2012 August–September Issue of 850 Business Magazine

Making the CNG Change Natural gas power is winning converts in government and business Walton County’s rebound from the 2010 oil spill Florida’s fastest growing business?

Food Trucks $4.95

Aug-Sep 2012

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From hospital CEO to hotelier, MEET more 40 Under 40

YOU’RE COMMITTED TO

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850 Magazine August – September 2012

IN THIS ISSUE

38

72

850 FEATURES Natural Gas 30 Businesses that provide compressed natural gas to fuel cars, trucks and buses are popping up all over Florida. Why CNG? It’s abundant, domestic, cheap, clean and delivers about the same mileage as diesel. Enthusiastic advocates of CNG as a transportation fuel include the city of Pensacola, where Mayor Ashton Hayward tools around town in a city-owned CNG car, and the Leon County School District.

By John Van Gieson

Food Trucks 38 Northwest Floridians may be regulars at events like Tallahassee’s Food Truck Thursday, but what they don’t know is that food trucks are the fastest growing business in the state. According to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, food trucks are growing at a rate of 10.5 percent — much faster than traditional restaurants, which only grew 1.5 percent last year.

By Kathleen Haughney

PHOTOs BY SCOTT HOLSTEIN

40 Under 40 44 Meet more of Northwest Florida’s up-and-coming business leaders in this fourth installment of 40 Under 40.

From Tallahassee to Pensacola, from a hospital CEO to a hotel owner to a young entrepreneurial genius, see who is making their mark on the business world and in their own community.

In This Issue

Special Report

WALTON CO. TOURISM

8 9 11 52 55 74

From the Publisher Letters to 850 Business Arena: Unemployment Sound Bytes Professional Profiles The Last Word from the Editor

Departments

Corridors

GUEST COLUMN

CAPITAL

13 What are the benefits of bringing retirees to our region?

The organizers behind Choose Tallahassee have millions of them.

By Dave Bruns

LEADING HEALTHY

14 Help your workers avoid the unhealthy “snack trap” habit.

By Angela Howard

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

17 Death by To-Do List. How to organize yourself on the job after summer vacation.

By Jason Womack

62 At a time when innumerable businesses across the state have succumbed to the recession, the 110-year-old, family-operated Simpson Nurseries in Monticello not only remains viable, but is actually thriving.

BAY

66 When the Panama City campus of Florida State University looked to be on the budget chopping block, it was the business community that stepped in to save the day.

I-10

WI-FILES

20 It seems like everyone is getting an App. Are you? Do you need it?

By Kimberley Yablonski

70 John and Deborah Roche bought Lifeguard Ambulance in 1990, when they lived in Tampa. Then they moved the company back home to Santa Rosa County and now employ hundreds throughout Northwest Florida.

FORGOTTEN COAST

By Linda Kleindienst On the Cover: Leon County School Superintendent Jackie Pons promotes the use of compressed natural gas because of the taxpayer money it will save. Photo by Scott Holstein

22 Two years after the BP oil spill, the tourism-based economy of Walton County has experienced a major rebound. Not only are the repeat customers coming to the beach, so are new visitors from across the country.

14

72 Three decades ago the Blue Parrot on St. George Island was a hot dog stand. Today it’s a landmark that draws tourists and island residents in for food, drink and fun.

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850 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA

August – September 2012

Vol. 4, No. 6

Publisher Brian E. Rowland Editor Linda Kleindienst designers Laura Patrick, Saige Roberts Contributing Writers Lazaro Aleman, Steve Bornhoft, Dave Bruns, Kathleen Haughney, Angela Howard, Ashley Kahn, John Van Gieson, Zandra Wolfgram, Jason Womack, Kimberley Yablonski

staff Writer Jason Dehart

Editorial intern Laura Bradley

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Scott Holstein

Contributing Jenny Foltz Photographer

GROUNDED IN BUSINESS

traffic coordinator Lisa Sostre Sales Executives Rhonda Chaloupka, Joh Fistel, Lori Magee, Tracy Mulligan, Dan Parisi, Linda Powell, Frank Sandro, Chuck Simpson, Chris St. John online 850businessmagazine.com facebook.com/850bizmag twitter.com/850bizmag

President Brian E. Rowland

DIRECTOR OF Emily Bohnstengel Operations

DIRECTOR OF Linda Kleindienst EDITORIAL SERVICES

Creative Director Lawrence Davidson ProDUCTION Manager Daniel Vitter

director OF New Dan Parisi Business Development Marketing and Media McKenzie Burleigh Development Manager

CLIENT SERVICE Caroline Conway REPRESENTATIVE

Administrator of Marjorie Stone

Sales and Events assistant Saige Roberts creative director TRAFFIC coordinator Lisa Sostre

graphic designers Jennifer Ekrut, Laura Patrick, Shruti Shah

Staff Accountant Ellen Lawson Production Specialist Melinda Lanigan Network Administrator Daniel Vitter RECEPTIONIST Amy Lewis

HARRISON SALE MCCLOY

Founded over thirty years ago, Harrison Sale McCloy is well grounded in Northwest Florida. With lawyers practicing all areas of civil law, our firm is well equipped to meet your broad range of business needs.

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Web Site rowlandpublishing.com 850 Magazine is published bi-monthly by Rowland Publishing, Inc. 1932 Miccosukee Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308. 850/878-0554. 850 Magazine and Rowland Publishing, Inc. are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photography or artwork. Editorial contributions are welcomed and encouraged but will not be returned. 850 Magazine reserves the right to publish any letters to the editor. Copyright August 2012 850 Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Member, Florida Magazine Association and seven Chambers of Commerce throughout the region.

Awards4U is the official provider of mounted features for Rowland Publishing titles. For more information contact Sam Varn 850.878.7187 one-year Subscription $30 (SIX issues) 850businessmagazine.com 850 Magazine can be purchased at Barnes and Noble in Tallahassee, Destin, Pensacola and Panama City and in Books-A-Million in Tallahassee, Destin, Ft. Walton Beach, Pensacola and Panama City and at our Tallahassee office.

Proud member Florida Magazine Association

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From the Publisher

Let’s Share Our Secret With The World

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What Northwest Florida does not have is brand awareness to attract this audience of super consumers. What will it take to get this awareness? Time, financial resources, solid leadership and a long-term laser focused marketing campaign.

Let’s look at a realistic timeline.

Year 1: The regional commitment to a plan and resources is made to capture a share of the European tourist market.

Year 2: A dedicated team of marketing professionals representing the region meets with tour operators and the European media and attends trade shows to sell Northwest Florida.

Year 3 to 4: The region hosts trips for European operators and media to showcase what we have here.

Year 5: Tour operators determine there is a new market and begin to integrate Northwest Florida into their annual vacation catalogues. And they invest in an aircraft that comes once or twice a week to a 10,000-foot runway. (Those new airplanes take 24 to 36 months to come online.)

Year 6 to 8: Northwest Florida getaways appear in the catalogues and the first jumbo jet touches down, with 350 European travelers ready to stay for three or four weeks, each family leaving $15,000 behind. Conservatively, say this happens once or twice a week for 25 weeks a year. We could soon see an annual economic impact in the billions. And that wouldn’t just affect the tourism industry — those dollars would flow into every community and business sector of Northwest Florida.

Now, back to square one.

Wyndham has more than 3,000 rooms in Northwest Florida and has the financial motivation — and appears to be ready — to be a player in this endeavor. What we need is for the public and private sector in our region to come together to invest in a six-to-eight year plan. And just make it happen.

This is certainly more prudent than buying a yacht or putting on a one-day concert or handing out a $50 Visa gift card for coming to the best kept secret in a state that is an internationally known and established brand.

It’s time to start working on our plan. It just makes good cents.

Brian Rowland browland@rowlandpublishing.com

Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

As we all know, Northwest Florida is probably one of the state’s best-kept secrets. For many, that’s a joy because of the quality of life a region enjoys when it is not a booming business metropolis or year-round tourist mecca, like Central and South Florida.

Of course, our secret is not going to stay ours forever. Northwest Florida is already beginning to emerge as a region ripe with assets that make it attractive for smart business development. Indeed, we have a very attractive landscape to build on. The 850 has four major airports, three seaports, an interstate corridor, affordable and available land, a good climate, universities and good medical care.

And, without question, our natural resource of beaches, pristine ecosystems, wide expanses of state and national forests, historical sites and cultural offerings are a drawing card for the millions of American tourists who visit our region each year, the great majority of them driving in from throughout the southeastern U.S. But, I would propose, a real long-term economic opportunity may lie with the international tourist market.

During a recent desk-side chat with Martin Owen, the regional marketing director, Gulf Region, for Wyndham Vacation Rentals in Fort Walton Beach, I became more aware of the opportunity that lies at the doorstep of Northwest Florida’s 16 counties. This opportunity will take six to eight years to play out, and it will take the commitment and investment of today’s regional leadership to develop and execute a plan, but there is a potential to bring billions of new economic dollars to the region.

Let’s begin with some facts. In 2011, Florida saw record high numbers of overseas and Canadian visitors. Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany accounted for 53 percent of Florida’s international visitors and they spent just over $7 billion in the state. England, Germany and France spent approximately $1.5 billion of those dollars, and I would venture to say most of that money was spent from Orlando south to Miami.

According to Martin, the European tourist is totally unaware of what our region has to offer, which is the core of our challenge as well as our opportunity. Consider: » The European tourist typically vacations four to six weeks a year and spends somewhere in the range of $15,000. » Europeans love beaches, ecotourism, historical and cultural vacation opportunities. » Europeans most often travel on group charters.

FR O M T HE MAI LBAG

I was given the most amazing c o m p li m e n t I've yet to receive not too long ago.

I was asked to judge the Miss Emerald Coast USA & Teen USA pageant, and a father of one of the girls who had just graduated high school stopped me and asked if I was just recently in the 850 Magazine. I said yes! He then said he had ripped out my page and given it to his daughter and said, “I want you to aspire to be like this young lady one day.” I started to tear up; it was so touching! Again, thank you for this incredible opportunity. It is something that will impact my life forever.

Jessica Proffitt Destin (Editor’s Note: Jessica Proffitt, 26, is a public relations and marketing professional who was picked by 850 for recognition as one of the top 40 professionals in Northwest Florida who are under the age of 40. Her story ran in the Feb./March 2012 issue.)

I just received my copy of 850. I want to commend you on your “Keep an Attitude of Gratitude” article (Publisher’s Letter June/July 2012); right on! Great magazine!

Merlin Allan Vice President of Real Estate, Howard Group, Miramar Beach

Thank you so much for the wonderful article and cover in this edition of 850 (June/July 2012)! We love it. Laura (Bradley) did a great job and so did Scott (Holstein) with the photos. You and your staff are top notch, and the work you do for Northwest Florida is very much appreciated.

Ildi Hosman Assistant Marketing Manager, IMS Expert Services, Pensacola

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Jim Burtoft and Paul Watts, COO Electronet Broadband Communications

RE AL CUSTOMERS . RE AL ISSUES . RE AL SOLUTIONS .

We have used Electronet for Internet access in all of our health clubs — exclusively. Once we heard they had a voice and long distance solution, we decided to check into it. Electronet was able to bundle our services, which enabled us to improve our performance and reduce our costs. If you’re looking for great service, great reliability and great value then Electronet is definitely your choice.

Jim Burtoft

3 4 1 1 C a p i t a l M e d i c a l B l v d . Ta l l a h a s s e e , F L | 2 2 2 . 0 2 2 9 | w w w. e l e c t r o n e t . n e t 10

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Executive Mindset

Business Arena

n ews + numbers statewide

Unemployment Rates for northwest Florida as of May 2012

8.1%

5.8%

↓1.2%*

7.4%

↓1.0%*

7.2%

↓0.9%*

↓0.7%*

*From May 2011

8.5% 7.9%

Florida ↓1.8%*

7.7%

U.S.

↓1.6%*

↓0.8%*

Escambia and Santa Rosa counties Okaloosa and Walton counties Calhoun, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty and Washington counties Bay, Franklin and Gulf counties Gadsden, Leon, Wakulla and Jefferson counties

The Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research estimated in a July report that Florida’s unemployment rate of 8.5 percent would be 9.5 percent if workers who have stopped looking for jobs were added to the picture. The rate would still be lower than the 9.9 percent posted in December.

Growing Industries 2011–2012 There were no industries with job gains in this sector.

7.1%

7.8%

3.1%

Wholesale Trade

Manufacturing

Hospitality

+100 jobs

+100 jobs

+400 jobs

4.4%

6.3%

4.1%

Education and Health Services

+800 jobs

1.2%

2.2%

Trade, Transportation and Utilities

Professional and Business Services

Education and Health Services

Professional and Business Services

+600 jobs

+64 jobs

+100 jobs

+400 jobs

Shrinking Industries 2011–2012

6.0%

11.9%

Mining, Logging and Construction

Mining, Logging and Construction

-600 jobs

-500 jobs

6.0%

2.9%

32.8%

Construction

-706 jobs

4.0%

Wholesale Trade

Manufacturing

Government

-300 jobs

-100 jobs

-463 jobs

12.2%

4.8%

Mining Logging and Construction

Mining, Logging and Construction

-500 jobs

-300 jobs

3.6%

3.0%

Professional and Business Services

Manufacturing

-100 jobs

-300 jobs

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Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics Program

Note: Unemployment numbers do not reflect those who have stopped looking for work.

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Representing only Employers in Labor and Employment Law Matters

STREN GTH AG I LITY EXPERI EN CE CO M M ITM ENT

ALSO ADVISING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND SCHOOL BOARDS IN: ■ ■ ■

The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based upon advertisements. Before you decide, ask Robert J. Sniffen & Michael P. Spellman to send you free written information about our qualifications and experience. Florida Rule of Professional Conduct 4-7.2 and 4-7.3.

CIVIL RIGHTS LITIGATION TORT DEFENSE ELECTION LAW

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW SPECIAL EDUCATION LITIGATION LAW ENFORCEMENT LIABILITY

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Taste of the region Business luncheons. Celebratory dinners. Deal-making cocktails.

A sampling of the best fare the region has to offer.

A GUIDE TO FINE DINING IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA

Magnolia Grill FORT WALTON BEACH

TOM & PEGGY RICE, PROPRIETORS

(850) 302-0266

www.magnoliagrillfwb.com 12

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Executive Mindset

Business Speak

Regional Economic Development in Northwest Florida

By Dave Bruns

I

t’s what every North Florida community wants: a powerful economic engine capable of pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into local cash registers, igniting local housing markets and providing thousands of committed volunteers to local causes.

Encouraged by a new national economic study that named Tallahassee as the ideal relocation spot for retiring Baby Boomers, Tallahassee is launching an uncommon effort to market itself as a new kind of Florida retirement community. The potential payoff for Tallahassee is huge.

“From good health care to affordable housing to a warm and welcoming community, Tallahassee has many of the things that Boomers say they want,” explains Ron Sachs, co-chair of Choose Tallahassee, the all-volunteer grassroots organization that is leading the effort. “We’re asking relocating Boomers to ‘Choose Tallahassee … for the best of your life.’ ” Why target Boomers? It’s simple demographics.

The Boomers remain the largest-ever American generation, with more than 78 million members. The first Boomers reached age 66 in January 2012, the age of eligibility for full Social Security retirement benefits. They are retiring at a rate of 10,000 a day. If just one in four relocate for their retirement — a figure often cited in recent Boomer relocation studies — more than 19 million Americans would be choosing new homes.

That’s a major economic benefit for the communities they choose.

Using national average household income figures from the U.S. Census, Choose Tallahassee leaders note that a community that attracts just three-tenths of 1 percent of this vast population would add $1 billion a year in income to its economy.

Even though Boomer retirements will be spread out over two decades, the

impact could be felt sooner. An influx of even 2,300 relocating Boomer couples buying homes would virtually wipe out Tallahassee’s available unsold housing stock and provide a major shot in the arm for a key local business sector.

“In all the ways that matter, attracting Boomers to Tallahassee is a win-win for everyone involved,” says Choose Tallahassee’s co-chair, Ken Boutwell. “This is an exciting idea.”

Sachs, president and CEO of Ron Sachs Communications, and Boutwell, recently retired president of the economics firm MGT of America, have attracted a starstudded team to the effort. Key steering committee members include Bryan Desloge, a Tallahassee businessman and a Leon County commissioner; Tom Barron, president of Capital City Bank; and Marjorie Turnbull, a former county commissioner, state legislator and leading educator.

Much of the muscle of Choose Tallahassee comes from the broad community backing it has received. Private donors have given money to support a targeted social-media marketing campaign. The Leon County Commission

and the Tallahassee City Commission have endorsed the campaign. Nearly every part of the community — universities, community colleges, real-estate brokers, builders, bankers, senior service agencies, tourism leaders, the Chamber of Commerce and many other groups — is solidly on board.

One of the key features of the marketing campaign is a national video contest to win prizes, including free tickets to Florida State University and Florida A&M University sporting events, discounts at dozens of restaurants and free golf at an area country club. To win, entrants will submit a short video describing why they want to “Choose Tallahassee” as a retirement relocation destination.

The effort got a major shot in the arm in May when the Washington Economics Group, a prestigious economics firm that includes former presidents and governors among its client list, identified Tallahassee as the No. 1 retirement relocation destination in America for Boomers. The group’s study was based on the first major scientific survey of Boomer relocation preferences by a nonprofit group in more than a decade. In February, the Consumer Federation of the Southeast commissioned Mason-Dixon Opinion Research to conduct a poll of 1,100 Boomers, asking them what factors they would consider in choosing a retirement relocation destination.

Leaders of Choose Tallahassee weren’t surprised by the economists’ findings. They noted that Tallahassee offers much of what the Boomer relocation market is looking for: quality, accessible health care; affordable housing; a warm climate with some cool months; strong cultural offerings; and a welcoming and tolerant community.

For more information, visit the organization’s website, www.choosetallahassee.com. n Dave Bruns is communication manager of AARP Florida. He has worked with Choose Tallahassee for the past year and a half.

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Executive Mindset

Leading Healthy HEALTHY SNACKS PROMOTE PRODUCTIVITY

THE DIRTY TRUTH

Eating on the Clock

By Angela Howard

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doing so can easily lead us to consume more than we need.

It’s also likely that mindless eating can occur while we are focused on something other than what we are eating, Magnuson explained.

For instance, when multi-tasking you want just a little something to munch on. So you grab a bag of — insert your favorite carb here — and before you know it, the entire thing is gone! Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone.

Almost all of us are guilty of it from time to time, but today more and more people are eating mindlessly. The reason? You guessed it — we’re too busy working to take a snack break.

That may seem like a good idea at the time, but Magnuson, the Health Promotion director at Florida State University, says breaks are an essential part of our day.

“A lunch break is a great time to get away from the desk or office and allow your body and mind time to rejuvenate. It is also a great

Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN (ERIN JORDAN, VIVO SPA SALON)

I

t’s a sneaky little trap that many of us fall into. We clock in for the day, head over to our desk, log in to our computer … and never leave. We bypass our breaks and lunch — opting instead to eat right at our workstation. We think we are being smart and more productive, but we are really just robbing ourselves of precious downtime.

In the fast-paced world we live in, seconds count and minutes are something we just can’t waste, so we pack as much into our day as we possibly can, and we think, “What better way to do that than to work through lunch?”

According to the American Dietetic Association and ConAgra Foods Foundation, some 70 percent of Americans eat at their desk several times a week, but nutritionist Amy Magnuson, Ph.D., R.D., L.D./N., says

HEALTHY CHOICE SUGGESTIONS FROM DR. AMY MAGNUSON

time to nourish and refuel your body in a calm and relaxed environment,” Magnuson said.

That relaxing environment can be anything from the coffee shop down the street to the café downtown. It doesn’t matter where you go, the goal is to leave your workplace, enjoy some nutritious food and relax your mind.

Relaxing The goal of a break, be it for lunch or for a snack, is to give yourself a reprieve of sorts from the stresses of the day and to refuel, and psychologist Larry Kubiak says walking is a great way to accomplish that.

“When you’re walking, you’re getting much better blood flow to the brain,” Kubiak said.

As the director of psychological services at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, Kubiak sees patients with a number of different issues, including depression, which can be linked to too much time inside.

“There is a variation of depression called seasonal affective disorder. When people are not getting enough sunlight, they can suffer from this form of depression,” he said.

SAD, as it is more commonly known, can increase the amount of stress in one’s life and affect eating and snacking habits, though not always in a negative way.

“If you’re sitting there eating carrots and celery that’s one thing, if you’re eating Snickers bars all day … food can go a long way to dealing with the stress of our day,” he said.

Those days can be especially long for the men and women in the service industries, something the folks at VIVO Spa Salon in Rosemary Beach know all too well.

The sixteen employees at VIVO regularly work at least nine hours a day catering to the needs of others, and that leaves them little time to care for themselves. Owner Erin Jordan admits that Rosemary Beach doesn’t have a lot when it comes to fast food, so in the past, when her employees did have a few minutes, they often ran to the gas station, grabbing a sugary soda and less than healthy snack.

That’s one of the reasons Jordan and her co-owner hubby Michael started purchasing snacks to stock the employee break room.

“We always have string cheese and we always have goldfish crackers, and for our

Fruits Veggies Trail Mix Cheese and Crackers Yogurt Peanut Butter (on celery, apple or banana) Smoothie Hummus and Veggies (or pita) Granola Bar

diabetics, we have juice and these cinnamon crackers,” Jordan said. “We’re really trying to discourage pop.”

Jordan said colas were a staple at the Spa Salon, but they stopped purchasing them and are now encouraging their employees to drink more water and juice.

Our Daily Diet “A well-balanced meal consists of at least three food groups that usually include a grain, a protein and a fruit or vegetable,” said Magnuson. “We may also want to include a calcium-rich dairy source with our meal.”

When it comes to snacks, Magnuson says to eat up. They can be the perfect time to make up for what we didn’t get in our meal, but she suggests keeping the average snack to 250 to 300 calories.

Sadly, many of us gravitate toward comfort foods instead of healthier fruits and veggies — and because we mindlessly snack at our desk, we consume even more of the empty calories that our bodies just don’t need.

According to WebMD, people who snack at their desks tend to eat quickly and take in extra calories. To combat the trend, the site suggests planning ahead and keeping some healthy treats in your office or desk.

Most offices have a vending machine or two lingering in the hallway, but the snacks are usually less than nutritious. Recently, though, better choices have made their way into the office via the big snackers.

“Healthy vending machines are gaining in popularity across the nation with each

item in the vending machine meeting the nutritional requirements of moderate sugar, sodium and fat,” Magnuson said.

If your place of employment does not have these healthier options, Kubiak says, it’s up to you to help change it.

“If employees band together and ask for healthier choices, companies may be willing to comply,” he said.

Improving Your Bottom Line “Employees want to know what makes your business special — what you can offer them support-wise. Something beyond the paycheck,” Jordan said.

That’s why she gladly dips into her own pocket to buy the snacks and offers them free-of-charge to all employees.

“It’s not costly, and I learned that probably within two months of owning the business,” Jordan said. “For me, it was better to have these things there. Because it was a treat and it kept them at work, so my productivity was better.”

Jordan said she saw an increase of more than 10 percent once she started supplying snacks at work, proving to her that the little things can make a big difference.

“We are a commission field, so before what we had was people who wanted to work 20 hours a week. They could do that and go home. Now, we have people who want to work more hours and longer hours.”

Then, of course, there’s health care. Exact costs vary with factors like company, plan and the number of people being covered. But a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found the average annual premium for family coverage through an employer rose to $15,073 last year. That’s a nine percent increase over 2010.

Kubiak says that’s reason enough to do whatever you can as a company to help your employees live and eat healthy.

“It’s very important to take a proactive approach,” he said.

According to Kubiak, that means recognizing that if employees are healthy, working out, rested and eating healthy, they’re going to stay at work and be more productive. Which, when push comes to shove, is the goal for any company because productivity affects the bottom line … in more ways than one. n

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On track for greatness.

He’s earned his stripes.

Gonzalo Barroilhet, Olympian decathlete BS, Business Administration ’10 and MBA ’12

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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

War paint for today’s business world.

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Executive Mindset

Management Strategies PRIORITI ZE: THE NEW TO-DO

Avoiding Death by To-Do List Ways to Overcome Overload and Work Smarter in 2012 If you’re like many Americans you’re dreading your first day back after a vacation. Your to-do list and bursting-at-the-(cyber)seams in-box loom large. Here’s how to get a handle on both.

By Jason Womack

T

he vacation is over and now it’s back to the daily grind. While you’d love to feel energized and excited about jumping back in, you’re weighed down with dread. You know the second you step foot in your office you’ll be hit with 20-plus tasks to add to your to-do list and an inbox full of emails begging for an immediate response. Soon you may feel overwhelmed and incapable of getting everything done.

For too many of us, feeling anxious and overwhelmed has become the new normal. Most of your dread doesn’t come from the work itself — it comes from how you think about the work. The psychological weight of unfinished tasks and unmade decisions is huge. There is a constant feeling of pressure to do more with less. You can’t change that reality … but you can make peace with it.

The first step to changing the way you get things done is to accept that you’re never going to get it all done. You’ll always be updating your to-do list by crossing off completed tasks and adding new ones … and that’s okay. When you improve the way you approach the things you need to get done, both on the job and off, you’ll stop wishing things were different and start really making new things possible.

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MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Work Smarter Purge and unsubscribe. When I suggest reducing your psychological burden, in some cases that means reducing your literal burden. Start deleting and recycling.

Get rid of everything you can and reduce what might be coming in.

Unsubscribe from email newsletters, magazines, book-of-the-month clubs, perhaps even the ad-hoc committees you’ve joined recently. Try the “unsubscription” for three months; at the end of those 12 weeks, you can re-up if you want to.

Block out your time and prioritize. Ask yourself this: How much time do I really spend each day clicking through emails and making my to-do list?

The answer is probably a lot. When you spend your day making giant todo lists or flagging “urgent” emails, you’ll never get any real work done.

Instead look at your day and figure out where you have blocks of time to really focus and engage on what needs to be done.

Time blocking and prioritization are two important keys to daily productivity. Look at your to-do list, figure out where you have blocks of time to act on those items and then prioritize.

Change how you manage email. The moment you click on your inbox, your focus goes and your stress grows as you proceed to delete, respond, forward and file the messages you find there. You see names and subject lines and suddenly your mind starts racing; all you can think of are the latest projects, the “loudest” issues and the high-priority work that shows up. If you’re not careful, all you’ll do all day is manage your email.

Rather than simply flag emails that require action, use the subject lines to catalog and organize them. For example, you might put “Follow-up Call” in the subject line of an email about a meeting you just had with a client. Also, don’t look at your email unless you have a block of time to devote to prioritizing them and responding to them.

When you are going through your email, use subject lines to catalog them and organize them so that you’ll easily be able to go back to less urgent e-mails later on.

Take technology shortcuts. Practically every kind of software you use daily has tricks and shortcuts that once implemented could save you a lot of time. Sit down with those who can teach you more about these systems. The more you fully understand the tools you use, the easier it will be to learn even more about their features and how to use them to your advantage.

Break inertia. Ever watch a freight train start to move? That first forward jolt takes the most energy; keeping the train rolling is much easier. Do some small things to get rolling on getting caught up. Then pace yourself. You’ll probably find it’s much easier to keep rolling along at a comfortable clip.

We build up such a sense of dread that what we have to do seems

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insurmountable. Once you get started with something small and manageable, you almost always realize “Hey, this isn’t so tough after all.” And soon you find that you’re making real progress — and it feels good.

Always be prepared for “bonus time.” This is a great strategy for increasing productivity throughout the year, but it will be especially helpful in the days following your vacation. Bring small chunks of work with you wherever you go. Then, while waiting for a meeting to start or for a delayed flight to depart — unexpected blocks of free “bonus time” — you’ll be able to reply to an email or make a phone call. In other instances, you might have enough time to review materials for another meeting or project you are working on. If you’re prepared, you can also confirm appointments, draft responses or map out a project outline.

Sometime during the next month, someone is going to arrive late for a meeting with you, cancel a meeting or otherwise keep you waiting. When that inevitably happens, you can look over your to-do list and pick something — anything — to work on.

Reduce meeting time lengths. If meetings at your organization are normally given a 60-minute time length, start giving them a 45-minute time length. You’ll find that what you get done in 60 minutes you can also achieve in 45 minutes. You’ll also gain 15 extra minutes for each meeting you have.

Usually, we fill the time we expect to fill. Give yourself less time, and you’ll get it done in less time. The shorter time frame really gets you focused. All that extra time will really add up and provide you with more time to work toward your goals.

Figure out what distracts you. It can be extremely helpful to discern exactly what it is that gets in the way of your focus. Identify what is blocking your ability to give all of your attention to what needs your attention. Is it the constant ding of emails popping up in your inbox?

Is it employees or colleagues who need “just a minute” of your time?

Once you have this inventory, you can begin to make subtle changes so that you wind up getting more done, in less time, at a higher level of quality.

Divide your projects into small, manageable pieces. Take one step at a time and don’t worry about reaching the ultimate goal. Make use of small chunks of time. Set milestones, decide actions and make progress faster.

Identify the VERBS that need attention. (And here’s a hint: Smaller is better.) Organize your to-do list by verbs in order to manage your productivity in terms of action, delegation and progress. Actions such Call, Draft, Review and Invite are things that you can do, generally in one sitting, that have the potential to move the project forward one step at a time.

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If your to-do list has “big” verbs such as plan, discuss, create or implement, replace them with action steps to just get started. That is, pick “smaller” verbs describing tasks that are easier to start and faster to finish. This will save you time and reduce the sense of overload you’re feeling.

Learn to delegate clearly (much, much more clearly). Come to terms with the fact that you can’t get it all done yourself. Identify exactly what needs to be done and by when. Over-communicate and (if you need to!) track what you have given to whom.

Check back weekly with your “Waiting on … ” inventory and follow up with people who you think may wind up falling behind. Be relentless. After all, if the people you delegate to aren’t productive, you won’t be productive either.

Implement a weekly debrief. Take time after every five-day period to stop, look around and assess where you are in relation to where you thought you would be. Look at three key areas: 1. What new ideas have emerged? 2. What decisions need to be made? 3. How do I track this information?

Not only does the weekly debrief help you hold yourself accountable, it allows you to course-correct if necessary. Things usually don’t go the way we expect them to, so these weekly debriefs give us the opportunity to ask ourselves, Does this still make sense? And if not, what does?

Forecast your future. Open your calendar to 180 days from today.

There, write three to four paragraphs describing what you’ll have done, where you’ll have been and what will have happened to your personal/ professional life by then. This kind of “forecasting” is good to do from time to time.

What we think about is what we do. Identifying what we’d like to experience is the first step in developing the habits and actions that move us closer to our goals. n About the Author: Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA, provides practical methods to maximize tools, systems and processes to achieve quality work/life balance. He has worked with leaders and executives for more than 16 years in the business and education sectors. Author of “Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More,” Womack shows that working longer hours doesn’t make up for a flawed approach to productivity and performance.

Entrepreneurs need to clarify their habits, build mindset-based strategies and be proactive.

For more information visit womackcompany.com.

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Executive Mindset

Wi-Files

IN FORMATION AT OUR FINGERTIPS (AND THUMBS)

App’d Up Does Your Business Need an App? By Kimberley Yablonski

T

he human race has apparently morphed into a species with an additional appendage — specifically the mobile smartphone that seems to have become a permanent part of the human anatomy. We are so intertwined with our technology that, according to Google, nearly 40 percent of us even use our mobile phone while going to the bathroom (Ick!). Despite the “yuck” factor, all this apparent need for nonstop connection can be good news for businesses. We now expect to have every type of information we need at our fingertips and, more than likely, “there is an app for that.”

So, when is it a worthwhile endeavor to create an app for your business? How do you go about it? What are your goals? Does every business need to have one to compete in today’s marketplace? Or, is a mobile version of your web page just as beneficial?

There is no denying the statistics. According to Nielson, 50.4 percent of U.S. mobile users have smartphones. And, the 2012 study points out, the vast majority, about 79 percent, of those consumers use their mobile device for shopping-related activities. Furthermore, smartphones are used more often than tablets for on-the-go information.

About 73 percent use mobile devices to locate a store; 42 percent implement an electronic shopping list; and both tablet (66 percent) and smartphone (57 percent) users research an item before purchasing, Nielsen reports. However, the tablets win out when it comes to actual online purchasing. Forty-two percent of tablet users make a purchase compared to 29 percent for smartphone consumers, according to the report.

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Aspects of an App – Where to Begin So if you have done your research and decide your business would benefit from an app, how should you start the process?

“We usually recommend an in-house brainstorming session before the company talks to an app developer,” says Sosh Howell, CEO of Appedon based in Atlanta, Ga. “With this approach, each side will think of new features the app should have.”

Businesses can expect to spend anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000, depending on the features built into the app. It takes about six to eight weeks to develop an app.

Howell’s biggest advice is to be sure to hire an app development company that co-develops in both Android and iPhone platforms.

“Otherwise you are only getting half, or less than half, of the market share,” Howell says.

“When you use both platforms you reach about 95 percent of end users.”

One potential sticking point in development, Howell explains, is the approval from Apple for your iPhone app. That can take an additional week and sometimes the company does not approve it.

A couple of key ingredients an app must have in order to gain approval from Apple are interconnectivity and use of certain integration hardware. Is the app interactive? Apple also looks to see if the app uses unique hardware such as GPS integration features.

“For example, if the App lists restaurants, can you save them to favorites and use GPS to locate them?” Howell explains.

With an Android platform app you are usually up that same day, Howell explains.

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Once completed, businesses can measure their app usage in a similar way that websites are monitored.

Common Mistakes “We have had a number of businesses come to us and say they want an app. But, what do they want it to do?” asks Howell. “The first thing we try to look at is what features they need and what impact it will have on their business.”

Howell also warns that an app is not a cure all.

“Don’t look at an app to save your business,” he warns. “It can be essential, but it is not the most important ingredient. From my experience, usually there is no one solution that is enough to save a struggling business.

An app has to be part of a combination of tools and used in conjunction with your social media and part of your bigger marketing picture.”

Mobile Website Version Versus App “Making your business mobile isn’t as simple as taking your website and slapping it on a mobile device, industry experts warn. One problem with this approach is a website oftentimes will not fit correctly on a mobile device and therefore it makes usage cumbersome.

Businesses have to consider what the goal of the mobile access is for their company. However, it also doesn’t mean you automatically need an app. Tweaking your website design to make it work smoothly on a mobile smartphone is another route.

“Mobile apps and websites are the new bricks and mortar,” says Nadia Kamal, owner

CASE STUDY Florida AIA Creates an App

To mark it’s 100th year anniversary, the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) planned several events, including a competition with online voting for the top 100 buildings in Florida.

of Onyx Group, a Tallahassee-based marketing and branding company. “You have to think through the user’s perspective. What is the experience they get when they go to your website or app?

“We are a 24-hour, drive-thru society.

You have about five seconds to engage your audience.”

It needs to be thumb-friendly, Google advises. Google Initiative suggests you evaluate your current online and mobile presence. Get a smartphone and pull up your website. Ask yourself these questions:

» Does it look right? » Is it usable on a mobile phone? » Is it easy to navigate?

Google also suggests you check for these key features on your mobile site:

» Phone number » Maps, directions and store hours » Easy to use product page » Ability to search the site Google offers a plethora of free information on mobile websites and apps, including video tutorials, worksheets and guides through “learn with Google.” Visit howtogomo.com or google.com/ads/learn for more information.

If you decide a mobile website would work just as well as an app for your business, check out the 10 Mobile Site Best Practices in Google’s Go|Mo Publisher Guide. n

The Florida Architecture: 100 Years.

100 Places competition had an amazing response, with 2.5 million votes cast over three weeks. As part of the plan for the year-long celebration and contest, the association decided to create an app.

“Our main goal for our app is to engage the public,” says Vicki Long, executive vice president of the association.

AIA Florida’s app allows users to see each of the 100 winning buildings of the contest. Users can read the history of each building and about the architect who designed it. They can map the buildings and a pin representing each winning building shows the location in the state.

Users can also click on the pin for directions or more information on that particular structure. The idea is people can visit the buildings and receive all the information through the app. The app also includes a contact button for AIA Florida and a button to go to the association’s website and YouTube Channel.

When AIA Florida began planning the anniversary celebrations, staff created website content knowing they would build on that background information for the app creation.

“It took about seven months of work prior to the app phase, but the app project was always part of the plan,” Long said.

“If you have a certain date you want to launch the app be sure to build in enough time for the project,” says Becky Wilson, director of administration for AIA Florida.

Wilson’s advice: Leave more than enough time for app development.

Eventually, AIA Florida hopes to have QR readers (those boxes that look like barcodes) on each building so visitors can just walk up, scan it with their smartphone and learn all about the building.

“We want to have a continuing dialogue with the public about architecture. We want people to recognize what they see and the design elements that go into a building,” Long said. “We want to humanize our architects and highlight the fantastic buildings they’ve created.”

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EMERALD COAST Corridor

Coastal Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa + Walton Counties

No (or little) Vacancy An active spring season has led into what might be a record-setting summer for the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa, which is running at about 98 percent occupancy.

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Photo by Scott Holstein

SPECIAL REPORT

Tourism Renaissance Two years after a dismal 2010 tourist season, Walton County has bounced back — big time By Linda Kleindienst

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L

aughter and chatter fill the air poolside at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa. Tables at the outdoor restaurant are filled with guests while the conference rooms bustle with business meetings. The parking lot is packed.

What a difference two years can make. In 2010, tourism along Florida’s Northwest Gulf Coast shrank to almost nothing when bookings were cancelled out of fear that oil from the Deep Water Horizon spill would be gushing ashore.

Perhaps hardest hit was Walton County, where tourism is the chief economic driver and nearly two out of every three residents is employed in the tourism industry. Because of the spill — and fears that the county’s beaches could be affected — hotel rooms went unbooked, restaurants often stood empty and charter-fishing boats bobbed idly at the docks.

In the end, the oil didn’t come. Walton County’s 26 miles of beaches remained pristine, untouched by the tar balls that littered the coast of Louisiana. Webcams showed the empty sugar-sand beaches to be as white as ever. But it was too late to save the season and some local businesses.

Walton’s tourism industry began bouncing back in April of 2011 with a successful spring break. By summer, tourist visitation numbers reached levels seen prior to the oil spill.

More Than The Beach Economic Impact: $1 billion. Many believe that when all is Visitors find plenty to do away from the beach, including visits to the region’s rare dune lakes and shopping at places like Grand Boulevard. (Opposite page) Business said and done, 2012 could break records for the region. has been so good, SunQuest cruises is adding a new boat and dolphin tour.

But perhaps that’s partly because an important lesson was learned during the oil spill summer.

“There are now increased efforts in promoting the destination for its richness in tradition, southern hospitality, arts and culture, culinary experiences and more,” said Nancy Stanley, director of marketing and public relations for the Cottage Rental Agency in Seaside.

“Tourism is not just about our beaches any more, but rather about what our destination can offer as a unique vacation experience — everything from visiting rare coastal dune lakes, attending one of the area’s many culinary and fine arts festivals, exploring local artist colonies or even just shopping.”

Walton County’s story has become a lesson in resilience.

The Rebound “It was a very rough year in 2010,” remembered James Murray Jr., general manager of SunQuest Cruises in Sandestin. “But in 2011 we saw an 18 percent increase. That’s extraordinary. We had a record breaking May this year, so 2012 seems to be going along at the same pace.”

With the cash flow back to where it was, SunQuest has now brought on a new boat to start Walton County’s only dolphin cruise.

“After two or three rough years, it’s a breath of fresh air,” Murray said.

“Finally we can relax a little bit. A lot of companies didn’t make it. Those that did are strong.”

Another example of the region’s positive economic performance is construction of a 10-screen, 40,000 square foot, $10 million movie complex in Grand Boulevard in Miramar Beach. Expected to open in February 2013, it is the first movie theater to be built in Walton County.

“Our overall annual sales have increased in the double digits from 2010,” said Stacey Brady, director of marketing for Grand Boulevard, a shopping and lifestyle center. “Several of our restaurants and retailers are seeing double digit increases in sales so far this year. We expect sales to stay strong through the rest of the year.”

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“Tourism is not just about our beaches any more, but rather about what our destination can offer as a unique vacation experience — everything from visiting rare coastal dune lakes, attending one of the area’s many culinary and fine arts festivals, exploring local artist colonies or even just shopping.” Nancy Stanley, Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Cottage Rental Agency Why the turnaround?

The numbers, everyone agrees, have undoubtedly been boosted by the continuing national advertising campaign bankrolled by BP to convince the rest of the country that the beaches along the Gulf Coast are fine, that the food is great, that the seafood is safe to eat and that recreation — from fishing to skiing — is as good as ever.

Photos by Scott Holstein and courtesy Sunquest Cruises (SunVenture)

“Since February this year, we’ve been running flat and hard,” said Karen Cooksey, director of sales and marketing for Hilton Sandestin. The occupancy rate for the resort’s 600 rooms, she adds, has hovered around 98 percent since early spring. “We had such high levels of occupancy during the spring that we could hardly tell the difference when summer began.”

Another good example is Silver Sands Factory Stores. In 2010 the designer outlet center, the largest in the nation, had about 7 million visitors.

In 2011, that number jumped to 7.5 million.

Ashley Watkins, marketing director for the center, said they began partnering with the South Walton Tourist Development Council on

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promotions during the summer of the spill, helping to end 2010 “with record-breaking sales and traffic.”

Drive and Fly Market Walton County, home to tourist lures like Destin, Sandestin and 30A, has always been a strong drive market, bringing in tourists by car from throughout the Southeast. But the BP advertising campaign and the national media coverage of the spill and it’s aftermath brought the area to the attention of a much wider market.

Dawn Moliterno, executive director of the South Walton Tourist Development Council, knows only that BP spent “millions” on the television ads, in addition to the $30 million it gave Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast counties to boost local promotional efforts (Walton County got $8 million).

Tourist Tax collections Year to Year Comparison*

*The county’s fiscal year runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

-8.38% +29.54% +26.33% 2009–2010

2010–2011

2011–2012 Through April

Month to Month Comparison % Change from previous year

-7.56%

+24.82%

-20.84%

+53.37%

-29.62%

+63.88%

June 2010

July 2010

August 2010

-9.97%

September 2010

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

+47.69%

September 2011

Ironically, Moliterno doesn’t know what states the ads played in, how often they were seen or what stations they were seen on. But she’s definitely happy with the bottom line. The county’s bed tax revenues went from being a negative 30 percent in August of 2010 to a positive of nearly 64 percent in August of 2011. In fact, Walton collects more bed tax money than any other county in the region.

Jan Peele, general manager of The Orvis Company in Grand Boulevard, said the media fallout after the spill actually turned into “the best free marketing. The oil spill was talked about worldwide and put Northwest Florida beaches on the map. It opened people’s eyes.”

Brady, of Grand Boulevard, said while the publicity at first was negative the follow ups delivered a positive message that saturated markets which previously didn’t know about “our slice of paradise.”

It’s not only the national advertising push, along with additional promotions made by the counties, that has made a wider audience aware of

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Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast. It’s also easier to get here than ever before, especially with increased airline service through the two local airports — Northwest Florida Regional Airport in Okaloosa County to the west and Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in Bay County to the east.

(In June, Southwest Airlines even added a new seasonal non-stop service between Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport and St. Louis.

And the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area, are now readily accessible through both airports.) “Walton has a tradition of a high return rate (of visitors),� Moliterno said. “But in the past year, new areas have been popping up in our research. More visitors have been coming in from across the country, including Texas, Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota.�

Warm Weather and Family Fun The family-friendly focus — and the mild winters — have also been a major element of Walton’s tourism success.

The county does a brisk business during Spring Break, even though it doesn’t market to the under-25 crowd and is considered more of an upscale destination than some other local beach towns.

Pelican Beach is a condo resort with about 60 percent of its units available for rental. They do a strong business during Spring Break but have rules in place that encourage families and discourage college students.

There is a parent/child ratio of three children to one parent required and a tight curfew for underage youngsters. The result? “We pretty well fill up with families,� said Dan Martin, sales manager of the resort.

The warm weather this past winter was also a major plus to attracting visitors, many of whom had denied themselves a vacation during the

“Walton has a tradition of a high return rate (of visitors).

But in the past year, new areas have been popping up in our research. More visitors have been coming in from across the country, including Texas, Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota.�

Dawn Moliterno, executive director of the south walton tourist development council economic downturn and the summer of the spill but were finally ready to splurge a little again.

Jon-Michael Goins, head golf professional at Regatta Bay in Destin, said the course’s numbers are definitely trending upward. “Of course, 2010 with the oil spill really hurt but ’11 was a decent comeback and ’12 has been really, really good so far. We’ve seen a definite increase,� he said. “And the weather has been exceptional this year. We didn’t really have much of a winter. It was very, very mild. I’ll bet we didn’t have five days under 40 (degrees). And even going into the summer, the early part of June has been relatively mild.� n

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ida Fllorid off F es o hivvve Arcchi e Ar attte a t syy Stta te urte our otto cco o ho h Ph P

bor, 1968 Destin Har

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Alternative Fuel

Pumping (Natural) Gas Governments and businesses in Northwest Florida are turning to an alternative fuel to save money and the environment

By John Van Gieson PHOTOS BY Scott Holstein Of the three cars that Harry Mulhearn and his wife Diana own, one is really special. It’s a 2002 Honda Civic they bought used. What’s so special about a 10-year-old car? The fuel it burns, compressed natural gas (CNG).

Mulhearn, an ex-Marine, is in the vanguard of the growing number of individuals, local government officials and business owners across the 850 who have concluded that natural gas is the best alternative fuel for their vehicles.

Mulhearn’s Civic gets the equivalent of about 40 miles per gallon, compared to 29 mpg in his gas/CNG hybrid Chevrolet Cavalier. He pays $2 a gallon, which brings a smile to his face when he passes convenience stores with big signs posting the latest outrageous price for gasoline.

“The Civic is much peppier, I think, because of the transmission,” he said. “When you drive that car you feel like you have a car beneath you.

We own a Prius, and we hardly ever use it.”

Mulhearn is a former electric foreman for the City of New York who retired to Monticello from New Jersey. He said the biggest draw was the lower taxes in North Florida.

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C ost Sav i n g s Leon County School Superintendent Jackie Pons promotes the use of compressed natural gas because of the taxpayer money it will save. The district hopes to have 90 percent of its bus fleet on a natural gas diet within 10 years.

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A lt e r n a t i v e F u e l

S e e in g i s B e l i e v i n g Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward drives a city-owned CNG vehicle around town, hoping it will encourage residents to switch to the more economical and environmentally friendly fuel.

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Another enthusiastic advocate of CNG as a transportation fuel is Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward, who tools around town in a cityowned CNG car. Hayward and Energy Services of Pensacola, the city’s natural gas utility, are leaders in developing CNG fueling stations in Northwest Florida.

“I have a little Honda Civic that’s fantastic,“ Hayward said. “You can’t tell the difference between gas and CNG. “For me to be seen in a natural gas vehicle is a no-brainer. I see a lot of people around town that have the feeling they should consider doing it. It just puts the idea in their head that maybe they should convert.”

Pensacola officials have negotiated a deal to provide CNG to the Emerald Coast Utility Authority, which collects garbage in unincorporated Escambia County. The ECUA is purchasing 50 new CNG refuse trucks and projecting an annual maintenance cost savings in excess of $350,000 and over $1 million in annual fuel costs.

There are good reasons why the use of CNG as a fuel for cars, trucks, buses and other vehicles usually powered by gasoline or diesel is accelerating: CNG is a lot cheaper than gasoline or diesel, is abundant, domestic, clean, safer and requires less maintenance of vehicles that burn it.

“We’re seeing an accelerated interest among business and public sector audiences in the use of CNG as a vehicle fuel,” said Rob Wilson, president of Wilson & Associates (W&A) of Tallahassee. Wilson is an association manager and lobbyist representing natural gas interests, including the pipeline companies that bring natural gas into Florida.

“With good reason,” he said. “Natural gas is abundant, low cost, domestically produced and clean burning. Plus it creates local economic opportunities and jobs — all while improving America’s energy security.”

W&A is a Tallahassee-based governmental affairs and association management company specializing in energy and represents CNG, natural gas storage and pipeline transportation clients, including Florida’s largest natural gas pipeline, Florida Gas Transmission Company.

Natural gas has long been a fuel of choice for utilities generating electric power to serve the Florida market and for municipal utilities and private companies delivering clean, efficient energy to homes and businesses. Now it is rapidly becoming an alternative to gasoline and diesel all over the country, and Northwest Florida is no exception.

Looking to take advantage of CNG’s attributes, government agencies and businesses across the Panhandle are building or planning fueling stations for their own vehicles. Most of the municipal utilities are also recruiting business customers, which include sanitation services, small businesses operating several trucks, shipping companies and a renovated Tallahassee hotel.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. plans to open a natural gas fueling station early next year at the I-10 exit at Midway a few miles west of Tallahassee. Targeting long-haul trucking companies, the Midway station will be one of 150 liquefied

“For me to be seen in a natural gas vehicle is a nobrainer. I see a lot of people around town that have the feeling they should consider doing it. It just puts the idea in their head that maybe they should convert.”

Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward natural gas stations Clean Energy is building coast-to-coast in a $200 million project it calls “America’s Natural Gas Highway.” The Midway station will be the only Clean Energy stop between Mobile and St. Augustine.

Clean Energy was founded by Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens. Remember Pickens’ massive television advertising campaign urging America to get off its dependence on imported oil and develop alternative fuel sources, particularly natural gas?

“When we started this process I was surprised at how many people came forward and said they already own a CNG car,” said James N. Harger of Seal Beach, Calif., chief marketing officer for Clean Energy.

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Refining Black Gold Northwest Florida may benefit from North Dakota’s oil bonanza

By John Van Gieson

An oil boom is creating jobs and wealth in faraway North Dakota, substantially reducing America’s dependence on imported oil and bringing economic development to a remote corner of the Florida Panhandle.

There are no refineries near the potentially huge Bakken Shale oil fields in North Dakota, eastern Montana, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, so the oil is being transported great distances by rail to refineries along the Gulf Coast.

Walnut Hill, a remote farming community in northern Escambia County between Pensacola and the Alabama state line, is a perfect place to transfer Bakken Shale oil from the trains to a pipeline that will move it to a refinery in Saraland, Ala., a suburb of Mobile.

Genesis Energy, a pipeline company based in Houston, is building a transfer facility in a field near Walnut Hill where the Alabama and Gulf Coast Railroad tracks cross over the company’s pipeline from the Jay oil field in Santa Rosa County to the Shell refinery in Saraland and points west.

Project manager Neal Bjorklund said the company is investing up to $20 million in the project, which is projected to create about 20 construction jobs and 30 well-paying permanent jobs. Although the facilities are not expected to be complete until November, job seekers have been besieging Workforce Escarosa, which is in charge of hiring the workers, for months.

There are shorter routes from Williston, the center of North Dakota oil production, to Gulf Coast refineries, Bjorklund said, but few offer the same advantages as the Genesis pipeline in Northwest Florida.

He said most of the pipelines proliferating in Gulf states from Texas to Florida are transporting natural gas or lack the capacity to deliver sufficient amounts of Bakken Shale oil from a railroad junction to the refinery. Production at the Jay oil field has declined substantially since drilling there began in the 1970s. meaning that pipeline has a large amount of unused capacity.

“It’s very underutilized since the oil fields have slowed down in the Florida Panhandle and Southern Alabama,” Bjorklund said. “It’s a perfect fit.”

He said the infrastructure improvements at the rail/pipeline junction at Walnut Hill include a 100,000 barrel storage tank, a system of hoses to pump the oil from the tanker cars to the pipeline and an office building. Genesis Energy is also spending about $1 million to improve Escambia River Electric

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Cooperative transmission facilities in the Walnut Hill area.

The unit trains transporting Bakken Shale oil south to Walnut Hill will comprise 118 cars loaded with sweet, light crude. That is about 79,000 barrels of oil. Initially, at least, it will take about 16 hours to pump the oil from the railroad cars to the storage tank. Bjorklund said Genesis Energy plans to unload two trains a week at first and eventually expand to as many as six a week.

Bakken Shale oil is lighter, has a lower sulfur content and requires less refining to produce gasoline than the heavy crude produced from wells in Louisiana, Texas and the Gulf of Mexico.

Bjorklund said gasoline refined from oil pumped out of the ground in North Dakota will be sold to consumers along the Gulf Coast. He said that gasoline will be available throughout the 850.

It may seem ironic, but if price reductions at the pump result from refining Bakken Shale oil on the Gulf Coast, it will be consumers in Northwest Florida and neighboring Gulf States who benefit, not North Dakotans.

A lt e r n a t i v e F u e l

F i l l ’ Er Up! Harry Mulhearn fills up his 2002 Honda Civic at the Leon County Schools bus yard. He pays $2 a gallon for the natural gas — a price that leaves him smiling.

“The Civic is much peppier, I think, because of the transmission.

When you drive that car you feel like you have a car beneath you. We own a Prius, and we hardly ever use it.”

Harry Mulhearn

The city of Pensacola’s gas utility is building three CNG fueling stations and actively recruiting business customers. Nopetro, a new company based in Tallahassee, is building a station on the west side of town for the Leon County School District, which has ambitious plans to replace most of its diesel-powered school buses with natural gas buses over the next 10 years.

The City of Tallahassee, Leon County and Florida State University operate CNG vehicles that are fueled at the city’s natural gas utility’s site.

The City of Milton has operated a CNG station open to the public for several years and the City of Gulf Breeze is building a station on Highway 98.

Okaloosa Gas district, based in Valparaiso, wants to build a fueling station in the future and is working with other public utilities in the region to develop a CNG fueling industry in smaller counties in western Florida.

CNG has many appealing advantages, but there is a downside. The availability of fueling stations is improving, but they are still few and far between in most areas. The market for CNG vehicles has been limited, but is growing rapidly. All of the major semi truck manufacturers are producing CNG models. Honda, Ford and Chevrolet are producing cars fueled by CNG. Hayward said the CNG Civic he drives cost about $24,000.

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A lt e r n a t i v e F u e l

Another problem, especially in cars, is the size of the tanks that hold the gas. Vicki O’Neil, City of Tallahassee gas system support administrator, pointed out that the tank takes up about half the space in the trunk of a Civic owned by her agency. So would she get one for her personal use?

“I’m actually contemplating it,” she said. “If you sit down and start working out the numbers on this then I imagine you’ll see a big payback in a short time.”

O’Neil said it’s much greener and cheaper to drive a CNG car than an electric car. “It takes three times as much natural gas to generate that amount of electricity than it does if you use it in a car,” she said.

The fuel tank in Mulhearn’s car holds the equivalent of about five gallons of gasoline. He said he gets about 230 miles on a tank of CNG, meaning he has to drive to Tallahassee once a week to fuel his Civic. Mulhearn lives in Jefferson County, which is a “dry county” when it comes to natural gas. Most Panhandle counties, however, have natural gas utilities and businesses to facilitate development of CNG fueling stations.

Mulhearn worked out a deal with the Leon County School District to fuel his car at the

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Savi n gs Versus Space Vicki O’Neil, City of Tallahassee gas system support administrator, at a refueling station in Tallahassee. She likes the lower cost but warns the tank takes up about one-half the trunk space in her city-owned car.

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“It takes three times as much natural gas to generate that amount of electricity than it does if you use it in a car.” Vicki O’Neil, City of Tallahassee Gas System Support Administrator school yard near Lincoln High School on the east side of Tallahassee.

“They decided to charge me $2 a gallon to make it economical, so I’m paying $2 a gallon,” Mulhearn said. The Leon School District calculates the cost of fuel for its 14 existing CNG buses at $1.35 a gallon, less than half of what it pays to fuel its diesel buses.

The district operates about 160 buses on school days. Manny Joanos said the district plans to expand its fleet of CNG buses to 30 by the time students return for the new school year in August and will then add 15 new CNG buses a year.

“Over the next 10 years we’ll probably be at 90 percent natural gas,” he said.

Leon School Superintendent Jackie Pons said the main reason he spearheaded the drive to switch the district’s school buses to CNG was cost.

“I think the advantages (include) saving us about $7,000 a year per bus,” Pons said. “It’s cleaner. It’s safer. It’s American made. We’re protecting the environment. We’re teaching our children about protecting the environment, and we’re savings taxpayers money at the same time.”

The Leon School District has engaged Nopetro of Tallahassee to build a new fueling station on the west side of Tallahassee. The facility will serve school buses and other heavy vehicles, said Nopetro CEO Jorge Herrera. A former Miami lawyer, Herrera plans to develop a network of CNG fueling stations around Florida. The Tallahassee station is the first one.

Herrera said he’s lining up other clients interested in fueling their vehicles at the Tallahassee station. One is the Four Points at Sheraton Hotel, an older hotel near downtown Tallahassee and Florida State University that the Starwood hotel chain has renovated to exacting environmental standards.

Four Points Manager Bo Schmidt said the goal is to develop Tallahassee’s first LEED-certified hotel. LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the gold standard for high-quality green construction.

“Our company has as one of our core values to do things that make sense for the environment, for the hotel, for the community and for the world,” Schmidt said. “We use that philosophy in every decision we make.

“We obviously need an airport shuttle at the hotel, and they’re opening a natural gas fueling station by the airport, so it will be very convenient for us to fuel our shuttle there,” he said.

Pons has become a CNG proselytizer, urging his colleagues in Northwest Florida, especially Escambia and Okaloosa counties, to convert their school bus fleets to natural gas. He said they are interested but have held back because of budget constraints.

The Leon superintendent said he is inviting school, city and county officials from all over the Southeast to a CNG summit in Tallahassee this summer. n

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FOOD TRUCKS

KEEP ON (FOOD) TRUCKIN’ Food trucks — AKA mobile food dispensing vehicles — are the fastest growing business in Florida

I

t’s a Thursday night in Tallahassee and Rebecca Kelly is making a lot of grilled cheese.

The 38-year-old is making the classic sandwich with four kinds of cheese, fresh basil, tomato and sourdough bread — plus bacon if you want some meat on it. She calls it “cheesy goodness in your hand.”

Kelly is among a growing number of entrepreneurs who are starting new eateries across the state. Except there is one key difference that sets Kelly’s roadside café apart from other dining hot spots in the region. Her restaurant is on wheels.

It’s a food truck she bought in 2011. She calls it “Stella” and it took “every penny I had” to purchase.

Kelly’s business, Street Chefs, is not unique to Northwest Florida.

According to the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, food trucks were the fastest growing business in the state in 2011, outpacing their brick and mortar brethren.

From November 2010 to November 2011 there was a 10.5 percent growth in the number of food trucks, or as the state calls them, mobile food dispensing vehicles.

At that same time, an 18-county region covering North Florida from Escambia to Madison County saw the number of food trucks grow from 173 to 205, an increase of 18.5 percent. In comparison, traditional restaurants only saw a 2.1 percent growth in that area.

But the trucks are hardly the little hot dog stands you might see on the beach or on a city street corner. They’re full-scale kitchens on the move.

“As the economy has struggled, people are looking for more inventive ways and different ways to start a business,” said Steve von Bodungen, deputy bureau chief of inspections for DBPR. “And this is probably the purest form of that.”

Across Florida’s northwestern counties, the movement has slowly grown over the past two to three years.

Some of the new entrepreneurs crisscrossing the region with their movable diners want to own full-scale restaurants one day. Some simply were looking for the best way to start a business and make money in a down economy. Others were intrigued by the idea and spurred on by the success of food trucks in other cities across the country — not to mention the popularity of “The Great Food Truck Race” on the Food network.

By Kathleen Haughney, Photos by Scott Holstein and JENNY FOLTZ

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Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

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The state and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association are hoping the trend continues.

Last December and again in May, DBPR held a food truck event in its parking lot, inviting the region’s food truck operators to showcase their cuisine in the state’s capital city and promote the new type of business. Many of the trucks have a niche, whether it’s focusing on a particular type of food, focusing on local ingredients or only offering organic food.

“There’s a lot of creativity that goes into these things,” von Bodungen said.

He said the event let people see that the trucks had to undergo inspection just like a restaurant and that the trucks must really have a full-scale kitchen. They are required to have a three-compartment sink, fresh water, plus storage for wastewater. Proper refrigeration and a power hookup are also a must.

Carol Dover, president of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, said that her organization’s membership staff is working on bringing in food truck chefs as members. The group isn’t worried about food trucks taking away business from traditional restaurants, she said.

As long as the truck operators understand they need to pass inspection, just like a regular restaurant, her board wants them in the state.

“Some of them are amazing,” she said. “We showcased them at our food show this year. It was just unbelievable.”

In 2009, 148 miles from Tallahassee in Seaside, Fla., Jenny and James

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Murphy were one of the first food truck operators in Florida to break the mold of the traditional hot dog or ice cream truck.

James, 44, had worked in the restaurant industry for 25 years as a manager and bartender, which included a stint managing a barbecue restaurant in St. Thomas. Jenny, 41, also had experience tending bar and doing bookkeeping for a restaurant but had recently switched careers and was working as a massage therapist and wellness coach.

James had been toying with the idea of opening a restaurant, but saw a picture on Google of a man who had converted an 18-wheeler into a barbecue joint. Jenny said she doubted the ritzy coastal town would go for that but suggested an Airstream trailer as an alternative.

A $250,000 loan, one Airstream trailer and a DBPR approval later, they were in business, setting up their trailer on the 30A in an area that would later be frequented by additional food trucks and trailers. Their name: Barefoot BBQ. They just finished paying off their equipment loan and were able to turn a small profit by the second year, even when many of the region’s businesses suffered because of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“We’re blessed,” she said.

At the height of the tourism season, they employ 17 people. James does most of the day-to-day work, while Jenny focuses on the bookkeeping and social marketing side.

She works a few shifts as well though, helping her husband serve lunch

PhotoS by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

M e a ls on W heel s (Previous page) The grill is open at Barefoot BBQ in Seaside. (This page) James Murphy, owner of Barefoot BBQ, is ready to take orders. (Opposite page) Hustling to fill orders for Barefoot BBQ customers (top); Bill and Heavenly Dawson serve free-range hot dogs at Wild Bill’s Beach Dogs (center); Airstreams line 30A in Seaside, offering a host of food options (bottom).

F OOD T R UC K S

and dinner for less than $10 to tourists and local residents. There’s barbecued ribs, pork sandwiches and mac ’n’ cheese.

“It’s one of those careers where you never sleep on it,” she said.

Barefoot BBQ has opted to stay in one place, with Murphy noting it would take a lot of work to move their trailer. But now, they’re not the only ones in the area cooking up food inside of a trailer or food truck.

“The great thing is many other businesses have gotten on the bandwagon,” she said.

The Melt Down on 30A is famous in the area for its grilled cheeses, and Wild Bill’s Beach Dogs produces free range hot dogs.

“While it’s significantly less expensive, faster and easier to make massproduced food, we just don’t think it’s the right thing to do,” wrote Bill and Heavenly Dawson, a Seaside couple who also own four brick and mortar eateries, including Heavenly Shortcakes & Ice Cream and Pickle’s Beachside Grill, on Facebook. “So no antibiotics or hormones go into our animals. No nitrites, filler or junk go into our dogs.”

Breaking into the business may be the hardest part though.

Murphy said people frequently ask how much capital they need to start up a food truck business. Those inquiring usually estimate $40,000 to $60,000, and are surprised by the answer of $250,000.

“It’s a much bigger project than people think,” she said.

One of the newest locals trying to make a go of it is 26-year-old James

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PhotoS by JENNY FOLTZ

Street Che fs (Clockwise from top left) MoBi, short for mobile bistro, has helped reinvent street food in Tallahassee; Wyatt Seganish, co-owner of Fired Up Pizza, shows off the full brick oven in his food truck; Rebecca Kelly and Lauren Manders with their Street Chefs truck, affectionately named “Stella”; the MoBi food truck team, (left to right) Masao Seki, Brittany Smoak and owner Viet Vu.

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F OOD T R UC K S

Cullen. A South Florida native, he moved to Tallahassee to attend Florida State University and never left. But after graduating in 2010 with a criminal justice degree, he said he only found part time, dead-end jobs.

“I decided if I didn’t find work, I’d make work,” he said.

For about a year, Cullen stewed over the idea of starting a food truck business and finally took the plunge. He decided to focus on making several different types of grilled cheese. “I’ve always enjoyed cooking,” he said.

One sandwich, the DanI, has goat cheese, gouda, sautéed onions, fresh basil and tomatoes. Another, Momma Lambdin, has artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, pepper jack and mozzarella. You can add on items such as prosciutto or grilled onions.

He also has dessert — grilled cheeses that feature fruit and nutella.

“Grilled cheese is almost an endless possibility,” he said. “Everyone remembers grilled cheese from when they were little, their mom making it.”

The hardest part for Cullen was getting the financing, he said. Banks wouldn’t even look at him. “I never envisioned it was that difficult to start a business from that standpoint,” he said. “It’s a cold system.”

In addition to putting some of his own money toward it, Cullen hooked up with a Las Vegas group called Seed Capital that focuses on helping start-ups get cash. The group helped him get the business credit lines to pay for his bright yellow and red truck. From there, he hit the ground running, setting up a website and social media networks to promote himself, even months before the business’ March debut.

“As my dad would term it, it’s getting the real life MBA,” he said.

He’s now trying to get into a regular pattern, showing up at events around the city as often as possible to showcase his food.

“I want my food to be accessible to everybody,” he said.

Social media has been a crucial part to both Cullen’s operation so far and to the food truck movement across the country in general.

In Tallahassee, Kelly and several other food truck operators set up shop in an empty lot next to a Burger King on Tharpe Street for an event called Food Truck Thursday. There’s a pizza truck, which has outfitted its truck with a full brick oven, plus another that serves Filipino cuisine. The popular “Cravings Truck” serves up plates of chicken and waffles, its specialty.

They dish out meals while customers sit at picnic tables or mill about from truck to truck, listening to whatever music group is playing there that night. And they rely on social media and word-of-mouth to help spread the word about other food truck events. They might be at First Friday events

in Railroad Square near Florida State. Or they might be situated for a few hours in a downtown park trying to attract a lunchtime crowd.

“Social media is the food truck’s best friend,” Kelly said.

Many are still in the stages of paying off their loans and hoping that their entrepreneurial gambles will be huge successes.

“It’s not gone as spectacularly as we’d hoped, but it’s not gone as terribly as we’d feared,” Kelly said.

Kelly, who unveiled her truck in May 2011 after nine months of planning and quitting her job as a manager at Bruegger’s Bagels, focuses on comfort food.

Mac ’n’ cheese and a shepherd’s pie wrap with garlic mashed potatoes are on the menu. Sometimes she cooks her grandma’s pierogies. Prices are typically in the $6 range.

Kelly said the food truckers are constantly seeing new faces at their gatherings, but they are also starting to get regulars. At first it was mostly a younger crowd, a lot of college students and hipsters. Now, as the trucks have become a regular presence at lunchtime in downtown Tallahassee, they’re starting to see more families at events like Food Truck Thursday and First Friday as well.

Murphy said she thinks that though other cities have embraced the food truck trend as well — Orlando, Tampa, and South Florida also have large food truck gatherings — that it’s a natural fit for Northwest Florida.

“It fits so well in the Panhandle because there’s such a sense of nostalgia here, so the food trucks and the Airstreams are so well received,” she said.

But Kelly and the Murphys at least, seem to have their eye on something bigger.

Jenny Murphy said though they love the food truck, it does have some pitfalls. It’s dependent on the weather and it is difficult to get insurance to cover it. But, she said, it’s been a great entry into the food business.

“Pretty much, every restaurant we create after this will be brick and mortar,” she said.

Kelly, who is certified through the American Culinary Federation and has worked in the food industry for over a decade, said she has the general thought of a restaurant that cannot move from place to place as an option for her too.

“Owning your own business is like having a tattoo,” she said. “Once you have one, you start thinking about the next one.” n

“Owning your own business is like having a tattoo.

Once you have one, you start thinking about the next one.”

REBECCA KELLY, STREET CHEFS

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Youthful leaders are making their mark on the 850

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By Linda Kleindienst, Photos by Scott Holstein

M

Multi-Talented At the age of 25, Fred Rabbath already has a host of successes under his belt.

ost of them went to school in Florida — and decided it’s a good place for career and family. They also have an intense desire to see communities in the 16-county region of Northwest Florida band together and create a vision to help grow the area’s economy.

These leaders profiled in the fourth round of our 40 Under 40 include the CEO of a major hospital, a filmmaker and inventor, a marketing specialist, a financial planner, a hotelier and an entrepreneur. Five of them have attended a Florida college — including four who earned a degree from Florida State University.

Brian Cook was born and raised in Miami and went to FSU, where he met his wife, in the 1990s. He began his business life owning and operating a Chick-fil-A in Palm Beach Gardens but then broke into hospital work nine years ago, at the age of 28. Since then he has served as a COO and CEO of hospitals in Tennessee and, in March, he became CEO of Capital Regional Medical Center in Tallahassee.

Sabrina McLaughlin began her career in radio then branched into marketing for a local company and the Okaloosa County elections office. She formed her own award-winning marketing firm before joining the administrative team at the University of West Florida, where she teaches marketing and public relations courses and is the university’s director of marketing and communications.

Hemant Patel owns two award-winning hotels in Gadsden County and has been an active proponent of community economic development efforts. Past president of the local Rotary Club and past chairman of the county’s tourist development council, he remains active in the county’s chamber of commerce and the Asian-American Hotel Owners Association.

Fred Rabbath, at the young age of 25, appears to have done it all already.

He has made more than 100 short films — shot and edited with no budget — that have an audience of more than 7.5 million viewers on YouTube.

He’s won more than 20 film festival awards, speaks four languages fluently (and he’s working on three more), is releasing two children’s books this fall and sold a patent for a cooling box fan to GE for a hefty sum. In his spare time he’s produced and directed commercials for companies like McDonald’s and Ace Hardware.

Sterling Scott has managed parking facilities in multiple states, which he opened with his father, and is now focusing on a facility in Bay County near the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. He’s involved with the U.S. Ski Association and has been active in several national charity organizations, including Toys for Tots.

Jonathan Tallman began his career at Northwestern Mutual but quickly broke off to form his own company in the community near where he was born (Eglin Air Force Base). While advising his clients on a wide range of financial issues, from life insurance to investing for retirement, he is active in local organizations like the Rotary Club and chamber of commerce and serves on the alumni board of Northwest Florida State College. He is chairman of the school advisory council for Collegiate High School, coaches basketball at his church (where he also serves on the board), and works at a Guatemalan orphanage twice a year while serving on the board of Friends of Children Everywhere, which operates the orphanage.

Like the young leaders we have previously profiled, these six represent some of the best business leaders that Northwest Florida has to offer and are a credit to their community and the entire region. If you have someone you’d like to have considered as one of 850’s 40 Under 40, please send a nomination to lkleindienst@rowlandpublishing.com. The final deadline to submit a nomination is Sept. 1, 2012.

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Business Philosophy Ask good questions.

Make good choices.

My Work Entails Leading the strategic planning and facilitation of all marketing efforts on behalf of the UWF. Definition of Success Doing what you love and doing it well. As long as you are living by your own definition, that’s all that matters.

Role Model/Mentor If I were to sum up what so many wonderful mentors have taught me, I would have to say that it is the steadfast truth that your integrity is not a commodity.

Your integrity is a precious gift that cannot be replaced, bartered or bought back.

Hardest Lesson Learned I have always said that I have learned way more from the things that I have failed at versus anything that put an award on my wall. The most important lesson, however, is reflected by one of my favorite quotes from Maya Angelou: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

My Career I was a student at the University of Alabama and had just finished a freshman orientation seminar for Communication majors.

I went to the college’s Placement & Internship director and asked if he had positions open. He walked me to the development director’s office at Alabama Public Radio. She was in the market for a senior who could take on developmentrelated activities. She hired me on the spot. The placement director later admitted he didn’t realize I was a freshman.

Important Leadership Skills You have to inspire people to be great and do great things.

You must understand the difference between professional will and personal ambition, and never let the latter get in your way. You must be able to make tough decisions and do so with integrity.

Sabrina McLaughlin, 32 Navarre Higher Education Marketing and Communication Arts Faculty Executive Director, Marketing & Creative Services, University of West Florida; Adjunct Faculty, Communication Arts

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Northwest Florida Business Growth While today’s economy presents an assortment of challenges, business owners and executives have to think strategically as opposed to tactically.

So many times I see people operating in a reactionary mode when they could have easily thought in a proactive manner and developed a strategic approach to the problem.

Brian T. Cook, 36 Tallahassee Hospital CEO President and CEO, Capital Regional Medical Center – HCA

Business Philosophy Culture is the ultimate competitive advantage.

My Work Entails I spend the majority of my time developing relationships with my customers — the physicians. The patient is our mission (why we are in business), but the physician helps advance our organization.

Definition of Success When people choose to be at my hospital. My goal is to create the place of choice for clinicians and nonclinicians to work, doctors to practice and, ultimately, the patient to choose for health care needs.

Mentor/Role Model My father serves as my biggest, because he had to work extremely

hard for everything he has today. He spent his entire career in health care, starting at the bottom and eventually working his way up to the administrator/CEO roll he had for the last 25 years of his career.

Hardest Lesson Learned You cannot effectuate change overnight. Change starts by creating a high-functioning, high-engaging culture. At my first CEO job in Chattanooga, I tried too quickly to change what I saw was wrong. I had to have a wake-up call to realize I needed to take a step back, evaluate the culture, team and challenges ahead, and work on engaging the people in the organization to drive the change instead of doing it myself.

Important Leadership Skills First, be a good listener. By nature, health care leaders are Type A personalities who like to control and drive the situation. But great leaders take the time to listen. Second, you have to be a great communicator. Third, in health care great leaders have to be compassionate. And last, a great leader must have fun.

Northwest Florida Business Growth Continue to provide a great hospital that is one of the largest employers in Tallahassee, is the largest taxpaying entity in Tallahassee and provides cutting edge health care to help recruit large businesses/enterprise to the Big Bend area.

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Fred Rabbath, 25 Tallahassee Videographer-Photographer/Linguist/Author/ Technician/Graphic Designer Self-Employed

Hardest Lesson Learned Having very little to work with shouldn’t be an excuse. Get up and keep trying.

out, because in today’s world you have to be pretty unique to find a job or make one up all on your own.

My Inspiration Comes From Failing. It’s an amazing thing that happens. When you fail, you learn so much more than when you win.

Trial and error is the best teacher.

Definition of Success Being able to make money with what you love doing.

Important Leadership Skills The ability to talk. It’s such an important skill set. It’s an art to be able to encourage people without offending them, yet being able to give them constructive criticism. Talking to people and communication is key.

Mentor/Role Model I have many, ranging from my father to Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. They were my role models because they worked through many obstacles and still were able to make something out of themselves.

What advice would you give your 16-yearold self? School isn’t everything. Education is important, but the real world is VERY different from school. In fact, when in school make sure you have something set up before you get

Business Philosophy Even big things have small beginnings.

My Work Entails I do several things, from inventing to making feature films and video commercials for companies such as McDonalds and Ace Hardware — as well as writing children’s books.

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Northwest Florida Business Growth There is a problem in this area — not enough people are talking and working together. The only way to grow is by helping each other. This isn’t a race, this is teamwork. It’s the only way to grow as a community and focus more on all the great local talent and workers in the area.

Business Philosophy People. Inclusion.

Diversity. Service. Community. Profit.

My Work Entails Getting involved with every aspect of the business, making sure all of our clients leave happy and have enjoyed their experience.

Definition of Success True entrepreneurs are never satisfied. We always want more.

Mentror/Role Model Other than my mother, I would say David Gardner (executive director of the Gadsden County Chamber of Commerce).

After I graduated, David kind of took me under his wing and would help give me direction and guidance. We have created a great bond. He helped me get connected inside of the community, and for that I owe him a lot.

Hardest Lesson Learned Don’t over reach. The economy can take a turn at any given moment.

You want to ensure your family is taken care of, no matter what situation.

My Career I grew up in hospitality, and anyone that knows me would tell you I love to be around people. And what better business? I get to meet 100 new people every day.

Important Leadership Skills Communication, planning, understanding strengths and weaknesses, empowering, setting examples, evaluating, counseling, understanding and identifying resources and teaching.

Northwest Florida Business Growth Get all the leadership together from all of the municipalities and counties, including the tourist development councils, economic development councils and chambers of commerce, and hold a forum to help us locate where we are and where we want to go. We would create a strategic vision with a five-year plan, broken down into key objectives and milestones to reach by year. We would look at everything, from the permitting process to the targeted business and industries we would be looking to bring in to where we want to locate these industries. We would create a promise for those industries that we target that they could be laying brick within three to six months if they choose to relocate their business within our economic development master plan.

We as a community also need to do a better job of retaining the wonderful graduates that FSU, FAMU and TCC produce.

Hemant Patel, 30 Quincy Hospitality General Manager and Part-Owner, Holiday Inn Express & Suites and Parkway Inn & Suites

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Business Philosophy Lead by example and inspire others.

My Work Entails I began working with the development team before Covered Airport Parking was little more than an empty plot of land. During the initial stages I was working alongside engineers, access control specialists and an array of different subcontractors, as well as some members of The St. Joe Company’s development team. It was a fun and exciting period to assist in the creation of a multi-million dollar facility.

Definition of Success The ability to balance your life. It is easier said than done, but with all things in life there must be a balance. If you really think about it, no person can have true success without the proper balance of work, fun, family and faith.

Mentor/Role Model My father. His success in business is unparalleled from my perspective. He has helped guide me through life using metaphors and words of wisdom. As much as my father has helped me, he has also let me figure things out on my own, even if it is the hard way. But there is something to be said about standing on your own two feet.

Hardest Lesson Learned Perseverance and courage will lead to success. I learned this the hard way when I was skiing a downhill race in Grand Targhee, Wyom. The first year I attended this event I crashed and tore my knee. The second year I again crashed and dislocated my shoulder.

The third year I finished and placed in the Top 10, earning a spot on the Western Regional Ski Team (representing the western half of the country). I later was nationally ranked in the Top 100 for my age group in alpine ski racing. If I hadn’t had the perserverance and courage to face that race three times, I may never have succeeded in that third attempt.

Important Leadership Skills The ability to recognize what people’s strengths and weaknesses are, including your own, in order to lead a team to success.

What advice would you give your 16-year-old self? Don’t be so crazy. If you prioritize what is truly important in life, you will be ahead of the game tomorrow.

Sterling Scott, 27 Panama City Beach Operational Management and Business Development General Manager, Covered Airport Parking

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Northwest Florida Business Growth Communicate that young professionals and entrepreneurial-minded individuals truly have a unique opportunity to become successful in a beautiful and increasingly developed area.

Jonathan Tallman, 24 Niceville Financial Advisor Owner, The Tallman Group LLC

Business Philosophy Always put the client’s needs first.

Lessons learned from him include hard work,

My Work Entails Working with individuals and businesses to achieve financial security by offering insurance and investment products and by providing an independent perspective and the highest quality of service to clients.

going to do, follow through on things and

Definition of Success Having a passion for what you do and helping people while you do it.

Mentor/Role Model My father, Michael Tallman. He has been extremely instrumental in teaching me leadership and business skills.

always be honest, do what you say you’re always make time for your family.

Hardest Lesson Learned Value your relationships because life is short.

My Career I’ve always been a goal-oriented person. This career allows me to assist others in creating and meeting their goals for the future. So, it was a perfect fit.

Important Leadership Skills Authenticity, honesty, integrity and always doing the right thing — even when no one else is watching.

What advice would you give your 16-yearold-self? Always look for opportunities to better yourself.

Northwest Florida Business Growth Educate small businesses on how to plan for their future and leave a legacy for future generations.

What I plan to be doing in 10 years Expanding the business to a larger scale but not forgetting the people that allowed me to succeed along the way. I also plan to write a book on financial literacy and be raising support and awareness for organizations close to my heart.

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SoundByteS

Capital New Beginnings >> Erin VanSickle is the new vice president of communications at the Florida Medical Association. The former Republican Party of Florida communications director, VanSickle has also worked on a number of campaigns. >> Headquartered in Tallahassee for 72 years, Florida Commerce Credit Union has its eye on continued expansion in northern Florida and neighboring states. The credit union won approval from the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation to change its name to First Commerce Credit Union. In its first step towards regional expansion, it plans to open a financial center in Thomasville this summer. >> Karen Moore celebrated the 20th anniversary of Moore Consulting Group with a new website, a new brand and a new name — Moore Communications Group, which she says is more representative of the services the company offers. >> Florida TaxWatch has hired Elizabeth Carrouth as the new executive director of the Florida TaxWatch Center for Educational Performance & Accountability. She most recently served as a senior legislative analyst for the Florida Senate Committees on Pre-K-12 and Higher Education. >> Nancy Blum-Heintz has joined Enterprise Florida as vice president of Strategic Alignment & Communications. Based in Tallahassee, Blum-Heintz moved into this newly created position after serving as chief communications officer for the Department of Economic Opportunity. >> Kellie Scott has joined the Gunster law firm’s Tallahassee office as an associate. She is a member of the environmental and land use practice team and focuses on environmental and administrative law. Prior to joining Gunster, Scott was a senior attorney at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Scott

Harris

>> Chris Clark, who started his career working for Gov. Jeb Bush, will serve as chief of staff to incoming Senate President Don Gaetz. Clark has been the senator’s top aide since the Niceville Republican was elected to the Senate in 2006. Gaetz has also tapped Katie Betta as his spokeswoman. Betta was in charge of communications for House Speaker Dean Cannon for his entire term as speaker, after nearly three years as spokeswoman at the Republican Party of Florida. Lisa Vickers, who recently resigned as executive director of the Florida Department of Revenue, will join the Senate president’s team as senior policy advisor for government operations.

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>> Hotel Duval has named Randy Esponda as the Head Bar Manager of Level 8 Lounge. He will be responsible for overall operations, with an emphasis on customer service and creative promotions and execution. Esponda has already been instrumental in designing many successful promotions, including the return of Little Black Dress Night. >> TALCOR Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. has become an official member of the NAI Global network, changing its name to NAI TALCOR. NAI Global manages a network of 5,000 professionals and 350 offices in 55 countries around the world. >> A Peaceful Resolution is a new family and business mediation service in Tallahassee that offers parenting coordination services to help divorced couples with children meet challenges with time sharing, communication and parental responsibility and decision making. One of the partner mediators, Leonia Maresch, has a background in mental health therapy and the other, Leonard Helfand, is an attorney-mediator. >> Roderick Kenneth King, M.D., is the new deputy director of the Florida Public Health Institute, which works to develop public-private partnerships to work on public health issues.

Local Honors

>> Prime Meridian Bank has added Tyler Harris to its growing team of financial professionals. Harris has joined the commercial lending team and brings with him eight years of banking and financial services experience. He most recently served as a personal banker with Hancock Bank.

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>> Incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford has tapped Kathy Mears as his chief of staff and Ryan Duffy as communications director. Mears most recently worked as vice president of On 3 Public Relations in Tallahassee. She earlier served as a top aide to former House Speaker Daniel Webster and former Senate presidents Tom Lee and Ken Pruitt and worked as a deputy chief of staff and legislative director for former Gov. Charlie Crist. Duffy served as press secretary for leadership in the House and previously worked as a speechwriter for former Gov. Jeb Bush and former U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez.

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>> J. Kimbrough Davis, Capital City Bank’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, has been named 2012 “Banker of the Year” by the Florida Bankers Association. The annual award recognizes an individual who demonstrates the highest level of commitment to the banking industry and service to the community.

Davis

>> In June, The Florida Bar honored 145 attorneys from throughout the state for their 50 years of dedication to the practice of law. Local honors went to Jack Abelard Harnett of Quincy and eight Tallahassee attorneys: Byron Barclay Block, John D. Buchanan Jr., Talbot D’Alemberte, James E. Joanos, Wilton R. Miller, Gene Talmadge Sellers, Jack Shreve and Donald L. Tucker. >> The Florida League of Cities has honored City of Tallahassee Economic & Community Development Director Michael Parker with the Home Rule Hero award for his tireless efforts during the 2012 legislative session to advance the League’s legislative agenda and help protect the home rule powers of Florida’s cities. >> Two Tallahassee lawyers are among the 77 Florida lawyers who have earned Florida Bar board certification — a designation that places them

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among the only group of Florida lawyers who may use the terms “specialist,” “expert” or “B.C.S.” for Board Certified Specialist when referring to their legal credentials. They are: Nathan Aldrich Adams IV — Education Law; Shannon Leah Novey — Marital and Family Law. >> State Public Health Veterinarian Carina Blackmore was recently appointed president of the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians. Blackmore, a longtime Department of Health official, is currently bureau chief for Environmental Health and has been the state public health veterinarian since 2003.

Appointed by Gov. Scott >> Marion Hart, 67, of Tallahassee, a retired administrator with the Florida Department of Transportation, to the Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged. >> Joyce Hildreth, 65, of Tallahassee, director of the Division of Blind Services, to the Rehabilitation Council for the Blind. >> Eugene Lamb Jr. and Frank S. Messersmith to the Tallahassee Community College District Board of Trustees. Lamb, 65, of Midway, has been a commissioner with the Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners since 2004. Messersmith, 70, of Crawfordville, has been a governmental consultant with FSM Associates since 2000.

Emerald Coast New Beginnings >> Stan Connally, a senior vice president at Georgia Power, became Gulf Power Company’s 16th president on July 1, succeeding Mark Crosswhite, who has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Southern Company, Gulf Power’s parent firm. Connally, who has headed up Georgia Power’s fossil and hydro generation operations since 2010, began his career with Southern Company in 1989 as a co-op student at Georgia Power’s Plant Yates. He has held positions of increasing responsibility in various areas at Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power. >> Louis Dubin has joined the The St. Joe Company as executive vice president. A fourth-generation real estate developer with a history of creating opportunistic real estate partnerships, he will report to St. Joe CEO Park Brady. Prior to joining St. Joe, Dubin served as president and CEO of LMD Worldwide LLC in New York City, an investment company focused on real estate development and the acquisition of distressed real estate projects. >> Summit Bank NA has named Tommy Tait president of its Pensacola operations. Tait (formerly of Hancock Bank), a banking veteran and native of the Pensacola/Milton area, has long-standing relationships in the area’s banking and finance sectors and is former CFO of the West Florida Medical Center Clinic. >> Kellie Jo Kilberg is the new president of the Walton Area Chamber of Commerce. >> Bridget Richard has joined the Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections as coordinator of voter education and public relations. Richard, who will report

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PROFILED INDIVIDUALS

BUSINESS NEWS

directly to Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux, came from Cox Communications, where she served as a television producer in public affairs for more than five years. >> The McDonald Fleming Moorhead law firm of Pensacola has added Jan Gaston as a real estate closing assistant. He has 20 years of experience in the real estate title business and six years in lending.

Local Happenings

Richard

>> Freedom Communications has sold its properties in Florida and North Carolina to Halifax Media Group. The properties involved in the transaction include Holmes County Times-Advertiser, Bonifay; The Star, Port St. Joe; The Walton Sun, Santa Rosa Beach; Washington County News, Chipley; The Crestview News Bulletin, Crestview; The Destin Log, Destin; Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach; Santa Rosa Press Gazette and Santa Rosa Free Press, Milton; The News Herald, Panama City; and The Times, Apalachicola. >> Howard Group, a Northwest Florida portfolio real estate development company specializing in premier commercial developments and upscale resort residential properties, and Simon Property Group, the world’s leading retail real estate company, have formed a new 50/50 joint venture for Silver Sands Factory Stores in Destin. Howard Group, the center’s developer, will remain 50 percent owner of the upscale outlet center and continue its role as managing partner. >> Trustmark Corporation and BancTrust Financial Group Inc. have signed an agreement to merge BancTrust into Trustmark. BancTrust has 49 offices throughout Alabama and Northwest Florida with $1.3 billion in loans and $1.8 billion in deposits as of March 31, 2012. >> The Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine has launched its own online news section at theandrewsinstitute.com/News/. Articles in this portal provide updates about research and innovation relevant to world-class athletes, weekend warriors, independent baby boomers, little leaguers and all other active citizens. Article topics range from metal-on-metal hip replacements and why concussions are different for girls than they are for boys to low-impact exercises for baby boomers and how genetic research may lead to better treatment for arthritis. >> Fort Walton Beach Medical Center has become the newest affiliate of the University of Alabama Cancer Care Network. Developed by UAB Medicine and the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, the network of hospitals across Alabama, Florida and Georgia provides access to the latest discoveries in cancer research and expert cancer treatment. >> ServisFirst Bank has added a new location to Pensacola, their second in this region in less than 14 months. ServisFirst Bank as a whole has recently hit $2.5 billion in assets and ranked 26 in the Top 100 Community Banks by SNL Financial. >> Beach Berry Frozen Yogurt is the first business slated to begin serving Community Maritime Park visitors in downtown Pensacola. The 27-acre Pensacola Bay waterfront park includes a multi-use stadium, promenades and open green space. A waterfront amphitheater is under construction. Beach Berry Frozen Yogurt will fill one of the two retail spaces in the stadium, leased by the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. >> In June, a delegation from Kazakhstan toured the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority’s Central Water Reclamation Facility in Cantonment. The group was invited under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, which focuses on exposing international visitors to a variety of topics such as waste management practices. They specifically asked to tour the Emerald Coast utility. A delegation from Spain was hosted in October 2011.

Local Honors >> IMS ExpertServices, provider of experts and consultants for top law firms and Fortune 1000 companies, has been selected by the National Law Journal as Best Expert Witness Provider for 2012. The award is a result of the National Law Journal’s readership expressing their preferences across more than 50 categories of legal services. >> Social media tourism marketing efforts conducted by Visit Pensacola were recognized as a runner-up in Travel + Leisure® magazine’s first-ever

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FLORIDA BUSINESS PRODUCTS SALES • SERVICE • SUPPLIES (850) 878-2654 WWW.FLORIDABUSINESSPRODUCTS.COM 850 Business Magazine

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SoundByteS Social Media in Travel + Tourism Awards (SMITTYS). The recognition was for “Best Single Social Media Promotion” for the original 3-Minute Adventures series, which showcases authentic views of the Pensacola Bay Area through first-person point-of-view videos aimed at boosting tourism. (Visit Bucks County from Pennsylvania was the winner in this category.) >> Seagar’s Prime Steaks & Seafood, the only AAA Four-Diamond restaurant in Destin, has received the 2012 “Certificate of Excellence” given to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor worldwide. >> QMotion Shades, based at Pensacola’s Ellyson Industrial Park, has won the 2012 “Best New Technological Innovation” from the Window Covering Manufacturing Association. The automated window shades save energy and use easy-to-install techniques that eliminate the need for electricians or other expensive labor. >> Coldwell Banker United, REALTORS® — Gulf Coast Region has been awarded the 2012 Cartus Broker Network Masters Cup in recognition of its performance on behalf of clients. The award takes into consideration achievements in the areas of marketing of inventory properties, management of Cartus’ destination and affinity businesses, the processing of broker-to-broker referrals and the effective marketing of Cartus.

Coldwell Banker

(L to R) Richard Smith, Marianne Palmer, Denis McKinnon

>> Pen Air Federal Credit Union has been named one of six winners of the first annual MoPRO Awards through PSCU, Payment Solutions for Credit Unions. PSCU is a provider of financial services to credit unions, representing more than 680 credit unions, offering credit, debit/ATM and prepaid card services.

Now on iPad and iPhone

>> The Florida Bar in June honored 145 attorneys from throughout the state for each one’s 50 years of dedication to the practice of law. Honored from Pensacola were Jack S. Graff, William Spencer Mitchem and James Jerauld Reeves. >> Robert R. Kimmel, a partner with Kimmel & Batson in Pensacola, is among 77 Florida lawyers who have earned Florida Bar board certification — a designation that places him among the only group of Florida lawyers who may use the terms “specialist,” “expert” or “B.C.S.” for Board Certified Specialist when referring to their legal credentials. Kimmel earned board certification in marital and family law; he also is certified as a specialist in criminal trial.

Fort Walton Beach Medical Center has been honored with an “A” Hospital Safety ScoreSM by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits. The Hospital Safety ScoreSM was calculated using publicly available data on patient injuries, medical and medication errors and infections. U.S. hospitals were assigned an A, B, C, D or F for their safety. >> Twin Cities Hospital in Niceville earned the 2012 HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ from HealthGrades, which provides information to help consumers make an informed decision about a physician or hospital. This distinction ranks Twin Cities Hospital among the top 10 percent of hospitals (332) nationwide based on an analysis of patient satisfaction data for 3,837 U.S. hospitals.

Forgotten Coast >> Katie McFarland has opened a housewares store at 118 Commerce St. in Apalachicola. Her store, named Katie McFarland’s, carries handmade pottery and murals made by her as well as painted furniture, blown glass, pillows, linens, shells and various other housewares and gifts.

Check out our digital flipbook. issuu.com/rowlandpublishing

Katie McFarland’s

Compiled by Linda Kleindienst

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special advertising section

PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

It’s all about trust. Every day you make choices to consult professionals on matters as varied as real estate, legal representation and health care. In this special advertising section of 850 Magazine, meet some Northwest Florida professionals dedicated to earning your trust and providing you with their specialized services.

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

special advertising section

Gulf Coast Real Estate Group

William J. ‘Jay’ Rish, Jr. Gulf Coast Real Estate Group I Realtor & Developer

William J. “Jay” Rish, Jr. is a lifelong resident of Gulf County and a third generation realtor and developer.

This gives me the benefit of generations of area connections with the business and government players that can help or hinder a project.

Commercial Real Estate Specialty Office buildings and vacant land with potential for development.

What developments or achievements have you or your company experienced during the last couple of years?

Our company sold more property in Gulf County and Mexico Beach than any other company located in our area. My wife and I are principles in a 25-acre, newly permitted marina development on the Intracoastal Waterway near Port St. Joe. I was majority developer for Marina Cove Subdivision adjacent to the Port St. Joe Marina.

What services does your company offer that can affect the growth and development of commercial real estate in Northwest Florida?

I understand that commercial property is a tool for maximizing one’s profit in a particular business. I can look at the costs associated with acquisition and help investors make a business decision rather than a speculative, impulsive decision.

What differentiates you and your company from your main competitors?

My company has been in business since 1965 in Northwest Florida.

What benefits can you offer anyone looking to set up shop in Northwest Florida?

Through my regional area knowledge, development experience and connections, I can shorten the feasibility process based upon my past successes and disappointments.

Gulf Coast Real Estate Group

252 Marina Drive, Port St. Joe, FL 32456 I floridagulfcoast.com I 850-227-5569 or 800-451-2349 (toll free) 56

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

special advertising section

Bayshore Retreat, LLC

“Our hope is to redefine ‘rehab’ as a positive — where people understand it’s more about caring, and quality is more important than quantity.”

What services do you provide?

Residential treatment of alcohol and substance abuse.

Why did you get into this profession?

We saw a need for a better quality of addiction treatment.

Who are your clients?

Adults from all walks of life that need help getting back on track.

How would you describe your practice philosophy or strategy?

Each client is unique and is treated as such.

How long have you been working in your profession?

Eight-plus years.

What is the “secret” of your professional success?

Personal and individualized treatment plans with excellent counselors and staff.

How long have you been in practice in the Emerald Coast?

Two-plus years.

How do you measure success in your profession?

By our clients, both present and previous. The latter stay in touch and refer us to others.

Why did you choose the Emerald Coast as a place to work?

Where else would we want to be? This is home.

Business and education background: LMHC, CHT, MD, Bachelor of Arts and masters degrees are held by our clinical staff. Licensed Massage Therapist and Dietitian.

Awards, honors, recognitions: Licensed by the Florida Department of Children and Families; scored exceptional rating

Describe any new practices, technologies or systems in your business or profession which you provide.

While it may not be a new business concept, we feel that it is one that has been lost in our industry: respect for the individual.

What are your community involvements?

Seasonal volunteering and donations at shelters for animals as well as humans.

Bayshore Retreat

P.O. Box 365, Destin, FL 32540 I 850.687.6831 I bayshoreretreat.com 850 Business Magazine

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special advertising section

Capital Regional Women’s Health

Michael L. Douso, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.

Kathrine Lupo, M.D.

What is your area of specialty?

General gynecology, robotic surgery, urogynecology and pelvic floor reconstruction.

What services do you provide?

Gynecology and obstetrics.

Gynecologist, Capital Regional Women’s Health

Gynecologist & Obstetrician, Capital Regional Women’s Health

Business and education background: Bachelor of Science, Syracuse University; Graduate Student Biology, Fordham University; Medicinae Doctoris, 1982, Hahnemann University How would you describe your practice philosophy or strategy?

Our practice is patient-focused and driven. We try to utilize the latest technologies and skills to better serve our patients.

Has your practice expanded recently? In what way?

Our practice is now part of the Capital Regional Medical Center network of care, which allows us to offer more services to our patients.

Business and education background: Graduated with a medical degree from the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa., and completed residency at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

What is the “secret” of your professional success?

I thoroughly explain to patients about their diagnosis and different options in a respectful way.

Describe any new practices, technologies or systems in your profession which you provide.

Robotic surgeries, in-office procedures such as Hysteroscopy and LEEP.

Capital Regional Women’s Health

2770 Capital Medical Boulevard, Suite 110, Tallahassee, FL 32308 I 850.877.5589 58

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

special advertising section

Matthews Jones & Hawkins, LLP

Michael Jones and Dana Matthews What kind of law do you specialize in?

Matthews Jones & Hawkins transaction and litigation teams encompass a full spectrum of real estate representation, estate planning, asset protection, corporate reorganization and complex work-out transactions, bankruptcy, civil, criminal, family law and personal injury. The firm has attorneys licensed in federal and state courts in Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, District of Columbia, Alaska and has offices in Destin and Niceville.

Tell us about your recent expansion of staff and services.

Dana Matthews started the Destin firm in 1983. Michael Jones had his own firm and since 1984 served our region with diligence, compassion and integrity in the areas of personal injury, probate and estate planning. “Mike and I have been best friends since age 12 and decided to spend the rest of our careers working side by side,” says Dana Matthews. Over the past year they hired three new attorneys to handle the firm’s growing litigation practice.

What is your business philosophy?

We truly believe hard work and our free enterprise system in a democratic society make it possible to turn dreams into reality. When you incorporate that concept into the desire to provide unparalleled service to clients in need, success and client satisfaction will result.

You made a bold choice to use a panther to symbolize your firm in your marketing campaign. Why? The Florida panther’s strength, agility and tenacity are the qualities our clients expect and deserve.

What is the “secret” to your success?

Client service is key to our law practice.

Our clients can expect an honest assessment of their legal situation without empty promises. We strive to develop relationships with each and every client so that our attorneys and staff have a clear understanding of each individual client’s personal and business needs.

What does the future hold for your firm?

The growth and success of Matthews Jones & Hawkins throughout the past quarter century has been tied to the growth and vitality of Northwest Florida. We expect that relationship to continue into the future.

Matthews Jones & Hawkins, LLP

4475 Legendary Drive, Destin I 850.837.3662 323 E. John Sims Parkway, Niceville I 850.729.7440 destinlaw.com 850 Business Magazine

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

special advertising section

Core Business Passion John Paul Somers John Paul Somers & Company Real Estate Broker

Specialty: Retail properties, office buildings, shopping centers, hotels, warehouses, apartment complexes, vacant land with development potential What services does your company offer that can affect the growth and development of commercial real estate in Northwest Florida?

We are a boutique real estate brokerage offering commercial sales and leasing services.

Our transactional objective is to maximize synergy for our clients, thereby creating a more economically supportive and stimulating environment for surrounding commercial development, which positively impacts growth in Northwest Florida.

What differentiates you and your company from your main competitors?

We’re passionate about our core business, brokerage sales and leasing, which allows us to maintain a stringent focus on aggressively marketing our clients’ properties as opposed to being distracted by other lines of business, such as property management.

What developments or accomplishments has your company achieved within the last couple of years?

We’re proud to be one of the top producing brokerage firms in Northwest Florida. We have leased almost 300,000 square feet of prime retail and office space in the last 24 months, while selling more than $20 million of premier commercial properties during the same period.

What benefits can you offer an individual or company looking to set up shop in Northwest Florida?

We are very thankful for our success and look forward to leveraging our broad-based network of clients to help facilitate relationships with new business clients interested in establishing a presence in our area.

John Paul Somers & Company, Real Estate Broker

36164 Emerald Coast Parkway, Suite 8, Destin, FL 32541 I (850) 259-9732 I jps@johnpaulsomers.com I jpsomers.com 60

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

special advertising section

PRIME COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES

Ruckel Properties, Inc. Real Estate & Development

Niceville, Fla., is the perfect place to locate a new business.

Centrally positioned in Okaloosa County, it is close to Eglin Air Force Base. There is also easy access to Interstate 10.

Northwest Florida State College, with its state-of-the-art performing arts center and emergency management center, is a valued partner in creating a talented workforce. Just minutes from Hurlburt Field, Duke Field and those white Destin beaches, Niceville offers smalltown living that means quality of life, not lack of choices. Niceville also offers her own bay, bayous, creeks and streams, parks and recreational facilities.

Across from the new Walmart in Niceville are two 1.8-acre parcels for lease that are accessible from Highway 20. This property is one of the best opportunities in the area. Its close proximity to Eglin, schools, a state college, health care and large residential communities makes it the perfect location for a new business.

Across from Niceville High School, Ruckel Properties is selling 7.15 acres of prime Highway 20 frontage. This commercial parcel is near Eglin, Walmart, Northwest Florida State College and the Swift Creek, Rocky Bayou and Bluewater Bay neighborhoods.

Ruckel Properties has been the premier developer of commercial and residential property in Niceville and Valparaiso since 1955.

Whether selling and leasing to others or developing their own projects, Ruckel Properties has been a driving force in creating a quality community.

There is a wonderful opportunity to create a mixed-use development on Bayshore Drive in Niceville. This offering includes 300 feet of bayou waterfront, 54 boat slips (including a fully leased marina) and threeplus acres across the street. These contiguous parcels are currently zoned commercial and residential. This is a rare opportunity because waterfront like this does not come around often. The property is next to the already existing and vacant Giuseppi’s Wharf restaurant.

Ruckel Properties offers commercial property for sale and lease and is in the process of developing an 1,100-acre parcel within the city limits of Niceville. Businesses looking to locate in Niceville and Valparasio will find a diverse grouping of properties for sale and lease that include waterfront and prime Highway 20 parcels.

Giving Eglin the original 1,400 acres to establish the Air Force Base is just a part of the rich history of Ruckel Properties in Niceville, Fla. Ruckel Properties remains an integral part of the Niceville Community. For more information, call 850-678-2223 or visit ruckelproperties.com.

Ruckel Properties, Inc., Real Estate & Development

1003 John Sims Parkway, Niceville, FL 32578 I 850-678-2223 I ruckelproperties.com 850 Business Magazine

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Capital Corridor

Gadsden, Jefferson + Leon Counties

110 Years Old, And Growing Simpson Nurseries’ recipe for success

By Lazaro Aleman

W

hat do garden centers at Lowe’s, Home Depot, Walmart and countless other retail stores across Florida — and from Texas up into New Jersey for that matter — have in common? The answer is they likely sell flowering, fruit or shade trees and ornamental shrubs grown at Simpson Nurseries in Monticello, 26 miles east of Tallahassee.

At a time when innumerable businesses across the state have succumbed to the recession, including a great many green nurseries, the 110-year-old, family-owned and operated Simpson not only remains viable, but is actually thriving. Indeed, despite a dramatic decline in its commercial sales because of the collapsed housing market and near-stoppage in construction of office complexes, shopping malls and subdivisions, Simpson’s retail sales have boomed as the company has expanded its reach into market niches previously occupied by failed nurseries.

Simpson today is regarded nationally as a leading source of pecan trees, deciduous nursery stock and evergreens — products it wholesales primarily to retail nurseries, landscapers, mass merchandisers and pecan plantations. The company also is a recognized pioneer of many innovative technologies, production methods and marketing ideas that now are industry standards. Accorded the distinction of being Florida’s oldest nursery, Simpson’s millions of shrubs and trees of every color, size and description rank it among the state’s top nurseries. And its annual sales of between $12 and $16 million and workforce of 135 full-time employees make it Jefferson County’s leading private employer.

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Ask longtime owner Fred Beshears — who with sons Rob, Halsey and Thad operates the large-scale enterprise — the secret of Simpson’s longevity, and he will tell you a business’s survival, let alone success, depends on offering at least two of three givens: a quality product, good service and cheap prices.

“At Simpson we offer quality products and excellent service,” Beshears says. “Our prices aren’t cheap, but they’re fair.”

Press him a little more, however, and he will tell you success also requires remaining innovative; staying fleet-of-foot, insofar as adapting to changing industry and market trends; and constantly thinking ahead.

Innovation, in fact, is a Simpson hallmark and at the core of the company’s success, as it constantly strives for new and better ways of producing and marketing its products.

Beshears cites the multimillion-dollar waterrecycle system the City of Monticello and Simpson partnered on recently as an example of innovative thinking. The system allows the city daily to pump 350,000 gallons of recycled water from its treatment plant to two large Simpson ponds, instead of into the wetlands.

Simpson then uses the water to spray and irrigate its green stock, significantly cutting back on groundwater use.

“It’s good for water conservation and the environment and it’s cheaper for us,” Beshears says.

He cites the decision to downscale Simpson’s commercial sales a few years back as an example of forward thinking and staying atop changing market conditions. In 2008, when it became evident the economy was “headed south,” as

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Beshears puts it, Simpson drastically cut back its commercial production.

“That saved us a fortune,” Beshears says.

“Others in the industry got busted because they didn’t plan ahead. Florida has the country’s biggest nurseries association. We had some 2,500 or 2,600 members before the recession. Now we’re down to about 1,200 members. If we have anything going for us, it’s that we’re long-term thinkers and plan ahead. If you worry about today today, you’re too late.

I’m always thinking about tomorrow, next week and next month.”

Photos by Scott Holstein

Innovation Spurs Profits About 1,300 acres in Monticello serve as home for Simpson Nurseries, where innovation helps the company maintain its competitive edge.

“If you worry about today today, you’re too late. I’m always thinking about tomorrow, next week and next month.” Fred Beshears, Owner, Simpson Nurseries His basic work philosophy, summarized on a sign on his cluttered office desk, holds that neatness stifles creativity.

“If you’re worrying about neatness constantly, you’re not thinking creatively,” Beshears says.

“I’m always looking for ideas. If I get an inkling of an idea, we pursue it.”

Listening and reading are two ways Beshears generates ideas. Another is traveling to other nurseries in Florida, other states and even other

countries. The trips expose him to new products, procedures and marketing techniques being developed or implemented elsewhere. If he thinks a product, practice or idea has merit, he will test it at Simpson, if often with a twist.

“What you do might not work totally for me,” Beshears says. “But with a little tweaking, you make it work. If we get even a seed of an idea, we pursue it or we change it to make it work for us.”

He cites a propagation technique that speeds the growth of persimmon trees — an idea he got from a nursery in Missouri.

“Persimmons used to take us four years to

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Growing Success Fred Beshears (above, left) and his sons (L to R – Halsey, Thad and Rob) are always looking for better plants and better ways of producing them.

grow,” Beshears says. “We now do it in one year and do it cheaper. We’re doing things faster and more efficiently all the time.”

Ideas, of course, don’t always bear fruit, or not immediately at least. Sometimes, years of experimentation merely show what doesn’t work, Beshears says, paraphrasing Thomas Edison’s famous dictum that rather than failing 1,000 times to invent the light bulb, he discovered 1,000 ways how not to do it. His point, Beshears emphasizes, is that complacency is not an option for businesses that expect to remain viable.

“Innovation is part of the culture we preach at Simpson,” Beshears says. “We’re always looking for new plants, new procedures and better ways of doing things. We’ve reinvented ourselves three times now. We still sell trees, but how we present, market and sell the trees has changed.”

He notes that early on, the nursery sold bareroot trees and shrubs. Then came balled or burlap-wrapped trees and shrubs, and now the standard is plants in plastic pots. The sizes and types of trees and ornamental shrubs sold have also changed as society has changed.

“We’re now generations removed from the farm,” Beshears offers philosophically. “Most people don’t know green side up from down anymore. They don’t know how to deal with trees. In the old days, everybody knew how to handle bare root trees. Now we have to give plants a life-support system so that they will survive the replanting. That’s what it is; we give you a tree with a life-support system.”

Yards also are smaller, people are more reluctant to use chemicals and the preference is for vivid colors, he adds.

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“Most people don’t know green side up from down anymore. They don’t know how to deal with trees.

In the old days, everybody knew how to handle bare root trees. Now we have to give plants a life-support system so that they will survive the replanting.”

Fred Beshears “We recognized these trends long ago,” Beshears says. “And so we’ve changed accordingly.

We used to sell thousands of big trees such as live oaks and sycamores; now we mostly sell smaller trees, like redbuds, dogwoods and crepe myrtles. The market has changed. I like to think I know what the market needs, but I’ve learned the market rules. You can’t fight it.”

He offers the Chinese pistache as an example of a failure to influence the market.

“It will be the tree of the future,” Beshears insists of the hardy ornamental, which displays

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spectacular fall colors. “But right now, we can’t give it away. Believe me, I’ve been trying for 15 years and it just won’t sell.”

Nonetheless, it says something of Beshears’ tenacity, if not faith in his judgment, that he continues believing in the pistache’s eventual marketability, notwithstanding the market’s current indifference. Possibly Beshears is kidding himself; but it’s likelier — given his success record with past products and his veritable resuscitation and expansion of Simpson during almost four decades — that he has cause for his confidence.

A University of Florida graduate with a degree in agricultural economics, Beshears first came to Simpson in 1970 as a salesman, but ended up doing everything from planting to selling to shipping. “We worked seven-day weeks for months straight,” he recalls of those days.

Simpson then was owned by Gro-Plant Industries Inc., which had purchased the business in 1963 and added deciduous trees and shrubs to its product mix. Already, Simpson was considered a local institution, given it had been started in 1902 and expanded by brothers C.A. and Richard Simpson, the latter a Florida lawmaker from 1939 to 1951 and key member of the Pork Chop Gang, the group of rural legislators who ruled the state until the 1960s. Monticello in the early 20th century was known as the world’s watermelon seed capital, and Simpson Nurseries was recognized as the nation’s leading producer of pecan trees and watermelon seed. By 1970, however, the business was experiencing financial

difficulties; and in 1972, it went into bankruptcy proceedings.

In 1975, Beshears and six local partners purchased the company name and its assets from the court and leased what had formerly been its property, which a Jacksonville outfit had acquired. The nursery then was located northeast of Monticello, on acreage that has since been subdivided. Not long after purchasing Simpson, the seven partners acquired a few acres southeast of town and moved the operation there, where it resides today. By 1995, Beshears had bought out his six partners and was operating the enterprise singly, growing it both in terms of its product offerings and land holdings. Today, Simpson covers about 1,300 acres, boasts a modern office center off U.S. 19 and has spawned two subsidiaries: Big Southern Tree Growers and Total Landscape Supply.

Beshears isn’t resting on his laurels, however.

He continues looking for new ideas, products and practices that will keep Simpson ahead in the game. Most recently, for example, he purchased an adjacent 50,000-plus sq. foot building and 10 acres to serve as a new staging and shipping facility. And he’s keeping his eyes on an adjoining 200-acre property that would make a nice addition to Simpson.

“We’re always looking ahead,” Beshears says.

“Some people accuse us of spending too much time on planning and ideas. But our industry is in the throes of changes and we’re trying to figure how we can remain viable.”

Simpson’s motto possibly says it best: “Over 100 years … and still growing.” n

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BAY Corridor

Panama City, Panama City Beach + Bay Counties

Back From the Brink Businesses buttressed campus threatened with closure By Steve Bornhoft

K

en Shaw, the dean at Florida State University-Panama City, peers from his office overlooking St. Andrew Bay and muses that he could probably get a job at a larger campus. But he quickly perishes the thought and confesses, “You know, I truly wouldn’t want to.”

The waters of the bay this day are calm, but Shaw is a mile high. He has learned that FSUPC’s senior electrical engineering design class finished second among 42 schools that competed in the NASA University Student Launch Initiative. The competition challenges student teams to design, build and launch a reusable rocket to precisely 5,280 feet above ground level.

FSU-PC, competing for the first time, came within 37 feet of perfection, beating out schools that included Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, California State Polytechnic University and MIT. “That’s just great,” Shaw says, shaking his head in near disbelief. “Really great.”

It’s the kind of technical achievement that Shaw, a math whiz, has a particular appreciation for and one that he hopes will inspire additional students to pursue science and engineering degrees at Florida State’s “Campus on the Coast.”

Enrollment growth has been Shaw’s chief and inescapable focus since he was named dean in August 2009 following two stints as acting dean. Arriving first as an associate professor, Shaw has been a part of FSU-PC for 23 of its 30 years. The past three years, as it happens, have been the most tumultuous in the campus’s history. But Shaw, throughout, has been an unflappable optimist.

In April 2009, then-FSU President T.K. Wetherell and an FSU budget crisis committee released recommendations that included closing the Panama City campus. When the news broke, Shaw was preparing to preside over an

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annual conference of the National Association of Branch Campus Administrators, hosted by FSU-PC. The resulting pall had Shaw’s peers offering him condolences.

The news of FSU-PC’s death, however, would prove to have been greatly exaggerated. Hundreds of people responded to a rallying cry by flocking to a “Save Our Campus” assembly and flooding officials in Tallahassee with a torrent of email.

Wetherell caved a little. FSU-PC would sustain substantial but non-lethal budget cuts, necessitating the elimination of 20 jobs. And, in offering a reprieve, Wetherell presented the branch campus with a formidable challenge.

He called upon FSU-PC to become financially self-sufficient within three years and commissioned the formation of a blue-ribbon committee of business and community leaders (see

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sidebar) to help the campus figure out how to achieve that goal.

FSU-PC is getting there.

Enrollment, which stood at 985 students in fall 2008, grew by 29 percent to 1,270 in fall 2011 due to stepped up recruiting efforts; new and strengthened community partnerships; and what Shaw sees as potentially the “most impactful and insightful development” in FSU-PC history. He is thrilled that FSU-PC is home to a new college of Florida State University, the College of Applied Studies.

“I’m very excited about the opportunities that this new college represents,” Shaw says. “We will be better able to meet the needs of Northwest Florida and communities around the country.

This is a pivotal, positive change.”

Today, the college comprises two new academic programs, Public Safety/Security and

Photos by Scott Holstein

Partners Helping Students Ken Shaw, dean of Florida State UniversityPanama City, in his bayside campus office.

(Opposite page, left to right) Camib Giraldo, Leona Murfin, Richard Dodd (president, GAC Contractors), Ken Shaw, Crystal Fought and Miguel Peña.

“At FSU-PC, I think of our community partnerships as flying buttresses. They make possible a larger presence than we would otherwise have.

And they are a key part of what I like most about this campus — its symbiotic relationship with the community.” Ken Shaw, DEAN, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY — PANAMA CITY

Recreation, Tourism and Events. The former program’s online curriculum has attracted the attention of the Florida Department of Corrections and police chiefs and sheriffs nationwide. The latter recognizes the primacy of tourism in the local economy. Both are expected to significantly stimulate enrollment and both relate to efforts by Shaw, who serves as dean of the new college, to apply lessons he learned in reading J. Abner Peddiwell’s “The Saber-Tooth Curriculum.”

Peddiwell’s classic satirical work, first published in 1939, pilloried public education for its tendency to stubbornly perpetuate curriculum of no practical relevance. Shaw trusts that, at FSU-PC, relevance will sell, particularly when it leads to good jobs in a tough economy.

Shaw also views community partnerships as invaluable extensions of the FSU-PC campus and as enrollment stimulators.

“During the Gothic period in Europe, every community wanted its cathedral to be the best and the biggest,” says Shaw, embarking on an extended metaphor. “It reached the point where the limits of traditional church architecture were reached. Flying

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buttresses were invented to reduce the pressure on stone walls.

“At FSU-PC, I think of our community partnerships as flying buttresses. They make possible a larger presence than we would otherwise have.

And they are a key part of what I like most about this campus — its symbiotic relationship with the community. That relationship is awesome and it’s one I don’t believe I could ever leave. It’s like Isaac Newton said: If I have seen further, it’s because I have stood on the shoulders of our community’s giants.”

No matter how Richard Dodd might feel about being called a buttress, Shaw regards him as one.

Dodd is a professional engineer and president of Panama City-based GAC Contractors, providers of road-building, site-work and building construction services. Not long after FSU-PC began its Civil and Environmental Engineering Program in 2002, Dodd helped bring about a partnership between that program and a number of his peers. He and colleagues at GAC combined to pony up $25,000 to endow an engineering scholarship. Subsequently, 10 more engineering firms would do likewise.

The Civil and Environmental Engineering Partners meet twice yearly to receive updates on the campus’s engineering program and to become familiar with opportunities to assist students. In addition, the partners serve on steering committees that oversee academic areas within the program.

“Sometimes, academe can have its head in the clouds,” Dodd says. “We work to make sure the program is linked to reality.”

Peddiwell would approve.

“When the design and construction industry in our area is strengthened, the whole community benefits,” Dodd believes. “The industry provides high-paying jobs so that people can enjoy a higher standard of living and better quality of life. We may not benefit directly, but engineering firms support the local campus of FSU because it is so vital and critical to the economic development of the region.”

Denise Montford, a clinical care specialist at Covenant Hospice in Panama City, chairs the Social Work Partners group that was created last fall. The partners are established social workers who supervise internships completed by FSU-PC students. And, like the engineering partners, they help shape curriculum, ensuring that it thoroughly prepares students for careers in the field.

“For example, we recommended that documentation and medications be addressed, and that has happened,” Montford says. “We’re concerned about educating the community, too. In the media, social workers are usually seen taking

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Community leaders helped preserve FSU-PC’s future In mid-2009, Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell assembled a Blue Ribbon Committee that he charged with creating a five-year vision for the Panama City branch campus of FSU. In so doing, the committee authored 31 recommendations and 119 action items related to four goals: 1. Increase enrollment to 1,400 students by 2012.

2. S trengthen the working relationship between FSU’s main campus and FSU-PC. 3. Increase and enhance partnership opportunities with Gulf Coast State College and Bay District Schools.

4. Seek separate Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation.

The committee was co-chaired by Allan Bense, a former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and Lisa Walters, an attorney and community activist.

Today, Bense serves as a member of the Florida State University Board of Trustees and Walters has been nominated for a seat on the FSU Development Board.

Other members of the Blue Ribbon Committee and the positions they held at the time of the committee’s deliberations were:

» Robert Bradley, VP/Planning and Programs, FSU » Scott Clemons, mayor, City of Panama City » Rep. Marti Coley, Florida House District 7 » Ray Dubuque, area director, AT&T Florida » Neal Dunn, M.D., Panama City Urology Center » Earl Durden, chairman and CEO, Durden Enterprises II, Inc.* » Wm. Britton Greene, president and CEO, The St. Joe Company » Philip Griffitts, Jr., owner, Sugar Sands Beach Resort » Karen Hanes, publisher, Panama City News Herald » William Husfelt, superintendent, Bay District Schools » Chuck Isler, attorney, Isler, Sombathy & Sombathy, P.A. » Jim Kerley, president, Gulf Coast State College » Glen McDonald, vice president, Applied Research Associates » Sean McNeil, P.E., McNeil Carroll Engineering » Mike Nelson, Bay County Commissioner » Dan Nix, Director/Finance and Administration, FSU-PC » Rep. Jimmy Patronis, Florida House District 6 » Ken Shaw, dean, FSU-PC » Jerry Smithwick, Florida chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd » Jerry Sowell, C.P.A., Segers, Sowell, Stewart, Johnson and Brill, P.A. » Susan Story, president and CEO, Gulf Power » Delbert Sumney, technical director, Naval Surface Warfare Center » Janet Watermeier, director, Bay County Economic Development Alliance * Mr. Durden died April 25, 2010

children away from parents or reviewing food stamp applications. But we are so much more than that.

“We work for hospice organizations, not-forprofit organizations, the Veterans Administration, the Social Security Administration and employee assistance programs. We work at the

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macro level as change agents and community organizers. By combating misunderstandings about social work, we can lead more young people to consider careers as social workers and help FSU-PC with its enrollment growth.”

Branch campuses conveniently make available to students living in satellite locations

degree programs that they would otherwise have to relocate to pursue. In addition, they may establish unique niche programs. Two such programs at FSU-PC enjoy stellar, international reputations.

That can’t be bad for enrollment, either.

FSU-PC’s Underwater Crime Scene Investigation Certificate Program is one of a kind.

It’s the product of the combined efforts of the faculty and staff of the campus’s Advanced Science Diving and Criminology programs.

Together, they wrote protocols for working underwater crime scenes replacing, Shaw explains, a “snatch-and-grab mentality about collecting evidence underwater with many of the same collection and forensic science techniques used on land.”

The master’s degree program in psychology at FSU-PC is one of just 14 in the country accredited by the Association for Behavior Analysis International and attracts applicants from all over the world. In conjunction with the graduate program, the campus maintains a non-profit early intervention and community outreach initiative, the Early Childhood Autism Program (ECAP). It provides behavioral treatment for children with developmental disabilities using only evidencebased methods that have been demonstrated to be effective.

George Butchikas, whose daughter, Camille, was diagnosed with autism in 1993, has been raising money and writing checks to the ECAP program since 2001. The owner of Angelo’s Steak Pit in Panama City Beach, he was inspired by Camille to form the George A. Butchikas Foundation, which is dedicated to making affordable occupational and speech therapy available to children with autism.

On April 23, Butchikas contributed another $40,000 to ECAP, bringing the 12-year total of his foundation’s donations to $330,000. In addition, he pledged $15,000 in support of the realization of an ECAP clinic on campus.

“This is good for autistic children, good for FSU students and it’s good for Florida State University,” Butchikas, addressing a press conference, said about ECAP and the clinic plans.

And, arguably, good for the world.

“That’s been the key,” Shaw says about FSUPC’s rebound from the brink. “Campus-community partnerships. At the level of a branch campus, they are indispensible. They create value that no one should want to eliminate.”

Perhaps never again.

“I’m so proud of the way our community has embraced the local campus of FSU,” Dodd enthuses. “So many people were willing to stand up and be counted. It was too much to ignore.” n

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I-10 Corridor

Northern Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa + Walton Counties and Holmes, Washington, Calhoun, Jackson + Liberty Counties

Lifeguard on Duty World class ambulance service calls Northwest Florida home

By Ashley Kahn

P

ainted outside the door to Lifeguard Ambulance is a line, thick and red on the concrete.

As staff step across it, they are reminded why they come to work each morning — to represent a company that began 22 years ago with two employees, one generous loan and a mission to become “the best part of somebody’s worst day.”

John Roche grew up running medical calls with his father, a fire chief in Navarre, Fla. At age 17, he went to EMT school. After training, he decided he wanted to be a forest ranger.

Lucky for Northwest Florida and the nine other locations Lifeguard serves, Roche became a paramedic instead.

Roche’s first employer was Santa Rosa County, which owned the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system at the time. Today, he owns the company that runs all emergency and non-emergency calls in the county.

In the mid-1980s, Santa Rosa sold its ambulance service to Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), and tasked Roche with developing an air ambulance operation. He signed a lease on an aircraft with Pensacola Aviation before being transferred by HCA to manage ground operations in Clearwater, Fla. — home of the first public utility EMS system. No sooner was Roche back on the air ambulance wing than a Japanese company purchased the operation he had worked so hard to create.

For Secomerica, profitability took priority over potential. But Roche and his wife Deborah saw the future of the air ambulance service and asked for the opportunity to buy it. There was only one problem — they had no money.

John’s parents had such faith in the idea they cashed in their life insurance policies, took out a second mortgage on their home and gave the 28-year-old couple every penny they had. In February of 1990, the Roches’ dreams took flight.

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A Family Affair With a loan from his parents, John and Deborah Roche built their Milton-based air and ground ambulance service from two employees to more than 700.

A Wing and a Prayer John and Deborah Roche were Employee No. 1 and No. 2 of Lifeguard Ambulance. Working out of a 10 feet by10 feet office, they ran the air ambulance service for seven years before another chance occurrence changed the course of their company.

After a dear friend was laid off, Roche figured it was as good a time as any to expand his operation. The way he saw it, his friend would have a job and could feed his family, and he would have the opportunity to get back into the ground ambulance business.

They hit the ground running with the purchase of their first ambulance for $2,500. The next logical question was where to put it. Florida was not an option, because of strict Certificate of Need and Necessity laws, but Roche had a gut instinct.

“I’m a huge foodie ... I love to eat,” he says. “So I thought, let’s go to New Orleans! That will give me an excuse to go there once a week and eat.”

His wife adds: “He’s not kidding.”

Within a year of opening in New Orleans, Lifeguard became the largest ambulance company in the city. Next came Birmingham, then

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Pensacola, Nashville and Dallas. Roche muses, “We open up wherever there’s something fun to do and good to eat.”

No joke, however, is the breadth of Lifeguard’s service out of its small Pensacola hangar, a port of entry for customs clearance. There are many days Lifeguard aircraft leave Northwest Florida and fly directly to Costa Rica, Venezuela, Haiti and beyond.

“Pensacola just declared itself an international airport. We do a lot of international flying,” John Roche says. “Because Lifeguard is an international air transport company, I believe we were a factor in labeling this airport.”

Now serving nine locations throughout the Southeast and one in Costa Rica (yes, he likes the food), Lifeguard Ambulance Service has grown from two employees to more than 700.

Success Starts With Service Perhaps greater than Roche’s love of food is his love of helping others. As the company’s tag line promises, “Around the corner or around the world, Lifeguard is always at your service.”

Photo by Scott Holstein

Deborah Roche recalls a conversation with a colleague who told her, “We need to be the Walmart of ambulance services.” She said, “No, we don’t. We need to be the corner drug store, the hometown ambulance service.”

Lifeguard does not provide 9-1-1 service in all locations, but the company with regional and international ties strives to make a home everywhere it lands. For John and Deborah, home is Northwest Florida, where Lifeguard Ambulance is headquartered in Milton.

“When we bought the business, we couldn’t wait to get home, so we brought it home,” Deborah Roche says. “Politeness and honor and your word — those things still count here, and that’s why we’ve made this our foundation, the quality of life.”

Lifeguard’s footprint in the 850 area code continues to grow. When the Roches established headquarters in Santa Rosa County, they signed an exclusive contract with Santa Rosa County to provide the 9-1-1 service. In Escambia County, they hold a Certificate of Need and Necessity to provide all non-emergency services. The Bay County Commission recently voted 5-0 to enter into an agreement with Lifeguard for all nonemergency business.

“Our contract with Santa Rosa County says we’ll be on scene in 10 minutes or less 90 percent of the time,” John Roche says. “What you hope is you or your family are not in that 10 percent variable.”

As he points out, many companies entering into a high performance EMS contract view each percentage point as it equates to dollars.

If you want to run a business as a business, you meet the requirements of the contract, But for every point over 90, you have too many resources, too many ambulances on the road, too much manpower. A company concerned strictly with its bottom line would perform at the bare minimum to maintain the agreement.

Not Lifeguard.

“We don’t want your family member, our family member, anyone to be in that variable, so we strive every month to hit 100 percent,” Roche says. “That’s part of our commitment to the communities we serve.”

Normally the services Lifeguard provides are funded by the public sector. But more communities are recognizing the benefits of private EMS service. It’s a good public-private partnership.

It’s also the future of Lifeguard Ambulance.

According to John Roche, there are many municipalities, cities and counties that can no longer afford their EMS systems. In Columbia County, for example, the EMS was run by the county Fire Department, and the county could not afford to subsidize the service. Lifeguard drew up an RFP and won the contract.

“We came in at zero subsidy and saved the county $1.2 million, and the response times are so much better than before,” he says. “We have put more ambulances on the streets, retained 100 percent of employees and we have a happy community. It’s a win-win, and we’re seeing more counties in Florida contacting us about similar projects.”

9-1-1 in the 8-5-0 Since establishing its Milton headquarters in 2007, Lifeguard Ambulance has created new jobs, growing its staff from 70 to 150 employees, and increased patient transport volume by 100

CHECK THEIR VITALS

» Number of Employees 700–800

» Number of Ground Ambulances 135

» Number of Air Ambulances 6

» Service Locations

Birmingham, Ala. Chattanooga, Tenn.

Costa Rica Houston, Tex. Milton, Fla. Lake City, Fla. Mobile, Ala. Nashville, Tenn.

Pensacola, Fla. Panama City, Fla.

» Awards

Santa Rosa County Business of the Year (2011)

State EMS Medical Director of the Year (2011–2012)

» Phone

(850) 983-3000

» Web

www.lifeguardambulance.com

percent, from 900 to 1,800 calls per month in just five years.

Regional Director of Operations Jason Kimbrell believes the secret to success begins with investing in the place you call home.

“Our sustainability comes from our unwavering commitment to this community,” he says.

“You see the growth from 2007 to now, not because we dream up these ideas and implement these strategies, but when you have the community behind you to accomplish a goal and fulfill vision, you’re only going to be able to celebrate successes.”

Lifeguard celebrates a legacy of community service dating back to the very people who gave the Roches the loan that started it all.

John Roche’s father was the first Santa Rosa County director of Emergency Services. Roche himself stays active in the state EMS community, while Deborah Roche sits on three local boards. Jason Kimbrell has been part of Team Santa Rosa, a regional economic development council. From its leadership down, Lifeguard employees know the importance of giving back to the community.

Equally important is the community itself, says Kimbrell. Not only is Northwest Florida a wonderful place to live, it’s a wonderful place to do business.

“The 850 area is committed to supporting businesses that have a true vision, that will bring in jobs and opportunities, and will do what they say they are going to do,” Kimbrell says. “From Tallahassee to Pensacola, the support structure for businesses willing to recognize the most important things to the community, that invest in the right people in the right places to get the right results ... this has certainly been the place to allow our business to grow.”

Lifeguard’s growth comes with the burden of success, which the team is more than happy to shoulder.

“I can’t walk into a grocery store or the movie theatre without somebody saying, ‘Your guys picked us up,’ because they hold us personally responsible for what happens to their families,” Deborah Roche says. “Your mother, your father, they’re mine, too. They belong to the community, and the community belongs to us. You can’t not invest — not only money but your time, your heart and your energies into the people that surround you and give you a place to do business.” n

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The Tiki Bar is Open Steve Rash and partner George Joanos (pictured below) stay busy operating St. George Island’s go-to place.

From Hot Dog Stand to Landmark The Blue Parrot remains a St. George Island favorite for residents and tourists By Kathleen Haughney

I

n 1995, all Steve Rash wanted to do was store some jet ski equipment in the tiny Blue Parrot restaurant on St. George Island for a rental business he wanted to start up.

A year later, he wound up owning the joint.

“I thought I’d love to get into business on the beach,” Rash said.

He knew the original owners Rick and Kay Rutger because his wholesale seafood company, Water Street Seafood, in nearby Apalachicola sold them fresh fish for their seaside eatery. He thought their spot on the beach might be the perfect place to set up a jet ski rental.

They agreed, but a few months later, Rutger called and said he wanted to sell the place. Rash said he wanted to buy it. It sat 40 people. It had no walk-in refrigerators or freezers. The cooking was done on plug-in burners. And Rash, who lived a couple of blocks from the Blue Parrot in those days, knew next to nothing about the restaurant business.

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“I thought I’d work at the seafood wholesaler during the day and the restaurant at night,” he said. “It got ugly quick. I didn’t know the restaurant business that well.”

The Blue Parrot began as a tiny beer and hot dog stand in the 1980’s. At that time it was called S.O. Beach. When Rash took over, it was slightly bigger and had something that resembled a kitchen. It had already become the center for a St.

850businessmagazine.com

George Island tradition — a yearly mullet toss.

Rash’s friends Nic and Missy McCuen were locals — he had been the chef at the Gibson Inn, a Victorian bed and breakfast in neighboring Apalachicola. They took over the operation of the Blue Parrot for a stake in the restaurant. They set up the menu, managed the staff.

“It was tiny, tiny. The first thing we did was take care of the kitchen,” Rash said. “It was crazy just the way it was.”

And as the area grew, so did the restaurant.

More houses began to populate the tiny island, and more tourists began making the drive to the picturesque island about 87 miles southeast of the state capital in Tallahassee. In 2011, Florida International University Professor Steve Leatherman, known as “Dr. Beach,” ranked St. George Island as the sixth most beautiful beach in the country in his annual survey.

“People arrive from wherever and they come right to the tiki bar and get a cold beer or a

Photos by Scott Holstein

Gulf, Franklin + Wakulla Counties

margarita,” Rash said. “It’s certainly not a fancy restaurant. We don’t try to be. Our service is pretty good.”

The menu today is mostly seafood, fresh from the Gulf and supplied

by Rash’s other business, Water Street Seafood. Shrimp, crab, scallops all make the menu. Burgers and steak are also there for meat-loving visitors.

The majority of items are below $15.

And the jet ski equipment is still stored in the restaurant. Visitors can rent a jet ski if they don’t want to sample the cuisine or beachy cocktails.

But the location certainly looks different. Upper and lower decks were added. There’s an air-conditioned dining room for those looking for a break from the heat. And it serves as home to a host of island events as well. In mid-April the Blue Parrot hosts the USA Southern Bench Press/Dead Lift Championship. August brings weekend beach volleyball tournaments.

But the event that garners the most attention is the annual mullet toss in June that benefits the Apalachicola Bay Charter School. It attracts about 300 participants. The goal? To see how far each person can throw two mullet.

But there have been other changes, with one chapter of the Blue Parrot — as Rash likes to put it — closing. The McCuens decided to bow out.

In 2006 the restaurant was in full swing, but they were ready to retire.

So Rash went searching for a new partner to run the joint. He found it in his best friend from Leon High School in Tallahassee, George Joanos, who was operating his family’s restaurant Angelo’s in the capital city.

“I love it,” Joanos said. “I grew up in the restaurant business.”

Joanos moved his family to the island, only a few blocks from the restaurant. Rash now splits his time between the island and Tallahassee, where his three kids go to school.

“We’re blessed,” Joanos said. “We work hard, but it’s a great place.”

Joanos’ newest addition to the restaurant is the grouper taco, which Rash said is giving the grouper sandwich, long the restaurant’s most popular item, a run for its money.

Joanos has also been known to take visitors who try to claim that the grouper is fake back into the kitchen to show them that it’s fresh.

“Everything we sell is from this region,” Rash said. He should know, since his own seafood business is supplying most of it.

But there have been times, Rash admitted, when he did think about ditching the restaurant business and ending the Blue Parrot’s career as the go-to spot on St. George Island.

In 2006, as the housing boom was in full swing, there were moments when he thought about selling the land to builders who wanted to put up more beach homes.

“The thought certainly crossed my mind,” he said. “I could just sell this, get a good chunk of change in my pocket and not worry about it.”

But in the end, he could not imagine the island without it or telling the 75 seasonal employees they were out of work, to not come back in the summer. In short, he has no intentions of ending his restaurant career any time soon.

“I think the Blue Parrot is kind of a landmark,” he said. “I would feel guilty for doing something like that.”

The Blue Parrot is located at 68 West Gorrie Drive on St. George Island. Cross the Bryant Patton Bridge to St. George Island and make a right at the stop sign onto West Gulf Beach Drive. It’s one block to West First Street. Turn left, go one block, and cross West Gorrie Dr. to the Blue Parrot. n

forgotten coast Corridor

Steve Rash, 51, and George Joanos, 51, have been friends since attending Leon High School together more than 30 years ago and business partners since 2006.

When Rash’s original partners, Nic and Missy McCuen, decided to retire, Joanos left his Tallahassee restaurant and moved to the Franklin County beach town to run the day-to-day operations of the Blue Parrot, so Rash could continue to work both at the Parrot and his other business, Water Street Seafood, which he’s owned for 23 years.

They answered some questions for us: 850 How difficult is it running a seasonal business?

Steve We’re certainly really busy from about Memorial Day. Weekends certainly are busier. December, January, February are pretty slow. It’s not bad because you’re going crazy and you say you wish it would slow down. We just get hammered this time of year. But we’ve seen a lot of (other people start businesses) and not know how to deal with it. It’s the worst thing in the world to have no business. We’ve seen a dozen (businesses) come and go.

George I’m crazy up from March to September, but then September to March, I’m basically off. I go fishing, spend time with family. It’s 80 hours a week and then down to zero.

850 How do the two of you work together?

Steve We don’t have any problems, but it’s a lot of work.

George can focus on the operations of the restaurant. I work with the bookkeeper to handle the money. It’s a good team.

George We grew up together in Tallahassee. We became friends and that was it.

850 Steve, you said earlier that when you bought the restaurant in 1996, it sat 40 people. How much have you changed it since then?

Steve There was no real kitchen. There were no walk-in freezers. They used plug in burners. It was crazy just the way it was.

The first thing we did was get a real kitchen. We keep adding on a little bit here and there. We’re proud of it. People arrive from wherever and they come right to the tiki bar and get a cold beer or a margarita.

850 How did the Deepwater Horizon Spill in 2010 affect both the Blue Parrot and your seafood business?

Steve It certainly affected the Blue Parrot. We had fewer visitors and customers. For seafood, our sales dropped considerably. [The oil] was approaching us. By July 4, it was within miles of the beach. The production is way down on shrimp. We’re still facing much higher prices.

850 During the housing boom, were you ever tempted to sell the land to builders or build yourself?

Steve About six years ago, we could have. We hung in there.

I think the Blue Parrot is kind of a landmark there. I would feel guilty for something like that. We employ 75 people during the season. [Visitors] flock to it. I can’t imagine SGI without the Blue Parrot. You can still rent jet skis. People love that. It’s fun.

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The Last Word

But before you go and open those bottles of champagne, it’s important for all of us in the 850 — and throughout Florida — to take a moment and listen to the warnings of environmentalists, researchers and scientists. While oil from the Deep Water Horizon disaster is no longer gushing into the Gulf, we need to be ever vigilant about what is going on in those waters that are so important to the economy of our region, and Walton County in particular. This is not the time to put our heads in the sand.

An Associated Press report from 2010 revealed that more than 50,000 oil and gas wells have been drilled in the Gulf’s federal waters. Of those, 27,000 have been abandoned. Some are considered “temporarily abandoned,” which means the actions taken to plug them may not be the most thorough and long lasting.

Since the 2010 spill, Congress has taken no action to tighten drilling or safety regulations. It seems complacency has quickly settled in. It shouldn’t.

There are about 4,000 active wells in the Gulf of Mexico, including three new deep water wells (BP’s Galapagos project) that began operation in June. The project is 140 miles southeast of New Orleans — pretty much directly south of Mobile Bay. Keep in mind also that Cuba is only 90 miles from Florida and could soon be drilling in its own waters. And we’re not the only nation already drilling in the Gulf — so is Mexico.

While the oil spill of April 2010 has faded from the national news — and the consciousness of most Americans — Gulf Coast communities are still grappling with the aftermath. South of New Orleans, oil is still evident. It’s also been found off Pensacola

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— buried under sand, but still there. What happens if a major hurricane hits the area?

Meanwhile, sick and deformed fish and shrimp with tumors or no eyes have been found in deep waters. No one can directly link the problems to the oil spill, although many have their suspicions.

Yet the research capabilities of the U.S. have dwindled. It is the oil companies that usually report spills — and often they are believed to be under-reported or just not reported. Because of federal and state funding cuts, there are now only two ships, including the Weatherbird II from the University of South Florida, with oceanographic capability monitoring the Gulf waters and doing research on the existing wells and the fallout in the Gulf ecosystem from the 2010 accident. So, basically, we’re fundamentally ignorant of what’s going on in the Gulf because we don’t have an independent method of monitoring by a party that doesn’t have some skin in the game.

At a June meeting of Gulf Coast business, community, environmental and government leaders organized by the United States Leadership Forum, the battle cry was for more resources to be dedicated to determine exactly what is happening to the Gulf.

What we do know is that drilling will continue. Florida had thought itself safe from disaster — and this time we were just lucky.

How do we prepare ourselves for the disasters of the future?

It’s critical Northwest Florida understand what’s going on in the Gulf, because we must have the information we need to be prepared to respond.

With the millions of BP dollars flowing into the Gulf Coast states as restitution for what happened two years ago, would not some of that money be well spent to restore our capacity for research and monitoring of those wells in the Gulf? Indeed it would not be a trivial investment, at the cost of millions to build a modern research vessel or two or three. But is it not a necessary expense to guarantee the continuation of the healthy tourist economy our coast continues to boast?

We ignore the warnings at our own peril.

LINDA KLEINDIENST, EDITOR lkleindienst@rowlandpublishing.com

photo by Kay Meyer

In this issue we have brought you some good news.

Northwest Florida has experienced phenomenal growth in tourism revenues since the 2010 summer of the oil spill — and Walton County is probably the best example in the region to prove it. That’s why we wrote a special report, to show that there can be gold at the end of the rainbow.

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