Power List Hall of Fame

Distinguished Fellow. Merrill relishes the role of kingmaker.

Quote: "We've got to continue with the growth that we're having downtown, but we've got to do it in a way that 100 years from now, people will be talking about how great it is."

Lewis Bear Jr. (2009)

ral Mason Park. He built the Theophalis May Resource Center and Woodland Heights Resource Center and started the construction on the Bayview Community Center. He championed ST Aerospace Engineering, which continues to expand at the Pensacola International Airport.

cluding "Jesus Camp," "The Devil We Know" and "The Oxy Kingpins." He has written four legal thrillers, starring attorney Deke Deketomis, and has a fifth that will published later this year.

Once you're named the most influential, you deserve a special place. David Bear will join this small group of movers and shakers who have each earned the number one spot on the Inweekly Power List since 2007.

Fred Levin (2007)

The flamboyant Pensacola trial attorney helped rewrite legislation in 1993 that led to a $13.2 billion settlement by the tobacco industry with the state of Florida. Levin received the Perry Nichols Award in 1994, which is the highest honor bestowed by the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. In 2009, Levin was inducted into the National Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame. He passed in 2021 but is remembered for his brilliance, showmanship and quick wit. Over the past decade, Levin donated over $30 million to education, health and charities.

Quote: "Everything I've gotten in life, I've had an awful lot of luck. Roy Jones fell in my lap. The tobacco legislation fell in my lap. Politics fell in my lap and everything else. I think I'm lucky."

J. Collier Merrill (2008)

Merrill runs Great Southern Restaurant Group, which owns the Atlas Oyster House, Jackson's Steakhouse, Five Sisters Blues Café and Angelena's. He is also the president of Merrill Land Company. Merrill has been named an Art Education Hero by the Florida Cultural Alliance, Community Leader of the Year by the Greater Pensacola Chamber, Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser by the National Society of Fund Raising Professionals, Fiesta of Five Flag's DeLuna LXV and UWF

As president and CEO of the Lewis Bear Company, a wholesale beer distributorship that his great-grandfather founded in 1876, Bear played a major role in the area's economic development over the past two decades—with the Pensacola Chamber, FloridaWest, Pensacola-Escambia Economic Development Commission and Triumph Gulf Coast. The Studer Family Children's Hospital at Sacred Heart and Baptist Hospital have facilities bearing his family's name, thanks to his generosity. He passed earlier this year, leaving big shoes to fill.

Quote: "Whether they have been here all their lives or moved here, we have people who are committed to making this a better place to live. When I get committed to something, I can be pretty stubborn."

Quint Studer (2010)

The Studer Group founder has been the catalyst for Pensacola's renaissance—from championing the Community Maritime Park to bringing Pensacola an MLB Double-A baseball team to investing over $100 million on new office buildings and housing in downtown Pensacola to donating tens of millions to local education, health care and charities. With the help of the News Journal, Studer launched CivicCon and the Center of Civic Engagement.

Quote: "We've got to go big. It's like three steps forward, two steps back, three steps forward, two steps back, and some of them aren't backward steps. They're solidifying things or getting better use out of something that you didn't maximize the first time."

Ashton Hayward (2011)

In 2010, the Pensacola native was elected Pensacola's first strong since W.D. Chipley. Hayward oversaw the completion of the Community Maritime Park and Admi-

Quote: "My power is to be able to reach out to the citizens of Pensacola and see how I can make their quality of life better, build our infrastructure better, to make sure we're looking at every detail of our city—whether it's our enterprises, downtown or neighborhoods."

Dr. Judy Bense (2012)

The founder of the UWF program of Anthropology/Archaeology became the fifth president of the University of West Florida in July 2008. In December 2017, she stepped down but has stayed connected to the institution. The University of West Florida board of trustees cemented her legacy by naming her president emeritus. In 2017, the Greater Pensacola Chamber awarded Bense its Pioneer award for her contributions to the community. She co-chaired Escambia County's 200th anniversary commission.

Quote: "I'd always had the 'Lucille Ball' approach to life—don't mess with success; stick with what you're good at."

David Morgan (2013)

His defeat of a well-financed, two-term incumbent in 2008 is considered one of the biggest upsets in Escambia County politics. And many of the good old boys never forgave him but failed to defeat him during the re-election campaigns of 2012 and 2016. His decisive leadership, especially with 2009 Billings murders and the 2010 BP Oil Spill, earned Morgan the reputation for being one of the top sheriffs in Florida. He stepped down in 2020, choosing not to seek a fourth term.

Quote: "It's important you stay grounded and never forget what got you where you are."

Mike Papantonio (2014)

Considered the nation's top trial attorney, Pensacola's Renaissance man is a regular commentator on the news networks, an author and musician. He has been awarded the Perry Nichols Award, Defender of Justice Award by the American Association for Justice, Temple University Beasley School of Law's Award for Social Justice and the Compassionate Gladiator Award from the Florida Justice Association. He has been featured in several award-winning documentaries, in-

Quote: "When I think about everything that I have spent my time doing and drill right down to why—it's out of conviction."

Stan Connally (2015)

The president and CEO of Gulf Power Company worked up the ladder of Southern Company with steps at all its subsidiaries. He served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and on the boards of Achieve Escambia, Capital City Bank Group, Florida Council of 100 and Enterprise Florida. Before Gulf Power's sale to NextEra Energy, he was named the executive vice president of operations for Southern Company. In 2021, Connally was also named CEO of Southern Company Services, Inc.

Quote: "I've been on the record and very public talking about an outcome from good economic development must be diversifying our economy. By that, I mean increasing the impact of the innovation space."

Bentina Terry (2016)

In 2017, we lost Terry when she was promoted to senior vice president of the Metro Atlanta Region for Georgia Power. However, her decade of living in Pensacola had a profound impact on this community. She was the highestranking Black woman at Gulf Power and served on the boards of the Community Maritime Park Associates and the University of West Florida. She also worked to make the multicultural Voices of Pensacola a reality. Terry is currently Senior Vice President, Customer Strategy and Solutions for Georgia Power.

Quote: "We need to start a whole effort from cradle to career. We'll never grow as a community unless we improve the quality of our education."

Rishy Studer (2017)

She has created and runs five businesses as part of the Bodacious Shops that sparked vibrancy in Pensacola's downtown. Studer also revived a historic corner in the heart of the Belmont-DeVilliers community with Five Sisters Blues Café. She's the one who drives the decisions and writes the checks for numerous nonprofits she and her husband support in her adopted hometown.

Quote: "Will this work in our town? Can we do it? Can we try?"

James J. Reeves (2018)

The veteran politician, banker, attorney, developer and entrepreneur has left a considerable mark on his hometown. He was elected to the Florida House and Pensacola City Council. He sponsored the bill that created the Historic Pensacola Preservation Board, which has evolved into the UWF Historic Trust. Reeves chartered two federal savings and loans, three banks and one bank that he took over, Liberty Bank, which became Hancock-Whitney Bank. On Pensacola Beach, Reeves built the Tiki Motel, Howard Johnson Inn and the Mai Kai Motel, home to the Sandshaker Lounge. Lately, he has been the champion for tiny houses in Escambia County.

Quote: "Nobody admits this, but the reason to charter a bank is like somebody said, 'Why do you rob banks?' And I said, 'Well, that's where the money is.'"

Lumon May (2019)

The Pensacola native, general contractor and co-founder of the Southern Youth Sports Association (SYSA) won a third term on the Es- cambia County Commission in 2020. He has become one of the most popular and, at times, controversial commissioners for his advocacy for those often overlooked. May fought for COVID testing and vaccinations in the Brownsville community, working closely with Community Health of Northwest Florida and the governor's office. He got residents water and ice in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally. He's also the sharpest dresser on the board.

Quote: "I've never considered myself to be someone on the Power List. I've just wanted to be in a position of service my entire life."

Sue Straughn (2021)

For over 40 years, Straughn has been a regular guest in homes as the evening news anchor for WEAR-TV. One of the most trusted people in local media, she helped found Be Ready Alliance Coordinating for Emergencies (BRACE) and has served on countless boards, including Covenant Hospice Foundation, Autism Pensacola, American Red Cross and Sacred Heart Hospital Advisory Board. She's also a longtime supporter of Arc Gateway. In 1979, Straughn created Communities Caring at Christmas, which annually provides a special holiday season for our most vulnerable children.

Quote: "I don't have any power. When I emcee a charity event and it raises a lot of money, that's not me. I just get to make the ask. The people are the power."

Troy Rafferty (2022)

For nearly three decades, Rafferty has litigated mass tort, pharmaceutical and major personal injury cases that many saw as impossible. He has received numerous jury verdicts and settlements over $10 million. In 2017, he obtained $150 million and $140 million verdicts. In 2021, Rafferty and Levin Papantonio Rafferty helped craft a $26 billion settlement with the nation's three biggest opioid distributors and Johnson & Johnson. He served as Florida Justice Association's president from 2014-2015. In 2016, FJA awarded him the Perry Nichols Award, its highest award. Rafferty is a powerful force in Florida politics.

Quote: "I'd like to think that whether it's a social, political issue or legal issue, I try to do the right thing by people and influence the outcomes for causes. And sometimes that makes me not very popular, but I think it's important." {in}