M AY 15 - M AY 21, 2015 | T H R E E D O LL A R S
FLOR IDA’S NE WSPAPER FOR T HE C - SUI T E
Hall of Fame | Recognizing past EofY winners who continue to kick butt. PG.14 PASCO • H I LL S BOROUG H • PI N ELL AS • P OLK • M A N ATEE • SA R ASOTA • C H A R LOT TE • LEE • COLLIER
ENTREPRENEURS OF THE YEAR SPECIAL ISSUE: PAGES 7 THROUGH 16
Dynamic Duo To achieve growth like this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year winners, don’t ask what. Ask why. PAGE 12
Art Lambert and Ron Simkins | CO-FOUNDERS, S-ONE HOLDINGS ENTREPRENEURS
ENTREPRENEURS
ENTREPRENEURS
Take Two
Like Father, Like Son
Promise Keeper
Thomas Harrison has already built and sold several successful senior-living communities. Now he’s doing it again, by putting employees at the forefront. PAGE 8
In 2008, Punit Shah began leading his family’s Liberty Hotel Group. Since then, he’s made his own mark by boosting revenues to new highs. PAGE 10
TOP DEALS
To get the first client for her hospitality staffing firm, Karen Rehn made some lofty promises. But she’s grown her business by keeping them. PAGE 15
ENTREPRENEURS
ENTREPRENEURS
40/40 ALUMNI UPDATE
Do It Yourself
EofY Hall of Fame
Bag Man
In three years, Louis Bruno has taken his business from $71,000 to $10 million. His secret is never giving up. PAGE 9
Meet the man who helped launch Rebecca Minkoff, his sister, to success in the world of high-end fashion retail. PAGE 23
Sarasota Memorial creating St. Armands urgent care center. 20 Naples plastic surgeon buys Preston Professional Center. 21
18 Have you set your sales team up for success? PAGE
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DON’T MISS
Despite their impressive revenue growth, we can’t let these guys win every year. An update on past winners. PAGE 14
Brandon’s Hamilton Bay apartments sell for $43.6 million. 19
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BUSINESS OBSERVER | MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015
BusinessObserverFL.com
AN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW FIRM
Vol. XIX, No. 20
ADDM&G is proud to announce the Orange County Bar has honored Shareholder Herbert L. Allen with the prestigious William Trickel, Jr. Professionalism Award. The award is bestowed in recognition of Mr. Allen's service, professionalism, ethical conduct, demeanor and high moral standards over the course of his distinguished career.
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Mr. Allen was honored at the Orange County Bar Association Professionalism Awards Presentation and Reception earlier this year.
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CoffeeTalk
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Lakeland hospice needs respite from error Gov. Rick Scott has twice run on a platform to create jobs in Florida. But one Lakeland hospice hopes he’ll sign a bill that will save 150 jobs. Compassionate Care Hospice had to close its doors last month after the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration refused to work with the hospice after its license renewal documents were lost in the mail. “It’s ridiculous, sad and disappointing that a company that has been providing excellent care to the community for four years has to shut down because of a fixable, clerical error,” Judy Grey, COO of Compassionate Care, says in a statement. Compassionate Care got the word it had to shut down March 9 because the state said it never received its paperwork to renew its license. Although Compassionate Care says it has proof it submitted the license renewal documentation, the state says there are no provisions in the law to address a lost renewal notice. That’s where H.B. 441 comes in. In-
troduced by State Rep. Ray Rodriguez, R-Estero, last January, the bill’s original purpose was to remove quarterly reporting requirements by home health agencies, and instead would allow those reports to become part of the biennial license renewal of those agencies. When the bill went to the Senate in late April, however, State Sen. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, added a section to the law that would give Compassionate Care a second chance to apply by creating an exemption. The amended bill easily passed both the Senate and the House. It was sent to Scott on Tuesday, and he has until May 27 to make a decision. Compassionate Care spokeswoman Alia Faraj-Johnson tells Coffee Talk if Scott signs the bill, the hospice would have 30 days to reapply to reinstate the license. If successful, Compassionate Care could be operational again by this summer. “We are so excited,” Faraj-Johnson says. “But, of course, nothing happens until he signs the document.”
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NeoGenomics keeps powder dry NeoGenomics has money to spend. In August last year, the Fort Myersbased cancer-testing lab raised $34 million in a secondary offering of stock. Among the uses for the money: acquisitions. But so far, the company hasn’t scored. In a recent conference call with investors, NeoGenomics Chairman and CEO Douglas VanOort explained it’s not for a lack of trying. “We have submitted formal offers with three companies in the last nine months and either walked away [after] due diligence or walked away because we did not feel like we could responsibly [meet] the seller’s price expectations,” VanOort says, according to a transcript of the call posted on Seek-
ingAlpha.com. But VanOort says he’s not worried about missing opportunities. That’s because the government and private insurance companies have slashed reimbursements for some cancer tests. That kind of pressure will likely force some companies to consider a sale, perhaps on more reasonable terms. VanOort counseled patience. “We intend to maintain a disciplined approach to evaluate and execute transactions giving us the best opportunities for long-term success,” VanOort says. “And we reiterate our belief that scale is important in our industry and our intention to make small acquisitions to maintain low cost capability and otherwise advance our strategies.”
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Glazer adds name to historic Tampa armory for one of the sons of late Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer, who donated $4 million toward the $26 million renovation and construction of the one-time military facility. The Florida National Guard left the facility in 2004, and ever since has been the subject of a number false starts to reinvent the property between North Howard and North Armenia
See COFFEE TALK page 5
FITLIFE BITES ON PLANT CITY Fitlife Foods is expanding into a new 100,000-square-foot facility in Plant City, and it’s expected to bring more than 100 jobs with it. The health food retailer will soon look for employees willing to take on roles in food production, administration, transportation and operations at the County Line Commerce Center. David Osterweil founded Fitlife in 2011, creating food with low glycemic, high fiber carbohydrates, lean protein and healthy fat. It includes menu items like macaroni and cheese, salmon, tacos and chicken enchiladas — showing that healthy food is more than tofu and sprouts. Fitlife now operates seven retail locations and six kiosks around the Tampa Bay region, with plans to move into the Southeast over the
next several months. Real estate company Central Florida Development announced plans for County Line Commerce Center last January on a 28-acre tract south of Interstate 4 on County Line Road in Plant City. Its first 100,000-square-foot spec building is set to open in June, with room to build an additional 165,000 square feet in the future. Eastern Hillsborough County and western Polk County have become a hotspot in recent years for distribution centers and manufacturing. Pharmaceutical company WellDyne, for example, announced a 30,000-square-foot expansion plan on the Lakeland side of the line in 2013. It already operated out of 65,000 square feet of space, and looked to add 100 new jobs.
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It’s been an iconic home to history for decades — from an early performance by Elvis Presley that made the cover of his first album, to one of the final speeches delivered by President John F. Kennedy. But now the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in West Tampa will create new history, beginning with a new name. A groundbreaking ceremony May 11 dedicated the 100,000-square-foot facility as the Bryan Glazer Family Jewish Community Center. It’s named
4 topstories from BusinessObserverFL.com
BUSINESS OBSERVER | MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015
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TAMPA BAY
Brits buy chemical firm for $800M Quality Distribution Inc. is going private, in an all-cash deal worth nearly three times the company’s market capitalization rate. Apax Partners, a Londonbased private equity group, will buy the Tampa-based chemical bulk tank trunk network operator at $16 a share, or $800 million. That’s 63% above closing price May 6 for Quality at $9.80, where it trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol QLTY. Quality will conduct a 40-day “go-shop” process, that will look for other offers above what Apax is offering.
Health tech firm acquired for $140M Towers Watson & Co., an Arlington, Va.-based global professional services company, acquired Tampa softwareas-a-service provider Acclaris on Monday for $140 million. Founded in 2001, Acclaris supports 1.4 million health care accounts across HRAs, HSAs, flexible spending accounts, commuter accounts
quote of theweek
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I put people around me who are much smarter than I am. They are so damn smart, they make me better every day. Rick Silva | CEO, Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. SEE PAGE 15
what do you think? O V E R
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Y E A R S
CHARLOTTE-LEE-COLLIER
Luxury shopping destination sold
Insurance giant Prudential has acquired luxury shopping center Mercato for an undisclosed price. Barron Collier Cos. and The Lutgert Cos. originally developed Mercato on 42 acres near the intersection of U.S. 41 and Vanderbilt Beach Road in Naples. The 450,000-square-foot center that opened in 2008 is home to upscale retailers. In 2011, Switzerland-based private investment firm Madison Marquette took an ownership stake in Mercato. In a statement, Howard Gutman, president of The Lutgert Cos., said the strong commercial market gave the firm a “compelling reason to sell Mercato now.”
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Naples daily hotel rates close in on $300 Buoyed by strong visitor demand, hoteliers in the Naples area pushed daily rates up 12% in the first quarter compared with the same three months in 2014, to an average of $299.10 a night. Hotel occupancy in Collier County in the first quarter also reached 89.7%, a 1.5% increase compared with the first quarter of 2014, according to the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau. The bureau estimated total economic impact from visitors in the first quarter was $730.4 million, an 11.7% increase over the first quarter of 2014. SARASOTA-MANATEE
Office center sells for $37.1 million A Bonita Springs-based investment firm has acquired four suburban Sarasota office buildings for $37.1 million. TerraCap Management LLC’s purchase of the Gateway Professional Center comes a little more than a year after it bought the 10-story Kane Plaza office tower in downtown Sarasota
for $11.5 million. TerraCap acquired Gateway at a significant discount to its previous price of $55 million, which an affiliate of Bostonbased TA Associates Realty paid in July 2006, records show. TA was selling because one of its funds was sunsetting. The center is about 89% occupied.
Manatee tourism on four-year surge The Manatee County tourism sector posted significant growth in several key metrics in 2014 over 2013. The data, released May 6, are based on a report from Data Research Services, according to a statement from the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Among the year-over-year highlights: • Total area visitors increased 2.7%, to more than 2.91 million; • Expenditures by visitors in commercial lodging rose 12.1%, to $451.6 million; • Direct expenditures by all visitors to the area rose 9.4%, to $692.8 million; • Total tourism-related employment opportunities increased 5.9%, to 21,700.
Last week’s question:
Did the Legislature pass anything this year that affects your business?
25% Yes 75% No
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and custom reimbursement accounts. Acclaris has locations in both Kansas and India, employing 600 people. It’s projected to have revenues in 2015 of $35 million. Dean Mason, Acclaris’ CEO, will join the leadership team of Towers Watson’s exchange services segment.
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MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015 | BUSINESS OBSERVER
CoffeeTalk FROM PAGE 3
avenues. The original plan was to build a luxury hotel out of the historic building, with Coast Dental Services as the primary backer. However, Coast Dental and the National Guard couldn’t reach an agreement, and the company abandoned those plans in 2010. The Tampa Jewish Federation stepped up in early 2012 with plans to sign a 99-year lease on the property. It’s expected to give the federation a southern community center, comple-
menting an existing 22-acre campus in Tampa’s Westchase area. The community center will include a visual arts center, fitness and outdoor aquatics facility, an indoor track, and a multisport gymnasium. It also will be the home of an innovation center allowing Israeli startup companies a place to do business in the United States. Work started last year, and will be completed in 2016.
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BY FLINT STEPHENS | INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
WHAT EMPLOYERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
LIMITED NETWORK
HEALTH PLANS
Big gulp for growth up 10% to 20% a store. Faisal declines to elaborate on sales figures. He has 32 employees for all four stores. The moves corporate 7-Eleven made to recruit more franchisees include waiving franchise fees for stores with low sales volume. Stores available with a waived franchise fee, through June 30, include Bradenton, Palmetto and Sarasota locations. Faisal might buy another store, possibly in Sarasota or St. Petersburg. “I don’t want to bite off more than I could chew,” says Faisal, “but I think I can chew a little bit more.” Faisal’s biggest challenge: Like many business owners, it’s finding the right employees. Faisal says he tries to pay more than competitors and treat employees well. But even that, he’s learned, has limits. “It’s always hard to find good people, and it’s even harder to keep them around,” says Faisal. “You would be surprised, but customers try to take employees. When they see someone is efficient and hardworking, they want to hire them away.”
Sales fatten on fresh diet Innovative Food Holdings binged this quarter. The specialty foods purveyor’s sales rose 101% in the most recent quarter, boosted by the acquisition of The Fresh Diet last year. Sam Klepfish, Innovative Food’s CEO, was the Business Observer’s Entrepreneur of the Year finalist for the Fort Myers-Naples area in 2013. The Bonita Springs-based company delivers more than 7,000 specialty food items such as cheeses and meats to chefs around the country. The company’s direct-to-chef business grew 18% last quarter. But the big growth came from the company’s Fresh Diet operations, which deliver freshly prepared meals to consumers in 570 cities and towns around the country. Innovative Food Holdings acquired The Fresh Diet in August 2014. Now, Fresh Diet accounts for 41% of
KLEPFISH Innovative Food’s total quarterly revenues of $11.1 million. In the most recent quarter, Fresh Diet revenues hit $4.6 million, up 43.9% in just six months.
See COFFEE TALK page 6
HSN LOOKS TO OHIO HSN Inc. already employs more than 1,300 people to answer calls from shoppers buying products they find on the company’s cable channels. But soon, the St. Petersburg media company will add 300 more spots throughout northwest Ohio. A coalition of employment organizations banded together to offer HSN on-the-job training support, as well as additional employee recruiting and screening assistance programs — services that would cost HSN thousands of dollars otherwise. In return, HSN will expand its work-at-home program into 300 full-time and part-time sales and customer service support positions in a part of Ohio that includes
Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown. HSN has moved many of its call center workers home, not just in St. Petersburg and Ohio, but also Roanoke, Va., and Nashville, Tenn. The company, which employs 6,900 people altogether, is looking for people who have access to a landline phone and a computer, and possess strong computer skills, customer service resolution skills, and have a “positive, upbeat personality.” HSN, which trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol HSNI, had a record $3.6 billion in sales last year. It’s available to 95 million households, and its website is one of the world’s top 10 most-visited e-commerce sites.
Long before the Affordable Care Act became law, insurers and employers saw limited network health insurance as a means to control costs. These plans — also known as health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs) — operate under the premise that the cost of medical care and the quality of care vary greatly from one provider to another. To wit: The American Medical Association found in one of its studies that hospitals across America charged anywhere from $1,530 to $183,000 to treat appendicitis. The median charge was $33,611. Talk about wild swings and unpredictability. To bring rational order to these swings in price, limited network plans restrict patients to “in-network” hospitals or doctors who could provide high quality care w ith i n a pred ictable ra nge of pricing. While absolutes rarely exist in health care, HMOs have proven to be an effective cost containment strategy. Unlike many professional services, where the higher the price the better the outcome, in healthcare, there is actually an inverse correlation between price and outcome. Providers have found ways to offer high quality care for low cost pricing through repeatable efficiencies. As a result, health insurance carriers want to push their membership to these providers, while at the same time prevent their membership from seeking care from high cost, low quality providers. This is the crux of an HMO. Barring the occurrence of the unexpected and uncontrollable high dollar claim, HMOs can drive costs down.
For employers and employees, limited network plans typically do have lower premiums and lower costs than other plans. Statistics also have shown that providers in narrow-network plans typically provide a higher quality of care at a lower cost than other providers. One reason for that is they are incentivized financially to do so. If the providers’ costs are abnormally high, insurers are likely to eliminate them from their networks, causing a loss of patients and revenues for the providers. Given the popularity and effectiveness of limited network plans, an obvious question for employers and employees alike is: What’s going to happen to these plans as the implementation of the Affordable Care Act continues? The Affordable Care Act has addressed the issue of accessibility. But what is left to be seen is the impact it will have on healthcare affordability. With the added pressure of increased utilization, coupled with steadily rising costs, the concept of incentivizing high quality, low cost healthcare is going to be even more prevalent going forward. To that end, we’ve seen the rise of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO). ACOs seek to reduce costs by leveraging small networks of providers that take an integrated and coordinated approach to delivering care. As outcomes improve, and costs are reduced, the providers in the ACO are rewarded by sharing in the overall savings. With performance based medicine, everyone wins. Providers are rewarded financially for providing higher quality care, while members enjoy lower costs and better outcomes. Most importantly, however, the US healthcare system has a sustainable future.
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Convenience giant 7-Eleven has made a big push to grow its franchise network nationwide, a move that resonates with Frank Faisal. A native of Pakistan, Faisal was a doctor in his home country. He moved to New York City in his 20s, where he gave up medicine to run a deli and fast-food restaurant. Faisal liked running a business so much that when he was 32, in 2010, he and his wife relocated to Bradenton to buy a 7-Eleven. Faisal says he had enough money in savings to pay the franchise fee and cover the family for six months if it didn’t work out. “We took a calculated risk,” Faisal tells Coffee Talk. Things worked out for Faisal, and, coming up on the fifth anniversary of his first store, he now owns four 7-Elevens, all in the Bradenton area. The latest one, which he bought in January, is down the street from the entrance to IMG Academy, the massive sports-training facility. He says all the stores, formerly corporate-owned locations, are profitable, and sales are
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BUSINESS OBSERVER | MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015
BusinessObserverFL.com
CoffeeTalk
datasnapshot
FROM PAGE 5
Luxury sales by zip code ($5 million +) Zip code, City
Entrepreneurs throwing pitches Pitching your company’s idea to raise capital used to be a private affair, usually restricted to investors with enough money to lose on startups. Now that the government restrictions on capital raises have been loosened, entrepreneurs and angel investors are mixing in public. The latest example: On May 21, four entrepreneurial companies will be pitching angel investors at the Arcade Theater in downtown Fort Myers. The event, hosted by Naples-based Tamiami Angel Funds, will feature a Shark Tank-style approach to pick one of the four companies deemed most investment-worthy. The four entrepreneurial pitches include:
• AboutYourMortgage: An Internetbased lead generation service and tool for mortgage servicers to retain borrowers by using discussing their refinancing options. • Dino Lingo: Develops languageteaching programs for children using online applications, DVDs, books and flash cards. Currently, the company has programs for 43 languages. • Game Nation: An interactive entertainment company that creates events based on video game themes. • Superior Upgrading: Provides technology to help oil pipeline operators transport crude more efficiently. You can learn more about the event at VenturePitchSWFL.com.
Regional economics has a new name Gary Jackson has been the face of Florida Gulf Coast University at business events in Fort Myers and Naples for years. Jackson was the director of the Regional Economic Research Institute at the university, publishing useful monthly economic snapshots of the region and a quarterly business climate survey. He was a regular at industry conferences, providing insight into data such as real estate and tourism activity. Now that he’s retired, you can expect his replacement to be equally involved. Christopher Westley officially became the new director a week ago when Jackson retired. The 51-year-old economist finished high school in Naples and his parents live here, so for him it’s a coming home
of sorts. Most recently, Westley taught economics at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. A University of Florida graduate, Westley subsequently earned his Ph.D. in economics at Auburn University. He specializes economic analysis of the public sector. For now, Westley plans to continue to provide the insightful data that Jackson published. Although he has plenty on his agenda to keep Jackson’s pace, you can expect Westley to make his own mark with research contributions. Westley comes on a high note as the region’s economy is recovering from the downturn. Indeed, Southwest Florida’s economy is better than the national picture. “This is like an island of good economic news,” he says.
Number of sales 104
90210, Beverly Hills 68
81611, Aspen 90265, Malibu
48
34102, Naples
47
94027, Atherton, Calif.
46
Luxury sales by city ($5 million +) New York
182
Los Angeles
118
Beverly Hills
104
Miami Beach
89 70
Naples
SOURCE: COLDWELL BANKER PREVIEWS INTERNATIONAL
Hot zip: Naples 34102 Zip code 34102 is one of the most desirable residential real estate areas in the country for ultra-highnet-worth individuals. Naples locals already know this, but data from Coldwell Banker Previews International confirms the tony town ranks up there with other super-wealthy enclaves such as Beverly Hills and Aspen. Sales of luxury homes in the $5 million or more price range in 2014 vaulted Naples into the top five most desirable areas list. The 34102 zip also came in sixth in the nation for number of home sales that cost $10 million or more, with 11 sales in that category last year. The $10 million price range is growing. Sales in that sector more than doubled in four cities: Naples, Aspen and Atherton and Santa
Barbara, Calif. Not surprisingly, the Beverly Hills zip code had the most sales in that price range last year, with 35 transactions. In a recently published luxury market report, Coldwell Banker attributed the rise to increased mobility and technology that allow younger millionaires and top corporate executives to live anywhere they choose. These ultra wealthy individuals head to areas like Naples that were once pegged as retirement or second-home destinations. Coldwell Banker, for instance, cites an undisclosed executive with a large home-improvement chain in the Southeast who works at home in the Naples area because he loves the beach lifestyle. When he needs to conduct in-person meetings, he hops on a plane.
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MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015 | BUSINESS OBSERVER
BusinessObserverFL.com
7
ENTREPRENEURS OF THE YEAR very year when we reach out to candidates to include in our annual Entrepreneur of the Year issue, we often hear a common refrain: “It’s not about me.” We even had several candidates decline to be included in this issue because they don’t want to receive an award that singles them out. It’s an exasperating response for reporters because, although we certainly realize it takes a great team to run a successful business, it also takes another thing: a great leader. Someone has to recruit and hire those great employees. Someone has to create an inviting culture in which they want to excel. Someone has to set a vision and inspire everyone to work together to achieve it. The winners in this issue are selected based on their firms’ revenues — an objective measuring stick of business. Candidates must have grown revenue for the past three consecutive years to be considered. We look for companies in all nine counties of our coverage, from Polk to Collier. But the stories we write show how those numbers are manifestations of these leaders’ ability to guide
others from idea to execution. Take Vinny Antonio, for example. Ten years ago, he traveled the country wearing the Geico Gecko suit at trade shows. Where others might have seen a dead-end job, he saw an opportunity to build a network of great freelancers who helped him set up the tent for his display in the cities he visited. He built those contacts into a database of 25,000 people whom he now calls upon to fulfill needs for the clients of his company, Victory Marketing Agency, which helps staff trade shows and promotional events. Talk about vision. Or consider Al Bavry, who invested about $4 million to build a drivethru lumber yard to fill what he perceived as a void in the marketplace. That idea helped him boost revenues by more than 50% in the past two years, to $33.1 million. Or how about Thomas Harrison, who built six successful senior apartments and sold them in 2006 for $450 million. Then he turned around and started looking for new opportunities — during the recession, no less. Now, as CEO of Discovery Senior Living, he has about a half-dozen communities recently opened or under construc-
tion, and he’s grown revenues to $129.5 million. Although we appreciate humility, fact is, these people are special. Not everyone can do what they do — stomach the risks, put in the long hours and rally others around them. To prove it, just look at what others say about them. Greg Brooks, an industry consultant who has known Bavry for 20 years, called him “the Steve Jobs of lumber.” Harrison’s longtime business partner, Richard Hutchinson, said: “Tom is very good at espousing the vision. He’s a great motivator.” Or consider our overall winners of the Entrepreneur of the Year awards this year, Art Lambert and Ron Simkins, of S-One Holdings. This duo shared a vision to chase a new form of business by gaining the rights to sell H-P and Kodak printing equipment and supplies internationally. They had about five months to launch that worldwide business. They did it, and, as a result, boosted revenues 89.8% in 2014, to $144.7 million. But what do people say about them? Joan McGill, a VP from the local economic development office who
met them in the late 1990s said: “Their entrepreneurial spirit is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. You could see it in the whole company.” Former employee Pete Peterson agrees. “They challenge you to take chances,” he says. “And they don’t like people who sit in the corner and whine and say ‘my job sucks.’” Lambert and Simkins set the tone for their organization, and it’s one of success. A popular motto in the company is: “Have fun, make money, don’t get in the way of anyone having fun or making money.” Hard not to follow that vision. Then there’s Coral Pleas, a stylist who left a $100,000 gig cutting hair with a prominent salon to start her own chain of salons, Cutting Loose. Pleas leads by doing. Like most successful entrepreneurs, she’s never too big to do whatever needs to be done, even if it includes changing light bulbs or assisting her assistants. “She’s a real believer of lifting people up,” longtime client Judi Gallagher says. “She helps people become better people.” Now that’s leadership. And that’s all her. – Kat Hughes
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‘IT’S NOT ABOUT ME’
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BUSINESS OBSERVER | MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015
BusinessObserverFL.com
ENTREPRENEURS OF THE YEAR
VINNY ANTONIO
Victory Marketing Agency Fort Myers WHY WE CHOSE HIM:
Ten years ago, Vinny Antonio landed a job traveling around the country dressed as a green lizard. Little did he realize that the gig would lead to the creation of a fast-growing business in Fort Myers that hit $3.6 million in revenues in 2014. Antonio, 32, was the Geico gecko at festivals, donning a REVENUES costume, posing for 2012: $2.2 million photos and spinning a 2013: $2.9 million prize wheel. “It’s brutal,” Antonio laughs. 32% But the job paid 2014: $3.6 million well, and A ntonio 24% saved his pennies, often sleeping in his EMPLOYEES truck so he could 2012: 5 save his per-diem hotel allowances. 2013: 12 At each event, An2014: 20 tonio would hire a sixman crew to set up the Geico tent. “A lot of these people never showed up,” he says. “I kept a spreadsheet of all the people that did a good job.” Over time, that database of reliable freelancers totaled more than 1,000 names. That database became the foundation of his business, Victory Marketing Agency, which he launched in 2007 out of a 500-square-foot condo in downtown Fort Myers. “It was just me for two years,” Antonio says. The company now has more than 25,000 names of freelance workers who will work in trade-show booths, serve drinks, distribute promotional materials and model products. The key to managing all these freelancers with a staff of just 20 people is technology to keep track of events and people. “We do 1,000 events a month,” Antonio says. A project that vaulted the company’s reputation was the Maxim magazine Super Bowl party in Dallas in 2012. Victory hired 75 models who passed out hors d’oeuvres, played carnival games and danced with guests who paid thousands of dollars for the privilege to party. On average, Victory pays its freelancers $17 to $30 and sometimes more per hour because Antonio looks for people who are punctual and reliable. “It takes a certain kind of person,” Antonio says. – Jean Gruss
GROWTH
THOMAS HARRISON, third from left, chats with residents at Aston Gardens at Pelican Marsh in Naples.
NEW
DISCOVERY Thomas Harrison’s pay-for-performance model at Discovery Senior Living helps create happy customers in the apartment communities it operates. GROWTH REVENUES
2012: $73.8 million 2013: $83.8 million 14% 2014: $129.5 million 55%
EMPLOYEES 2012: 993 2013: 1,197 2014: 1,606
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very month, Thomas Harrison organizes a team-member appreciation event for the employees of Discovery Senior Living. Harrison hands out bonuses in the form of paper checks, a meaningful gesture in an era of the impersonal direct-deposit wire transfers. “Yearly bonus plans are old news to me,” Harrison explains. “People want the immediacy of a reward. I want them to know I really care about them.” It’s not a job Harrison takes lightly. “It’s a lot of work,” he says. “As a management philosophy, we pay at the high end of the spectrum.” But there’s a clear business strat-
egy here: “By keeping turnover low, you keep residents happy,” Harrison explains. “Residents vote with their feet.” This helps explain why Discovery Senior Living communities fill up before the company even finishes building them. Because they’re rental apartments, residents can move out just like they can with traditional apartments. Fact is, Harrison is among the sharpest operators of senior living communities. Bonita Springs-based Discovery Senior Living grew revenues 55% in 2014 to $129.5 million. Discovery Senior Living recently opened or is developing a half dozen
MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015 | BUSINESS OBSERVER
BRIAN TIETZ
3 QUESTIONS WHO IS THE UNSUNG HERO IN YOUR COMPANY? “The caregivers and servers are the unsung heroes,” Harrison says. “They’re the No. 1 reason for our success.” WHO ARE YOUR MENTORS? Don Ackerman, the now deceased chairman of Bonita Springs-based homebuilding and development company WCI Communities. “For 15 years, I could count on him to provide insight,” Harrison says. “He was a great sounding board.” Today, Harrison says he counts his wife, Michele, as a mentor. She’s the former president of the Collier Building Industry Association and is now regional director of sales at WCI Communities. WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED, IN BUSINESS OR IN LIFE? Harrison cites Ackerman: “Integrity is the cornerstone of any organization,” he says. The definition of integrity is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking.
senior-living communities under the Discovery Village brand from Tampa to Naples and on the east coast of Florida on land that Harrison acquired in the depths of the recession for pennies on the dollar. The well-appointed apartments include a busy schedule of activities and amenities such as a movie theater, an exercise facility with a walk-in pool and a physician’s office on site. Backed by private-equity firm Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors, Discovery reacquired the Aston Gardens apartments it had sold eight years ago. It’s now expanding into Texas with acquisitions such as three Conservatory Senior Living communities in Houston, Dallas and Austin and adding other communities in Alabama and Georgia. “There are a lot of operators… in Tom’s business, but there are very few that are excellent,” says Max Newland, managing director with Kayne Anderson, which so far has invested $1.2 billion in Discovery projects totaling 5,000 units. “He’s very hands-on, but he’s built a very strong team around him that’s very capable.” Harrison had sold six Aston Gardens communities in Florida in 2006 to a joint venture of Sunrise Senior Living and General Electric for $450 million. It was a record price on a per-unit basis, he says. But instead of calling it quits, the 67-year-old Harrison and his business partner Richard Hutchinson scouted new opportunities in the recession. “What Richard and I did was we started buying land,” Harrison says. “We started entitling it right away.” Even though the financial crisis clouded the economic outlook, Harrison and Hutchinson reasoned that Florida’s economy would eventually recover. “It took a lot of intestinal fortitude,” Harrison acknowledges. One of the early investors in Discovery Senior Living was Al Hoffman, the former CEO of WCI Communities who built t hat company into a powerhouse on the ashes of the recession of the early 1990s. Hoffman and nowdeceased WCI Chairman Don Ackerman had enlisted Harrison to turn Aston Gardens around. Before cutting his teeth in the homebuilding business with companies such as Kaufman & Broad, Harrison was a U.S. Navy hospital corpsman who was embedded with the U.S. Marines in combat during the Vietnam War in 1969 and 1970. “I had more responsibility as a 19- and 20-year-old than I’ve had my whole life,” he recalls. Harrison cuts an imposing figure, but he’s soft-spoken, often closing his eyes while he speaks to find the right words. “Tom is very good at espousing the vision,” says Hutchinson. “He’s a great motivator.” T he sen ior-l iv i ng busi ness model Ha r r ison helped create is groundbreaking in many ways. “This industry was born in the not-for-profit world,” says Hutchinson. “Our pay for performance system is very strange for this industry, but it does attract super-talented folks.” Newland says Harrison is detailoriented and can recite a property’s financials from memory. But more impressive is that employees beyond the C-suite know the numbers, too. “He runs a very performance-based operation,” Newland says. “It’s music to my ears to have a partner who pays attention to profits.” – Jean Gruss
BusinessObserverFL.com
AL BAVRY Kimal Lumber Venice
WHY WE CHOSE HIM:
The independent lumberyard industry, trampled by the recession and left with facilities that are costly to operate, inches toward extinction. But Al Bavry, 77, provides a remedy for the struggling sector. He’s done that through a series of counterintuitive moves at Kimal Lumber, which he co-founded in 1981. Revenues are up 175% since 2011, to more than $33 million, and REVENUES while that’s off from 2012: $20.3 million the boom years, it’s 2013: $24.8 million healthy recovery-era growth. 22.1% Beyond more de2014: $33.1 million mand for lumber, the 33.5% recent success also stems from Bavry’s EMPLOYEES ability to foster cre2012: 86 ativity and then lead the execution. Indi2013: 100 ana-based industry 2014: 148 co n s ul t a nt G r eg Brooks, who has known Bavry for 20 years, is one of many who pay Bavry high praise when he calls the Kimal executive “the Steve Jobs of lumber.” A noteworthy Bavry-led innovation is the Kimal Event Center in Venice, a $2 million project built in 2006 under green building standards. Another example: A drive-thru lumberyard Kimal opened in late 2013. One of the few like it in Florida, the lumberyard sells products in strategically designed aisles that accommodate vehicles up to a full-size, four-door pickup truck with a trailer. The project, along with an 8,400-squarefoot hardware store connected to the building, cost around $4 million. Longtime Sarasota construction executive Jon Swift, who worked on the drive-thru lumberyard, says Bavry also balances creativity with a pragmatic, workmanlike focus. So when the downturn hit, Kimal Lumber conserved resources. “They survived the recession,” says Swift, “and were able to come back on the other side.” – Mark Gordon
GROWTH
“THE STEVE JOBS OF LUMBER.”
– Greg Brooks, Indiana-based industry consultant on Al Bavry
9
LOUIS BRUNO
Bruno Air Conditioning Bonita Springs WHY WE CHOSE HIM:
Entrepreneurs like Louis Bruno don’t give up easily. “If we’re not failing, we’re not trying,” says Bruno, 26, president of Bruno Air Conditioning. For example, Bruno says Florida’s humidity, salty air and freREVENUES quent power surges 2012: $71,000 corrode and degrade 2013: $2.5 million many par ts of airconditioning units in3,420% stalled today. 2014: $10 million “How about mak300% ing a unit that’s designed for Southwest EMPLOYEES Florida?” Bruno won2012: 2 dered. “We live in the swamp, right?” 2013: 30 Together with his 2014: 140 staff, Bruno designed a unit that would replace metal air handlers with tough plastic and include surge protectors. A sterilizing light prevents mold growth that corrodes other parts. Bruno then approached the air-conditioning manufacturers with his idea. “They all shot it down,” he smiles. But the young entrepreneur didn’t give up: “When we get told no, we try another way.” Bruno overcame the manufacturers’ objections by showing them that he could make improvements to their units without altering the manufacturing production lines. Today, he sells about 50 Bruno Signature Series air-conditioning units a month since he started selling them six months ago. The new unit designed for Florida weather is just one way Bruno is shaking up the air-conditioning business. He guarantees customers they’ll be cool within two hours of their call and loads each repair truck with 10,000 parts, a mobile printer and computer. “It’s really helped us scale,” Bruno says. Bruno Air Conditioning, which counts investors such as tomato magnate Larry Lipman, serves residential customers from North Port to Marco Island and commercial customers all over the state. To build his staff since starting the company in 2012, Bruno attracted technicians by offering full benefits such as vacation and health insurance and up to $5,000 in no-interest loans. “They want to be part of something,” Bruno explains. – Jean Gruss
GROWTH
10
BUSINESS OBSERVER | MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015
BusinessObserverFL.com
ENTREPRENEURS OF THE YEAR
CHRIS LAFACE Ripa & Associates Tampa WHY WE CHOSE HIM:
The last economic recession claimed many, including some once-prominent construction companies. Yet Ripa & Associates made it through to the recovery, and is now almost to the point of turning away work. “The market is what it is, and everybody was going through what we went through,” says Ripa President Chris LaFace. “It was important for us to keep the team together and just hope there was another side.” Ripa is a utilities contractor, the first workers at a construction site ready to complete ground and underground projects. It’s been busy with projects ranging from REVENUES subdivisions such 2012: $70 million as Starkey Ranch in 2013: $115 million Pasco County to larger jobs like the Ama64.3% zon.com distribution 2014: $170 million center in Ruskin. 47.8% LaFace, 34, has sidestepped a lot of EMPLOYEES the cyclical aspects 2012: 200 of construction by diversif ying Ripa’s 2013: 325 services. While some 2014: 425 contractors might specialize in residential or commercial, LaFace has pushed forward in all kinds of site work, especially multifamily that helped pull Ripa through the last market crash. “You can never forget the lessons you learn during the most difficult times,” LaFace says. “Too many people forget what happen and fall into the same traps they did the last time. You can never get too high because there’s always a low following right behind.” LaFace’s biggest challenge in the next year is to fill jobs with qualified candidates — something that has been severely lacking. Many workers bolted Florida and the industry after the crash, but many more just don’t realize it’s an industry where money can be made. That might mean companies like Ripa becoming even more involved with local schools to encourage construction careers. “The guys who do what we do are a dying breed,” LaFace says. “But we’ll change that.” – Michael Hinman
GROWTH
MARK WEMPLE
PUNIT SHAH has turned Liberty Group from a family business into a family-owned corporation, buying and selling hotels, and even opening an adaptive reuse hotel, Aloft Tampa Downtown.
FAMILY
VALUES Punit Shah continues his father’s legacy, turning average hotels into profit centers. GROWTH REVENUES
2012: $28.5 million 2013: $33.7 million 18.5% 2014: $47.9 million 41.7%
EMPLOYEES 2012: 225 2013: 370 2014: 580
P
unit Shah knows the difference between a family business and a fa mi ly-ow ned compa ny, because his family’s Liberty Group hotel development enterprise has been both. It was a family business when his father, Rexit Shah, founded it as a hotel chain owner along Interstate 80 near Youngstown, Ohio, in the 1980s. Since Punit Shah, 34, took over in the late 2000s after his father divested those hotels, Liberty Group has become a family-owned company, buying and selling hotels around the country, and managing nearly $400 million in investments. “We have investors and partners, and far more of a corporate structure, but the largest stakeholders
are still my family, and that’s important,” Shah says. “We have had to change with the times on how we do business, but what this company is at its core will never change.” Shah grew up in hospitality. As a teenager, he worked in his father’s hotels, shadowing the older Shah as he would make his property rounds, during which he knew the names of all of his employees. “That is a quality that is just very hard to instill,” says Punit Shah, who took over in 2008. “Being able to understand what even your lowest-level employee is going through, and have the ability to share compassion with that person and appreciate their hard work, made a huge impact on me.”
MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015 | BUSINESS OBSERVER
3 QUESTIONS WHO IS THE UNSUNG HERO IN YOUR COMPANY? “I’d have to give credit to a combination of Dina Lomagno, my VP of sales and marketing, and (wife) Carla Shah, my corporate revenue manager,” Shah says. “They are literally responsible for the system that allows us to adjust rates by the hour, letting us maximize profits at our hotels.” WHO IS YOUR MENTOR? Father and company founder, Raxit Shah. “He has given me not only opportunities to succeed, but also humility, ambition and compassion,” the younger Shah says. “He’s someone who could appreciate the hard work of housekeepers while walking through a hotel, and 30 minutes later, have lunch with a CEO of a bank.”
Today, with nearly 600 employees scattered around the country, it’s impossible for Shah to know each one by name. But he only buys hotels he knows could use some refreshing or new life, and with that comes people who are proud to work there. Liberty Group moved to Florida with Rexit Shah after he sold his hotels in 2003 and 2004, with sights on retiring. Punit Shah moved with his family, and joined the many condominium and multifamily developers in Florida, building the St. Petersburg luxury condominium Paradiso. It would be Shah’s only project, which he barely completed as the housing market collapsed in 2008. Although it had no holdings, Shah was attracted by the idea of continuing his father’s legacy with Liberty Group. He started by buying distressed hotels, typically paying 60 cents or less on the dollar, and turning each around. As t he economy improved, Shah’s strateg y changed. Distressed hotels were replaced with full-value hotels, but Shah would send in his management team to streamline operations, and renovation crews to update tired room interiors. The business model at Liberty is always evolving, a key strategy for Shah. Without a board or corporate investors to answer to, decisions can be made quickly. “We don’t get passed by because we have to stop and discuss every decision,” Shah says. “If I have the opportunity to sell something, and there’s a great offer on the table, I can react to that immediately and quickly monetize an investment. That could be the difference between closing a deal, and letting it slip by.” Last July, Shah showed he can do more than just buy and sell
WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED, IN BUSINESS OR IN LIFE? Shah says Santosh Govindaraju, CEO of Convergent Capital Partners, told him to just stay patient. “As entrepreneurs, we are all very anxious and excited, and always going at 100 mph,” Shah says. “Sometimes you need to sit back and look at something two or three times before you make a decision.”
“WE DON’T GET PASSED BY BECAUSE WE HAVE TO STOP AND DISCUSS EVERY DECISION.” – Punit Shah, CEO of Liberty Group
roadside-style hotels like Fairfield Inn. He partnered with Convergent Capital Partners CEO Santosh Govindaraju to transform the old Mercantile Bank building on Kennedy Boulevard into Aloft Tampa Downtown, a 130-room boutique hotel under the Starwood Hotels and Resorts banner. “It was a n oppor tunit y we couldn’t pass up,” says Shah, who invested $20 million into renovations of Tampa’s Aloft. Still, Shah has stayed focus on buying and selling. In the past year, Liberty has sold six hotels, and has four more under contract. “It’s brought our family even closer,” Shah says. “We’re doing what we love, and we’re making communities better. We do it all as a family.”
BusinessObserverFL.com
11
NEIL SIMON AND STEPHEN MCKENNA JR. Envirostruct Bonita Springs GROWTH REVENUES
2012: $3.6 million 2013: $6.4 million 77% 2014: $20 million 213%
EMPLOYEES 2012: 5 2013: 13 2014: 30
WHY WE CHOSE THEM: When Neil Simon and Stephen McKenna Jr. started Envirostruct in 2011, success was no sure thing. After all, the recession would last a few more years for commercial builders in Southwest Florida because commercial construction lags residential building. Simon and McKenna could’ve played it safe by keeping their jobs with DeAngelis Diamond Construction, a well-established and large commercial construction firm in Naples. But their timing was impeccable, and with $20 million in revenues last year, Envirostruct was the fastest-growing commercial construction company on the Gulf Coast in 2014, according to the Business Observer’s Top 50 Contractors ranking. Today, Envirostruct has a backlog of $30 million worth of projects, including a $19 million Mercedes auto dealership in Naples.
“We knew [the economy] was going to come back eventually,” says Simon, 39. McKenna, 40, says his partnership with Simon works because they bring different strengths. “Mine is more technical, nuts and bolts,” McKenna says. “Neil is more into the philosophy of how we run the project. You definitely need both.” The company has built restaurants, clubhouses and medical facilities. Its high-profile projects have included projects such as the interior construction for Hertz Equipment Rental Corp. in Bonita Springs and a new Audi dealership in Fort Myers. In addition, Simon and McKenna recently launched a custom-home-building company called ES Home. “It stemmed from our commercial clients,” says Simon. “We’re just getting that going now. It’s a totally separate company.” —Jean Gruss
CORAL PLEAS Cutting Loose Salon Sarasota WHY WE CHOSE HER:
The risks in launching her own business were all there for Coral Pleas in 2008: She was already a part owner and stylist for one of the more prominent salons in Sarasota. She made more than $100,000 a year. And there was the faltering economy. Pleas, 53, plowed ahead. She spent at least $500,000 to open Cutting Loose, in a strip mall off University Parkway in REVENUES east Manatee Coun2012: $2.02 million ty. She has since 2013: $2.45 million opened three more locations, including 21.2% one in Connecticut 2014: $3.15 million and one in downtown 28.5% Sarasota. The focus at all the locations is EMPLOYEES to combine white2012: 49 glove-style service with French hair-cut2013: 54 ting techniques that 2014: 55 complement each client’s head shape and frame. One key to the success, says Pleas, is the firm’s training program, where every stylist learns the French method by working at Protégé, another salon the company owns. Protégé offers discounted rates for clients. Pleas and other Cutting Loose executives also developed an in-house training program.
GROWTH
Another aspect that helps Cutting Loose thrive is Pleas’ willingness to take on any task. That includes answering phones, changing light bulbs or assisting an assistant, says Sarasota TV personality and chef Judi Gallagher, a regular Cutting Loose client. That’s Pleas’ take on being a servant leader, an entrepreneur who puts employees’ needs above her own. “She’s a real believer of lifting people up,” says Gallagher. “She helps her people become better people.” —Mark Gordon
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BusinessObserverFL.com
BUSINESS OBSERVER | MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015
ENTREPRENEURS OF THE YEAR: OVERALL WINNERS
MARK WEMPLE
ART LAMBERT and RON SIMKINS co-founded LexJet in 1994. LexJet is now a unit of Sarasota-based S-One Holdings Corp., which has five subsidiaries in the printing, imaging and design industries.
‘OLD GUYS’ What makes two of the best entrepreneurs on the Gulf Coast successful? Forget what. It’s all about why.
GROWTH REVENUES
2012: $72.3 million 2013: $76.24 million 5.4% 2014: $144.7 million 89.8%
EMPLOYEES 2012: 124 2013: 152 2014: 170
T
hey don’t take themselves seriously, with a disarming degree of self-deprecation. They emphasize conflict, particularly when it creates consensus. They drop motivational phrases like breadcrumbs for an eager workforce. (A big one: Have fun, make money, don’t get in the way of anyone having fun or making money.) They also aim to hire future CEOs, not people who want a career. Oh, and they wear shorts to work. Most significantly they — Sarasota entrepreneurs Art Lambert and Ron Simkins — have built a singular success story in the graphics and digital printing industry. The company they co-founded in 1994, LexJet, has grown into
S-One Holdings Corp. Sales at S-One, with five printing, imaging and design subsidiaries, increased nearly 90% in 2014, from $76.2 million in 2013 to $144.7 million. Sales are up more than 200% since 2010. The foundation and oldest S-One unit is LexJet, which markets and sells printing equipment and supplies. Customers, mostly printing, imaging and sign businesses, use the products in a variety of ways, from event signs to trade show graphics to canvas photo prints. LexJet’s work ends up every where from billboards to airport signs to huge ads in sports arenas. But a big source of the recent grow t h comes from Brand Management Group,
an S-One subsidiary. BMG has a worldwide presence, including an office in Barcelona and employees everywhere from Germany and Japan to Singapore and Russia. It does business in 13 languages and uses nine currencies. BMG has exclusive worldwide licensing rights to sell wide format printing equipment and supplies under the Hewlett-Packard and Kodak brands. Clients include multiple printing industry resellers. The licensing deals, where BMG handles research, development, marketing and supply chain management, among other tasks, are opportunistic and lucrative. Companies such as H-P and Kodak, says Simkins, would rather outsource and get a
royalty fee. “When all these brands come out and say we don’t want to be in the business anymore,” Simkins says, “we are the ones with our hands up.” Friends since they met in 1974 in the Cincinnati apartment building where they each lived, Sim k ins a nd Lambert are the Business Observer’s 2015 Entrepreneurs of the Year for what they accomplished at S-One. There’s the growth, and there’s also the duo’s savvy strategy to position a company at the forefront of a rapidly changing industry.
TAKE CHANCES
The best way to do that, say Lambert, 69, and Simkins, 67, is to create a company that knows why. The why
MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015 | BUSINESS OBSERVER
includes: Why does S-One do what it does? Why do employees work there? And, especially important, why do they stay? Lambert and Simkins address the why every day, and wrap it up in the annual company “culture guide,” a glossy magazine on its third edition in 2014. “Culture is everything,” writes Lambert in the founder’s message of the book. “It’s the single biggest thing we have to nourish and enhance.” Adds Lambert, in closing: “With our culture we encourage a team environment with individuals who love to modify, innovate and learn from mistakes. Our emphasis on risk-taking, knowledge building and idea generation is truly celebrated in everything we do for our customers.” The results of why show in up in the obvious, like stellar sales growth, glowing customer service surveys and enviable employee retention figures. It also shows up in the intangible, like the future business leaders SOne produces. “If you come in for a promotion, you are at the wrong place,” Lambert says. “But if you want to learn how to run a business, this is it.” Pete Peter s on, re c ent l y named CEO of Sarasota-based auto dea lers buy ing group Dealers United, is a former SOne and LexJet manager. “They really encourage you to screw up,” says Peterson. “They challenge you to take chances. And they don’t like people who sit in the corner and whine and say ‘my job sucks.’”
LEADERSHIP TEAM
S-One and its subsidiaries are run out of three floors in the Ellis Building on Main Street in downtown Sarasota. The offices, about 25,000 square feet, include a high-tech printer demonstration room for clients and vendors. The hierarchy of the business is basically no hierarchy. Titles are rare. Lambert and Simkins, who call themselves the old guys, have majority ownership. They set a long-term vision and are around for advice. The core of the operations runs through a nine-person leadership team, which includes Lambert’s son, Dean Lambert, an original LexJet employee. Several other original LexJet employees are on the team. “The leadership team is not here to manage people,” says Lambert “They manage the business.” Then there are pods, 11 teams of four people, mostly in sales. Individuals in pods compete against each other, and other pods, for S-One sales superiority. “The pods know what to do,” Lambert says. “They are the ones closest to the customer.” The pod system is a play off an idea Lambert learned from pro golfer and Sarasota resident Paul Azinger, who wrote the book “Cracking the Code” in 2010. The book is a play-byplay of how Azinger led a 12man U.S. team to victory in the 2008 Ryder Cup. Azinger’s key move: He broke the golfers into pods of four to get the Type-A individuals to play cohesively. It’s a Navy SE A Ls tra ining technique, Azinger learned, where small
3 QUESTIONS WHO IS THE UNSUNG HERO IN YOUR COMPANY? “Our customers who constantly challenge us, and our S-One teammates who every day accept those challenges,” says S-One cofounder Art Lambert. WHO ARE YOUR MENTORS? Former Zenith Data Systems President John Frank. “John, Ron and I have known each other, worked together and been friends since 1976,” Lambert says. “John was a great influence on our professional lives and gave us both the opportunity to grow and succeed.” Adds Lambert: “Oh, and our brides of 40-plus years keep us well-grounded.” WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED, IN BUSINESS OR IN LIFE? “A former sales trainer back in 1976, Alan Cimberg, once told a group of us sales guys to ‘stop selling, start helping,’” says Lambert. “That advice goes way beyond sales.” pods, part of one larger squad, eat together, train together and are immersed in each other’s lives.
‘BEYOND ANYTHING’
Lambert and Simkins each spent time in Corporate America before LexJet. They sold computers, first independently and later through top regional sales positions at Zenith Data Systems, the personal computer arm of electronics giant Zenith. They also occasionally ventured outside the corporate world. They even owned a few bars near the University of Cincinnati. These were friendly neighborhood joints, with names like Mash, Fibber Magee’s and Dollar Bill’s Saloon. The pair relocated to the Sa rasota a rea in t he ea rly 1990s. Their goal with LexJet: Fill a void in customer support and education in how products were sold in the sign and graphics industry. It was perfect timing. Digital photography was a burgeoning trend by the late 1990s, and demand was high. It was clear to Joan McGill, vice president of
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business development for the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, that LexJet was a star in the making. McGill met Lambert and Simkins soon after LexJet was founded. “Their entrepreneurial spirit is beyond anything I’ve ever seen,” McGill says. “You could see it in the whole company.” Growth soon followed the spirit: LexJet, for example, ranked 48th in Inc. magazine’s Top 500 list of fast growing companies in 2001. The firm moved into the Ellis Building in 2011, and S-One was formed in 2013 to oversee everything LexJet and its sister companies do. Although a near doubling of annual revenues is unlikely in 2015, S-One officials project the growth, in employees and sales, will continue. A general goal is to hover around $1 million in sales per employee.
HAPPY TOGETHER
Lambert and Simkins say products and licensing agreements aside, growth always returns to why. And while the S-One culture book answers a lot of why questions, it omits a key query: How? How have Lambert and Simkins worked so well together for 40 years? One answer: They don’t. At least not always. Both entrepreneurs admit they’ve had some doozy disagreements. Sometimes they hash it out quietly. Other times they head to Key West for a work-out-the-differences getaway. “We always end up at the same point, but we don’t end up at the same point at the same time,” says Simkins. “The thread that holds it together is business ethics.” Former Zenith Data Systems President John Frank, who hired Lambert and Simkins for sales jobs in the 1980s, says the duo’s success lies in a classic balance of strengths and weakness. One has what the other doesn’t. “Art is a very empathic person. He can put himself in the place of anyone he’s talking to. That’s what makes him a great leader,” says Frank. “Ron is one of the most creative and entrepreneurial people I’ve ever met. He doesn’t take a lot of time to analyze things. He goes with his gut.” The breakdown of roles, Lambert agrees, drives the success of the friendship and business partnership. In the simplest terms: Lambert excels in dayto-day operations. Simkins shines on the visionary side. Or there’s this: “I just walk behind him with a shovel,” Lambert quips. “I pick up the ideas I like and ignore the ones I don’t.” – Mark Gordon
GOING GLOBAL
Digital printing firm LexJet, founded in 1994, primarily did business in the United States for its first two decades. The next two decades, say LexJet co-founders Ron Simkins and Art Lambert, could see major growth in global sales. Simkins and Lambert oversee Sarasota-based S-One Holding Corp., the parent company for LexJet, Brand Management Group and several other entities. BMG holds exclusive worldwide licensing rights to sell wide format printing equipment and supplies for HewlettPackard and Kodak. Simkins says BMG, courtesy of those licensing deals and the global reach, will be the main source of the future growth. But going global, where a Barcelona office is the nerve center, was a major obstacle. For starters, the sense of urgency was dizzying: H-P awarded S-One the licensing work in September 2013 — if the company could have global operations ready by February 2014. S-One partnered with UPS to handle some supply chain management work and other logistics. Simkins and Lambert guided the entire process, both in Sarasota and in several trips to Spain. “We literally went from a national company to an international company in a matter of weeks,” says S-One Process Leader Linda Mason, speaking in a UPS marketing video about how the shipping giant worked with S-One. “That’s just unheard of to be able to do so much, so quickly.”
LAMBERT’S LIBRARY
S-One Holdings Corp. co-founder Art Lambert is a devoted business book reader. Some of his favorites include: • “Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy: Make it Work for you,” by Paul Azinger; • “Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business,” by Patrick Lencioni; • “A Leadership Fable,” by Patrick Lencioni; • “Leaders Eat Last,” by Simon Sinek
“IF YOU COME IN FOR A PROMOTION, YOU ARE AT THE WRONG PLACE. BUT IF YOU WANT TO LEARN HOW TO RUN A BUSINESS, THIS IS IT.” – Art Lambert, co-founder, S-One Holdings Corp.
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BUSINESS OBSERVER | MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015
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ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR HALL OF FAME Every year we run the numbers, certain names keep topping our list of candidates. Here, we recognize past winners who continue to drive extraordinary growth. BY TRACI MCMILLAN BEACH | CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PAT NEAL SCOTT FISCHER Neal Communities Lakewood Ranch
Years won: 2005, 2012, 2014
Pat Neal is focused on the numbers. “If you know the stats, you can fix it,” he says. For Neal, the most important number is quality satisfaction, which he’s managed to boost two points to 92% in the last year. That’s because Neal is focused on his family business’s long-term reputation as the company grows. Building 1,0 0 0 homes a year, Lakewood Ranch-based Pat Neal CommuniREVENUES ties is up nearly 18% 2012: $139.4M to $271.1 million in 2013: $230.3M revenue. Neal previ65.2% ously won the Business Obser ver ’s 2014: $271.1M Entrepreneur of the 17.7% Year award in 2005, when sales grew EMPLOYEES 72 % o v e r t h r e e 2012: 125 years, to $110 million in 2004. Dur2013: 126 ing the recession 2014: 242* in 2009, revenue *new structure dropped to $62 milfor counting lion, but Neal won employees the award again in 2012, when he managed to bring sales back up to $110 million, and once again in 2014, when sales reached $230.3 million. The key to his success has been managing the numbers and implementing systems to track issues. The company has accomplished a 50% reduction in calls since it introduced a quality of service reference database that helps it track what’s happened. For example, in 2013 Neal realized the company had a high level of homeowner response after side winds took a toll on windows, so it started putting balance rods in the windows of new homes to avoid future problems. Though Neal believes homebuilding will double, he’s cautious not to outpace levels as homebuilders did in the last decade. With new systems and an improved organizational structure in place, Neal has started to expand, adding Lee and Collier counties last year, and Hillsborough County this year. His communities now cover 160 miles along the Gulf Coast, from Tampa to south Naples.
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FILE PHOTOS
JIM ABRAMS
BARRY SHEVLIN
Year won: 2014
Year won: 2008
Year won: 2008
Two years ago, Scott Fischer made the choice to reinvest in his current HarleyDavison stores, rather than look at new locations. His goal is to grow the 2% of the population who rides motorcycles. Scott Fischer Enterprises consists of six Harley-Davison stores, which domiREVENUES nate the markets 2012: $81M in which they’re lo2013: $105M cated, all together totaling $121 million 30% in revenue. 2014: $121M Fischer is making 15% a significant investment to make motorEMPLOYEES cycles more popular 2012: 280 among young adults, women and Hispan2013: 285 ics to expand his 2014: 300 customer base. He’s accomplishing this by giving non-riders a reason to come out to his stores. “Most people think of ‘Sons of Anarchy’ or Hells Angels, but it’s really big retail,” Fischer says. “Once the edge of motorcycles fades off, that’s when you can introduce them.” To attract the non-riders, Fischer has built a $10 million entertainment destination complex on Interstate 75 in Fort Myers, called Six Bends. The destination includes a concert venue that draws crowds of 3,000-plus to bands such as the Thunderbirds and Eddie Money. The venue has also hosted major fundraisers like a networking event that attracted 400 young adults. In the last six months, Six Bends saw a 30% increase in revenue. Now females generate 20% of sales from the Fort Myers store. The young adults sector is also growing — in 2014, the stores converted 35% of their 2,500 students in their rider education program. This year the company is working on developing an additional 45,000 square feet of mixed community space at Six Bends, a $5 million investment not counting the real estate, with a goal to attract a restaurant, microbrewery, tattoo parlor and nightclub. The company is being picky in whom it will accept. It wants something unique “because filling up the space is not the intention,” Fischer says.
Jim Abrams is back. But this time he’s not in the home contractor business. Instead, he’s focused on physical therapy. How can he jump from one industry to another? His strength is bringing business education to franchisees. Abrams was named Entrepreneur REVENUES of the Year in 2008 2012: $1.5M in Sarasota-Manatee 2013: $6.27M Counties for building Clock work Home 318% Ser vices, growing 2014: $23.56M revenues from $59 275.8% million to $182 million from 2005 to FRANCHISEES 2009. The company 2012: 1 s old to Toronto based Direct Energy 2013: 13 in July 2010 for $183 2014: 41 million. Abrams’ new company, Fyzical, a physical therapy franchise that he founded in 2012, has 96 franchisees under agreement, with a goal of 175 at the end of the year. The average franchise generates $700,000 per location. The company also owns and operates nine locations, with sales of more than $9 million. The company has already broken the top 10 in numbers of centers in the U.S., and aims to be No. 1 by 2020 with a goal of achieving 10% of the $32 billion market, according to Abrams. He came across the opportunity when he met a local physical therapist looking for a real estate investor. He quickly realized “this is an industry crying for what we do,” he says. Many of the local physical therapists he started to visit were small mom-and-pop shops that were experts at the health care aspect, but were unprepared for the business side. Abrams has no doubt that the company’s strong growth will continue. Last year, fewer than 3% of physical therapy business owners had heard of Fyzical, now at least 75% know of the company, Abrams says.
Barry Shevlin’s $180 million technology company Vology is working on growth through acquisitions. The Oldsmar-based company, which buys and sells used networking equipment and provides IT ser vices, grew 24% to $168 million in revenue in REVENUES 2014. The company 2012: $88M has ranked on the 2013: $135M Inc. 500/5000 list of fastest growing 53.4% companies in the 2014: $168M U.S. for the last nine 24.4% years with more than 5,000 customers EMPLOYEES worldwide. 2013: 190 Shevlin founded the company in 2014: 228 2001. He won the Business Observer’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008, after growing the company 635% from $6 million in 2004 to $44.1 million in 2007. But the firm insists the growth will only continue. In November, the company promoted John O’Shea to president to lead the charge. In the same month, it raised $40 million in new senior financing. The company used the new line of credit to kickoff its acquisition spree. In early March, Vology acquired Tampabased Offsite Technology Solutions, a 30-employee company. The acquisition boosted Vology to become the top IT services provider in the region. Vology acquired Tampa-based Bayshore Technologies in early 2013, which increased its employee count to 200. O’Shea says the goal is to create 100 more jobs by early 2015. Vology also made an expansion to Irvine, Calif., with an acquisition last year and is looking to expand more in Texas and the Northeast, O’Shea told trade publication CRN. In April, Vology was selected by NASA for the largest contract the federal government offers for information technology services, which could total $20 billion over 10 years.
Scott Fischer Enterprises Fort Myers
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Fyzical Sarasota
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Vology Oldsmar
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MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015 | BUSINESS OBSERVER
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15
ENTREPRENEURS OF THE YEAR
KAREN REHN
HH Staffing, Sarasota GROWTH REVENUES
2012: $2.32 million 2013: $2.94 million, 2014: $3.94 million,
EMPLOYEES 2012: 10
2013: 12
26.7% 34% 2014: 14
WHY WE CHOSE HER: A meeting Karen Rehn had with Hyatt Regency hotel executives in downtown Sarasota in 2009 was her shot to redefine the temporary staffing firm she just bought. The company, HH Staffing, with a focus on construction, struggled to survive the downturn. Rehn promised hotel executives that HH could supply well-trained banquet servers for a host of upcoming events. She came with a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the new HH training program. This was new territory for the firm — it didn’t even have the employees yet. Rehn, 57, was in her element going big. But her business partner Stuart Kortie, with more than a decade in professional staffing, says he never left a sales pitch meeting with so much anxiety. “She made commitments in that meeting I never would have,” says Kortie, who has a mi-
RICK SILVA Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc., Tampa WHY WE CHOSE HIM:
nority ownership stake in HH. The company won the Hyatt work. Soon after that it was awarded a similar contract at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota. The firm then went on a five-year-andcounting growth run in sales, employees and office locations. Rehn attributes the success of the business to the training program. It schooled workers in every-
thing from how to carry a tray to how to show gratitude. But Kortie says HH’s success really goes to Rehn’s never-quit ethos and personal drive, where good is the enemy of great. “She really wants to be right on all levels,” says Kortie. “She always looks to improve.” —Mark Gordon
STEVE SCHWARTZ Quality Enclosures, Sarasota GROWTH REVENUES
2012: $7.54 million 2013: $10.97 million, 45.4% 2014: $15.8 million, 44%
EMPLOYEES 2012: 76
2013: 94
2014: 120
WHY WE CHOSE HIM: Customers were hard to find in 1991 when Manny Schwartz and his son Steve Schwartz opened a business that manufactures and fabricates glass shower doors. So father and son knocked on front doors. They pored through the yellow pages. They searched for customers from Venice to remote areas north of Tampa. The persistence paid off. Steve Schwartz, 42, has since taken over ownership of the Sarasota-based company, Quality Enclosures, and has led it through both a recession-survival period, and, more recently, an expansion era. Growth includes sales, locations and product lines. Schwartz likes to say the company, with $15.8 million in 2014 revenues, now sells everything but car windshields. Schwartz’s ability to navigate the downturn impressed industry peers. “He’s always trying to find ways to cut costs out of his product to keep him competitive,” says Greg Burkhart, president of Bradenton-based Key Glass. “He has the savvy to cut costs without cutting quality.” Schwartz’s entrepreneurial qualities also go beyond the day-to-day. For one,
he will take risks in unusual ways. One standout example: In 2006 Schwartz, a longtime fitness buff, bought a martial arts academy in Sarasota where he had trained for years. The investment, more than $500,000 in total, is now a successful second business. Another side of Schwartz’s success,
say several people who know him, is his humility. Schwartz will often hit up friends and business owners for advice, and he’s eager to learn new ways of attacking challenges and problems. “He’s not afraid of asking people for advice,” says Burkhart. “And he really listens.” — Mark Gordon
When Rick Silva took over Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. as its CEO in 2007, business was sliding. After 15 years of public trading, a Wellspring Capital Management affiliate had just taken Checkers private. But not before the company posted its lowREVENUES est revenues since 2012: $696.9 million 2002, along with a 2013: $723.4 million waning profit. 3.9% Silva — a 13 year veteran of the 2014: $756.1 million much larger Burg4.5% er King fast food chain — turned not EMPLOYEES toward rapid ex2012: 5,968 pansion of Checker s and Rall y ’s 2013: 6,259 800 restaurants, 2014: 6,687 but instead toward an overhaul, beginning with the menu. “We put together focus groups every two weeks in our R&D center here in Tampa,” Silva, 49, says. “We made a point to figure out what was important to our customers, and not be afraid to try something new.” Checkers might still champion its Big Buford hamburger or its chili cheese hot dogs, but has since added new menu items like chicken wings, a Philly sub and even shrimp. “Folks that use fast food the most tend to be younger with changing lifestyles and evolving tastes,” Silva says. “What might have worked a few years ago may not still work today.” Silva also centralized operations of the restaurants, which before were more a loose confederation of locations, each with its own management structure. Part of that came through a computer network it developed and modified that used hourly sales predictions to help managers schedule the right number of employees in the kitchen. “We did time-motion studies to figure out how long it takes to make every single product we sell,” Silva says. “We then took that information, combined it with past sales data, and it created a new way for us to schedule labor.” Over the last five years, annual revenue at each restaurant was boosted by an average of $150,000. Yet, Silva shies away from taking too much credit for Checkers’ turnaround. “You can’t do all that by yourself,” he says. “I put people around me who are much smarter than I am. They are so damn smart, they make me better every day.” – Michael Hinman
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BUSINESS OBSERVER | MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015
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ENTREPRENEURS OF THE YEAR
PRESENTS
A Night in the Shark Tank Wednesday June 10, 2015 | 5:30pm – 8:00pm
LORNA TAYLOR
ALLEN TREVETT
WHY WE CHOSE HER:
WHY WE CHOSE HIM:
Premier Eye Care Tampa
Mote Aquarium | 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota Tickets: $80 / Free for CEO Forum members Space is limited. Register today at gulfcoastceoforum.com or call/email Tonia 941-539-0500/tonia@gulfcoastceoforum.com.
Featuring guest speaker Kevin Harrington, the original Shark on ABC’s hit show Shark Tank, who will be telling his “Entrepreneur Story” and then moderating a panel of investors as they discuss what they look for
What was expected to be a short-term leadership role through the launch phase has become a 20-year career for Lorna Taylor, and she’s still not ready to go. The CEO of Premier Eye Care has since jumped on the rapid growth of Americans with health insurance following the implementation of Obamacare, expanding a once regional company into locations in 15 states. “With the Affordable Care Act and everything else coming up, we were forecasting that million of insured people would be coming onto the REVENUES Medicaid rosters 2012: $41.4 million and the (health) 2013: $53.9 million exchanges, so 30.2% we quickly mobilized to stay 2014: $84 million ahead,” Taylor, 55.8% 57, says. “ We started to roll out EMPLOYEES state by state, 2012: 46 using par tners we already had 2013: 73 in Florida, from 2014: 94 Texas to California, and all the way to Hawaii.” State governments quickly found managing vision care through its Medicaid rolls to be cumbersome, and found relief reaching out to the private sector to companies like Premier. “Groups like us could come in and take over, bringing all the cost efficiencies and plan management experience we had to the table,” Taylor adds. It was risky to reach beyond a specific geographic area, but risks are necessary to grow, Taylor says. Companies just have to be careful about stepping too far. “You can’t be reckless,” she says. “We have employees and their families to think about, and we have to make sure we’re around a long time so that we can nurture our communities.” Revenue has doubled in the last three years to $84 million, but Taylor expects to end 2015 topping $100 million. And Premier shares the wealth — even ensuring that equal pay comes with equal work. “We review everyone’s pay, even if they don’t ask for it,” Taylor says. “That might go against the bottom line, but it’s a responsibility we take seriously.” – Michael Hinman
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when investing in a company. Cocktails & light bites provided by Michael’s On East.
169796
SPONSORED BY:
Allyn International Fort Myers
When Allen Trevett first visited Prague 15 years ago, he wasn’t impressed. The capital of the Czech Republic was still mired in its socialist ways. “It was polluted, it was dark, the buildings were grimy,” Trevett, 62, chuckles. “I’m not sure we knew what REVENUES we were getting 2012: $10.3 million into.” 2013: $11.7 million But energy 14% industry clients needed his firm, 2014: $17.1 million For t Myers 46% based Allyn International, to EMPLOYEES provide logistics 2012: 135 for transporting infrastructure 2013: 158 equipment to 2014: 223 the fast-growing former Eastern Block countries. (For privacy reasons, Allyn doesn’t disclose customer names.) It’s the kind of go-anywhere, entrepreneurial zeal with which Trevett has grown his business to $17.1 million in 2014, up 46% from 2013. Trevett says European operations offset the economic downturn in the U.S. “Long term it’s been a great business,” he says. But wading through the Czech bureaucracy where stamps were still a big deal took persistence. “It was a very difficult process,” Trevett says, noting it took six months to set up the office. Trevett took some comfort that he wasn’t the first one in. “Some Fortune 100 companies had set up beachheads in Prague,” he says. Trevett initially hired five employees, none of whom had been educated in the socialist ways. “We ended up with a young group of employees. Everybody was under 30,” he says. Today, Allyn’s office in Prague has 60 employees. Since then, Allyn has opened offices in Shanghai, China, and Trevett is exploring other markets around the globe. His employees have spent time in Russia’s Arctic Circle and in Angola. “That’s one of the reasons I spend a lot of time traveling,” he says. – Jean Gruss
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MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015 | BUSINESS OBSERVER
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of MAY 20
LEGISLATIVE OVERVIEW: The Urban Land Institute Southwest Florida will host a discussion about the bills that passed in the Florida legislative session that impact Southwest Florida. The event will run from 7:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. at The Club at Olde Cypress, 7165 Treeline Drive, Naples. For more information visit swflorida.uli.org. POLICY ROUNDTABLE: State Senators Jeff Brandes, Bill Galvano, Arthenia Joyner, Tom Lee and John Legg, and State Representatives Janet Cruz, Shawn Harrison, Ed Narain, Jake Raburn, Dan Raulerson, Darryl Rouson, Ross Spano and Dana Young will speak at an event hosted by the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. The event will run from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Maestro’s Restaurant at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts 1010 N. W.C. MacInnes Place, Tampa. Cost is $50 for members and $55 for others. For more information visit tampachamber.com.
others. For more information visit http:// swfrtp.org or email Deborah Johnson at deborahjohnson.naples@gmail.com.
MAY 29
SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS: The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce will host the 25th Annual Frank G. Berlin Sr. Small Business Awards from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota, 1000 Blvd. of the Arts, Sarasota. For more information visit sarasotachamber.com.
events
JUNE 9
JUNE 10
NEW DEVELOPMENT: The Real Estate Investment Society will host developers of the proposed WildBlue community near Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers. The meeting will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Pelican Preserve Town Center at Treeline Avenue and Colonial Boulevard, Fort Myers. Cost is $40 per person. For more information visit reis-swfl.org.
SHARK TANK: Local entrepreneur Kevin Harrington, who appeared on the original “Shark Tank” television show, will be the guest speaker at a Gulf Coast CEO Forum meeting. The event will run from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Mote Aquarium, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota. There is no cost for CEO Forum members and $80 for others. For more information visit gulfcoastceoforum.com or call Tonia at 941-539-0500.
MAY 21
INVESTMENT PITCH: The Tamiami Angel Fund II will host its second quarterly VenturePitch SWFL, a shark-tank style event where four early stage entrepreneurs will pitch their companies to investors. The event will run from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Arcade Theatre, 2267 First St., Fort Myers. Cost is $50 per person. For more information visit venturepitchswfl.com or call 239-298-6940.
MAY 26
SOCIAL MEDIA: Jenni Walsh, director of digital marketing for Bayshore Solutions; Leslie Laney, marketing and social media director for A Media Marketing; and Lauren Albert, account executive for Elevate will discuss the best ways to get a WALSH company recognized on the Internet at a Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce meeting. The event will run from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the chamber office, 201 N. Franklin Street Suite 201, Tampa. Cost is $35 for members and $50 for others. For more information visit tampachamber.com. DEFENSE INDUSTRY: The Florida Defense Contractor’s Association and the Tampa Bay Innovation Center will host a defense industry gathering. The event will run from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Hilton Carillon Park, 950 Lake Carillon Drive, St. Petersburg. Cost is $125 per person. For more information visit fl-dc.org, contact Joan Sacco at 727-547-7340 or email saccoj@ tbinnovates.com.
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MAY 28
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: Patent attorneys Ed Livingston and Bryan Loeffler of the law firm of Livingston Loeffler will discuss intellectual property rules for business and technology professionals at a Southwest Florida Regional Technology Partnership meeting. The event will run from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Hodges University Naples Campus, White Community Room in the Science and Technology Building, 2655 Northbrooke Drive, Naples. There is no cost members; $10 for
There’s Wealth in Our Approach.™ Credit services are provided by Royal Bank of Canada and are subject to their terms and conditions, including credit approval. Minimum loan is $500,000. Credit Specialists are employees of Royal Bank of Canada. RBC Wealth Management may receive compensation in connection with these services. *LIBOR is derived from an average of daily self-estimates of borrowing costs supplied by a small group of large global banks. Royal Bank of Canada is a participant in the LIBOR-setting panels tied to the US Dollar, the British Pound, the Euro, and the Canadian Dollar. © 2015 RBC Wealth Management, a division of RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Member NYSE/FINRA/SIPC.
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BY JAMIE KANE | CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST
The four S’s of superior sales performance Before you send your sales team out to represent your company, make sure it has all the tools needed to succeed. There is a world of difference between starting a company and building a successful business. The “idea” part of a company is just one part of a complex puzzle. Below we examine the four pillars that help every business translate sales into growth: strategy, structure, staff and skills. STRATEGY For a company’s sales force to sell successfully, it must have a compelling message that resonates with a specific, targeted group of people or companies. Take the time to have a clear vision of who derives the most benefit from what your company sells, or what problems they have that your company can solve. Too often we work with clients who tell me they are in a mature market with lots of competition and that their company is really no different than the others. It is true that there are multiple insurance agencies, and technology firms, and yes even HVAC contractors. But what caused you to choose your HVAC contractor? Every company has some differentiator. The leader of a company should be able to passionately share what makes his or her company special and unique. Your sales people are one of your best resources to go figure that out, if you haven’t already. They can ask your best clients: “Why did you choose us?” In today’s economic environment, companies are facing more competi-
tion and greater price pressures than ever. However, dropping price to close business is a risky proposition. What kind of message does that send about the quality of your offering? Worse yet, what does it do to the financial health of your company? Companies must create sales teams that truly believe in the value of their offering. Otherwise they run the risk of having their products or services commoditized. STRUCTURE Good sales structure has two basic components: the plan and accountability. Leadership must have the ability to make the plan relevant and meaningful to each sales person. Truth is, if the plan is well structured, it should incentivize the behavior that drives sales. Notice I said “behavior” — not revenue. In the world of Sandler, we know that no one can ultimately control whether a customer buys or doesn’t buy. We can only control the activity, or the behavior of the sales professional. If an individual focuses and executes on the right behavior with the right frequency, the results will ultimately come. Of course, with that comes management’s responsibility for accountability. Most sales people will cringe with the mention of accountability. And frequently they are right to do so. Effective accountability does not mean endless reporting of how each and
every moment of the day was spent. Effective accountability means a core set of behavior expectations, set with the help of the sales professional. The behaviors should be easily measurable with a “stretch” element to them. Once the right behavior expectations are in place, the sales person understands what is expected of him and has the ability to work toward achieving those goals. At the same time, the sales manager has clearly communicated expectations and will now have objective information on which to base that ever important performance evaluation — be it good or bad. STAFF Many businesses overlook the importance of hiring well on the front end. Another struggle we often see is management’s inability to ascertain whether it has the right people to get to the next level. Objectively assessing each member of a sales team is critical. Once that valuable data is gathered, plans for improvement may be implemented and strengths can be identified and leveraged to the benefit of both the company and the individual contributor. One last area that must be addressed relative to the staff component is the hiring process itself. It is astounding to me how many hiring managers will only interview and hire candidates with industry experience. You may think I’m crazy, but any company is better off hiring someone with sales skills and no industry experience than the other way around. Any good sales
manager should be able to teach a sales person. But, if your hire doesn’t have basic good sales skills, you are sunk. SKILLS Finally, as we send these carefully chosen individuals out into the world to represent our companies, we must give them the skills to do their jobs — the executable, step-by-step techniques that allow them to function in this highly competitive profession we call sales. Getting in front of the right people with the right frequency is job No. 1. Unfortunately, too often so much focus is placed on the actual number of appointments a sales person has that potential areas of weakness are overlooked. Assuming the sales professional is getting to the right folks with the right frequency, you also need to make sure he’s preserving the company’s margins when he closes business. Sales people who have not developed the skills to have a peer-to-peer budget discussion will often drop their price to close business. And sacrificing margins to close business will kill business — that’s not sales! Jamie Kane is a Lakewood Ranch resident and the owner of Sandler Training in Sarasota. Sandler Training offers sales, management, and leadership training, coaching and consulting. Contact Kane at jkane@sandler.com.
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commercial real estate | TAMPA BAY | POLK COUNTY
Blue Rock, Konover South buy Hamilton Bay Apartments BUYER: Hamilton Bay Property Holdings LLC, Tampa SELLER: Brandon Multifamily Partners LLC PROPERTY: 1801 Princeton Lakes Drive, Brandon PRICE: $43.6 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $30 million, August 2010 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLC, Nashville, Tenn. PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
A joint venture of Tampa-based Blue Rock Partners LLC and Konover South LLC of Deerfield Beach purchased the 444-unit Hamilton Bay Apartments in Brandon for $43.6 million. The price equated to $98,198 per square foot. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per unit for multifamily space ($72,609) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group. Located at the southwest corner of Providence Road and Providence Lake Boulevard, the 27.43-acre development features 29 residential and two clubhouse buildings and a service repair shop. The community was constructed in 1989 and 1990. The apartment was 91% occupied at the time of the sale. The partnership plans to invest $2 million in interior and exterior upgrades, and will rebrand the com-
Carefree buys Haines City RV and residential complex for $10.45 million BUYER: NHC-FL144 LLC, Scottsdale, AZ SELLER: Charlie Long Jr. and Edna G. Long Family Ltd. Partnership PROPERTY: 1101 and 1501 W. Commerce Ave., Haines City PRICE: $10.45 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.98 million DESCRIPTION: 368 RV sites and 110 manufactured home sites on 36 acres PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
One of the nation’s largest manufactured and RV community owners has acquired Central Park in Haines City for $10.45 million. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Carefree Communities Inc. said the late April purchase, its 40th of the past two years, will add 368 RV sites and 110 manufactured
munity as The Park at Portofino. Cole Whitaker and Jason Stanton of Berkadia represented the seller, an affiliate of Covenant Capital Group. The Hamilton Bay acquisition is the partnership’s 15th in the past two years. During that period, the group acquired 4,500 units and more than doubled its portfolio in Tampa Bay, Lakeland, Orlando and Fort Myers. Blue Rock Partners owns and manages more than 12,000 apartment units. Konover South, a Simon Konover company, owns 20,000 apartment units, 17 million square feet of retail and office space and 4,000 hotel rooms. The purchase entity, Hamilton Bay Property Holdings LLC, mortgaged
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BY SEAN ROTH | REAL ESTATE EDITOR
home sites to its portfolio. The 36-acre Haines City community, which had been owned by the Charlie Long Jr. and Edna G. Long Family Ltd. Partnership, contains amenities that include heated swimming pools and clubhouses, as well as laundry and bath facilities, Carefree stated in a statement. The community, which was completed in 1971, was valued at $5.02 million in 2013, according to the Polk County property appraiser’s website. Carefree, a privately held real estate investment trust, owns 102 RV and manufactured home communities containing 28,000 sites in Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Massachusetts, North Carolina, California, Arizona and Ontario, Canada. In Florida it owns three dozen RV communities, including the 178-acre Sun-N-Fun RV Resort and Campground in Sarasota; the Horseshoe Cove community in Bradenton; and the Marco Naples park in Naples. the property to New York Community Bank for $32.7 million.
Waterfront apartment, home sells for $1.3 million BUYER: La Playa I LLC (manager: McKinley Associates Inc. and Albert Berriz), Ann Arbor, Mich. SELLER: Fountain Court Apartments LLC PROPERTY: 105 110th Ave., Treasure Island PRICE: $1.28 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $845,000, May 2009 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Broad and Cassel, Orlando
PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Ann Arbor, Mich.-based McKinley Inc. purchased the nine-unit Mont Carlo Apartments for $1.28 million. The price equated to $141,667 per unit. That figure is higher than the twoyear average price per unit for multifamily space ($72,609) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group. Located on Boca Ciega Bay, the property includes a two-story, 8-unit multifamily apartment building and a 1,470-square-foot single-family home. Amenities include a laundry facility, two boat slips and a boatlift. The twobedroom/two-bathroom home also has a swimming pool. The seller recently installed a new roof, central heating and air conditioning, ceramic tile, vinyl flooring, new cabinets and new windows. The community was fully occupied at the time of the sale. Francesco Carriera, Joshua Teplitzky, Cameron Barbas and Michael Regan of Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office represented the seller. The purchase price equated to a payoff ratio based on current income (capitalization rate) of less than 5%. However, rents, Teplitzky says, are artificially low and offer an opportunity to improve the investment. “The buyer plans to do even more improvements,” he says. The 1,600-employee McKinley invests and manages residential and commercial real estate. Its $4.6 billion portfolio includes more than 21 million square feet of office and retail space and more than 35,000 multifamily units in 34 states. The purchase entity, La Playa I LLC, mortgaged the property to Comerica Bank for $3.62 million.
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BUSINESS OBSERVER | MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015
Sarasota Memorial creating island urgent care center BUYER: Sarasota County Public Hospital District, Sarasota SELLER: Scrufferdoodle LLC PROPERTY: 500 John Ringling Blvd., Sarasota PRICE: $3.5 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.03 million, July 1991 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen, Sarasota PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
The Sarasota Memorial Health Care System purchased the 5,476-squarefoot St. Armands Medical Center for $3.5 million. The price equated to $639 per square foot. The health care system plans to demolish the 34-year-old walk-in medical center building to construct an 8,700-square-foot urgent care facility. The new building will have two floors over parking, with the second floor devoted to urgent-care services. The third level will be used for imaging. According to Kim Savage, spokeswoman for the health care system renovating the building was not an
option for the buyer, because of its small size and building and other code deficiencies. The new building is projected to cost less than $5 million to construct. The St. Armands urgent care center will be Sarasota Memorial’s sixth urgent care facility and its first focused on the barrier islands. The facility will operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week providing medical care for non-life threatening illnesses and injuries. The new facility is scheduled to open toward the end of the year.
BY SEAN ROTH | REAL ESTATE EDITOR
area, according to the CoStar Group. The 1.3-acre parcel features a 5,028-square-foot office building and a 3,586-square-foot mixed-use building. Current tenants include Longboat Key Financial & Insurance Group, RJV Hospitality Services, Longboat Title Services, attorney D. Turner Matthews and RVA Resort Vacations. Christ Church, which is located directly south of the commercial buildings, plans to use the space primarily for additional parking. It previously had an agreement to use 20 parking spaces during season. Once the existing tenant leases expire, the church expects to use the buildings for office or meeting space. —additional reporting by Kurt Schultheis, contributor
ETC… Longboat’s Christ Church buys adjacent commercial buildings BUYER: 6350 GMD LLC, Longboat Key SELLER: Samuel and Hilda Hood PROPERTY: 6350 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key PRICE: $1.1 million LAW FIRM ON DEED: Porges Hamlin Knowles & Hawk PA, Bradenton PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Christ Church of Longboat Key, Presbyterian (U.S.A.) purchased a two building, 8,614-square-foot office development for $1.1 million. The price equated to $128 per square foot. That figure is higher than the twoyear average price per square foot for office space ($119) in the Tampa Bay
EVERYONE HAS A STORY
• The Lollicake Queen leased a 2,000-square-foot restaurant space at 126 N. Orange Ave. in downtown Sarasota. The company will be operating under a new name, Flour Parlor. The company is a boutique bakery and cafe and will have an expanded menu from its previous location on Hillview Street. Joe Hembree and Tom Burrows of Hembree & Associates represented the landlord. Hembree & Associates also manages the property. • Apple Moving Inc. leased 2,500 square feet of warehouse space in Ivy Business Center at 2047 Princeton St., Sarasota from Ivy Business Center LLC. Nick DeVito II and Joanna Ginder-Ashley of Ian Black Real Estate handled the transaction. • Doctor’s Choice Home Care Inc. leased 2,970 square feet of office space at 4760 State Road 64, Bradenton from Braden River Business Center LLC.
Michele Fuller of Ian Black Real Estate and Cyndi Myers at Wagner Realty handled the transaction.
Sandbar renovations land in retail brand textbook The Schimberg Group Inc.’s renovation of the Anna Maria Island Sandbar restaurant is featured in Martin Pegler’s recently published textbook, “Designing the Brand Identity in Retail Spaces.” The Sandbar project is in the book’s brand makeover chapter, along with other examples from Aéropostale, Buffalo Wild Wings and Domino’s. The Schimberg Group relocated the entrance to the restaurant and bar and added pier wood and antique mirror strips to the restaurant with the goal of emphasizing its gulf views. Fabrics and fixtures were also selected to complement the waterfront setting. • The developers of Mirabella at Village Green hired Michael Saunders & Co. to handle home sales for the northwest Bradenton community, which is still under construction. Model homes are now being built and are expected to open later this year. Mirabella is located on 42 acres just south of Manatee Avenue off Village Green Parkway. • Top Drawer Furniture leased 5,040 square feet of space at 1955 Northgate Blvd., Sarasota from NGC of Sarasota LLC. David Greenfield of 1st Property Group Inc. represented the landlord, and Andy Metz of American Property Group of Sarasota Inc. represented the tenant.
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commercial real estate | CHARLOTTE-LEE-COLLIER | ing and electrical systems. Hasen’s medical practice, Aesthetic Plastic Surgery & Med Spa of Naples, currently operates from 4081 Tamiami Trail N., Suite c203, Naples. The purchase entity, 3699 Airport Road LLC, mortgaged the property to Florida Community Bank NA for two loans totaling $2.95 million.
Naples plastic surgeon buys Preston Professional Center BUYER: 3699 Airport Road LLC (manager: Kent Hasen), Naples SELLER: Steven and Nedra Preston, individually and trustees of the Steven P. Preston Revocable Trust and the Nedra Preston Revocable Trust PROPERTY: 3699 Airport Road N., Naples PRICE: $1.97 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $425,000, September 1990 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Goodman Breen & Gibbs, Naples PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Plastic surgeon Dr. Kent Hasen purchased the Preston Professional Center for $1.97 million. The price equated to $260 per square foot. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per square foot for office space ($112) in Southwest Florida, according to the CoStar Group. The freestanding medical/office building is located on a 1.15-arce site between Pine Ridge Road and Golden Gate Boulevard. Constructed in 1991, the office building features a covered drop off and impact-resistant windows. Its roof was replaced in 2013 and there were also upgrades made to its plumb-
Developer buys former restaurant site BUYER: DavTami Enterprises LLC (manager: Anthony Fortino), Naples SELLER: Fifth Avenue Plaza LLC PROPERTY: 1807 Tamiami Trail E., Naples PRICE: $1.5 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.9 million, October 2005 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Cheffy Passidomo PA, Naples PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Fortino Construction & Development LLC purchased a 1.62-acre parcel for $1.5 million. The price equated to $925,926 per acre. The triangular shaped piece of land lies between Davis Boulevard and U.S. 41 just east of where the two roads intersect. It previously housed a Burger King, the Bermuda Triangle restaurant and the Dry Dock Raw Bar & Grill. The site was cleared in 2011. With offices in Naples and Hackensack, N.J., Fortino Construction & Development has 25 years of experience. Firm owner Anthony Fortino declined to comment on the purchase. The purchase entity, DavTami Enterprises LLC, mortgaged the property to Pine Tarr LLC for $1.2 million.
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BY SEAN ROTH | REAL ESTATE EDITOR
ETC… • W.J. Bradley Mortgage Capital LLC leased 2,100 square feet of office space within the Bank of America building at 13099 S. Cleveland Ave., Suite 505, Fort Myers from Hague Inc. Randal Mercer and Brandon Stoneburner of CRE Consultants represented the tenant, and The Birch Co. PA represented the landlord. • SPS Air & Refrigeration Inc. purchased a 3,750-square-foot building at 3420 and 3422 Willard St., Fort Myers from Willard Street Properties LLC for $129,000. Michael Frye of Frye Commercial Group at Re/Max Realty Group Commercial Division represented the seller, and Jack Britton of Professional Realty Consultants represented the buyer. • Page Field Center LLC purchased a former gas station at 11150 S. Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers, from U.S. Century Bank for $450,000. The building has been demolished and the gas tanks have been removed so a fastfood restaurant and retail center can be developed on the site. John Albion and Shawn Stoneburner of Cushman and Wakefield | Commercial Property Southwest Florida LLC handled the transaction. • Gallagher Bassett Services Inc. leased a 2,327-square-foot office space at 3637 Del Prado Blvd., Suite 200, Cape Coral from 3637-B LLC. Jim Tamblyn of Colliers International Southwest Florida represented the tenant, and Karen Goncalves of Re/Max Realty Team represented the landlord. • Crystal Clear Water Purification Inc. purchased 30,385 square feet of industrial space at 4940 Bayline Drive, North Fort Myers from Goodwill Industries of SWFL Inc. for $775,000,
equal to $26 per square foot. Stan Stouder of CRE Consultants represented the seller, and Neil Masse of Sellstate Priority Realty represented the buyer. • Envision RX leased 2,351 square feet of space at 17595 S. Tamiami Trail, Fort Myers from Alico Lakes Commons LLC. Michael Frye of Frye Commercial Group at Re/Max Realty Group Commercial Division handled the transaction. • Bruno Air Conditioning of SWFL leased 2,744 square feet of office space at 16520 S. Tamiami Trail, Suites 208212, Fort Myers from RLR1 LLC. Karen Johnson-Crowther and Dannielle Robinson of Colliers International Southwest Florida represented the landlord, and Chris Adamski of Century 21 Sunbelt Realty represented the tenant. • Coastal Peruvian Seafood and Grill agreed to lease space within Bed Bath & Beyond Plaza, a shopping center on 5311 Airport Road, Naples, from Continental Realty Corp. The restaurant, which is owned by Christopher Santos, is scheduled to open in late summer. • Robert W. Baird & Co. leased 3,744 square feet of office space in The Offices at Pelican Bay at 5811 Pelican Bay Blvd., Suite 102, Naples from Steelbridge Pelican Bay LLC. Dave Wallace of CRE Consultants handled the transaction. • The Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach leased 3,630 square feet of office space at 1764017680 S. Tamiami Trail, Suites 303-305, Fort Myers from the Porterfield Family Trust. Michael Frye of Frye Commercial Group at Re/Max Realty Group Commercial Division handled the transaction.
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BUSINESS OBSERVER | MAY 15 – MAY 21, 2015 BY LORI SAX | CONTRIBUTOR
Contractors and related services enjoy good eats The Gulf Coast Builders Exchange held a food truck rally April 2 at Sarasota Ford. Baja Boys Grill, Southern Smoke and Ain’t No Thang, selling chicken wings, provided the food. Founded in 1952, the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange is a nonprofit trade organization that supports the building industry. Right: MARY DOUGHERTY-SLAPP, Gulf Coast Builders Exchange; MATT BUCHANAN, Sarasota Ford; and MARY FORRISTALL, Forristall Enterprises and Gulf Coast Builders Exchange.
LINDA PETERSON and GREGG GIONFRIDDO with HH Staffing Services
MARK CAMPBELL with ProFloors and JODI CRABTREE and NATHAN RENNER with Tandem Construction
DANNY JACOBSON and MANDY JACOBSON with Satterfield & Pontikes Construction and MARK KOWALSKI with Ben Brown Insurance
DIANA BERNAL with Key Glass and MATT SIMS with Tandem Construction
EVAN BROWN with Ben Brown Insurance and JAMIE WOOD with Guy Hurley of Florida.
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4 0U N DER4 0 | where are they now?
BY TRACI MCMILLAN BEACH | TAMPA CORRESPONDENT
Trading Titan
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Uri Minkoff traded his life as a serial entrepreneur for bringing innovation to the fashion industry. He helped grow his sister’s handbag company to more than $100 million in sales. dia was popular, naysayers would tell the Minkoffs they shouldn’t do that. Now other designers are following. “We were ushering in a new group of disrupters,” Uri says. The company is the largest global brand in fashion with a female designer under age 35. Uri acts as CEO and Rebecca is the creative director. One of the most difficult challenges to navigate was determining when to scale back his other ventures, Uri admits. Within five years of helping with his sister’s business, Uri sat down with his team and admitted he was getting pulled in too many directions. He had to deprioritize Fortis and its spinoff Auto Loop, shed his real estate investments and become a board member of his health business. “I had to decide which of my babies to focus on.” By 2010, he was working on Rebecca Minkoff full time. Uri’s tech background has been applied to multiple pieces of the business — down to designing stores based on a shopper’s user experience.“Let’s do retail 3.0,” he said. He determines the top pain points a female has when shopping and uses technology to solve them. For example, shoppers can request additional items to try on by scanning a tablet in the dressing room. They can also scroll through other items that might go with the outfit, from the designer’s standpoint, so they don’t have to leave the changing room half-dressed.
A glimpse back at Minkoff’s answers from the 2006 40 under 40 issue.
COURTESY
URI MINKOFF says the best business decision he’s ever made is surrounding himself with really smart, interesting people — regardless of industry background. They’ve also added a line of wearable technology, including a bracelet that can work as a charger for iPhones and a fashionable bracelet that can be linked to your phone, similar to the Apple Watch. The company’s biggest challenge moving forward is maintaining majority ownership while continuing to scale. “Almost no one else has done this,” he says.
• Formula for success: Listen, observe, analyze and act • Name one pressing issue affecting our region today: Lack of sufficient technology talent. • How would you solve it? Promoting the area as a region ripe with opportunity and use business, university, the arts and social groups to foster such. • Hours worked per week: 60 • Book you can read more than once: Problems of Work, by L. Ron Hubbard. • Books or magazines on your nightstand: GQ, Fortune, Wired. • What would you like to be doing more of? Training. • What would you like to be doing less of? E-mails. • If I had it to do all over again I would… do it all over again. To see more on the Business Observer’s 40 under 40, scan this QR code or visit businessobserver4040.com
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ri Minkoff brings two unlikely industries together: technology and fashion. But now that he’s built one of the top brands in high-end fashion and handbags to $100 million in revenue with more than 25% growth annually, it’s clear that it’s a good match. Minkoff made the Business Observer’s 40 under 40 list of top business professionals in 2006, for building Fortis Software, a software consulting company he founded in 2001. At the time, Minkoff admitted that the three magazines on his nightstand were GQ, Fortune and Wired. Since, Minkoff and the company he co-runs with his sister have received mentions in both Fortune and Wired, and his new line of men’s apparel and bags, Ben Minkoff, has been featured in GQ. It’s a Cinderella story for the company that his sister Rebecca Minkoff started in 2005. Back then, she was struggling to make money in an industry dominated by the elite. Rebecca called Uri to ask him if she should become a waitress at an Italian or Japanese restaurant, curious which one he thought would earn more tip money. Without allowing her to go further, Uri asked her if being a designer was her passion. When she said yes, he told her she shouldn’t give up, and he’d help her start the company. From the start, the company embraced social media, and gave users a voice in the designs. Before social me-
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