Manufacturing and Technology by i4 Business Magazine

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

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Combat Pilot Tech Company Sets Course for Orlando

UCF’s Dr. Hologram Device Creates PORTL for Health Care Education Custom Metal Designs: Ta lent a nd Tec hnolog y

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CONTENTS

INSIDEFF SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

FEATURES

Innovation Takes Flight

Modern-Day Manufacturing

Teaching + Technology

Red 6 Chooses Orlando for Combat Pilot Technology Hub

Custom Metal Designs Melds Talent and Technology

Digitec Interactive Turns Its Expertise to Inclusive Education

Hiring Superhero

Drawbacks of Progress

Caring for LGBTQ+

Full Circle

CareerSource Central Florida Is Recruiter’s Secret Weapon Digital Transformation Has Strained IT Departments Nonprofit 26Health Offers Services for Physical and Mental Well-Being From Closet to Checkout, Goodwill Changes Lives

Daniel Robinson and his dog, Petey

UCF’s Dr. Hologram

WizUp

A PORTL to Better Health Care Education

12 UCF's

PORTL

Educational App Takes Stress Out of Screen Time

ON THE COVER Daniel Robinson

"We used to walk around the house asking, ‘Where’s the babysitter?’ while looking for the iPad.”

– WizUp co-inventor Natasha Kanji, Pg 28

Photography by Mike Killian Cover Concept Design by Bruce Bicknell

2 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 | i4Biz.com

4BUSiNESS BEST PRACTICE

Guest Expert Columns

i4 Business Advisory Board

From the Editor and Publisher

Business Briefs

Up Close with

THE BUSINESS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Business Seen

Catriona Harris | Uproar PR

Downtime

Watercooler

MARKETING

Look to Olympic Ad Campaigns for Inspiration Meaghan Branham | i4 Business

DEPARTMENTS

DATA PRIVACY

Florida Has Updated Its Telemarketing Rules — Now What? Eric Tejeda | PossibleNOW

Alexander Cartwright

Dr. David Baker-Hargrove and Robert Baker-Hargrove of 26Health

INDUSTRY INSIGHT THE BUSINESS OF MANUFACTURING

Industry Must Invest Time in Developing Its Future Workforce Christian Davidson | Manufacturers Association of Central Florida

THE BUSINESS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

It’s Essential to Future-Proof Your Organization Carol Ann Dykes Logue | University of Central Florida Innovation Districts and Incubation Program

52 54

Adaptability Is Key to Staying in Business During Crisis

THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS

Tournaments Give Us Head Start in Rebound of Tourism

Unique Experiences for Your Day Off

Stuff You Didn’t Know You Wanted to Know

Jason Siegel | Greater Orlando Sports Commission

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

4BUSiNESS ®

Orlando's Leadership Connection

SPOTLIGHTING

MARKETING AND PR PROFESSIONALS

4BUSiNESS EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Diane Sears MANAGING EDITOR Meaghan Branham COPY EDITOR Terry Godbey DIRECTOR OF ENCOURAGEMENT Donna Duda PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR Julie Fletcher JulieFletcherPhotography.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Bruce Bicknell Digital Blue Productions

Marketing and PR professionals work to put their clients in the spotlight – now we want to shine a light on them.

CONTRIBUTORS Meaghan Branham, Mimi Coenen, Christian Davidson, Terry Godbey, Catriona Harris, Carol Ann Dykes Logue, Davia Moss, Arnold Sanchez, Diane Sears, Jason Siegel, Eric Tejeda

In our November 2021 issue, i4 Business will spotlight your stories:

SUBSCRIPTIONS DIRECTOR Rana Stark

WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU DO, AND WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS.

Build your relationship with our audience and yours with this special section spotlight. Each profile will be: • Published in our print and digital editions of i4 Business • Published on i4biz.com • Shared on our social media channels • Spotlighted in our Special Sections newsletter

Coming November 2021! i4biz.com Tel: 407.730.2961

4 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 | i4Biz.com

i4 Business is a participating member of:

i4 Business Advisory Board This Month's Featured Advisory Board Members Gwen Thompson Hewitt

Thank You We’d like to thank our Advisory Board members for keeping their fingers on the pulse of our community and helping us bring you the best stories from around Central Florida.

Judi Awsumb, Awsumb Enterprises Jim Bowie, Consultant Jackie Brito, HR Asset Partners Cari Coats, Accendo Leadership Advisory Group Andrew Cole, East Orlando Chamber of Commerce Laura Dorsey, Florida Black Chamber and National Cultural Heritage Society Stina D'Uva, West Orange Chamber of Commerce Carol Ann Dykes Logue, University of Central Florida Business Incubator Program Susan Fernandez, Dignitas Technologies Lena Graham-Morris, HORUS Construction Mark Allen Hayes, Stockworth Realty Group Gwen Thompson Hewitt, United Negro College Fund Susan Howard, Communications/Public Relations Specialist Vicki Jaramillo, Orlando International Airport Chris Leggett, Central Florida International Trade Office Catherine Losey, Losey PLLC law firm Laureen Martinez, Orlando Economic Partnership Yog Melwani, Align Commercial Real Estate and Indian American Chamber of Commerce Davia Moss, Next Horizon Hope Edwards Newsome, Virtus LLP Rob Panepinto, Florentine Strategies Bill Reidy, Thumbs Up Jerry Ross, National Entrepreneur Center Romaine Seguin, UPS Global Freight Forwarding Jason Siegel, Greater Orlando Sports Commission Mary Shanklin, Fifth Estate Media Robert Utsey, Gilbane Building Company

Gwen Thompson Hewitt is the area development director for United Negro College Fund (UNCF) in Central and North Florida, where she plans and implements campaign strategies consistent with UNCF’s national action plan. She serves as an ambassador for UNCF, engaging donors and leveraging key relationships to manage revenue goals. Before joining UNCF, Hewitt served as the president and founder of Thompson Hewitt Consulting and as the key account manager with Ability Plus Inc. in Orlando. She has served on numerous boards and supported many causes in her community, with a focus on children, literacy and higher education.

Judi Awsumb Judi Awsumb is president of Awsumb Enterprises, a strategic business consulting company. She has more than 30 years of experience leading successful growth strategies for both corporate and entrepreneurial environments. She is the founder of WE-Women Entrepreneurs, powered by CEO Nexus, a group of second-stage business owners generating a minimum of $1 million in annual revenues. She has served on various advisory boards including the ATHENAPowerLink board of governors; the Florida Executive Women board of trustees, where she is the program's chair; and the University of Central Florida Town & Gown Council.

Susan Howard

Susan Howard is a nationally accredited corporate communications/public relations specialist with corporate, nonprofit and agency experience. Retired from DUDA, a diversified land company with headquarters in Oviedo, Florida, where she was director of corporate communications, she recently served as a copy editor for i4 Business. She served as president of the Agriculture Institute of Florida and the Orlando Area Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association, earning the chapter’s Central Florida PR Professional of the Year award. She is a former board member and secretary of Florida Executive Women.

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

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4BUSiNESS

Orlando's Leadership Connection

SPOTLIGHTING

TOURISM AND SPORTS PROFESSIONALS

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Sports and tourism are embedded into the fabric of Central Florida - now we want to know more about the people behind the plays. In our December issue, i4 Business will spotlight your stories:

WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU DO, AND WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS.

Coming December 2021! i4biz.com Tel: 407.730.2961

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i4 Business® is published eight times a year by i4 Business LLC, 121 S. Orange Avenue, Suite 1500, Orlando, FL 32801 Tel. 407-730-2961 i4biz.com The contents of i4 Business® magazine, i4biz.com and any other media extensions related to the brand, including advertisements, articles, graphics, websites, web postings and all other information (“contents”) published, are for informational purposes only. i4 Business® and all other affiliated brands do not necessarily endorse, verify, or agree with the contents contained in i4 Business®. i4 Business® makes no warranties or representations, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness, timeliness, or usefulness of any information contained or referenced. i4 Business® shall not be held liable for any errors or omissions. ©2021. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, in whole or in part, is prohibited

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From the Editor and Publisher

Stay on the Lookout for Signs of Progress Step by step. I can’t think of any other way of accomplishing anything. — Michael Jordan

t felt so good to wear a lanyard again. I never realized how much I would miss hanging a name badge around my neck.

I was at a conference for airport and airline leaders, listening to panel discussions about what’s happening in travel right now and what’s predicted for the near future, when I looked down and realized the significance of the name tag dangling from the cord. A week earlier, I had been meeting a colleague at Walt Disney World when I saw people wearing badges for a business conference. It was jarring because I hadn’t seen this since March 2020. I broke into a grin. I was coveting one of those badges to add to the extensive collection in my office, which had been looking a little dated with no new ones in 18 months. But that was beside the point. It just felt good to see this clear symbol of business life getting back to normal. Since then, I have hosted a nonprofit conference, attended two expos, and sat through a few business luncheons, complete with the chicken dishes we’ve all missed. Sure, the audiences are smaller than they were preCOVID-19, and the room layouts look different because of social distancing. People are wearing masks and elbow-bumping instead of shaking hands. But the events business is rebounding. My name tag collection is starting to grow again. Experiencing this made me realize some businesses never shut down for the pandemic. Manufacturing facilities couldn’t just tell their employees to stay home and work from their kitchen counters or guest bedrooms. These businesses were deemed essential, and they kept their doors open. In this issue, we’ve spoken with some of the manufacturers and technology companies that managed to excel even during the pandemic. Our cover story is about Red 6 (Page 12), an exciting tech company that has chosen to relocate to Florida from California, partly because of the

modeling, simulation and training ecosystem in Orlando. We’ve also written about longtime Central Florida manufacturer Custom Metal Designs (Page 18), which adjusted its mission and helped package hand sanitizers at the beginning of the pandemic. We spoke with tech company WizUp (Page 28), which created a solution for parents whose children have spent much more time than usual on electronic devices because of the pandemic. We’ve written about the PORTL device (Page 25), which is taking telehealth to a whole new level with 3D holograms. We’ve brought you a story about CareerSource Central Florida and one of its clients (Page 34), which both have stayed busy placing people into jobs in a year when many employers are desperate for help. It’s hard to tell what business will look like this time next year, when we celebrate Manufacturing Month in 2022. For now, we will continue to savor the little victories: a change in location, an updated mission, a technological innovation, a different perspective, a new employee … and yes, even a fresh lanyard. Have a great month! Diane Sears

Editor and Publisher

P.S. – Be sure to check out our article on 26Health (Page 38), an innovative health care company here in Central Florida that played a pivotal role in helping the community cope after the Pulse nightclub shootings five years ago. You can watch my in-depth interview with the founders on our i4 Business TV channel on YouTube.

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

BUSINESS BRIEFS

UCF to Transition Into Big 12 Conference for Athletics Alex Martins, CEO of the Orlando Magic NBA team and current chair of the UCF board of trustees, said the move has the potential of being transformative. “Intercollegiate athletics is often referred to as the front porch of the university,” he said. Sports can help universities gain international attention and can open doors that create engagement from alumni, donors and prospective students. Terry Mohajir, UCF vice president and director of athletics, thanked the American Athletic Conference, which UCF will leave as it steps into the Big 12. “As a proud member since 2013, our teams have won 32 AAC championships in a wide variety of sports. We will continue to proudly represent the AAC during the transition.” The University of Central Florida has accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 Conference, a move that is expected to elevate its national profile and expand opportunities for student athletes to compete at the highest level. The announcement is igniting excitement among UCF football fans. Formed in 1963, UCF will be the youngest institution among the Power 5 conferences. The Big 12 began play in 1996-97, and its teams have won 69 NCAA championships since the conference was established. In football, the conference has produced seven Heisman Trophy winners.

UCF President Alexander Cartwright applauded the move: “As we strive to become the world’s leading metropolitan research university, we know our achievements in our classrooms and laboratories, and in our community, are enhanced by our national recognition in athletic competition, and this invitation will only strengthen that relationship.”

NASA Awards UCF a $500,000 Grant for Aerospace Work The University of Central Florida was one of seven universities to receive a $500,000 grant to support NASA’s Artemis program, which has a goal of sending people back to the moon over the next decade. The university already leads the country in the number of graduates it produces for aerospace jobs. An estimated 30% of the workers at Kennedy Space Center have degrees from UCF. The university said it was eligible for NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project Space Technology Artemis Research (M-STAR) grant because of its significant Hispanic population. UCF students and faculty members will collaborate with Blue Origin, nanotechnology company Imec, local industry, various NASA centers and the Florida Space Grant Consortium as part of the grant.

Business

8 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 | i4Biz.com

Proposed Stadium Expansion Terry Mohajir, who started in February as the University of Central Florida’s athletics director, unveiled his vision in August for expansion of the 44,000-seat UCF stadium and surrounding facilities. The stadium would house coaches’ offices behind

Innovation

premium seating, as well as premium event space with views of the football field and the campus, a renovated locker room, and a team lounge and meeting area. The new design would create more seating for students and a “town square” nearby for tailgating.

Education

BUSINESS BRIEFS

BizLink Orange Connects Region’s Entrepreneurs With Services Central Florida entrepreneurs soon will have the help of a new online platform called BizLink Orange, which will connect them to about 40 regional support organizations. Launching in November at the National Entrepreneur Center (NEC) at Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, this next generation of support offers small business owners access to coaching and training, a collection of “how-to” guides and a regional calendar of business events. BizLink Orange takes the collaborative model of the NEC, which

is made up of 16 organizations, and expands it exponentially to anyone with an internet connection. The NEC was founded in 2003 when Orange County, the University of Central Florida and The Walt Disney Company collaborated to launch a unified approach to growing the local small business economy. It combines multiple business support agencies into a single location to provide efficiency for entrepreneurs while leveraging limited community resources. Less than five years later, its vision was borne

out when an Orlando Business Journal survey of 55 U.S. cities named Orlando as the best place to start and grow a small business. Today, more than 220,000 entrepreneurs have been coached and trained through the NEC. Orange County funds BizLink Orange, which is free to small business owners. Services are not only available to people in Orange but also to those who live in Osceola, Lake, Seminole, Brevard and Volusia counties. The NEC was tapped to implement, manage and oversee the program.

New Coworking Space Nashville-based e|spaces has opened a 30,000-square-foot coworking space on the 13th floor of the SunTrust Plaza in downtown Orlando. The company hosted a ribbon-cutting celebration in late August with more than 200 business and government leaders in attendance. The event showcased more than 30 businesses that make up the e|spaces community, ranging from high-tech firms to nonprofits including the Downtown Orlando Partnership. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer led the ribbon-cutting ceremony along with e|spaces Founder Jon Pirtle.

Tourism

From left, Don Long, Jill Vaughan, Brandy Bennett, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, e|spaces Founder Jon Pirtle and Orlando City Commissioner Regina Hill

Growth

Inspiration i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

BUSINESS BRIEFS

Convention Center Reaccredited for Global Health Protocols During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it became clear that events would need to be handled differently, the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) was one of the first facilities of its kind to receive GBAC STAR Facility Accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), a division of worldwide cleaning industry association ISSA. The facility recently became the first convention center to achieve reaccreditation globally after a successful year of hosting in-person events. Through its dedication to upholding GBAC STAR infection prevention protocols, as well as its recovery and resiliency guidelines in cooperation with the Florida Department of Health and its pioneering collaboration with Orlando Health, the OCCC

has hosted more than 100 live events since the onset of the pandemic. “From the very beginning, we have been committed to hosting safe events and prioritizing the health of all who enter the OCCC,” said Mark Tester, the facility’s executive director. “GBAC STAR has been instrumental in helping us get to where we are today.” As of August 19, 2021, the OCCC had 52 contracted events planned throughout the rest of the year, including 12 conventions, trade shows and sporting events that relocated their events to the OCCC from other destinations. In June 2021, the facility welcomed its largest event to date, the Amateur Athletic Union’s (AAU) 48th Annual Junior National Volleyball Championships, which brought in more than 135,000 attendees.

Fan Engagement App Unveiled for 2022 Special Olympics In preparation for the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games that will be held in Orlando in June 2022, organizers have unveiled a first-of-its-kind fan engagement app. The custom-built, immersive app was developed in partnership with Orlandobased cloud consulting provider Solodev and Virginia-based software solutions provider Applied Training Solutions. “Since Day One, the entire organizing

committee and I have been committed to creating an unforgettable Games experience, everything from the world-class destination, exceptional venues, and now the first-of-its-kind Special Olympics USA Games app,” said Joe Dzaluk, the president and CEO of the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games. Special Olympics athletes helped shape the app, which will enable users to create custom Games schedules, view an

Sports

10 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 | i4Biz.com

interactive map with venue locations and distances, and start planning their trip to Orlando. In phase two later this fall, users will be able to create personalized profiles, look up and follow athletes and coaches, send cheer-on messages, and access virtual ticketing. The 2022 event will be the largest Special Olympics USA Games ever, uniting more than 5,500 athletes and coaches from all 50 states and the Caribbean and 125,000 spectators.

Leadership

Technology

BUSINESS BRIEFS

Climate First Bank Pledges 1% of All Profits to Environmental Causes Climate First Bank, founded by Lake County resident Ken LaRoe, has partnered with global nonprofit network 1% for the Planet and has pledged to donate 1% of its annual revenue to support sustainability-oriented nonprofits. Based in St. Petersburg with clients nationwide, the bank opened in June. Its mission is to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide by accelerating society’s transition to sustainable alternatives. Climate First Bank is a pending B Corporation, a

company that balances planet and profit. It is also the only bank in Florida to be a legal Benefit Corporation, which provides legal protection for making decisions based on financial factors and nonfinancial interests such as a social mission. “Joining 1% for the Planet was a no-brainer decision,” said LaRoe. “This partnership opens up an incredible opportunity to use our resources to fund projects with the same mission as Climate First Bank. The money we make on our sustainable loans will go right

back to funding eco-friendly projects and furthering environmental causes all over the world.”

Deepak Chopra Teaches Integrative Medicine at UCF There is a new volunteer faculty member at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine: Deepak Chopra, who is world-renowned as an advocate of integrative medicine, which focuses on the whole person for health and healing. Chopra will provide electives and other programs on the mind/body connection for health and well-being. He has set up residence in Lake Nona, where his foundation recently opened the first Chopra Mind-Body Zone and Spa at the new Lake Nona Performance Club. Chopra has been a regular visitor to Orlando, where he has taken part in the annual Lake Nona Impact Forum, which brings in worldwide experts on innovations in health and wellness. Chopra first studied medicine in India

GrowFL Announces 82 Finalists for Companies to Watch Twenty-two Central Florida secondstage growth companies are among 82 finalists announced for the next class of GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch honorees. Now in its 11th year, the program selected the finalists from more than 600 nominations statewide representing a variety of industries. Companies to Watch was developed by the Edward Lowe Foundation to recognize and honor second-stage companies that demonstrate high performance in the marketplace with innovative strategies and processes. Companies are judged on

Finance

past growth, projected success, special strengths and impact in their markets and communities. Candidates must have between six and 150 employees and revenue between $750,000 and $100 million in 2020. GrowFL will host events across Florida to showcase the finalists. The list of companies by region is available at https:// growfl.com/flctw21/meet-the-finalists/. The honorees will be announced this month, and the awards celebration will be held Feb. 17, 2022, at Hard Rock Live at Universal City Walk in Orlando.

Community

before coming to the U.S. and has taught at Tufts, Harvard and Boston universities. Trained as an endocrinologist, he also serves as an adjunct professor of urology at Mount Sinai, a clinical professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego, and a senior scientist with the Gallup organization.

Central Florida finalists: Brevard County - CustomAerospace, Kegman, Tank Wizards, TotalCareIT and Vaya Space

Lake County - AffinityFL Orange County - AceApplications, AMP

Pediatric Therapy, Assured Information Technology Engineering, Bestglobalsource, Castillo Engineering, Hispanic Family Counseling, InNovo Partners, NanoSpective, NovoaGlobal and ViewStub

Seminole County - .decimal, ecoSPEARS, Informulate and Synergy Wealth Alliance

Volusia County - Intellitec Products and Zgraph

Health i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

COVER STORY

Innovation Takes

'Flight'

Daniel Robinson Photo Illustration by Bruce Bicknell

12 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 | i4Biz.com

COVER STORY

Red 6 Chooses Orlando for Combat Pilot Technology Hub

BY TERRY GODBEY

Photography by Mike Killian/Red 6

hen Daniel Robinson was a boy obsessed with the movie Superman, he would stand outdoors trying to take flight. But even a child’s imagination could not have prepared him for the thrilling career he would experience as a fighter pilot and businessman. “I was enamored with Christopher Reeve’s character flying down Fifth Avenue in New York,” recalled the founder and CEO of Red 6, a technology company that is changing the way the military trains its combat pilots. “All I wanted my Superman to do was save cats from trees and perform good deeds.” He would go on to become a fan of Star Wars and Top Gun — fitting for a young man who took to the skies for real as a fighter pilot with the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. Robinson also later became the first non-American in the world to fly the F-22 Raptor. It was after meeting Glenn Snyder in 2018 and seeing the groundbreaking work he’d been doing in virtual reality that Robinson came up with the vision for Red 6. Snyder now serves as the company’s chief product officer. In a victory for Florida economic development leaders, Red 6 announced in August that it is moving its operations to the Sunshine State from California sometime in 2022. Within days, the company announced it had won a $70 million contract with the Air Force, making the move even more significant for Florida. Although Red 6’s official headquarters will be in Miami, where Robinson will live, its technology hub will be located in Orlando because

of the city’s international reputation as a center for companies working on modeling, simulation and training projects for military and civilian use.

“I'd always associated Orlando with theme parks, frankly,” Robinson said. “I didn't fully understand the complementary aspects of the cluster of technology companies that exist there.” When he looked around Central Florida, he also found access to what he described as a talented human capital pool from places like the University of Central Florida (UCF) and Full Sail University.

Fighter Pilot Training Red 6’s allure is based on its trailblazing technology. Traditionally, fighter pilots have been trained through the use of other pilots pretending to be adversaries, also known as red air, hence the company’s name. This type of synthetic combat air training is very expensive, Robinson said. Every time Robinson flew an F-22 to get training, he needed someone to fly against as the “bad guy.” At a cost of about $100,000 per flight hour, using a second plane and pilot to replicate an adversary doubled that cost to about $200,000. Not only is that pricey, Robinson said, but the military doesn’t have enough airplanes or pilots to provide the amount of training that combat pilots need. In response to that problem, Red 6 tackled this fundamental question: “Could we put real pilots and airplanes up in the sky but replace the need for

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

COVER STORY

Daniel Robinson and his dog, Petey, whose title is chief morale officer, with the Berkut 540 airplane

real adversary aircraft by replacing them with synthetic assets that don’t physically exist, but ones that the aircraft sensors believe to be there and, critically, assets the pilots can physically see and maneuver against?” To make this vision a reality, Red 6 created an Airborne Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS), a technology that does just that by putting virtual planes and pilots in the sky that real pilots in real planes can maneuver against in real time. Using a combination of augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence, the technology is the first AR solution in the world to work outdoors and in the most dynamic of environments. Pilots can now fight virtual enemies, practice aerial refueling and formation flying, and work through combat scenarios all while pulling G’s in a high-speed, real-world environment.

Virtual vs. Augmented Reality Military fighter pilots have trained

14 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 | i4Biz.com

with simulators using virtual reality before, but augmented reality is different. Where virtual reality creates an entirely new world, augmented reality adds images to real surroundings — for example, showing an airplane against the actual sky instead of creating both the aircraft and the sky. “Augmented reality is a much more complex and nuanced problem to solve,” Robinson said, “because we aim to put synthetic or virtual entities into the real world and have people interact seamlessly with them. So if I'm flying my airplane, I see the sky and the mountains but superimposed on that real world are augmented assets — in this case, airplanes that I can now train against.” It’s safer, too, he pointed out, because there are no adversary planes to crash into. ATARS puts its AR technology into an airplane’s cockpit by projecting an image onto the visor of the pilot’s helmet. Its ability to work outdoors and in high-

speed environments makes it perfect for realistic combat training.

Air Force Contract The Air Force, which has been interested in Red 6’s ATARS since its creation, has awarded the company a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract worth up to $70 million over five years. The award will allow the company to pursue the commercialization of Red 6’s AR platform for purchase not only by the Air Force but also by the Army, Navy or Marine Corps. “Innovation within training is needed now more than ever to remain competitive with our adversaries,” Dr. Winston Bennett of the Air Force said in a news release. “Red 6 is delivering a solution to current pain points in training that, if fixed, could solve several national security issues we face today.” Bennett is part of the Warfighter Interactions and Readiness Division.

COVER STORY

“The collaborative nature in which everyone seems to work together makes it almost like an Orlando LLC, and the interesting companies and the amount of collaboration and goodwill in that ecosystem is tremendously powerful.” — Daniel Robinson

Red 6 will begin integrating its ATARS technology into a T-38 Talon jet immediately. That work, which will be a big focus for Red 6 in the next 12 to 18 months, will take place at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.

“The contract is significant because we are stepping out from our own test platforms and test aircraft for the first time,” said Robinson, adding that Red 6 already worked with the Air Force in SBIR Phases I and II, which were more about research and development. “Now we’re putting ATARS into a supersonic jet trainer with an ejection seat, and with all of the militarization that's involved in that.”

Bound for Florida Robinson said he decided to move his company to Florida because it’s more welcoming to businesses than California. Miami offers explosive growth and a massive shift of private equity and venture capital, he said, while Orlando’s renowned modeling and simulation industry provides an ideal foundation for Red 6 to grow. UCF has not only acquired an international reputation as a center for simulation and training, it is also the nation’s No. 1 supplier of graduates for

the aerospace and defense industries. With Brightline high-speed passenger rail set to connect Orlando and Miami starting in late 2022, Robinson chose both cities for Red 6 operations. “I felt that neither location offered everything we need, but it made a tremendous amount of sense to me to capture the value of both places,” he said. “I don't really think about it in terms of an Orlando or Miami success story — I think of it as a Florida success story.” Red 6 has not yet chosen a site for its Orlando technology hub, where software engineering will be conducted, although Robinson has opened a temporary office in the Central Florida Research Park near UCF and said he is intrigued by Lake Nona. The growing area of east Orlando has already attracted autonomous shuttle company Beep and electric flying cab company Lilium, among other innovative companies. In addition, Red 6 has not decided which Orlando airport will house its experimental Berkut 540 (pronounced burr-COOT) airplanes, which Robinson built and calls his “mobile augmented reality flying labs.” He is working with the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, which oversees Orlando International Airport and Orlando Executive Airport. The company of about 40 employees is growing quickly and will begin hiring for its high-wage jobs soon. In a coup for the company, Red 6 welcomed aboard

Sheena Fowler, the former director of innovation at Orlando Economic Partnership, which played a key role in persuading Robinson to come to Orlando. Fowler will serve as senior director of strategic partnerships and business development and became Red 6’s first Orlando-based team member in August.

Exacting Business Education Robinson left the Air Force in 2009 after becoming a flight training instructor and reaching what he felt was the pinnacle of his combat aviation career. “At some point, someone will tell you to stop flying airplanes, and I like to be in control of my own destiny,” he said. He figured business was the bridge to whatever he was going to do next, so he had earned an MBA from Georgetown University. In 2010, he moved to New York City and began work as a director of new business development for global investment firm Franklin Templeton. After only a year there, he got a call from his father, who was CEO of Gus Robinson Developments, a construction and home-building company in the UK. His father said the company was in trouble and he needed his son to return home and help him. Robinson got on the next plane, but his father committed suicide before he arrived, leaving a shocked, grieving family and a company on the brink of bankruptcy. i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

COVER STORY

Greg Francis prepares for his book launch tour.

In flight over Southern California “It was extremely, extremely difficult,” Robinson said of the time he spent rescuing the company for his mother, sisters and employees. “I was sitting there with a really interesting background of leadership and management experience, an MBA and some time in finance, so I had a certain skill set and experience level that was commensurate with being asked to do something of that magnitude. But I suppose the question was, did I have the character to do what was being asked of me?” He said he knew his life in New York was over — and so was a powerful relationship he had built. “It was the first time I was really in love as an adult, and I lost that person the same year as my dad because I knew that once I stepped home, it was going to be all-consuming. I was involved in a proverbial dogfight to keep the company alive. It was broken from top to bottom, so it was a tremendous, tremendous education.”

Back to His Own Dreams After six exhausting years of turning the company around, Robinson left the UK for California to find something to make him happy, with no clear idea what

16 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 | i4Biz.com

that might be. “I bought a surfboard,” he told a Full Sail University audience in July. “And I went out into the ocean and sat on that surfboard every night and watched the sun go down … and asked myself the difficult questions. Losing my dad in the way I did really crystallized what was important for me in life. I thought about how all the money in the world but no time is as worthless as all the time in the world with no money.” He said he thought about how much he loved flying, but it had been a while, so he took flying lessons and earned a pilot’s license. The hangar he was based out of housed an experimental aircraft he admired, so he began to work on that plane and decided together with the designer of that aircraft that he would create his own. The Berkut 540 they built would go on to be the aircraft Red 6 would use to test its ATARS technology. Around this time, Robinson met Snyder, who had created a sophisticated virtual reality game in 2015 featuring two real race cars on separate tracks that appeared to be competing on the same track. “When I saw Glenn’s technology with the race cars, it was a lightbulb moment for me,” Robinson said. “That’s when

I came up with the idea of Red 6 and accomplishing that feat in an airplane.”

‘Extraordinary People’ Creating ATARS hasn’t been easy, but that didn’t stop Robinson. “I've always liked working on difficult problems with extraordinary people,” he said. “After I came back to California, I asked myself, ‘If I knew when the end of my life was coming, how could I live as truthfully as possible and how would I spend my time?’ And it was while answering those questions that I decided to build an airplane, which has led me to the most extraordinary chapter of my life with Red 6. “There is a major purpose behind it, and that is the geopolitical threat I see from the re-emergence of Russia onto the world stage and the rise of China. I've surrounded myself with the most capable, extraordinary, beautiful people who believe in my vision and are working hard to achieve it. And that’s something I've been fortunate throughout my career to be able to do, whether flying airplanes in the military, transforming Dad's company or going to business school. I've been very, very lucky, and it's always been the people around me that I've enjoyed the most.”

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FEATURE

Modern-Day Manufacturing Custom Metal Designs Melds Talent and Technology BY DIANE SEARS

Photography by Julie Fletcher

hen some people think of manufacturing, their minds call up images of the 1800s and dark, dangerous, dirty sweatshops. They don’t think of today’s manufacturing facilities with bright lights, robotic equipment, computers and clean surfaces. That bothers Ray Aguerrevere, executive vice president and general manager of Custom Metal Designs in west Orange County, which manufactures equipment that helps other manufacturers automate. It bothers him so much that he has become a champion of the industry. He serves as president of the Manufacturers Association of Central Florida and chair of the board of Florida Makes, and he also sits on a national advisory board for the manufacturing extension partnership program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. One of his missions is to get more men and women into manufacturing professions — whether they are young people looking for their first jobs or career changers. To promote that mission and to celebrate October as Manufacturing Month, Custom Metal Designs brings in groups of students this time of year to tour the 60,000-square-foot facility that employs about 100 people.

Custom Metal Designs employs about 100 people in positions ranging from engineering to shipping and receiving

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“When I talk to kids, I show them everything we do and say, ‘Hey, do you like video games? Well look, I’ve got five people upstairs and all they do is play with 3D models making parts, making machines and making things move.’” The key is in persuading their parents to let them take the tour. “Historically, manufacturing has had a stigma,” Aguerrevere said. “If you look at all the things manufacturing does nowadays, and how technical it is and how advanced it's gotten, it's a whole different industry. I always tell people that in our organization, there’s not one job we don't have. We have facilities maintenance, accounting, marketing, engineering, sales, administration, machinists, welders, mechanics, installers, procurement, shipping and receiving. Manufacturing is a great career. You get in and the sky's the limit. You can go anywhere.”

Career Path

Aguerrevere’s own venture into manufacturing happened by chance. He was a commercial market lender for AmSouth Bank, which later became Regions Bank, and he had gotten to know Steven Grimes, whose father founded Custom Metal Designs in 1972. Steven Grimes told this story about his father, Saul, in an industry publication in

Manufacturing is a great career. You get in and the sky's the limit. You can go anywhere. — Ray Aguerrevere

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Ray Aguerrevere and Steven Grimes

2018: “Our company was one of the first to introduce conveyor systems to move milk bottles across a plant. My dad would go into dairy plants and see people carrying boxes of bottles all through the facility from the trucks to filling machines. He understood the business and how to make it better. His driving desire was to build systems and customer relationships to last a lifetime.” When Saul Grimes retired, the man who had been the company’s chief financial officer for 30 years retired alongside him. Steven Grimes had grown up with the business his father formed the year he was born, and he had been working there since returning home from college in 1994. He took over the position of president from his father in 2000, and he turned to Aguerrevere for assistance. “Steven approached me about coming in and running the finance function of the company, and from there it grew,” Aguerrevere said. “We were much smaller than we are now, about $4 million in revenue, and now we’re pushing $15 million.

“I stayed in that function for a couple years, and then as the finance guy I started asking, ‘Do we have a sales pipeline, sales goals, sales quotas?’ None of that really existed, so they asked me to start tracking that and I became the de facto sales manager for a period.” As Aguerrevere’s knowledge base in manufacturing grew,

he became the vice president and general manager about eight years ago — a role that often positions him as a spokesman for the company within the industry.

Childhood Dream

Aguerrevere’s fascination with heavy equipment started in his early years. He remembers the excitement he felt every week on trash day as a 6-year-old in his birthplace of Caracas, Venezuela. His parents, who were from the United States, were in Latin America for his father’s work in the oil industry. “I was fascinated by garbage. We lived in a big building, and we’d send our trash down a chute to a centralized location. There would be maybe 80 bags, and the truck would come get it and put it in the compactor. I would sit on the balcony of our seventh-floor apartment watching the process happen, and I would tell my mom, ‘That's what I want to be when I grow up! I want to be a garbage man.’ “Somehow I grew out of that and I got into finance. When I was 13, I subscribed to The Wall Street Journal, and I've been a finance nerd ever since.” When Aguerrevere was 8, his father’s job took the family to Panama. It was an unsettled period, when dictator Manuel Noriega was taken down in a U.S. invasion to stand trial on charges of racketeering, drug smuggling and money laundering. “It was a very bad time for a while, and my mom had a stink bomb thrown through a car window when my sister and I were i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

FEATURE in the car,” he said. “My mom came home and said to my dad, ‘That's it. We’re leaving. We’re bringing the kids back to the States.’ That's how I ended up in Orlando.”

a letter with them stating that we were an essential manufacturer that needed to remain open. They were essential employees at an essential company, and it was cool. We did our part.”

‘We Did Our Part’

Workforce Struggles

As Custom Metal Designs prepares to mark its 50th year in 2022, it faces some of the same challenges as other manufacturing companies that are holding on through the COVID-19 pandemic. “I've been doing this for 16 years, and it's never been harder to run a business,” Aguerrevere said. “On top of not finding the staff you need, now we've got material shortages. You can’t buy metal. We're busier than we've ever been. The logistics of everything have gotten insanely complicated.” At the beginning of the pandemic, Custom Metal Designs worked to help increase the supply of personal protective equipment including hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes. “We were working with supply chain partners for the two largest makers of disinfectant wipes to increase the throughput of those containers because at the peak of the pandemic, they couldn't make enough,” he said. “During the time Orange County was locked down, we were working two shifts, and our employees carried

Today, while the world continues to battle medical effects of the pandemic, manufacturers are dealing with the employment implications.

“From our customers’ perspective, they're having a tough time keeping their production lines and their workplaces fully staffed,” Aguerrevere said. “There’s a misconception with automation that it displaces people and you're going to lay off 30 people. A lot of times what we see is those facilities are understaffed because they can't find the people, so they use automation to move people out of menial jobs. “We don't see automation as a threat to the workforce. We see it as a tool that can be used to add skill sets to legacy workers within those organizations. As our customers become more efficient, it helps everyone because the product flows better, and over time that leads to better pricing.” While Custom Metal Designs has

been a manufacturer for manufacturers, providing equipment to help companies in the industry automate, it has also been building its reputation as a contract manufacturer, making parts for industries ranging from aerospace to theme parks. The company uses its own automation designs to speed up production — but it still needs workers to keep the factory operating. “We struggle like everybody else finding welders, machinists and other workers,” Aguerrevere said. “We have a robotic welder in our facility, so we use the automation as part of making our products and services, but we've done nothing but grow head count. Two or three years ago we were in the 70s and now we’re over 100. Automation makes us more competitive.” Still, Aguerrevere admits other companies are further ahead in the industry because they are using data to drive their activities and business decisions. “I see the use of data analytics becoming more prominent,” he said. “We collect a lot of data, but we haven't gotten to a point where we're utilizing it to the best of its ability to yield all the information available. There’s a growing need for folks who can work with the data and understand what data is telling them about how to run a business more efficiently and effectively.”

Industry 4.0

The company strives to get more women into manufacturing. Three of its 9 welders are women.

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As it competes for work globally, Custom Metal Designs continues to strive for efficiency and effectiveness through automation. “We’re going to be growing and hiring more people, even though some of the jobs may not look the same,” Aguerrevere said. “There’s more of a technical focus in what we do now than before, so the lower-skill, entry-level jobs are probably not as prevalent as they were 20 years ago, but we have a lot more engineers, electricians, electrical engineers and mechanics.” He has been working with local colleges, universities and trade schools to groom the next generation of the manufacturing workforce. He speaks about a young man on his team who was hired right out of a Valencia College program as a machine operator making an entry-level hourly wage and worked his way up to an engineering position in only six years. There are numerous success stories like this in

FEATURE

Manufacturers are bringing in workers who can be trained to handle equipment as well as technology

In the meantime, manufacturers need to continue embracing technology to bring in the best workers and be ready for what the future holds. “Everybody's interfacing with computers nowadays, from the most junior-level position to me,” Aguerrzevere said. “Even if you're out there on the floor, you're scanning in your work order,

you're looking at your drawings on the screen, the software system is telling you what to work on and when, and everything is digital. It’s Industry 4.0. “That's the future. “You've got to be nimble, you've got to adapt and you've got to embrace new technology in this competitive global world or you're going to get left behind.”

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FEATURE Photo at left: Jack McGrath

BY MEAGHAN BRANHAM

A lot of organizations focus on content first. We don’t care about content as much as we care about the outcome. We ask ourselves, ‘What does a learner need to know and do at the completion of this activity?’ Then we deliver that using as little content as we can. Learners are not stupid. They can tell when things aren’t really required, and they tune out. That’s the focus for us. — Jack McGrath

Photography by Julie Fletcher

hen students with disabilities learn side by side with other students, everybody benefits, according to research conducted over the past 20 years. This has sparked a trend toward “inclusive classrooms,” a concept that interested an Orlando technology company normally focused on professional services.

Digitec Interactive is now partnering with New York University (NYU) to provide teachers with training and tools developed with input from the autistic community. The partnership is the latest innovation for a company that has been evolving since its start more than two decades ago. It is also the latest project of Jack McGrath, Digitec Interactive’s president and creative director, who joined the company in the mid-1990s. The organization has been focused on creating effective employee training programs for clients including corporations, membership associations, academic institutions, medical companies and nonprofits. In the beginning, the company’s offerings were largely based on services, McGrath said. Digitec Interactive originally created custom content for organizations such as The Walt Disney Company that involved the hands-on participation of a videographer, a graphic designer and a writer who all created treatments, characters and storylines for key learning experiences. Soon, however, the company saw that a change was coming — and along with it, a chance to reach even more companies with its services. “People started to be more interested in ‘off-the-shelf’ tools to create their own eLearning content,” McGrath said. “So we started building learning apps and differentiating the quality of our custom content. It was always about how we could get organizations to teach their people faster with training that sticks. Our learning technology can do that. So we were, and still are, building and releasing applications and products that help our clients better engage with their learning community.”

Learning Journeys

In 2003, Digitec Interactive launched Knowledge Direct, doubling down on its investment in products with the learning management platform designed to make creating, delivering and tracking learning for employees easy for managers across industries. Today the company is on version seven and has served more than 3 million learners on the platform.

“As we evolved, we discovered that a lot of clients needed the same kinds of things: a testing engine, registration and an easy way to design, maintain and distribute their online learning. With Knowledge Direct, we focused on professional associations to allow them to offer continuing education online, which gave them an additional product to sell,” McGrath said. “We still serve professional associations with the platform. It’s convenient for members because they can get the training they need when and where they need it. “With this latest version, we’re broadening out to corporate training, focusing more on learning journeys,” he said. “It’s common for people to get so overwhelmed with content and training at the start of a job that in two weeks, it’s forgotten. These learning journeys are role-based, targeted training released over time, allowing learning and development departments to easily create it.” Being adaptable to needs is crucial to Digitec Interactive, and so is anticipating the needs of the future. Engaging, effective online learning became more important than ever in a COVID-19 world, just as efficient training did when roles shifted and turnover increased. In the early 2000s, the concept of “gamification” was catching on as companies used the application of game-playing processes to create a more engaging method of learning. Digitec was ahead of the curve, already developing games like one that won the company its first international recognition: a simulation game allowing i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

FEATURE

players to learn how to use credit by living out 50 years over the course of game play. Twenty years later, the company is still proving gamification naysayers wrong with projects like “Mission Timekeeper,” an immersive game created for Disney that involves players traveling through space and visiting different solar systems to learn about the Disney divisions.

“For the content itself, we needed subject matter experts,” McGrath said. “Some of them were people who had autism, and it was exciting to get creative and collaborate on how to deliver the messages. One of our teachers in the course is nonverbal, so we had to challenge ourselves in asking how we deliver the information in a new way.”

PINE Partnership

The program is distributed through the Knowledge Direct platform, an easy transition for NYU, which already has leveraged it for much of its continuing education and training.

The company’s latest venture in forward thinking sees it in a new world and a new role, McGrath said. In its new venture, Digitec Interactive is working with NYU Steinhardt to develop the Program for Inclusion and Neurodiversity Education, or PINE. The program is available for primary and secondary schools, with content and lessons designed to offer educators the training they need to understand learners with autism. The content was developed in partnership with members of the autistic community.

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“PINE didn’t realize we had a lot of experience in instructional design and e-learning development,” McGrath said of the early stages of the partnership. “We helped them design these courses around autism and autism education, for administrators and teachers at high schools around the country.”

The two organizations have just wrapped up their third course together. By creating these custom eLearning experiences using the Knowledge Direct platform, they are establishing a model for Digitec to grow its everexpanding services. “We provide support for users and managed services to keep the content up to date,” McGrath said. “We’ve become a one-stop shop, and that’s a model we’d like to continue.” For McGrath and Digitec Interactive, the next move is determined by a lasersharp focus on what matters most: delivering information as simply as possible. “A lot of organizations focus on content first,” McGrath said. “We don’t care about content as much as we care about the outcome. We ask ourselves, ‘What does a learner need to know and do at the completion of this activity?’ Then we deliver that using as little content as we can. Learners are not stupid. They can tell when things aren’t really required, and they tune out. That’s the focus for us.”

FEATURE

UCF ’s

Dr. Hologram A PORTL

to Better Health Care Education

BY MEAGHAN BRANHAM Photography by Julie Fletcher

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

FEATURE

Dr. Hologram” sounds like a character from the pages of a science fiction novel rather than a classroom teaching aide. The University of Central Florida, however, is writing it into the world of health care education, providing students with real-world innovation that was once confined to the imagination: a technology that projects a life-sized person in hologram form, beaming in the patient from a video recording or in real time from anywhere in the world.

Before it joined the UCF faculty, the affectionately nicknamed device was largely used in entertainment and known more commonly by its actual name: the PORTL. It is a product of PORTL Inc., founded by award-winning writer, producer, podcaster and entrepreneur David Nussbaum in 2019. The device was displayed at Comic-Con, the Saturn Awards of the Academy of Science Fiction, the televised iHeartRadio Music Festival, and the 2020 Emmys on the red carpet. Then Bari Hoffman, associate dean of clinical affairs for the UCF College of Health Professions and Sciences, saw it for the first time. “I immediately thought of how this could be used to engage our students,” she said. “We knew we wanted to make the

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technology work to meet our needs so we could continue to train contemporary and compassionate health care providers. This is helping us close the gap we were experiencing in trying to expose our students to a wide variety of conditions they might see in the field.” With the help of a gift from Brooks Rehabilitation, a Jacksonville-based organization providing medical rehabilitation services throughout Florida, the PORTL device was brought on board at the beginning of the 2021 fall semester.

Finding a Missing Piece

For its first foray into health care education, the PORTL will be used mainly by students in the UCF College of Health Professions and Sciences. The college teaches graduate classes in a variety of health care disciplines including speech-language pathology, physical therapy and clinical social work. Lauren Bislick, an assistant professor who teaches speechlanguage pathology, is using the technology in her class. “We cover anything that can cause motor speech impairments, from a child with cerebral palsy to an adult with traumatic brain injury,” she said. Bislick splits her time between clinical research and her teaching course load. This semester, her classes include

FEATURE

Aphasia and Related Disorders, and Motor Speech Disorders. In her courses and in others at the college, she said, this technology has the potential to be transformative. In the past, professors in these fields have had to rely on prerecorded video and audio clips of patients to give students an idea of how diseases and disorders manifest in patients. But these sources often fall short in preparing students for real patient interactions. “Even if you have a video recording with someone in full view, the monitor really scales everything down and makes it harder to detect little things,” Bislick said. “When you see the whole person in life size, as with the PORTL, you see these details.” Hoffman, a speech-language pathologist like Bislick, agreed. “You’re assessing and treating systems made up of muscles that aren’t easily seen by the naked eye. But, for example, if you saw a patient walk in with Parkinson’s disease and their gait was short and shuffling, and their movement was rigid, we know some of those same movements are happening in the small muscles we can’t see below the surface, affecting the way the patient breathes or vocalizes. If you’re only focused on one part, you’re missing a big piece of what’s going on

with that patient.” To create the content that will be shared in classes, faculty members asked patients to visit UCF’s Innovation Center, where the PORTL is located. After getting a look at the machine that would capture their likeness, they sat down to tell their stories, describe their worries, and go through exercises designed to show how their symptoms might be affecting them. As Bislick explained, however, the recordings don’t have to be created in their studio. They can be done with a video camera from virtually anywhere, meaning more people are able to participate, which benefits both patients and students. “For some clients, it can be difficult to come to a class. The PORTL gives us the opportunity to beam them in live from the comfort of their homes, and we have the opportunity to showcase them at a certain time point, when certain abilities are still intact. For some it feels like they have the opportunity to teach even after they lose their ability to communicate.”

360 Degrees of Care

“The PORTL is so much more than the video of the client,” Bislick said. “It invites us to think of the whole person. There’s a more humanistic approach to learning about these populations.”

Hoffman explained why the device is so important to UCF. “We want to create compassionate clinicians who understand patients and their journeys and struggles. We are planning to use this to share their lived experiences, not only understanding what the patient is experiencing but what the caregiver faces, and how to address mental health issues that often accompany patients who have undergone trauma or are living with a chronic disease.” Those compassionate clinicians can also use the PORTL to get a more holistic view of how the patient is treated. In the real world, many of these students will be working with a team of other professionals to treat a patient. A speech pathologist might work alongside a physical therapist, for instance, to understand how a patient’s muscles are being affected. But in a classroom, it’s often difficult to depict that realistic collaboration. The PORTL exposes students to these scenarios. “With the PORTL, we can record these interactions with clients across disciplines to show the same client working with someone in physical therapy, someone in speech therapy, someone in occupational therapy,” Bislick explained. “It gives students a range of perspective in terms of what other professionals do with the patient, and it highlights when and how they work together to assess and treat patients.”

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

FEATURE

WizUp:

Educational App Takes Stress Out of Screen Time

y May of 2020, children between ages 4 and 15 were spending almost twice as much time in front of screens as they had the year before, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When The New York Times reported this finding by Qustodio in January 2021, many parents were not surprised by this disconcerting data because it reflected their realities.

Pulling children away from electronic devices is often not as simple as taking away the tablet, though — especially not in the world of working and learning from home. Instead of panicking, an Orlando couple seized the opportunity to create WizUp, an app focused on turning screen time into learning time. “In the last year, it became obvious that it wasn’t just us experiencing this concern,” said father Aleem Kanji, who co-founded WizUp with his wife, Natasha. “Everyone was at home, and screen-time usage among kids skyrocketed. Parents had to be on the phone or computer all day working, and they needed a tool to get through the day.”

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BY MEAGHAN BRANHAM Natasha Kanji explained how the pandemic lockdown affected their family: “We have two wildly active boys, and the only thing that seemed to get them to sit down was YouTube. We realized our youngest, who was turning 2, already knew his ABCs, could count to 10, and could count in Spanish. All of that was from learning on YouTube, so we didn’t want to take it away, but we did want to make it more intentional.”

A Smart Solution

On July 14, after months of development, the two launched WizUp for Apple and Android products. The app integrates education into children’s content, adding pop-up screens that feature age-specific, customizable questions appearing periodically during videos. Parents can select which shows their children can watch from thousands of videos available on the platform, including content from PBS Kids, Netflix Jr. and Nick Jr. They can also select the age range for the questions along with how frequently the questions pop up and the length of time for each

“We used to walk around the house asking, 'Where's the babysitter?' while looking for the iPad.” — Natasha Kanji

session. Additionally, parents can set up customizable rewards that deliver encouragement in the form of an audio or video recording from a parent. “We knew there were a lot of apps where the kids get coins and can go into these ‘in-game’ shops, but we wanted it to be focused on unity within the family,” Natasha said. “We wanted rewards to be customizable so that parents could be creative. For instance, you can set it up so that after 10 questions you might take them for ice cream and after 50 you might plan a movie night. We wanted to engage families to use that reward system to spend some time together.”

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A Startup Community

When WizUp began, neither of its founders had experience in tech. Aleem is a real estate broker and owner at Crown Realty Co. and managing member at Financial Accounting Services, and Natasha is a teacher in early education. What they did have was plenty of experience with the relationship between parenting and screen time. “We used to walk around the house asking, ‘Where’s the babysitter?’ while looking for the iPad,” Natasha said with a laugh. “I know that screen time is a pain point, but it’s part of life in this day and age,” her husband said. “If anything, having screen time helped us get through working at home. But we wanted to know we could give it to them freely without worry and guilt. We wanted that freedom and peace of mind.” To do that, they reached out to their community to help them navigate the tech world, finding a developer who understood their vision for WizUp. Then they began navigating the world of startup options. They pitched the idea to the StarterStudio, a leader in Orlando’s tech startup world, and were accepted into the accelerator program. “They provided such great mentorship and helpful contacts,” Aleem said. “You’d be surprised how big the startup community here is and how welcoming everyone is. It opened

so many doors.” It was the teachers and parents in their network, however, who became their most trusted partners. In helping to create and curate the questions, the educators in their network really solidified and shaped the concept for the app. Meanwhile, every show was vetted by real parents, including the founders themselves. “We reached out to people in our network with kids from 2 to 11 to ask if there were any videos they would want to include, and we reviewed that content carefully,” Natasha said. And while watching countless hours of children’s television may have pushed them close to the verge of insanity once or twice, both agreed it was more than worth it to present a final product that takes the worry out of watch time for others navigating the intersection of technology and parenting. New versions of the app are in the works, with upgrades that will include additional question sets and customizations. In the meantime, both Aleem and Natasha are embracing every opportunity to continue their own education. “I’ve enjoyed the learning process throughout,” he said. “It’s a great time because I feel like we can set an example for our boys. They can see how much work we put into the app and what it takes to start a business.”

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

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Chief Financial Officer Orlando City Soccer Club

Enroll in the next class and find out more at LeadershipOrlando.org

CLASS 99 DIRECTORY

Kelli Addison Project Coordinator III Rhodes + Brito Architects, Inc.

Paul Albers Principal Peninsula Engineering, Inc.

Sara Anastasia Sales Executive Vacasa Vacation Rental Management

Ashton Bligh Attorney Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Doragnes Rivera Bradshaw Director of Development Rollins College

Khadesia Brown

Brandon Burket AVP, Value Based Care & Population Health Orlando Health

Jim Caramello CFO Securipanes

Michele Casali Manager CliftonLarsonAllen LLP

Ryan Casper Branch Service Operations Manager Siemens Smart Infastructure

Amanda Christian Senior Director of Marketing Dart Interests

Gordon Clark Manager of Access Control & Security Compliance Orlando International Airport

Karina Correa Founder & Chief Executive Officer Milclean USA

Johnny Craig II Vice President, Student Affairs Seminole State College of Florida

Crystal Davidson Vice President iBuild Central Florida

Jeni Bala Dzenis Vice President Smartegies

Danielle Frank HR/Talent Acquisition Lockheed Martin

Amanda Gunter Associate Nelson Mullins Broad and Cassel

Kimberly Hellekson Architect/Managing Member FK Architecture

Ryan Herring CFO High Reach

Nathan Hill Shareholder Gunster

Haley Hitzing Marketing & Community Relations Manager Centerplate

Sarah Hohman Executive Director, Care Communities and Market Strategy AdventHealth

Damon Holditch Vice President Carrier Enterprise

Rebekah Hurd Government Affairs Manager AdventHealth

Nasseam James

Eugene Jones Executive Dean, Downtown Campus Valencia College

Shanda Lee Executive Vice President, Marketing FINFROCK

Michelle LernerKonopatski Principal Baskervill

Katie Long Marketing Manager Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC

Jim Matkovics Project Executive Coastal Construction

Josh McCoy Orlando Regional President South State Bank

Mike Mealor Superintendent Skanska USA Building, Inc.

Danielle Merola Attorney BakerHostetler

Sara Miller Manager, Communications Walt Disney Parks & Resorts

Dylan Morelle Director Business Development Maxar Technologies

Holly Muller AVP, OH & Chief Nursing Officer Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center

Lacey Nelson Preconstruction/ Business Development DPR Construction

Croix Newson Business Intelligence Manager Massey Services, Inc.

Davi Nicholson Assistant Director, Construction Finance Greater Orlando Aviation Authority

Josh Purdy Business Development Manager Tews Company Staffing

Chris Quinn Manager, Finance Reedy Creek Improvement District

Nicole Ray Media Relations Manager/ Account Supervisor Tucker/Hall - Orlando Health

Jay Riola SVP, Strategy & Innovation Orlando Magic

Hector Rivera Vice President Aireko Energy Group

Kelly Roberts Strategic Development Manager City of Orlando

Amanda Roche Director, Marketing & Communications Orlando Economic Partnership

Matt Rose Director of Technology Services Tech Rage IT

John Ryan Vice President of Sales Spectrum Reach & Spectrum News 13

Karen Song VP, Government & Institutional Banker Regions Bank

Kyle Stevens Partner Shutts & Bowen LLP

Marla Tichi SVP Human Resources Travel + Leisure Co.

Monica Tyson Private Banker Fifth Third Bank

Christina White Assistant Director Orlando VA Healthcare System

Adel Shalaby Principal Rhodes + Brito Architects Inc.

Melinda Skinner VP of Human Resources Orlando Regional Realtor Association

Interested in enrolling? CONTACT: Lisa Winkelbauer Director, Leadership Orlando lisa.winkelbauer@orlando.org

@LeadershipORL #LO99

Leadership Orlando is a signature program of the Orlando Economic Partnership.

Kara Wick Senior Counsel Foley & Lardner LLP

Robin Wieckhorst Director, Cross-Warfare Programs Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division

Antwan Williams Administrator, Allied Health & Support Services Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children

The Orlando Economic Partnership is a public-private, not-for-profit economic and community development organization that works to advance broad-based prosperity by strengthening Orlando’s economy, amplifying Orlando’s story, championing regional priorities, empowering community leaders and building a brilliant region. These five foundational objectives serve to improve the region’s competitiveness while responding to the needs of communities, residents and businesses.

Enroll in the next class and find out more at LeadershipOrlando.org

FEATURE

Hiring Superhero CareerSource Central Florida Is Recruiter’s Secret Weapon BY DIANE SEARS

I LOVE IT BECAUSE I GET TO KEEP HIRING PEOPLE — OR AT LEAST ‘LEADING THE HORSES TO WATER’ WHEN I SEND THEM OVER TO THE HIRING MANAGERS. SOMETIMES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ALMOST WEAR A CAPE.

— Joe Misiti American Builders Supply

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s the recruiter for American Builders Supply, Joe Misiti often finds himself looking for as many as five new employees at a time for any of the company’s 10 locations around the state and its corporate headquarters in Sanford. It’s a personal victory for him when he can meet someone, connect with that person and get the job candidate into an interview on the same day. He typically has a conference call each Monday with general managers and hiring managers for the company’s facilities all over Florida, and they tell him which positions they are looking to fill. The company manufactures doors and trusses, supplying those and other materials to builders from its locations from Jacksonville to Fort Myers. The job needs can include production laborers, forklift operators, truck drivers, installers, service technicians, field managers, service coordinators and front-office workers. One of the secret weapons in his arsenal is CareerSource Central Florida, a partner of the American Job Center Network. He knows he can call his representative, Joanne Gott, and she will come through. He compares it to a “Hail Mary pass” in football.

“There are so many sources you can use to look for candidates — Indeed.com, all the colleges, all the high schools,” said Misiti, whose title is staffing coordinator. “I send out emails to everyone I know. With CareerSource, I get with Joanne and say, ‘Here’s what we have going on.’ Usually, she has our job descriptions because she’s been doing this with me for years. She’ll put ads for us on Employ Florida and then she’ll go through the candidates to find out who’s looking for a job. She’ll send me a resumé or two and speak with me. She’ll actually speak with them before she sends them through to us.” Often, he’ll hear from Gott before he even reaches out with the company’s job needs. “She’ll call me and say, ‘Hey, Joe, I just spoke to this person five minutes ago and these are the good things about him. You should go for it.’ I pick up my phone right away and give that person a call and then send a text message if I don’t get an answer. You have to be very persistent.” The partnership with CareerSource has helped the company manage its growth through the pandemic, which has turned the employment landscape into

FEATURE

an employees’ market. Everyone is seeking workers, and job candidates are being especially discerning these days — some because their priorities have shifted and they are looking for higher pay or more satisfying work.

excel. It helps local employers try out new candidates and make sure they’re a good fit. It’s the perfect solution for a company like American Builders Supply that seems to be constantly looking to hire.

“When COVID hit, it seemed weird at first because you would think all these people losing their jobs would want these other jobs that were considered essential,” Misiti said. “But no one wanted to respond — or they would speak to you and then never get back with you. They basically weren’t interested.”

“There are many different positions that are open,” Misiti said. “I have to say this, not to brag, but about 90% of these positions are because people are getting promoted. There’s so much growth. It’s fantastic.

Having a partnership with CareerSource Central Florida has made all the difference. The nonprofit helps retrain people to take new jobs and then places them into positions where they can

“I love it because I get to keep hiring people — or at least ‘leading the horses to water’ when I send them over to the hiring managers. Sometimes you feel like you almost wear a cape. You get to be a superhero because you’re helping the hiring managers and you’re also helping somebody take the next step into a job.”

MESSAGE FROM THE COO

Meeting Manufacturing Demands: Training for a Prosperous Future BY MIMI COENEN

he manufacturing industry plays an important role in the economy and provides attractive and exciting opportunities for many different career paths. High-wage manufacturing jobs run the gamut across broad and diverse industries and have much to offer for those looking to begin or change their careers. Creating medical innovations, producing sensors for the safe operation of cars, and constructing woodwork for custom yachts are just a few of the many manufacturing advances that people contribute to every day.

To meet the needs of local companies to find skilled and trained workers, workforce boards such as CareerSource Central Florida (CSCF) partner with educational providers to place candidates in manufacturing training programs. Valencia College, Orange Technical College, Osceola Technical College and Lake Technical College are among Central Florida’s regional institutions that offer hands-on training programs that enable participants to advance their skills and enter new career fields to earn industry-recognized credentials. When unemployment peaked in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Central Florida residents found themselves out of work and explored ways to pivot their careers into new industries that were hiring. Through CSCF’s partnerships with local businesses, colleges and universities, more than 170 people took the opportunity to invest in their futures and complete manufacturing-related training programs across the region last year. The average wage of those placed in employment in the manufacturing industry is $17 per hour and growing. Manufacturing careers also provide a deep sense of satisfaction and accomplishment — the idea that you can draw, build or produce something that comes to fruition can be very rewarding. Competitive wages and potential for advancement are also among the many reasons why people should consider careers in the growing manufacturing sector.

Mimi Coenen

We invite businesses and career seekers to learn more about our complimentary resources and services at www. CareerSourceCentralFlorida.com.

Mimi Coenen is the chief operating officer of CareerSource Central Florida. i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

FEATURE

DRAWBACKS OF PROGRESS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION HAS STRAINED IT DEPARTMENTS BY DAVIA MOSS

ay you are an employee at a midsize corporation that recently decided to use two-factor authentication to bolster email security. You aren’t familiar with the security protocol, and management hasn’t sent out instructions regarding the change. You need access to your important emails, but the system won’t let you on until you get twofactor authorization set up. You place a call or message to your IT department to get help. Pretty simple, right? However, on the other side of that phone call is a group of IT professionals who are working through the same problem with hundreds of other employees. What could be a simple adjustment to improve network and personal security will now likely lead to a major influx of calls to the IT department, keeping staff members from performing their more important duties of maintaining efficient digital systems and safeguarding the company’s intellectual property. Technology has made IT more essential than ever,

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but it also has forced IT departments to spend more time on low-priority help desk tasks.

The Digital Era

According to a Deloitte study, 85% of small business owners surveyed believe the use of cloud technology helps businesses be more successful. Adoption rates for technology related to marketing and operations grows every year. By that definition, small business owners are entering into a more connected, efficient ecosystem that requires support by their IT firm or department. “IT has become the backbone of a business,” said Harry Ellis III, chief information officer and president of Next Horizon, which provides technology solutions for businesses. “We are required to do more now than ever. Not only are we tasked with keeping the most important aspects of a business intact, but we are also required to be emergency responders to low-priority tasks too often.”

FEATURE

Harry Ellis III

Expanded IT Services

At all levels of business, we are seeing technological advancements play larger roles in revenue generation, growth and business strategy. However, not every organization or employee is adept at adopting, learning and becoming proficient with new technologies. In fact, a recent Gartner study found that about 20% of businesses are not fully prepared to adopt emerging and even current workplace technologies such as virtual collaboration tools. “We are seeing businesses test out and adopt new software on a regular basis,” Ellis said. “This not only means that IT departments are required to have an expanded scope of knowledge, but it also tends to spread IT staff too thin. Considering these demands, IT departments need to have good synergy with the rest of the company to allocate resources appropriately.” Businesses simply cannot afford to stifle innovation. Commerce is more competitive than ever. It is the organization’s job to identify technologies that can improve efficiency and optimize profit. Yet as technology permeates every aspect of a business, it becomes more difficult for IT staffers to quickly become experts on every piece of technology.

IT Skills Gap

IT jobs grew by 13% between 2002 and 2013. During that

CIO/President

Next Horizon

time, the number of college graduates with IT degrees decreased by 11%. As technology advanced over the past decade, IT roles expanded, shifted and required more well-rounded skillsets. It’s estimated that by 2022, there will be a 42% change in the IT skills expected for the modern business. That’s a large shift for an industry struggling to find qualified candidates. “As technology advances, businesses will require even more qualified IT personnel to stay competitive,” Ellis said. “When you combine the skills gap and the fact that current IT professionals are spread thin by lower-priority tasks, businesses may begin to struggle if they don’t put more effective systems in place.” Ellis offered these words of wisdom for business leaders who are looking to get ahead of the trends: “I advise any business to work closely with its IT department and partners to prepare for new software and security initiatives. With attention and preparation, businesses can mitigate low-priority tasks and prioritize business growth.”

Davia Moss is the contracted marketing officer for Next Horizon, a Sanford-based IT and digital marketing agency that provides holistic technology solutions for businesses looking to improve sales, increase agility and optimize productivity. She can be reached at dmoss@ nexhorizon.net.

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

FEATURE

Caring for LGBTQ+ Nonprofit 26Health Offers Services for Physical and Mental Well-Being BY TERRY GODBEY

Photography by Julie Fletcher

en years ago, Dr. David Baker-Hargrove, a practicing psychologist in Orlando, was struggling to help low-income patients afford their treatment. He also noticed that although Central Florida had a sizeable population of LGBTQ+ residents, it lacked a public-access health center geared toward their needs. The doctor told his husband, Robert Baker-Hargrove, that something needed to be done. “I said, ‘We need something like that here. I want us to build a clinic and run it together.’” The pair filed the paperwork as co-CEOs and co-founders in 2011 and opened the doors to their downtown Orlando clinic, then called Two Spirit Health Services, in 2015. Three years later, Robert left his 24-year career performing and producing entertainment at Walt Disney World to serve as the clinic’s chief operating officer. Dr. David serves as its president. In 2019, the nonprofit clinic, which offers comprehensive physical and emotional care to the LGBTQ+ population and its allies regardless of their ability to pay, changed its name to 26Health, a reference to the letters in the alphabet. “We have become much more broad in

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our scope and who we serve,” Dr. David said. “Whatever letter of the alphabet you identify by, it matters to us. We encapsulate LGBTQ+, so 26Health is the perfect name for us, into the future as far as we can see.” During its six years of operation, 26Health has grown to 50 employees including a physician, two nurse practitioners and five behavioral health providers. The clinic has an on-site pharmacy with a discount drug program and a lab that offers a quick turnaround. “We use a test-to-treat model,” Robert said. “If a patient reacts to a lab test, we get them seen by a provider and get a prescription filled within an hour.” Robert, who has an MBA, has focused on how the clinic’s operations can best fit with patients’ lives. 26Health is open Monday through Friday with some early morning hours and plenty of parking. It is considering opening on Saturdays and also offers time-saving telehealth services. The clinic provides fully licensed adoption services and has a Beautiful You Spa, which grew out of providing services for transgender patients. These cashbased services help underwrite the costs

“WHATEVER LETTER OF THE ALPHABET YOU IDENTIFY BY, IT MATTERS TO US. WE ENCAPSULATE LGBTQ+, SO 26HEALTH IS THE PERFECT NAME FOR US, INTO THE FUTURE AS FAR AS WE CAN SEE.” — DR. DAVID BAKER-HARGROVE

of uninsured patients. “When people use our spa services or adoption services, they’re also supporting the community by helping to provide health care for others,” Robert said. “We are the only fully licensed adoption service in the state of Florida that is attached to a medical clinic, and we’re also the only adoption service in the state that is operated by and for LGBTQ+ families,” Dr. David said. All 26Health employees receive full benefits including medical, dental,

FEATURE

Robert Baker-Hargrove

vision, short- and long-term disability, and a retirement package “Owning our building puts us in a strong position to control our with a company match. “It was really important to offer this future and our destiny,” Dr. David said. package because if we’re going to be fully inclusive and equitable The clinic offers care to gay and straight, young and old, and as an organization, we need to make sure our benefits are fully remains devoted to diversity and inclusion. “It’s about being inclusive as well,” Robert said. open, learning, listening and expanding how we can be more 26Health recently partnered with Central Florida Foundation inclusive and continuously equitable because we must be a mirror to manage its $3.5 million endowment, which of the community we serve,” Robert said. “WE MUST BE A MIRROR will help support its services for decades “Diversity is also about being mindful and to come. It is also poised for even greater respectful,” Dr. David said. “I hear people say, OF THE COMMUNITY growth. On September 1, the organization ‘You have to be so careful about what you say, WE SERVE.” bought the 52,000-square-foot, four-story and it seems ridiculous.’ And I think to myself: building on North Magnolia Avenue in ‘Why is being careful about what you say downtown Orlando that houses its clinic. ridiculous?’ Words matter.” — ROBERT BAKER-HARGROVE

Dr. David Baker-Hargrove

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

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UP CLOSE With

Alexander Cartwright By Terry Godbey

Alexander Cartwright is president of the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Before joining UCF in April 2020, he was chancellor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Earlier, he held administrative positions at The State University of New York and the University at Buffalo. He conducted research in optics and photonics and has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. He and his wife, Melinda, have two children, Alyssa and Andrew. With about 70,000 students, UCF ranks as not only one of the nation’s largest universities but also a leader in innovation and social mobility. UCF offers more than 220 degree programs through its main campus, College of Medicine in Lake Nona’s Medical City, Rosen College of Hospitality Management in the heart of the tourism district, a campus in downtown Orlando, online programs and multiple UCF Connect locations throughout Central Florida. What did you want to be when you were growing up in the Bahamas? To be honest, I didn’t think about what I wanted to be. Money was tight and sometimes we were more worried about paying the rent, keeping the power on or getting our next meal. When your housing and food are insecure, you don’t think much about what you can be when you grow up because you don’t know what you can realistically attain. My mom is probably the smartest person I’ve ever met. She had an incredible ability to learn but never had the opportunity to further her education. I’m thankful I had that opportunity, and it’s why I know what we do at UCF matters.

You moved to Iowa when you were 17 and began working while determined to be the first person in your family to attend college, eventually earning a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Iowa. What was your first job and what were its most important lessons? My first job in the United States was cleaning hog confinement buildings on a farm. I remember that I smelled like the hogs even after a shower. After that, I worked at a Stuckey’s (a convenience store with a gas station). The job I’m most thankful for was working as a custodian in a factory that made hydraulic leveling systems for recreational vehicles. When people were out, I filled in and learned many different aspects of the building of the hydraulic jacks. The business owner suggested I consider pursuing engineering in college because I was good at working with my hands. I probably never would have considered engineering if he had not taken the time to have that conversation with me. My individual experience reinforced that our job in higher education is to give people crucial opportunities at an affordable cost, to allow them to dream big and to accomplish their dreams and positively impact society.

We need to break down the barriers and enable the next generation of innovators, creatives, scientists and others to reach their maximum potential.

How has your hard-fought academic success informed UCF ’s commitment to eliminating achievement gaps and reducing barriers for students of all backgrounds and incomes? It’s simple — I’ve lived it. Education changes lives, often for many generations. UCF is committed to providing hard-working students from every background the opportunity to earn degrees. UCF’s six-year graduation rate is about 74%, and we have outpaced the national average in closing achievement gaps between Hispanic, Black and white students. The organization Education Reform Now ranks UCF No. 2 in the nation for social mobility impact. We have a large number of first-generation students, and we enroll more Pell Grant recipients than the 12 “Ivy Plus” universities combined. UCF is getting the job done, and we’re always focused on doing it even better.

As a champion billiards player, you have stressed the importance of strategy. What are your top priorities for UCF? UCF will be the leading public metropolitan research university in the country, combining academic excellence with strong connections to industry and the region. We must focus on maximizing our impact and leveraging our strengths. That starts with our outstanding faculty, whose innovative research and creative works fuel our economy and make Central Florida an amazing place. We will invest in hiring more world-class faculty, providing our students with access to their incredible talents and making sure UCF is the university of choice for any business in our region needing employees, critical expertise and any other support from higher education.

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

UP CLOSE

UCF was founded 58 years ago as Florida Technological University. Where do you see its current technological prowess, and how are you preparing students for high-paying, cutting-edge careers?

UCF was founded to provide talent to Florida’s space industry, and our graduates and research are even more critical to the space industry today. More than 25% of Kennedy Space Center employees are UCF graduates, and UCF research has flown on missions by Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and Blue Origin. We provide more graduates to the aerospace and defense industries than any other university, and those industries rank us second in the country (to Georgia Tech) in providing excellent engineering graduates who can productively contribute to their businesses. Our student cybersecurity team has won four national championships, and UCF’s computer programming team regularly places among the best in the nation. There is no doubt that UCF is preparing students for highpaying, future-focused careers. Our students are now and will continue to be industry leaders in space, defense, simulation, optics and lasers, cybersecurity, programming, engineering, video game design, medicine and biotechnology. It’s in our DNA. Just look at what three-time UCF alumnus Darin Edwards accomplished in leading the research and development for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. He credits his UCF experience with teaching him to explore independently, embrace curiosity and think critically.

Which parts of your job are you most excited about?

Starting my job during a pandemic made it difficult to meet with students, faculty, alumni, and industry and community leaders. I am eager to make more personal connections and build more of the relationships and partnerships that energize me and that are critical for UCF to succeed.

Where do you see UCF and Central Florida five years from now?

I’m excited about the future of UCF and our region. We’ve worked to create an ecosystem where the university and industry work together seamlessly for the benefit of Central Florida. UCF will continue to be a national leader in social mobility. In five years, our larger, world-class faculty will produce more research and creative works that impact our community and society. Our students will graduate at even higher rates, well

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prepared for careers with industry and serving our community. I hope the result for Central Florida will be continued economic growth, additional higher-paying jobs, a more diversified economy and a higher quality of life for all.

How will the $40 million unrestricted gift from philanthropists MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett strengthen UCF?

We are very grateful to Ms. Scott and Mr. Jewett. Their transformational gift validates the work our faculty and staff do to foster student success, and we are thankful these funds will enable us to increase our impact for generations of students. This donation allows us to continue doing what appealed to Scott and Jewett: innovate to bring opportunities for social mobility to lower-income, underrepresented and first-generation students. That’s a big part of what becoming the world’s leading public metropolitan research university is about — inspiring others to invest in the scholarship and work that build a better future for our students and society. This gift will enable new programs that help students succeed, fund groundbreaking faculty research, and grow established and future partnerships.

Let’s talk about football. What kind of year are you expecting under new Coach Gus Malzahn?

Melinda and I are excited to cheer on our Knights! We’re anticipating our student-athletes will give their best efforts in competition and in the classroom, and we’re looking forward to an outstanding year for all of our sports. Nine UCF teams advanced to the postseason in 2020-21, and our student-athletes have achieved a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 for 27 consecutive semesters. Go Knights and Charge On!

If you could have any superpower, which would you choose?

I’d choose self-replication so I could send complete versions of myself to work on different things with the necessary focus they take. One “me” could learn a new language, one a musical instrument, one could teach and conduct research in optics and photonics, and another could be president. There’s just not enough time to do all of the things I would love to do. Fortunately, I do the one I love the most every day as president. Doing work that has an impact on the lives of so many people is a true blessing.

Full Circle

From Closet to Checkout, Goodwill Changes Lives

BY ARNOLD SANCHEZ

f you’ve ever dropped off a box of donations at your local Goodwill, you might have wondered what happens to the items after you hand them over. Where will they go? Who will buy them? How much will they sell for, and where will that money go? In fact, you might be surprised to learn how far your donation goes.

Step One: The Drop-off.

After a long day of cleaning out closets, Meredith brings her box of donations — lightly used clothes, some home décor and toys — to a nearby Goodwill center. It’s a quick trip: She’s finished in the time it takes to unload two boxes. Although she might not realize it, her donation is already making an impact. Instead of going to a landfill, the items will be purchased by local buyers — reducing waste and offsetting the environmental footprint of buying new. In Central Florida alone, Goodwill diverts 16 million pounds of waste from landfills every year.

Step Two: Behind the Scenes.

Growing up with a learning disability, Erik was regularly told what he couldn’t do. Tasks that were simple for most people — interviewing for a job or working five days a week — were considered impossible for him. But when he was referred to vocational rehabilitation at Goodwill, he met a caring team of counselors who helped him challenge those limits. Now a donation processor, he enjoys a flexible workload, accessible accommodations, and the dignity and independence of a meaningful career. When Meredith drops off her donations, Erik and his team will check for any damage. Items in good condition will be sorted, priced and sent to local stores. Any items that can’t be accepted will be safely disposed of or recycled if

possible. Those include fuel, batteries and certain electronics.

Step Three: In the Store Aisles.

Layla, a new college student, wants to add some personality to her dorm room without breaking her budget. When she heads to the local Goodwill to shop for deals, a colorful throw pillow donated by Meredith catches her eye. It’s just what she was looking for. As Layla heads to the register, she can’t help but smile.

Step Four: After Checkout.

It’s been tough for Greg to find work. He applied for multiple jobs without success until someone recommended that he contact Goodwill’s virtual Job Connection team. Thanks to Meredith’s donation and Layla’s purchase, Goodwill is able to provide free career counseling to any Central Floridian looking for work. For Greg, that means partnering with a trained specialist who can help him finetune his resumé, practice interviewing and connect with employers in his field. That support pays off: After months of searching, Greg gets a job where he knows he will make a difference. Dropping off a box at Goodwill is a quick, convenient stop on Meredith’s daily commute. For Erik, Goodwill is a career that lets him polish his professional skills and give back to the community. Layla sees Goodwill as a chance to find great deals on everything from stylish dorm décor to professional clothes for her next internship to furniture for a new apartment. For Greg, Goodwill offers help, support and a chance at a brighter future. To learn more, visit www.goodwillcfl.org.

Arnold Sanchez is vice president of Retail and Donated Goods at Goodwill Industries of Central Florida. i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

BEST PRACTICE

Meaghan Branham

is the managing editor for i4 Business, where she oversees the company’s digital media strategy, handles client relationship marketing for the print and digital magazines, and serves as one of the publication’s lead writers. A native of Brevard County, she splits her time between Central Florida and Nashville, Tennessee.

I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win. — Michael Jordan

Marketing

LOOK TO OLYMPIC AD CAMPAIGNS FOR INSPIRATION

ver since the Olympics were first broadcast on television in 1936 to a limited audience in Germany, advertisers have been clamoring for a spot where they might catch the eye of tens of millions of viewers somewhere between gymnastics, swimming and dozens of other sports. At this year’s Games in Tokyo, those companies were exposed to 15.5 million people tuning in during prime time — not to mention the viewership coming from shares on social media and platforms like YouTube. Even before that, companies knew the value of getting their message to the Olympic crowds: At the 1896 games in Athens, the first in the “modern” Olympics era, companies like Kodak jumped at the chance to sponsor the Games. The relationship between marketing and the Olympics is often taken for granted. Company logos are so ubiquitous that you probably have no trouble conjuring up the image of the Coca-Cola logo next to the Olympic rings. Those organizations marketing themselves at the Games have it down to a science, crafting messages that complement their medium and their platform. Here are some lessons to take from the Olympics’ most famous partners:

Emotional Appeals

You probably remember a few Olympics ads from the last couple of decades that tugged on your heartstrings. After all, sports stories have always had a special place in the zeitgeist thanks to tropes like the underdog overcoming all obstacles and inspirational speeches in last-minute victory montages. The Procter & Gamble “Thank You, Mom” ads that ran during the 2012 London games and at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games are some of the most powerful examples of this in recent memory. The earlier ad opens with would-be Olympic medalists as children. We see their moms wake them up for school, drive them to practices,

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wrap their wounds and cheer them on, following them through practices, high school games and early mornings, culminating in the final shot: our winners, seconds after their victory is announced, running up to thank the women who guided them through it all. The 2016 ad doubled down on the sweet message, showing us the athletes in childhood moments of uncertainty or fear, looking to their mothers to remind them that it would be all right, that they could get through it. We flash forward to those same athletes now, looking to their mothers in the stands to thank them as they win their medals, as we are reminded that “It takes someone strong to raise someone strong.” The ads are touching, reminding viewers of their own moments of uncertainty and the people who pulled them through. They also touch on one of the most compelling aspects of the Games: the stories of the athletes and the people who kept them going when the going got tough. It’s a powerful message, one that perfectly tied back into Procter & Gamble’s own tagline: “Proud Sponsor of Moms.”

Influencer Marketing

While it may seem like a given that Olympic athletes make for powerful brand ambassadors with their huge viewership and passionate followings, competitors have been kept from engaging in personal sponsor promotion until very recently. In 2019, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made changes to a guideline known as Rule 40, allowing Olympic athletes to post their own sponsored content. The move is a testament to a shift in power that favors athletes over the IOC, and a recognition of the effect social media has had on how athletes are seen. With the advent of Instagram, Facebook and other platforms, athletes are more accessible, able to connect with viewers, tell their stories and build their brands. The new rule lets them leverage that,

RAPIDPS.COM RAPIDPS.COM RAPIDPS.COM RAPIDPS.COM RAPIDS.COM

to the advantage of athletes and sponsors. The results are partnerships like the one between gymnast Simone Biles — now a household name — and Gap, or that of Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak and detergent brand Tide.

Strong Partnerships

Many of the brands that sponsor the Olympic Games have been doing so for years. Coca-Cola has been a sponsor since 1928, Visa since 1988, Panasonic since 1984 and Samsung since 1988. These long partnerships are among the most powerful examples of event and partnership marketing in the world. The Games themselves benefit from partner offerings like Visa’s exclusive payment technology at the venues, or the televisions, cameras and audiovisual equipment provided by Panasonic. At the same time, the sponsors become affiliated with a tradition and brand that increase their brand recognition, trust and loyalty. The Olympics have been inspiring us for over a century with stories of triumph, teamwork and tenacity. Why not let them inspire your next marketing move?

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i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

BEST PRACTICE

Eric Tejeda is the director of marketing for PossibleNOW. He drives the organization’s growth objectives by launching new products and services, promoting thought leadership, building brand awareness and driving lead generation. Tejeda has deployed a marketing technology stack that honors customers’ wishes, provides information that is relevant and builds trust.

Data Privacy FLORIDA HAS UPDATED ITS TELEMARKETING RULES – NOW WHAT?

n April 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in a major case pertaining to Facebook that was viewed as favorable to the contact center industry and a blow to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

As state, national and international laws continue to evolve, companies need to move toward a mindset of collecting consent, being transparent and giving customers control of their data.

However, many states began reviewing their own calling guidelines and refining them accordingly. Florida passed an update (SB 1120) to its own Florida Consumer Protection Law and the Florida Telemarketing Act, to extend beyond certain limitations in the federal TCPA. Created to protect consumers, the law now requires companies to work harder to comply with nuances such as the mandate to collect consent before communicating via an automated dialing system. This can only be done by fostering trusting relationships and providing customers with value in return. This is just the start of a new trend. Florida has updated its laws, and many expect other states to follow suit.

Company Protection

As state, national and international laws continue to evolve, companies need to move

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toward a mindset of collecting consent, being transparent and giving customers control of their data. Businesses have always asked themselves the same key questions: • “How do we sell more?” • “How do we provide better customer service?” Now, with constantly changing consumer protection laws, these new questions should be added: • “When is the right time in our interaction with customers to ask for consent or preferences?” • “What value will we provide in return when customers share personal information?” • “How will we give customers control over their data?”

The West Orange Chamber s

Tracking Data

Once a company has evaluated these key questions, it must have a system in place that organizes this data in a way that nurtures the relationship with its customers. Those customers need to see that brands are using this data as intended and that they are working to give customers control. Companies should think through every touch point, whether it’s the first visit to a website, a point-of-sale purchase, an interaction with the company’s customer service or other areas throughout the customer life cycle. These touch points are the most natural areas of interaction with customers and provide the opportunity to ask for consent. What’s more, if these are positive interactions with the brand, they are the perfect time to ask questions that provide deeper insights into personal preferences. This provides the ability to present customers a tailored experience that leads to enhanced trust and customer satisfaction.

Maintain an Audit Trail

Collecting the data is not the only aspect to take into consideration. When recording all this activity into a system that allows brands to legally contact customers, it’s also important to ensure the brand has the right process built in, with audit and compliance capability, that shows that the brand is abiding by updated regulations. Collecting consent data is one thing, but companies need to be ready to show when, how and what language was used to obtain that information. Having a solution in place to provide this audit trail is crucial to protecting an organization.

Value for Customers

Steps for SUCCESS Become a West Orange Chamber Member Seize the Opportunities Get Results Repeat Daily

Using the strategies stated above makes consumers feel more valued by a brand while also building trust, which leads them to share data. When brands are presented with this data, they must honor their customers’ wishes and provide great value in return. For example, companies can send customers targeted communications, promotions or product release notes based on their preferences and do so through their preferred channel. This will keep them engaged with the brand. While new thinking is needed to comply with these laws, it ultimately benefits a brand to evolve with the changes and grow to be transparent with customers to build deeper trust. Consumers benefit from having the power to choose if they want to give away their data, and the company benefits by gaining loyalty in addition to valuable insights directly from their customers.

To learn more about Click Florida SB 1120, visit www.possiblenow.com/floridas-updated-telemarketing-rules.

Facilitating Opportunity for Over 45 Years

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

The Business of

MANUFACTURING By Christian Davidson

Industry Must Invest Time in Developing Its Future Workforce

anufacturing Day, celebrated on the first Friday in October, is an opportunity for manufacturers to place a spotlight on their growing, thriving industry and dispel an archaic notion that manufacturing is a dirty, dying and limited part of the nation’s economy. Fast forward almost 10 years since the special day began, and here in Central Florida it is now a monthlong celebration that predominantly includes industry-led tours for students to highlight the opportunities for growth and success. Why the focus on students? The short answer: Manufacturing is a fast-growing industry facing a severe workforce shortage. Long before the impact of COVID-19 on our nation’s employment figures, the manufacturing industry had struggled to recruit young people. The long-held perception of manufacturing as unpleasant work has often kept parents, teachers and school counselors from presenting it as a viable career pathway for students. Currently, there are about 388,500 industry jobs with an average salary of $61,739 in Florida. The goal of Manufacturing Month is to open students’ eyes to the possibility of a long-term, high-wage manufacturing career whether they want to earn a degree or enter the workforce immediately. In 2017, the Manufacturers Association of Central Florida (MACF) founded the Henry Graeber MACF Memorial Scholarship fund, which has provided dozens of Central Florida students with financial support so they could continue their education. MACF works closely with its educational partners to select

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scholarship recipients who show promise and passion in the manufacturing industry. The fund is named for the late Henry Graeber, who served on the MACF board and supported manufacturers in recruiting and supplying talent to the Central Florida workforce for almost 20 years. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, manufacturers, like other businesses, have had to be flexible and creative with their recruiting strategies. The No. 1 priority is the safety and protection of their employees, so companies have turned to virtual plant tours, speaking engagements and the Adopta-School program to reach students. The benefit of going virtual is that companies can reach more students than ever before. Last year, through our virtual plant tours, MACF alone was able to connect with more than 600 students, and these online tours can be downloaded and used in classrooms all year as part of curriculum. The truth is, the jobs are out there and scholarships are available. More than anything else, manufacturers need to invest time into developing their future workforce. This can happen through facility tours, apprenticeships and engagement with students. Every year, hundreds of Central Florida students are given the opportunity to tour manufacturing facilities, but we cannot stop there. Continuing that engagement, allowing them to explore all career paths in manufacturing, and catching and holding their interest needs to extend well beyond the month of October. It must be a continual investment of time into educating students about the lucrative career possibilities of the manufacturing industry.

CHRISTIAN DAVIDSON has 15 years of combined experience in the manufacturing industry and with the Manufacturers Association of Central Florida, where she is chief operating officer. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida and a Central Florida native.

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JulieFletcherPhotography.com i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

The Business of

HIGHER EDUCATION By Carol Ann Dykes Logue

It’s Essential to Future-Proof Your Organization

f you are reading this article, odds are you are a working professional — or were, until recently. It’s also likely you are acutely aware of a critical challenge facing most organizations today: keeping up to date with the knowledge and skills needed as the Fourth Industrial Revolution unfolds.

Technologies are converging and fusing to drive transformative changes in how we live, work and even play. How often do you read about new products or services and find it challenging to understand them, much less how they can benefit your organization? Artificial intelligence, blockchain, data science, virtual and augmented reality, robotics, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, and advanced materials are all areas of rapidly evolving innovation driving the creation of new products and services and ways of doing business. And it’s not just technical skills that are needed. Creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence and an entrepreneurial mindset are just as important to effectively adapt to and benefit from the rapid changes taking place today. That means you and your organization have to change as well. If you are going to future-proof your organization, you have to ensure you and your team have the right mix of skills to keep pace. The Monster.com 2020 annual survey revealed that 80% of employers say they have difficulty filling positions because of skills gaps. “Reskilling” to help workers transition into new and emerging career paths is critical to fill that void. A recent Gartner

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survey found that 58% of current employees need new skills to successfully do their jobs. That’s why “upskilling” is becoming increasingly important to every organization for every employee. There are reasons why your hometown university — the University of Central Florida (UCF) — has for five years in a row been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation’s most innovative schools. Key reasons are the responsiveness of UCF to the needs of our region’s employers and residents, its constant attention to equipping our students for tomorrow’s jobs, and the degree of accessibility to education. If you are a manager who recognizes the need for education and training for your employees, you will find resources readily available through UCF. Dozens of organizations partner with UCF for on-site, virtual or hybrid education and training in specific areas of need. UCF Continuing Education offers 400+ courses across a surprising array of categories: arts, engineering and technology, insurance, law, leadership, health care, project management and much more. Perhaps you want to upskill with additional education yourself. With 91 master’s degrees and a wide variety of certificate and continuing education programs, UCF offers lots of options. Want to up your game as a manager? UCF has four MBA options available. Other business graduate programs include accounting, economics, sports business management, business analytics and human resources. This year UCF launched master’s degrees in the growing fields of computer vision,

CAROL ANN DYKES LOGUE is director of Programs and Operations for the University of Central Florida Innovation Districts and Incubation Program. She can be reached at CarolAnn. DykesLogue@ucf.edu. UCF Executive Director of Continuing Education Sean Armstrong and UCF Director of Media Relations Heather Smith contributed to this article.

With 91 master’s degrees and a wide variety of certificate and continuing education programs, UCF offers lots of options.

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

UCF partners with JPMorgan Chase and Microsoft Corp. to offer job skills training to pandemic-displaced workers

themed experiences, and cybersecurity and privacy. UCF offers more than 40 graduate certificate programs in areas like cyber risk management, financial technology, data analytics, technology for smart communities, applied photonics, optical imaging systems, data modeling and mixed reality engineering. Many of UCF’s programs offer online course options, providing flexibility for working professionals whose schedules and personal commitments make attending classes in person challenging. UCF Online offers more than 100 programs for students seeking programs that are completely virtual. UCF short courses are often delivered in partnership with industry such as courses in simulation and training with AVT Simulation. BDI Datalynk is the partner for a fiber optics network certification. Avionica delivers an avionics technician training program. Boot camps provide 18- to 24week intensive and comprehensive programs to help you or your employees grow in a current role or find a new opportunity. Boot camps are offered in coding, cybersecurity, data analytics

and visualization, UX/UI design, digital marketing and more. We probably all know someone — or maybe we are that someone — who lost his or her job during the pandemic. Many of those jobs will not come back for a long time, if ever. A lot of people are looking for opportunities to reskill and take advantage of the hiring boom in other industries. UCF has partnered with JPMorgan Chase and Microsoft Corporation, which together donated $550,000 to offer a new online job skills program to residents who lost full-time jobs in the hospitality or leisure industries. By helping to reskill participants with customer service and sales training, the program will provide many local industries with needed employees. The bottom line: In today’s rapidly changing, technologically driven, multigenerational workforce economy, you cannot afford to neglect education and training for yourself and your employees if you want to survive. We’d love to support your needs through UCF. But wherever you are, your local college or university offers surprising options for you, your current workforce and your future workforce.

To explore all of the opportunities, visit https://www.ce.ucf.edu/

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

The Business of

PUBLIC RELATIONS By Catriona Harris

Adaptability Is Key to Staying in Business During Crisis

OVID-19 seismically impacted the business operations and growth trajectories of companies in all sectors across all geographies. Like other businesses, public relations firms had to adapt to rapidly changing market conditions to remain viable.

For many PR firms, pandemic-driven business continuity strategies included staff cuts and furloughs. For other firms, new service offerings, investments in employee training and technology, and a focus on developing employee engagement initiatives not only supported business continuity but helped drive growth through client acquisition and retention in a very challenging business environment.

New Service Offerings

In the PR realm, social media continues to disrupt traditional media relations practices. A Georgetown University article noted that “PR must evolve so synergy is maintained and companies can maximize on the huge rewards presented by integrating social media into media strategy.” The use of digital technology accelerated during the pandemic, shaping consumer behaviors and transforming business operations. As people and businesses became more digital, Uproar PR kept pace by adding social media listening services to its digital offerings. Social media strategy is a key tactic for integrating social media into media strategy. It is

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CATRIONA HARRIS is co-founder and CEO of Uproar PR, a full-service public relations agency with offices in Orlando, Chicago and Annapolis, Maryland.

a digital monitoring capability that collects data across all channels and identifies key trends, language and influencers related to a client’s industries. Keywords, specific search terms, hashtags and mentions are all used to identify relevant data. This search provides a holistic view of a company’s online presence, helping clients shape messaging, act on trends in a timely manner and evaluate what their competitors are doing on social media. Metrics related to volume, impressions, engagements and sentiment are also analyzed to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the discussions on social channels and how they affect clients. The data and analytics captured from social listening allow the agency to develop more informed PR strategies and campaigns that deliver results.

Technology and Training

Like many businesses during the pandemic, Uproar shifted to a remote working model and moved its workflows online. In 2020, Uproar’s growth included the addition of 10 new team members to keep up with a growing client roster. Technology was key in recruiting and onboarding new team members. For example, in recruiting, Zoom interviews became the norm as did a virtual onboarding process that included training sessions, regular check-ins with managers, and structured and unstructured opportunities for new team members to interact with colleagues.

PR must evolve so synergy is maintained and companies can maximize on the huge rewards presented by integrating social media into media strategy.

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

Public relations firms had to adapt to rapidly changing market conditions to remain viable during the COVID-19 pandemic

Technology also allowed Uproar to continue professional growth programs for employees. Aimed at helping team members develop and hone their own strengths and cultivate media and client relationships, Uproar’s professional development programs were recalibrated during the pandemic to be delivered virtually, making training accessible to staff regardless of their location. By developing a learning environment that accommodates the digital shift in business operations, Uproar is able to support an already strong company culture and continue to build a solid foundation for growth.

Employee Engagement

Pandemic-driven remote work presented challenges and opportunities for keeping employees engaged and motivated, both key factors for business success. An employee engagement report by Gallup found that businesses scoring highest in employee engagement were 22% more profitable and 21% more productive than businesses with lower engagement. Executives are recognizing the significant business impact of employee engagement. A FastTrack 360 study revealed that 71% of

executives believe employee engagement is critical to their company’s success. As employees continued to work remotely, Uproar found creative ways to keep them connected from a distance and to keep the company culture thriving. The company provided digital channels for interaction and collaboration and used those same channels to inject a sense of fun into the remote working environment. The agency launched new culture initiatives including online group exercise, monthly fitness challenges, virtual happy hours and book clubs, and bingo and other games hosted on Zoom. These activities were aimed at keeping team members connected, engaged and energized so they looked forward to logging on each day and felt rewarded for their hard work.

Client Retention and Acquisition

The unprecedented nature of the pandemic made it hard to predict its impact on the agency’s client base. Our sense was that some clients might pause services, and that did happen. But no one could have predicted the growth we experienced. This growth is being fueled in part

by the agency’s expanding roster of tech clients that span a variety of unique services, cool products and advanced technology. Most recently, the agency added two business-to-business clients: one focused on digitizing the logistics industry and one helping companies scale customer service through artificial intelligence and human empathy. Growing the business through these and other new client acquisitions is one of the ways Uproar achieved success in an extremely challenging business climate. Delivering results and keeping clients happy, however, was and is the best indicator of Uproar’s success and the No. 1 priority for the agency. While the goal is always 100% client retention, during the economic fallout of the pandemic, the agency’s monthly client retention rates averaged 95%. Navigating through the crisis required companies in every industry to adapt and innovate. Uproar handled this through new service offerings, investments in employee training and technology, and a focus on developing employee engagement initiatives — all of which increased client acquisition and boosted client retention.

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

The Business of

SPORTS By Jason Siegel

Tournaments Give Us Head Start in Rebound of Tourism

ourism is coming back. You can see it in the crowds of happy faces all over Central Florida at the airports, theme parks, restaurants and beaches. All summer and throughout the fall, leisure travelers have been returning after being locked down by the COVID-19 pandemic. But sports tourism has been here all along. It was one of the first segments to rebound. And it will continue to be a key driver in Orlando’s tourism recovery.

“Sports tourism was an early bright spot when Orlando began to reopen in the summer of 2020 as we hosted the NBA bubble, the MLS is Back Tournament and youth events such as the AAU’s Junior National Volleyball Championship,” said Casandra Matej, president and CEO of Visit Orlando. Matej and other local leaders say all of this activity has given Orlando a one-year head start over other destinations that are also trying to recover from the financial effects of the pandemic. Think about it. A one-year head start. How did that happen? Early in the pandemic, during the 2020 season, eyes around the world were focused on Orlando as sports fans watched the National Basketball Association hold its games and choose a national champion inside what became

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known as “the NBA bubble” at Walt Disney World. Star players from around the league practiced on makeshift courts where parquet floors covered ballroom carpeting. In between, they isolated in their hotel rooms and ordered takeout from local restaurants. Major League Soccer (MLS) held its MLS is Back Tournament inside another bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney, bringing in players, coaches and staff from teams all over the country. Soon after, the Orange County Convention Center hosted more than 17,000 players and staff from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) for what became the largest sporting event to take place since the beginning of quarantine. All of these activities put dollars into the local economy. They also promoted Central Florida as a travel destination at a time when tourism marketing dollars were hard to come by. To underline this, the 2021 edition of the same AAU Youth Volleyball event, hosted this summer, drew more than 130,000 participants and visitors. Here’s what Mark Tester, executive director of the Orange County Convention

JASON SIEGEL is president and CEO of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission.

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

Orange County Convention Center Hosts Record-Breaking AAU Volleyball Event

Center, said about the impact: “The event drove one of our highest food and beverage totals in the center’s history.” When business travel collapsed, some cities were saved by their youth and amateur sport travel business. There is no doubt in my mind that sports tourism is a viable pathway for generating visitor spending and promoting a destination. That’s why Orlando has put such a high priority on it.

“All eyes were on Orlando during the pandemic as the NBA and MLS restarted their seasons,” said Don Welsh, president and CEO of Destinations International. “It was impressive to watch this collaborative community come together to host in the most trying of circumstances.” Central Florida’s emphasis on encouraging sports-related travel and welcoming teams and players has been a gamechanging factor in driving incremental impact. Al Kidd, president and CEO of Sports ETA, the international association for the sports events and tourism industry, is one of several influential voices hailing Orlando’s rapidly recovering tourism industry and identifying sports as a key driver. “As we emerge from the restrictions and challenges of the pandemic and return to business, great cities like Orlando are poised to recover faster than others,” Kidd said. “Sports events and sports tourism in Orlando have been shown to be the reentry catalyst, generating new and much-needed business.” Another leader who has spoken out about this phenomenon is Jesse Martinez, general manager at The Alfond Inn, chairman of the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association board of directors and a board member for Visit Florida. “In my opinion, Central Florida has a tremendous head start on all other major city travel destinations,” Martinez said. “After seeing a huge

influx of travelers this past spring break, we have not slowed down since.” In normal times, Orlando has the largest tourism industry in the United States, producing $26 billion a year — exceeding the $19 million figure of Las Vegas. One in five people employed in Orlando, or about 21%, worked directly in hospitality and leisure in 2019. When COVID-19 struck, the unemployment rate skyrocketed. Our neighbors at Port Canaveral, who derive significant revenue from the cruise industry, lost 43% of their workforce. But as life normalizes, the recovery has been swift — much more so than many anticipated. Hotels are taking bookings, forward occupancy is very promising, and optimism abounds. According to a study written by Adam Sacks of Tourism Economics, hotel room demand overall has reached 89% of 2019 figures and air passenger figures were at 71% as of June. Leisure trips will be nearly back to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, although business travel will take longer to rebound. Sports tourism is expected to continue strong.

“Overall, sports are outperforming the market as youth sports have returned well before other businessrelated events,” Sacks said. “In fact, we are hearing from clients that sports have been the star performer in what has been an otherwise dismal market.” With all of this as a backdrop, Orlando continues to position itself as one of the top 10 of 17 candidates vying to become U.S. host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Our reputation as a collaborative tourism community and reliable partner to sports, and our popularity as a destination, suggest we surely deserve a place. i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

BUSINESS SEEN

GREATER ORLANDO SPORTS COMMISSION’S 2021 SPORTYS Jon and Betsy Hughes, the owners of Track Shack, won the Chairman’s Award of Excellence during the 2021 SPORTYS: Greater Orlando’s Night of Champions, hosted by the Greater Orlando Sports Commission with presenting sponsor Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute. The awards honor sports business professionals whose contributions and impact have been vital in making Greater Orlando a premier sports destination. Recipients in 12 categories were named from 52 finalists during the event, which aired live June 19 on WKMG-TV News 6. As a bonus, presenters backstage got to get a close look at the Vince Lombardi Trophy that was awarded in February 2021 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Jeff Hayward, president of Heart of Florida United Way (fourth from right) and the production team at WKMG-TV News 6

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Jason Siegel, president and CEO of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission

Jason Siegel and Jamie Seh, sports director at WKMG-TV News 6, film the opening segment of the show

BUSINESS SEEN

Chris Carmody, partner at GrayRobinson, and his son

Jason Siegel takes a selfie with Mike Bianchi and Brandon Kravitz from 96.9 The Game

Caesar Lopez, chief administrative officer and general counsel, Orlando City Soccer Club

Jason Siegel with Dan Malasky, chief legal officer, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Faron Kelley, vice president at ESPN Wide World of Sports and chair of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission board of directors

Recipients • Chairman’s Award of Excellence – Jon and Betsy Hughes, Track Shack • Best in Business Operations – Doug Patterson, Orange County Public Schools

Trey Dyer, sales and member advisor, Rose DiDonato, membership advisor, and Jo Newell, vice president, Orlando Regional Chamber, with chamber members Alex Goetz and Cody Brown

• Best in Communications & Public Relations – Casey Tanous, Full Sail University • Best in Corporate Partnerships – Amy Wise, 2022 Special Olympics USA Games • Best in Facility Operations – Craig Borkon, Orlando Venues • Best in Gameday & Team Operations – Tom Ward, Track Shack Events • Best in Marketing – Jade Mallard, Amateur Athletic Union

Dan Malasky, Catriona and Mike Harris of Uproar PR, and Jason Siegel

• Best in Sales – Brooke Smoley, University of Central Florida Athletics • Best in Social Responsibility – Delise O’Meally, Institute for Sport & Social Justice • Best in Sports Media – David Steele, Orlando Magic • Sponsorship Activation of the Year – Orlando Health and Orlando Pride, Ad Astra Jersey Launch • Executive of the Year – Faron Kelley, ESPN Wide World of Sports

To view all 52 finalists, visit GreaterOrlandoSports.com/SPORTYS

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer introduces an award winner during the show i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

BUSINESS SEEN

ORLANDO REGIONAL CHAMBER AWE IMPACT FORUM The Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce and its All Women Empowered (AWE) program hosted the 2021 AWE Impact Forum on August 19 at the Orlando Museum of Art. The inaugural collaborative event was designed to raise awareness of the regional resources that help propel women forward. It included an expo with about 20 exhibit tables and a keynote speech by Quibulah Graham, corporate director of diversity and minority business development at Orlando Health, who shared personal stories about leading teams through the COVID-19 pandemic and the Pulse nightclub tragedy.

AWE audience at Orlando Museum of Art

Orlando Regional Chamber team members Nicole Bell, Trey Dyer, Jo Newell, Joe Horan and Rose DiDonato

Wendy Kurtz, board chair, Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce

City of Orlando Minority and Women’s Enterprise exhibit table

Diane Sears of ‘i4 Business’ at Women’s Business Enterprise Council of Florida exhibit table

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BUSINESS SEEN

AWE Keynote Speaker Quibulah Graham

Cari Coats, Accendo Leadership Advisory Group

ATHENA PowerLink exhibit table

Orlando Health exhibit table

AWE Impact Forum Keynote

Checking in for AWE at Orlando Museum of Art

Jason Middleton, Eryka Washington and John Classe from Reedy Creek Improvement District and Greg Mason from Orlando Economic Partnership

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer

Heart of Florida United Way exhibit table

Jo Newell, Vice President, Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

BUSINESS SEEN

EAST ORLANDO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE EXPO 2021 More than 250 people turned out for the annual East Orlando Chamber of Commerce Expo, which was held August 26 at the Doubletree by Hilton Orlando near the University of Central Florida. Almost 60 exhibit tables and displays filled the atrium, which housed the sold-out exhibit space.

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BUSINESS SEEN

i4Biz.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

DOWNTIME

UNIQUE EXPERIENCES By Terry Godbey

for your day off

WINTER PARK VOCES8

VOCES8, an acclaimed vocal ensemble based in London, is bringing its stunning harmonies to Rollins College as part of the Bach Festival of Winter Park for a show at 3 p.m. October 31. The singers are eager to return to live performances, although they adapted pretty well to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by launching popular “Live from Home” online events and workshops in 2020. Along with Barnaby Smith, who is artistic director, ensemble members are Molly Noon, Andrea Haines, Katie Jeffries-Harris, Jonathan Pacey, Christopher Moore, Euan Williamson and Blake Morgan. Voces, pronounced vaachez, is Latin for “voices.”

www.bachfestivalflorida.org/event/voces8

ORLANDO

Orlando Wetlands Park

What passes for fall in Central Florida is finally arriving, and it’s once again becoming pleasant to spend time outdoors. If you’re a bird-watcher or photographer or simply love to experience the real Florida on foot, check out Orlando Wetlands Park in Christmas in east Orange County. Its 1,650 acres of hardwood hammocks, marshes and lakes are home to more than 200 species of birds including roseate spoonbills, red-shouldered hawks and bald eagles as well as alligators, bobcats, otters, foxes, deer, turtles, snakes and butterflies. You will see gators while hiking the area’s more than 20 miles of berm roads and woodland trails, but don’t worry: They won’t bother you if you don’t bother them. There’s little to no shade, so it’s best to visit in the early morning or late afternoon during the gorgeous light that photographers revere as the “golden hour.” The animals are more active during those times as well. Don’t forget to sign in and out on the sheet atop the podium at the entrance.

www.orlando.gov/Parks-the-Environment/ Directory/Wetlands-Park

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Photo by Andy Staples

Photos by Terry Godbey

DOWNTIME

ORLANDO Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

What’s not to love about traveling without having to schlep your luggage? Head to Epcot in the Walt Disney World Resort and taste your way around six continents at marketplaces that feature authentic cuisine from Africa, Asia, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Morocco and other fab places. Complement the mouth-watering food with fine wine, craft beer and spirits while you learn about other cultures and innovative cooking techniques. Live entertainment includes vocal performances, a mariachi band and performances by musical groups from all over Central Florida. This favorite festival of locals has been extended to November 20 this year.

SANFORD Board & Brush Creative Studio

Want a custom wood sign for your home or office? Do-it-yourselfers can create farmhouse classic or inspirational décor with accents of black and weathered wood at a wood sign workshop at the studio on Oak Avenue in historic downtown Sanford. The workshops started as a Girls’ Night Out with wine and crafts in the founder’s basement in Wisconsin but quickly grew to 264 locations across the United States. In a workshop, you will learn to appreciate the beauty of raw materials as well as how to distress, sand with the grain, and stain your masterpiece. With these steps — and your creative vision — your personalized wood sign will look like a vintage heirloom. Beer and wine are available for purchase.

https://disneyworld.disney. go.com/events-tours/epcot/ epcot-international-food-andwine-festival/

ORLANDO Escapology: The Live Escape Game

Teamwork has never been so important — or so much fun! Up to eight players will be challenged to work together to search for clues, solve puzzles and loosen locks that will eventually free them from the game room. Your team can choose between seven games in themed rooms at the venue on International Drive, including Scooby-Doo, Murder on the Orient Express, 7 Deadly Sins, Mansion Murder, Under Pressure, Antidote and Narco. Each live escape game will take about an hour. We aren’t the only ones who think Escapology is fun: It won Tripadvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Award in 2020. New offerings: Escapology has added several remote adventures, private escape games that can be played virtually at home. www.escapology.com/en/orlando-fl

https://boardandbrush.com/sanford/ To scan the QR Codes, point the camera app on your smartphone toward the page and follow the instructions on your smartphone screen.

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97%

Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida members who said they think they have the skills necessary to be successful in a job. Source: Local results of 2021 National Youth Outcomes Initiative Survey

ORLANDO’S RANKING AMONG 2021 TOP 10 U.S. CITIES FOR BURGER FANS. THE TOP THREE WERE WASHINGTON, D.C., SAN FRANCISCO AND PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. Source: Lawn Love

800

“ORLANDO HAS A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART.” WE’RE LOSING GROUND, WE’RE LOSING TIME … THERE’S A SENSE OF URGENCY THAT WE HAVE TO GET MOVING TO FIX THE BROKEN TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM WE ALL EXPERIENCE EVERY DAY. — Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, speaking to an audience of executives at an Orlando Economic Partnership event about reviving pre-pandemic plans to raise the sales tax by a penny to fund roads and other transportation needs. Source: Orlando Sentinel

New jobs Amazon has created in Central Florida as part of a statewide expansion of 8,000 jobs. Average starting wage is more than $18 an hour.

Number of high-paying jobs Terran Orbital is bringing to the Space Coast, creating the largest satellite manufacturing facility in the world. Scheduled to break ground in 2023, the move is projected to pump $300 million into Brevard County’s economy. Source: Orlando Sentinel

64 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 | i4Biz.com

“I thought I’d worked hard in my lifetime, but this was the most difficult, exhausting, fearful but resilient time in my professional career.” — Quibulah Graham, corporate director of diversity and minority business development at Orlando Health, in a speech at the AWE Impact Forum about working in health care at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Orlando Economic Partnership

2,100

— Retired Brazilian soccer star Kaká, often described as one of the best players in his generation, who finished his career playing for Orlando City Soccer Club from 2015-17. Born Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, he has been named an honorary chair for GO26, Orlando’s bid to become one of 10 U.S. host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

10,000

Milestone that Duke Energy passed recently in number of megawatts of solar and wind energy it now owns, operates or purchases through its 200 sites in 22 states including Florida. Source: Duke Energy

13%

Growth of millennials in Central Florida’s workforce from 2014 to 2021, the largest percentage among generations. The next highest was Generation Z at 11%, followed by Generation X at 8.7% and baby boomers at only 1.5%. Sources: CBRE Group, Orlando Business Journal

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