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JANUARY 2019 $4.95
SEASONS AND SOILS
LONG AND SCOTT FARMS CONTINUES ITS LEGACY
GROWING TOGETHER DUDA THRIVES THROUGH GENERATIONS
Agriculture in Central Florida
Visit Orlando: Homegrown Eats
Beck Brothers Citrus and PNC Bank
Give Kids The World
Another Crop for Florida Agriculture: Solar Fields Here Comes the Sun! Dean Mead’s Solar Energy Industry Team takes a collaborative approach to help landowners, developers and real estate investors who are seeking opportunities to maximize value from the land through solar photovoltaic systems. Our firm’s 38-year history of representing businesses, multigenerational families and individuals engaged in agribusiness operations enables us to recognize valuable locations for new solar energy projects. Since the defeat of Amendment 1 in 2016, and due to the enactment of state tax incentives and the closing window of federal tax incentives, Florida’s major power supply companies have accelerated their development of solar production sites. Our attorneys assist land owners and utility companies to identify suitable sites where they may develop large scale solar facilities. We serve as a catalyst!
FPL Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center, Charlotte County, Florida Photo courtesy of Florida Power & Light
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Promoting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship
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Giving to Goodwill is good for business.
Strengthening our community means Building Lives That Work. Through a wide array of career services and vocational programs, Goodwill provides tools that help people overcome barriers to employment and find a permanent path out of poverty. When you shop at or donate to Goodwill, you’re funding services that help people find jobs and achieve economic self-sufficiency . . . right here in our community. In 2017, Goodwill Industries of Central Florida served 47,531 people and placed more than 8,100 individuals into jobs.
7531 SOUTH ORANGE BLOSSOM TRAIL | ORLANDO, FL 32809 | 407. 857. 0659 | GOODWILLCF L.ORG
i4 Business Advisory Board 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.
Thank You
Judi Awsumb, Awsumb Enterprises Jim Bowie, University of Central Florida Business Incubator Program Jackie Brito, Crummer Graduate School of Business, Rollins College Elaine Brouca, Consulate General of Canada Office in Miami Cari Coats, Accendo Leadership Advisory Group John Davis, Orlando Economic Partnership Laura Dorsey, African American Chamber of Commerce
This Month's Featured Advisory Board Members Romaine Seguin
Romaine Seguin is president of Global Freight Forwarding at UPS, where she oversees air, ocean and rail freight forwarding as well as brokerage and supplier management throughout the global UPS network. She previously served as president of the Americas Region, where she oversaw UPS operations in Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. Seguin has held a variety of operational and managerial roles with UPS since joining the company as a part-time hub supervisor in 1983.
Karen Keene Karen Keene is the director of marketing and business development at Dean Mead, a law firm with 60 attorneys and five offices statewide. She serves on the board of ATHENA International and is president of ATHENA Orlando Women’s Leadership Inc., which she co-founded in 2012. Keene leads the ATHENA NextGen program, a Central Florida initiative that empowers emerging women leaders to reach their full potential and has become a global pilot program.
Carol Ann Dykes Logue, University of Central Florida Business Incubator Program Harry Ellis, Next Horizon Susan Fernandez, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Lena Graham-Morris, HORUS Construction Gwen Hewitt, United Negro College Fund Karen Keene, ATHENA Orlando Women's Leadership and Dean Mead Attorneys at Law Shelley Lauten, Central Florida Commission on Homelessness Lisa Lochridge, Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association Catherine Losey, Losey PLLC law firm Hope Edwards Newsome, Triloma Financial Group Romaine Seguin, UPS Global Freight Forwarding Mary Shanklin, Fifth Estate Media Marni Spence, CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen) Robert Utsey, Coastal Construction
Shelley Lauten Shelley Lauten is the CEO of the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness, which is committed to breaking the cycle of homelessness in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. She was the founding partner of strategic consulting firm triSect, where she worked with organizations to create effective strategies for change. Lauten previously served for 13 years as president of myregion.org, a strategic planning initiative of the Central Florida Partnership that covered seven counties, and for five years as the facilitator for Leadership Orlando. She also has served in executive positions at Walt Disney World and the Arnold Palmer Golf Management Company. i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 5
JANUARY 2019
Features 18
Growing Together
Diversification Helps DUDA Thrive Through Generations
Plays a Vital Role in Central 24 Agriculture Florida’s Economy
28 Agriculture in Florida 30 Seasons and Soils
Long and Scott Farms Continues its Legacy in the Sands of Zellwood
34
Beck Brothers Citrus and PNC Bank Partnering for Growth
6 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
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Promoting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship
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A Long Way From Y2K: 5 Guiding Points for This Next Decade Romaine Seguin | UPS Global Freight Forwarding
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Florida Tax Exemptions Are Available for Solar Farms French Brown | Dean Mead
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Strategies for Organizing Your Productivity to Maximize Creativity Cherise Czaban | i4 Business
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Publisher’s Perspective
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From the Editor
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Business Briefs
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Take 5 with Visit Orlando 5 Places Where Agriculture is the Top Attraction
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Five Steps to Control Legal Risk in Your Workplace Adam Losey | Losey, PLLC
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Stay on Target: A Mindset of Clarity
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Social Entrepreneur
Supporting a Nonprofit Puts a Healthy Spin on Your Goals Mary Shanklin | Fifth Estate Media
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Identifying and Selecting Strategic Alternatives Ronald Recardo | Catalyst Consulting Group, LLC
When You Wish Upon a Star: Give Kids The World Village Helps Make Dreams Come True
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Downtime Unique Experiences for Your Day Off
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JANUARY 2019 $4.95
ON THE COVER Susan Hanas, David Duda and Stacy Mello DUDA
SEASONS AND SOILS
LONG AND SCOTT FARMS CONTINUES ITS LEGACY
GROWING TOGETHER DUDA THRIVES THROUGH GENERATIONS
Agriculture in Central Florida
Visit Orlando: Homegrown Eats
Beck Brothers Citrus and PNC Bank
Give Kids The World
8 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Julie Fletcher
64
Watercooler
CEO | PUBLISHER Cherise Czaban
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Diane Sears
DIRECTOR OF ENCOURAGEMENT Donna Duda
SPECIAL SECTION
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Meaghan Branham
DIGITAL BRAND MANAGER
FEMALE BUSINESS OWNERS AND EXECUTIVES
Elyssa Coultas
MAIN PHOTOGRAPHY Julie Fletcher
ART DIRECTOR
Tanya Mutton - Sidekick Creations
COPY EDITOR
Susan Howard, APR
CONTRIBUTORS Writers:
Meaghan Branham, French Brown, Elyssa Coultas, Cherise Czaban, Adam Losey, Jeff Piersall, Ronald Recardo, Diane Sears, Romaine Seguin, Mary Shanklin, Eric Wright Photography: Julie Fletcher
ADVERTISING Cherise Czaban 321.848.3530 i4 Business is a participating member of:
The March 2019 edition will focus on the area’s leading “Women in Business,” and will include a special marketing section spotlighting the achievements and offerings of women-owned businesses and business leaders throughout the Central Florida region. CHSE KIM SA
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SPECIAL SECTION
DIGITAL EDITION
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS The June 2019 edition will focus on the area’s healthcare professionals who are dedicated to the well-being of our community. In our June issue, i4 Business ® will include a special marketing section spotlighting the achievements and breakthroughs of these dedicated healthcare professionals throughout the Central Florida region.
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CONTRIBUTE
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Send press releases, article submissions, announcements and images to press@i4biz.com. Please provide 2-3 months advance notice for requests for event announcements and/or coverage. i4 Business® is published monthly 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. © 2019. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, in whole or in part, is prohibited without written permission from the publisher.
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Publisher's Perspective
RESULTS BEGIN WITH INTENTION
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.” — Colin Powell
Favorite quotes from this issue “We believe we’re here for future generations and not just for ourselves, because that’s the legacy that has been passed on to us.” — David Duda, Page 21
“Challenges to preserve the environment, meet an increasing demand for food, and ensure food freshness and safety are driving companies in the Central Florida area and beyond to innovate new technologies.” — Ed Schons, Page 26
“You keep surviving, you keep persevering, changing with the times and diversifying.” — Hank Scott, Page 32
M
any of us make resolutions as we begin the new year. In our personal lives, it may be to eat healthier, exercise more or learn a new skill. In business, we do the same but usually refer to them as part of our business strategy, such as improve customer service, launch a new product offering or make company culture a priority. Often in business, the strategy begins with the why. We want to increase client retention and strengthen our partnerships, so we focus on improving customer service. We want to increase sales, so we launch new products. We want to increase employee retention and engagement, so we prioritize company culture. Regardless of whether we are making personal resolutions or finalizing our business strategy, the key is to first know why we want this change. What is the impact it will have in our life or in our business? Secondly, we must make a plan for how we will make it happen. If we only define what we want, often what happens is what some define as insanity: doing the same thing but expecting different results. We must envision the results and be intentional to create the change we want to see. This month we’ve highlighted companies in the agriculture industry. Each of them is a legacy or multigenerational business — something we often see in this type of industry. There were a number of commonalities in their stories. They talked of legacy, hard work, perseverance, diversification and relationships, just to name a few. You’ll read about how these companies were intentional
in their growth and diversification, they were intentional about incorporating innovative practices, and they also know their why and have succeeded in passing that why, that passion, down through each generation. I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as we enjoyed writing them. They are stories about courageous individuals who believed in their dreams, persevered through difficult times, overcame challenges they faced, and diversified as the need arose. Many don’t realize that agriculture is still the second-largest industry in the state of Florida — second only to tourism — so there is much we can learn from these legacy businesses that have stood the test of time.
To your success,
CEO and Publisher
i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 11
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From the Editor
Hats Off to Business Leaders
D
uring my interview with the leaders of DUDA for this month’s cover story, CEO David Duda said something that has stuck in my head ever since. Business owners, he said, don’t realize how many times they have to switch hats on any given day. One minute they’re the CEO, another minute they’re the chair of the board, and the next they’re a manager or even a technician. As your company grows, you can hand off some of your hats to other people who work for you — but for most entrepreneurs that only means you’re trading those in for other hats. This applies to people in the corporate world, too. I remember having a phone conversation with a bureau chief when I worked at a daily newspaper. He was the lead editor in a group of journalists who were located about an hour from the main office where I worked. I was asking how we were doing on our daily deadlines, and I could practically hear him wiping the sweat from his brow. He said he had started the day calling an air-conditioning technician to fix an issue with the building, so he’d been spending time in the parking lot sorting that out. It occurred to me that I was leading a pretty cushy life at the newspaper’s main office. If my computer stopped working, I simply dialed a four-digit number and someone from tech services would help me troubleshoot it. I miss those days sometimes when I’m working from my home office and I have to switch hats to solve those kinds of issues myself. Duda was making the point that his family’s company, which started with Andrew Duda and his three sons in the early 1900s, has grown so large over the years that even though it’s still family-owned, the duties have to be divided. No one person could possibly wear all the hats required to operate a company with a presence in 19 states, gross revenues of $519 million and an employee roster of more than 700. To complicate that picture, 130 of the Duda family’s 212 members have to be kept up to speed as shareholders.
The company has set up an effective system for managing all of these hats. That system has morphed over the years, as it should, and will continue to develop as the company grows. We saw a similar situation with the family-owned Long and Scott Farms, which we profiled for another article in this issue. The family divided the duties and has assigned hats to several different people who are responsible for their areas of expertise. This will work for your business, too. Think about how many roles you play in your own life. In addition to your business hats, you wear hats as family members, community leaders, volunteers and household managers. Which of those hats could you delegate? I was having dinner recently with some friends who are women entrepreneurs. We had a long conversation about whether it’s more cost-effective as a business owner to delegate services like laundry and housecleaning or handle them yourself. I was at a conference earlier this year where one of the workshop speakers had us write down each task we handle in our daily business lives. Then we wrote down how many hours a week each task took us. He had us put a check mark next to those that could be delegated. About 70 percent of what I had written down could be handled by someone else. These solutions mean relinquishing a few hats. But I’ve been working on that. And let me tell you, my head feels a lot better without all that weight. Try it. Have a great month!
Editor-in-Chief
i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 13
Business Briefs
Jerry Demings is Sworn in as Orange County Mayor A record-breaking crowd of more than 1,400 people turned out Dec. 4, 2018, to see Jerry Demings sworn in as the mayor of Orange County during a ceremony at the Orange County Convention Center. Demings, the first African-American to hold the position, served as Orange County sheriff for the past 10 years and previously worked as the police chief of Orlando. “The future holds great opportunities for us to build on Orange County’s thriving and robust economy,” Demings said. “My primary focus will be on smart growth, sustaining livable neighborhoods, public safety, business development, education and forming partnerships with a regional emphasis. Our priority is to make Orange County the best community for our residents, businesses and guests.”
Others who were sworn in for their terms at the event: District 2 Commissioner Christine Moore, District 3 Commissioner Mayra Uribe, District 4 Commissioner Maribel Gomez Cordero and District 6 Commissioner Victoria Siplin. Along with Betsy VanderLey from District 1 and Emily Bonilla from District 5, they form an allfemale County Commission. Former Orlando Police Chief John Mina was sworn in as Orange County sheriff. Orlando Rolon has become the new police chief. Demings announced four key appointments to the county staff: Byron Brooks as county administrator, Roseann Harrington as chief of staff, Carol Burkett as deputy chief of staff and Jeff Williamson as communications manager.
FloridaMakes and Associated Industries of Florida Join Forces FloridaMakes, an Orlando based public-private initiative that works with the statewide network o f r e g i o n a l m a nu f a c t u r i n g a s s o c i at i o n s , h a s f o r g e d a s t r at e g i c p a r t ne r s h ip w it h Associated Industries of Florida. AIF works to advance policies at the state and federal levels to help Florida manufacturers and is the state’s official representative in the National Association of Manufacturers. Together, they will represent the state’s 20,484 companies and 377,400 employees in manufacturing. “This p ar t ner ship br ings together the collective interests of Florida’s anchor manufacturing e nt e r p r i s e s , p r e do m i n at ely
Business 14 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
multinational, through AIF with the state’s small- and mediumsized manufacturers, largely privately held, through the regional manufacturing associations,” said FloridaMakes CEO Kevin Carr. Tom Feeney, who formerly represented Florida in Congress and served in the state House of Representatives and as Speaker of the House, is president and CEO of AIF. He said this about the partnership: “We look forward to the momentum and impact this collaboration will bring as we work together to strengthen the comp et it iveness and prof itability of manufacturers in the State of Florida.”
Innovation
Mears and Uber Sign Partnership Orlando-based Mears Transportation Group has announced a partnership with ridesharing company Uber, putting aside a bitter competition for market share. Under their agreement, the first of its kind in the U.S., travelers in Central Florida can use the Uber app to hail a Mears taxi or luxury car and will be given the same kind of information about the ride that is picking them up, including driver’s name, car type and license tag number. Drivers will have to undergo a separate background check for each company in order to work for both. The official announcement was set to begin in November and was made in a public appearance at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Education
Business Briefs
Dyer’s State of Downtown Focuses on Creative Village and Parramore The joint campus of the University of Central Florida and Valencia College, scheduled to start classes this fall as part of downtown Orlando’s Creative Village, could turn out to be as significant for the region as the opening of Walt Disney World was in 1971. It’s part of a larger effort to restore the community of Parramore to a culturally rich neighborhood with a high quality of life through education, economic opportunity and affordable housing. That was part of the message Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer shared in his annual State of Downtown speech in December, held at the Amway Center. “It’s that big of a deal for the future of our downtown and the future of our city because of how this campus will serve as a launch point for this larger, fully realized educational ecosystem,” Dyer said. Residents of Parramore and other parts of the city have helped design the campus to be a “living, breathing ‘opportunity escalator,’” he said. The campus will offer opportunity not just for collegeage students, but for the entire household. To grow options for start-up companies, Dyer pointed to four new co-working spaces: Industrious, Pipeline, Venture X and Orlando Game Space. Among additional economic development efforts downtown: a new organic grocery store called Earth Fare; corporate headquarters for Radixx International, Bags Inc., Food First and Hawkers; an upgraded SunRail station at Church Street; and the future introduction of big-brand retail stores.
UCF Wins in National Cyber Event The Collegiate Cyber Defense Team from the University of Central Florida (UCF) came in first place in the U.S. Department of Energy’s CyberForce National Competition in December in Argonne, Illinois. The event challenges teams to build a robust network that can withstand attacks by professional hackers brought in to steal data, deface websites or wipe out critical systems. Nationwide, 97 schools applied to compete and 66 were selected. The team of six College of Engineering and Computer Science students was led by its coach, Tom Nedorost, an associate instructor of computer science.
WANT TO SHARE YOUR NEWS? Do you have some news you’d like us to share with the community? Please be aware that we work two to three months in advance of our publication date. Submit press releases and announcements to press@i4biz.com.
Tourism
Growth
Inspiration i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 15
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How do you become president of a $75 million geotechnical engineering company founded by your father more than a half century ago? Did you just hang around until Dad gave you the keys? Mark Israel didn’t. He tackled every tough job at Universal Engineering Sciences, learning the business from below the ground up, just like his dad, Sy Israel. It’s why Mark and Universal’s nearly 800 employees
EARNING IT
have a “whatever it takes” reputation for hard work, integrity and customer service. They earned it. OFFICES IN ORLANDO, TAMPA, SOUTH FLORIDA, JACKSONVILLE AND 14 OTHER BRANCHES IN FLORIDA AND GEORGIA UNIVERSAL ENGINEERING SCIENCES IS HEADQUARTERED AT 3532 MAGGIE BOULEVARD, ORLANDO, FL, 32811 UNIVERSALENGINEERING.COM 407-423-0504
HOMES END HOMELESSNESS.
By providing homes for 339 Central Floridians experiencing chronic homelessness, the Housing First strategy reduced their emergency room visits by 60%.
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i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 17
GROWING DIVERSIFICATION HELPS DUDA THRIVE THROUGH GENERATIONS
By Diane Sears
I
t used to be so simple. The founders of A. Duda & Sons planted celery and harvested the crops. They wore out footpaths between each other’s houses negotiating business decisions that had to be unanimous. That was back in the early 1920s, when Andrew Duda and his sons Andy, John and Ferdinand started the company in Slavia, a community their family helped settle near Oviedo in Seminole County. They lived on the same family property, worked together on their farm and prayed at the same church. Today their descendants carry on the family business, but it’s a bit more complicated. With 212 family members, including direct descendants and their spouses, the family still strives for consensus. DUDA, as it is known today, employs more than 700 people, including 27 family members who work there full time and are part of the fourth and fifth generations. The company has diversified to include
18 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
not only celery farming but also a host of other crops, cattle ranching, land development, home building and commercial property acquisitions. It has holdings in 19 states and reported $519 million in gross revenues in 2017. “We see ourselves as a mixture, a portfolio,” says David Duda, the company’s CEO and a great-grandson of Founder Andrew Duda. “The first principle of investing is, ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.’ Some celery farmers didn’t make it. But we kept accumulating more land and growing celery in more than one place. Then we added lines of business: cattle, citrus, sugarcane, sod. We tried a variety of things that didn’t stick: onions, foliage, tomatoes, orange juice processing. The mentality has been, ‘Let’s keep pushing forward.’ … We’ve achieved a balance between agriculture and real estate, and between shorter - and longerterm investments.”
The three seniors: Ferdinand, John and Andy
A Family Affair
In the beginning, Andrew Duda’s sons split responsibilities for running the company three ways. Andy was good with numbers, so he ran the office and handled sales. John, who was a mechanical genius, built equipment that helped the farm modernize, and the company still holds his patents. Ferdinand had a legendary touch with people, so he ran the farming operations and worked with employees. Now owned by a much larger group of family members, not all employed in the business, DUDA has a three-part governance structure in place to manage the business and the family that owns it. David Duda, a descendent of John, has served as DUDA president and CEO since 2010. His father’s first cousin Susan Hanas, a daughter of Ferdinand, serves as chair of DUDA’s board of directors. Her niece Stacy Mello, a granddaughter of Ferdinand, chairs a group called the Duda Family Council. The group was voted into existence by the third and fourth generations, which served
as founding members, with Hanas as its original chair. The three see their roles as stewards who will carry the torch until emerging leaders in the family take their turn. A conversation among them and other family members at DUDA headquarters easily slips back and forth between company business and family matters. “That meeting went well. Here are the documents.” “Yes it did. Hey, how’s your mother? And who’s bringing the board games on Saturday?” A discussion about the company’s history turns into a flurry of calculations: During the third generation, about 75 percent of the family households were involved in the business. Today, about 75 percent are not. No one owns more than 8 percent of the company. There’s another number that interests Duda family leaders: Research by the Conway Center for Family Business shows only 3 percent of family businesses survive
THE MENTALITY HAS BEEN, ‘LET’S KEEP PUSHING FORWARD.'
—David Duda
past the third generation. They have never wanted to be part of that statistic. “We’ve flipped from early generations having probably too much emotion about the business, where you swim in that ocean every day, 24/7, living next-door to family, working in the business, going to church with them, almost too much family, to not enough emotion, in some respects,” Duda says. “That’s the concern we have: making sure we still keep a tie with younger family members. If they ever lose an emotional attachment to the business, or a reason to want to stay involved with it, then it’s a very short walk from there to, ‘Why don’t we just sell this business?’” F i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 19
Tough Times
Andrew Duda
Company records show A. Duda & Sons was founded in 1926, but efforts to establish a business actually started several years earlier. Andrew Duda, an immigrant from Slovakia, moved back to Cleveland after failing to produce successful crops from 1912 to 1916. His family returned to Florida and tried again, and the farm finally harvested a crop without losing money. The company has run into other tough times through the years. Freezes and other factors forced many Central Florida agriculture operations further south. DUDA converted some of its land into commercial and residential properties — most notably, the planned community of Viera, which has become the seat of Brevard County’s government. Today the company’s portfolio is based on four pillars: 1.
Duda Farm Fresh Foods, a subsidiary that manages fresh produce operations under the Dandy® brand in California, Florida, Arizona, Michigan and Georgia.
2.
Duda Ranches, a division that manages DUDA’s other agricultural holdings in cattle, sugar cane, citrus and sod.
3.
The Viera Company, a subsidiary that manages commercial and residential development of nonagricultural properties and is the master developer of Viera. This subsidiary also includes Viera Builders, the company’s home-building arm.
4. Commercial real estate properties in 16 states, including restaurants, retail stores, drugstores, warehouse distribution centers and office buildings. Diversification allowed DUDA to be patient and wait out the major investment of Viera for 10 to 15 years — something a publicly traded company might not choose to do. DUDA is in it for the long haul. That commitment
WE BELIEVE WE’RE HERE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS AND NOT JUST FOR OURSELVES, BECAUSE THAT’S THE LEGACY THAT HAS BEEN PASSED ON TO US. —David Duda 20 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
Harvesting the celery
2018 board members:
provides stability for employees and shareholders, as well as family members. “We believe in perpetuating the business and the need to grow,” says Duda, who started in the finance department after working in the banking industry with an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in food and resource economics from the University of Florida (UF). “We believe we’re here for future generations and not just for ourselves, because that’s the legacy that has been passed on to us.”
The Family Council
“The part about passing on the legacy — that matters a lot to me,” says Mello, who serves as senior director of ranch and resource management for Duda Ranches. Like Duda, she holds a bachelor’s from UF in food and resource economics. Back row, (L to R): Andy Duda Jr., Sammy Duda, Jim Marlatt, Nick Pavelich Front row, (L to R): Charles Adams, Debbie Martell, Chuck Allison, Susan Hanas, Tracy Duda Chapman, Bob Weismann 2016 family gathering at the Cocoa ranch
The Family Council she has led as chair since 2013 includes 11 members who represent the original three branches of the family. Its primary job is to connect family members with each other and to the business they own together. “We hold two gatherings a year to bring our family together,” Mello says. “We have to work at making those connections, helping people connect to each other as a family and connect to a business that most likely they don’t work for and their parents don’t work for.” When Hanas led the Family Council, formed in 2004, the group unanimously adopted a family mission that sums up its history and hope for a future of legacy, farming, business expansion, community service and faith: One family, growing together, making an eternal difference. “Our generation saw the need for taking all our hats off and putting them on the table, and deciding which one you were wearing when you were talking, and understanding you were doing that,” Hanas says. “And making sure issues that were family- and shareholder-related had a home and they weren’t all mixed up in the management and running of the business.” F
First Duda family field trip, 2013 in Belle Glade
i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 21
Board Chair Susan Hanas, CEO David Duda and Family Council Chair, Stacy Mello reminisce about growing up in a farming family
MAYBE THE BUSINESS WILL CONTINUE IN PERPETUITY. I CAN’T LEAVE A GREATER THING TO MY DAUGHTER OR GRANDCHILDREN THAN —Susan Hanas THAT. The Board of Directors
Like the Family Council, the board of directors is carefully populated with people from each original branch of the family. It also includes four outside directors, and those leaders serve as the audit and compensation committees. “If there’s one thing that will come up that’s a nuclear force that can tear apart family or private businesses, it’s the emotion that comes around compensation,” Duda says. “So over time, we’ve moved to where these independent directors, who don’t have a dog in the fight, look over whether the books are being kept properly and in accordance with an outside audit firm, and they review our compensation practices, especially our senior management compensation.” When she was elected in 2015 Hanas was the first family member not employed by the business to become chair — and also the first woman. Her career path led to teaching and she retired as superintendent 22 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
of St. Luke’s Lutheran School in 2016. Today, more women in the family are joining the company than men. But when Hanas was growing up in the 1960s, women weren’t involved in the business. “We were always taught all of this belonged to all of us,” she says. “But the women in the family in that generation never pursued opportunities in the business. We weren’t encouraged or discouraged to be employed. It was just something you didn’t do then.”
Still Planting Seeds
Looking toward the future, DUDA plans to expand its residential and commercial growth to keep building the portfolio. On the agriculture side, facing pressure from a lack of labor available to help harvest crops, the company plans to invest in more automation. It’s also looking to expand more into organic crops to meet market demand. At the same time, the company is continuing to grow a job rotation program that allows younger family members to
explore roles in the company to see where they might fit in. The company has come a long way since the original celery operation, but the principles remain intact. Hanas points out that in Slovak the name Slavia means “glory” and Viera means “faith.” “A common theme through all of our generations has been our commitment to each other, our strong Christian faith and a belief that you forgive and forget along the way,” she says. “This makes you more willing to hang in there. In our heart of hearts, we’re all thinking the same. Even if we don’t practice the exact same thing, we all have that basic core to us. “We have managed to keep the business in the family and the shareholders together. We’ve bridged the third to fourth generation. Maybe the business will continue in perpetuity. I can’t leave a greater thing to my daughter or grandchildren than that.” ◆
A Tasteful Way to Make a Difference
Saturday, March 2, 2019 6:45 - 10 p.m. at Epcot® World Showplace WALT DISNEY WORLD® Resort
Register at
ChefsGala.org EVENT HOST & SPONSOR: Benefitting Heart of Florida United Way to provide food, shelter and other services to people in dire need in Central Florida.
For additional event information call (407) 429-2129 or email ChefsGala@HFUW.org A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION (CH214) AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES AT www.800helpfla.com OR BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.
AGRICULTURE PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA’S ECONOMY By Diane Sears
W
ith 47,000 commercial farms and ranches on 9.45 million acres, and a variety of climates and soil types, Florida’s agriculture industry faces unique challenges. The state has long been known for tropical citrus crops and sugarcane, but many people don’t realize Florida ranks first in the nation for production of cucumbers, snap beans, tomatoes and watermelon. Much of that comes from Central Florida.
24 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
“Agriculture in Central Florida is dramatically different today than it was in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s,” says Lisa Lochridge, director of public affairs for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association (FFVA), based in Maitland. “Once upon a time, Central Florida was a hub of citrus production, foliage and nursery production, and vegetable production around Lake Apopka. Those industries have all gone away, shifted further south, or shrunk significantly based on things like weather and development pressures. That said, agriculture still plays a vital role here.” Statewide, agriculture provides a stable economic base rivaled only by tourism. Florida farms produced more than $1.73 billion in fresh vegetable sales in 2016 — the second-highest in the nation after California, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture.
In the past decade, the state has seen growth in a new crop, much of it produced in Central Florida: blueberries. That’s because University of Florida (UF) researchers created a variety that can thrive in a warm climate. Developments like this have opened the door for new small farms. “The motivation for people who are getting into farming and agriculture now ties into consumers’ desire to know more about their food, to understand how it’s grown, and to eat more healthful and nutritious food,” Lochridge says. “There’s something about farming and that connection to the land, and the idea of being able to grow something that is going to provide nutrition and enjoyment for other people, that is so rewarding.” F
Among other sales figures: • Citrus – $1.03 billion • Cattle and calves – $580 million • Dairy – $535 million • Poultry – $331 million
i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 25
THE COUNTIES IN OUR REGION ACCOUNT FOR A SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE OF THE STATE’S TOTAL AGRICULTURAL SALES, MAKING THE FLORIDA HIGH TECH CORRIDOR AN IDEAL LOCATION FOR AGRITECHNOLOGY TO THRIVE. —Ed Schons, president of The Corridor
Top Challenges
Working the land has never been easy. Farmers face different challenges than their peers in other industries. Those include: 1.
Labor. “When you ask farmers what keeps them up at night, invariably they will tell you it’s labor,” Lochridge says. Agriculture is experiencing a labor shortage, along with other industries including construction and manufacturing.
2.
Water. “Farmers take pride in conserving water because they know they can’t farm without it,” Lochridge says. “In Florida, with the rapid growth we’re experiencing, water quality and water quantity are going to continue to be a huge concern.”
3.
Pests and diseases. With so many ports and points of entry, Florida is susceptible to imported plant pests and diseases. Previous decades saw infestations of citrus canker. Today the largest threat comes from the Asian citrus psyllid, an insect that carries the citrus greening virus, which chokes off a tree’s circulation system so it can no longer draw water through its roots.
4. Succession planning. The industry is working to entice young people by educating them about jobs available, not just in traditional farm roles but also in business functions such as accounting, human resources and marketing.
Adapting to Change
Farmers are turning to agritechnology to adapt to changing conditions. Some are using precision fertilizer application, which allows them to apply fertilizer only where it’s needed. They’re using laser leveling to plant flatter fields that are easier to manage. They’re using GPS to monitor and control irrigation systems from a computer tablet. Some are experimenting in mechanical harvesting. A grower in Plant City is developing a machine that will use an electric eye to sense which strawberries are the right color, signifying they are ripe and ready to pick. The machine will then pluck them from the plant. 26 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
“The counties in our region account for a significant percentage of the state’s total agricultural sales, making the Florida High Tech Corridor an ideal location for agritechnology to thrive,” says Ed Schons, president of The Corridor, an economic development initiative spanning 23 counties. “Challenges to preserve the environment, meet an increasing demand for food, and ensure food freshness and safety are driving companies in the Central Florida area and beyond to innovate new technologies — from plant breeding and fertilization to alternative fuel sources and robotic harvesting.”
The Future of Farming
The new interest in where and how food is produced has created a “farm-to-table” movement among restaurants. This carries on in homes, too, where consumers increasingly want organic food and different kinds of packaging. “They don’t want to stand in their kitchen and slice their carrots,” Lochridge says. “They want something already in a bag they can put in a microwave and cook three minutes. So you see this huge swing toward convenience packaging, already-prepared, ready-tocook items, and grab-and-go snacks.” The spotlight on farming is a dramatic change from 20 years ago, when people in urban centers knew little about Central Florida’s agricultural heritage. “This new interest in food gives us the chance to raise the profile of agriculture here in Florida,” Lochridge says. “That’s good for agriculture. It’s an opportunity for farmers to their tell their story and for people to be more aware that agriculture is within a two-hour drive of where they live, and that it’s one of the economic drivers of our state.” ◆
FLORIDA CROPS
Florida agricultural products in 2017
In total value of U.S. production in 2017, Florida accounted for:
Total value of all agriculture receipts
56%
of oranges
54%
of grapefruit
34%
of fresh market tomatoes
32%
38%
National ranking in total cash receipts
$7.47 18 billion
Sources: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; and U.S. Department of Agriculture
of fresh market bell peppers
of cucumbers for processing
32%
of fresh market cucumbers
23%
of watermelons
22%
of fresh market sweet corn
Florida Cattle Raising in 2017
21%
of fresh market snap beans
13
17%
National ranking in beef cows
of squash
11%
of fresh market cabbage
9%
of peanuts Sources: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; and U.S. Department of Agriculture
28 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
10%
of strawberries
18
National ranking in total cattle
3
Osceola County's state ranking for number of cattle
886,000
Number of beef cattle
1.63 milion
Number of cattle and calves on Florida farms and ranches
Rank in U.S. by Production in 2017
Florida Cash Receipts by Commodity 2017 RECEIPTS PERCENT OF TOTAL
COMMODITY
All commodities $7.47 billion
100
Oranges
28.0
Floriculture and other crops $2.08 billion Vegetables and melons $1.19 billion
16.0
Citrus $1.03 billion
13.8
Cane for sugar / seed $630 million
8.4
Cattle and calves $580 million
7.8
Milk $535 million
7.2
Other fruits and nuts $429 million
5.8
Poultry and eggs $331 million
4.4
Other livestock $312 million
4.2
Field crops $290 million
3.9
Source: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
1 Watermelons
Strawberries
2
$604 million
MIAMI-DADE
5
Cantaloupes
$350 million
POLK
10 18 19 20 36 44
$142 million
LAKE
$109 million
OSCEOLA BREVARD
SEMINOLE
Cabbage
$46 million
Sweet corn
Squash
4 5
$27 million
Snap beans
4 4
$111 million
VOLUSIA
Source: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Note: Figures are for 2012 and the figures will be updated in 2019.
Peanuts
Tomatoes
3 4
$262 million
ORANGE
Bell peppers
2 2
$999 million
PALM BEACH
Grapefruit
2 2
Cucumbers
Sugarcane
1 1
Agriculture Sold Per County, ranked by dollars
1
1
Honey
5
i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 29
oi l
and S S
LONG AND SCOTT FARMS CONTINUES ITS LEGACY IN THE SANDS OF ZELLWOOD
D
By Meaghan Branham
riving down a well-worn path that winds past row crops at Long and Scott Farms, visitors round the corner of a field of shoulder-high grass and find themselves transported to something like a haven. The wind blows through the branches of trees blossoming with bright yellow Mexican sunflowers, while behind them, a farmers market under a galvanized roof, with bins of multicolored fruits and vegetables, leads the way to a gift shop full of locally made honey, jams, jellies and sauces. A painted scarecrow guards the screen door opening into a cafe, where a chalkboard sign advertises hand-scooped milkshakes and freshsqueezed lemonade, and patrons sit at tables overlooking bright green fields. It’s a timeless scene, but by no means is it one out of touch with the ever-changing community it feeds. On the contrary, it’s only through a careful combination of a steady eye on the future and the knowledge of what was learned in the past that Long and Scott Farms has grown into what it is today.
Top Photo: The family, alongside visitor Larry the Cable Guy, stand next to the Sweet Corn Express, a hay ride that takes guests on a tour of the farm Bottom Photo: The corn maze sits next to the playground, covered jumping pillow, and labyrinth 30 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
The Roots
One day in 1963, Billy Long called his longtime friend and fellow farmer Frank Scott with a proposition. Long had come to Florida from Virginia to farm the muck during World War II, while his childhood neighbor Scott was still making a go of it back home. As Scott’s son Hank describes it, Long saw a better opportunity in Florida’s unique growing seasons and soil: “He knew it was a struggle up there with only one long summer season. If you come to Florida, you’ve got three seasons to grow. We take advantage of the fall, the winter and the spring. He asked Dad to come down here and start a sand farm — which was a more lucrative opportunity to farm.” Scott agreed, making the trek south with his family, marking the first generation of Long and Scott Farms. Of course, “lucrative” didn’t mean easy. Farming on this land presents unique challenges. “Anybody can be a farmer on the muck,” Hank Scott said, quoting an old joke between him and the man he knew as Uncle Billy. “But to do this on sand takes a real farmer.”
THEY CLEARED 40 ACRES TO BEGIN WITH, THEN A LITTLE MORE, AND A LITTLE MORE AS THEY NEEDED IT. NOW WE’RE AT 1,200 ACRES.
First the men had to determine what their market was looking for, purchase equipment, and clear the land. Like many in Zellwood, their corn became one of their most popular products, but they found success with cucumbers, cabbage and other crops that continue to sustain them. Hank Scott recalled the beginning of the transformation: “I still remember pulling into that front gate and seeing no clear land. It was all pine trees and palmettos. They cleared 40 acres to begin with, then a little more, and a little more as they needed it. Now we’re at 1,200 acres.”
The Only Constant
Since the friends first cleared those 40 acres, a lot more has changed than just the size of the operation’s fields. Long and Scott Farms is now the only remaining
grower of Zellwood corn in the area, surviving after environmental regulations led the state to buy out most of the muck farms in the late 1990s. Because they grew on the sand instead, Long and Scott remained. Later, they trademarked the name “Scott's Zellwood Triple-Sweet Gourmet Corn,” created their now-iconic label and partnered with FreshPoint to widen their distribution. Today, the corn is used in kitchens in high-end resorts and restaurants that include those at Walt Disney World, as well as sold in their own farmers market. Adapting to constantly changing and costly regulations, trends in the market, environmental factors and economic shifts takes a flexibility and tenacity each generation of the Scott family seems to have inherited from the one before. Hank Scott, Frank’s son, is now president, serving as everything from manager and grower to inventor and carpenter. Rebecca Scott Tyndall, Frank’s daughter, oversees Scott’s Maze Adventures, a 6½acre corn maze added in 2003 when the family recognized a rise in “agritainment.” “About the time we decided to put in the corn maze, we had lost kind of our supporting cast,” Hank Scott said. “Farmers work together a lot. We were looking for something different to do, and that’s when we started agritainment. My wife and I went around the country looking at what other folks were doing, and we added the corn maze. Rebecca came in to run that aspect.” The operation has remained a family business even after Billy Long’s retirement in 1998 and Frank Scott’s passing in 2017. Frank Scott’s youngest son, Marks, played a big part in the farm's growth over the years, and now manages a sod farm in Groveland. Hank Scott’s son Sonny began in land preparation and now serves as farm manager, while Hank’s daughter Haley runs the market and café. i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 31
Evidence of the descendants’ impacts can be found around every turn on the land. From the sunflower-covered concession stand Sonny Scott’s wife runs on the weekends to a 60-footlong super slide built by Hank Scott, every part of the farm has a story shared with a warmth clearly inspired by the people who made today’s operation possible.
Through all the changes, the heart of Long and Scott Farms has remained the same. “You do what you’ve got to do, what you’ve always done,” Hank Scott said. “That’s farming. You keep surviving, you keep persevering, changing with the times and diversifying. History has also taught us what not to do. Now, you still make a lot of mistakes, but you learn to look for the right thing — to be in tune with what’s going on and grow in that same direction.”
Sustaining a Future
2018’s 7-acre corn maze, sponsored by AgAmerica Lending
Without the company’s history, the inspiration to keep evolving might not be as vivid a presence as it now is for Long and Scott Farms, Hank Scott said. “When you watched your grandfather and your father work so hard for so long, you want to keep that going. It’s not always an easy life, but it’s a good life. We have the opportunity to get out there and see what’s growing, to watch it grow from a seed to something that’s going to feed a lot of people. That’s rewarding. That’s what makes it worthwhile.” And that’s what the family members work each day to continue for future generations — not just for their own family, but for the families they feed. “Education is so important, and not just in the classroom,” Hank Scott said. “All of that helps, but hands-on learning is irreplaceable. They have to have someone they look up to and learn from.”
EDUCATION IS SO IMPORTANT, AND NOT JUST IN THE CLASSROOM. —Hank Scott
Left: The entrance to the corn maze Right: Vegetables for sale at the market 32 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
The family members look for each opportunity to share their knowledge with their visitors. In the fall of 2018, the corn maze was sponsored by AgAmerica Lending with the theme Advocacy for Agriculture. Activity stations set up throughout the maze were designed to educate current and future generations about the source of what they eat. The strength of Long and Scott Farms lies in the knowledge that has always been common sense in its line of work: The only way to a sustainable future is through planting a seed. “It’s an opportunity to educate your future consumers,” Hank Scott said. “They walk away knowing that this is a lot of work. It’s science and faith and hope and prayer — you don’t come through things like the hurricane we had last year without a lot of each.” ◆
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i4Biz.com |JANUARY 2019 | 33
Beck Brothers Citrus and PNC Bank
PARTNERING FOR GROWTH By Meaghan Branham
A
ccording to Visit Florida, about 569,000 acres of citrus groves throughout the state are lined with a total of 74 million citrus trees. With numbers like those, it takes a lot to stand out as a citrus grower, and even more to be recognized nationally — but Beck Brothers Citrus in Windermere has managed to do just that. On 7,500 acres spread out over several counties in Central Florida, the company’s unique approach has kept it resilient through a changing industry, even earning Beck Brothers Citrus recent accolades from The Fertilizer Institute. Founded in the 1950s by George Beck, the farm is now operated by his sons, Glenn and Mark Beck. Their drive to respect not only their family legacy, but also the legacy of the land that sustains them, keeps them adapting and growing. “My brother and I are fourth-generation participants in this business,” said Glenn Beck, the president of Beck Brothers. “So we've grown up in it, and there has always been a desire for both of us to continue to expand it.” That hasn’t always been easy, he said. “There are far more regulatory matters that affect us now, and there’s a lot more global competition. Labor is always an issue, and it appears to be moving along at a far faster pace now than what it was years ago.” Those big changes have an effect on the day-to-day operations of the business, and the brothers have reacted to meet the changing needs of their industry by diversifying to other crops such as blueberries, updating their technology, and even changing their growing practices. Throughout that evolution, Beck Brothers Citrus has found one of its strongest allies in PNC Bank.
34 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
MY FAVORITE PART OF MY JOB IS STILL GROWING. THAT'S ONE ASPECT THAT I WAS ALWAYS INVOLVED IN — HELPING THINGS GROW. —Glenn Beck, President
Glenn Beck of Beck Brothers Citrus and Brian Hofer of PNC Bank As one of the top 20 agriculture banks in the nation, with knowledge and experience in the industry, PNC Bank works to adapt its own resources to the unique needs of its partners. This means developing an understanding of stories like that of the Beck brothers — listening to them to ensure their unique needs are met in terms of financing, cash flow and regulations. “They have always been very competitive in the market and have been extremely pleasant to work with,” Beck said about the bankers at PNC. “They’re accommodating. All of our questions get answered, and they do whatever it takes to move forward with the process.” Brian Hofer, PNC Bank vice president and agriculture banker for the Greater Orlando region, said the bank also values the partnership: “The Beck family has
an understanding of agronomy, biology, political science, history, geography, geology, financial planning, marketing and cash management. So with all that knowledge on hand, it’s easy to work together and discuss the best products and services available at PNC Bank that fit their needs.” Most recently, Hofer said, PNC and Beck Brothers Citrus partnered to ensure financing for the farm’s new drone and irrigation project, designed to extend the life of its citrus, blueberry, fern and peach crops. With this partnership, the Beck brothers have been able to implement even more exciting new methods. In 2018, Beck Brothers Citrus and four other growers were awarded The Fertilizer Institute’s 4R Advocate Award — those 4R’s standing for “right source,
right rate, right time, and right place.” The award was given in recognition of the company’s implementation of a new 4R fertilizer management practice, one designed to alleviate stress on the environment, maintain a healthy water supply, and increase efficiency in growing. “It's all management, and basically not using any more than what is necessary,” Beck said. “It’s a matter of carefully placing it in amounts that will not allow it to leach into groundwater.” In an industry that relies on sometimes unpredictable factors, the company’s innovative methods and reliable partners keep it steady and ready to tackle the future agricultural needs of its consumers. ◆ i4Biz.com |JANUARY 2019 | 35
TAKE
with Official tourism association for America’s most visited destination.
The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes
5 Places Where Agriculture is the Top Attraction
T
Center-to-Table Gardens/Orange County Convention Center
he intersection of agriculture and tourism covers a lot of ground, from seasonal events to year-long operations
that connect people with nature in fun, educational, often super-delicious ways. Here in Orlando, visitors never have to venture too far off the beaten path to enjoy the fruits of our farms and gardens — for some convention attendees, the goodness even greets them in the lobby. Here are five places in America’s most-visited destination where local agriculture is the top attraction.
Whisper Creek Farm At the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes, they don’t just bring the farm to the table, they bring the table to the farm. Set amid the 500-acre Grande Lakes estate, Whisper Creek Farm features a large fruit-and-vegetable garden along with outdoor meeting space for unique, interactive and educational farm-to-fork experiences. In addition, products from the farm are used throughout the resort at both The Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott, in restaurant dishes, beverages, and even spa treatments at the award-winning Ritz-Carlton Spa Orlando.
OCCC’s Center-to-Table Gardens Did you know that the Orange County Convention Center is a leader in innovative urban agriculture? It’s 36 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
true. Fresh vegetables and herbs are harvested daily from the Center-to-Table Gardens, a 2,000-square-foot collection of 81 aeroponic towers located in the Westwood Lobby. The gardens yield edible greens in an all-natural, chemical-free environment. Each tower contains 44 planting spots that produce ingredients for many of the meals prepared at the Convention Center. Plants include: kale, rainbow chard, basil, bok choy, celery, peppers, spinach, edible flowers, lettuce and herbs.
East End Market This trendy neighborhood market, event center and food hub — located in Orlando’s Audubon Park Garden District — showcases some of our region’s top food entrepreneurs, tradespeople, artists and chefs. The
GEORGE AGUEL
East End Market / Steven Miller Photography
President and CEO of Visit Orlando
ORLANDO'S HOMEGROWN EATS Farm-to-table trend elevates local dining scene
O
two-story structure is home to a dozen food and retail merchants, event venues, gardens, kitchens, offices, award-winning catering and world-class dining. East End offers a true taste of Orlando, and it’s always a favorite for out-of-town journalists who work with Visit Orlando’s publicity team to craft stories that showcase our destination’s diverse culinary scene.
Farmers Markets More than a dozen farmers markets can be found in and around Orlando, with three of the most popular occurring in Winter Garden, Winter Park and along the shores of Lake Eola downtown. Winter Garden has twice been awarded the nation’s best farmers market by the American Farmland Trust; Winter Park’s weekly event features more than 80 vendors at the city’s historic train depot; and where else but the Orlando Farmers Market can you supplement your fresh-veggie shopping with a swan ride?
Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards You don’t have to travel to California to visit an award-winning winery. In fact, all that’s required is a short trip to Clermont’s gently rolling countryside. Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards, which opened in 1989, is Florida’s largest premium winery and a pioneer in the development of table and sparkling wines from muscadine and hybrid grapes. More than 160,000 people visit the winery annually, enjoying its extensive tasting room, festivals and gift shop. Together, the Lakeridge and Lakeridge Reserve brands have won more than 13,000 awards for excellence in winemaking. ◆
ver the years, Orlando has elevated its reputation as a foodie hub, adding an impressive amount of farm-to-table dining options along the way. The trend, which started exclusively in the fine dining world, has quickly spread to fast and casual concepts, creating fertile conditions for area farms — and farmers markets — to quite literally grow their business in a big way. While the movement may have begun with food activists and celebrity chefs, the community at large is now accustomed to sustainable, locally sourced, seasonal produce served in kitchens across Orlando. Even the Orange County Convention Center — as we reported this issue — has gotten in on the act with its innovative Center-to-Table Gardens. People increasingly want to understand — and take pride in — where their food comes from. And that’s a concept our destination has come to embrace. Here, we offer a little taste of everything, from award-winning farmers markets to hidden gems like agritourism dining. In a break from city life that’s still uniquely Florida, many local farmers host “table-to-farm” dinners that feature guest chefs and fresh pickings from the day’s harvest. We’re also home to numerous fresh food tours and festivals, as well as wineries, vineyards and u-pick farms. And, of course, Visit Orlando’s signature Magical Dining Month presents the perfect opportunity for participating restaurants to showcase the best of the best in local ingredients and cuisine. It’s exciting to see our culinary offerings flourish alongside the booming popularity of farm-fresh concepts. Indeed, Orlando’s leadership in this area only adds to the diversity and depth of our destination, giving visitors the world over yet another reason to choose us for their next vacation or business gathering.
i4Biz.com |JANUARY 2019 | 37
EXALTING FREEDOM
THROUGH ETHICAL CAPITALISM
STAY ON TARGET By Jeff Piersall and Eric Wright
A Mindset of Clarity
H Jeff Piersall
Eric Wright
e had already won a gold medal and was on the threshold of a historic second gold in the shooting competition at the 2004 Olympic Games in Beijing. Then, the unimaginable happened. American Matthew Emmons, with only his final shot remaining to capture the gold medal, took aim and shot the wrong target. He dropped from first to eighth, and the opportunity of a lifetime evaporated. Even a bullseye counts for little if we are aiming at the wrong target. Unless we have clarity on what we need and want to hit, our efforts are in vain. It is like the old illustration of the lady using a map of Detroit to find her way around Denver. She can get up earlier, drive faster, maintain the most optimistic attitude, but she is not likely to get to where she wants to go. How many businesses have failed because they failed to keep asking the simple clarifying questions: What is our business? How is business? As the iconic actor and martial arts expert Bruce Lee said, “The successful warrior is the average man with laserlike focus.”
What Did He Say? There is nowhere clarity becomes more paramount than in our communication. Whether personal or professional, communication makes the difference between positive synergy and discouraging conflicts. Yet, we see it all the time. The American economist Alan Greenspan, who led the Federal Reserve Board for nearly two decades, once said, “I know you think you understand what you thought I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” Coming from an individual who set economic policies that impacted the world, that statement really gives one pause. Effective communication can galvanize a company or a nation. The true master of this art in the last century was Winston Churchill, whom John F. Kennedy said “mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.” In the book The Innovators, Walter Isaacson makes a convincing argument that even technology advances are dependent on the ability to collaborate effectively. Therefore, to innovate, one must go beyond disruptive ideas and master the art of communicating them, something Joseph Tesla, Steve Jobs and Alibaba’s Jack Ma were all able to do.
Effective Communication Involves 4 Key Elements: 1.
Focus on your story, not your product or service. People connect with dramas about lawyers, doctors and the police, not because we are so interested in law or medicine, but because we are drawn to story. The best communicators use story to capture and hold attention.
2. Start with your audience or client, not with yourself. The difference between typical marketing and extraordinary marketing is that the hero in great marketing is not the company, it is the client. Identify the problem, explain how you can resolve it and clarify what the benefit will be to the client. In other words, be like Yoda, not Luke Skywalker. 3. Keep it consistent. With the proliferation of multiple communication platforms — Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn — keeping your messaging coherent and
uniform ensures harmony in the minds of others. People who read Jack Reacher or Jack Ryan novels do not want to spend 400 pages on the character's romantic life; they want action and adventure. The same should be true of your brand. 4. Check for understanding. Don’t assume people understand. Ask, test and verify you are coming in loud and clear. A motivated and engaged workforce and client base comes from clarity. Like the worker who asked for a pay raise and got this note back from his supervisor: "Because of the fluctuating predisposition of your position's productive capacity as juxtaposed to standard norms, it would be momentarily injudicious to advocate your requested increment." The puzzled worker went to the supervisor and said, "If this is about my pay raise, I don't get it." "That's right," said the supervisor. ◆
Trep Talks is the educational platform of Jeff Piersall and Eric Wright. For more information visit www.linkedin.com/company/trep-talks-ec
i4Biz.com |JANUARY 2019 | 39
Best Practice
Leadership A Long Way From Y2K: 5 Guiding Points for This Next Decade
Romaine Seguin is president of UPS Global Freight Forwarding, based in Atlanta. She can be reached at rseguin@ups.com.
At the beginning of a new year, I reflect on the previous year’s successes and opportunities, and I draft a mental map of how I see the upcoming period shaping up. This year, in addition to those thoughts, I find myself in awe that we are already in 2019, the end of a decade. It seems like just yesterday when we were getting ready to start 1999. How did 20 years disappear so quickly? I look back and smile when I think about 1999 and how we jumped into the 21st century. Back then, we were in the middle of Y2K madness, busy ensuring all systems were going to change to that magical year of 2000 and trusting we would wake up and all would be well with the world. And everything went smoothly. So much has happened since then. Some events have left a cloud of darkness.
"
Find something positive in each day.” — Romaine Seguin
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We’ve witnessed the horror of 9/11. We’ve struggled with mass shootings in our schools, places of worship, dance clubs and concert venues. One terrible event that shook me to the core was the kidnapping of 276 innocent Nigerian school girls in Chibok. I truly cannot comprehend the loss of lives from senseless acts of destruction to humanity. But there was also immense greatness and advancement in connecting the world, people and businesses. Just look at the explosion of the Internet. The iPhone turned a big 10 years old in 2018, drones have become a mainstream topic of conversation, and 3-D printing is already revolutionizing the interaction between manufacturing and distribution. Sometimes all of this sounds to me as if we’re in a sci-fi movie.
As I reflect on how I envision 2019, I wish for a kinder, simpler, gentler and warmer society. How do we get there? I’ve thought of five guiding points for this new decade: 1.
Keep current with what’s happening around you. Pay attention to the media, product lines at work, technological advancements, events in your community, the political environment and even fads. Knowledge is power. You can use all the information you’ve absorbed to engage with people.
2. Communicate with all. That goes for family members, of course, but also employees, neighbors, members of your community and even challenging individuals. Technology has given us a pass to not communicate verbally. We write emails, we text, we communicate through social media platforms, but is this really creating human engagement? I encourage everyone to have at least three meaningful conversations on a daily basis. 3. Find something positive in each day. No matter what, there is always something nice that warms our heart and uplifts us. It could be a laugh with a friend, one kind word or something as subtle as a nod of the head that will bring a smile to your day. Those who have children will agree that nothing is as rewarding as a goodnight hug from a little one at the end of a difficult day. 4. Don’t let a bump in the road derail you from moving forward. Use it to your advantage. If a mistake is made, move quickly to correct it. Focus on the learnings from the mistake. Then don’t be afraid to share your experience. Having the humility to recognize errors or challenges shows the human behind the professional, and that makes you a more respected leader. 5. Always get feedback. Do people understand what you are communicating? Did you give an effective speech? Was it inspiring to the audience? Were you approachable as an employer or parent? Be open to constructive feedback. This is not only the start of a new year, it’s also the closeout of this decade. We are positioned to have a successful and memorable 2019, so I encourage all of you to close this period with fond memories and keep working on becoming better leaders. It is because of you that families, communities and businesses soar. Twenty years ago, we were singing the Prince song “1999”: “Tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999.” It is now 2019, and I urge you to keep on “partying like its 1999.” I wish you happiness, joy and fun, because these elements will allow us all to be better leaders in 2019 and the years to come. I talked about the importance of receiving feedback, so I want to start right now. I welcome your comments and suggestions at rseguin@ups.com. ◆
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i4Biz.com |JANUARY 2019 | 41
Best Practice
Tax Policy Florida Tax Exemptions Are Available for Solar Farms As solar projects continue to expand across the Sunshine State, developers should be aware of all cost-saving opportunities available. Currently, Florida law provides significant state and local tax exemptions to solar farmers.
French Brown is an attorney in Dean Mead’s Tallahassee office and a member of the firm’s solar energy industry team. He offers clients more than 10 years of experience practicing in Florida state and local taxation. Brown assists businesses with Florida tax planning and controversies, as well as utility-scale solar projects across the state. He also works closely with the Florida Legislature on tax-related policy and issues. For more information, please contact him at fbrown@deanmead.com.
Each exemption applies to a broad list of devices and equipment used as part of a solar energy system. However, these exemptions also include nuances and specific requirements that should be understood before businesses and individuals embark on a new solar facility in order to optimize the state and local tax savings. Use our resources to seek written confirmation of the state and local tax incentives available.
Sales and Use Tax Exemption
The sales and use tax provides the state’s largest source of general revenue. Beginning in 1997, a solar energy system and
42 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
its components became fully exempt from the state sales and use tax. Eligible systems must convert sunlight into energy for use as a power source for another system. The broad list of exempt components includes solar collectors, photovoltaic power conditioning equipment, pumps, controllers, piping, insulation and mounting brackets. To take advantage of the exemption, the purchaser must certify that the equipment and hardware purchased or leased will be used exclusively in a solar energy system. Additionally, the cost of the components must be separated from any costs of the project unrelated to the solar energy system. For a full list of exempt components and a suggested exemption form, see the Florida Department of Revenue Taxpayer Information Publication 05A01-05, dated June 1, 2005.
Property Tax Exemptions
Florida’s Constitution authorizes local governments to levy ad valorem taxes on real property and tangible personal property. In 2008, voters approved an amendment to the constitution permitting the Legislature to effectively exempt the increased value created when a solar or renewable energy source device is installed on residential real property. This permanent, 100 percent residential exemption was codified by the Legislature for renewable energy source devices installed on or after Jan. 1, 2013. In 2016, more than 72 percent of Florida voters approved an additional amendment to the constitution to create a similar exemption for nonresidential real property and tangible personal property, but only for 20 years. The Legislature implemented this amendment by prohibiting the consideration of 80 percent of the just value of property attributable to a renewable energy source device in determining the assessed value of any nonresidential real property. The legislation also created an exemption equal to 80 percent of the value of a renewable energy source device from the tangible personal property tax. These exemptions were limited to 80 percent of the value of the renewable energy devices, because the legislative sponsors wanted local governments to receive some financial benefit from solar projects in an effort to incentivize them to actively seek new solar projects for their communities. The nonresidential exemptions generally applied to renewable energy devices installed after Jan. 1, 2018. The legislation grandfathered in a few specific projects installed prior to that date, and it excluded certain projects installed after that date in fiscally constrained counties. Most importantly, this nonresidential exemption has a limited duration. Solar developers need to understand the nonresidential exemptions will expire Dec. 31, 2037, unless another constitutional amendment is reapproved by at least 60 percent of voters. Similar to the sales and use tax exemption, the property tax exemptions for residential and nonresidential properties apply to components such as solar energy collectors, photovoltaic modules, inverters, pumps, fans, pipes, ducts, wiring, structural supports, refrigerant handling systems and other components used as integral parts of renewable energy systems. However, the term does not include any equipment or structure that would be required in the absence of the renewable energy source device or any device located on the distribution or transmission side of the point of interconnection where a renewable energy source device is interconnected to an electric utility’s distribution grid or transmission lines. ◆
Gain greater freedom. Achieve greater business success. Free event for entrepreneurs seeking exponential growth
Tuesday, February 12, 2019 The Strategic Coach Program offers a quarterly workshop experience for successful entrepreneurs dedicated to never-ending growth and an exceptional quality of life. ®
At this presentation, clarify your thinking about your future in just a couple hours, with access to: • Some of the best in the business: Hear client success secrets and stories from some of Orlando’s top entrepreneurs. • Strategic Coach proprietary thinking tools: Learn proven strategies for getting “unstuck” and steadily building momentum. • Time and space away from your business: Spend a couple of hours focused on your business instead of in your business. ®
Reserve your spot by emailing us at intros@strategiccoach.com Tuesday, February 12, 2019 at 11 a.m. Citrus Club 255 South Orange Avenue, Suite 1800 Orlando, FL 32801 *A personal net income of $200,000 or more qualifies you to attend this event.
i4Biz.com |JANUARY 2019 | 43
Best Practice
Productivity Strategies for Organizing Your Productivity to Maximize Creativity First, the bad news: There is no universal, foolproof way to ensure perfect is the publisher and CEO of i4 Business. productivity — no magical She can be reached at Cherise@i4biz.com. cure-all for distraction, procrastination or any one of the many other things that can interrupt an otherwise ideal work day. On to the good news: You aren’t alone. Everyone falls victim to these things, probably more often than you realize.
Cherise Czaban
"
The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. — Stephen Covey
We have all felt we’re falling behind, bogged down in the minutiae of a to-do list that just keeps getting longer, our creativity and happiness stunted by the worry that we aren’t getting the right things done. It may seem like putting in more hours will solve this problem. After all, hours spent at my desk have to be more productive than hours spent away from it, right? It turns out that’s not entirely true. Instead, studies have found it’s a matter of intentional, structured and
44 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
focused work. Here are a few methods designed to help increase your productivity and give you more time to nurture other parts of your life, leaving you more space to breathe and balance.
Stop Multitasking
When you have what feels like a hundred things to do and not enough time to do them, multitasking might seem like your best bet. However, studies from the American Psychological Association have given us all the perfect reason to take a step back from this exhausting strategy: Our brains are not cut out for it. APA research has found that humans do not have the capacity to switch between multiple tasks without significant reduction in both productivity and accuracy because our brains have only a certain amount of capacity to focus. Even if we think we are multitasking effectively, the study found
the time it takes for our brains to adjust to each new task — sometimes just a few tenths of a second — can add up to big losses in time, accounting for as much as 40 percent of the workday. A Stanford study further concluded that attempting to perform multiple tasks at once, or switching quickly back and forth between two, often results in the individual being more easily distracted and more likely to make a mistake. Take the pressure off yourself and try to focus on one task at a time.
Avoid Distractions
Even if you set a course for your day with the intention of avoiding the trap of multitasking, distractions can quickly divide your attention. While these are inevitable, there are a few ways you can be proactive in limiting them.
•
Consider an app like StayFocusd or Freedom. Both give you the option to block the websites you may find yourself wasting a bit too much time on for an allotted amount of time.
•
Turn off email and text alerts that can easily sidetrack you. When you plan out your day each morning, work in blocks of time specifically for checking your inbox, and stick to those whenever possible.
•
Set boundaries with others. It can be tricky to block employees, coworkers or clients when you’re in the middle of a task. If closing the office door isn’t an option, try communicating to them that you will be unavailable for a set amount of time except for an urgent concern.
| CELEBRATING BUSINESS EXCELLENCE |
Accountability
Holding yourself accountable means checking your progress each day, which often means a to-do list. Chances are you already have some version of this, but there are some small things to keep in mind that can make tackling it a bit easier. •
Focus on one day at a time. Creating a long list for the whole week can be overwhelming, so outline two or three of the biggest goals for your week, and then take the rest day by day.
•
Break the big projects down into smaller, achievable tasks. Having a vague statement like “finish presentation” on your to do list is a hard thing to tackle, but if you outline what steps you need to take, it becomes doable.
•
Try crossing off the biggest, or most intimidating, task on your list first. Doing this first thing means you will have the energy to tackle it, less time to put it off, and the other tasks on your list will feel easier as you go about the rest of your day.
Take a Break
Like the myth of longer work weeks, the concept of skipping breaks leading to more productivity has been disproven in study after study. Working straight through a workday can lead to mental fatigue, difficulty concentrating and, ultimately, burnout. When structuring your day, map out your breaks, using whichever structure works best for you. This may be the popular Pomodoro Technique, in which 25-minute stretches of work are broken up by shorter breaks, or the newer 52/17 method, in which every 52 minutes focused on a task is rewarded with a 17-minute break.
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No matter the length, be sure to use your break as a chance to refresh your mind — whether that means taking a quick walk, catching up with team members or friends, or going for a coffee — so you come back to your task recharged. ◆
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i4Biz.com |JANUARY 2019 | 45
Best Practice
Legal Five Steps to Control Legal Risk in Your Workplace Benjamin Franklin coined the axiom that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In the 1970s, Fram oil filters used the advertising jingle of “Pay me now or pay me later� to tout buying a $4 oil filter regularly to prevent having to replace an engine later on.
Adam Losey
is a partner at Losey PLLC, www.losey.law.
Taking a small amount of time to address a potential problem up front will often save a substantial amount of time and money down the road. This is as true in the legal and compliance world as it is in the healthcare and automotive fields. Here are five steps your business can take to help control legal risk: 1.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.
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Evaluate your data security posture. According to Forbes magazine, as recently as 2014, Tampa and Orlando were the top two metropolitan areas in the country in terms of computer infections per capita. Your business should have technological access barriers in place to protect confidential information. This is particularly important under the Florida Computer and Data Recovery Act if an issue arises. If possible, your organization should enable multifactor authentication for business-critical systems. Having an incident response plan outlining what steps your business will take when a cybersecurity incident hits (and it likely will) helps your organization contain legal risk and meet applicable
standards of care. It also provides a path to resolution in a crisis. 2. Review employee materials. Now is the time to review your employee handbooks and onboarding documents. Recent precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as state and federal legislation such as the Defense of Trade Secrets Act and the Computer Abuse and Data Recovery Act, give new and important flexibility to employers. This includes the ability to add language to inoculate against class-action litigation. Your standard employment documents should be checked to ensure they take advantage of recent legislation and case law. 3. Distinguish between employees and contractors. On the topic of labor and employment law, take a hard look at those you classify as independent contractors or as exempt employees. Many labor and employment lawsuits revolve around whether employees were properly classified as exempt, and whether individuals are properly classified as employees or independent contractors. Taking a second look on an annual basis can help stave off issues down the road.
4. Conduct data mapping. Map your data, and look at your website terms and conditions, privacy policies and privacy obligations. With the passage of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which the European Union implemented in May 2018 to protect the information of consumers, many U.S.- based businesses have overhauled their online policies and procedures, as well as their internal privacy practices. You’ve likely received more than one email in your inbox about these changes from companies scrambling to meet GDPR obligations. Privacy laws are a complicated and ever-evolving alphabet soup of national and international legislation. In addition to GDPR, there are the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM), which governs email communications, and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which applies to collection of information online from children under age 13. Privacy regulations are a field of land mines. Your business should take time to conduct data mapping to determine how data is collected, stored, used, disclosed and destroyed in your organization. Once that exercise is completed, you will have the facts in hand to determine your compliance obligations under various privacy legal and compliance rubrics. Then you can tweak your terms, conditions, policies and procedures. 5. Consider ADA compliance. Take a hard look at your website to determine whether it is accessible to individuals with disabilities. A rash of lawsuits have been filed in Central Florida by plaintiffs alleging that commercial websites must be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and seeking attorneys’ fees and injunctive relief against businesses to force compliance. The issue of whether websites must be compliant, whether they are “places of public accommodation” under the ADA, and what it means for a website to be ADA-compliant are anything but settled questions in the courts. This area of risk is somewhat new and is continuing to evolve. Getting ahead of a potential ADA suit is better than waiting for one to hit without evaluating the issues. Businesses should look at whether their website is accessible to individuals with disabilities by using one of any number of freely available tools, such as the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool at https://wave.webaim.org. ◆
DID YOU KNOW 92%
of U.S. adults read magazines
Americans of all ages, read magazines - especially younger adults
91% of adults 94% of those under 30 95% of those under 25
Source: MPA – The Association of Magazine Media
i4Biz.com |JANUARY 2019 | 47
Best Practice
Community Engagement Supporting a Nonprofit Puts a Healthy Spin on Your Goals
Mary Shanklin
is the publisher with Fifth Estate Media, based in Winter Garden.
On the second day of my 32-day crosscountry cycling trip last summer, I was ready to quit. Most of the other two dozen riders hailed from places like Maine, Wisconsin, Washington — states where cyclists train on real mountains. My Central Florida training regime of 300 miles a week had coughed up little more than speed bumps. As I settled into my bowl of oatmeal on that second morning of the trip, the tour operator approached the table where several of us were inhaling breakfast. “So, how are you doing?” he asked, directing the question to me. No wonder he was asking me: Not only was I from a sea-level state, I was also the oldest female aboard this ship of fools. PAC Tours co-owner Lon Haldeman, by the way, is the pioneer of what we now know as the Race Across America. He crossed the country by bike in just nine days in the 1980s.
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Laughing like a nervous Floridiot, I responded, “Well, yesterday’s ride was the equivalent of our annual event back home called the Horrible Hundred.” This towering legend of a man looked down on me and said in his signature deadpan tone: “It’s about to get more horrible.” And it did. Even seasoned cyclists gasp at the thought of riding an average 115 miles a day for a month. But more than the miles, it was the elevation that punished this flatlander. On that second day, we climbed so high through the North Cascades that snow hugged the ground in mid-July. As I reached the peak, I had enough endorphins left to hold my head up, knowing I was not the last rider to reach the mountaintop. Then the last rider passed me on the descent.
As I collapsed onto my hotel bed that night, I confided to my roommate, Lisa Portelli of Winter Park, that I was feeling defeated. We had done more than two “Horrible Hundreds” in the span of 48 hours, and we had 30 more days ahead. What got me up for that next bowl of oatmeal — and the next dose of this never-ending hazing ritual — was the realization that the trip was not about me. A month before I left for the trip, I had launched a Wheels for Words campaign on the Go Fund Me platform, with all proceeds going to the Adult Literacy League in Orlando. Friends and family donated more than $4,000 in honor of this trip. Grade-school friends, my husband’s friends, former co-workers and neighbors were among the contributors.
DID YOU KNOW
I lay awake that second night knowing that it would take more strength to email donors about quitting than it would to rally. How could I quit a bike ride when some of the League’s students were sacrificing their time and catching three buses to attend classes so they could learn to read and write English? As the dust settles on all of our New Year’s resolutions, it’s now clear to me that building a fundraising team holds you accountable. We all have people in our lives who want to see us realize our ambitions — people who will show their support with donations to a key nonprofit. On the trip, our merry band of riders continued its trek across 11 states and parts of Canada. But not all the riders made it to the finish. Even with plenty of fuel and help from the tour staff and each other, the mental exhaustion and heat got to some of the riders. In the end, I rode the entire 3,569 miles from Seattle, Washington, to Rye Beach, New Hampshire, accepting a ride only for about 1.5 miles when my cable snapped in the Tetons. The trip made me realize that helping people in our community learn to fill out a job application, get a GED, read a menu and follow prescription directions was much more worthwhile than riding across the country. Framing it as a fundraiser helped me connect with the Adult Literacy League on a new level, and I am now honored to serve on its board of directors. Our hope is that more people will pin their goals to similar fundraising campaigns. It’s better than going alone. ◆
Consumers immerse themselves in magazine content both in print and digital editions
51.5 minutes
48.3 minutes
*primary print readers
*digital edition readers
*Subscribers/newsstand buyers and other members of their households. Source: MPA – The Association of Magazine Media
i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 49
Best Practice
Business Strategy Identifying and Selecting Strategic Alternatives Ask entrepreneurs, business owners and executives what keeps them up at night, and the answer is typically, “How do I identify the best growth platforms?” Below are four surefire steps for identifying your organization’s business strategy:
Ronald J. Recardo
is the managing partner of The Catalyst Consulting Group LLC. He can be reached at rrecardo@catalystconsultinggroup.org.
Step 1: Identify preliminarily where you will place your bets. Developing your business strategy is akin to going to a casino and placing a bet. It’s all about winning. The initial focus must be on: • Finalizing your offerings, meaning your products and services. • Identifying which market segments you will grow, eliminate and play in. • Determining your internal growth engines, such as new products and services, and external growth engines, such as acquisitions, partnerships, joint ventures and licensing opportunities.
We have developed a tool below that we use to facilitate this discussion with client executive teams. The most successful companies thoroughly analyze each of the quadrants and avoid the temptation of going for a “home run” by introducing new products and new markets that provide huge upside but historically have the lowest success rate.
Key learning
Identifying and prioritizing growth platforms is an iterative discovery process. Let the data you collect drive your decisionmaking. The numbers don’t lie. Step 2: Understand your capabilities. All organizations are comprised of an architecture that involves Technology (data, applications), Organization, (culture, HR practices), and Process (core/support processes, physical infrastructure). It is important to have executive consensus
Current Products
Current Markets
Current Products/Current Markets: •
4P's Positioning, price, promotion, packaging
•
Bundling/value added (product/service mix)
•
Different sales/distribution channels
New Markets
Current Products/New Markets:
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•
4P's (market strategy)
•
Alliances
•
Partnerships
•
Different sales/distribution channels
New Products New Products/Current Markets: •
New product development
•
Joint ventures
•
Alliances
•
Partnerships
•
Licensing
•
M&A
•
Backward/forward vertical integration
New Products/NewMarkets: •
4P's (market strategy)
•
New product development
•
Alliances
•
Partnerships
•
Different sales/distribution channels
•
Backward/forward vertical integration
on your strengths and weaknesses, and the “secret sauce” is being able to understand your current core capabilities vs. what is needed in the future for you to successfully execute your final strategy.
Key learnings:
• Make sure there is consensus across the executive team on your source(s) of competitive advantage. Never shortchange these areas in terms of resourcing and budgeting. • Remember, just because there is a market opportunity, that doesn’t mean you have the internal capabilities to successfully take advantage of it. Most strategies and market opportunities require certain core capabilities. If you don't have them, then you must create this capability via one or more strategic initiatives to be able to execute your final mix of strategies.
DID YOU KNOW
Step 3: Finalize your strategy. This is by far the most important step in the process. It entails employing the data you’ve collected to date to evaluate alternative strategies using objective and quantifiable decision filters, such as ROI and risk analysis, and creating financial models of each strategy to make sure your final selection of growth platforms will generate the desired topand bottom-line performance. At this time, you need to finalize decisions on the 4 P’s: positioning, price, promotion and packaging.
Key learnings:
• Space out your strategies across your planning horizon. If you have a three-year plan, don’t try to do too much in year one. • It’s all about prioritization. A stage two company should not have more than two to four strategies with two or three supporting initiatives per strategy. Less is more. The focus needs to be on execution.
Step 4: Identify strategic initiatives. Strategic initiatives are those projects or efforts that must be undertaken to ensure each strategy is successfully implemented. Initiatives are also used to close the most critical capability gaps you identified in Step 2. Many management teams suffer from ADHD (attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder) and feel their job is finished once the plan is complete, so they turn their focus to the next “fire to fight.”
Key learnings:
• Leaders must provide visible sponsorship, allocate appropriate resources and make tough decisions to ensure strategies and supported initiatives are implemented. • No matter how well you plan, unprogrammed things happen. Develop a formal contingency plan with “triggers” around your major risk factors.
The audience for print and digital magazines increased by 3.3 million adults from 2016 to 2017
65% of readers take action after seeing a print magazine ad
• By following these best practice steps, you are well on your way to creating a sustainable and differentiated competitive advantage for your company. ◆
Source: MPA – The Association of Magazine Media
i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 51
Social Entrepreneur
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A
STAR
Give Kids The World Village Helps Make Dreams Come True By Elyssa Coultas
A
massive star cluster exists in Central Florida, luminously nestled inside a castle that has a small galaxy gleaming on its ceiling and walls. What sounds like a scene taken from a child’s storybook is, in reality, just a small part of the whimsical scenery at Give Kids The World Village, an 84-acre nonprofit resort that provides weeklong, cost-free vacations to children with critical illnesses and their families. Each star in the cluster bears a wish child’s name. Each star carries memories and represents a small piece of heaven visitors can return to for years to come. Over the course of its 32-year history, the nonprofit has helped fulfill more than 165,000 wishes for children and their families. “We’ve never turned a child away,” said Pamela Landwirth, president and CEO of Give Kids The World. “We’re the destination for children from all over the world who are battling a critical illness and share a common bond, which is a wish to come and experience everything that Central Florida has to offer.” To qualify for a wish, children must be between ages 3 and 18, they must have been diagnosed with a critical illness, and they must have a doctor’s permission to travel. Built upon compassion, imagination and partnerships, Give Kids The World provides an all-inclusive, stress-free family experience with meals, accommodations, attraction tickets and on-campus entertainment.
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“All tickets are free for the families,” Landwirth said. “This year alone, we’ve had about 8,000 families with roughly five people per family. To be able to sit down and have meals together and to not worry about how they’re going to pay for the meal, or how they’re going to pay for the park tickets or lodging, is such a relief for the families. It’s just putting their minds at ease and giving them a week of ‘yes.’”
Happiness that Inspires Hope
With so many rewarding aspects of working at Give Kids The World, Landwirth struggled to pinpoint her favorite one. “You walk down The Avenue and you see the smiles on the kids’ faces. You see the transformation of the entire family when they get here — they’re so tired from all the struggles back home, but by the end of the week, they’re recharged and rejuvenated, and the wish child is so full of hope and happiness.”
"
Social Entrepreneur
We’ve never turned a child away, we’re the destination for children from all over the world who are battling a critical illness and share a common bond, which is a wish to come and experience everything that Central Florida has to offer. — Pamela Landwirth
Landwirth tells the story of a young girl named Alyssa who had Stage 3 kidney cancer and a Wilms’ tumor. She was on hospice care. Then she spent a week at the Village. “She went back and told her doctor, ‘If you want to make kids well, send them to Give Kids The World. It’s magic medicine.’ She’s now a junior in college and she will say that the reason she’s alive today is because Give Kids The World gave her hope.” Even when the story doesn’t have a happy ending, the memories created at the Village provide peace and joy for the family members to enjoy today and reflect back on in the future. One family in particular stands out to Landwirth. The grandparents of a young girl, Bethany, return every year to volunteer at the Village and to visit Bethany’s star. “I’ll never forget the letter I got from them saying, ‘Our little Bethany went to heaven last night. I’ll bet it’s a lot like Give Kids The World.’”
Everyday Heroes
Give Kids The World is routinely awarded top designations and recognition from agencies such as the Better Business Bureau, Florida State Certified Green-Lodging Resort, Charity Navigator and America’s Charities, among others. What makes the organization so unique is not just its vision or the Village, but the fact that 92 cents of every dollar spent goes directly into the mission. Slightly less than 7 cents is spent on fundraising and overhead. F i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 53
Social Entrepreneur
“What that means is you’re not going to see us on television like some of the other bigger charities,” Landwirth said. “We choose not to do that because we want to be good stewards of our resources. So that’s why you don’t see our name plastered everywhere and you have Central Floridians who have never heard of us.” Despite that fact, Give Kids The World manages to fill 1,800 volunteer shifts per week. It estimates the value of those volunteer hours is about $7.9 million in labor costs.
A Storybook Village
Give Kids The World creates joyful experiences and cherished memories. The Village celebrates Christmas every Thursday year-round and Halloween every Monday. An on-campus ice cream parlor opens at 7:30 a.m., serving banana splits for breakfast and sending the scent of waffle cones wafting along The Avenue. Between pony rides, a life-size Candy Land playground board game, a pool and splash zone, pirates and princesses parties, a nail salon, miniature golf and a fishing pond stocked with catfish, many families choose to spend the majority of the week at the nonprofit resort. “To try to fit in four Disney parks, Universal, SeaWorld and Aquatica in six or seven days for a healthy family … just, wow,” Landwirth said. “Here, it’s stress-free and relaxing.” But many children want to meet Mickey Mouse or their favorite Marvel superhero. Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Orlando send characters to 54 | JANUARY 2019 | i4Biz.com
Social Entrepreneur the Village each week to meet the children. “There was a young boy whose wish was to meet Mickey,” Landwirth said. He had the opportunity to see Mickey from afar while at Magic Kingdom, but was unable to fulfill his wish. “The fact that Mickey came to meet him, and he didn’t have to wait in the heat or a long line to get that hug or autograph, meant the world to the family.”
Once Upon a Time
Amy, a young girl with leukemia, had a final wish to come to Central Florida to visit the theme parks. While arrangements were being made to grant her this wish, Amy passed away. The hotelier who had agreed to host Amy and her family was devastated, so he set out to streamline the process from wish to fulfillment. Henri Landwirth created Give Kids The World in 1986 — hosting families at his hotels free of charge — and three years later opened the Village as a stand-alone, nonprofit resort. Pamela Landwirth, his former wife, has overseen operations for more than 20 years. Henri Landwirth passed away in April 2018, but not before seeing his vision come to fruition with the Village hosting children from 75 nations and all 50 states. Thanks to the efforts of wish-granting organizations and partnerships around the world, Give Kids The World can host a child and family within 24 hours. The nonprofit partners with more than 200 chapters of wish-granting organizations around the world, including Make-A-Wish and the Starlight Foundation. About 50 percent of children who are given the opportunity to have a wish granted ask to come to Florida, Pamela Landwirth said. The founding partners include Disney, SeaWorld and the Intercontinental Hotel Group, or Holiday Inn. The organization has since developed partnerships with Universal, Wyndham, Legoland, Hasbro and Perkins. With the help of every partner, the Give Kids The World Village has expanded to an 84-acre campus with a full-service café, a splash garden and two pools, wheelchair-accessible rides, and 168 family villas. When all villas are occupied, Give Kids The World’s hotel partners provide accommodations off-site, but Landwirth hopes the Village can expand soon so every visiting child can experience staying on the campus. “It’s so different staying here at the Village, which is why we always want to put families here on property,” she said. “The message that we keep hearing over and over from families is, ‘We felt normal there. Nobody stared at us.’” The mission itself inspires hope, along with the strength in each partnership and the growth seen each year at Give Kids The World. The organization looks forward to expanding the Village and continuing to make dreams come true, she said. “We’ll just keep continuing to grow as long as there’s a need.” ◆ i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 55
Downtime
UNIQUE EXPERIENCES FOR YOUR DAY OFF ST. CLOUD Forever Florida Experience the vast Florida wilderness at Forever Florida, a working cattle ranch and 4,700acre wildlife conservation area that offers ziplining, horseback riding, cattle herding, camping, cabin rentals and trail tours. Live a day as a ranch hand, herding cattle and shadowing the foreman, or spend a weekend camping while traveling on horseback through the natural beauty of Florida. After a relaxing stay in the woods, the zipline coaster, free-fall pounce or zipline race will satisfy extreme adventure-seekers.
foreverflorida.com
CLERMONT Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards Since 1989, Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards has been bottling the rich flavors of Florida and creating a name for the Clermont region as a destination for wine connoisseurs around the world. Lakeridge features 75 acres of vineyards and an estate that hosts events throughout the year and offers complimentary winery tours and wine tasting seven days a week. Those lucky enough to live in Central Florida have a brief drive to enjoy this not-so-hidden gem.
lakeridgewinery.com
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Downtime
OCOEE Lake Meadows Naturals Entering the gates of Lake Meadows Naturals in Ocoee, guests are greeted with a one-way gravel road lined with aromatic herbs. The road leads to a parking lot surrounded by enclosures filled with chickens, goats, turkeys, pigs and alpacas. Noting a drastic disconnect between farm and table, Lake Meadows Naturals educates visitors about where their food comes from. Shoppers can find humanely raised and natural meats, cage-free eggs and farm fresh produce at the on-site market, which also provides food to local restaurants.
lakemeadownaturals.com
YALAHA Blue Bayou Farms and Yalaha Bootlegging Co. The charm of Florida’s countryside can be found at Blue Bayou Farms, a family-owned, certified organic you-pick blueberry farm. Guests can stroll through the acres of farmland and pick organic berries, then visit the countrystyle general store to enjoy fresh-baked pies, homemade jams and moonshine sampling. These farmers take their berries from bush to barrel at the on-site Yalaha Bootlegging Co. moonshine and brandy distillery, which offers a variety of flavors derived from their homegrown blueberries.
yalahabootleggingco.com
CLERMONT Showcase of Citrus The sweet scent of orange blossoms and honey drift through the outdoor market at Showcase of Citrus. The 2,500-acre, family-owned farm cultivates more than 50 varieties of citrus that guests can pick themselves or purchase in-store. After guests browse in the shop and sample citrus, a fleet of massive 4x4 monster trucks take them for safari tours throughout the estate. Don’t be shocked to spot cows, chickens, kangaroos, water buffalo and zebras during the tour.
showcaseofcitrus.com i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 57
BUSINESS SEEN |
i4 BUSINESS LEADERS OF THE YEAR AWARDS i4 Business recognizes the incredible entrepreneurs and business leaders who are shaping Central Florida. These leaders impact not only their business sector, but also the larger business and cultural ecosystem. This year we recognized leaders in the categories of Tourism, Entrepreneurship, Technology, Healthcare, Social Entrepreneur, Economic Development and Talent Pipeline. The event was held December 5 in Orlando. Photography: Julie Fletcher
Waymon Armstrong, Angela Alban
Paul Mears, George Aguel
Harry Ellis III, Kent Winkelseth
Judy Awsumb, Olive Gaye
Karen Keene, Annetta Wilson
Jerry Ross, Dr. Tom O'Neal
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| BUSINESS SEEN
Mayor Buddy Dyer, Dr. Sandy Shugart
Janice Abrew-Coriano (accepting on behalf of Harris Rosen) and Maria Triscari
Waymon Armstrong, Mary Trier, Chester Kennedy
Gina Medlock, Donna Duda, Susan Sherman
Cherise Czaban, Charlie Gray, Saundra Gray, Caroline Hawks, Blaire Martin
The i4 Business Team Elyssa Coultas, Donna Duda, Tanya Mutton, Meaghan Branham, Cherise Czaban, Diane Sears, Rana Stark, Julie Fletcher i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 59
BUSINESS SEEN |
ATHENA NEXTGEN FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION ATHENA NextGen, a training program for the next generation of women leaders, celebrated its five-year anniversary on November 15, 2018, in Orlando. The event was attended by Orlando women business leaders, including many of the 265 Central Florida professional women who proudly call themselves alumnae. Photography: Christie's Photographic Solutions
ATHENA NextGen alumnae and current class members
Ashley Blasewitz, Kim Wehagen
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Suzi Gaiser, Karen Keene, Michelle Griffith
| BUSINESS SEEN
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) Americas Team
Bernadette Spong, Heather Eubank
Bethany Bealko, Whitney Keilman, Kelly Ferris Duckworth, Tajuan Mills, Melanie DiVirgilio
Cassondra DeGraff, Eva Delgado, Cornelia Jung
Katherine Lopez, Shantel Ocampo, Karla Rodriguez, Jenna Davis
Terri Schneider, Lauren Sedam, Nicole Andriola, Laura Burns
Mary Hageman, Rachael Kobb and Claudia Vilela
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BUSINESS SEEN |
MACF ANNUAL PRESIDENT’S DINNER AND AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE The Manufacturers Association of Central Florida (MACF) held its 2018 Annual President’s Dinner and Awards of Excellence on November 1, 2018, at the new Orlando Airport Terminal C facility. This event celebrates the past year in manufacturing, recognizes the success and achievements of Central Florida manufacturing companies, and awards scholarships to students pursuing careers in manufacturing. Photography: ProView Events LLC
MACF and Nautique Boats present a scholarship check to James Cruz, a student at Orange Technical College – Mid Florida Campus
Edgardo Rodriguez and Sherry Reeves present the 2018 President’s Award to Kris Hanigosky of Nautique Boat Company
Ned Bowers, Debra Bowers, Doug Foreman, and C.A. Vossberg
Jeff Franklin, Teresa Hunt, Betsy Cameron and Shane Hunt
Angela Wydra, Bill Wydra, Edgardo Rodriguez, Harry Arnon, Josef Arnon and Connie Reilly
Keynote speaker C. Reed Knight, owner of Knight’s Armament Company in Titusville
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| BUSINESS SEEN
John Kelley accepts the Large Manufacturer of the Year Award for Dusobox Corporation in Orlando
Ken Brace of Rapid Prototyping Services explains his products during the networking reception and trade show
Turner Nabors accepts the Associate Member of the Year Award for SESCO Lighting in Maitland
Group from Presidential Sponsor Hernon Manufacturing Corporation
ENTREPRENEUR = HERO
HIRE A SIDEKICK GRAPHIC DESIGN WEB DESIGN SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT MARKETING VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
SIDEKICK Creations
sidekickcreations.com 321.704.2393 i4Biz.com | JANUARY 2019 | 63
Watercooler
16,500 The number of temporary jobs the new Brightline passenger rail service will create for three years of construction on an 88-mile stretch between Orlando and Tampa. The company also will create 1,600 permanent jobs.
“Some growers have found their abandoned citrus groves make the perfect property for solar energy developments.” — Michael Minton, chair of Dean Mead’s Agribusiness Industry Team and Solar Energy Team
20 million The number of Butterbeers sold at Universal Orlando Resort as of October since the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened in 2010 at Islands of Adventure.
AS ORLANDO "Brightline is at the forefront of innovation in this market, and the ideal partner for Virgin to work with to alter perceptions and traveling habits across the United States." — Sir Richard Branson, on why the company he founded, now known as Virgin Group, has forged a strategic partnership with Brightline to grow America’s first privately funded intercity passenger train in more than 100 years Source: Brightline
GOES, THE FUTURE OF FLORIDA IS GOING TO GO.” — Tony Carvajal, executive vice president, Florida Chamber Foundation, in a presentation about Florida 2030: Blueprint for Future Competitiveness
“You never like seeing a news alert on your phone that starts with romaine.” — Brian Certo, owner of Orlando restaurant group Eden’s Fresh, about the lettuce recall because of an E. coli outbreak that caused people to switch temporarily to iceburg lettuce Source: Orlando Sentinel
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$23.7 million The amount of hotel tax revenue generated in Orange County in October, the first month of the fiscal year. This was up 7 percent over October 2017.
43,000
The number of people employed by almost 500 Canadian companies that investors have brought to Florida. Source: Consulate General of Canada in Miami
© 2015 Southwest Airlines Co.
Without a Heart, it’s just a machine. So in 1971, a little Heart built a different kind of airline—one that made sure everyone could fly. Everyone has important places to go. So we invented low-fares to help them get there. To us, you’re not 1A or 17B. You’re a person with a name, like Steve. Here, we think everyone deserves to feel special, no matter where you sit or how much you fly. And with all the places we’re going next, we’ll always put you first, because our love of People is still our most powerful fuel. Some say we do things differently. We say, why would we do things any other way? Without a Heart, it’s just a machine.
Make a
MOVE Total Energy and Water Solutions for Your Business Businesses looking to grow in Orlando can count on OUC – The Reliable One as a partner every step of the way. We offer affordable rates, record reliability and innovative, sustainable energy and water solutions. As a long-time proponent for economic growth in our community, we can help you cut through the red tape and get down to business. Learn more at oucpowersgrowth.com.
Visit OUCPowersGrowth.com, an online resource to help you along the way as you make your power move.
OUCPOWERSGROWTH.com