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2020 Special Sections

Promoting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship

As Central Florida’s premier business publication, i4 Business showcases professionals in our most dynamic and influential industries, connecting individuals working to better our world through business. With an audience that includes the area’s leading influencers and decision-makers, i4 Business partners with those looking to connect with that audience through the power of their story and the value of their service. These comprehensive profiles are included in the print and digital magazine, published online at i4Biz.com and promoted through i4 Business’ social media channels. SPECIAL MARKETING SECTION

CONSTRUCTION & COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

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MEET SOME OF CENTRAL FLORIDA'S BEST IN HEALTHCARE

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Few indicators signal the health of a region like construction. Learn about developers, contractors and architects leading the way.

Across all industries and disciplines, the ideas, innovation, and collaboration of women in business add indispensable value.

One of the largest employment sectors, it is also one of the highest-paying and is bringing national recognition to Central Florida.

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The legal system is made up of dedicated law firms, lawyers and paralegals working to represent and defend our community.

Young professionals are leading the way in today’s market, ushering in the future with fresh ideas and enthusiasm.

A robust entrepreneurial ecosystem requires the availability of capital and individuals who can serve as guides on the journey.

NOVEMBER 2019

Features

Shaping the Status Quo

Global Influence

Leaving a Legacy

Fighting Cybercrime

A Client-First Approach

How DeepWork Capital is Building the Future through Funding

The Institute of Internal Auditors Fosters Trust in Governance

ESOPs Give Employees and Exiting Owners ‘Skin in the Game’

Seaside National Bank & Trust Offers 7 Tips to Protect Your Business

Secured Investment Lending Uses Emerging Technology to Improve Customer Experience

6 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

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

This Month's Featured Advisory Board Members Carol Ann Dykes Logue As site manager of the University of Central Florida’s Business Incubator at Research Park, Carol Ann Dykes Logue uses her expertise in technology, business, information research and communications to empower local entrepreneurs and connect them with resources throughout the community. With a background in both biology and education, as well as a master’s degree in library and information science, and extensive experience in business aspects such as market analysis and commercialization, she assists small businesses throughout Central Florida.

Jim Bowie, University of Florida Incubator Program Jackie Brito, HR Asset Partners Cari Coats, Accendo Leadership Advisory Group Andrew Cole, East Orlando Chamber of Commerce John Davis, Orlando Regional Chamber Laura Dorsey, Florida Black Chamber and National Cultural Heritage Society Stina D'Uva, West Orange Chamber of Commerce Carol Ann Dykes Logue, University of Central Florida Business Incubator Program Harry Ellis, Next Horizon Susan Fernandez, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Lena Graham-Morris, HORUS Construction Mark Allen Hayes, Stockworth Realty Group Gwen Hewitt, United Negro College Fund Karen Keene, ATHENA Orlando Women's Leadership and Dean Mead Attorneys at Law Shelley Lauten, Consultant Lisa Lochridge, Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association Catherine Losey, Losey PLLC law firm Laureen Martinez, Orlando Economic Partnership Yog Melwani, Align Commercial Real Estate and Indian American Chamber of Commerce Hope Edwards Newsome, Triloma Financial Group Rob Panepinto, Florentine Strategies Romaine Seguin, UPS Global Freight Forwarding

Rob Panepinto Rob Panepinto is president of Florentine Strategies, which provides strategic consulting and investment capital for early stage companies. He is also the CEO of Entrepreneurs in Action, managing a local social venture fund. Panepinto is a senior strategic advisor and director of the Downtown Innovation District for the University of Central Florida. Previously, he was part of the founding executive team for Connextions, helping it grow from a small manufacturing company to an innovative healthcare technology/services organization with more than 5,000 employees. Panepinto is chairman of the Rally Social Enterprise Accelerator and past chair of the Central Florida Foundation.

Hope Edwards Newsome Hope Edwards Newsome serves as general counsel and chief compliance officer for Triloma Financial Group, where she monitors and translates the language of changing policies and regulations in order to best serve the team. She has provided guidance to firms throughout Central Florida for more than 15 years. She also serves as secretary and general counsel for ATHENA Orlando Women's Leadership, which allows her to offer her expertise to professionals throughout the community.

Mary Shanklin, Fifth Estate Media Marni Spence, CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen) Robert Utsey, Coastal Construction i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 7

Promoting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship

NOVEMBER 2019

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DEEPWORK

CAPITAL Funding Disruption

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8 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

DRIVING ORLANDO’S ECONOMY

UP CLOSE WITH ELISHA GONZÁLEZ

NOVEMBER 2019

ON THE COVER Mitchel Laskey, Benjamin Patz and Kathy Chiu PHOTOGRAPHY BY Julie Fletcher

ON THE

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CONTRIBUTE 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.

Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, expanded its litigation bench in Orlando with Construction Law Florida Bar Certified Attorney George “Trey” Tate III. Tate is skilled in complex construction litigation and spearheaded the multiparty project agreements to begin construction of Medical City at Lake Nona.

JONATHAN PIERCE Pulte Group’s North Florida division has announced that Jonathan Pierce has been named vice president of construction. In this new role, Pierce will be responsible for overseeing construction operations, including construction, customer care and support teams for the North Florida division. The division closes on more than 1,500 homes annually.

MATTHEW DETZEL Litigation attorney Matthew Detzel has joined Holland & Knight’s Orlando office as a partner. Detzel focuses his practice on helping institutional clients detect, respond to and resolve complex fraud schemes, routinely serving as advisor, investigator and an advocate in litigation and appeals. Detzel earned a J.D. degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and a B.A. degree from the University of Florida.

ELISHA GONZÁLEZ BONNEWITZ FAIRWINDS Credit Union, one of the largest locally owned and operated financial institutions in Central Florida, has added Elisha González Bonnewitz as a new vice president of community relations and government affairs. Skilled in philanthropy, constituent outreach and issues management, she will oversee activities in Brevard, Volusia and Tampaarea markets.

CATHERINE NORRIS Catherine Norris has joined Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin as an associate. A member of the casualty department, she focuses her practice on automobile negligence and premises liability matters. A graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law, she worked for U.S. Congressman Bill Posey on Capitol Hill and the Brevard County Attorney's Office.

SARA BERNARD Real estate attorney Sara Bernard has joined Holland & Knight’s Orlando office as a partner. Bernard handles a wide range of transactions as counsel for developers, builders, institutional lenders, and public and private entities. She serves on the University of Central Florida Foundation board of directors and is an executive committee member of the University of Central Florida Alumni Association.

MATT RUSSO Matt Russo has rejoined RMC Group as vice president of operations. He will be responsible for providing direction and assistance to each division head in connection with the placement of business. He brings over 14 years of experience to the agency, with a diverse background in risk management and engineering. Russo graduated from the Florida Institute of Technology with a civil engineering degree.

ROSANGELA PARKER Restaurant Managers LLC acquired exclusive rights to the Salata Salad Kitchen brand for the state of Florida and has recruited Rosangela Parker as its marketing manager to assist with the rollout of a projected 35 locations statewide. Parker has more than 10 years of experience in tourism, marketing and brand development.

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Publisher's Perspective

HONORING LEADERS IN OUR COMMUNITY

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams

t’s hard to believe we are quickly approaching the end of 2019. Most of us are looking toward year-end goals we’re working on completing, evaluating results of this year’s initiatives, working on plans and strategies for the new year, and getting as much accomplished as we can before the holidays are upon us.

Uplifting and inspiring others is one of our core values at i4 Business, and we are quickly approaching our 6th Annual Business Leaders of the Year Awards. Nominations and voting ran through September and the first half of October, and we are excited about the leaders we have the privilege of honoring this year: Harry Arnon, Lihn Dang, Daniel Entwistle, Charlie Gray, Katia Medina, Marsha Robbins, Jason Seigel, Thad Seymour Jr. and Daryl Tol. It’s our privilege to recognize each of them at our event on December 10 and tell their stories in the next issue. We had 68 nominations this year and more than 1,300 votes. All of the nominees have made a positive impact in our community and lead with vision, and they will be included in the December edition of the magazine. Reserved tables and individual seats will go quickly, so please visit our website to make your reservations today. Nominations are also open for our Women’s Inspired Leadership Event, which will be held in March 2020. To your success,

CEO and Publisher

Favorite quotes from this issue “…Fearlessness, willingness to rethink the obvious, passion, resilience. Then, of course, commitment, focus, clarity of vision, expertise and grit. It’s about a balance of ego and humility.”

— Mitchel Laskey, Page 21

“They tend to view their company as a child, and they don’t want to see their legacy taken apart by some unrelated, out-of-town buyer who is just looking at this as a financial thing and might completely destroy the culture and the image of the company.”

— Jay Van Heyde, Page 29

“I hope Girl Scouts, now and in the future, grow to understand their full potential. Financial literacy is such an important brick in that wall.”

— Cindy Luttrell, Page 56

i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 11

From the Editor

Yes, Money Definitely Does Not Grow on Trees

hen I was growing up, I always thought I wouldn’t have to worry about money if I just worked hard enough. Early in my career I heard the saying, “Do what you love, and the money will follow,” and that made sense. Money was never an immediate priority with me — which is kind of obvious, if you consider that I became a journalist. Like teachers, police officers and firefighters, we journalists seem to be motivated by passion for our work instead of by wealth. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, follow their passion but with the purpose in mind of making money. That’s not to say they don’t want to save the world. They do, but they believe they can generate wealth at the same time. So it was interesting to hear entrepreneurs at the one-day inaugural Synapse Orlando event in October talk about their ambitions for building their businesses to be the next big thing. Synapse, originally introduced in the Tampa Bay area, brings together innovators and funders in a fun atmosphere. Seriously, the bar opened at 11 a.m. I sat in on a session about how to build a million-dollar business in Orlando. Some of the panelists said their secret was — and this is a big one — to build only part of their businesses in Orlando. They also established part of their companies in Silicon Valley, just for credibility, so they could be seriously considered for venture capital opportunities. Another panelist said she didn’t bother to do that and was proud her company was fully based in Orlando — but that she sought venture capital in Atlanta, where the business climate is better for her industry.

for The IIA likes to say internal auditors are like investigative reporters, following the tracks of money, risks and potential issues so they can tell the story about what’s happening and how it needs to be corrected. Except they make a lot more money than journalists. We have an article on employee stock ownership plans, which offer incredible tax incentives for businesses while they help workers save money for retirement. There’s an article about cybersecurity, which is essential in these days of constant attacks on people’s assets. We round out the package with an article about a firm that lends money to people who are renovating distressed properties that don’t always qualify for conventional bank loans. It’s our pleasure to tell stories about smart people in our community who are doing more to make Central Florida a great place to live, work, play and visit. I’m glad to play a part in that mission. Luckily, I have some entrepreneurial spirit in me along with journalistic passion. That’s what makes producing magazines so fun. I get to do what I love and follow the money, too. I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am. Have a great month!

So in essence, their saying would not be “Do what you love and the money will follow,” but maybe “Do what you love and follow the money.” That seems completely appropriate for this annual Finance issue of the magazine. Our cover story is about three entrepreneurs who developed their own venture capital company so they can help fund more Florida businesses. There is a real need for this, as my story from Synapse Orlando shows. It’s important because as we grow companies here, we create jobs here, and that will keep our community thriving. There’s an article on The Institute of Internal Auditors, a global membership association for people who protect companies and governments from risks that can take them down. A spokesman

Editor-in-Chief

i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 13

Business Briefs

Josh D’Amaro Named New President at Walt Disney World Walt Disney World has a new president: Josh D’Amaro, who had been serving in the same role at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. He replaces George Kalogridis, who has been promoted to president of segment development and enrichment and will also lead the Disney Institute. Kalogridis, who took over the helm in Central Florida in 2013, started his career at Disney as an original cast member from Walt Disney World’s opening in 1971. “Kalogridis will use his operational knowledge from his nearly five decades at Disney to put together a set of best practices for site leads with less experience,” an article on CNBC.com reported. D’Amaro, who started with the company in 1998, returns to Central Florida, where he previously served as the vice president of Disney’s Animal Kingdom and as head of resorts and transportation for Walt Disney World. His post in California is being filled by Rebecca Campbell, who previously served as president of Europe, Middle East and Africa for the company’s direct-to-consumer and international segment. D’Amaro posted on Instagram: “It is with mixed emotions that I will be leaving the Disneyland Resort and accepting the role as president of the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.

Josh D’Amaro

I cannot express how magical this experience has been. But of all of the things ... it is the people I will miss most of all. The amazing cast... our wonderful guests ... and our incredible passholders. It truly takes people to make the dream a reality. Magic has a name. It is ALL of you.”

UCF’s IGNITE Campaign Raises More Than $531.5 Million An eight-year capital campaign for the University of Central Florida concluded in October with a celebration at the new downtown campus. With almost 107,000 donors, IGNITE: The Campaign for UCF brought in more than $531.5 million in one of the most successful fund-raisers in the university’s 51-year history. The funds have gone toward 400 student scholarships, improved athletic programs, new faculty positions and creation of the UCF Downtown campus.

constructed James M. Seneff Plaza and the Dr. Phillips Academic Commons for the reveal of the campaign’s final results. “Our job has always been to help individuals unleash their full potential,” said Thad Seymour Jr., UCF’s interim president. “All thanks to the incredible support of our community and friends, we’ve ignited a flame that will burn brightly for many years and help countless individuals reach their dreams. We are so grateful to our community and the impact their generosity will have on our UCF family.”

“The outpouring of support from the Orlando community, our alumni and friends across the globe is inspiring,” said Mike Morsberger, CEO of the UCF Foundation. “We received gifts from every county in Florida, all 50 states and 25 countries. This is a pivotal moment in UCF’s history — one in which we should all be proud.” More than 200 donors gathered October 18 in front of the newly

Business 14 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

George Kalogridis

Electronic Arts Moves to Orlando’s Creative Village Electronic Arts, known for creating Madden NFL and other video games, is moving its Central Florida headquarters from Maitland to Orlando’s Creative Village. The city offered the company incentives to bring its 700 employees to the downtown site and maintain a workforce of at least 600 over the next 15 years. EA will become the single largest employer downtown and has said it plans to grow its workforce to 1,000. Plans call for the company to occupy a $62 million, five-story office building in Creative Village near the old Amway. The average pay is expected to be more than $70,000.

Thad Seymour Jr.

Innovation

Education

Rosen YMCA Aquatic Center Honors 5 Donors The Rosen YMCA Aquatic Center recognized five donors on October 8 during the grand opening of the newly renovated Lochinvar Teaching Pool and dedication of the Harris Rosen Championship Course, Dr. Lucky Meisenheimer Competition Course, SeaWorld Orlando Viewing Room and new Endless Pools Elite model for swim technique training. “Our new state-of-the-art teaching pool will transform lives by providing an opportunity for the children in our community to learn how to swim,” said Rosen, a longtime Orlando hotelier who has been a major donor to the aquatic center as well as the South Orlando and Tangelo Park YMCA locations. Rowdy Gaines, three-time Olympic gold medalist and vice president of aquatics for YMCA aquatics, thanked the donors. “The Y has been teaching swim lessons in Central Florida for more than 50 years,” he said. “We’re so grateful to Harris Rosen and our other donors’ ongoing support that enables the Rosen YMCA Aquatic Center to continue strengthening our communities for future generations.”

Rowdy Gaines

RosenCare Takes on Osceola School District Health Care

Harris Rosen

In a unique public-private partnership, the RosenCare program operated by International Drive hotelier Harris Rosen has begun administering an employee health center for the Osceola County School District. The district’s Center for Employee Health serves employees and dependents who have enrolled in its healthcare plan with primary care services, physical therapy, medical nutrition therapy, occupational health, on-site prescription dispensing, and on-site X-rays and EKGs.

The arrangement, which went into effect October 1, is the first of its kind for RosenCare, which has saved Rosen Hotels & Resorts close to $400 million since its inception in 1991 as a company health plan for Rosen’s employees and their dependents. RosenCare has partnered with Healics, an industry leader in preventive health and wellness programs, which will manage the center's daily operations.

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 | NOVEMBER 2019 | 15

A Tribute to ... Lou Frey

Wendy Chioji

Former Florida Congressman Lou Frey Jr. served for decades as a political commentator on Central Florida radio and TV programs. He was known for his “point/ counterpoint” type of on-air banter, representing the Republican side opposite former Democratic state Rep. Dick Batchelor. Frey had served in the U.S. Navy and became an attorney in Orange County in the 1960s. He was elected to Congress to represent Central Florida in 1968 and served for 10 years.

Former WESH-TV Channel 2 news anchor Wendy Chioji publicly shared her battle with cancer in blog posts and on the air. She had worked at WESH for 20 years, starting as a reporter and eventually joining the evening anchor desk. She moved to Park City, Utah, in 2008 to live every day pursuing a healthy lifestyle and active sports.

1934 – 2019

One of his biggest accomplishments was helping to broker the sale of McCoy Air Force Base to the City of Orlando for $1, and the property today is home to Orlando International Airport. He also supported Kennedy Space Center as the home port of the space shuttle program, and he founded the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government at the University of Central Florida. Frey worked as an attorney at the Lowndes law firm from 1987 until 2015. “Lou was always generous with his time and influence in helping our attorneys solve problems for our clients,” said William T. Dymond Jr., president and CEO of Lowndes. “His warmth, sense of humor, sharp intellect and passion will be missed.” Frey was married to his wife, Marcia, for almost 63 years. 16 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

1961 – 2019

Chioji stayed linked to Central Florida through appearances on the “Growing Bolder” TV series with former WESH colleagues Marc Middleton and Bill Shafer. She survived breast cancer in 2001 and thymic carcinoma in 2013 but had developed a third round of cancer, again in her thymus gland. Chioji wrote a blog called “Live Fearlessly” and spent much of her time skiing, running, hiking and cycling. She completed five Ironman distance triathlons, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro after undergoing chemotherapy, and climbed Mount Fuji. In her last blog post, on September 25, she wrote: “I am grateful I have lived well on my borrowed time for five years this Labor Day. I am hopeful I’ll borrow five more.” Her brother, Alan Chiogioji, posted on Facebook: “She never let her disease stop her from doing the things that she wanted to do. She is my hero, and I miss her already.”

COVER STORY

THE MOST DANGEROUS PHRASE IN THE LANGUAGE IS ‘WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY.' — Grace Hopper, American computer scientist and U.S. Navy rear admiral

Mitchel Laskey, Benjamin Patz and Kathy Chiu 18 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

SHAPING

the Status Quo How DeepWork Capital is Building the Future through Funding By Meaghan Branham

itchel Laskey likes disruption. To him and his two partners at DeepWork Capital, Benjamin Patz and Kathy Chiu, it’s the key to survival.

“Our leaders aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo — things that ‘industry veterans’ take as gospel,” Laskey said. “Like ‘Computers are a commodity and there’s nothing left to innovate’ —not for Steve Jobs. ‘People won’t buy what they can’t touch and feel’ — that didn’t stop Jeff Bezos. ‘You can’t sell coffee for five dollars a cup when people can make it at home for 25 cents’ — tell that to Howard Schulz.” Every time you use your Apple iPhone to scroll through Amazon while waiting in line for that venti vanilla latte at Starbucks, you are living proof of DeepWork’s hypothesis: Given the right resources, disruptors with big ideas build our world. ⊲⊲

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Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur Before founding DeepWork and turning their attention to early stage investing, each of the three team members was busy gaining personal entrepreneurial experience. Laskey was co-founder and CEO of Dynamic Healthcare Technologies, a company that developed advanced clinical information systems and electronic health records and was acquired by Cerner Corporation in 2000. He went on to serve in other leadership roles, including CEO of four public and private companies, all with experience developing entrepreneurial technology companies across industries. Patz founded Coleman Technologies, a developer of custom data acquisition, data analysis and other technology systems. He served as CEO until 2009, when it was acquired and he became chief operating officer of Presidio, which provides cloudbased IT solutions. A technologist at heart, he funded and led a team from the University of Central Florida (UCF), his alma mater where he earned his master’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering, to the finals in the famed autonomous vehicle competition, the Urban Challenge. Chiu was an electrical engineer with degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology who later became a quantitative analytics specialist for Cornerstone Research, an economic consulting firm that provides financial analysis and expert testimony. After completing her MBA at Stanford University, she went into business development for various technology companies and later became a venture capitalist with a Denver-based firm focused on wireless technology. When they met as angel investors in Orlando, all three were ready to take a different approach to portfolio building.

“We noticed how much early stage deal flow there is compared to available capital, and we knew that active involvement from investors made a difference in outcome,” Laskey said. They set out to create a managed venture fund with principals who had deep experience in entrepreneurial activities themselves so they could see their portfolio companies through the various stages of development.

Course-Correcting Their combined experience is key in helping them coursecorrect while guiding their portfolio companies. “It keeps them from falling into the ditches we’ve climbed out of,” Laskey said. “While everyone makes mistakes on the entrepreneurial journey, let them at least be original ones. We usually sit on the board or have an observer’s role, so we know our portfolio companies well.” Being so close to the process allows the partners to offer the guidance of those who have been through certain business scenarios before and an understanding of what resources might be required. He explained it this way: “Additional allocations can be made when companies are executing according to plan and require planned follow-up on capital or have opportunities that require additional capital to execute on.” 20 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

The Lay of the Land Laskey described the partners’ own uphill battles when putting together their first fund: “It was like juggling three eggs and trying to stand on a balance beam at the same time.” Lining up both their investors and their pipeline companies meant mastering acts of faith, and of balance. Their know-how and intuition proved reliable from the start, however. Their first client, Fattmerchant, is one of the most recognized names in financial services in Central Florida, multiplying its revenue by 10 times within the first three years. DeepWork’s first fund eventually encompassed a variety of technology start-ups, including Nanophotonica and Intecrowd. Now, with the beginning of its second fund, the company has taken an interest in another promising pipeline of Florida’s talent: life sciences. It has already invested in HCW Biologics, an immunology company with an experienced founder who exited another

Suneera Mudhani, CEO of DeepWork client Fattmerchant, with America Online founder Steve Case at Rise of the Rest Photography by Revolution

company at the billion-dollar level, Laskey said. Another new addition to their portfolio is AireHealth, a med-tech company that provides portable nebulizers for children with asthma. AireHealth was awarded the top prize of $100,000 earlier this year in a pitch contest with America Online founder Steve Case’s Rise of the Rest tour.

“We noticed that about half of the deal flow is in the life science and med tech space,” Laskey said. “That’s just the expertise the Florida geography happens to have in spades.”

Opportunity Rich Central Florida also offers plenty of other benefits. With most other markets in the state within a reasonable driving distance, Orlando allows them to serve companies throughout the region. The pipeline has been promising. According to DeepWork’s team, Florida’s 12 public universities perform more than $2 billion worth of research each year, leading to communities of start-ups and an ecosystem of innovation. “The incubators, accelerator and innovation centers — such as StarterStudio, Tampa Bay Wave, Guidewell Innovation, and UF Innovate — keep the entrepreneurial ecosystem robust and well primed,” Laskey said. Add that to the development groups such as Orlando Economic Partnership, Enterprise Florida, Space Florida and the chambers of commerce all helping put resources to good use and work them back into the community, and you have what Laskey calls “a vibrant backdrop of a startup scene.”

Stacie Ruth, CEO of AireHealth Photography by Revolution

No matter the industry, DeepWork’s partners have a few general expectations from their portfolio CEOs — people they are assisting in their roles as disruptors: “Fearlessness, willingness to rethink the obvious, passion, resilience,” Laskey said. “Then, of course, commitment, focus, clarity of vision, expertise and grit. It’s about a balance of ego and humility.” ■ i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 21

GLOBAL INFLUENCE The Institute of Internal Auditors Fosters Trust in Governance

n Lake Mary, known as a hub for financial technology companies, a four-story office building houses the global headquarters of a nonprofit that guides risk management, operational controls and governance for nearly every Fortune 500 company and major government entity in the United States and beyond. When a hurricane sweeps through Florida, a national scandal puts a bank’s reputation at risk, or a cybersecurity breach exposes the customer data of a global retail operation, this professional association is taking note.

The Institute of Internal Auditors has been steadily building its worldwide influence from the Orlando metropolitan area for 48 years. Today, 78 years after it was founded in New York, it has more than 200,000 members in over 200 countries and territories. It employs about 230 people in high-wage jobs in Lake Mary and another 800 at operations around the 22 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

▲ CEO Richard Chambers in the internal auditor museum at IIA headquarters

I ALWAYS SAY THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST-KEPT SECRETS IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. — Richard Chambers

By Diane Sears

world along with its global affiliates and chapters. But many local people don’t know it exists. “I always say this is one of the best-kept secrets in Central Florida,” said Richard Chambers, a former internal auditor himself who has led the organization as its president and CEO for nearly 11 years. “No other operation in this area has the geographic or business reach we do. What people don’t know about us is that we are the voice of a global profession that has literally a worldwide footprint. We don’t just speak for the people who belong to our organization, but for a profession of millions of internal auditors worldwide.” The IIA works to keep internal auditors up to

date on traditional risks, such as misuse of funds and embezzlement, and a growing number of threats emerging from technology, social media, climate change, politics, evolving social norms and other factors. The organization also works to elevate the profile of internal auditors in their role as stewards of good governance through training, certification and advocacy efforts. It is not an easy task. When people outside the profession hear the phrase “internal audit,” they tend to think of people working in static jobs in a back office examining financial records, Chambers said. Today’s internal audit is so much more. “We have an incredibly important mission here,”

Chambers said. “We know we’re serving the profession, but we also feel like we’re serving a higher mission. Trust is such a rare commodity in the world today. We feel like we are the beacons for building trust in organizations. We shine light on ways for internal auditors to serve their organizations and foster trust, whether it’s in government or the corporate sector. “Almost every publicly traded company in this country has an internal audit function. Those internal auditors are working every day behind the scenes to make sure the risks are managed in the company, that it’s well-controlled and there’s no fraud or corruption.”

WE FEEL LIKE WE ARE THE BEACONS FOR BUILDING TRUST IN ORGANIZATIONS.

A Big Move

— Richard Chambers

A wall of fame in a conference room shows The IIA’s leaders dating back to the year the association was founded in 1941. Chambers likes to point to that wall and tell the story of how one of his predecessors brought the association’s headquarters to Central Florida. John Harmon had been working in association management for some time. Unlike other IIA CEOs before and since, he was not an internal auditor. The IIA was interested in recruiting him to grow the organization.

G CEO Richard Chambers with the wall of presidents at IIA headquarters. He has written three books about internal auditing that have been translated into multiple languages worldwide.

Harmon had just walked into his house after playing tennis when the call came in offering him the CEO position. He said he would think about it, but only if the board of directors would agree to move the headquarters from New York to Winter Park, where the association already had a small office. He got his wish. During his tenure from 1972 until 1978, Harmon persuaded the board to buy a twobuilding property on Maitland Avenue in Altamonte Springs. The association moved into one building and leased out the other, using the income to help it turn the corner toward financial stability. The IIA constructed new buildings on that site in 2002 and then outgrew them, eventually moving to its current site in 2017. Today, the Lake Mary headquarters houses teams that oversee the global organization as well as its North American operations, which include more than 160 membership chapters in Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean. The teams in Lake Mary administer an exam for the certified internal auditor or CIA designation in 15 languages worldwide.

i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 23

They maintain The International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, the only global set of standards for the profession, and other key guidance documents. They publish the awardwinning Internal Auditor magazine. They organize events, including an annual international conference that will be held in Miami in 2020 and Singapore in 2021. Chambers attributes much of that work to Harmon’s vision. “I have modeled a lot of what we’ve tried to do over these last few years after what he did,” Chambers said. “It was such a dynamic period. We launched our Standards, we launched a research foundation, we launched the CIA — all of that in those few years. He brought a bit of business acumen to the association that is tough to get. I view him as one of my heroes.” Under the watch of Chambers, the association has doubled its membership, revenues and employment numbers while helping auditors rise to positions in the C-suite. Internal auditors serve a very different role from that of external auditors like

24 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

the “Big Four” accounting and audit firms of KPMG, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte.

FOR THE ARMY, I WOULD AUDIT EVERYTHING FROM ACCOUNTABILITY FOR WEAPONS TO CHILDCARE CENTERS. — Richard Chambers

“It’s about who you’re serving and who you’re providing assurance to,” Chambers said. “External auditors provide assurance to shareholders, lenders and markets. They provide assurance about the accuracy of a company’s financial statements. Internal auditors provide assurance to the board and management about the overall effectiveness of risk management roles inside the organization.” External audit partners will often be engaged with internal audit, he said. “They want to know, ‘What are the internal auditors finding? And does the company have a strong and effective internal audit function?’ Because if I’m the external auditor, and they don’t have anybody inside the company every day looking at auditing, I’m going to be very nervous.”

Worldwide Growth

G CEO Richard Chambers interviews actor Richard Dreyfuss about his TV miniseries role as Bernie Madoff during the 2019 IIA international conference in Anaheim.

Chambers became passionate about internal auditing straight out of college. After his first job, with a bank in Atlanta, he went on to work as director of internal review for the U.S. Army at the Pentagon, deputy inspector general for the U.S. Postal Service and inspector general for the Tennessee Valley Authority. Inspectors general are

essentially the internal auditors of the public sector. “What makes it such a rewarding profession is that you can get into everything,” Chambers said. “For the Army, I would audit everything from accountability for weapons to childcare centers. You never get bored if you can do that kind of work. If you have a routine where you’re doing the same thing every day, year after year after year, it’s hard to keep your interest because it becomes monotonous. But in internal audit, if you have to take on a new risk every two or three months, it keeps you sharp and alert, and a lot of people find it rewarding.” During his time at the Pentagon, when he needed ideas and strategies for taking the organization through a transformation initiative, he discovered The IIA. He was hooked. He began volunteering with the association and moved his way up into positions that got him noticed. He took early retirement from the Tennessee Valley Authority and joined The IIA staff for three years as its vice president of learning centers. After a stint as a practice leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he advised chief audit executives from Fortune 500 companies, he returned to The IIA five years later, this time as CEO and president. It was January 2009, and the association had taken a financial hit, watching its membership numbers dip during the Great Recession. “It was a very, very scary time from the standpoint of the economy,” Chambers said. “The IIA had been through a tough year. I often use the cliché that, if the economy gets a cold, the not-for-profit sector gets the flu.” Under his reign, the association cut expenses drastically, laid off more than 40 people and got back to what Chambers calls “fighting weight.” “We were a lean organization committed to serving a profession that desperately needed our support at that time,” he said. “From that moment on, we have been very prosperous.” Today, the organization has received recognition all over the world. When The IIA celebrated its 75th anniversary, Chambers got to ring the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange.

▲ The IIA leaders arrive for the 2018 international conference in Dubai. ⊲ Members mingle during a tradeshow at the 2019 international conference.

PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD HAVE HEARD OF ALTAMONTE SPRINGS AND LAKE MARY, FLORIDA, BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT'S WHERE WE'RE BASED. — Richard Chambers

Chambers and the association’s global advocacy team engage with organizations that include the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This year, the job has taken Chambers twice to Africa and to Asia, Australia, Europe and India. He has written three books about the profession, which have been translated into multiple languages. His blog, started a decade ago, has more than 300,000 readers. He has 15,000 followers on LinkedIn and 12,000 on Twitter. But the most surprising part about leading the organization, he said, is when he walks into an association event in Africa or Asia and people want their picture taken with him. “I never set out to be the face of the profession,” he said. “I’m not the senior person in the internal audit profession — that is the chairman of the board. What I find is that it’s a profession, particularly in developing parts of the world, that is starved for heroes. They want somebody out there they can look to and look up to. … It’s a little bit overwhelming because I never set out to do it. But I think it’s something that’s valuable.” Chambers sees himself and The IIA as ambassadors for Central Florida. “People around the world have heard of Altamonte Springs and Lake Mary, Florida, because they know that’s where we’re based,” he said. “We’ve always taken great pride in being good corporate citizens. We want to do what we can to support this region because it’s been such a terrific host for us for nearly 50 years.” ■ i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 25

Bruce and

Leaving A Legacy 26 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

Alan William

ESOPS Give Employees and Exiting Owners ‘Skin in the Game’ By Diane Sears

s the third generation that had operated Williams Company, which turns 100 in 2020, third-cousins Bruce and Alan Williams were looking ahead at how they’d retire. Their children didn’t want to take it over, and there wasn’t a buyer lined up. They found a solution in an employee stock ownership program, or ESOP.

An ESOP program allocates shares of stock to employees every year, allowing them to build up a nest egg they can cash in after retirement. Unlike a 401K program, which involves employee

Starting an ESOP 12 years ago allowed them to transition the Orlando construction company when they retired in 2016 into what it is today: 100% employee owned. Like a 401K, an ESOP is a retirement plan, but it is very different in the benefits it offers for the owners who are exiting, the employees who are staying, the company itself and even the community. A 401K invests in a diversified portfolio of stocks, while an ESOP invests solely in the company.

THE BIGGEST FACTOR FOR WILLIAMS COMPANY TO BECOME AN ESOP WAS TO CONTINUE THE LEGACY OF EXCELLENT SERVICE TO OUR VALUED CLIENTS.

“The biggest factor for Williams Company to become an ESOP was to continue the legacy of excellent service to our valued clients by retaining and incentivizing the existing employees of the company,” said Bob Lipscomb, the company’s CEO and chair of its ESOP communications committee. “Everyone wanted the big orange ‘W’ to continue on. As Bruce and Alan transitioned into retirement, the existing leadership team that had been in place for over 15 years all remained and became the driving force in the company’s growth.”

— Bob Lipscomb

contributions that are sometimes matched by the company, a typical ESOP operates solely with contributions by the company. The most important advantage of an ESOP that is 100% employee owned is that it pays no federal taxes on profits. The government defers the taxes, applying them to disbursements when individuals retire or leave the company. This

deferral allows for revenue to go back into the business to continue building the company’s value. It also provides the company with more resources to pay off the selling shareholders, sometimes at a faster rate, and to buy out departing participants. The program at Williams Company has been well-received, Lipscomb said. Today the company has 126 employee owners and five who have retired. “Every single employee became an owner, and the stock that all employees receive each year costs them nothing,” he said. “Looking ahead, for the people who remain with the company for a long time, they will become very wealthy because of their ESOP stock as they prepare for their retirement.”

A Good Fit Will Stewart has worked with family-owned businesses like Williams Company for about 15 years. As a partner with PCE Investment Bankers in Winter Park and head of its ESOP practice, he begins by providing answers for people who want to know more about whether an ESOP would be a good fit for their company. Explaining the structure is not a 10-minute conversation. Sometimes it takes months. ESOPs are governed by the rules of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA, which protects individuals. An ESOP is more formal than a i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 27

Will Stewart

ONE OF MY FAVORITE ASPECTS IS THE ABILITY FOR BUSINESS OWNERS TO REALIZE SOME OF THEIR INVESTMENT AND STAY INVOLVED WITH THE BUSINESS THEY’VE BUILT OVER THEIR CAREER. — Will Stewart

Jay Van Heyde

Stewart said PCE got into this line of work because it saw a need for ESOPs with the midsize companies it serves. A former bank lender, he has served in leadership roles in organizations that support people in the ESOP world, including The ESOP Association, where he serves on the finance committee, and the National Center of Employee Ownership. He is a big fan of ESOPs — for the right companies. “One of my favorite aspects is the ability for business owners to realize some of their investment and stay involved with the business they’ve built over their career,” Stewart said. “I’ve been involved in the ESOP’s whole life cycle. I’ve helped a number of ESOPs be created, which is our primary role, and I’ve also helped a couple of ESOPs sell. Seeing that investment realized on the part of employees is quite rewarding.”

Close Bonds traditional buyout by management of a company, and the tax benefits often make it worth the extra effort. “If businesses are considering ESOPs, there is a fair amount of homework that goes into these,” Stewart said. “We spend a lot of time with companies before we even get engaged to make sure an ESOP is what they want to do. An ESOP can be confusing. It’s kind of an intersection of tax law and Department of Labor retirement benefits. So be prepared. Business owners want to spend some time on the front end. And once they decide to move forward, they need to be committed to the process because it does take some time to put these transactions together.” 28 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

When it’s time to put together the formal paperwork for an ESOP, companies like PCE often will partner with a law firm. Jay Van Heyde, an attorney and shareholder with Dean Mead law firm in Orlando, has been working with ESOPs since 1989 after starting out at the firm as a tax lawyer. In the past 20 years, ESOP work has become about two-thirds of his practice. ESOPs work best for certain types of companies, he said. They’re complicated to set up legally and financially, so they work best for companies with a minimum value of $2 million to $4 million and 20 or more employees. “One thing I’ve noticed through the years is that the type of people who want to get involved with an ESOP view their company in a little different way,” Van Heyde said. “They don’t

just view it as something that’s worth dollars and cents. They don’t view it as, ‘I don’t care what happens. I just want to get the most money out of it for my retirement.’ … They feel a close bond with their employees, and they want to see themselves do well and they want to see their employees do well down the road by the company flourishing after they’ve been bought out. “They tend to view their company as a child, and they don’t want to see their legacy taken apart by some unrelated, outof-town buyer who is just looking at this as a financial thing and might completely destroy the culture and the image of the company. They view it as, ‘This is my baby and I want that baby intact when I’m gone.’ Those are my observations after many years of doing this.”

WHO

benefits from ESOPs? Employees Retirement plan without contributing money out of pocket Greater stability from a company performing well

The founders often will stay around for a phase-out period while the next crop of leadership learns all the details about how to take the business into the next era, Van Heyde said. “ESOP companies don’t run themselves. You still have to have in place, or the plan to put in place, that next wave of management. The companies that have gone 10, 20, 30 years after the founders are gone are those that have done a good job, typically internally, of developing that next person who will run the ship.”

Selling owners

Sharing the Wealth

Delayed or eliminated capital gains taxes

One of the most successful examples of an employee ESOP program is Publix Super Markets. “They have countless numbers of stories of truck drivers and deli counter workers who retire with hundreds of thousands of dollars in their ESOP accounts, and that’s money they would never have been able to save otherwise,” Stewart said. “They were one of the early adopters of ESOPs after ESOP legislation was adopted in 1974.” In fact, the whole ESOP idea was an early adopter of the emerging “sharing economy,” Stewart said. “The concept of sharing ownership has become more mainstream. ESOPs do it in a more formal way than stock options and other aspects you see in a start-up environment, but they’ve been around for nearly 50 years. So I think they have been providing these benefits that we’ll see become more prevalent for a long, long time. I expect them to continue to become more popular as people start to become more educated and understand them better.” For Williams Company, keeping the ESOP program robust means making sure employees are aware it is working for them behind the scenes. A committee of 15 employees organizes educational sessions, celebrations, charity events and fun activities. Their work keeps employees engaged — which is good for the company’s bottom line. “I can attest that everyone feels the need to perform at a high level because they are an owner,” Lipscomb said. “Knowing that each and every person’s role has to do with the wellbeing and profitability of the company drives our people to deliver a very high level of service to our clients and also watch our overhead costs. About 90% of our work is repeat business, so our clients have come to recognize our employee owners as high performers. Human nature would tell you that if you have skin in the game, you are going to pay closer attention to the details of your job.” ■

More insight into company’s financial status

Exit the company on their own timeline Keep their “baby” and company culture alive

Companies Tax break on percent owned by ESOP Tax break on principal or interest of ESOP loan Continuity because employees stay longer

Community Company remains instead of being sold and moved Jobs and economic contributions stay local Employees earn money and spend locally Source: The ESOP Association, www.esopassociation.org

i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 29

FIGHTING CYBERCRIME

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Seaside National Bank & Trust Offers 7 Tips to Protect Your Business

f it seems the need for cybersecurity is growing, that’s because it is. The number of consumer records exposed through data breaches rose 126% from 2017 to 2018, according to the 2018 End-of-Year Data Breach Report, a 180-page document released by the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center.

1 2

Large organizations aren’t the only targets for cybercriminals. The 2018 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon found that 58% of all data breaches occurred at small businesses. Seaside National Bank & Trust, a $1.9 billion Orlando-based full-service financial institution with 14 locations in Florida, is taking cybersecurity seriously. It recently partnered with the law firm of Lowndes P.A. and the Orlando office of the national accounting firm BDO USA LLP to host a cybersecurity seminar for clients who left with seven financial tips to help protect their businesses:

3 4 5

Develop IT security policies. A basic plan includes multilayered endpoint security, network security, encryption and strong authentication technologies. Look into the information technology (IT) security policies of your vendors to help ensure they don’t expose you to unnecessary risk. You may want to hire a reputable cybersecurity firm to review your potential vulnerabilities and possibly manage your IT security if you don’t have sufficient internal resources.

Train employees and enforce strict internal controls. In its 2019 Global State of Cybersecurity in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, solutions provider Keeper Security and research firm Ponemon Institute found that 54% of IT leaders reported negligent employees or contractors were the root cause of data breaches they experienced. Create policies for strong password creation as well as email and social media use. Ensure employees are aware of the policies — and the consequences of failing to adhere to them.

Consider carefully the data you collect and store. The more sensitive information you keep, the greater the risk to you and your customers if a breach occurs. Encrypt the information you must keep and restrict access to only those who need it.

Monitor, monitor, monitor. Although your current procedures may be effective, hackers come up with new and ingenious ways to attack data every day. Your IT team should constantly monitor IT security using automated and manual checks and react immediately should a threat be suspected or detected.

Create a response protocol. Your IT team — along with input from other departments such as human resources, marketing, corporate communications, legal and management — should have a policy in place for reacting to cyberthreats. This includes stopping them, correcting internal policies and communicating with the public when necessary. i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 31

7 FIN AN CI AL T I P S TO P ROT E CT YO U R B USINE S S F RO M CY B E RCRI M E To help stay on top of your personal and financial security while continuing to enjoy the benefits of banking, buying and investing online, make sure to take these seven precautions.

1. Develop IT Security Policies

2. Train Employees and Enforce Strict Internal Controls

3. Consider Carefully the Data You Collect and Store

4. Monitor, Monitor, Monitor

Use the latest technology. For example, many businesses replaced magnetic card readers with more secure chip card readers by Oct. 1, 2015, to comply with EMV standards set by credit card companies. Those that have not updated their terminals may be liable should counterfeit fraud occur. About two years after the recommended transition to chip readers, half of all merchants were still unprepared for the change, leaving their customers and themselves vulnerable to data breaches, according to research by Creditcards.com.

Purchase cyber liability insurance. IBM Security’s 2018 Cost of a Data Breach report found that the average cost of each record stolen in a data breach was $148, which adds up quickly if you have a large customer base. Talk to your risk management and IT teams about the impact of potential breaches to determine the type of coverage your organization may need. Consider covering costs associated with a breach, the expense of updating or replacing business assets, business interruption, liability and/or cyber extortion or cyber terrorism.

5. Create a Response Protocol

6. Use the Latest Technology

7. Purchase Cyber Liability Insurance

32 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

Although there are no guarantees, taking commonsense measures can help protect your business from a cyberattack. Seaside suggests you talk to your banker today about cybersecurity and fraud. Share your internal processes and procedures for payments with your banker, so he or she can offer your business ideas based on the bank’s experience. Also, ensure that you know how to use the fraud defense and protection systems your bank offers. Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility. We all need to ask questions, continually train our associates and do our collective part to protect our businesses and personal accounts from cybercriminals. ■

A driving force behind construction and infrastructure projects since 1955.

universalengineering.com

OPTIC $40 PER SEAT Government employees $25 ** Limited student seating ** Refreshments & Box Lunch

LOCATION Full Sail University Bld. 3B 175 University Park Dr. Winter Park, FL 32792

ORLANDO’S PROFESSIONAL TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION COLLABORATIVE

DATE November 8, 2019 8:30 AM—1:00 PM

Ernest C. Aulls III and Nathan Trombetti

A CLIENT-FIRST

APPROACH By Davia Moss

Secured Investment Lending Uses Emerging Technology to Improve Customer Experience

icture it: You “flip” houses for a living. You purchase real estate, typically homes, at a discounted price in order to improve the property and sell it for a higher price. Your entire business is predicated on the ability to identify the perfect investment, secure a short-term loan, make quick improvements and then sell off the property as quickly as possible. Sounds complicated, right? Well, it can be if your lending partner isn’t focused on you, the customer. “We started our careers flipping houses, so we knew what was missing from the lending

34 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

experience,” said Nathan Trombetti, chief investment officer of Secured Investment Lending. “Many lenders are very transactional. We strive to build personal relationships with our clients and keep those relationships strong for years to come.” Secured Investment Lending provides lending solutions for entrepreneurs looking for capital to buy and renovate distressed properties. Typically older homes or other properties in foreclosure, these do not always qualify for conventional bank loans. Lending services bridge the gap and make the entire industry work.

Humble Beginnings The brainchild of Trombetti and fellow University of Central Florida graduate Ernest C. Aulls III, Secured Investment Lending was but a dream on the horizon. After graduating, Aulls started flipping houses. Trombetti worked in pharmaceutical sales but was also a silent investor in Aulls’ business.

“We are a good match,” Aulls said. “I am more of a business operations guy with some experience with marketing and sales. Nate is a real people person, but a smart business person, too.” The duo went from flipping houses to servicing loans in a matter of years. There were many mistakes along the way, but that’s how they learned to grow as businessmen. They had to grow really fast when the economy collapsed in 2007-2008. The entire wholesaling industry had crumbled. No one was buying homes, and the wholesaler market dried up. As the real estate market bounced back, so did Aulls and Trombetti — this time together. Initially focusing on the Central Florida real estate market, they started Secured Investment Lending. With a carefully constructed business model and funding from some Wall Street investors, they have expanded into a nationally accredited lender, diversifying their service offering. “It has been great going from a local product to a national brand,” said Aulls, who is now the CEO. “If we can do it, anyone can. It all starts with understanding and catering to your customers’ needs. We continue to optimize and improve our customer experience. My advice? If you have customers, know their needs and make sure they are fulfilled. With the technology and automation available to us all, it’s never been easier to do that.”

Improving the Customer Experience Businesses are relying on emerging technology more than ever in order to stay ahead of the competition. The goal is to make business transactions and experiences simpler, more direct and more valuable to the end user. The Internet of Things and various automations are bridging the gap between operations and client management. Aulls and Trombetti saw this growing trend and began reshaping their customer experience.

MY ADVICE? IF YOU HAVE CUSTOMERS, KNOW THEIR NEEDS AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE FULFILLED. WITH THE TECHNOLOGY AND AUTOMATION AVAILABLE TO US ALL, IT’S NEVER BEEN EASIER TO DO THAT. — Nathan Trombetti

In 2017, the partners began looking at how their company could automate and streamline the customer experience. They built a portal on their website that allowed clients to access and monitor the status of an application at any time. The portal gives customers the peace of mind of knowing they don’t need to wait to check on their investments. For Secured Investment Lending, it makes managing those clients and their expectations much easier. It’s a win-win. More technical adjustments will come because clients and competition demand it. The new technology of blockchain is already showing promise in increasing transactional security. Tomorrow’s new technologies will reshape entire industries. That’s where Secured Investment Lending is ahead of the game. “We are always looking for ways to improve our business,” Aulls said. “Whether it’s building a more efficient operation or offering more relevant services, our first thought is always, ‘Is this going to improve our client experience?’ Without clients, there is no demand. Without demand, there is no business. That’s why at Secured Investment Lending, our clients come first.” ■ i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 35

TAKE

with Official tourism association for America’s most-visited destination.

Andretti Indoor Karting & Games

DRIVING ECONOMY

ORLANDO'S DARYL CRONK

GEORGE AGUEL President & CEO, Visit Orlando

Tourism generates $75.2 billion annual economic impact for our community 36 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

Senior Director of Market Research & Insights, Visit Orlando

ourism is the lifeblood of our local economy, and the numbers bear that out. A study by leading research firm Oxford Economics and Visit Orlando shows our tourism industry generated $75.2 billion in economic impact last year (an increase of 6.4% over 2017) and supports 41% of the region’s workforce. Here to explore these findings are Visit Orlando President & CEO George Aguel and Daryl Cronk, Visit Orlando’s senior director of market research & insights.

Why and how does Visit Orlando measure tourism’s economic impact? George Aguel: It’s important for us to be able to quantify tourism’s many contributions to our local community. Because our industry has seen so much growth in recent years, these types of studies help us better understand how visitors’ money flows through every corner of our economy. Daryl Cronk: As to how economic impact is measured, we break it into three categories: direct, indirect and induced. Direct economic value happens when visitors do things like book hotel rooms, rent cars and buy tickets to attractions. This type of spending supports jobs, wages, taxes and gross domestic product in sectors like recreation and transportation. But the impact ripples further than that. Tourism companies also purchase goods and services from other businesses, such as food wholesalers and utility suppliers. We call this indirect impact. Finally, we have employees whose wages come either directly or indirectly from tourism. When they spend those wages in the local economy, they create induced impact. What trends are we seeing in visitor spending? George: One of our destination’s advantages is our collective focus on consistently developing exciting new experiences, from our theme parks and attractions to our hotels, restaurants and shopping. This gives visitors more chances to maximize their vacations and lengthen their trips. With that in mind, we’ve seen visitor spending increase a remarkable 84% since 2009, which bodes very well for our economy. Daryl: Visitor spending growth largely comes down to higher visitation and more spending per trip. These factors caused visitor spending to increase in all major categories and rise by $2.7 billion (6.2%) to reach $47 billion in 2018. When we include the added impact mentioned above, we see visitor spending generated $75.2 billion in economic impact for our region.

ICON Park

KEY TOURISM STATS IN 2018 $75.2B

463,004

$47B

$5.8B

Total Economic Impact (up 6.4%)

Visitor Spending (up 6.2%)

Jobs Supported (41% of region’s workforce)

State and Local Taxes Paid (up 5.9%)

* Stats cover Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties; increases are in comparison to 2017

How did tourism support our local workforce in 2018? George: Tourism plays a vital role in our economy, as more than 4 in 10 of our neighbors support themselves and their families through work related to tourism. That’s 463,004 jobs total, 14,000 more than in 2017. How important are visitors to the local tax rolls? George: Tax revenue from tourism supports our community in many ways. The lodging tax is an essential funding source for sports and cultural venues, while the sales taxes paid by tourists help support our schools, roads and other government services. In addition, 12 of the top 15 assessed property tax contributors in Orange County are owned by tourism businesses. Daryl: In greater metro Orlando, tourist spending generated $5.8 billion in local and state taxes in 2018. In Orange County, tourists account for over half of all sales tax revenue. Without visitors, residents would have to pay significantly higher taxes to enjoy the same level of resources and amenities we enjoy today.

Park Avenue in Winter Park

Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 37

CEO LEADERSHIP FORUMS AND CEO NEXUS

STORY OF A PARTNERSHIP

o anyone attending a meeting put on by the CEO Leadership Forums and CEO Nexus, one thing is clear: They’ve got it down to a science. However, Ray Watson of CEO Nexus and Russell Slappey of Nperspective CFO & Strategic Services recall an evolution that wasn’t always so smooth.

“Way back in the day, around 2009, Russell and I put on events through the old University Club,” said Watson, who facilitates CEO roundtable groups for CEO Nexus. That work was through the Orlando chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG). “It was on a much smaller scale, but with the same idea.” Slappey agreed. “We learned it’s the way you run these programs that is essential to making them work. The rules of engagement are very important. And that’s where most of these groups that try to do these programs fall through. It wasn’t until this iteration, the culmination of everything, that we were all able to make it work.”

The CEO Mindshare So, what is this iteration? Orlando’s CEO Leadership Forums are made up of two groups in Orlando, each full of members representing every industry who are CEOs and senior executives of their own businesses and are looking to learn from and educate their fellow leaders. The first group was founded in 2015 when Geoffrey Gallo, senior vice president of marketing and strategic consulting at accounting and CPA firm Grennan Fender, relocated from Houston to Orlando. He had organized similar forums in Texas and wanted to try them in Florida. He connected with Slappey and synthesized their ideas into a new format. Gallo describes it this way: “It was like what we were doing in Houston — on steroids.” 38 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

This iteration is one of collaboration and communication, and nothing has facilitated that quite like their partnership with CEO Nexus — what they call “the CEO mindshare.” CEO Nexus is a program designed to provide second-stage CEOs with the resources they need to succeed, including peer group conversations and a strong referral network. Its founder, Steve Quello, was working to facilitate connections just as the leadership forums were. The two had the same target audience, the same goals and, even on occasion, the same meeting dates. “Much like our longtime association with GrowFL, we see the workshop format of the leadership forums as a way to continue serving and making connections for our roundtable members,” Quello said. “Our expanded association with the forums offers a new way to accomplish this common goal.” Once the introductions were made, it was just a matter of figuring out how to combine their powers, Gallo said. “For both of us, it was all about getting second-stage CEOs and C-level executives onto a college campus and delivering high-level content on different topics.”

MUCH LIKE OUR LONGTIME ASSOCIATION WITH GROWFL, WE SEE THE WORKSHOP FORMAT OF THE LEADERSHIP FORUMS AS A WAY TO CONTINUE SERVING AND MAKING CONNECTIONS FOR OUR ROUNDTABLE MEMBERS. — Steve Quello

Bringing a Partnership to Life On October 24, CEO Nexus and the CEO Leadership Forums held their first event together, with a focus on talent optimization. Another will be held on November 14 titled Landing Talent in a Competitive Labor Market, followed by the CEO Nexus annual conference in February 2020, sponsored in part by the Leadership Geoffrey Gallo Forums. CEOs of second-stage companies from all over Florida are expected to attend the twoday, invitation-only event.

Russell Slappey

Steve Quello

“Attendance has significantly increased every year, and this year we expect to recruit CEOs from markets we serve across the entire state,” Quello said. “There will be something of interest for all our members.” These events not only allow CEO Nexus to share its resources, they allow CEOs to give immediate and real feedback about what they are looking for out of these services, what they are struggling with, and what has worked for them in overcoming these challenges. This insight can then be used by the groups to select topics for future forums and create a richer referral network for their members and attendees. Even before the events, the groups have noted some exponential results. When sending out invitations for one meeting, Gallo saw it firsthand. The group extended an invitation to the CEO of a very prominent Orlando company. He initially declined the invitation, thinking his company might be too large for the target audience. Gallo knew better. “I chimed back to suggest that such high-profile leaders as Bill Yeargin of Correct Craft and David Duda of DUDA have presented at past events, and that he might like to address these smaller companies as well,” Gallo said. Gallo also reminded him of CEO Leadership Forums’ longstanding partnership with Valencia College, where they host many of their meetings and have formed $150,000 in scholarship programs for the next year.

Ray Watson

Tim Bach

ORLANDO’S CEO LEADERSHIP FORUMS CONSIST OF TWO GROUPS, WITH GROUP 2 INCLUDING THESE LOCAL BUSINESS LEADERS: Geoffrey Gallo senior vice president of marketing and strategic consulting with Grennan Fender, who has led the charge since its inception. Jed Grennan, managing partner of Grennan Fender. Tim Bach, president of Patterson/Bach Communications Inc. Russell Slappey, CEO and managing partner of Nperspective CFO & Strategic Services.

“I just asked, ‘If we invited some Valencia faculty to these meetings, would you be interested?’ That’s when we found out this company had three full-time recruiters but not one direct connection with a college or university. And it turns out they were also looking for a CPA firm.”

Sean Meder, vice president for business development and sales for BciCapital, a subsidiary of City National Bank.

Gallo and Quello were able to solve both problems by bringing the CEO to the event, connecting the company with the rich talent pipeline of one of the state’s largest community colleges, as well as with a CPA firm.

Chris Bordner, CEO and managing partner of Synergy Wealth Alliance.

With so much on the horizon for the Leadership Forums, CEO Nexus, Valencia College and the connections they are forging, the possibilities are exciting, the organizers say.

Lauren Arevalo, senior manager of AppleOne.

“The relationships and the CEOs you get to meet at these events, you could spend a lifetime trying to network and make connections and still never get the opportunity to interface,” said Tim Bach, owner of Patterson Bach Communications, a sponsor of the CEO Leadership Forums. “These forums bring us all together in a very unassuming way, where you can just have an open discussion about real issues in running and growing a company.” ■

Casey Fernandez, client executive with HYLANT Insurance.

Kevin Slezak, senior vice president and Orlando regional director of City National Bank. Michael Roman, human capital management advisor at ADP. Nicole McMurray, regional manager of AppleOne. Bernie Piekarski, managing partner of Piekarski Consulting LLC. Steve Quello, president of CEO Nexus. Ray Watson, principal of CEO Nexus. Eric Shulman, owner of Sandler Training Institute. Ron Wilkinson, principal with Nperspective CFO & Strategic Services. i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 39

FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS

Shelter Mortgage

Rolando Garcia, Terri Friel, Kent Winkelseth, Yari Fumero and Tony Duke

Home Team

he search for a house that feels like home becomes easier when you have a team to give you shelter from an often confusing and shifting market. The vice president and production manager for Shelter Mortgage’s Orlando branch, Kent Winkelseth, has assembled an impressive group to do just that.

to exceed all clients’ expectations. “Growing up in a primarily Spanish-speaking home, I noticed the extra struggle that my parents and family members faced when dealing with financial transactions due to language barriers,” Fumero said. “I wanted to help families make their dream of homeownership a reality.”

After more than 20 years in the mortgage business, Winkelseth describes his career path as a place where his natural talent for sales and his love of helping people can coexist and produce amazing results. He uses his experience to guide his team with the tenets of honest and consistent communication, exceptional service and knowledge, and community service.

Tony Duke, a loan officer assistant and the newest addition to the team, graduated from the University of Central Florida after studying business and real estate. He now works with the team on refinancing, loan origination, residential mortgages and more. “Good communication is one of the most important aspects with this team and our partners,” Duke said. “For my personal experience on the team, I’ve grown my knowledge these past two years and I look forward to my continuing years with Shelter.”

Terri Friel, a loan officer assistant, supports the team with her extensive background, which started in retail banking and grew to include experience as a mortgage office manager. Her attention to detail turns a complex process into a seamless one for partners, borrowers, underwriters and her own loan officers. “I have learned so much working here,” Friel said. “Every borrower has a scenario, and it is exciting to work with each and every one of them.” Rolando Garcia, a senior loan officer, has been with Shelter Mortgage for nearly seven years. He works with various partners and Realtors to make sure their clients get into the home of their dreams, pairing them with the perfect financial solutions. “My favorite part of the job,” he said, “is getting to experience the joy that homeownership brings to families.” Yari Fumero, a junior loan officer, started as a loan officer assistant with Shelter Mortgage more than 12 years ago. Through her firsthand experience with Shelter, Fumero finds new ways 40 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

Operating together and with partners in the residential sector that include Holiday Builders, Kindred Homes and National Real Estate, Shelter’s team has created an intricate network throughout Central Florida to keep its clients safe and sound. P © 2019 Shelter Mortgage Company, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved. This communication does not constitute a commitment to lend or the guarantee of a specified interest rate. All loan programs and availability of cash proceeds are subject to credit, underwriting and property approval. Programs, rates, terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. Other restrictions apply. Shelter Mortgage Company, LLC |4000 W. Brown Deer Road, Brown Deer, WI 53209 | Corp NMLS#431223 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). Equal Housing Lender. Shelter Mortgage Company LLC |408 East Ridgewood Street | Orlando, FL 32803 | Kent Winkelseth, Mortgage Loan Specialist, NMLS ID: 552527 | Kent.Winkelseth@ sheltermortgage.com | (407) 765-3810; Yaresmi Fumero, Mortgage Loan Specialist, NMLS ID: 552492 | Yaresmi.Fumero@sheltermortgage.com | (407) 897.6656 x16908; Rolando Garcia, Mortgage Loan Specialist, NMLS ID: 476625 | Rolando.Garcia@sheltermortgage.com | (407) 897.6656 x16910; Terri Friel, Loan Officer Assistant, NMLS ID: 1283087 | Terri.Friel@ sheltermortgage.com | (407) 897.6656 x16905; Tony Duke, Loan Officer Assistant, NMLS ID: 1673181 | Tony.Duke@sheltermortgage.com | (407) 897.6656 x16906

FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS

Martin Bel, CFA, AIF

Senior Vice President

CBIZ Retirement Plan Services

I am inspired on a daily basis listening to the stories and sacrifices our clients and their employees share to build a better future for their teams and families. Hard work, a positive attitude and a willingness to start new habits will serve us well in the future. — Martin Bel

A Sense of Security

t was just a few months after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 when Martin Bel was introduced to the power of investing. “My friend’s dad was reading The Wall Street Journal and Investor’s Business Daily,” Bel said. “He was sitting in his trailer on the front lawn of his home after it had been destroyed by the hurricane.” It struck Bel that despite the situation, his friend’s father seemed at ease knowing his investments had cushioned the financial blow. Now, as senior vice president of CBIZ

Retirement Plan Services, Bel has given countless clients that same sense of security when it comes to their finances. He is a CFA charter holder (Chartered Financial Analyst) and an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF). His credits include recognition as a former president of the CFA Society of Orlando, and his team was recognized as a Top 100 Retirement Plan Adviser by PLANADVISER magazine. “CBIZ is the right fit,” he said, “because it is our mission to focus on our clients’ success and do the right thing.” ■ i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 41

UP CLOSE Elisha Gonzalez ' With

By Meaghan Branham

Elisha Gonzàlez has always felt a calling to public service. In every field she has broken into she has excelled because of that calling. “Above all else, I’m passionate about breaking down inequality, discrimination and barriers to the economic and social prosperity of our community,” she says. From her time as a teacher and later a principal with Orange County Public Schools, to her work as regional director for the U.S. Senate, she has worked at every level to better her community with a special emphasis on diversity and inclusion. Now, as executive director of the FAIRWINDS Foundation, she continues to do so using her position in the financial field, all while serving on several boards that include the Heart of Florida United Way, Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund of Metro Orlando, CareerSource Florida, and the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida. Here, she details how she has handled the major changes in her career, and how community service continues to anchor her.

How did you make the transition in your career from education to government, and then to community affairs and community relations? How has this recent transition to finance surprised you? Making these transitions has required perseverance, patience and a “don’t quit” attitude. I made the choice to leave my comfort zone and the profession I loved to learn a new industry several times. Change is hard work. However, in every chapter of my professional journey, I’ve experienced amazing opportunities that I wouldn’t have experienced if I’d stayed where I was. As a result of these transitions, I’ve had the opportunity to work with new teams, collaborate with multiple departments involved in different lines of work, learn the operation fully, build trust and fully dive into the culture and idiosyncrasies that make an organization thrive. I am enjoying this latest chapter, transitioning into the finance industry. One thing that struck me as particularly surprising was the ease with which I was able to transition to my role at FAIRWINDS, owing largely to the remarkable commonality between my current and previous positions. No matter what business you’re in, people are always at the heart of any industry. As someone who enjoys connecting with people, I’m grateful to look back on my career and see that it’s been characterized by creating meaningful connections on behalf of the organizations I represent.

How have you brought your knowledge from other sectors to the world of finance? My extensive background in education — including serving as a high school teacher, dean, assistant principal and principal — has provided an invaluable foundation for the work I do at FAIRWINDS. Through this experience, I’ve gained a profound understanding of how to form meaningful relationships with the individuals I work with, as well as how to analyze

and interpret the way new technologies impact the evolution of businesses and organizations. From finance to education to utilities management, some competencies are never industry-specific. Your ability and willingness to develop a deep understanding of your customers, co-workers and industry will determine your level of effectiveness within your organization. For those transitioning from one industry to another, it’s critical to tap into organizational memory — especially as it involves procedural guidelines your team has developed to address your organization’s unique needs. Working in other sectors has also allowed me to collaborate with an array of customers, internally and externally. I’ve learned that building relationships and listening is imperative to business success. By listening, you get the chance to understand the problem fully and it gets your mind ticking with ideas. When people feel they are being properly listened to, they’re more receptive to the solutions you present to address their problems.

Are there any lessons you have learned in your work that hold true in every industry you have worked in? Early in my career, I wasted time, energy and opportunities in the pursuit of perfection. I learned that striving for excellence is a much better pursuit. Additionally, regardless of industry, emotional intelligence is a skill that’s never in short demand.

I’ve found that a willingness to embrace change is critical for success. Change is a constant, no matter the industry. All professionals should be prepared for any eventuality — the good and the bad. Just as technology evolves the way we work and communicate, there may also be dramatic forces beyond your control that impact your company or industry. Much of your professional success depends on how you adapt in the face of change. I’ve learned that it’s far better to embrace that i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 43

UP CLOSE

inevitable change than to attempt to avoid it. See the fork in the road as the greatest gift you’ve ever been given.

What does your current work with FAIRWINDS entail? What challenges has it brought? Recently, I have been named executive director of the FAIRWINDS Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping individuals achieve a path toward financial responsibility, security and freedom, and inspiring them to transform the lives of others by living generously. As executive director of the foundation, I will lead the foundation’s efforts to bolster organizations that advocate financial literacy, as well as advocate volunteerism by regularly working with FAIRWINDS crew members in community outreach. In addition to overseeing the FAIRWINDS Foundation, I advance the credit union’s community relations and government affairs efforts. Having a forward-facing job for most of my career, developing emotional intelligence has been crucial, but most importantly, finance is about dealing with people’s 44 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

money and investments. The information must be accurate and timely. My task has been to embrace the challenge of learning our industry quickly to provide the tools and resources our members need to reach financial freedom.

Many of the boards you are on and the community work you do revolve around inclusion, diversity, tolerance and education. What inspires your commitment to these, and how do you bring them into your professional work? I am deeply committed to the organizations I have chosen to serve. Serving on boards has allowed me to bring my knowledge, energy and expertise to the table. That dynamic not only benefits the organization but has also proven invaluable in my own professional development and has equipped me to perform my day-to-day job function as few other experiences could. Many reputable and leading charities have seasoned business leaders serving on their boards. Serving as a nonprofit board member provides participants the opportunity to meet, network, collaborate with

and learn from community leaders to effect meaningful change. I have served organizations dedicated to economic development, child welfare, bullying prevention, educational attainment, financial freedom, homelessness, and diversity and inclusion. I have worked diligently to champion CareerSource Florida’s workforce initiatives, as well as to support our local chambers, Heart of Florida United Way, Project Opioid, the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center, Orlando Economic Partnership and the Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund of Metro Orlando. Above all else, I’m passionate about breaking down inequality, discrimination and barriers to the economic and social prosperity of our community. My deepest hope is that everyone has an opportunity to live life without prejudice, hunger or violence.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? Live with excellence, integrity and a “don’t quit” attitude. You can do anything. ■

ATHENAPowerLink Spotlight

Ashley Steiner Owner

The Salt Room

Holistic Growth

hen Ashley Steiner opened The Salt Room on Mills Avenue in Orlando in 2009, salt therapy was a relatively new concept to many in Central Florida. Even Steiner, who had been interested in holistic wellness for years, had only learned about salt therapy in 2008 when she saw a segment about it on CNN. In the year between, she dove into her own research, where she learned that the healing properties of the therapy had been documented for centuries. The first salt room had opened in 1839 in Poland. “A Polish physician documented that workers in the salt mines had much lower rates of lung disease,” Steiner said. Soon, Steiner was working as a national distributor for salt therapy facilities, and she quickly opened her own.

The ATHENAPowerLink Program was such an asset for me because it helped me strategize and implement a plan, which held me accountable for my second-stage growth. — Ashley Steiner

“Being the only decisionmaker in the company presents challenges,” Steiner revealed of the struggles her company faced in the first few years. In 2016, she was accepted into the ATHENAPowerLink program, which offers women business owners access to a customized panel of business advisors

catered to their unique needs. “Having the meetings with them each month gave me access to my panel’s experiences and expertise in each field. The attorney, the marketing guru and Judi Awsumb, who was my panel leader and now mentor, were the most influential and instrumental in my growth.” Now in business a decade, The Salt Room brand has expanded, encompassing wellness spas with 11 licensed locations in Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin. Before each new location opens, Steiner spends three to six months working with the owner and team of each new location to help build the facility and guide the process. The brand also includes a distributorship for lIRIS Salt Therapy products, and services that include salt therapy rooms, colon hydrotherapy, acupuncture, massage and skincare. Steiner credits her advisory panel with helping get her to this point: “The ATHENAPowerLink Program was such an asset for me because it helped me strategize and implement a plan, which held me accountable for my second-stage growth.” ■

ATHENAPowerLink® guides women business owners in defining and achieving tangible goals to accelerate growth and profitability. To apply, visit www.athenaorlando.com. i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 45

Best Practice

Leadership What to Do When You Don’t Meet Your Numbers I am a runner, and I’ve been chasing numbers at UPS for my entire career. We’ve all been asked to achieve some type of numerical results throughout our professional careers, whether those are related to revenue, employees, expenses, performance or some other metric.

Romaine Seguin is president of UPS Global Freight Forwarding, based in Atlanta. She can be reached at rseguin@ups.com.

They can chew you, but they cannot eat you. — Romaine Seguin

46 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

It starts when we enter into our education process, especially in high school. Some of us wanted to achieve high academic grades, or we wanted to score points or wins on a court or a field. Then we went out into the world, some heading to college or technical school first, and found a career path. Depending on which path you’ve chosen or landed on, some type of performance measurement has been introduced to you and your team. It could be as simple as how many people you serve in an hour or as complex as what margins you need to achieve on a profit-and-loss statement. What happens when you do not achieve the targeted number or goal? This is tough.

I’d like to share some key points to consider when you find yourself in that situation. Here are some best practices I’ve relied on when the team is trying to achieve the numbers or results: 1.

Understand the numbers and where things stand. A private company might have a bit more flexibility than a publicly traded company. I have spent my 36-year career at UPS, where half of the time we were privately held and during this most recent half UPS has been publicly traded. For me, understanding the numbers means being knowledgeable about what is communicated to Wall Street and what the competition is doing. Key items will be earnings per share, revenue growth and any initiatives that are communicated to investors.

2. Know which levers and factors drive the numbers. Once you know what influences the numbers,

you need to be prepared with your team to make tough decisions. With each decision, you might need to have legal, human resources, labor and finance experts weigh the risk and reward of each decision. Can you defer expenses and still run the business? What are the consequences of the morale when laying off employees? These are some of the tough decisions you and your team could face. 3.

Ensure all employees understand what the leadership team is trying to accomplish. This applies to leaders as well as the front-line group. Hold a “town hall” type of meeting, even if you have to do it by phone instead of in person. Call on key people to outline what is happening in their areas of responsibility. Allow enough time for questions, and be prepared in case those are difficult. Transparency is a must. Another way to validate the message is what I call “skip level management.” Go out into the field and ask front-line employees what they are trying to achieve. You’ll know pretty quickly whether they are heading in the right direction to hit the numbers.

4. Recognize team members for the work they’re doing. Some might be achieving the numbers, so you cannot paint the entire group the same. This could be challenging at times, because often everyone is asked to do something, such as suspend all business travel, to help get back on track — even people who are achieving the numbers. Be sure to recognize those who are achieving the numbers so their work does not get overlooked. Also, be sure to recognize all team members for the effort they are making to get through a tough time. 5.

Convey a sense of urgency to move the numbers. Everyone has to have this sense of urgency, not just the leader. The urgency sets the tone for moving toward the goal. At the same time, it’s important to maintain a positive attitude and have a sense of humor. One of my favorite sayings is, “They can chew you, but they cannot eat you.” During this process, team members need to know you have their back and that you, as the leader, will handle the tough conversations with executives, board members, customers, clients or others.

Going through this process brings the team closer together and offers much more clarity about what your organization is trying to achieve. I love chasing the numbers because I see it as a challenge. Keeping things positive will help your team learn to love chasing the numbers, too. ■

i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 47

Best Practice

Workforce Development How to Keep a Remote Team Focused

Cherise Czaban

is the publisher and CEO of i4 Business. She can be reached at cherise@i4biz.com.

Remote and gig work is the new normal for many American companies looking to attract new talent. According to the International Data Corporation, approximately 72% of the American workforce will operate remotely by the year 2020. This new trend in the world of business is ideal in a lot of ways — employers save money on overhead for physical office spaces, and employees get more flexibility with their schedules and freedom from commuting. However, if you are managing a remote team, it’s valuable to remember that it is still a new trend. That means there will be a learning curve, maybe even some missteps, but nothing that can’t be managed with just a few already established commandments of remote work.

Time Management

When remote teams communicate well and leverage their strengths, they can actually gain an advantage over co-located teams. — Erica Dhawan and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Harvard Business Review

48 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

It’s so easy to pick up your phone to check a text message in the middle of the day, only to look up half an hour later and realize you haven’t started on your to-do list. This one can be tricky to perfect in every aspect of our lives, but it seems especially true in the workplace when you don’t have a team physically nearby to keep you in check. Here are some ways to keep yourself accountable: Limit distractions. Set some restrictions for yourself to stay on task. Try checking email only at

certain times of the day and turning off all social media alerts. There are even apps that track and limit your time spent on certain websites that can help you maintain your goals. Implement strategies. Even before remote work, people were trying to perfect the formula for efficient use of time. The Pomodoro technique, 52-17 technique and quadrant time management system are all popular for remote workers. Through trial and error, you can find the techniques that work best for you. Prioritize your days. Before you can hold yourself accountable, you have to know what you’re holding yourself accountable to. Structure your days by making a to-do list, or a list of tasks that are the most urgent or important to get done first. Starting your day off this way not only ensures productivity but makes the rest of the day breeze by. Keep your physical workspace organized. A decluttered workspace is proven to be a more productive one.

Communication

Because you aren’t connected by a shared space, one of the most important values of any functional team is made even

more difficult: communication. Keep the following in mind when managing or being a part of a remote team: Honesty. Being transparent about expectations, priorities and schedules is necessary to set a productive time in any remote team. Try weekly or daily tag-ups so everyone can check in and discuss what they’re working on and what they might need from the rest of the team. Availability. A remote team often operates in different time zones or on specific schedules that make working from home so ideal. In order to be sure all team members have access to anything they need from others in the group, coordinate meetings and collaborate. Being clear about everyone’s schedule and keeping track of each person’s regular hours is necessary. Team bonding. That same separation that makes scheduling tricky can also be hard on team spirit. It’s easy to feel disconnected when working remotely, so try scheduling in-person meetups, Skype calls, or even group texts where everyone has a chance to bond and build relationships that will make work communication even easier.

ew i va t e n lt u c o ble t or k I wa s a h i p s # N e t w s n relatio

Tools

Because working remotely has become so pervasive, digital and online tools have been developed to make it easier. There are apps and software programs designed to suit different needs. These include: File sharing services. Dropbox, Box and WeTransfer all offer easy and customizable ways to share documents, images and files with your team and clients. They can be customized depending on your needs, whether it’s simply a shareable link or an entire database of current projects and files. Project management. Asana, Monday and Basecamp are just three of many project management sites available to remote teams. Within a project, you can assign tasks, track progress, tag coworkers with questions, create calendars and much more. This not only saves time in creating individual to-do lists, because you can populate your tasks from projects on these platforms, but it prevents your inbox from being flooded with miscellaneous updates.

We k s t re n o w t h e re ngth is # Co m m i n com mun unit ySu pp o i t y rt

of b l e to a p ca ind I’m my m d e t z se ali I re h i n g I a l s t y a n t u re G o # Fu

Messaging. Communication apps like Slack can often be integrated into the project management software mentioned above and allow for quick and efficient messaging that, again, doesn’t flood your inbox. Companies that allow team members to work remotely tend to have higher employee satisfaction, which leads to more productivity and less turnover. Telecommuting is not for everyone, but with the right people in the right places, it can be especially productive. ■

Join Girl Scouts today! Visit www.citrus-gs.org/join.

i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 49

Best Practice

Legal Why Your Company Should Have an Employee Handbook Owning a business is one of the best feelings in the world … and at times can be very stressful. Every day, you are multitasking, juggling operations, managing personnel, handling marketing and dealing with internal versus external stressors.

Jessica Kendrick, Esq. is the founder and managing partner of the Kendrick Law Group, co-owner of Champion Title and Closing, and co-founder of the Hope for More Foundation. She can be reached at jessica@kendricklawgroup.com.

There is one document that no business should be without. Imagine a single document that alleviates the “what ifs,” defines your culture and communicates your expectations. No more questions of “Should I as an employee be doing this or not be doing that?” The employee handbook is your business roadmap.

Why It’s Important

Employee handbooks are useful business tools that address many common workplace issues before they arise. They cover a large number of policies and ensure your company has guidelines that comply with employment laws. An employee handbook also puts your employees on notice about these guidelines.

Sarah M. Geltz, Esq. is a senior partner in the Kendrick Law Group, co-owner of Champion Title and Closing, and co-founder and president of the Hope for More Foundation. She can be reached at sarah@kendricklawgroup.com.

Because employment law is constantly changing and handbooks must reflect current law, it is a good idea to consult with a qualified attorney when creating your employee handbook and during an annual review. An employee handbook serves as a reference resource for common questions and spells out company policies for your employees. The handbook does not need to be comprehensive and address every contingency. However, it is a good place

to outline what the employer expects of employees. A well-written handbook can provide an excellent defense to potential legal claims that may arise.

What It Should Contain

An employee handbook should accurately and clearly outline applicable employment laws and company policies. To reap these full benefits, however, you must take time and effort to develop the employee handbook effectively or reevaluate your existing one. Here are a few guidelines that make your handbook strong and effective: 1.

Use direct, simple writing that is easy to understand.

Use a disclaimer to limit your liability.

Speak with a business attorney and make sure it complies with state and federal laws.

4. When company policy or workplace law changes, you need to update the handbook appropriately. At a minimum, have an annual review to make sure everything is still correct. An attorney can guide you on most of what should be included because employee handbooks are custom-built to the culture, rules, expectations and industry of the business. Here are some standard, across-the-board topics that all employee handbooks should address:

The best businesses are proactive, not reactive. — Jessica Kendrick

50 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

Aerospace

•

Definitions of full- and part-time employment

•

Wage and hour laws

•

Work times and shifts, and tardiness policies

•

Lunch and break periods

•

Vacation and sick leave policies and schedules

•

Dress and grooming codes

•

Drug policies and testing

•

Emergency procedures

•

Use of company property

•

Email, telephone and internet use and policies

•

Compensation and benefits

•

Holiday pay

•

Benefits

•

Family and Medical Leave Act

•

Vacation time

•

Performance evaluations

•

Promotions and job postings

•

Disciplinary proceedings

•

Termination policies and procedures

Whether to Use a Template

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Every business is unique, with specific issues and different concerns, liabilities, personalities and goals. Your business is not a template — so your handbook shouldn’t be one, either. A properly tailored and written handbook proactively addresses concerns before they arise. This can minimize complaints, HR issues and employment lawsuits. Reducing workplace conflicts helps maintain a positive company culture, which produces better outcomes and production. When new employees acknowledge in writing that they’ve received the handbook, they can’t later claim ignorance of your company’s policies. Consulting with a qualified business attorney is an excellent resource to help create or update your employee handbook and discuss concerns about specific policies and procedures. Most importantly, an attorney can ensure you are compliant with applicable state and federal employment laws. If you take the time to create an effective handbook, your business can reap the rewards. The best businesses are proactive, not reactive. P

i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 51

Best Practice

Professional Development The Art of Curating Meaningful Connections

Steph McFee

is the founder of Connections Curator LLC. She can be reached at steph@curateyou.net.

We all need connections. We cannot perform in life and business without them. But how do we find and make those connections that will truly change our lives and our businesses? There’s an art form to making connections, and it’s similar to what a curator does at a museum. A curator takes pieces of art, historical information and other items and arranges them in order for the museum patron to be taken on a journey to learn a story. Applying this to connecting means we must listen, ask questions and curate the other person’s story to “see” the possibilities and truly understand. It also means we have to be cautious. One wrong question or misunderstood point could cause that person to close off and the connection to fizzle before it has even begun. There are five key mistakes in making meaningful connections. Avoid these and you are guaranteed an opportunity to build and “curate” stronger relationships leading to growth in your personal and professional life.

We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep. — William James

52 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

Never start a conversation with, “What do you do for a living?” This may surprise you because it’s how we most commonly start a business acquaintance, but it’s actually one of the quickest ways to threaten a potentially successful relationship. Why? It limits where the conversation can go. For example, if the person says he or she is an astrophysicist and you have no background or interest in that profession, you’ve already limited the next phase of the conversation. Instead, start with a question that will get the person to share something more personal. For example, “Who are you hoping to meet at this event?” or “Why are you attending tonight?” The key is to start the conversation with something that will give you more insight into the other person and get you off on the right track.

The West Orange Chamber s

2. Do NOT plan the perfect pitch. There is no such thing as only one “perfect” pitch. The key is to listen to the other person first, ask questions and then quickly alter your pitch to meet that person’s interests. This shows you’re listening, you understand the other individual, and you have something that person might want. Prepare at least three pitches geared to your most common types of clients. This will help you have a base, and then practice. Being prepared is all you need to quickly hear something in a conversation and alter your pitch to grab the other person’s attention and seal a connection. 3.

Never NOT know what you NEED. As you’re preparing for a meeting, go into the conversation knowing what you might need from the other person. Are you looking for that individual to introduce you to someone else? Are you looking to work with that person? Do have something the other individual needs? Make sure you’ve done your homework. Even if you don’t know the person, you will know something about that individual just by the meeting arrangements themselves. For instance, if you’re meeting at an event or conference, both of you know why you’re attending and what you’re looking for, so ask the other person to share that information with you. Also, be prepared to share information yourself. Being unprepared for the question “How can I help you?” is one of the worst ways to harm a potentially blossoming connection.

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

4. Do NOT assume family is an open topic. Talking about family may seem like an obvious direction for any conversation, but it is not. You never know the back story of the person you’re meeting, and the topic of family could cause unnecessary anxiety. If the subject comes up naturally, such as when you’re at a community fundraiser or school event, then it’s safe to proceed. Otherwise, leave this one for a later conversation once the connection is built. 5.

Never leave without a plan. Once you realize the connection is growing, make sure to schedule a follow-up. Do not just swap business cards. Actually pull out your calendars and book your next meeting. We all know how good intentions work, but so often we leave an event with countless business cards and no plan. If you’re in a rush, a great tip is to connect quickly on LinkedIn and send a message. This will remind you both that you wanted to follow up.

Connections can be powerful, but the curated connection is a game changer. Once you have curated a relationship, you are able to discover new and innovative ways to partner with and support each other. ■

Facilitating Opportunity for Over 45 Years

Social Entrepreneur

SMART COOKIES Girl Scouts of Citrus is Empowering Girls in Financial Literacy

By Meaghan Branham

tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a brisk day in January. You park the car, head toward the door and grab a cart. It could be any other trip to the grocery store on any other day, but then you see it out of the corner of your eye, a much-anticipated exception to the monotony of a produce run: a small table with a hand-lettered sign, green sashes decorated with a rainbow of sewn-on badges, and stacks and stacks of those instantly recognizable boxes. 54 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

Social Entrepreneur It can all mean only one thing. Thin Mints are here. Or Peanut Butter Patties. Or Caramel deLites. Whichever Girl Scout cookie you can’t seem to resist — and we all have at least one — chances are it conjures up a kind of nostalgia-infused excitement. But when you pick up your cookie of choice, you might not realize that you aren’t just supporting the worldrenowned nonprofit — you are directly supporting the beginnings of a small business, each run by its own small CEO.

A Unique Business Model

When Maryann Barry, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Citrus, jokes that “My boss is a group of first-graders,” she is more serious than most know.

The Badges The Girl Scouts of Citrus incorporate financial literacy into every badge, but there are a few specifically designed to teach the girls about money management, saving up, running a business and more:

Count it up

●Cookie CEO

How to earn it:

Find out what cookies cost, learn about the different types of cookies, and set a sales goal.

Set a group goal, explore how a small business works, create a cookie sale job list, learn to make a good impression and track sales.

●Budgeting

●Marketing

“I love that comment she makes,” said Cindy Luttrell, vice president of Disney Financial Systems at Walt Disney World. “It’s a great reminder that she and the partners who support them are really working for the girls.” While Luttrell might not have been a Girl Scout herself for very long — just a year before her family moved, she explained — she certainly has her fair share of experience working for the girls, serving as a leader for her daughter’s Girl Scout Troop for 12 years, from first-grade Brownies to 12th-grade Ambassadors. Even then, she wasn’t planning on leaving the Girl Scouts behind any time soon, so she joined the Girl Scouts of Citrus board of directors. Her unique set of experiences gives her a vantage point on aspects of the program that not everyone often sees, including the business model. Cookie sales, which

How to earn it:

Practice budgeting for what you value, learn to track spending, find out about ways to save money, explore different ways to give, and create a budget that focuses on your values.

Learn about brand identity, research the competition, research other products that have a philanthropic focus, develop your marketing message and create your marketing campaign.

P&L How to earn it:

Find out more about business ethics, create your own cookie promise, pass on your customer list, teach younger Girl Scouts about the business ethics of the cookie sale and establish your legacy.

i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 55

Social Entrepreneur

constitute just one major project a year, provide the majority of the revenue for the whole program, nearly $7.5 million out of $10 million. Partnerships like those with Disney, Universal Orlando Resort, Publix and SeaWorld Orlando are integral to this model as well. But what’s even more impressive is while a portion of the money raised goes to support the overall organization, the majority of the funding goes directly back to the girls for programs and projects, creating a self-sustaining system that has lasted more than a century, teaching young women across the country just how important it is to invest in themselves.

Beyond the Cookies

With that kind of foundation behind them and the women leading it to guide them, it’s no surprise the girls in the program are getting the best possible education on not only financial literacy, but in running businesses of their own. “They set the goal for what they want to achieve in their meetings at the beginning of the cookie season,” Luttrell said. “Sometimes that’s a cookie party, sometimes it’s a trip, depending on the age. They set it, figure out how to measure it, figure out how they want to sell. They do customer research, work with the competition, work with the markets. It really is a remarkable exercise.” But it goes beyond just cookie season, Luttrell explained. No matter what badge they are earning, from philanthropy to camping, they learn to set budgets and monetary goals to complete the project, and how rewarding it is when they succeed. “I think oftentimes there is a deficit in society in educating our kids in finance now,” she said, reflecting on her own experience with her troop. “As these girls got older, watching them sit there and lay out the budget, and watching them grow into their financial literacy was amazing. It As these girls got older, was fascinating to watch the ones who had true accounting skills they didn’t even know watching them sit there they had discover that talent of theirs.”

and lay out the budget, and watching them grow into their financial literacy was amazing. — Cindy Luttrell

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As long as Girl Scouts of Citrus continues to break the mold, the organization hopes to continue to inspire and empower its Girl Scouts to do the same.

“I hope Girl Scouts, now and in the future, grow to understand their full potential,” Luttrell said. “Financial literacy is such an important brick in that wall.” ■

Downtime

Unique experiences for your day off ORLANDO Topgolf It doesn’t matter whether you’re an avid golfer or have never swung a club. Topgolf entertainment complexes offer a place where people can gather to discover common ground on multiple levels that include high-tech gaming, climate-controlled hitting bays, a chef-driven menu, handcrafted cocktails, music, corporate and social event spaces and more. Year-round programming includes events for kids and families, social leagues, golf tournaments, lessons and other fun activities and events. The venue off International Drive near the Orange County Convention Center will soon be joined by a new Topgolf in Lake Mary and is among more than 50 locations around the world.

https://topgolf.com/us/orlando

KISSIMMEE Old Town In a unique 18-acre walking district off of U.S. Highway 192 in Kissimmee, Old Town takes visitors back in time with a re-creation of a classic Florida town featuring historical architecture and tree-lined brick streets. The attraction includes more than 70 distinctive storefronts, restaurants, bars, rides and familyfriendly activities. You can take in a magic show at the Great Magic Hall, test your fears at Mortem Manor, try a classic game of skeeball at Happy Days Family Amusement Center, or listen to live entertainment at the outdoor Trophy Row Stage. Old Town is known for America’s longest-running weekly car show and cruise every Saturday.

https://myoldtownusa.com

Downtime

ORLANDO Festival of Trees Now in its 33rd year the Festival of Trees transforms the Orlando Museum of Art into a glittering wonderland filled with sparkling trees and stunning décor for more than 20,000 visitors of all ages. The trees are available for sale, with proceeds supporting the museum’s lifelong learning programs and exhibits. This year’s event runs from November 15 to 24, and each day features special events and activities. The exhibits include trees wreaths, gingerbread houses and vignettes designed by local artists, designers, businesses and community groups. Live entertainment features singers, dancers, bands and orchestras.

https://omart.org/events/festival_of_trees

MAITLAND Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida More than 30 years ago, the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida’s founders created a space where the history and lessons of the Holocaust can help build a more inclusive community, free of bigotry, antisemitism and disregard for different cultures. The organization, headquartered next to the Jewish Community Center in Maitland, sponsors a museum as well as programs and events throughout the year including films, lectures, book club meetings, art exhibits, adult education series and presentations by Holocaust survivors. A traveling exhibit that started in September and runs until January 4 is called “Let Me Be Myself: The Life Story of Anne Frank.” The location will be moving over the next several years because the center has agreed to lease the former Orlando Chamber of Commerce building from the City of Orlando for $1 a year to build a new Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity.

https://www.holocaustedu.org/

i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 59

Business Seen

WEST ORANGE CHAMBER CELEBRATES EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN On September 18, 2019, the West Orange Chamber of Commerce held its Celebrating Extraordinary Women event at Tanner Hall in Winter Garden. Sponsored by Orlando Health and Computer Business Consultants Inc., along with AdventHealth, Pammie's Sammies and Treasure Title Insurance Agency, the event featured exhibits as well as a panel of three extraordinary West Orange business women.

Lauren Wolf and Pat Gleason

Andrew Noble of Smart Fitness and Kathleen Roat of Kathleen Roat & Company

Torey Eisenman of Benchmark Real Estate Group, Chris Garcia of American Forklift Rental & Supply and Colleen Monday of AdventHealth

Pat Gleason; Jennifer Talbot of Winter Garden Senior Home Care; and JoAnne Quarles and Cassandra Saunders, both of Treasure Title Insurance Agency

Attendees networking and visiting sponsor tables and health and wellness interactive exhibits

Pam Bozkurt of Gosselin Realty and West Orange Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Stina D'Uva

60 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

Business Seen

Christina McGuirk of Orlando Health’s Health Central Hospital and Orange County School Board Chair Teresa Jacobs with West Orange Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Stina D'Uva and Royetta Ginther of Twistee Treat

Blair Thomas and Pam Thomas, both of Pammie's Sammies

Orange County School Board member Melissa Byrd, Orange County School Board Chair Teresa Jacobs, Orange County School Board member Pam Gould, West Orange Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Stina D'Uva, Royetta Ginther of Twistee Treat and Christina McGuirk of Orlando Health’s Health Central Hospital

West Orange Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Stina D'Uva with Celebrating Extraordinary Women event sponsors Colleen Monday of AdventHealth, Pam Thomas of Pammie's Sammies, Clinton Pownell of Computer Business Consultants, JoAnne Quarles and Cassandra Saunders of Treasure Title Insurance Agency, and Dawn Willis of Orlando Health

i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 61

Business Seen

JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S 42ND MID-FLORIDA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME On September 26, 2019, Junior Achievement of Central Florida held its 42nd annual Mid-Florida Business Hall of Fame at Rosen Centre. The event honors forward-thinking entrepreneurs and community leaders for their contributions to economic and business development. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s honorees were Jacob V. Stuart Sr., Jason Eichenholz, Sandra Hostetter, Patrick Knipe and Thomas Tompkins.

Allie Armstrong, Waymon Armstrong and Fred Kittinger

Jason Scott and Kathy Panter

Victoria Raybourn, Thomas Tompkins and Tim Myers

Keyaricet Chaparro, Jason Eichenholz and Scott Cathcart

Pat Knipe, Shajada Winn and Tim Myer

Michael Rondon, Adriana Reyes and Eleazar Continanza

62 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

Business Seen

Harvey Massey, Dick Batchelor and Tommy Tompkins

Aliyah Williams, Sandra Hostetter and Lillian Garcia

Khoa Tran, Jacob V. Stuart Sr. and Tim Myer

Michelle Brady Palmer, Wendy Oliver and Andrea Massey-Farrell

Crystal Sircy, Robert Utsey, Tim Giuliani and Scott Lloyd

Ben Hoyer, Eddy Moratin and Kyle Steele

i4Biz.com | NOVEMBER 2019 | 63

Watercooler

Stuff you didn’t know you wanted to know

2.9% Predicted unemployment rate for the state of Florida through 2022, with a 1.4% growth in Florida’s labor force

$10 million Pricetag Orlando and Orange County will share out of tourist tax dollars for renovations at The Plaza Live performance venue, a vintage building that was Orlando’s first two-screen movie theater and now houses the Orlando Philharmonic and hosts a variety of live performances

THAT’S THE SOUND OF PROGRESS! — Tim Guiliani, president and CEO of Orlando Economic Partnership, when a train horn interrupted a session called Self-Driving Taxis Are the Future of Transportation during the Synapse Orlando innovation and entrepreneurship event in October

Source: Sean Snaith, national economist and

ONE OF

director of UCF’s Institute for Economic Forecasting

$1.5 million Grant money six Central Florida municipalities will share to install art along Interstate 4, including Orlando, Orange County, Winter Park, Eatonville, Maitland and Altamonte Springs

Source: I-4 Ultimate Art Endowment Program

“Adversity

is not what defines you; how you handle adversity is what defines you. That’s true in football and it’s true in life.” —Josh Heupel, head coach of University of Central Florida’s football team Source: Orlando Sentinel

64 | NOVEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com

IF YOU’RE NOT

MY FAVORITE QUOTES

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FAILURES,

THING AS A

YOU ARE NOT

MILLION DOLLAR IDEA, ONLY

PUSHING THE

A MILLION-DOLLAR

TECHNOLOGY

EXECUTION.’

ENOUGH

— Suneera Muhani, CEO and co-founder of Fattmerchant during a session at Synapse Orlando called Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs: How to Build a Million-Dollar Company in Orlando

— Sertac Karaman, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, during a panel discussion in Orlando about drones

"You made my year."

HEALTHCARE IS CHANGING RADICALLY AND NEEDS TO CHANGE FASTER THAN IT’S EVER CHANGED BEFORE.

— TV and theater star Wayne Brady, thanking the audience after returning to his hometown of Orlando for a one-day improv comedy show

— Steven Smith, chief scientific officer and senior vice president of AdventHealth, on stage at Synapse Orlando

Source: Orlando Sentinel

2019 SAVE THE DATE DECEMBER 10, 2019

Each year we recognize and honor business leaders in the Central Florida area who are making a positive impact in the region or have achieved superior growth in their company or organization over the past three years.

JOIN US Tuesday, December 10, 2019 5:30PM - 8:30PM Country Club of Orlando 1601 Country Club Drive, Orlando, FL To Register bit.ly/2019BUSINESS Sponsors

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.