the restaurant will repackage the best of the feedback it receives into TV ads, trolley signs and social media posts. Plus, anyone who tags #BellaBrava on their Instagram, Twitter or Facebook photos connected to the restaurant is entered to win a free pizza. Those photos, adds Sanderson, could be anything that brands BellaBrava — even cute babies and dogs.

The campaign, created by St.

Petersburg-based ad agency RKC, started in late September with “Do you #BellaBrava?� ads plastered around town. Spots encouraging customer feedback include TV ads on Bay News 9, Bravo and the Food Network, in addition to print ads in a few hyper-local publications, like a downtown St. Petersburg map guide.

The campaign also has online exposure, with Facebook and Google AdWords ads.

BellaBrava spends about $100,000 a year on advertising and marketing, Sanderson says, and this campaign is one of the best ones yet. The restaurant opened in 2005 and moved to its current location in 2010. “Everyone loves taking photos,� Sanderson tells Coffee Talk. “It’s really engaged people.�

Brian Bailey with RKC says the BellaBrava campaign has generated a lot of buzz in a short period of time.

But dinosaurs of a pre-hashtag age take hope: Traditional advertising, Bailey adds, isn’t extinct — at least not yet. “Social media is a great tool, if it’s done right,� Bailey says, “but offline media really helps complement it.�

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Keep an eye on Blue Harbour Group.

The private equity firm based in Greenwich, Conn., recently filed a statement with regulators saying it had acquired 5.6% of Chico’s FAS, the women’s retailer headquartered in Fort Myers. The firm paid about $125 million for 9 million shares of Chico’s, which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Clifton Robbins, an alumnus of private equity giant Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts, leads Blue Harbour Group.

According to its website, Blue Harbour’s investment strategy is to focus on undervalued U.S. public companies that “could create significant value by implementing strategic or financial change.�

For now, what change might be in

4

BUSINESS OBSERVER | OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013

BusinessObserverFL.com

topstories from BusinessObserverFL.com CHARLOTTE-LEE-COLLIER

Crab shack chain pinches new location Pinchers Crab Shack plans to open its ninth location at the Tarpon Point development on Silver King Boulevard in Cape Coral in late October.

Pinchers, which recently opened a restaurant on Duval Street in Key West, is expanding, with new locations from Tampa to Naples. The company posted revenue growth of 11.4% in 2012 over 2011, to $28 million in sales. It was ranked 190th in the Gulf Coast 500.

Father-and-son entrepreneurs Tony and Grant Phelan started Pinchers 16 years ago with a restaurant in Bonita Springs. The Fort Myers-based family plans to one day grow the chain to 100 locations.

Future locations include the site of the Royal Palm Yacht Club in downtown Fort Myers and Wiregrass Mall in Tampa.

Source adds Texas distribution Source Interlink, the magazine publisher and distributor, says it has opened a distribution center in the Dallas area to better serve 3,500 stores with

quote of theweek

“”

You can’t swing a dead cat in this town without hitting a small business that focuses on defense something.

Dan Vanderheyden | Owner and COO of Legion Systems, a defense contracting firm.

SEE PAGE 27

what do you think?

magazines and other goods.

The distribution center will be co-located with Nationwide Transportation Co.’s existing location in Irving, Texas.

A previous Source Interlink distribution center in the area was closed.

“Combining resources with Nationwide allows Source to quickly and economically reestablish a distribution center to locally service the Southwest, thus dramatically reducing the transportation costs we currently incur servicing this market from Chicago,” says Mike Porché, president of Source Interlink Distribution.

Source Interlink, which publishes more than 70 magazines, is planning to expand distribution of front-of-store goods in addition to the magazines it currently distributes for its own account and other publishers.

existing and undeveloped lots.

The new joint entity, SLV II CCE Venture LP, purchased the property from an affiliate of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Country Club East Investors LLC, for $23.4 million. Based on the rough acreage, the price equated to $49,263 per acre.

As part of the deal, the joint venture will help construct a new clubhouse with more than 10,000 square feet and a new driving range at the Royal Lakes golf course. The golf course itself was not part of the sale and will remain wholly owned by SMR. LWR Communities LLC will also continue to be the project manager for the property owned by the joint venture.

Tervis takes on new board member

SARASOTA-MANATEE

Starwood, SMR form joint venture Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc. (SMR) and Starwood Land Ventures LLC have formed a new joint venture to acquire the remaining land in Country Club East. The deal covers roughly 475 acres, or more than 600

Will common core standards improve education in Florida?

Vote at BusinessObserverFL.com

Branding and communications executive Jim Gregory has been named to the board of Tervis, the fast-growing insulated drinkware firm.

Gregory, a columnist for the Business Observer on branding issues, is the founder and CEO of New York-based CoreBrand.

The firm, with offices in New York and Los Angeles, develops strategies that measure the power of brands and their im-

pact on a corporation’s potential financial performance.

TAMPA BAY

Tampa tech firm moving to Pasco Retail information technology consulting firm Retail Process Engineering LLC has purchased an office building in the Offices of Devonwood in Land O’ Lakes to serve as its new headquarters.

The company, formerly based in Tampa, plans to bring a total of 16 new jobs to Pasco County with an average wage of more than $105,000. That is more than three times the average annual wage in the county ($32,161).

The office building is located at 20537 Amberfield Drive, Land O’ Lakes.

As part of the move, the company has filed an application with Pasco County requesting job creation incentives of $5,000 per job created, equal to a total of $80,000. The Pasco Economic Development Council assisted Retail Process Engineering in the relocation.

Founded in 1999, Retail Process Engineering specializes in retail merchandising and supply-chain technology consulting solutions.

Last week’s question:

Is the SEC going too far in attempting to regulate CEO pay?

81.3% Yes 18.8% No

EDUCATION • NETWORKING • PROFESSIONALISM October Meeting

Open to Visitors Sports Tourism in our Community A discussion of its impact on the local economy and our commercial real estate market.

Discussion panelists:

Tim Mulqueen Director of Lakewood Ranch Sports Premier Sports Campus at Lakewood Ranch

Nicole Rissler

Director of Sports, Visit Sarasota County

Paul Blackketter

12th Annual

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The Founder’s Club

9000 Fruitville Road • Sarasota, FL 34240

Golf & Reception – $125

Sign In/Breakfast 8:00 – 10:00 a.m.

Shotgun Start – 10:00 a.m.

Awards Reception – 3:00 p.m.

Registration forms available on our website:

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www.commercialsarasotarealtors.com

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October 15, 2013 8:00 a.m. - Networking 8:30 a.m. - Meeting Sponsorship opportunities available.

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OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

FROM PAGE 3

Housing market returns to normal Here’s further evidence Southwest Florida’s housing market is returning to normal.

Consider the Fort Myers area, which suffered some of the worst blows from the real estate collapse. Today, a majority of existing-homes sales are traditional between willing sellers and buyers.

Such traditional existing-home sales accounted for 73% of the transactions in August, according to the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach.

Foreclosures represented 17.7% of

sales in August and short sales were 9.3%.

Two years ago, it was a different story. In August 2011, traditional sales accounted for just 46% of the transactions. Foreclosures and short sales were the majority of sales that summer month. In January 2011, traditional sales were even lower: 34% of the market’s transactions.

Most real estate participants agree that foreclosures will continue to be a part of the sales mix, but nowhere near the catastrophic levels during the downturn.

Angels in the field Steve Morris, a onetime Atlanta investment banker who ran a $300 million mergers and acquisitions division at Bank South, believes the term angel investor is something of a misnomer.

Angels, after all, are heavenly beings who give willingly. Angel investors, however, take a piece of the startup business in which they invest.

Morris nonetheless believes Sarasota is ripe for a new system to match investors with entrepreneurs and startup businesses. That’s why he recently founded the Sarasota Angel Network. The nonprofit network, in startup phase itself, will charge members a $1,500 entry fee, says Morris.

Would-be angels, in return, get exclusive and confidential access to meetings, events and presentations from local startups.

Morris and five other local investors recently backed the network with $50,000, mostly for marketing. Morris also seeks to hire an executive coordinator. “This isn’t about ego,” Morris tells Coffee Talk. “This is about getting real actionable transactions. I have no interest in making this a profit center for myself.”

Morris’ experience in raising capital goes beyond corporate acquisitions.

He also raised several million dollars for YoungBiz, a company he founded in the mid-1990s. It’s a franchisebased business that sets up mini-

learning centers, after-school programs and summer camps worldwide that focus on financial literacy and an entrepreneurial education for children and teenagers. Morris sold the U.S. side of YoungBiz a few years ago, though he still owns the international division, which he runs from Sarasota.

While the overall angel investor network in Sarasota isn’t overcrowded, there are some local and regional groups that do this kind of work already. The Naples-based Gulf Coast Venture Forum has held events in Sarasota for angel investors, and there’s also Tamiami Angel Fund I, a Naples-based member-owned and member-managed for-profit investment group. And Sarasota entrepreneur Chris Abbott runs the Abbeton Accelerator Fund, which, while not an angel network, has invested small sums in more than a dozen local startups and business ideas.

Morris, aware of those groups already on the scene, says a big challenge will be to ensure the Sarasota Angel Network has solid deal flow.

That’s angel investor lingo for a good stream of investing opportunities.

But Morris says an advantage in the endeavor is he’s lived life on both sides of the angel investor-recipient equation. “I’ve had a lot of success,” says Morris, “but I’ve also failed before.”

5

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CoffeeTalk

BusinessObserverFL.com

Lee kicks sand to Collier So much for regional cooperation.

Politicians and economic development boosters are hailing regional partnerships in Southwest Florida that break down municipal barriers, but a recent spat over roads shows there’s still a lot of work to be done on that front.

Lee County commissioners are incensed that Collier County is using Corkscrew Road in south Lee County to ferry sand to nourish the beaches in Naples. For three to four months,

Lee County officials say 100 trucks a day will ferry sand from a pit in north Collier County via South Lee County roads to Naples Beach and Vanderbilt Beach.

Lee commissioners have a message to their southern neighbors: Use your own roads.

But all the resolutions and complaints likely will probably fall on deaf ears. Lee officials say the county has no regulatory authority to limit the use of the roads.

COLLEGE TRY PAYS OFF applications for this year’s freshman class, which totals 2,061 students.

The student body at the school, a private college on about 100 acres on the riverfront in downtown Tampa, comes from every state and more than 130 countries, according to the release.

UT President Ronald Vaughn says the enrollment success stems from the school’s ability to retain its personal attention and community feel while upgrading the technology and facilities. Vaughn, in the release, says UT hired 16 full-time faculty and additional staff for the current year. The school also recently completed new academic facilities.

6301 Porter Rd. Unit 3, Sarasota, FL 34240 www.digitalhomescorp.com 941-­870-­4418 State Lic ES12000992 120470

University of Tampa enrollment continues to grow, despite recessionled pressures on colleges nationwide to maintain and expand student counts.

The latest example: The college has 7,343 graduate and undergraduate students this academic year, up 5.5% from 6,958 in 2012-2013, according to a press release. The 2013-2014 tally triples the total enrollment from two decades ago, say UT officials. It’s also the 17th consecutive year the school set an enrollment record.

Beyond enrollment, mere student interest in the school is on the rise.

For example, UT received more than 103,000 inquiries and nearly 18,000

6

BusinessObserverFL.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER | OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013

40 Under 40 11

Number of

Gulf Coast natives

16

Number with

Twitter handles

5

Number who’d like to have dinner with Steve Jobs.

Abraham Lincoln was second most-popular answer, with three.

Websites that make your job easier:

Goog le

Facebook LinkedIn

Brain drain.

It’s something we hear a lot about these days, like a new strange sickness hitting the coast.

It’s described as the phenomenon of an area losing its best and brightest youngsters after they head to college. They get an education, see the largeness of the world and seek greener pastures rather than return home to the Gulf Coast.

Although that may be happening, it’s not apparent when selecting 40 individuals under the age of 40 who represent the next generation of leaders in the business community.

It’s a tough job. Not because they’re hard to find, but because there are so many of them. From Tampa to Naples, it’s hard to choose just 40.

So how do we choose? For our 40 Under 40, we seek candidates who are entrepreneurial, whether it’s because they’ve started their own business or because they work with independence within a larger organization. These business leaders are trying new things, taking risks and making connections to rise up in their career. Just like our readers.

On the following pages, we’ve tried something new, too. This year we added short stories and asked the winners to write or draw something of significance to them on a white board. You’ll see what they wrote in some of their pictures.

Of course, we’re always limited by the space we have in print, which is why we created a website devoted exclusively to our 40 winners, at BusinessObserver4040.com.

Be sure to check it out for videos of the winners, more pictures, stories, questionnaire answers and more. We’ve included QR codes in print to allow you to quickly visit winners’ pages for lots of don’t-miss content. One winner even sang and played guitar for us.

That performance is just one example of how impressed we were by the talents and initiatives of this year’s winners.

During our interviews with them, we heard many stories of Gulf Coast natives who came back to the area because it offers things they can’t find anywhere else.

We also heard stories of how the region attracted non-natives, and why they’re here to stay.

It’s hard to fathom brain drain while speaking with these individuals. But then again, these are people who don’t wait for opportunities, a lack of which are blamed for brain drain. Instead, these are people who create them.

— Kat Hughes PHOTOS BY MARK WEMPLE, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

To watch the 40 Under 40 come to life online, scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040.com.

3 5 .

1 years

Average age:

3

Engaged

to be married

4

Number of

Michigan natives

Our favorite answer to “If I had a magic wand ...

“... I’d drive to Harry Potter World and sell it to some crazed fan outside the front gate.”

— Justin Davis, page 12

OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com

7

40Under40

Michelle Adams, 34, Sarasota Owner and Occupational Therapist, Pediatric Therapy Solutions Inc.

The fun and games Michelle Adams plays at work every day belie the serious business she founded.

That’s because the games are ways to help young children learn and communicate, in addition to grow and mature. Adams’s business, Sarasota-based Pediatric Therapy Solutions Inc., helps parents help their children develop. It’s challenging but rewarding work, says Adams. “I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for a child with special needs.”

A New Jersey native, Adams founded the company in 2002.

It now has six employees, including Adams. She basically

started the business right after she graduated from the University of Florida. She had been advised if she was going to work on a contract basis for families and therapy providers, it made more sense to have her ow n business.

While that was true, for Adams, trained in science and therapy, not business, it was a lso a si zable r isk . “It wa s daunting,” says Adams. “It was like nothing I’d ever done before. But I had confidence in my abilities.”

Adams also had inspiration from her late father, who died when she was 15 years old, of a sudden brain aneurysm. Ad-

ams’ father, Gary Matteoli, had moved the family from New Jersey to Florida to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. He had worked for other companies up north, but in Sarasota he founded his own engineering and valve machinery business.

The work Adams does with children a nd fa milies today remains her passion, but she has also grown to enjoy some of the business side of working for herself. She especially appreciates the freedom owning her own business provides. “I got into this business to help change people’s lives,” she says, “not just to make a buck.”

— Mark Gordon

In her words ............................................

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE:

There is a special needs prom held on a yearly basis for Sarasota and Manatee residents over the age of 16.

It was amazing to see how the community donated services and merchandise and members volunteered their time for such an awesome event.

TWO PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: First

and foremost my father; he was

an amazing businessman and was taken from us too soon. Secondly, Jean Ayres, a Ph.D., who was a pioneer in the field of sensory integration, one of the primary principles I base my practice on.

WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A MOVIE ABOUT YOUR LIFE: Sandra Bullock; she is the perfect balance of serious and funny and seems to be able to laugh at herself easily,

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especially in the roles she plays as an actress.

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: eliminate ignorance and increase tolerance of children and adults with varying abilities. I’d place a heavy focus on social acceptance as well as introduce more grants, government involvement, and third-party coverage of necessary medical and therapy needs.

To see Michelle Adams explain what she wrote on her white board, scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040.com.

umier a e B s @Lui

Luis Beaumier, 36, St. Petersburg Vice President, Information Systems, WellCare Health Plans Managing 60 full-time employees and a team of contractors and consultants that flexes from 10 to 40, Luis Beaumier leads the information systems team for the $7.4 billion Medicare and Medicaid provider, WellCare Health Plans.

Beaumier’s team focuses on supporting WellCare’s existing business by building new technology that will drive additional revenue.

He also works with the company’s executives to determine technology challenges and business needs.

Recently the team created a k nowledge ma nagement a nd workflow engine tool that speeds up the process for customer service agents to answer questions while customers are on the phone.

This helps ensure customer service agents have all necessary information at their fingertips, without having to call back or file a case, ensuring compliance each step of the way.

The information systems team is currently working on a new mobile app, which will be introduced to the public next year.

“Growing up, I used to love to break things and fix them,” he says.

“Tinker and fix is part of my personality.” This trait drew him to the world of consulting with Accenture after graduating from University of Florida. As a consultant, Beaumier says he was able to work on something that was broken, such as a business process that needed fixed.

After Accenture, when he first started looking for a career in health care IT, one recruiter said to him: “You’re kinda young for this role. Come back when you have facial hair.” Beaumier chose not to come back for a second interview with the company.

According to Beaumier “age isn’t always the indicator” for talent. In his mind, “passion, fire and the drive to succeed will overcome any gaps,” in age or other factors.

Beaumier stresses this when hiring for WellCare. He’s a firm believer that technology is only as good as the people who make it: “the actual hands on the keyboard, the brains,” he says.

— Traci McMillan Beach

In his words ..................................................

YEARS ON THE GULF COAST: I was born and

raised in Tampa and have spent most of my years living in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.

To watch Luis Beaumier explain what he drew on the white board, scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040.com.

FAVORITE TECHNO GADGET: This is a really hard one because I am a gadget freak. If I had to pick the one gizmo I get the most out of, it would be my iPhone 5.

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: I have spent

most of my career creating technology solutions, which is a fancy way of saying that I take ideas and turn them into tangible products that bring value to my customers. It's a process that has always been extremely rewarding for me. Recently, I have been working on business acquisitions and integrations, which is a complex business and technical challenge to pull off smoothly. It's cool to be able to say that I helped two disparate companies come together and become one. Because these projects are highly confidential, you also get the extra thrill of using code names, shadow teams, and secret handshakes.

BOOK YOU’RE READING NOW: As a

new dad, I have a stack of baby books that people have been giving me. Most are pretty bad, (the best one is “Home Game,” by Michael Lewis), and I've found that parental instinct and just getting my hands dirty are more beneficial than reading about fatherhood.

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: Do some good (you know, cure cancer, end poverty, settle the Apple-Samsung dispute), then have a lot of fun. That, and 25-hour days for everyone!

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ielecki b y t r @ma

Marty Bielecki, 38, Fort Myers President, Southwest Direct

W hen he was a youngster, Marty Bielecki and his parents fled communist Poland and settled in New England.

The young Bielecki remembers marveling at the cars, including the giant 1979 Mercury Cougar his uncle drove to pick him up at the airport after his family was granted political asylum in the U.S. “I’d never seen anything like this,” he recalls.

That early life experience is part of what drives Bielecki today as president of a family-run company that handles billing and marketing for municipalities, utilities, hospitals, colleges and other large organizations around the

country. Southwest Direct is now the post office’s largest customer in Fort Myers, sending out 1.2 million pieces of mail a month.

“I always wanted to work to achieve my own goals,” says Bielecki, the first of his family to attend university.

Work experiences formed an early basis for achievement. Bielecki’s parents couldn’t afford to buy him a car when he was old enough to drive, so he scooped ice cream, waited tables and washed dishes.

“My uncle is t he entrepreneur,” Bielecki says. “He always had nice things and it instilled in me a strong desire to achieve.”

— Jean Gruss

In his words ...........................

BIRTHPLACE: Lodz, Poland

ALMA MATER: M.B.A., University of

Florida 2011; B.S., University of Florida 1998

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: Starting

a division with zero customers and zero revenue and growing it into a multimillion dollar enterprise.

TWO PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Sir Winston Churchill

and Ayn Rand

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BOOK YOU’RE READING NOW: “Fallujah Awakens: Marines, Sheiks, and the Battle Against Al Qaeda” FAVORITE TECHNO GADGET: iPhone for the

moment, though I’m still a Blackberry guy at heart.

BEST AWARD YOU EVER RECEIVED: After

seven long seasons I finally won my fantasy football league in 2012 and the big shiny trophy that goes with it.

To watch Bielecki explain his white board drawing, scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040.com.

en @resc

Ryan Block, 30, Cape Coral President, Reservation Central

If you rent a home or condo on Sanibel or Captiva, it’s most likely you’ll be using Ryan Block’s reservation system to book it.

Block’s company, Reservation Central, manages online and phone reservations for several thousand properties on Lee County’s barrier islands. ReMax recently became a client, for example.

With so many rental properties to track, Block is a master at planning and organization. In his home office he has two giant whiteboards on which he tracks revenues, reservations, software updates, projects to be completed and a host of other data on a weekly and monthly basis.

Although he’s a computer expert, Block says

writing goals on a white board helps him be accountable. “It’s all filled up with different things,” he says.

Block is always thinking a few steps ahead, like the skilled billiards player that he is. The game’s strategy is a good business lesson: “You really have to think about what shot you’re on now and where the ball’s going to go to set yourself up,” he says.

Block learned billiards from his grandfather, who would take his young grandson to shoot pool at VFW posts in Michigan. His secret to winning: “It’s playing somebody that’s had a few drinks.”

— Jean Gruss

In his words ................................

BIRTHPLACE: Dearborn, Mich.

BEST PLACE TO NETWORK: Sanibel Chamber

After Hours

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: Meeting and working with the former CEO of Porsche

FAVORITE OFF-HOURS ACTIVITY:

BEST AWARD YOU EVER RECEIVED:

Recognition from the city of Romulus in ninth grade for designing its first website.

WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A MOVIE ABOUT YOUR LIFE: Philip Seymour Hoff-

man (just because he’s such a great actor).

Billiards

To hear Block share what he likes best about his business, scan this QR code or visit BusinessObserver4040.com.

OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

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BY JEAN GRUSS EDITOR/LEE-COLLIER

W

hen Mark Adamczyk bought a Naples condo in 2006, he joined the homeowners association.

Little did Adamczyk realize that doing so would lead him to build a firm a few years later with law partner John Goede that’s known for its homeowners association legal work. Goede, Adamczyk & DeBoest now has 17 attorneys in Naples, Fort Myers and Miami representing about 1,000 associations.

Admittedly, few people decide to specialize in homeowners association law.

After doing legal work for his own condo association, Adamczyk started earning a reputation for his responsiveness and creativity in helping homeowners associations manage through the real estate collapse.

Adamczyk says his strategy is simple.

“We return phone calls and we bill fairly and ethically,” says the 35-year-old attorney whose hourly rate is $350. “We’re in the service business.”

But more t ha n t hat, Ada mcz yk brought new life into a sleepy corner of the law. “We developed software that other firms didn’t employ,” says Adamczyk, who prefers to wear golf shirts to work on most days. The software helps associations manage through foreclosures, collections and other tasks.

“They just came on the scene like gangbusters,” says Richard DeBoest II, a Fort Myers attorney who has practiced homeowners association law for two decades and teamed up with Goede and Adamczyk.

“He doesn’t necessarily look at the law and take it at face value,” DeBoest says of Adamczyk. “He looked at some of these laws and looked at them like an entrepreneur.”

Adamczyk earned a business degree

“”

HOUSE of LAW

Mark Adamczyk helped grow his law firm by specializing in homeowners association work. His firm now represents about 1,000 associations.

NANCY DENIKE

MARK ADAMCZYK, managing partner of Goede, Adamczyk & DeBoest, has grown the firm to 17 attorneys in three offices since he formed it in 2010. in college, but he says he was intrigued by a course on the law for business managers. After law school at Florida State University, Adamczyk went to work for a 500-attorney law firm in Atlanta. “It wasn’t for me,” he says. “I was more of an entrepreneur. I wanted to develop my own clients.”

Adamczyk moved back to his hometown of Naples in 2005, where he joined a small firm that handled a broad range of cases, from drunk-driving charges to divorce and evictions. “I learned how to do everything,” he says.

With law partner Goede he opened his own firm in Naples in 2010 and

combined with DeBoest’s Fort Myers practice last year. “I’m not afraid of competition, but they’re fresh, they’re aggressive, they’re using new ways to use the law,” says DeBoest. “They really hit the industry, they made a big, big splash.”

The firm received a huge public-relations boost when one of its attorneys, Todd Allen, foreclosed on a branch of Bank of America on behalf of foreclosed-on clients who held clear title to their home. “We like to have someone make a splash,” says Adamczyk. “That’s the mindset we have.”

The entrepreneurial attorney is a fa-

ther of two children and a lecturer at Ave Maria University’s law school in Naples.

“I’m fast-paced,” says Adamczyk. “I’m good at juggling a lot of balls in the air.”

In addition to its homeowners association business, Adamczyk’s firm also handles business litigation and estate planning. Although he anticipates some growth in the next few years, including possibly opening an office in West Palm Beach, Adamczyk says he’s now focused on making sure the internal systems of the firm function efficiently.

“We didn’t have a firm administrator until recently,” he says. “We don’t want to be the biggest.”

I’m good at juggling a lot of balls in the air. Mark Adamczyk | Goede, Adamczyk & DeBoest

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ston m o o l rB @Blai

Blair Bloomston, 33, Bradenton Vice President, game on Nation When Blair Bloomston was 12 years old, she had to figure out a way to dive 25 feet underwater and come back to the surface with a handful of sand.

The complicated feat is a family rite of passage, part of an annual lobster scuba diving trip in the Florida Keys. Bloomston pulled off the sand trick, eventually, after many failures. Says Bloomston: “It was pure stubbornness.”

That kind of tenacity has been an ally in her chosen career, per-

forming. But Bloomston, while she’s acted in plays, isn’t out there for herself or fellow cast mates.

Instead, she’s a vice president at game on Nation, a Sarasota-based media training and leadership development firm. The firm, founded by local entrepreneur Steve Shenbaum in 1997, has a client list made up of national and local sports teams, individual athletes and businesses. Bloomston and Shenbaum meet with clients and put on a variety of interactive

games and exercises that promote better communication.

“My goal was always to be a performer,” says Bloomston, who has a bachelor’s degree in drama from Marymount Manhattan College, “and at game on I still get to perform, but I have a much greater impact on others.”

Bloomston was born and raised in Bradenton. She moved to New York City for six years to go to college and chase her acting dreams, and she returned to the region in 2003.

— Mark Gordon

In her words .............................................

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE:

Being behind the scenes at this year’s Daytona 500 before game on delivered at the Nascar Rookie Symposium.

Scan this QR code or visit BusinessObserver4040.com to hear Bloomston’s advice on public speaking.

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Be inten-

tional. There is no second chance with words or actions.

ONE WEBSITE THAT MAKES YOUR JOB EASIER: If This, Then That. I have an IFTT “recipe” that sends me excellent daily tech news updates.

Plus, IFTT is also set to alert me if the CDC ever announces a zombie apocalypse.

FAVORITE OFF-HOURS ACTIVITY: Scuba diving for lobster in Big Pine Key.

TWO PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Barbara Corcoran and Steve Jobs.

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: Require all Twitter and Facebook users under the age of 25 to write grammatically accurate updates.

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Operating Partner, Sarasota Ford; Co-founder, Dealers United

Kristin Cartwright, 38, Naples

Not yet 30, Matt Buchanan has already met a goal many sons of prominent and successful fathers struggle with: making a name for himself.

Buchanan had a head start with Sarasota Ford, the dealership his father, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, had run for years. But with Dealers United, the Sarasota-based auto dealers buying group Matt Buchanan founded with local entrepreneur Jesse Biter in 2011, the younger Buchanan has found his own way. The firm has gone from two employees to 20 in less than two years.

“We represent over 6,000 dealerships and growing,” says Buchanan. “It’s crazy to think we’ve grown that fast in so little time.”

Buchanan was born in Michigan and moved with his family to Sarasota about 20 years ago. A graduate of Stanford University, Buchanan has a full life outside work.

For one, he’s engaged. His fiancé is Diana Kelly, founder and president of Diana E Kelly Inc., a shoe design business. Kelly was a 40 under 40 recipient in 2012. Bu-

Kristin Cartwright was a tough competitor before she even got into her family’s real estate business.

After graduating from the University of Florida, Cartwright competed in the X Games as a wakeboarder, winning fourth place at the San Francisco X Games. She traveled across the country and in Europe as a professional wakeboarder, meeting her husband along the way. “I always feel like I was a competitive person,” says Cartwright.

But it’s tough to make a living on the road while caring for two small children.

Cartwright is still active, playing tennis and doing CrossFit. But she’s juggling her work with The Lutgert Cos., the company that’s run by her

Matt Buchanan, 29, Sarasota

Director of Marketing, Development Services, Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, The Lutgert Cos.

chanan also enjoys flying as a hobbie.

But one thing Buchanan says isn’t on his to-do list is running for political office.

Not that he doesn’t have opinions about the role of government in business and other issues of the day. He does, and he can speak passionately about them.

But — in a somewhat political answer — Buchanan says now is not the right time for him to run for office. Still, he never says never.

— Mark Gordon

father, Naples developer Scott Lutgert.

Cartwright joined Lutgert 12 years ago, so she’s seen firsthand the ups and downs of the real estate economy in Naples. Among other tasks, she’s marketing condos at Mercato, one of the area’s hottest retail developments.

“We’re having more fun making more sales,” she says. “We’ve had an amazing summer.”

— Jean Gruss

In his words .............................. In her words ...........................

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Never give up. We as

individuals will fail all the time, but the key is getting back up and learning from our mistakes. I look forward to waking up every morning and getting better at what I do.

TWO PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Jesus and Abraham Lincoln

BOOK YOU’RE READING NOW: “Who Moved my Cheese?”

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WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A MOVIE ABOUT YOUR LIFE: Christian Bale IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: Cast out all

the evil in the world. Life would be so much better if everyone was just nice to one another.

To see what Buchanan wrote on his white board, scan this QR code or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

YEARS ON THE GULF COAST: Native

ALMA MATER: University of Florida COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: Being

able to work with my family and collaborating to build on the legacy they have established in Southwest Florida.

BOOK YOU’RE READING NOW: “And the Mountains Echoed,” by Khaled Hosseini

FAVORITE TECHNO GADGET: My iPhone, which allows me to do anything, anywhere and work on the go.

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Integrity is the most important quality to bring to all your business endeavors.

Hear more about Cartwright’s job by scanning this QR code or visiting BusinessObserver4040. com.

are LHomeC P N @ @jchafi ns

Joel Chaffins, 34, Redington Shores President, Owner and Operator, No Place Like Home Care With a red guitar strapped over his shoulder, Joel Chaffins makes his way around town, visiting each of his “75 grandparents.”

Chaffins owns No Place Like Home Care, which connects nurses and caregivers to adult seniors who prefer to stay at home rather than move to a facility. The company services clients in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties.

Chaffins says he keeps close tabs on his 100plus providers, popping in for visits every other week. He also personally answers calls from out-of-state adult children who want to checkin on their parents.

Within four years of opening, No Place Like Home Care became a $1 million company, and it’s on track to reach $1.5 million this year.

“The beauty of our business is there is very little overhead,” Chaffins says. “We charge the patients x, we pay our nurses y, it’s very straightforward.”

Chaffins and his wife, Danielle, recognized the opportunity seven years ago, while working in medical sales for Johnson and Johnson. The couple now splits business duties, with Danielle running the books and Joel in charge of marketing and client assessments.

They enjoy keeping the small-business feel, even as the company grows. They’ve brought their Boston Terrier, Bartleby, to work for the last seven years. Now the couple brings their 11week old daughter Samantha Elle to the office.

— Traci McMillan Beach

In his words .....................................

To see Chaffins perform with his guitar, scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040.com.

MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON LEARNED: People generally want to do business

with someone they like, trust and respect. Therefore you must treat every client or perspective customer with kindness, compassion, and a lasting impression that their needs are important.

TWO PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Abraham Lincoln and Elvis

Presley

WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A MOVIE ABOUT YOUR LIFE: Justin Timberlake

OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

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BY MARK GORDON DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

K

ris Chana’s first job, mowing lawns, came with an unusual twist.

It’s a standard 10-year-old entrepreneurial gig, of course. But in Chana’s case his business was backed by a $700 loan underwritten by the Bank of Dad through his father Kurt Chana, a mortgage broker. Kurt Chana even set up a term sheet that required the young Chana to pay back the $700, at 7% interest, within three years. Kris Chana paid the loan back in less than a year.

Now 25, Kris Chana, along with his wife, Chelsea Chana, 23, has undertaken another business challenge with a twist.

This time the Chanas are in the senior living industry, a marketplace dominated by big corporations and executives with decades of experience.

The Chanas’s entry into the market is through Chelsea Place Retirement and Assisted Living, a 12-bed facility in Port Charlotte, about halfway between Fort Myers and Sarasota. The Chanas, both Orlando natives, launched the business in summer 2011. They bought the building, an assisted-living facility shut down by state regulators, for $300,000. They spent another $150,000 on renovations and upgrades. “We gutted everything,” says Chelsea Chana.

The result is a bed-and-breakfast-style assisted-living facility, where rooms are named after Florida keys and the atmosphere is relaxed and cozy. “This is something geared toward patients and their

a YOUNG

ASSIST

A young couple, newly married, is in the business of helping the elderly. It’s a perfect fit.

COURTESY

KRIS CHANA, 25, and CHELSEA CHANA, 23, opened Chelsea Place Retirement and Assisted Living in summer 2011. families,” says Deborah Turman, a manager at the facility. “This isn’t the kind of place where you drop off your grandmother and never hear or see her again.”

The facility provides laundry, cleaning and three meals a day for residents, in addition to games, entertainment and day

trips. It contracts with outside entities for physical therapy and other health care services.

The Chanas themselves live on the property — an unusual move for young newlyweds fresh out of college. Chelsea Chana, in fact, just graduated in May from

11

the University of Florida.

But the couple has bonded with the residents, and considers many of them extra grandparents. One resident even recently taught Chelsea Chana how to crochet.

A big challenge the Chanas faced with Chelsea Place in the early stages was marketing. They literally knocked on dozens of businesses’ doors to get the word out in the community. They also decked out a resident transport van with a surfboard that promoted the facility.

The efforts have begun to pay off: Chelsea Place now has nine residents. Kris Chana declines to disclose revenues, though he says the firm is up 62% this year over 2012. All the residents pay privately, usually with long-term care insurance polices. Medicaid waiver programs and veteran’s assistance programs are also used to cover some costs.

The Chanas passion for the senior living industry stems from both life experience and work experience. In life, Chelsea Chana recalls her grandmother once lived in a facility that felt cold and unwelcoming.

That memory drove her to design Chelsea Place with happy beach settings in mind.

The memory for Kris Chana, meanwhile, is from a bad post-college work experience. A UF alum like his wife, Kris Chana moved to Dallas soon after he graduated, in 2011, to work for Allstate.

But the job, cold-calling for financial services, was terrible. “I absolutely hated it,” says Chana. “It was one of the worst jobs I ever had in my life.”

VIDEO Watch a video of the Chanas at work at Business Observer4040.com.

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“”

This is something geared toward patients and their families. This isn’t the kind of place where you drop off your grandmother and never hear or see her again. Deborah Turman | Chelsea Place Retirement and Assisted Living

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Billy Cossette, 27, Cape Coral

Christian Cotter, 29, Sarasota

Director of Management Recruitment and Development, First Watch Restaurants Inc.

Owner/Operator, Chick-fil-A Billy Cossette will quickly put to rest any question that working at a fast-food restaurant is a dead-end job.

Cossette started working at Chick-filA in a mall in Port Richey when he was 15 years old, working the register and passing out chicken samples to shoppers in the food court.

Over time, Cossette rose through the ranks and managed stores for the privately held chain all over the country.

Today, he owns the busy Pine Island Road restaurant in Cape Coral.

At first, Cossette wanted to become a youth minister. But he also identified with the Christian values that the founding Cathy family instilled with their restaurant franchise (Chick-fil-A is known for being closed on Sundays, for example).

Chick-fil-A awards franchises to operators like Cossette who have proven

able. It’s a rigorous process: the Cathys only award about 50 franchises each year and thousands apply.

Being chosen as an operator is the hard part, Cossette says. Once selected, the owner spends just $5,000 for the sole proprietorship. Chick-fil-A owns the real estate and splits the net profits with the owner.

Cossette says ownership of the restaurant helps him fulfill his dream of mentoring and helping young people.

“It’s a perfect match for my purpose in life,” he says.

Plus, all the skills he’s learned are now put to good use at his church, where he oversees the hospitality team of 30 volunteers on Sundays. “It’s who I am and what I love,” he says.

— Jean Gruss

In his words ..............................

ALMA MATER: Pasco-Hernando Commu-

profits, the results will take care of themselves. Culture beats strategy every time.

TWITTER HANDLE: @billycossette

FAVORITE OFF-HOURS ACTIVITY: Fishing and

nity College

landscaping

1, 2012, several thousand Chick-fil-A fans flooded our restaurants nationwide and waited in line for hours until we ran out of chicken. It was a surreal experience that we never could have planned for but a day I will not likely forget.

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: Create a

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: On Aug.

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: If you create a culture where people and relationships come before

cure for cancer and fix our economy and national debt.

To watch Cossette discuss his management style, scan this QR code or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

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Founder and User Experience Designer, Madera Labs

In his words ............................

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: Opening a new restaurant. It is incredible to see our people train and develop new staff and grow the First Watch brand.

Each time it is a unique experience. It never gets old.

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: It isn’t about today.

Always make decisions based on a long-term view because the situation you are in today is directly attributable to your actions or choices from months or even years ago.

ing to customers early and often about your product. Getting something in their hands and getting candid feedback

BEST AWARD YOU EVER RECEIVED: A woman who once worked for me mailed me a homemade Christmas ornament with a letter a year after I left her market. It is a great reminder of the impact managers can have on those around them and the responsibility that comes with that.

Scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040. com to see what Cotter put on his white board.

Labs, a design firm that assists development teams in creating memorable user experiences.

Despite his focus on interactive elements, Davis says he tends to be old school. “I work a lot on paper and pen, sketching to flush out design rather than jumping on a computer,” Davis says.

Madera Labs has worked with a wide range of clients, including Crispin Porter & Bogusky to design the interactive component of a Coke Zero marketing campaign.

The company has also helped the United Methodist Church create publishing platforms for its magazines.

Davis credits his ability to objectively look at design to his education in architecture.

Instead of building his agency of two, Davis decided he wanted to focus on creating a product. A little more than a year ago, Madera Labs built its own social media travel app, Drawer.

Drawer allows users to keep track of friends’ recommendations for restaurants and things to do while traveling. Davis says a couple of international luxury boutique hotel chains have expressed interest in the app to work as a virtual concierge, replacing books found in hotel rooms.

In addition to his performance through design, Davis also cohosts a weekly design podcast called Distilled, which features his critiques of apps, technology and product design while drinking bourbon.

— Traci McMillan Beach

In his words ............................................................

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: The importance of talk-

ing managers for First Watch locations throughout the entire chain. It’s his second time around in the hospitality industry: He previously worked in management and operations at Waffle House.

In 18 months on the job, Cotter has discovered an important use for social media websites such as Facebook.

It’s not only to promote the brand, but also to get a glance at a potential hire.

“There are other great sites for identifying a candidate’s skill set,” Cotter says, “but Facebook is where people tell you about themselves.”

— Mark Gordon

@jwd2a

Justin Davis, 33, Tampa Justin Davis is a performer.

A former Nashville musician, the loquacious technology geek says he’s in the business of designing “experiences,” in an ongoing effort to “leave an emotional dent.”

Davis says he started “building stuff online” in 1997, but he never wanted to do it for a living. When he realized playing bar gigs at 2 a.m. was not going to cut it, he returned to technology by default.

He knew he wanted to own his own business. “I’m a terrible employee,” Davis confesses. “I think I have an authority issue.” So five years ago, he started Madera

Atlanta native Christian Cotter only moved to Sarasota in early 2012, but he doesn’t miss the cosmopolitan life of a big city.

“I absolutely love it here,” says Cotter. “I always wanted to live on the beach.”

Cotter also always wanted to work at a growing company that puts a premium on ethics and integrity. He believes he found that at University Park-based First Watch, a breakfast-brunch-lunch chain with more than 100 locations in 15 states.

Cotter’s wife, Leah, is from Sarasota, and the couple decided to move here from Atlanta in 2011. Cotter, who then worked for an IT staffing firm, looked for jobs locally in several industries.

He ultimately met with First Watch President and CEO Ken Pendery, and Cotter liked what he heard, and saw.

Cotter is now responsible for find-

quickly is the fastest way to create a product they’ll love. That, and the importance of being humble in the process.

WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A MOVIE ABOUT

YOUR LIFE: Ryan Reynolds

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: Drive to Harry Potter World and sell it to some crazed fan outside the front gate.

Scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040. com to see Davis explain his white board drawing.

OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com

13

40Under40

I

BY JEAN GRUSS EDITOR/LEE-COLLIER

f you visit the Greater Naples YMCA on a weeknight, you might see a familiar face teaching yoga or Pilates to as many as 30 fitness buffs.

As if Anne Frazier didn’t have enough going on in her life.

The president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida leads 400 volunteers who teach more than 12,000 students about the benefits of entrepreneurship in 536 classrooms throughout Charlotte, Collier and Lee counties.

Although she runs a nonprofit organization with a tiny staff of four people, Frazier, 37, talks about her mission like a business owner. “We’re only hitting 8% of our market share,” she says.

Junior Achievement’s mission is to educate young people about the benefits of free enterprise. It’s generally not part of the school curriculum, so businessminded volunteers spend time in the classrooms teaching students about business and economics.

The movement has taken on greater urgency as the free-enterprise system has taken a beating during the recession, but Southwest Florida is home to numerous entrepreneurs because it doesn’t have big-government employers. “This community is very supportive of entrepreneurs,” Frazier says.

Still, Frazier’s challenge is to assemble enough volunteers from smaller firms that make up most of Southwest Florida’s employers. Larger corporations can marshal hundreds of volunteers, but there aren’t as many of those as in places such as Tampa and Orlando.

And finding generous sponsors can be a challenge, too. “Most of our support comes from special events,” Frazier

“”

OVER ACHIEVEMENT Anne Frazier leads an army of volunteers who teach students about the benefits of the free-enterprise system in schools.

NANCY DENIKE

ANNE FRAZIER, the president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida, recently launched an entrepreneurship class for high school juniors in Collier County. says. The annual Business Hall of Fame dinners in Lee and Collier counties are must-attend events for business leaders who gather to celebrate entrepreneurial leaders in the community.

As a result, Frazier is sharpening the organization’s focus on where Junior Achievement can make the biggest impact. “Where do we really need to hit the kids?” asked Frazier, who was appointed to lead Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida in November 2011.

“They tell us middle school because they’re starting to think about careers and jobs.”

Older kids who face a challenging job market may be more receptive to Junior Achievement’s message, which is why

Frazier recently established a partnership with Collier County schools to teach an entrepreneurship course to high school juniors.

All the Collier high schools will offer the class at the same time of day so guest speakers can interact with the 11th graders via Skype. A business-plan competition will be held between the eight high schools, Frazier says.

Frazier can identify with many of the kids in school who are eager to get ahead. Raised by a single father who worked long hours, Frazier learned to take charge at an early age. “It forced me to be independent at a young age,” she says. “I learned to be very resourceful.”

Although she earned a fine arts degree

in college, Frazier’s entrepreneurial skills quickly became evident when she built a Boys & Girls Club from scratch in her native Virginia to one of the state’s largest with an $800,000 annual budget.

In 2010, Frazier was named one of the most influential women in the state by Virginia Lawyer Media.

Frazier moved to Naples in 2010 with her husband, Scott, and became executive director of Drug Free Collier before taking the Junior Achievement post.

Despite her hectic work calendar, Frazier schedules time for her exercise and other interests. “You have to give yourself an hour every day,” she says. “It makes me feel bonded to my new community.”

This community is very supportive of entrepreneurs. Anne Frazier | Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida

40Under40

otson D n a e @S

Sean Dotson, 39, Sarasota President, RND Automation & Engineering Sean Dotson is a deft combination of optimistic and opportunistic.

That’s why he continues to reinvest in his manufacturing company, Sarasota-based RND Automation & Engineering, even with the uncertainty that clouds the economy. Late last year, for instance, RND purchased the majority of the assets of Baytool Inc., a Bradenton-based machine shop that shut down after 20 years in business. RND bought the bulk of Baytool’s machinery, and Dotson hired two of its machinists.

An engineer with a specialty in

3-D computer-aided design, Dotson has run his company like that going back to when he started it, in 2005. The firm, with about $3 million in annual sales, designs and assembles custom-made automation and robotic machines used by other manufacturers. Clients include manufacturers of contact lenses, hydraulic valves and automotive sensors. Revenues are up around 30% this year, Dotson says.

A Tampa native, Dotson previously worked in engineering and management roles for Venice-based impact resistant window and door manufacturer PGT and Sidel USA, a

packaging and conveying company.

He went out on his own, he says, to have more freedom and control over a business.

Dotson has since learned some valuable business lessons, including a twist on an old axiom, the customer is always right. Dotson says he’s learned that the customer, actually, isn’t always right. He says that’s because sometimes in a highly scientific field like robotics, customers don’t know what they don’t know. So they end up asking for the impossible.

Dotson says he’s diligent in customer education to avoid problems in that area.

— Mark Gordon

In his words .................................................

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE:

Watch Dotson explain his drawing by scanning this QR code with your smartphone or visiting BusinessObserver4040.com.

With my wife eight-and-a-half months pregnant, and I had to go to Ireland to supervise a three-day machine install. When the Irish rigging crew learned of this they worked around the clock so that I could catch a plane back to the States the next day. But not before taking me to the pub to congratulate me.

BEST AWARD YOU EVER RECEIVED: Au-

FAVORITE OFF-HOURS ACTIVITY: Road

todesk’s Inventor of the Year 2010.

cycling.

ONE WEBSITE THAT MAKES YOUR JOB EASIER: Google. I know it’s the obvi-

BOOK YOU’RE READING NOW: “Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of the Elements, from Arsenic to Zinc.”

ous answer, but it’s an invaluable tool.

ONE COMMUNITY GROUP YOU’RE MOST INVOLVED WITH: The Village

Idiots Cycling Club (we raise money for cancer and diabetes awareness).

FAVORITE TECHNO GADGET: Garmin 800 Cycling Computer.

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: Probably end up turning myself into a newt.

14

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Robyn Featherston, 39, St. Petersburg

Managing Member/Attorney, Featherston Law Firm PL

Robyn Featherston doesn’t have the typical resume for a lawyer. Two years after earning a business degree in entrepreneurship at Colorado State University, the California native fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a truck driver. Featherston transported everything from hazardous material to produce along the West Coast, enjoying the lifestyle and her family of fellow truck drivers.

After six years on the road and a couple of close calls with drunk drivers, Featherston was ready for a career change, so she applied to law school.

She graduated from Stetson University College of Law in two-and-a-half years, winning an award for providing more than twice the number of pro-bono hours required to graduate.

From 2007 to 2012, Feat herston worked as an associate attorney for a firm in St. Petersburg, where she conTo see Featherston explain her white board, scan this QR code with your smartphone, or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

40Under40

centrated on negligence claims.

At the beginning of this year, Featherston opened her own law practice to focus on aspects of law that are close to heart.

When Featherston was in high school, she entered a foster care program. “I know what it’s like to be in a family, where keeping the child’s best interest needs to be at the top of mind,” Featherston says. Now she helps in that goal by working with clients needing assistance in family law, such as child support, child sharing, alimony and divorces.

She says her personal experiences help her better “relate and communicate with clients.”

She also works with clients in trust and probate litigation because she says she enjoys helping individuals resolve family battles.

Lastly, she concentrates on assisting minority and women-owned small businesses, because she noticed a need for legal services in this niche startup community.

Featherston’s ultimate goal is to provide quality affordable legal advice, she says. “Nobody should go bankrupt trying to resolve legal issues.”

— Traci McMillan Beach

In her words ..........................

BIRTHPLACE: Panorama City, Calif.

ONE WEBSITE THAT MAKES YOUR JOB EASIER: Clio.com - cloud-based case

YEARS ON THE GULF COAST: Nine

management/billing software

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: Obtaining

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: make it so

my first client when I opened my law firm.

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Do what you say you’ll do

when you say you’ll do it.

that people with unhappy childhoods move forward in a positive direction to help them achieve a better future than past instead of repeating the events of their childhood.

y Jewelr a k i @Son

Sonika Fourie, 24, Sarasota Interior Designer, The Schimberg Group Inc.

In job title Sonika Fourie is an interior designer, but in reality she’s a statistic flipper.

Here’s how Fourie came to that role: She graduated Ringling College of Art and Design with a bachelor’s degree of fine art in interior design in 2011. She promptly moved back to Orlando, the city she grew up in, where she took a job with a large architecture firm. But after a short time Fourie decided she didn’t want to live in Orlando anymore.

The job, for one, was corporate and stifling.

So Fourie moved back to Sarasota earlier this year. She accepted a position at The Schimberg Group, an architecture and interior design firm where she interned for a semester while at Ringling. In doing so Fourie turned around the theory that young professionals who earn a degree locally leave town for better opportunities. Says Fourie: “There was just a lot more to offer (in Sarasota) for me than in Orlando.”

Fourie, who was born in South Africa and moved to the United States with her family when she

was 9, has a lot going on now in her life, too. She’s engaged, with a wedding scheduled for November. She also designs her own jewelry, an entrepreneurial pursuit she hasn’t had much time for in the past few months.

Ringling College, further, did more for Fourie than provide a degree and the opportunity to work and live in Sarasota. Her experiences at Ringling, she says, gave her confidence and self-reliance. “I was always very introverted,” says Fourie. “It wasn’t until Ringling that I found a place where I belong.”

— Mark Gordon

In her words ...............................................

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: Last year a lighting

manufacturer invited my coworkers and I on an all-expenses paid trip to Atlanta to tour its state-of-the art design and manufacturing facility and see the city.

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED:

Learn to simulate confidence. Become aware of when you need to act like you know what you’re talking about, even if you don’t right at that moment. Also, do not let that confidence turn into arrogance.

ONE COMMUNITY GROUP YOU’RE MOST INVOLVED WITH: I get such joy out

of mentoring students at Ringling College who are interior design majors. I visit as a guest speaker, attend critiques for presentation, and most recently have become involved in Ringling’s mentoring network, where I will be a mentor through email to any student or graduate who seeks ‘real world’ advice, portfolio feedback or wanting to practice interview skills.

TWO PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Etsy.com founder Robert Kalin and Marie Antoinette

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: In-

vent a technology to make weather 100% predictable.

Imagine your smartphone showing you it will rain in exactly 13 minutes and 20 seconds in your exact location.

To hear Fourie explain why she came back to Sarasota, scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040.com.

OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

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BY MARK GORDON DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

J

ohn Giglio tried two careers before he found his passion in the boating industry.

He first got into human resources, with a staffing firm in Tampa soon after he graduated from Florida Southern College in Lakeland. After about a year, feeling unfulfilled, Giglio took a job in operations with a family-run chain of auto body repair shops. That job was somewhat more stimulating, but Giglio didn’t see much of a long-term future there, either.

“I knew I wanted to be in business,” says Giglio, “but I didn’t know what kind of business.”

So in 2004, Giglio, a lifelong boater, followed his heart: He got a job with Freedom Boat Club, which provides club members access to a variety of boats in return for an initiation fee and monthly dues. A decade later, after positions in sales and operations, Giglio, 38, now owns the Venice-based company, a combination of 57 franchisee-owned locations and 11 corporate-owned stores.

The company’s franchise outlets are spread from Texas to Rhode Island, while most of the company-owned club locations are in Florida, including Cape Coral, Sarasota and Venice. The pitch is geared toward people who want to own a boat, but don’t want to own the legendary hassles that come with it.

That pitch resonates, clearly, because the company is on a major growth spurt.

Sales are up 61% since 2010, from $4.8

“”

FREE to GROW

John Giglio hasn’t owned his own business for too long, but he’s picked up on one key success tactic: Always innovate.

MARK WEMPLE

JOHN GIGLIO took over sole ownership of Venice-based Freedom Boat Club last year. million to $7.73 million in 2012. And this past June, July and August, adds Giglio, have all been record months for sales.

While business is good now, Giglio faced a big risk last year. That’s when he had an opportunity to buy out his partner and co-owner, Bob Daley. Daley and Giglio bought Freedom Boat Club in 2011 from a Cincinnati-based investment firm, but in early 2012 Daley sought to retire.

Giglio was confident he knew the business, but he had never owned a business on his own before. And he and his wife, Lisa Giglio, have two young children, so he wasn’t inclined to take a big risk.

“There was some trepidation, and my wife was petrified,” says Giglio.

Adds Giglio: “I basically took a leap of faith.”

Giglio took another leap earlier this year, when he bought the Tarpon Center Marina in Venice for $1.3 million. Freedom recently relocated its headquarters from a Venice office to the facility, where it leases 20 boat slips.

A Rhode Island native, Giglio is an avid sports fan, especially for Boston sports teams like the Red Sox and Patriots. His management style is hands off, with a “right people in the right seats” focus. Fitting, then, that one of two people, dead or alive, Giglio would like to have dinner with is Bill Belichik, the Patriots’ successful coach known for spotting and utiliz-

ing talent. (Giglio’s other most wanted dinner guest is Warren Buffett.) Says Giglio: “You have to surround yourself with people smarter than you.”

The biggest worry Giglio has right now with Freedom Boat Club is the threat of other firms sailing into Freedom’s turf.

“We are doing very well,” says Giglio. “But we still have to be innovative and creative to drive a wedge between us and any potential competitors, big or small.”

Giglio nonetheless says he has no regrets about buying the business. He especially likes the idea that he controls his career path. “I’m truly blessed,” Giglio says. “I look out my window and I’m always looking at boats.”

We are doing very well. But we still have to be innovative and creative to drive a wedge between us and any potential competitors, big or small. John Giglio | Freedom Boat Club

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16

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40Under40

Jason Gaskill, 37, Sarasota

Michael B. Gentile, 32, Tampa

Partner in Charge, Adams and Reese LLP

Jason Gaskill knows it sounds corny and cheesy, but he loves being a lawyer for the sake of a being a lawyer.

“We provide a valuable service that’s often misunderstood,” says Gaskill, who runs the Sarasota division of Adams and Reese, a New Orleans-based firm. “But our ability to advocate successfully for a client could mean the difference between success and failure for that client.”

Gaskill splits his time between overseeing the office, which has eight attorneys, and his own cases. On the supervision side, he’s a hands-off manager who promotes an open-door policy for other attorneys and associates. On his own cases, where many of his clients are businesses with patent applications or issues, Gaskill has a competitive streak.

Says Gaskill: “I like the challenge of representing someone while applying the principles I learned in law school.”

Gask i l l was bor n a nd ra ised in

Iowa and graduated from the University of South Florida in Tampa in 1999.

He went to the University of Arizona for law school, and then worked for a few years at a law firm in Albuquerque, N.M. He returned to the Gulf Coast after a few years in the Southwest, and he was hired at Ruden McClosky. Adams and Reese took over Fort Lauderdale-based Ruden McClosky in 2010.

Married with two children, Gaskill says living in New Mexico was a unique experience, but he loves Sarasota. “I loved the food and the weather over there, ” says Gaskill. “But I missed (living near) the water. And I missed the grass.”

— Mark Gordon

In his words ..............................

MARITAL STATUS/CHILDREN: Wife, Christina. Two children, Isabella and Alexander

I’m pretty sure he can play anyone he wants to play.

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: Getting

to see cutting-edge technologies and inventions before they are made known to the public.

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: Put an invisible bubble around my children that protects them physically and mentally throughout life.

ONE WEBSITE THAT MAKES YOUR JOB EASIER: The United States Patent and

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Right or wrong, perception

Trademark Office: www.uspto.gov.

TWO PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: My paternal

grandfather, whom I never met, and Nikola Tesla.

WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A MOVIE ABOUT YOUR LIFE: Johnny Depp. Only because

To see Gaskill explain his white board, scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

Bobby Harris is one of Tampa’s quintessential entrepreneurs. Harris is founder and CEO of freight and logistics provider Blue Grace Logistics, ranked as the 20th fastest-growing private company on the Inc. 500. A two-time finalist of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award, Harris has always had a desire to do things his way.

Starting his career at 18 years old working on the docks for Southeastern Freight Lines, Harris worked his way up through operations management. At 20 he was running an outbound facility.

By 28, Harris was running specialized

In his words ............................

WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A MOVIE ABOUT YOUR LIFE: Kevin James, comedian and star

ONE WEBSITE THAT MAKES YOUR JOB EASIER: Craigslist; in this age of tech-

nology, your prospective clients will first search online for an office space.

Craigslist has been the key to our leasing success. 90% of all our leads come

sales in Florida and Puerto Rico for Yellow Transportation. “That’s when I got the bug,” he says.

Harris was 30 years old when he bought into a DHL shipping franchise, and within two years, he owned 23 franchises. In 2008, Harris wanted to buy the franchisor, but the deal fell through when DHL decided to leave the U.S. So in 2009, Harris started Blue Grace Logistics. He tapped into his 401(k), brokerage accounts, real estate and financial investments to start the company. He grew from $8 million in revenue in 2009, to a projected $120 million this year.

Though he’s acquired multiple businesses, he claims a majority of the growth

is organic, from offering new services to customers.

Harris says he has no plans to take outside capital or go public. “Autonomy is paramount to everything,” he says. Harris wants to continue to service his clients as No. 1, rather than have to serve investors’ best interests, he adds.

The company may seem eclectic to some — it’s a huge supporter of the Tampa Bay Humane Society and animal rights, while at the same time a sponsor of UFC mixed martial arts fighters.

Sponsoring fighters has not only proved to be good advertising for the company’s target demographic, it’s also piqued Harris’s interest in the sport’s business opportunities. In 2012, he bought Fighter Warehouse, a mixed martial arts gear and apparel company.

After visiting the Zappos headquarters

In his words ............................................................

BIRTHPLACE: England

MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON LEARNED: Little knowledge is dangerous,

trust the professionals around you.

The Gentile Group currently manages more than 355,000 square feet total in eight assets: an office center and a warehouse in Clearwater, two office centers in Largo, two office complexes and a warehouse in Pinellas Park, and an 88-unit apartment building in St. Petersburg.

Gentile says they know all tenants on a first-name basis and occupancy has stabilized around 88%, amounting to more than $3 million in gross revenue.

Gentile says at the office, they have no answering service or voicemail, and calls are forwarded to cell phones. “If someone calls, someone answers.”

Being a family-owned business gives Gentile more f lexibility in creating deals. The company donates rent to the National Association for Mental Illness and has been known to adjust rent to help its tenants grow, Gentile says. “In today’s real estate market, every day is different. You have to be able to manipulate the deal on the spot.”

— Traci McMillan Beach

from the Internet and Craigslist is a free service that delivers results.

ONE COMMUNITY GROUP YOU’RE MOST INVOLVED WITH: The Gift of Adoption

Fund and our family foundation.

To see video and read more, scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

EO @BobbyBG_C

Bobby Harris, 39, Tampa CEO, Blue Grace Logistics

Michael B. Gentile was forced to learn the ups and downs of business quickly.

In 2007, Gentile and his father took a risk with their newly formed commercial real estate business. They emptied their pockets and bought their current portfolio, “leaving just 67 cents in our bank account,” Gentile says. The portfolio seemed like the ideal investment, boasting a 92% occupancy rate.

“Two months later, our occupancy dropped to 64% and the economy was in a free fall,” Gentile admits. The Gentiles were forced to cut employees, and immediately Gentile was thrown in to manage all day-to-day operations and leasing activity.

“My naivety was a benefit,” Gentile says. “I wasn’t afraid to try and make a deal out of nothing.”

Within six months, he was able to lease the portfolio back to 78% occupancy, and by late 2009, 85% occupancy.

of “King of Queens.” People tell me all the time that I remind them of him. I have a fun, outgoing personality and like to joke around a lot, so he would probably be a good fit.

is often a person’s reality; therefore, it is important to understand the perceptions of both clients and adverse parties.

40Under40

President, CEO, Founder, The Gentile Group LLC Director, Gentile Family Foundation

FAVORITE OFF-HOURS ACTIVITY: Biking with my daughters, MMA training

ONE WEBSITE THAT MAKES YOUR JOB EASIER: TINYPulse, it’s a great tool to

help you understand your employees.

TWO PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Ronald Reagan and Richard Branson

with his leadership team, Harris was inspired to focus on creating a culture of fun at Blue Grace. The firm plays employees’ selection of music at the headquarters during the workday and a has a free keg of beer for employees every Friday afternoon.

— Traci McMillan Beach

To read more about Bobby Harris, scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

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RICHARDSON KLEIBER WALTER

Jeff Button Jennifer Kleiber-Button 941-378-2328

KLEIBER BUTTON INC.

www.SarasotaWarehouses.com

Lic Real Estate Broker

17

Industrial & Office Properties For Sale or Lease Multi-Unit Industrial Complex High Occupancy Frontage on University Pkwy 3 Building Complex

SOLD

$26.38 Per Sq/Ft $1,750,000

13,250 SF Office/Warehouse 4500 Northgate Ct, Sarasota Paved Fenced Storage on 1.18 Ac Loading Dock & Ground Level Loading 1,000 SF Office 20’ Eave Height 3 Phase Power – Ability to Divide

NEW LISTING

Paved Fenced Yard 20’ Eave - Ground Level Loading & Covered Loading Dock

For Sale $ 1,350,000 / $45 Per Sq/Ft

7,000 – 14,000 SF Sale / Lease New Shell Warehouse

2,000 Sq/Ft Flex Space Units Light Industrial – Office / Showroom

3210 59th Dr East, Bradenton

31,850 SF in Tampa 15,610 Sq/Ft Clearspan Warehouse w/2,000 Sq/Ft Office 16,240 Sq/Ft Clearspan Covered Paved Work Area 20’+ Eave Height, Loading Ramp, 3 Phase

FOR LEASE $6.96 / SF Gross

New Buildings with 20’ Eave 3 Phase Capable – Storefront Entry

GREAT DEALS! Call for Pricing

SOLD

3 Phase Power, 2 Story Office, Large Paved Fenced Storage Yard Single User or Multiple Units

For Sale $675,000

REDUCED FOR SALE $399,000

REDUCED

FOR SALE $592,500

Fenced & Paved Outside Storage 1634 Barber Rd – Sarasota 2,550 Sq/Ft Office 5 Overhead Doors Clear Span Warehouse

$2,440 Per Month Gross

FOR LEASE

MAKE OFFER

Currentley Divided into two 9,750 Sq/Ft Units, 20’ Eave Insulated Ceilings / 6 OHD’s

For Sale $624,000

7,500 Sq/Ft Multi-Tenant Office Building w/Storage 3 Units – Partially Leased Less than Replacement Cost

For Sale $595,000 $79.33 Per Sq/Ft

3,600 Sq/Ft Free Standing Office / Showroom Fruitville Rd & I-75 Corridor Zoned PID Must See

Call For Details For Sale $299,999

19,800 Sq/Ft Warehouse Short Sale!

Professional Office is FULLY FURNISHED and includes Open Reception Work Area, 3 Private Offices, Computer Server Area, Kitchen/Break room.

9,165 Sq/Ft Office / Warehouse I-75 / Fruitville Rd Corridor

5 Private Offices, Workroom/Conference Room Kitchenette / Reception / Waiting Room

6,703 Sq/Ft Building On Whitfield Ave Uses Include Retail / Office / Industrial

863 SF Office Condo Lakewood Ranch 7365 Merchant Ct, Suite 7

FOR SALE $119,500

2,140 Sq/Ft Office Space On Fruitville Rd -Zoned OPB 3277 Fruitville Rd

Multi-Tenant Investment Property

I-75 / Fruitville Rd Area Multiple Private Offices, Loading Dock, 3 Phase Power, A/C Warehouse/Production Area

12,670 SF Manufacturing Warehouse 505 Paul Morris Dr, Englewood

20’ Eave Height / Paved Fenced Yard!

Loading Dock & Grade Level Doors DON’T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY!

High Visibility / 3 Phase / Ample Parking A/C Storage Warehouse Area – Nice Office Loading Dock & Grade Level Doors

5,000 SF Free Standing Office / Warehouse

For Sale $370,000

Fruitville Rd & I-75 Corridor 9,000 SF Office/Warehouse

7,425 SF Multi-Tenant Investment Property 2001 Whitfield Park Ave

SOLD

30,000 SF Industrial Facility 1212 East 44th Avenue

1631,1635,1639 W University Pkwy FOR LEASE $920 Per Month Per Unit

REDUCED

3 Phase power / Fenced Storage Yard 18’ Eave Height, Insulated Ceiling, FOUR 14‘ X 14’ Overhead Doors

FOR SALE $420,000

For Sale $821,500 For Lease $5.95/SF

NEW LISTING

6,000 SF Office / Warehouse 1599 Apex Rd, Sarasota

For Sale $450,000

PENDING

1,750 Sq/Ft Flex Space Condo 3240 59th Dr East, Unit 108 Like New! Showroom!

Built in 2007 / 20’ Ceiling Height

For Sale $105,000

Cheap Office Space

1,440 SF @ $840 / Month Gross 2,880 SF @ $1,680/Month Gross 3,360 SF @ $1,740 / Month Gross Includes Trash & HVAC Maint Multiple Floor Plans

123003

66,348 Sq/Ft Total

18

BUSINESS OBSERVER | OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013

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Arleen Hunter, 39, Bonita Springs Director of Development Services, City of Bonita Springs

If you held a contest to decide the most business-friendly city in Florida, Bonita Springs would surely win, and Arleen Hunter would be a big reason why.

Although her title sounds bureaucratic enough, Hunter is the city’s business advocate, helping entrepreneurs set up shop and expand here.

Bonita Springs rolls out the red carpet for business. The city operates with a tiny staff because it contracts out most of the work, even the permitting department. That means employees who work under contract for the city are eager to please Hunter and the taxpaying customers.

Looking to expand to Bonita Springs?

Hunter can tell investors which parcels of land or buildings need permits before they tie up precious capital. She can coordinate meetings with all the right people so entrepreneurs don’t waste any time and can instead focus on doing what they do best.

“I’m here to champion their concerns,” Hunter says. “We try to help them right from the beginning when they’re looking at properties.”

Bonita Springs City Manager Carl Schwing tells business owners: “We pay her, but she works for you.”

Which is why every city in Florida should have an Arleen Hunter.

— Jean Gruss

In her words ...........................

BIRTHPLACE: New York City

YEARS ON THE GULF COAST: 21 years WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A MOVIE ABOUT YOUR LIFE: Sarah Jessica Parker BEST AWARD YOU EVER RECEIVED: 2012

Rotary Club of Bonita Springs Ethics in Leadership Award

FAVORITE OFF-HOURS ACTIVITY: Camping (in an air-conditioned camper!) with my husband and stepdaughter.

40Under40

ONE COMMUNITY GROUP YOU’RE MOST INVOLVED WITH: The Zonta Club of Bonita

Springs, an organization of business and professional women dedicated to improving the circumstances of women at all stages of life, locally and globally.

To watch Hunter talk more about how she helps business, scan this QR code or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

Ferdian Jap, 28, Tampa Partner, Big City Events LLC

With an associate’s in arts, a bachelor’s in biomedical science, a master’s in entrepreneurship, an M.B.A., and a law degree in progress, you may not guess that Ferdian Jap is in the event planning business. But events are what Jap and his company, Big City Events, do best.

With a mission to activate downtown Tampa, the company comes up with a concept for an event first, then reaches out to sponsors for capital and other resources to make it happen.

Jap just finished the Summer of Rum Festival, a sold-out event Aug. 24 with 4,000 attendees. Sponsors included Cruzan Rum, Appleton Estate Jamaican Rum and Red Stripe.

The company also runs the Tampa River Lights Festival, the Tampa Margarita Festival, the Gasparilla Music

Festival and the Gasparilla Film Festival, to name a few.

Projecting revenue from events is easier than it looks, according to Jap. For alcohol-based events, Jap estimates that the average attendee will bring in between $35 and $40 from ticket and drink sales. Sponsors cover around 40% of costs. To get a permit from the city of Tampa, each event must donate a certain percentage of profit to charity.

The company has brought in $350,000 in revenue this year, and is on its way to reach $500,000 by the end of 2013. The company aims to hit $800,000 in revenue next year.

As one may imagine, Big City Events isn’t Jap’s only business venture. Carrying more than five business cards at any given time, the serial entrepreneur also runs several real estate investments: he manages a multifamily property, leases commercial real

estate and flips homes.

During a week with no events, Jap says he spends around 40 hours working at Big City Events, about six hours working on his real estate ventures, and about 10 hours a week in school.

He clears his email inbox around 1 a.m. “I never wanted to have a 9-to-5 hours kind of thing,” he says.

So why all the degrees? Jap found himself consulting businesses about funding and creating business plans, so he decided to get his M.B.A. When he started to realize how much legal work was necessary when planning events, including risk mitigation and contract writing for sponsorships, he decided to pursue his J.D. Jap says his friends in law school tease him because he hasn’t gone shopping in a long time. There’s no need, he says. “Every day I wear a different nonprofit or event T-shirt.”

— Traci McMillan Beach

In his words .............................................

BIRTHPLACE: Jakarta, Indonesia YEARS ON THE GULF COAST: 15 THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Shoot then aim,

meaning, just do it and pull it off, then figure out as you go.

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: Fully

develop Downtown Tampa and the Tampa Riverwalk and activate it every weekend with events!

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: Pulling off the Tampa Tee Off, where we shut down Franklin Street in Downtown Tampa and built a golf driving range.

ONE WEBSITE THAT MAKES YOUR JOB EASIER: Facebook... since we do

events and social media is prominent

BOOK YOU’RE READING NOW: Law books FAVORITE TECHNO GADGET: Go pro

Watch Jap discuss how he pulls off big events by scanning this QR code or visiting BusinessObserver4040. com.

OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

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Ryan Kratz, 37, believes leadership can be taught. In charge of 165 employees in four offices along the Gulf Coast, he’s formalizing professional development to help pass it on.

BY TRACI MCMILLAN BEACH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A

fter navigating several years through the downturn in investment sales at an independent brokerage firm in Minneapolis, Ryan Kratz was ready for an upward career move. He wanted to run his own brokerage operation. That’s when he met Lee Arnold.

Arnold, the CEO of commercial real estate giant Colliers International Tampa Bay, Central Florida, and Southwest Florida, immediately took an interest in Kratz, and hired him as executive managing director of brokerage and marketing in January 2011. Though the company declines to share revenues, it says it has grown by double digits each year since Kratz was hired.

In January of this year, Kratz was promoted to president, overseeing 165 employees, managing four of Collier’s eight offices in Florida — Orlando, Tampa, Clearwater and Fort Myers — and comanaging the Jacksonville office. Over the past two years, he’s added 28 new brokers to his team. “I’ve had wonderful training to set the groundwork for being a good leader,�

Kratz says. He believes the catalyst to his success, however, is his willingness to listen first and act second. Patience is an important virtue for Kratz, who confesses, “the world doesn’t necessarily move at the speed I want it to.�

Over the last couple of years, Kratz has concentrated on improving his company’s technology and professional development. He’s leveraged iPads to provide brokers with on-the-spot access to marketing materials, presentations and comparison data to help during the point of sale. Kratz has also expanded his

19

LEARNING LEADERSHIP MARK WEMPLE

RYAN KRATZ was named president of Colliers International, Tampa Bay, Central Florida and Southwest Florida at the beginning of the year. He manages 165 employees in four offices at the commercial real estate company. marketing team to build a proprietary database, create video market reports, and develop a social media presence.

A firm believer in the value of mentorship, Kratz introduced a more formalized professional development path at the company. He builds teams of junior and seasoned senior brokers so industry knowledge is effectively passed through the ranks. “There was a lot of fatigue coming out of the downturn,� Kratz says. “People in the industry were tired of how long it lasted.� Both commercial and residential real estate “are still healing,� he adds. “Having youth, energy and optimism around the markets we serve is really important.�

Kratz’s own mentor, Stephen Spinelli,

was a co-founder of Jiffy-Lube and is now president of Philadelphia University. “He’s not only wildly successful‌ he’s found a balance that many people search for,â€? Kratz says.

He says he spends around 80% to 90% of his time meeting with his employees, clients, and community leaders. “To get on my lunch calendar, it’s probably three to four weeks out.� Kratz tries to make at least one lunch a week with community leaders to learn more about the region and build partnerships.

Kratz sees the near future as optimistic, with apartments and multifamily complexes coming out of the downturn first, and retail following close behind.

He also notes an increase in demand for office space, especially in downtown

Tampa and Westshore. Colliers has been hired as the preleasing agent for the first office tower built downtown in the last couple decades, Trammell Crow’s 400,000-square-foot office complex at SouthGate. He’s also seen a pick up in the industrial market in Lakeland.

The pipeline of distressed properties has decreased substantially, Kratz says, and his business has transitioned back to leasing and managing for third parties, rather than lenders.

Kratz urges decision makers of growing businesses in the area to begin looking at buying or renting new space immediately. “Now is not the time to be on the fence,� he says. “The picture that has emerged likely points to higher and higher prices for real estate.�

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20

BUSINESS OBSERVER | OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013

BusinessObserverFL.com

40Under40

40Under40

Benjamin King, 33, Sarasota

Heveen Kurdi, 31, Tampa

Chief Technology Officer, Voalte Benjamin King was into the Internet way before it was cool.

He was into it so early, actually, that in 1994, when he was in high school in his native Toronto, people would come up to him and ask him questions about it. “A lot of people,” says King, “were asking me what Netscape was, what a browser was.”

The entrepreneurial-minded King, with an idea to sell Internet consulting services, entered a business plan contest sponsored by a local Rotary Club. He wrote up a business plan, made elevator pitches before judges’ panels, and even had business cards printed up with a stick figure that represented him. King eventually won the contest, a triumph he still calls his coolest business experience. Says King: “It was a lot of fun.”

King has since had two other standout experiences.

First, soon after he graduated from Georgia Tech, King took a job with Cardiomems, an Atlanta-based startup that

develops wireless pressure heart sensors.

King was the third employee, joining right after the launch, and the company has since grown to more than 200 employees.

“I loved it,” says King. “It was wonderful.”

After about five years at Cardiomems, King, in 2008, got into iPhone app software development, which was then in its infancy. King met Trey Lauderdale, a fellow iPhone software fan, at a tech conference in San Francisco and through that meeting Voalte was born.

Five years later Voalte is a Sarasota startup success story: The firm, which created technology that allows nurses and hospital employees to communicate with each other over smartphones, has gone from four employees in 2008 to 125 today. Annual sales, which the firm no longer discloses, exceeded $10 million a few years ago. And King’s level of enthusiasm hasn’t wavered since the startup days. Says King: “Our goal is to be in every hospital.”

— Mark Gordon

Owner and Head Chef, Kurdi’s Fresh Mediterranean Grill, Kurdi Group LLC Growing up in Jordan, Heveen Kurdi has enjoyed cooking since age 12, when she snuck out of bed to fry a chicken and experiment in the kitchen.

Her love continued when she spent hours cooking for friends and family while in the U.S. getting her bachelor’s and M.B.A. degrees. Kurdi says she was hooked on the Food Network as soon as she turned on the TV in the U.S. “That’s where it all started,” she says.

After working for a year in the health care industry, Kurdi started to feel the entrepreneurial itch. She wanted to do what she loved: She wanted to cook.

So at age 29, with no experience in the food industry or culinary arts other than the experiments in her own kitchen, Kurdi decided she would open a restaurant. She spoke to her father, who was still in Jordan, and persuaded him to let her use the rest of her savings to

make her dream a reality.

Kurdi hired chefs and taught them how to cook her recipes, the chefs taught her how the restaurant business worked.

Kurdi insisted on building her restaurant from scratch. She drew up the design of the space, imported the décor, crafted the logo, and selected her favorite recipes to create the menu.

“I built Kurdi’s from the ground up, and it’s been rough,” she says. When she first created a business plan to build her restaurant, she forecasted a $250,000 investment. Unfortunately, naïve to the complexity of contractor-subcontractor relationships, Kurdi was quickly wrapped up in a lawsuit and paying double for the construction work.

Kurdi didn’t let this hurdle stop her.

A year later than expected, costing $150,000 more than budgeted, Kurdi’s Fresh Mediterranean Grill opened its doors in June 2011.

“Most of my mistakes, I’ve learned from my own pockets,” she says.

— Traci McMillan Beach

In his words .............................. In her words ...........................

TWITTER HANDLE: @VoalteKing

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Everything is always harder and takes longer than you think.

FAVORITE OFF-HOURS ACTIVITY: Anything athletic and being outside like running, playing tennis, and kayaking.

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: Cure cancer.

BEST PLACE TO NETWORK: Bars. The idea

of Voalte started in a bar.

40Under40

TWO PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Steve Jobs and

Isaac Newton.

BOOK YOU’RE READING NOW: “No Easy Day: The Autobiography of a Navy Seal”

by Mark Owen.

Hear more about King’s start by scanning this QR code with your smartphone or visiting BusinessObserver4040. com.

TWITTER HANDLE: @KurdisMedGrill

BIRTHPLACE: Amman, Jordan

YEARS ON THE GULF COAST: Six years ALMA MATER: FUI (undergraduate) and

Nova Southeastern University (M.B.A.)

back on how to take my restaurant to the next level. I admire Suze Orman’s drive and success and would like to discuss financial and investment planning for the future.

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Trust but verify.

To see what Kurdi wrote on her white board, scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

TWO PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Gordon Ramsay and Suze Orman. I would love to have an indepth discussion with Chef Ramsay about the restaurant industry and get his feed-

ymel v v a s @

Melissa Link, 35, Sarasota Owner, Brand Eleven Eleven A trip to New York City in college a decade ago was an epiphany for Melissa Link.

Then a student at the Savannah College of Art & Design, Link thought she was going to enter a career in computer animation. But when she met with people doing it and heard about the 12-hour, and sometimes 16-hour days, she changed her mind.

Now Link owns a branding and marketing firm, Sarasota-based Brand Eleven Eleven. The name, says Link,

is based on the synchronicity of 11:11.

The workload is still high, but Link is happy with her choice. Her animation background, she adds, only bolsters her business when she works with clients, which range from nonprofits to small businesses. “I have a lot of great ideas for clients because I went to art school,” says Link. “I didn’t have the box that other marketing people are in.”

A Naples native, Link says the juggle of running a business day to day is both her biggest challenge and what drives her to keep going. That juggle

is only made more complicated by the fact that Link is a single mom with two young, active children. “I love the design and strategy side,” she says, “but I have to make time to do accounting and bill collecting.”

Link says business has been good, though she worries the economy still has a squeeze on the budgets companies use for marketing. “I focus a lot on keeping existing clients happy,” says Link. “We all know that getting a new client is much harder than retaining a current client.”

— Mark Gordon

In her words ........................................................

BEST PLACE TO NETWORK: I meet new

people just about anywhere, whether it’s a typical networking activity or even the grocery store.

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: There are so many. I would say most recently the coolest experience was having one of our clients, Easter Seals of SWFL, tell us about

how a billboard we designed for them inspired a dad who was struggling to call. It is amazing when the work we do really makes a difference in someone’s life.

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Be kind, be respectful, be

helpful, never burn bridges and always keep an open mind.

WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A MOVIE ABOUT YOUR LIFE: Ashley Judd.

Hear more about Link’s work-life balance by scanning this QR code or visiting BusinessObserver4040. com.

OCTOBER 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com

40Under40

BY TRACI MCMILLAN BEACH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

S

tarting her fashion career at Saks Fifth Avenue in Palm Beach, Tracy Negoshian spent hours admiring the bright colors and prints of luxury clothing, without being able to afford the astronomical prices. Negoshian knew what the market was missing: affordable yet high-quality wash-and-wear clothing.

While at the national championship football game with her family in 2007, Negoshian couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe how many people came up to compliment her momâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expensive Gator-orange tank top with studs, wanting to know where she got it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I could do better than that,â&#x20AC;? Negoshian said to her stepdad.

Recognizing her drive, and believing in her business model, her stepdad told her that if she was interested in starting her own clothing line, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d help her with the initial investment. Negoshian took advantage of the opportunity, and in fall 2008 launched My Game Boutique, a clothing line catering to women wanting to wear â&#x20AC;&#x153;cuteâ&#x20AC;? college-colored prints.

Within a year, the Collegiate Licensing Co. asked Negoshian to cease and desist.

Negoshian knew she wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t breaking any laws or using any logos, so she continued to sell. Eventually, the organization filed a lawsuit against her. Though Negoshian won the legal battle, she said the confrontation served as a wake-up call for her. College football season was only three months long. She wanted to

â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;?

BOLD and

BRIGHT

Tracy Negoshian, 31, dreamed of affording the beautiful clothing created by Lilly Pulitzer, Trina Turk and Tory Burch. So she decided to make her own.

MARK WEMPLE

TRACY NEGOSHIANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clothing line features bright colors and bold prints. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I design to enhance confidence,â&#x20AC;? Negoshian says. be a lifestyle brand.

So in 2009, she launched the Tracy Negoshian brand, and aimed to become a household brand name in womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ward-

robes nationwide. To spark interest in her bold colors and prints she visited stores wearing her collection and carrying sample sets in her car, Negoshian says. She

21

also attended trade shows and sent out postcards with pictures of her clothing, which garnered interest from sales reps who asked to represent her brand. Within six months, more than 175 boutiques were carrying her clothing. The company profited its first year in business by keeping overhead low, Negoshian says.

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now expanded her collection to more than 500 specialty boutiques throughout the U.S. and Caribbean, and releases four collections a year. Gross revenue topped $5 million last year. Her first flagship store is opening in Old Town Naples this month. Her target demographic ranges from 18- to 60-year-old women, with bright, loud colors and exclusive prints. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Women that wear bright colors and prints attract attention, so the confidence is there,â&#x20AC;? Negoshian says.

A self-proclaimed â&#x20AC;&#x153;spreadsheet fool,â&#x20AC;?

Negoshian says she creates spreadsheets for everything: tracking popular colors, prints, and even predictions for upcoming popular football teams.

When creating a new item, Negoshian comes up with the print first. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m constantly doodling,â&#x20AC;? she says. She then works with computer programs such as Adobe Illustrator to build a design for the clothing and print. Once itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s complete, she sends a full design pack to factories in Seoul, Korea.

The whole sample process takes two to five months, and sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s traveled abroad multiple times to better understand the culture and build relationships at the factories that help make her products. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are so many things that are out of my control in this industry,â&#x20AC;? Negoshian says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Just trying to get designs, and what I have pictured in my head, across to people who produce it and bring it to life, and we never know. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a huge risk.â&#x20AC;?

VIDEO

Women that wear bright colors and prints attract attention, so the confidence is there. Tracy Negoshian | Tracy Negoshian Inc.

Watch a video of Negoshian at work at Business Observer4040.com.

TODAYâ&#x20AC;?S Â Headlines TODAYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S Headlines

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22

BUSINESS OBSERVER | OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013

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40Under40

Liza Maldonado, 38, Cape Coral Criminal Division Director, Lee County Court Administration

Liza Maldonado has to be the maven of organization.

Consider the volume of people she has to track as the criminal division director for Lee County’s courts: In the most recent fiscal year, 21,500 newly arrested people passed through her courthouse domain.

Plus, she has to track another 2,900 people on probation.

It’s fair to say that most of these folks really don’t want to be there, but Maldonado manages this rough crowd with the help of 61 staff.

“We assist the judges with managing the cases,” Maldonado explains. “Some staff work right inside the jail on a 24/7 basis.”

How does she do it? “I’m real big on structure and chain of command,” says the single mother of two.

“You have to really trust your staff, and I do that quite a bit,” Maldonado says. “I’m

big on the team approach. I have three direct reports and I count on them wholeheartedly.”

She’s always communicating with her staff and expects to be informed about what happens, even if it’s not pleasant news. “You must make your expectations clear,” Maldonado says. “The burden always falls on management. When something goes wrong I’ll take the hit for it.”

Maldonado says it’s a challenge to juggle a job that functions 24 hours a day and seven days a week. “It’s very important to be able to walk away from it,” she says, making time for her children and exercise.

Her favorite workout routine is an exercise boot camp because she can follow directions from an instructor. “I don’t have to be the one making the decisions,” she laughs.

— Jean Gruss

In her words ............................

ALMA MATER: Florida Gulf Coast University

BEST AWARD YOU EVER RECEIVED: #1 MOM

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Communication, collabora-

a well-deserved raise.

tion and consensus building is vital in leadership.

FAVORITE OFF-HOURS ACTIVITY: Working

out, spending time with my children and supporting my daughter’s dancing and my son’s basketball goals.

40Under40

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: Give my staff To see what Maldonado wanted to be when she grew up, scan this QR code or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

Rich Matthews, 35, Estero Owner, State Farm Insurance Agency Rich Matthews is a model State Farm agent in many ways.

Matthews, who owns the State Farm agency in Estero, was selected to be in a State Farm television commercial in 2010 in part because he was among the top 5% agents in the nation. Plus, he’s a great-looking guy.

The production company that created the State Farm commercial flew Matthews out for a week to Los Angeles where he stayed at the Four Seasons hotel, all expenses paid.

But Matthews didn’t shoot straight to the top without considerable effort. The son of a

Tampa State Farm agent, Matthews opened his own agency in 2007 just as the recession was hitting the state hard.

Because State Farm wasn’t writing homeowners’ insurance, Matthews focused on financial planning, auto and life insurance.

After countless hours of cold calling and knocking on doors, Matthews’ agency now has 12 employees.

“The agency is growing quite a bit and life has gotten better,” Matthews says. “We’re still building homes and people are moving into the area.”

— Jean Gruss

In his words ....................................

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Always do the right thing for the cli-

Club Auto, top 50 out of 1,800 State Farm agents

ONE WEBSITE THAT MAKES YOUR JOB EASIER:

Edge,” by Jeff Olson

ent and you can’t fail.

Success.com

ONE COMMUNITY GROUP YOU’RE MOST INVOLVED WITH: CCMI, the Soup Kitchen of Fort Myers

BEST AWARD YOU EVER RECEIVED: Presidents

BOOK YOU’RE READING NOW: “The Slight IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: Get rid of the

sense of entitlement that has become so prevalent in our culture and replace it with a value-driven culture where people embrace hard work and daily self-improvement and accountability.

See what Matthews wrote on his white board and watch his State Farm commercial by scanning this QR code or visiting his page at BusinessObserver4040.com.

OCTOBER 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

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23

40Under40

BY MARK GORDON DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

L

andscape architect Amy Nichols was relatively content being told what to do by her bosses, so she rarely dreamed about starting her own business.

But then the recession hit. Nichols, a single mom, had moved from Sarasota to Boston to find work, got laid off and moved back to Sarasota. That desperation became her motivation to become an entrepreneur.

It helped, too, that Nicholsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; older sister, Erin Zolner, was in a similar position.

Zolner wanted to get out of the financial services industry. With an M.B.A., Zolner had worked for Morgan Stanley, among other firms, for a decade. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We wanted to do something together,â&#x20AC;? says Nichols, 36, â&#x20AC;&#x153;but we never had the flexibility.â&#x20AC;?

The sisters soon settled on a business: lollicakes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; part lollipop, part cake. The final product, tied in a bow, is handcrafted in a variety of flavors, from mint chocolate chip to caramel. They named the business the Lollicake Queen.

The pair began out of their homes in 2010.

The national cupcake craze was rolling at the time, both on reality TV shows and in bakeries. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But there was nothing like this,â&#x20AC;? says Nichols. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We wanted to be the first, and we knew we had to be the best.â&#x20AC;?

That competitive spirit tested the sistersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; resolve. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were prepared to work a lot of hours and do a lot,â&#x20AC;? says Zolner, 39, â&#x20AC;&#x153;but that first year we never stopped working.â&#x20AC;?

40Under40

TREAT MASTERS Two sisters on divergent career paths came together in pursuit of entrepreneurial dreams. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a tasty ride.

MARK WEMPLE

AMY NICHOLS, left, opened the Lollicake Queen in 2011 with her sister, ERIN ZOLNER, far right. The sisters and Zolnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s husband, KEITH ZOLNER, middle, opened Perq Coffee Bar on Hillview Street earlier this year.

They initially baked lollicakes for local schools, including the preschool class Zolnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughter, Ryan, attended. The treats were a big hit: Parents and teachers loved the lollicakes because each one was less messy, had less sugar and contained less calories than a piece of cake or a cupcake.

Within a year the sisters had their own store, a 425-square-foot space in Southside Village, a trendy neighborhood south of downtown Sarasota. Two years after that the sisters, along with Zolnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s husband, Keith Zolner, opened Perq Coffee Bar, an artisan coffee house connected to the Lollicake Queen store on Hillview Street. The

Perq expansion cost into the six figures, funds from saving and financing.

Now the trio, all under 40 years old, runs a 15-employee business. They also have a website that sells and ships lollicakes nationwide. They decline to release sales figures.

The sisters share ownership of the business 50-50. Zolner tends to do more of the accounting and back office work, while Nichols is more the up-front sales face.

That, says Nichols, is somewhat of an irony, because she is unfailingly shy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d rather do the dishes than work the counter,â&#x20AC;? quips Nichols. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m such an introvert.

But this has been good for me.â&#x20AC;?

One of the ongoing challenges the sisters face is a common one for startup entrepreneurs: How to give up day-to-day control of every aspect of the business.

Their biggest mistake, says Zolner, is they waited too long to hire people three years ago when the business took off. Says Zolner: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to work ourselves as hard as we did in the beginning.â&#x20AC;?

VIDEO Watch a video of the Lollicake Queens at work at BusinessObserver4040.com.

Elisabeth Nassberg, 39, Naples Owner and Administrator, Just Like Family Home Care Elisabeth Nassberg doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t shrink in the face of a challenge.

Baby in tow, she and husband, Jacob, moved to Naples in 2005 from the east coast of the state and rented a 100-squarefoot office for their new business, Just Like Family Home Care.

Today, Just Like Family Home Care has an army of 700 caregivers in the region to visit with patients who need help at home. Nassberg and her team of more

than 15 people focus on getting people help fast, usually within the hour.

But Nassbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s company doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just have a great name. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hired her own relatives to work in the business, including mom and dad. She employs teams of relatives such as mothers, daughters and sisters. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t put everyone in the same room,â&#x20AC;? she laughs.

The secret to hiring good people is to find the first one. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When you find one

good person, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll bring you more,â&#x20AC;?

Nassberg reasons. Like relatives, good employees attract each other in a virtuous cycle that continues as the company grows. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They keep getting better and better.â&#x20AC;?

Nassberg knew this firsthand when she started the business. She had managed another home-care company before embarking on her own venture. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You have to know this business to start it,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Each year we doubled our business.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Jean Gruss

In  her  words ...........................................................

MARITAL STATUS/CHILDREN: Happily married to Jacob 12 years with two sons, Noah, 10, and Joshua, 8.  BEST PLACE TO NETWORK: For me, it has been volunteering and giving back to the community. I love supporting the local good causes related to health, seniors and children in our own backyard.

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;VE LEARNED: I think that you should only

the rest is good service, good timing and good business planning.Â

go into your own business if you truly know how to do it. This means working your way from the bottom up most of the time! I also think that you need to plan on working harder than you ever would working for someone else. If you can handle that, and you know what you are doing,

To learn more about Nassbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business, scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

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Dan O’Berski, 32, Estero Jonathan James Rotella, 38, Naples Managing Director and Principal, Trinity Commercial Group Dan O’Berski was 8 years old when he scored his first real estate deal.

With money he’d earned mowing lawns, O’Berski invested $300 in a deal with his grandfather, a Bonita Springs developer. When they flipped it a few months later, O’Berski was $150 richer and he was hooked.

Now, O’Berski is the managing director and principal of Trinity Commercial Group, a commercial brokerage firm that handled $50 million in sales and leasing last year.

O’Berski cut his teeth on retail tenant representation, a segment of the market that’s now recovering fast. An alumnus of brokerage firm CBRE, he’s worked on recent deals for Tijuana Flats restaurants, Aio Wireless and Wawa gas stations.

Commercial real estate is a commission-based business that demands hustle.

“I’ve never been employed in the purest sense,” says O’Berski. “It’s always living and dying by the deal.”

O’Berski is busy on the home front, too, raising five young children with his wife

President and CEO, NexGen Hyperbaric and The Center For Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Medicine

Kristin. Me-time is racquetball at 5:30 a.m. with some buddies at LA Fitness. “I don’t have hobbies,” O’Berski says. “I’ve got my faith, my family and my work.

Thankfully I love all of it.”

—Jean Gruss

In his words ..............................

BIRTHPLACE: Ann Arbor, Mich.

from others.

MARITAL STATUS/CHILDREN: Married

BEST AWARD YOU EVER RECEIVED: Best

(Kristin) with five kids (Alex, 10, Sydney, 8, Maddie, 6, Ellie, 5, Hudson, 2)

BEST PLACE TO NETWORK: ICSC (International Conference of Shopping Center), Florida event and Las Vegas event

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Seek to serve and learn

40Under40

Dad pictures from my kids

To hear how O’Berski got hooked on deal-making, scan this QR code or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

Wine and medicine may mix after all.

As a young pharmaceutical rep, Jonathan Rotella became a wine aficionado by entertaining physician clients with expensive vintages. “Most of the physicians I’d entertain and educate were also lovers of wine, especially when it was me paying for them. I could afford to be picky,” he says.

That love of wine continues today, except Rotella is now a successful Naples entrepreneur who has built a chain of 14 wound-care centers with another eight planned through 2015.

Rotella’s passion for wine is now the focus of a movie for which he’s raising $10 million in partnership with Robert Kamen, who penned hit screenplays such as “The Karate Kid” and “Taps.”

Kamen, who owns a vineyard, has written a screenplay called “Judgment of Paris” based on the life of Warren Winiarski, the man whose Napa cabernet beat the best French vintages in the 1976 Paris wine competition.

Rotella, a self-made entrepreneur,

says he identifies with Winiarski, who started with a few hundred dollars to his name. Ultimately, Winiarski built Stag’s Leap Vineyards, transforming the California wine industry. “Following your passion and dedication is the recipe for success,” Rotella says.

—Jean Gruss

In his words ...........................

BIRTHPLACE: Binghamton, N.Y.

YEARS ON THE GULF COAST: 12 THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Never underesti-

mate what you’re capable of and never let anyone tell you that it can’t be done.

ONE COMMUNITY GROUP YOU’RE MOST INVOLVED WITH: Naples Children & Edu-

cation Foundation

TWO PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Bill Murray and

Harry S. Truman

BOOK YOU’RE READING NOW: “The Great

Ideas,” by Mortimer J. Adler

FAVORITE OFF-HOURS ACTIVITY: Mountain biking in Beaver Creek, Colo.; Cooking, drinking wine with friends and family; Long hikes in the mountains with my two labs, Bachelor and Brunello; Watching my 3-year-old thoroughbred Lady Giuseppina race.

Scan this QR code with your smartphone to see Rotella explain his white board, or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

Tammie Sandoval, 29, Sarasota

Director - Trust & Estate Services, BMO Private Bank Tammie Sandoval has quickly become immersed in the Sarasota community.

She moved to the area from Orlando in April 2012, through a promotion at BMO Private Bank. In a little more than a year she has participated in the Arts & Cultural Alliance Arts Leadership Program; joined the Junior League; and become a member of the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council.

Sandoval was also named to the board of directors at the Sarasota Orchestra

earlier this year.

This is all in addition to a demanding day job at BMO, which specializes in trust and estate administrations services for high net worth individuals and families. “I want to make sure I take a little bit out of the community and put a lot back in,” Sandoval says. “Sarasota is a great place to support a charity.”

Sandoval has long been someone who gets super-involved in the places she lives. That goes back to Port Chester, N.Y., north of New York City, where

she grew up. In fact, in high school, when she was a cheerleader and in the marching band, among other accomplishments, she won a prestigious award for academic and extracurricular excellence.

Sandoval’s biggest challenge, both in work and the community, is to remember to give herself a break from time to time — something many high achievers struggle with. “I hold myself to a very high standard,” Sandoval says. “Maybe I should ease up a bit. I can’t know everything all the time.”

— Mark Gordon

In her words ........................................................................................

BIRTHPLACE: Port Chester, N.Y.

how the issue/behavior can be better.

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: When offering construc-

ONE COMMUNITY GROUP YOU’RE MOST INVOLVED WITH: Sarasota Orchestra

tive criticism it is best to follow-up the critique with a solution or better practice. I have found that anyone can criticize a person or process, leading to a poor work environment. It is best to follow up your critique with a solution on

(board member). I grew up playing the clarinet and performing in my schools’ concert and marching bands as well as individually in state musical adjudications and concerts. Over the years music in schools has been placed on the

backburner and the Sarasota Orchestra, via their Youth Orchestra, has taken up the slack and placed it back in the forefront of students’ lives. Music for today’s youth should not just be the blaring sound that comes out of their ear buds.

Instead, students should be taught the art of music: how to play an instrument, read music and become a well-rounded, contributing member of society.

FAVORITE OFF-HOURS ACTIVITY: Playing

with my very spirited Jack Russell Terrier, Pepper. Reading, enjoying the beautiful Gulf Coast beaches and traveling.

Scan this QR code to see Sandoval’s white board, or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com

40Under40

H

BACKGROUND

CHECK Brandon Phillips started his business in a 150-square-foot office and now has 80 employees and 1,500 clients.

BRIAN TIETZ

Brandon Phillips, the president of Global HR Research, now helps 1,500 companies conduct employee background checks.

ere’s how badly Brandon Phillips wanted to become an entrepreneur: He turned down a dream job with the Detroit Pistons basketball team.

Phillips, who played college hoops in Michigan, came to Fort Myers in 2004 to lead sales and marketing for the Florida Flame, part of the NBA Development League, the minor league version of basketball.

When the Pistons came calling in 2005, Phillips turned them down. His reason? He had an idea to create a firm that would provide employee background checks.

Instead of joining the Pistons, Phillips rented a 150-square-foot office, barely large enough for him, an intern from Florida Gulf Coast University and three computers. His first client was Bonita Bay Group, a developer of luxury communities. “I landed that account and it kept the doors open,” he says.

His secret to land new customers: “I could outwork the competition,” Phillips says.

Today, Global HR Research has 80 employees working in 26,000 square feet of office space near Interstate 75 in Fort Myers. Phillips declines to disclose revenues, but they rose 60% last year compared with 2011, he says. The firm now has more than 1,500 clients, many of them Fortune 500 companies, he says.

Tina Tenret, 39, Clearwater

Vice President and Certified Financial Planner, ProVise Management Group When award-winning investigative journalist Tina Tenret was 29 years old, she made a major career change. The move was spurred by her mother’s suicide, a shocking tragedy that made Tenret rethink the importance of her news career.

Her mom, like many women, was constantly “full of financial worry,” according to Tenret. Her fears surrounding finances only worsened when she got a divorce and didn’t know how to navigate the job market after 20 years as a stay-at-home mom.

With a desire to help other women like her mom, Tenret went back to school to become a certified financial planner. She then joined ProVise Management Group, accepting a salary 10% less than her other offers, because she says she admired the firm’s ethics.

Today, ProVise provides full financial planning services managing about $800 million for 750 clients. Tenret assists about 100 clients, whose investable assets range from $250,000 to $2 million.

She specializes in helping women who are divorced or widowed, who oftentimes have the

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Take the next step. You only have to be uncomfortable five minutes at a time.

FAVORITE OFF-HOURS ACTIVITY: African sa-

faris. My next safari will track the mountain gorillas in Rwanda.

TWO PEOPLE, DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Katie Couric, with

whom I worked at the “Today Show” during my TV news days, and Oprah Winfrey, who built herself up from nothing.

BEST AWARD EVER RECEIVED: Back in my

days as a TV news investigative reporter, I earned the Associated Press Investigative Reporting Award for uncovering Medicare double billing at a university hospital.

Don’t Wait on the BP Claims Process...

WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A MOVIE ABOUT YOUR LIFE: Halle Berry. She knows

CALL TODAY -

firsthand that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. My mother’s sudden death brought me to my knees but governs much of who and what I am today.

Scan this QR code or visit BusinessObserver4040. com to see what Tenret wrote on her white board.

same “bag lady syndrome,” or fear of being put out on the street, that pained her mom. “I want to put that fear to rest,” Tenret says.

She also enjoys working with same-sex couples, for their financial planning involves unique issues not present in other families. This summer the Wall Street Journal published an article on Tenret’s work with a same-sex couple who hired her to determine if they could have one parent become a stay-at-home dad.

Tenret believes her background in journalism has helped her better understand her clients’ needs. “You know what questions to ask to get to the heart of the matter,” she says.

Last year, the president of the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce asked Tenret to launch a women’s executive leadership group, AchieveHERs. At first, Tenret didn’t see the need.

But once she started meeting with women in the community, she realized “many phenomenally successful women still have a crisis of confidence,” she says.

— Traci McMillan Beach

Cash Flow Challenged?

In her words .............................

BIRTHPLACE: Wilmington, Del.

While he had landed customers such as Naples hospital operator Health Management Associates by 2007, Phillips found it challenging to finance his company’s growth. “I was still struggling to capitalize the company,” he says.

So Phillips sold a majority stake of his business to Austin Shanfelter, the former CEO and president of Miami-based contracting giant MasTec. Shanfelter funded the company’s operations during the bleakest time of the economic downturn in 2008 and became chairman of Global HR. “He was looking to buy a company like this because he saw what MasTec was spending,” Phillips recalls.

Global HR is now growing so fast that it needs more capital to handle the growth. “We’re in the second half of a planned capital raise,” says Phillips, who declines to disclose further details.

By the end of 2014, Phillips expects he’ll have 150 employees, nearly double the current staff.

A single mom in Michigan raised Phillips, 35, after his father died at an early age. He learned responsibility and self-reliance early. “I was the man of the house,” he says.

Organization is key, says Phillips, who fills a legal notepad every month and uses technology such as live chats and electronic calendars. “Time management is huge,” says the Sanibel resident.

The trim CEO is modest about his workout routine. “I run a little bit,” he says, noting he’s got a sprint triathlon in his sights. Relaxing means spending time with his children, two dogs and teaching himself to play guitar. His current repertoire includes Jimmy Buffett, the Eagles and Van Morrison.

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40Under40

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25

26

BUSINESS OBSERVER | OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013

BusinessObserverFL.com

40Under40

son _ p m o h @T

Kelsey

Kelsey Thompson, 26, Fort Myers Forensic CPA, Markham Norton Mosteller Wright & Co.

Some people think Kelsey Thompson files tax returns for dead people, but that’s not what she does for a living.

Thompson is a forensic accountant, which means she helps attorneys find hidden money and assets in cases such as divorces and business fraud.

Thompson digs through bank records and other documents to find hidden assets in the U.S. or overseas. Her team once found evidence of an offshore business in an innocuous marketing document. “People really do those things,” she chuckles.

The documents Thompson reviews are produced as part of court cases. “We don’t do any dumpster diving or that

kind of stuff,” she says.

But be warned: Thompson is well armed.

Her hobbies include skeet shooting and she owns a Remington 870 Express shotgun. “I don’t compete, but I do enjoy it and I’m not too bad,” Thompson says.

Thompson grew up in a home in the woods and shoots skeet on her dad’s property. “I like to be outside and do outdoorsy stuff,” says Thompson, whose family outings include dove hunting.

Accounting isn’t exactly an outdoorsy profession, Thompson acknowledges. “I would love to do my job outdoors,” she laughs.

— Jean Gruss

In her words ...........................

ALMA MATER: University of South Florida – Tampa (bachelor’s), Florida Gulf Coast University (master’s)

BEST PLACE TO NETWORK: Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce Women in Business

BOOK YOU’RE READING NOW: “True Professionalism,” by David H. Maister FAVORITE OFF-HOURS ACTIVITY: Skeet shooting or boating

40Under40

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Treat your clients and fel-

low team members like gold

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I’D: Make the proverbial “common sense” a little more common

To hear more about where Thompson digs for accounting dirt scan this QR code or visit BusinessObserver4040. com.

CPrez W W @

Lauren Weiner, 39, Odessa President and Co-Founder, Wittenberg Weiner Consulting LLC When Lauren Weiner graduated with her Ph.D. in research psychology from Dartmouth, she wasn’t interested in entering academia. Instead, she entered the world of politics, working four years as a policy analyst at the Office of Management and Budget under the Clinton and Bush administrations.

When her soon-to-be fiancé received orders to work in a new military command in Naples, Italy, Weiner decided she would join him, noting multiple openings for senior management positions near the base.

She quickly secured a job on base in IT policy, when a comptroller position became available. Much to her surprise, the executive director would not consider her. He told her bluntly, “Even though you’re the best candidate, you’re 30 years old, you just got married, you’re going to get pregnant

and you won’t be a professional for long,” Weiner recalls.

So Weiner opened her own business in 2004, Weiner Wittenberg Consulting, combining her two last names in hopes of conveying big-agency capability. She picked up her first contract almost immediately, an analytics project on base.

Soon she was asked to complete database work, and she brought on her friend, Donna Huneycutt, as a business partner to help. Before long, there was more work, so they hired their first employee, another military spouse, a Harvard-educated lawyer.

Weiner recalls clients telling her, “I want another one of you, give me another one.” In its first year, Wittenberg Weiner Consulting grew to 15 military-spouse professionals. Now the company has 60 employees, work-

ing in 10 time zones, earning around $7 million in revenue.

Despite spanning the globe, Weiner still actively manages all employees, providing security clearances and extensive background checks to make sure they are the right fit for positions.

She also works hard to make everyone feel they are part of a cohesive company. One way is through a traveling stuffed hedgehog mascot, “Hedgie,” who was born from a company love for Jim Collin’s book, “Good to Great.”

Weiner says she and Huneycutt aren’t looking to sell the company and expect to be in business for the long run. “This is our baby growing all the way through,” she adds. She hopes to continue to support other militaryspouse professionals outside of work through her nonprofit, In Gear Career.

— Traci McMillan Beach

In her words .............................................

BIRTHPLACE: Detroit, Mich.

YEARS ON THE GULF COAST: Three

having to sneak away to the bushes at the side of the house to read “Goodnight Moon” to my daughter.

MARITAL STATUS/CHILDREN: Married; two children (Rachel, 5 and Ben, 2.5)

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS LESSON I’VE LEARNED: Trust your gut

BEST PLACE TO NETWORK: US Airways flight to/from Washington, D.C.

ONE WEBSITE THAT MAKES YOUR JOB EASIER: Facebook. We have a

COOLEST BUSINESS EXPERIENCE:

Having dinner at the home of the vice chair of the joint chiefs of staff, and

private internal company page — a “virtual water cooler” — that allows our employees scattered across 10 time zones to talk to each other.

Scan this QR code or visit BusinessObserver4040. com to hear Weiner explain her white board.

OCTOBER 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

40Under40

Military veteran Dan Vanderheyden was sick of seeing defense contractors who only cared about profits, so he and his friends decided to set out on their own.

BY TRACI MCMILLAN BEACH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

O

ver beers after work, while working together on a billion-dollar contract for U.S. Special Operations Command, Dan Vanderheyden and his friends used to joke about starting their own business. But the four men soon found their jokes turned into serious conversations about how they could make money while treating employees well. In 2011, they decided to make the leap.

The group spent a few months floating the idea with their employers so they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t burn any bridges, and in May 2012 Vanderheyden set out to co-found and act as chief operating officer for the newly formed Legion Systems.

With all four partners â&#x20AC;&#x153;slightly analretentive,â&#x20AC;? they agreed upon an extensive operating agreement and lengthy legal document that detailed all the best and worst courses of action. With military backgrounds, â&#x20AC;&#x153;we basically war game everything,â&#x20AC;? Vanderheyden says.

Vanderheyden started his military career at 19 years old with the International Guard, and joined the Navy two years later. After Sept. 11, 2005, Vanderheyden found himself exhausted by the pace of the service. He realized he had been deployed nearly six years, and he decided to transition to work for the defense industry. He worked on various intelligence and security contracts in Baghdad and Virginia before moving to Tampa to learn the business of contracting with U.S. Central Command and Special Operations.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;?

27

BusinessObserverFL.com

GURU of DEFENSE MARK WEMPLE

Navy veteran DAN VANDERHEYDEN, 35, is owner and chief operating officer of Legion Systems, a $2.5 million defense contract firm.

So when the team started to draft Legionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business plan in Tampa, they quickly realized â&#x20AC;&#x153;you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t swing a dead cat in this town without hitting a small business that focuses on defense something,â&#x20AC;? Vanderheyden says. They needed to specialize, so they focused on what they did best: special operations and in-

telligence.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, they set themselves apart from the competition by offering the â&#x20AC;&#x153;same services with more,â&#x20AC;? Vanderheyden says. For the first year, they focused on advisory services, or consulting, while building the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s infrastructure to become more attractive

for future contracts.

Though he declined to share any names, Vanderheyden says his company has already worked with the top 10 largest defense contracting firms in the nation, all repeat customers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We provide subject matter expertise to support the client, focusing on business development from the proposal to transition management, to the first day of the contract,â&#x20AC;? he says.

Roughly eight months ago, Legion Systems expanded its services to government solutions, or defense contracting.

The company has already been awarded seven contracts to assist the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Navyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Information Operations, the Special Ops Commandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Global Battlestaff Program, the U.S. Forces Afghanistan Information Ops task force, and the Counter- Narcoterrorism Technology Program. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You get the same high every time you win a contract,â&#x20AC;? Vanderheyden admits.

In less than a year, the company experienced 300% growth, and is now bringing in more than $2.5 million in revenue. The company consists of six full-time employees, and a range of contractors, flexing from three to 20 on a single project.

Next, the firm plans to focus on strategic applications, or helping clients such as new military equipment engineers connect with operators in the field. With a few contracts pending in Washington, D.C., Vanderheyden says he wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be surprised to see a new Legion office opening in the U.S. Capitol.

Vanderheyden says he can see the company tripling in size over the next six months, making it an acquisition target. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Due to the niche services we provide, I can foresee someone wanting to acquire us in the next five to six years,â&#x20AC;? Vanderheyden says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think all those things will happen.â&#x20AC;?

You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t swing a dead cat in this town without hitting a small business that focuses on defense something. Dan Vanderheyden | Legion Systems

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28 commercial real estate | TAMPA BAY | BusinessObserverFL.com

Pollack Shores Real Estate Group buys Coves of Brighton Bay BUYER: AB/PSREG Coves LLC (AB/PSREG Coves Venture LLC), Atlanta SELLER: Coves of Brighton Bay LLC PROPERTY: 10901 Brighton Bay Blvd. N.E., St Petersburg PRICE: $36.4 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $27.99 million, December 2001 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Seward & Kissel LLP, New York City PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

Pollack Shores Real Estate Group purchased the 382-unit The Coves of Brighton Bay apartment community for $36.4 million.

The price equated to $95,277 per unit.

Built in 2000, The Coves of Brighton Bay is a garden-style community with one- two- and three-bedroom units. The development features a lake, swimming pool, observation dock, garages, a fitness center, business center and gazebo. The property also features walking trails and a large nature preserve.

The Atlanta-based real estate firm plans to upgrade the building’s exterior siding from stucco to Hardie plank and install insulated windows throughout the property. It will also be renovating

the clubhouse and apartment interiors.

“This is in keeping with our strategy of acquiring well-located, high-quality properties in areas with strong economies and the potential for even stronger employment growth,” Pollack Shores’ Director Graham Carpenter says in a press release.

The company plans to acquire additional communities in Florida in the next few months. It purchased the 252-unit Polo Glen Apartments in the Melbourne metro area in January, and the 456-unit Sabal Palm at Metrowest II Apartments in Orlando this April. The 7-year-old firm has a portfolio of multifamily properties valued at about $1 billion.

Jones Lang LaSalle brokered the sale and arranged the buyer’s debt financing.

Purchase entity AB/PSREG Coves LLC mortgaged the property to CIBC Inc. for $32.7 million.

Youssef investors buy Westshore’s Transworld building for $3.05 million BUYER: Issytimmy5 LLC (principals: Yvonne and Tamer Youssef), Tampa SELLER: Transworld Diversified Services Inc. PROPERTY: 4115 W. Spruce St., Tampa PRICE: $3.05 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $850,000, March 1998 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Gardner Brewer Martinez Monfort PA, Tampa PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

Real estate investor Tamer Youssef and his wife, Yvonne Youssef, chief financial officer of River Crossing Labs, purchased the 31,310-square-foot Transworld Building for $3.05 million.

BUSINESS OBSERVER | OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013

BY SEAN ROTH | REAL ESTATE EDITOR

The price equated to $97 per square foot. That figure is lower than the twoyear average price per square foot for office space ($115) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The 38-year-old former IRS office building was purchased, gutted and renovated in 1998 and 1999 to serve as the headquarters of staffing services company Transworld Diversified Services. The two-story building features private offices and conference rooms.

Located at the northeast corner of Spruce Street and Lois Avenue, the 1.64acre property also features zoning that allows for the future development of up to 250,000 square feet of office space.

“First and foremost we were attracted to the location and the size of the building,” Tamer Youssef says. “Hopefully our business [River Crossing Labs] will eventually go in there. We are going to be repainting the building, trimming the trees and redoing the landscaping.”

In the near term, Transworld Diversified Services plans to lease space in the building. The Westshore building is located near the new PwC offices in MetWest International and of the 300unit luxury apartment project Modera Westshore under development.

Purchase entity Issytimmy5 LLC mortgaged the property to The Bank of Tampa for $2.8 million.

Discovery Senior Living prepping for Tampa Discovery Village BUYER: Discovery Village at Tampa Palms LLC (principals: Thomas Harrison, Richard Hutchinson, Thomas Henning and Todd Carlson), Bonita Springs SELLER: Great American Corp.

commercial real estate | SARASOTA–MANATEE | Medallion Home-led investment group buys three buildings pads near Ranch BUYER: I-75 Office Park LLC (principal: Thomas Pattermann), Bradenton SELLER: Redus Florida Commercial LLC PROPERTY: 8915 E. 77th Terrace, Bradenton PRICE: $825,000 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Sun Coast Title Co., Sarasota PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

An investment company led by Carlos Beruff’s Medallion Home purchased three building pads on 2.27 acres in the Professional Center at Lakewood Ranch for $825,000.

The price equated to $363,436 per acre. That figure is less than the twoyear average price per acre for office space ($1.18 million) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

Fronting Interstate 75 north of University Parkway, the lots sit next to four completed single-story office condominium buildings. The three parcels have entitlements for roughly 33,000 square feet of office space each.

“We love the location,” Beruff says.

“It’s a short walk to the new mall so we thought for the long-term it should be a good play. We have no plans for it right now.”

Stan Rutstein of Re/Max Alliance Group represented the seller, an affiliate of Wells Fargo Bank. Wachovia Bank foreclosed on the property in mid-2010 but gave title to its parent, Wells Fargo Bank.

“It was a good value for the moment with the whole motivation being the performance of Lakewood Ranch and

its visibility on I-75,” Rutstein says.

“It’s going to be developed, built-tosuit or sold off.”

Purchase entity I-75 Office Park LLC mortgaged the property to Alejandro Vilarello as trustee of the Marco M. Beruff Irrevocable Trust Agreement for $200,000.

RARE Hospitality demolishing Los Cabos for new LongHorn Steakhouse BUYER: Rare Hospitality Management Inc. (principals: William White, Joseph Kern and Colleen Hunter), Orlando SELLER: PDG Electric LLP PROPERTY: 4502 W. 14th St., Bradenton PRICE: $1.36 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $2 million, January 2006 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Grimes Goebel Grimes Hawkins Gladfelter & Galvano PL, Bradenton

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

An affiliate of Discovery Senior Living purchased 5.47 acres of vacant land in Tampa Technology Park West Flex for $1.5 million.

The price equated to $274,223 per acre.

That figure is lower than the two-year average price per acre for industrial land ($336,202) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The Bonita Springs-based assistedliving company plans to develop its third assisted-living facility on the Tampa property. The project calls for creating 60 assisted-living units, 30 units of supervised independent living and 30 units for memory care. Because it sits on a constrained site, the development will be built in a mixture of four- and fivestory buildings.

The project’s amenities will include a pool, wellness and fitness center, movie theater, beauty/barber salon, library, crafts and dining room and bar/lounge.

Construction is scheduled to start in March for a completion in May or June 2015. Johnston, Iowa-based Henning Construction Co. is the general contractor for the project, and Architectural Concepts Inc. of Largo designed it.

“We look at all the primary markets in Florida to see where there are the largest underserved populations of seniors,” says Thomas Harrison, Discovery Senior Living’s CEO. The company plans to also develop a future Discovery Village in Sarasota.

BY SEAN ROTH | REAL ESTATE EDITOR

struction Inc. will be the general contractor for the project and Cincinnati’s FRCH Design Worldwide is the architect.

In an email to the Business Observer, Erica Jaeger, media and communications manager for LongHorn Steakhouse wrote: “We identified the Bradenton area as a great place with long-term growth potential. Bradenton is appealing in that it contains a stable resident population, but also attracts seasonal residents and tourists who are visiting the beaches. The site is surrounded by an enclosed mall and big-box retailers.”

Each LongHorn Steakhouse typically employs 80 to 100 people.

There are currently more than 430 LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants in 38 states. By the time the Bradenton location opens, more than 450 LongHorn restaurants will be in operation.

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

RARE Hospitality Management purchased the 6,526-square-foot Los Cabos Mexican Restaurant building for $1.36 million.

The price equated to $207 per square foot or $464,582 per acre. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per acre for retail land ($893,571) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The Darden Restaurant Inc. company purchased the 2.92-acre property to demolish the Mexican restaurant and build a LongHorn Steakhouse. The 6,450-square-foot, 240-guest restaurant will be a new prototype building for the restaurant group. The new location is scheduled to open in early 2014.

Crest Hill, Ill.-based Belisle Con-

PROPERTY: a portion of Brookside Trace Court and Commerce Park Boulevard, Tampa PRICE: $1.5 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $5.67 million, February 2006 TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Bayshore Title Insurance Agency, Tampa

COSTAR

Brown, Walia exchange properties on Siesta Key Village, Main Street BUYER: Ocean Blvd LLC (principal: Christopher Brown), Osprey SELLER: Harry Walia PROPERTY: 1410 Main St., Sarasota PRICE: $1.35 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $755,000, November 1992

BUYER: SRQ Ocean Blvd LLC (principal: Harry Walia), Venice SELLER: Ocean Blvd LLC PROPERTY: 5214 Ocean Blvd., Sarasota PRICE: $1.35 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.35 million, December 2012 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Berlin-Patten PLLC, Sarasota PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

Local business owner Chris Brown has traded properties with Harry Walia. Brown sold his 7,826 square feet of retail space in Siesta Key Village to Walia for $1.35 million and Walia traded him a 22,326-square-foot building on Main Street for the same amount.

The Siesta Key Village property houses Used Book Heaven, Mount N Repair and Bonjour French Café, and three residential units on the second floor. The property also includes 45 parking spaces in the back of the building.

Brown told the Sarasota Observer he doesn’t have any particular vision for the building at this point in time.

“Like anywhere else, you want to try to find some quality tenants,” Brown says. “Right now, there’s no immediate plan except to locate some quality tenants for Main Street.”

Brown is also the owner of the building at 1400 Main St., another property formerly owned by Walia. Brown also has proposed developing a secondstory outdoor gallery deck on the triangular building at Five Points.

“We want to see what the response is,” Brown says. “If they don’t want it, I understand, and we’ll go in a different direction. If they do want it, great.”

— Additional reporting by David Conway, correspondent

OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com

commercial real estate | CHARLOTTE-LEE-COLLIER |

New York City apartment investor buys 21 Century Oncology building BUYER: 7335 Glad LLC (principal: Alexander Scharf), New York City SELLER: Paletsky Office Building LLC PROPERTY: 7335 Gladiolus Drive, Fort Myers PRICE: $3.95 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $915,000, April 2003 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Thomas E. Mooney Esq., Fort Myers

San Antonio office and Howard Orgel of Westport Commercial Realty Ltd. represented the buyer.

The purchase price equated to a payoff ratio based on income (capitalization rate) of 8.75%.

Alexander says the buyer previously owned only apartment buildings and was looking to diversify into real estate with a better return.

“The market for apartments is so overheated the cap rates are really compressed,” Alexander says. “Medical is always the darling of commercial, but more so now. This was one of the strongest tenants I’ve seen in all my 84 [medical office] deals.”

Purchase entity 7335 Glad LLC mortgaged the property to Busey Bank for $3 million.

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

New York City investor Alexander Scharf purchased the 13,822-squarefoot Paletsky Medical Office Building for $3.95 million.

The price equated to $286 per square foot. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per square foot for office space ($120) in Southwest Florida, according to the CoStar Group.

The 8-year-old building is leased to 21st Century Oncology, which years ago purchased the practice of Dr. Steven Paletsky, but not the building. The tenant has seven years remaining on its initial triple-net lease, which obligates it to maintain the building and pay its insurance and taxes.

Mark Alexander of Sperry Van Ness’s Fort Myers office represented the seller.

Gerard Pastrano of Sperry Van Ness’s

BY SEAN ROTH | REAL ESTATE EDITOR

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

An investment group led by Ocala Cardiologist Dr. Ramulu Eligeti purchased the 14,205-square-foot Shoppes at Beachwalk retail and office complex for $1.39 million.

The price equated to $98 per square foot. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($140) in Southwest Florida, according to the CoStar Group.

The plaza, which occupies a 1.71-acre parcel, was fully leased at the time of sale. The center’s tenants include a café, beauty salon, medical office user and property management firm.

Chuck Smith and Carlos Acosta of Lee & Associates|Naples-Fort Myers handled the transaction.

The purchase price equated to a payoff ratio based on income (capitalization rate) of 8.6%.

“Its location across the street from a Target Supercenter was a big plus,” Smith says. “The condition of the building is also excellent.”

Group led by Ocala cardiologist buys leased Shoppes at Beachwalk BUYER: JPR San Carlos LLC (principal: Ramulu Eligeti), Ocala SELLER: Melco Investments LLC PROPERTY: 15751 San Carlos Blvd., Fort Myers PRICE: $1.39 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $450,000, October 2003 TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Title Professionals of Florida, Fort Myers

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SELLER: 1000 Highway 98 East Corp.

PROPERTY: 998 Sixth Ave. S., Naples PRICE: $2 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.05 million, September 2000 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Cohen, Norris, Wolmer, Ray, Telepman & Cohen, Attorneys at Law, North Palm Beach PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

An investment group led by F.D. Bagley of Charlestown, Mass., purchased the 4,048-square-foot retail building for $2 million.

The price equated to $494 per square foot. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($140) in Southwest Florida, according to the CoStar Group.

The 12-year-old building is currently operated by Beach Unlimited, which has agreed to lease it for two years. The triple-net lease agreement obligates the tenant to pay all property taxes, insurance and building repairs and maintenance.

Barry Jarett of Oneir Realty Inc. represented the seller and Alisha Cage of Naples Realty Services Inc. represented the buyer.

ETC… COSTAR

Massachusetts investor buys Beach Unlimited building for $2 million BUYER: PKM Property Holdings LLC (principal: F.D. Bagley), Charlestown, Mass.

• MacKinnon Equipment just announced the purchase of a new Fort Myers facility at 5566 6th St. W., Lehigh Acres. MacKinnon Equipment distributes, sells, rents, and services Yale lift trucks, JCB construction equipment, industrial scrubbers and other specialized equipment. The firm has locations in Tampa, Fort Myers, Orlando, Jacksonville and Tifton, Ga.

COVERAGE THAT SPANS FLORIDA COUNTIES

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PINELLAS MANATEE SARASOTA CHARLOTTE LEE COLLIER

OCTOBER 18 Special Issue:

Economic Forecast Business leaders weigh in with their predictions of what the coming year will bring their business and industry

Advertising Reservation Deadline: October 10 Our lineup of 2013 special issues offers an entire year of opportunities to advertise and reach Florida’s Gulf Coast business leaders. To receive more information or our editorial calendar, contact Diane Schaefer at 941.362.4848.

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30 bottom-line behavior

BUSINESS OBSERVER | OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013

BusinessObserverFL.com

BY DENISE FEDERER | CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST

What type of culture do you foster?

Through your attitude and actions in your business, are you creating a work environment of humility or arrogance?

A client of mine who was in a senior leadership position at an international business once said to me that every day he went to work he felt that he needed to “put on a suit of armor.”

The general consensus from employees at this company was you needed to be prepared to protect yourself from the “attacks” of colleagues on a daily basis. Conversely, a Fortune 500 corporation that I consult with only employs graduates from Ivy League schools. The basic assumption is, “Everyone here is smart — so don’t be superior in your attitude toward others.” In fact, several presidents had short tenures because of their autocratic attitudes.

Both of these examples raise a critical issue that impacts all business owners and leaders: What type of culture are you fostering? Does the culture at your company promote humility or arrogance? A “humble” work environment is collaborative.

There is a sense that mistakes are allowed as a part of the learning process. This type of culture promotes a positive buzz, creativity and effective teamwork. Leadership that endorses a culture of humility presupposes that the right people are “on the bus.” They have confidence in each member of their team’s intellectual and technical capabilities. Therefore every project is not a test, but rather an opportunity

for individuals to work together to create an amazing solution. Research supports that positive organizational cultures are linked to increased employee productivity, employee commitment, and an improved bottom line.

However, perhaps in your company there is a high level of tension, where every interaction is fraught with conflict. Do you as a leader tolerate members of your management team being haughty or pointing fingers in an attempt to assign blame if a project fails? While this type of Machiavellian approach may seem to promote a “survival of the fittest” and resiliency in your employees, it ultimately creates an environment of negativity and mistrust. And trust is an essential element of a successful, productive team. Certainly there are some personality types that would thrive in negotiating the politics of a culture of arrogance, but more likely this type of toxic environment leads to employee dissatisfaction and turnover.

Take a moment and evaluate your company or team culture. If it falls closer to the arrogant side of the scale, ask yourself if this was a conscious decision on your part and if this style is getting the results you desire. If so, then there is no need to make changes in your leadership behavior. But if you did not make a deliberate decision to

create a culture of arrogance, then perhaps it is time to take some active steps to redefine the work environment. The following are some ways to shift your culture more toward one of humility.

Five essential behavioral steps to create a “humble culture” • Acknowledge the power of your leadership role. As a leader you need to actively embrace the critical part you play in setting the tone for the entire company. Not getting involved or addressing the tenor of employee interactions is essentially making a “passive” decision to tolerate your current culture. As a strong leader you need to honestly assess not only what is occurring, but the impact of your behavior on contributing to the tone of the work environment.

• Identify the specific behaviors needed in a culture of humility.

The critical aspects needed for any high functioning team are: respect, trust, communication, passion and commitment. Define each of these qualities clearly so they can translate into actionable behaviors.

• Communicate your cultural expectations both verbally and behaviorally to current and new employees. It is essential that you frequently express your expectations for employee behavior both in your attitude and actions.

• Hire individuals whose values are aligned with your company cul-

ture. It is important to assess those non-technical behaviors that will impact the successful hiring and training of a new employee to your culture of humility.

• Shape the desired behaviors by reinforcing positive behaviors and extinguishing negative behaviors.

That translates into acknowledging behaviors that promote a humble culture and either ignoring or giving negative feedback to those employees engaging in divisive behavior.

Make no mistake about it. As a leader, the culture at your business is wholly dependent on your decisions and behavior. It is critical for you as a leader to take a proactive stance on the type of environment you want to foster in your business.

Being passive and simply tolerating unacceptable behavior is leading by default. This type of leadership results in poor employee morale and retention, which negatively impacts your bottom line. Ultimately it begs the question: Can you afford not to foster a culture of humility?

Denise P. Federer, Ph.D. is founder and principal of Federer Performance Management Group.

She has 27 years of experience working with key executives, business leaders and Fortune 500 companies as a behavioral psychologist, consultant, coach and trainer. Contact her at: dfederer@fpmg.info

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Our lineup of 2013 special issues offers an entire year of opportunities to advertise and reach Florida’s Gulf Coast business leaders. To receive more information or our editorial calendar, contact Diane Schaefer at 941.362.4848.

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OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013 | BUSINESS OBSERVER

corporatereport | Dowell Systems, Carfax partner on Real-Time Labor Guide Tampa software development company Dowell Systems Inc. has integrated Carfax QuickVIN into the new Web-based version of its most popular software, Real-Time Labor Guide. The Carfax integration is part of a new partnership between Dowell Systems and Carfax.

The Real-Time Labor Guide online system allows users to quickly retrieve the year, make, model and engine information from the Carfax database by entering only the license plate information or by entering the full vehicle identification number of their customers’ vehicles.

BusinessObserverFL.com

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BY SEAN ROTH | RESEARCH EDITOR

The Carfax QuickVIN is being added for no additional cost. It is expected to help Real-Time Labor Guide users eliminate the risk of costly data entry errors and ensure they order properly fitting parts.

Palm Harbor startup Alorum debuts WordPress plugin seoslides beta Palm Harbor-based Alorum Inc. has released a beta version of its new WordPress plugin, seoslides.

With the free plugin, users can create or import any presentation directly into their website. The company say the plugin represents the first fully embeddable, multi-page content on WordPress. The final presentation will

be composed of slides with searchengine optimized notes.

The startup company says that because the content resides on the user’s website, there are no restrictions on media — users can place live links in any slide, add videos, or even reorder their decks on the fly. The completed presentations are designed to work regardless of browser and on mobile devices as well as computers.

The main benefit, according to Alorum, is that users will be able to own and control both their content and the leads generated from it.

After raising a $191,500 in seed funding, including from seed stage fund Gazelle Lab, Alorum worked closely with 10up, the team behind TechCrunch.com, 9to5mac.com and doz-

ens of WordPress plugins, to develop seoslides.

Shumaker Loop partner named vice chairman Bruce Gordon, a partner in the Tampa office of the Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP law firm, has been appointed vice chairman of the Asset Protection Planning Committee of the American Bar Association.

Bruce is a founding partner of the Tampa office and co-chairs the Trust and Estates practice group.

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calendar

of events OCTOBER 8

TOURISM TRENDS: Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau Executive Director Tamara Pigott will discuss tourism trends at a Real Estate Investment Society meeting. The luncheon will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Pelican Preserve Country Club, 9802 Pelican Preserve Blvd., Fort Myers. Visit reis-swfl.org.

VC EXPERIENCE: Travis Milks, partner at Stonehenge Growth Equity Partners, and Prashanth Rajendran of Pilgrim Software will discuss venture capital investment. The Tampa Bay Innovation Center meeting will start at 8:30 a.m. at the Microsoft Headquarter offices, 5426 Bay Center Drive, Suite 700, Tampa. For more information contact Jen Suereth at 727-547-7340 or email suerethj@tbinnovates.com.

OCTOBER 9

ENTREPRENEUR SOCIETY: Dave Sanderson, the last passenger on the US Airways Flight 1549 that ditched in the Hudson River, will be the keynote speaker at the Entrepreneur Society of Naples’ annual fundraising dinner. The event will run form 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Hodges University, 2647 Professional Way, Northbrooke, Room ST 150, Naples. Cost is $100 per person. For more information visit eson.me.

OCTOBER 11

MEET THE DIRECTORS: The Florida Directors’ Institute will hold an all-day program for directors of public and large private companies at The University of Tampa, Vaughn Center, Ninth Floor, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa.Visit ut.edu/ centers/fdi.

OCTOBER 12

BUILDING AWARDS: The Lee Building Industry Association will hold its industry awards celebration dinner from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa, 5001 Coconut Road, Bonita Springs. Cost is $100 per person.

For more information visit bia.net.

OCTOBER 18

TECHNOLOGY AWARDS: The Tampa Bay Technology Forum will hold an awards ceremony from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Hilton Tampa Downtown, 211 N. Tampa St., Tampa. For more information visit tbtf.org.

WOMEN’S FORUM: The St. PetersburgPinellas chapter of Business and Professional Women will highlight women’s success stories at the group’s fall forum.

The event will run from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at The Studio@620, 620 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg. Cost is $15 for members in advance or $20 for others. For more information visit bpwstpetepinellas.org.

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BUSINESS OBSERVER | OCTOBER 4 – OCTOBER 10, 2013

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