+
The burial business: Satisfying the customer
Beware the seven signs of career distress An F-15 fighter jet goes to school Introducing No. 850, a beach-y spirit
Gus Corbella, chairman of the Florida Film and Entertainment Advisory Council.
g n i s m n o c io , t rac INS l t G E t B a ession ALS cal AR As sm OFFICIE POPUL fil RESTOR fund TO to ENTIVE YWOOD INC HOLL WOO
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SANDESTINWINEFESTIVAL.COM
850 Magazine February – March 2015
IN THIS ISSUE An Eco-friendly Alternative There are a variety of ways for a person to be buried, including a “green burial” offered at Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve in DeFuniak Springs.
850 FEATURES Florida’s Film Industry on the Edge 30 Bringing more film and television work to Florida
photo by Matt Burke
B usiness of Cemeteries 38 Like taxes, death is a certainty. And most
is all about incentives, incentives, incentives. But there’s the rub. Florida had an incentive program set up by the Legislature but it ran out of money two years early. In 2014, despite a billion-dollar budget surplus, state lawmakers decided not to put any more cash into the pot. And that’s when the filming started to dry up. As the Legislature gets set to start its 60-day session on March 3, film proponents are again putting out the call to replenish the popular incentive fund. By Gray Rohrer
everyone has very specific directions on how they want to be handled — or what they want their grave marker to say — after they have shuttled off this mortal coil. Cemeteries — for profit and non-profit — across Northwest Florida have managed to stay busy and keep up with requests. And there is even an eco-friendly burial that you can opt for. By Jason Dehart
On the Cover: Gus Corbella, chairman of the Florida Film and Entertainment Advisory Council, at the Challenger Learning Center in Tallahassee. Photo by Matt Burke
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850 Magazine February – March 2015
photos by Matt Burke (86,94)
IN THIS ISSUE
94 86
Departments
Corridors
THE 850 life
BAY
17 Having lived in some of the nation’s prettiest spots, it wasn’t hard for Dan Rowe to imagine himself going into the tourism industry. Now he’s selling Panama City Beach to the world and loving every minute.
In This Issue 10 From the Publisher 15 Contributors 79 Sound Bytes 98 The Last Word from the Editor
Special Section Deal Estate
47 What’s trending, what’s selling and what’s hot to buy in the 850? Find out here.
Leading Healthy
20 Do you feel at sea in your work? Have you lost the focus on your career? As you settle in to the new year, learn how to recognize the seven warning signs of career distress and how to quickly combat them.
WI-FILES
24 They aren’t new and they aren’t sexy, but podcasts are growing in relevance and popularity among consumers and even advertisers.
Bottom Line
26 What do you want your legacy to be? Give some thought now to paying it forward long after you’re gone — and take a look at what kind of impact you might have on a small charity.
82 In an unusual job-training move for Bay County students, a retired F-15 fighter jet gets new life as a teaching tool at Haney Technical Center, thanks to Frank Stephens and Tyndall Air Force Base.
CAPITAL
84 Behind the locked doors, deep in a concrete bunker, the employees of Coaxis are battling digital thieves and saving business owners millions of dollars and a lot of sleepless nights.
EMERALD COAST
86 Introducing No. 850, a 34 proof spirit that fuses rum with hints of citrus, pineapple and coconut — a ready-to-drink concoction developed by two entrepreneurial Emerald Coast mixologists.
FORGOTTEN COAST
90 Celebrating 50 years in business, Panacea’s Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratories has come far from its start-up days in a ramshackle shack. Today it’s an internationally known biological supply house.
I-10
94 Accomplished equestriennes, trainers and entrepreneurs, the mother-daughter team of Henrietta and Robin Ratliff have won national and international recognition for themselves and their Madison County ranch, where they breed and train Paso Fino horses.
AN 850 BUSINESS MAGAZINE SPECIAL REPORT
Escambia County 2015 BU SI N E S S JOU R N A L
Special Report
51 Escambia County Business Journal
Who is moving to Pensacola, where are the growing hotspots, what jobs are being created and where is entrepreneurism flourishing? Find out that and more in the annual Escambia County Business Journal. Jobs Overview | Studer Institue | Port/Airport | Business Development | Military | Tourism Demographics | Health Care | Institute for Human and Machine Cognition
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Legal counsel for every facet of life At the law firm of Daniel W. Uhlfelder, P.A., we are dedicated to delivering results to clients through hard work, honesty and dedication. We represent clients in many areas of legal need, including:
Real Estate Foreclosures Divorce Litigation Homeowner and Condominium Association Law Construction Law Estate Planning and Asset Protection
Serving clients throughout Northwest Florida for thirteen years
DWULAW.COM Santa Rosa Beach 850.534.0246 124 East County Highway 30-A Santa Rosa Beach, Florida 32459 850 Business Magazine
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February – March 2015
850 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA
Vol. 7, No. 3
President/Publisher Brian E. Rowland
EDITORIAL Director of Editorial Services Linda Kleindienst Senior Staff Writer Jason Dehart Staff Writer Chay D. Baxley Contributing Writers Lazaro Aleman, Gretchen Barry, Chay Baxley, Steve Bornhoft, Laura Bradley, Alyssa Brown, Jason Dehart, Peter C. Diamond, Wendy O. Dixon, Janie Harris, Tisha Crews Keller, Rebecca Padgett, Gray Rohrer, Ashley Kahn Salley Editorial Interns Shelby Bouck, Leanne Castro, Kristopher Greenwood, Ellen Pribil Production Specialist Melinda Lanigan Copy Editor Barry Ray CREATIVE Creative Director Lawrence Davidson Production Manager/Network Administrator Daniel Vitter Senior Art Director Saige Roberts Art Director Jennifer Ekrut Publication Designers Shruti Shah, Rebecca Sumerall Advertising Designers Jillian Fry, Amanda Hartsfield Staff Photographer Matt Burke Contributing Photographers Ryan Acevedo, Dave Barfield, Claudette Barius, Steve Bornhoft, Holly Gardner, Colin Hackley, Hamilton Images, Scott Holstein, Sarah Lyn, Michael Spooneybarger MARKETING, SALES & EVENTS Director of Marketing and Sales McKenzie Burleigh Director of New Business Daniel Parisi Ad Services Coordinator Lisa Sostre Account Executives Darla Harrison, Tanya Heath, Lori Magee, Tracy Mulligan, Rhonda Murray, Linda Powell, Paula Sconiers, Chuck Simpson, Alice Watts, Drew Gregg Westling Marketing and Sales Assistant Christie Green Events AND SPECIAL PROJECTS Coordinator Leigha Inman OPERATIONS COrporate client relations specialist Caroline Miller Staff accountant Josh Faulds Accounting assistant Tabby Hamilton Administrative assistant Caryn Nelson Receptionist Lisa Snell
Digital Services Digital Services Manager Carlin Trammel Digital Services Coordinators Jennifer Ireland, Rebecca Padgett Digital Services Producer Chelsea Moore 850 Business Magazine 850businessmagazine.com, facebook.com/850bizmag, twitter.com/850bizmag, linkedin.com/company/850-business-magazine Rowland Publishing rowlandpublishing.com SUBSCRIPTIONS A one-year (6 issues) subscription is $30. To purchase, call (850) 878-0554 or go online to 850businessmagazine.com. Single copies are $4.95 and may be purchased at Barnes & Noble in Tallahassee, Destin and Pensacola and in Books-A-Million in Tallahassee, Destin, Ft. Walton Beach, Pensacola and Panama City and at our Tallahassee office. 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 February 2015 850 Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Member of three Chambers of Commerce throughout the region.
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You Seek. We Find. Meet Carmen Mims
Carmen directs CareerSource Florida’s Incumbent Worker
CareerSource Florida is a powerful network of professionals who can connect your business with skilled talent, hiring services and training resources to help you compete and grow.
Training program, which provides smalland mid-sized businesses with training grants to sharpen employees’ skills and companies’
Provide local and state labor market data
Recruit qualified job candidates
Review resumes and screen candidates
Schedule interviews
Offer training solutions
competitiveness. Incumbent Worker Training has helped more than 2,000 Florida businesses provide training for nearly 155,000 employees since 2000. Carmen can help your business too.
careersourceflorida.com
Connect with the professionals in your region
CareerSource Florida is an equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Disponible in Español. 850 Business Magazine | February – March 2015 | 9
From the Publisher
Our Winning Team
Brian Rowland browland@rowlandpublishing.com
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Photo by Matt Burke
Over the past several years, I have heard plenty about the death of the print industry and how the world of media and advertising will shift totally to the digital world — basically saying to a publisher: “Fold your tent and throw in the towel.” I’m sorry, but that memo never made it to the desks of the employees at Rowland Publishing. Our team successfully navigated the Great Recession and the second tsunami of economic turmoil that hit our footprint — the perceived drizzle of BP oil on Gulf Coast beaches, which devastated the region’s tourism industry and made it even more challenging for our sales team to meet its goals and the business community to maintain stability. But Winning Squad The Rowland Publishing team gathered at our team of publishing professionals made the necessary adjustments Florida State University’s Challenge Course for a team building event as part of the company’s annual meeting in December. to our company and their personal playbooks to stay focused, keeping their eye on the horizon and not complaining, just doing their absolute best job every day. Taking on a negative attitude was definitely NOT an option for this squad. The media world has drastically changed in the past 25 years. Back then, the Internet had not been invented. The car phone industry was just developing, and words like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and blog had not been spoken. Newspapers, radio and TV were still the primary source of breaking news, and there was no such thing as a “smart” phone. All we could do then with a phone was make telephone calls. When the recession hit, “traditional” media, with its high operational costs, was hit hard when advertising dollars dried up. Digital news outlets grew, and predictions of the death of print were widespread. Yet at Rowland Publishing, we were deaf to that death knell. Since the economy began to tank in 2008, we have launched five new titles, including 850, Northwest Florida Weddings and Honeymoon Destinations, Sandestin Living and the Tallahassee Medical Resource Directory. We now have a department that plans and runs six annual events, and we have committed ourselves to the digital era with a three-member digital media department. And all the while, we have grown the page counts of our magazines — Tallahassee Magazine by 38 percent and our other titles by between 8 and 10 percent. The company, meanwhile, has grown from 24 to 39 employees strong. During the recession, we were often tempted to accept advertising revenue in exchange for a “puff” story about an advertiser. But we simply said, “No.” That is not our business model. Our editorial team maintained high journalistic standards, and I feel today that is one of the major contributing factors to our ongoing growth and excellent brand reputation in Northwest Florida. We have and will continue to stick to our publishing mission to be “Current, Quotable and Well Read.” We believe our local and regional titles are a critical communications link between people in the region. They keep people informed and help create a sense of community, keeping it strong and giving those who live here a sense of pride in the place where they work and live. Of course we have dealt with the natural attrition and transitions that every company must face, but I can proudly say that the RPI team that stepped out on the Northwest Florida publishing field on Jan. 5, 2015, is without question the finest all-around team of media professionals that Rowland Publishing has ever assembled. We are deep in talent, combining youth and experience, and everyone has a fire in the belly and a winning attitude. I also would like to acknowledge and salute those who over the past decade-and-a-half have made positive contributions and helped lay the foundation this company is building on today. I salute the team as together we forge through 2015 and beyond. I am so proud and honored to work with the 39 professionals we have here at Rowland Publishing.
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Pinnacle
EXTRA CONTENT ONLINE ONLY
Award Nominations The Business Magazine of Northwest Florida is now accepting your nominations for the 2015 Pinnacle Awards. These awards honor women in our region who exhibit exceptional leadership abilities in their field, are active in their communities and serve as outstanding mentors to others. Winners will be featured in our October/November 2015 issue.
Video! » Greener Pastures Ranch in
Madison County is the home of nationally and internationally recognized Paso Fino horses. We got a behind-the-scenes look at these beautiful, award-winning horses and got to know the two women who started the ranch. Watch our video for more on Greener Pastures.
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Calendar of Events: One of the most important aspects of business success is networking and making connections. The best way to achieve this is through business events. Whether it be a motivational speaker or a luncheon, submit your business event to 850 Business Magazine’s calendar and get to networking.
Deal Estate Listings: View the latest real estate happenings and listings.
Connect with us …
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Also Online
850businessmagazine.com
Dave Barfield (Pinnacle Awards) and Carlin Trammel (Videos)
Sign up for more info Want to know the latest from 850 Business Magazine? Sign up for our e-newsletter and get updates about our website, video previews and additional offers.
» Down in Front Grab some popcorn of your own and watch the making of our cover photo with Augustin C. Corbella.
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May 14 - May 26, 2015 Tallahassee, Florida
Join fellow foodies in Tallahassee and enjoy the best culinary delights and live entertainment the capital city offers. From indulgent delicacies to down-home favorites, the area’s finest restaurants will serve up special deals and meals.
800.628.2866 | VisitTallahassee.com 14
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Holly Gardner, photographer Gardner is a native Floridian that is proud to call Panama City Beach home. After spending years in the Washington DC area, she returned to her Southern roots and followed her dream of pursuing photography full time six years ago. Specializing in weddings and commercial photography, she is proud to have her work represented by Wonderful Machine.
Lazaro Aleman, writer Aleman got the writing bug early and has managed to make a modest living at it ever since as a fiction writer, radio reporter, newspaper journalist and freelancer. He enjoys hiking, biking, nature and the outdoors in general, and traveling and country living. He’s been published in 850 Magazine, Tallahassee Magazine, Directions, LandViews, Florida Wildlife, Georgia Magazine, Grit, Nuestro and Victorian Homes, among other publications.
Matt Burke
Holly Gardner
Courtesy of Lazaro Aleman
CONTRIBUTORS
Gray Rohrer, writer Rohrer is a freelance reporter based in Tallahassee. He covered state government for the online subscription service, The Florida Current, for three years, writing about insurance, business and economics, education, budget, transportation and technology issues. He previously wrote for the Cape Coral Daily Breeze and the Ponte Vedra Leader.
Interested in writing for 850? Send your resumé and some writing examples to Editor Linda Kleindienst at lkleindienst@rowlandpublishing.com.
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IFlyBeaches.com
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next you’ll be saying #IHEARTTALLY too. March 6-8th Red Hills Horse Trials • March 28th Springtime Tallahassee April 11-12th Word of South Festival • April 11th FSU Spring Game • April 11th FAMU Spring Game April 17-19th Southern Shakespeare Festival • April 18-19th LeMoyne Chain of Parks Art Festival
VisitTallahassee.com 800.628.2866
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Executive Mindset
) Life The (850 S urvive and Thrive
Building on a Sand Foundation Dan Rowe, Panama City Beach
President and CEO, Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau
D
an Rowe is thoroughly comfortable making his living in the tourism and travel industry. “It’s in my blood,” he says. “Really, I’ve been involved in it since birth, maybe before.” Rowe’s father was a frequently transferred employee of the National Park Service. So it was that Rowe, born in Los Alamos, New Mexico, would live in some of the prettiest places in the country — Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Mammoth Cave, Kentucky; Harpers Ferry, Virginia; and Asheville, North Carolina — before enrolling at Colorado State University in Colorado Springs. After graduating from Colorado State with a degree in outdoor recreation, Rowe went to work at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia, first in the food and beverage division, then in marketing. After seven years there, he returned to the (big) mountains, having landed a job as the sales and marketing manager at the Aspen Institute, a retreat center known for attracting captains of industry and heads of corporations. Then it was back to Georgia. Rowe worked for the Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center and the Brasstown Valley Resort before co-founding the Tourist Development Alliance of Georgia, an advocacy organization that lobbied public officials on behalf of the tourism industry. From there, it was not much of a leap to a job as deputy commissioner for tourism with the Georgia Department of Economic Development. When the top spot at the department turned over, Rowe was “made available to the industry” by a new commissioner with a desire to assemble his own team. Rowe would find Panama City Beach and the beach would find Rowe. Both were looking, Rowe for work and PCB for a new director of its Tourist Development Council. Rowe also serves as the president of the beach’s Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has been in those jobs for seven years and has no itch to leave. — Steve Bornhoft
Photo by Holly Gardner
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850 Life
PreSenTS
2015: Women of Interest Please join our spring luncheon speaker series Featured speakers are accomplished women who have answered the call of leadership in their personal and professional lives who will inspire us with their insight and stories.
850: How has your job with the Convention and Visitors Bureau and Tourist Development Council differed from what you expected? Rowe: I underappreciated the role the TDC plays in maintaining the physical beach. We hold all the beach renourishment contracts; we’re responsible for beach grooming. But it makes sense that we take care of the local tourism industry’s most important asset.
850: If Panama City Beach were to land a minor-league professional baseball team, as some hope, what should it be called? Rowe: Pirates? No. Pelicans? No. I’m gonna go with the Panama City Beach Bums.
850: What is your favorite miniature-golf hole? Rowe: Easy one. It’s gotta be the monkey hole at Goofy Golf on Front Beach Road. It’s iconic, isn’t it?
Thursday, February 26 Elmira Mangum, Ph.D. President Florida A&M University Wednesday, March 11 Nancy Carter, Ph.D. Senior Advisor Catalyst, Inc.
850: The Panama City Beach CVB has adopted as its motto “Real. Fun. Beach.” What does “real” mean in that context? Rowe: We’re saying we’re authentic. We’re home still to a lot of family-owned businesses. We are the quintessential allAmerican beach town.
Friday, April 10 Representative Gwen Graham 2nd District of Florida, U.S. House of Representatives
grew up knee-deep in trout streams. I love a muddler minnow, but around here, crab patterns are really popular.
Moderator: Cheryl Rowland Benefitting the Women’s Programs at Oasis Center for Women & Girls Pre-registration required To purchase tickets or tables go to tallahasseemagazine.com/A-day-of-dialogue/ ALSO SPOnSOred By
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850: Wine is to the Napa Valley as what is to Panama City Beach? Rowe: Sand.
Friday, March 27 Sierra Bender Women’s Empowerment Coach and Consultant
Friday, May 15 Kim Rivers Principal Inkbridge
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850: Tonight’s specials are redfish, red grouper and red snapper. Which do you choose? Rowe: Make mine grouper.
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850: I’m told that you’re a fly fisherman. What’s your favorite fly pattern for speckled trout? Rowe: Yes, I’ve always been a fly rodder; I
850: What is one special trout hole that you would tell me about if I agreed not to tell anyone else about it? Rowe: If I knew of one, I’d tell you about it. 850: If you have one pet peeve about tourists, what is it? Rowe: They need to slow down and connect with the beach and its beauty. Too many feel that they have to go full tilt for as long as they’re here. They need to take a step back and breathe.
850: Maui Jim’s, Ray Ban’s or Costa’s? Rowe: I own all three, but I’ll go with Maui Jim’s.
850: Ten years from now, the most dramatic change to Panama City Beach will have been what? Rowe: We will have established ourselves as a year-round destination characterized by sustained growth.
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Executive Mindset
Leading Healthy Recognizing Career Distress
The Seven
W.A.R.N.I.N.G. Signs
of Career Distress Identify them now and start making changes
By Peter C. Diamond
M
idlife. It’s supposed to be the time when we should have it all. In actuality it’s more like, “My life is more complicated than I ever imagined and my career is not turning out as I had hoped. I’m at a crossroads.” Perhaps the most difficult part about finding your career in flux is that this is the time when you have the most to give. And yet, you are feeling the most vulnerable, grappling with knowing if your company considers you valuable, someone who will continue to be rewarded and given challenging assignments. And whether this is consistent with how you rate your contributions and value to the company. To dig out of your doldrums, start by bringing awareness to your current circumstances and the truths that exist. To create awareness, you have to have the ability and presence of mind to step back and see your current situation for what it is. While everyone’s situation is highly personal some common themes are consistent with what most people experience, what I refer to as the Seven W.A.R.N.I.N.G. Signs of Distress. And they are:
ONE: W averingSelf-Confidence You have put pressure on yourself to succeed as defined by others, but you have never felt completely satisfied in your career choice, instead questioning the benefit you provide. After years of doing something you don’t love, often with unrealistic expectations, you have a diluted sense of worth. In turn, you are uncertain about your value and cautious about finding the career you want.
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Tip: Create your own definition of success that highlights your value and the contribution you bring to your organization.
TWO: A t Sea You are no longer learning and feeling challenged. In many cases, your career has lulled you into complacency. You have been a good soldier, performing as expected and, thus, allowing others to control your destiny. In doing so, you
have not actively managed your career. But when something (such as a significant company change) forces you to finally look around, you discover your job has become something you never wanted it to be. Tip: Reassess your career goals and ambitions. This may be the time for reinvention by learning new skills or potentially finding a new employer.
Three: R elinquished Control Scratching and clawing your way to the top can result in losing sight of who you are. Your eagerness to be successful can be blinding. Without a good early role model you can quickly latch on to how others in status positions behave. You begin to sacrifice yourself in order to fit in and be part of the club. Tip: Clearly articulate the leader you want to be. What are your beliefs? How do you want to be treated? How do you want to treat others?
Four: N eglected Have you ended up in a career or job where you no longer feel as though you have any control over how your job is performed? Do you feel as though you are drifting in the swirl of corporate despair, neglected and shunted to the side by your team, superiors or board? Now, you are struggling to make yourself relevant. Tip: Get reacquainted with your best assets. List your top five strengths and the key contributions you’ve made in your current position.
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is your local business Internet and phone provider
• LocaLLy owned and operated • no auto attendant • business teLephone and internet service • Long distance • teLephone system consuLting • fiber optics • hurricane-proof data faciLity for coLLocation • web and emaiL hosting
2012 technoLogy business of the year winner
recipient: electronet
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Leading Healthy
Five: I dling Idling is characterized by the inability to make progress on decisions that affect you. You have become emotionally paralyzed and your life feels stuck. It begins when you lose sight of what you want and others become your focus. You feel the weight of every personal decision and the impact on those around you. But there is a slow simmer that is happening inside. The frustration is mounting, and you feel like you are losing bits and pieces of yourself. Tip: Think of yourself first. Determine what you need for yourself in order to feel fulfilled and energized.
Six: N o Focus You might experience this if you enthusiastically imagine lots of potential career options but, like a kid in a candy store, can’t quite decide which one you want. Ultimately, you are overwhelmed with all the choices and every day you come home with a new exciting possibility. While this is encouraging because you can see the opportunities, it is frustrating
for you and those around you because there is a lot of talk and little action. Tip: Create a checklist of specific criteria for your career. What would you be doing? Why would you be doing it? Who would you be doing it with? How would you be doing it?
If your current situation is not working for you, you do not have to accept it as your fate. You can set forth a new vision. It takes not only awareness of where you are today but self discipline to start taking a series of small action steps to initiate the change you want in your career and life.
Seven: G rowing Discontent By all accounts you have a great job. The title. The money. The office. The prestige of working for a respected company. But still, you are not feeling fulfilled, and it’s wearing you down. During your ascent through the company, you collected all the trinkets of success, but you lost sight of what really gets you excited. Now you know what you want to be doing, but you haven’t yet found the path forward. Something or someone (the organization) is holding you back. Tip: Clearly and succinctly articulate how a change for you would also be a positive change for your company. Identify a champion or mentor who can help support and navigate this change.
Peter C. Diamond is the author of “Amplify Your Career and Life: 4 Steps to Evaluate, Assess and Move Forward.” He is a professionally trained, certified coach who works with senior-level executives and others to guide them through change, ranging from navigating career shifts and creating better work-life fulfillment to greater career and leadership enlightenment, and renewed self-respect. His corporate clients include Leo Burnett, United Airlines, National Association of Realtors, Razorfish, mcgarrybowen, Fresenius Kabi, PVS Chemicals, Human Rights Watch and Intelligentsia Coffee. For more information, go to petercdiamond.com and connect with him on Twitter, @petercdiamond.
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Executive Mindset
Wi-Files Reaching More Customers
On Demand Podcasts often lead to serious prospects and rich content
N
o, the podcast is not new. It is not sexy or cutting-edge. Truth be told, the podcast — typically long-form audio and video programs available for download or streaming via the Internet — is a wonky, in-the-weeds cousin to the pop-culture rich content available via Netflix, HBOGo and other online spots where you can catch the latest episode of your favorite TV show. But podcasting’s status as resident media know-it-all is exactly why it is growing in relevance and popularity among consumers accustomed to ondemand content and advertisers seeking serious prospects.
What podcasting lacks that other on-demand content producers have is an online marketplace dedicated to its promotion. That’s why you may be aware of podcasts, but unsure of exactly what they do. If you have ever watched a movie or TV show on hulu.com or listened to music on-demand via spotify.com, you already get the concept of podcasting. But a podcast is different because it applies to more programoriented audio or video content, such as a hosted program or talk show or a video review of a product or service.
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By Alyssa Brown
If you are an advertiser, you are more likely to connect with serious customers among America’s 39 million reported podcast listeners, a group that has increased to 15 percent of Americans in 2014 from 12 percent in 2013. Podcasts also reduce the need to rely solely on advertising. In its 2012 report on podcast consumers, Edison Research cites the medium as “an effective way to reach affluent consumers who exhibit ad avoidance behaviors.” If you consider yourself an expert on a particular topic, a podcast is where you are likely to find both an audience and in-depth or scholarly content upon which you can expand your knowledge. If you are looking to mobilize people who understand your cause, podcasting provides a means to a smaller, but more targeted following capable of weighing facts and options and responding to a call to action. Aside from the time it takes to develop and produce the podcast, there is no cost to get started. Free online podcast software options include audacity.com, audioboo. com as well as stitcher.com, used by several local churches to create podcast sermons.
Numbers Demonstrate Podcast Value 1 billion: the number of podcast subscriptions logged on the iTunes store in 2013 75 million: Monthly podcast listeners 115,000: the number of Englishlanguage podcasts today 3,038,221,400: the number of actual Internet users worldwide on 12/31/14 54%: the percentage of podcast listeners who tune in via smartphone, tablet or portable audio player 12–55+: the range of age brackets over which podcast listeners are fairly evenly distributed 33%: percentage of podcast listeners that are Hispanic; 26% are white and 24% are AfricanAmerican. $75K: four in 10 podcast listeners earn at least this much annually; 23 percent of this group listen to podcasts daily while driving.
Finding the Right Podcast Whether you want to listen to mainstream news or take a deep dive into a particular subject, there is a podcast for you. Though the moniker itself is germane to the iPod, and Apple houses the Web’s largest podcast catalog, not all worthwhile podcasts are on iTunes. Below is a selection of popular national podcasts as well as business-specific ones. career sources, locate training opportunities and potential employers. Manager-tools.com/ podcast/career-tools
TAlkin’ Business Carlin Trammel, Digital Services manager at Rowland Publishing, produces two podcasts in his spare time, Nerd Lunch and Pod, James Pod Podcast.
Marketing Smarts: Weekly 30-minute interviews with smart marketers deliver real advice to help you market smarter. Marketingprofs. com/podcasts HBR IdeaCast: This weekly podcast features the leading thinkers in business and management from Harvard Business Review. Hbr.org/podcasts/
National* RadioLab: This show combines science and stories against a musical and sound-infused backdrop. It describes itself as “a show about curiosity.” radiolab.org Freakonomics: A longtime favorite, this weekly podcast “explores the hidden side of everything.” Prepare to be shocked. freakonomics.com Wait Wait: This weekly quiz tests your current events knowledge. The
twist: You have to decide which news is real and which is made-up. npr.org/ programs/wait-wait-donttell-me/ Welcome to Night Vale: This dark comedy audio podcast snuck up on “This American Life” and swiped the No. 1 spot in late summer 2013. Available via iTunes. This American Life: This show follows a by-episode theme, with related stories podcast to more than 1 million subscribers. The weekly radio show
is broadcast to about 2.1 million listeners. thisamericanlife.org/about
Eventual Millionaire: Learn from the millionaires themselves by listening to their experiences in life and business and get tips on how to grow your business. Eventualmillionaire.com
By Hobby/Interest Arts and Crafts: craftsanity.com
Business Entrepreneur on Fire: Hear daily tips from some of the world’s most inspiring entrepreneurs. Entrepreneuronfire.com Manager Tools: Learn how to become an effective manager and form effective relationships in your office. Manager-tools.com Career Tools: Connect to more than 6,000 online
Business ownership: entrepreneur.com/podcast Fitness: thefitcast.com Hunting: wildgamehuntingpodcast. com Literature: newyorker. com/online/blogs/books/ podcast/ Technology: techguylabs.com
All national podcasts are available via iTunes.*
Photo by Matt Burke
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Executive Mindset
Bottom Line Giving to Charity
Big Giving For Small Nonprofits
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How to leave your legacy with impact By Gretchen Barry
W
hile no one likes reminders of their mortality, there are some decisions that you can make today that will leave a lasting good long after your time on Earth. One of the most important steps you can take now is to choose a smaller, community-based organization to gift a portion of your remaining assets. Stories of Giving
Recently, I was reading the print edition of my small town’s newspaper, and on the front page I came across a story about a “modest” gentleman who passed away and bequeathed nearly $250,000 to a small music program in the mountains near my home. It was a lovely gesture since this organization does not typically receive these types of legacy gifts. This gentleman, though an avid attendee of the music program’s concerts, hadn’t donated money to this organization in years. As a result, this gift came as a complete, yet thrilling, surprise — and that’s precisely what makes it so great. Another of my favorite stories of giving is that of Oseola McCarty, the laundress who left $150,000, her entire life savings, to the University of Southern Mississippi. Given her modest earnings and the fact that McCarty quit school in the sixth grade, nobody on the planet, except maybe her banker, knew she had that kind of cash to leave behind. Small Charities. Big Impact.
According to Giving USA, The Annual Report on Philanthropy, adjusted for inflation, total charitable giving in 2013 rose 3 percent over 2012. That’s great news! But I have always been
intrigued by where people choose to leave their legacy. It is one of the last things we do, and it can be one of the most impactful final acts for family or a favorite charity. These kinds of stories give me pause for thought; although my husband and I are far from wealthy, we are financially comfortable, and it is likely that we will have assets with which to leave our legacy. But when it comes to where we leave our legacy, my husband and I are bucking the trend; we have made a conscious decision to focus our legacy away from larger, more popular, charitable organizations. I know they do great work, but there are thousands of smaller organizations that are doing good in the world while struggling to keep the lights on. Smaller organizations deserve just as much attention as the larger nonprofits, but unlike these large entities that have the budgets to run national fundraising drives, smaller charities struggle with resource constraints. It is personally reassuring to consider that these smaller organizations will benefit more deeply from what my husband and I leave behind. Our somewhat modest gift can make a huge impact on their mission. Consider this: $100,000 won’t go very far in a big organization with hundreds of staff across the globe and multiple expenses. But imagine what $100,000 could do for a school in your community or your local food bank. Understanding The Smaller Organizations
As marketing director for a tech company focused on the nonprofit sector, I feel fortunate that I have access to hundreds of small
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Bottom Line community-based nonprofits and the people who manage them. Every day I get to see first-hand how these organizations are changing lives. I love my work because my company is part of the sphere of good happening in communities around the country. But what I also see is how these organizations struggle each day to support their missions. And when the vast majority of their time is spent fundraising rather than delivering their services, something needs to change. That’s where leaving a personal legacy can have a tremendous impact. How To Give Big To Small Organizations
1. If you don’t already have a list of organizations in mind, do a little research. Ask friends, family members or coworkers for their favorite charities. Check your local paper, your city’s website or even contact local law enforcement or social service agency. 2. Next, look for organizations with operating budgets less than $1 million. These are the hyper-focused missions that can benefit the most from your gift. 3. Identify the causes on your list that are important to you. This should be the easy part. Is it animal welfare, education, homelessness, health care, the environment or something else? The options are endless.
4. Narrow your list by determining what you believe will benefit your community the most. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the work only serves your community, but it does mean that the community as a whole benefits from its work or its presence. 5. Add the organization to your will or trust. Make sure to include any special instructions directing how the funds are to be used. Note: I caution against a request that prohibits the funds from being used for administrative purposes. It’s the administrative functions that make the mission happen, and too many organizations are hamstrung by those types of requests. Wouldn’t it be cool if someone directed an organization to use part of their bequeath to fund an annual thank you party for staff and volunteers, or to focus the funds on technology or building upgrades for the organization? Just like Oseola McCarty, you have the power to support whatever mission is important to you. Consider directing a portion of your estate to a struggling mission and ultimately to those who benefit from that mission. You can still provide for your family and larger organizations with your legacy funds, just consider including at least one community-based mission. Leaving a legacy that helps others long after we are gone can change the lives of those in need.
Gretchen Barry is director of marketing and communications for NonProfitEasy, a technology company challenging the status quo for the greater good. She can be reached at gretchen.barry@nonprofiteasy.com.
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Without Incentives, There’s No Business for Show Business Florida film officials pushing Legislature to restore a proven economic stimulus By Gray Rohrer
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woman jumps into the Wakulla River, unaware of the inhuman monster lurking below the surface. The monster swims menacingly near. Suddenly, both stop and amicably get out of the water. Jack Arnold, the director of “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” has yelled “Cut!” Julie Adams and Ricou Browning, who play the roles of Kay Lawrence and the Gill Man, respectively, are drying off. It’s 1953, and shooting of the film, which is set in the Amazon jungle, is almost over. Most of the movie was shot in California, but
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Cult Classic Despite its low-tech production values and schlocky storyline and dialogue, “Creature from the Black Lagoon” became an audience favorite. Wakulla Springs was chosen as a shooting location because its naturally wild setting could double as the Amazon jungle. The springs were also popular for Tarzan films featuring Johnny Weissmuller.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Copyright 1954 Universal Pictures Co., Inc.
Wakulla Horror Julie Adams, famously pursued in the 1954 horror classic, “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” portrayed an FDA chemist who helped break up a trucking industry amphetamine ring in “330 Independence S. W.,” a 1962 episode of NBC’s Dick Powell Show.
the underwater scenes and some other scenes were filmed in the Wakulla River, whose pristine, prehistoric aura is evocative of the South American rainforest. One of many in the schlock-filled monster movie genre, “Creature” is a film lover’s cult classic and a quaint relic of the early Cold War years. Its low-tech production values pale in comparison to the CGI-infused blockbusters of today. But the production of the film itself also shows how much has changed within the process of selecting a shoot location, both for the entertainment business and for the state and local governments bidding for their attention. In 1938, the famous swimmer and Florida native Newt Perry could call up his friend Johnny Weissmuller, the actor who played Tarzan, and convince him to shoot “Tarzan Finds a Son!” in Silver Springs near Ocala. Later, Perry would get producers to cast Browning, a graduate of Florida State University, in all the underwater scenes for “Creature.” Cut to the present day, when officials across North Florida — and throughout the state — are working to lure more production crews to take the plunge of filming on location in the area. And not just Hollywood blockbusters, either. TV pilots and series, commercials, music videos, digital shorts and other entertainment productions are being coaxed to film in the Sunshine State. To entice them, state and local governments, acutely aware of competition from neighboring states and similar locales, have dangled large carrots of taxpayer funds, known as economic incentives, to land the projects. “No longer is it about location, location, location. It’s about incentive, incentive, incentive,” said Emerald Coast Film Commissioner Gail Morgan. Film and entertainment industry backers say the funds result in phenomenal returns on investment for taxpayers, as production crews rack up hotel stays and spend on food and production materials such as lighting, sound and set props. A 2013 report from the Motion Picture Association of America, an industry trade group, found that Florida’s incentive program produced a return on investment of $4.60 for state and local government tax revenues for every $1 spent during the 2011–2012 fiscal year. The study also lauds the opportunities provided by the industry to film school students throughout the state and tourism spurred by movies and TV shows. Another report released this past November from the Florida Office of Film and Entertainment, the state agency that oversees the incentive program, states there were 4,446 businesses employing 22,545 people in the film and entertainment industry as of 2013. But incentives of all types, even for businesses in target sectors like aerospace or for corporate relocations, have been heavily criticized from across the political spectrum. Many liberals view the taxpayer incentives as giveaways to large corporations while education, health care and other social welfare programs go underfunded. Conservative, free-market advocates see incentives as unnecessary interference in the private market, a case of the government “picking winners and losers.”
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Courtesy of Seaside, FL and Paramount Pictures
Ryan Acevedo
Gus Corbella, chairman of the Florida Film and Entertainment Advisory Council, thinks the film and entertainment incentives suffer from a further perception problem among lawmakers because they spark Floridabased purchases and wages for jobs that only last the length of the project, instead of the permanent jobs that other incentive programs aim to create. “I think there is a certain misunderstanding or bias toward the fact that this is ‘entertainment,’ ” Corbella said. “But entertainment is not created in a void; it takes people and skill and a lot of money. We’re missing out on it by not extending the incentive.” The state film incentive program began in 2010, even as lawmakers dealt with severe shortfalls during the Great Recession, and would eventually receive $296 million. Projects received rebates for spending money on productions and wages in Florida. The program was set to run until 2016, but proved so popular among entertainment companies (as well as video game companies and businesses merely shooting commercials) that it ran out of money two years early. “The fact that the money has all been spoken for says that it’s working,” said Bay County Film Commissioner Julie Gordon.
©2011 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. / Claudette Barius Courtesy of Seaside, FL and Paramount Pictures
Florida In Film Clockwise from top left: East Side Story (now Dancin! It’s On!), a coming of age dance film starring Whitney Carson and released in 2014, was filmed in Panama City Beach and portrays a young girl falling in love while visiting her father’s hotel during summer break; Set of Magic Mike, a 2012 film shot in Tampa loosely based on the true story of an 18-year-old who becomes a male stripper; Beach scene from Magic Mike; Jim Carey, star of the 1998 “Truman Show,” in Seaside’s Modica Market with actor Noah Emmerich, left, and director Peter Weir; Carey on the set built in Seaside’s Ruskin Place.
“No longer is it about location, location, location. It’s about incentive, incentive, incentive.” Gail Morgan, Emerald Coast Film Commissioner State legislators opted not to fund the incentive program in 2014, causing some projects to immediately leave the state. Industry advocates have pegged additional funding and the long-term stability of the program as their top goal heading into the 2015 legislative session, which begins on March 3. Something in the Water From balmy shores to murky woods and natural wildlife, North Florida’s scenery has a long history in American cinema. Jacksonville was a hotspot for movie studios making silent films in the infancy of the movie business. In addition to “Tarzan” and “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” underwater scenes from “Airport ’77” (1977) were shot in Wakulla Springs. Some scenes from “Jaws 2” (1978) were shot off Okaloosa Island and Navarre Beach. In 2002, Shell Island off Panama City Beach was transformed into the Arabian Desert for “Secondhand Lions.” Parts of “The Truman Show” (1998) were shot in Seaside and Panama City. The area has also been host to myriad TV shows, commercials, digital shorts and music videos through the years. Gordon said she remains busy despite losing out on large-scale movie and TV projects because the incentive
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funds dried up. “House Hunters” and other shows for HGTV, The Food Network, The Travel Channel and other cable channels, as well as German and Japanese television shows, have filmed in the area recently. Feature films such as “American Honey,” which filmed in the area and has not yet been released in theaters, and “Dancin’ — It’s On,” which was filmed entirely in Panama City and will be released in 2015, have also been attracted to the region. North Florida’s streamlined permitting processes, professional staffers and cheaper production costs — even relative to other locales in the state such as Orlando and Miami — make it easier and more attractive for producers. But despite the region’s history, natural advantages and lower costs, North Florida has struggled to land a major blockbuster film or long-running TV show (like the seven-season run of “Burn Notice” filmed in Miami) that will lead to greater economic activity beyond the immediate purchases and wages paid by the production; a hit that will spark tourism and add to investment and more jobs — the Holy Grail for state and local government film commissioners. “This is the kind of industry that — I compare it to a rock being thrown in a lake — the ripple effects on local economies are tremendous,” Corbella said. “And the kind of global exposure that it gives Florida is the kind of thing that money can’t buy.” No recent project in North Florida has had the effect that “Dolphin Tale” has had on Clearwater in the Tampa region. The film, released in 2011, is based on a true story of how a dolphin was saved after losing its tail in a crab trap off the Gulf Coast of Florida in 2005. According to a study conducted by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which featured prominently in the film, nearly 73 percent of visitors to the aquarium in 2012 came as a result of the movie. In 2013, the aquarium attracted a record 700,000 visitors. A sequel, “Dolphin Tale 2,” was released in September 2014. The film production resulted in $18.4 million in qualified Florida expenditures — money spent on hotel stays and other production needs in Florida and wages for Florida-based employees — and received about $5.5 million in state taxpayer incentives. To land a breakout project like “Dolphin Tale,” however, much more investment is needed, which Gordon said would likely have to come from the private sector. The main ingredient is a production house or full-time production company located in the region. “My goal at this point is to get a grip house. I need a production house and I need it now. I need it last year. Until we have that, it’s going to be incredibly difficult for anybody in the Panhandle to land one of those
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Revitalizing Seaside Released in 1998, the “Truman Show” brought fame and needed funds to the New Urbanist beach community of Seaside. The site fees received for hosting the production helped finance construction of the SEASIDE® Neighborhood School, one of the first charter schools in the state. Paramount brought in 300 crew members and a Hollywood budget for the production. Courtesy of Seaside, FL and Paramount Pictures
Dolphin Mania The true story of a dolphin named Winter, who was saved after losing her tail in a crab trap, breathed economic life back into the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which figured prominently in “Dolphin Tale” and “Dolphin Tale 2.” The sequel was given $5.5 million in state incentives but pumped $18.4 million into the local economy. The aquarium hosted a record 700,000 visitors in 2013. Poster Courtesy Florida Office of Film and Entertainment
Courtesy Florida Office of Film and Entertainment
Courtesy Florida Office of Film and Entertainment
Lights, Camera, Action! Underwater scenes of the tail-less Winter are shot for “Dolphin Tale” at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. (Below) An action scene from “Burn Notice,” a TV series shot in Miami that aired on the USA Network from June 2007 through September 2013.
blockbusters because there’s not the local production house,” Gordon said. That fairytale ending may be a long way off. Gordon says production houses with electrical, lighting and other movie-making equipment and infrastructure — or “grip” in industry parlance — located in Atlanta attracts major film and TV projects, while the Panhandle beaches often get a trickle-down effect from some of those productions. “We have enough of a runoff from Atlanta and Mobile and other areas looking for beachy or coastal
locations, and they do come here. But when I have to send out of market to get the biggest need of all, which is G&E, grip and electric, then sometimes they can say, ‘Well, maybe we just need to go to the grip and electric and not rent it for that long.’ For me, that’s the biggest obstacle,” Gordon said. Therefore, she argues, it’s vital for the state incentive program to be rebooted by lawmakers, to prevent losing projects to Georgia and Louisiana. The North Florida area is already losing four projects each month because of the halt in the tax credits, she said.
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Money Never Sleeps The state programs to give tax credits and funds to the large entertainment companies that make films and TV shows are about one thing — economic development. In other words, money and jobs. “I think what’s important for legislators and decision makers to understand is: Strip this veneer, this sexy veneer of Hollywood off of this, and when you get down to it, at the bottom what you really have is jobs. And that is really what this is all about,” said Corbella, a veteran lobbyist and former Florida Senate chief of staff. (There are some social considerations in the statute, however. Pornographic films, political ads, news or weather shows, sports recap shows, projects promoting gambling or soliciting funds and “political documentaries” are prohibited from receiving funds through the program). Lawmakers set more stringent requirements, audits and proof of boosted economic activity for incentive programs of all stripes after the Digital Domain bankruptcy. Founded in 1993 by director James Cameron, the special-effects company had done work on major films and received a $20 million incentive package from the state and $62 million from local governments to open a
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Courtesy Florida Office of Film and Entertainment
Courtesy Florida Office of Film and Entertainment
From Beaches to Boats (Top) The 2008 “Marley and Me” was filmed in Fort Lauderdale and starred Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston. (Bottom) “Prison Break,” a Fox TV series that ran from 2005 until 2009, was partly filmed in Pensacola (shown here) and Panama City.
studio in Florida. Its bankruptcy in 2012 raised hackles among lawmakers and led to a lawsuit. The state announced this past October that it had come to an agreement to recoup $18 million. So rebooting the film incentive program won’t be an easy task for the industry. New Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, said he’s open to renewing the program but wants to ensure it has solid accountability measures. “To me, the focus really should be the policy side of it, the accountability, and if we’re going to do it, how do we make sure that it’s doing what we intended to do?” Gardiner said. It’s also unclear how much a revamped incentive program would help North Florida. According to the Florida Office of Film and Entertainment report, only 10 projects shooting in the region — which stretches from Pensacola to Jacksonville and as far south as Alachua County as defined in the report — received state incentive funds. Those projects account for less than 3 percent of the 342 projects that received funds through the program, and the $2.8 million in credits they received amounts to less than 1 percent of the total $296 million doled out. The vast majority of funds went to projects in the Tampa, Orlando and Miami regions and surrounding counties. But Morgan insists the program is vital for North Florida, not just for Central and South Florida,
A Dog’s Story “Marley and Me” is the true story of John Grogan, a writer at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and his neurotic Labrador Retriever. Much of the film was shot in Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Miami and Dolphin Stadium, including scenes in the SunSentinel’s newsroom in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Poster Courtesy Florida Office of Film and Entertainment
Matt Burke
Gus Corbella
“I think there is a certain misunderstanding or bias toward the fact that this is ‘entertainment.’ But entertainment is not created in a void; it takes people and skill and a lot of money. We’re missing out on it by not extending the incentive.” Gus Corbella, chairman of the Florida Film and Entertainment Advisory Council because the Panhandle is losing film and TV projects to Georgia and Louisiana. “They’re not going to come until that incentive program is back in place,” Morgan said. Additional incentives already exist for “underutilized” areas, but only movie projects that film at least 60 percent of the picture in the area are eligible for them. Gordon wants the Legislature to open the underutilized-area bonus up to TV shows and lower the 60 percent threshold to provide a boost to her efforts to attract projects to the region. “The verbiage (in the statute) has to change,” Gordon said. “It has to apply to TV. That’s most of what we do here.” The entertainment industry in Florida sees the incentive program as essential to its health, and the North Florida region is a natural fit for production hubs in Atlanta and New Orleans. Georgia and Louisiana, however, both have stable incentive programs that make it hard for Florida to compete. An enduring state incentive program in Florida is the first priority for attracting large-scale TV and film productions to the state. The key for North Florida is catching the eye of production crews before they drift to Central and South Florida. But before local film officials can do that, the industry must convince the Legislature to fund the program for the long term and ensure it won’t run out of money prematurely again.
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The Business of Cemeteries
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Laina L. Hicks, general manager of Abbey Funeral Home and Tallahassee Memory Gardens, was taken aback by an odd request. It proves, though, that the customer is always right — even in death. “You know what I just had to put on a lady’s marker? And I had to call the daughter to double-check to be sure before I sent the order off?” asked Hicks, who has been in the funeral home business for four decades. “She wanted, ‘See, I told you I was sick!’ I’ve got it ordered, and it’s going to be there.” It’s a distinctly human trait: We’re the only living things that intentionally bury our dead for the practical purpose of disposition of remains and the more sentimental purpose of memorialization. We’ve laid our loved ones to rest in family plots behind countless frontier log cabins, in rocky ground along remote wagon train trails, in well-manicured garden cemeteries of statuesque obelisks and monuments overlooking towns and cities and in humble churchyards throughout the land. Today, there are city cemeteries, private family plots, church cemeteries and “perpetual care” for-profit cemeteries that keep up in perpetuity the maintenance of the gravesites of our dearly departed. Licensed perpetual-care
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cemeteries are privately owned, either by individuals or large corporations, and are audited by the state of Florida. “Licensed perpetual care means that they take care of it forever,” said Hicks, who noted that there are two such facilities in Tallahassee. “The families don’t mow, the families don’t edge; the families have an issue with a grave, they come to the office. We’re responsible, forever, for keeping a cemetery.” There are “non-care” cemeteries, too, but that designation is deceptive. At a non-care facility, it usually falls on the family to care for their area, such as in a church cemetery, which is not audited by the state and is set up according to that particular church’s own rules. Then there are nonprofit city cemeteries operated by a city such as Tallahassee, and the city is responsible for the upkeep of certain public areas. Taxes pay for that kind of maintenance. “But they do sell their property, which means a family has to buy their property from the city, so that gives them some money to work with,” Hicks said. Then there are the “combination” outfits, the cemeteries with attached funeral homes. Hicks manages that kind of operation. And it’s a full-time occupation. Seeing to the needs of the client family is one thing and takes great
care and sensitivity. Beyond that is the upkeep of the business itself. “It’s an ever-growing expense, so yes, we are for-profit, but let me explain how much money it takes just to keep the cemetery going weekly,” she said. “You have to have the equipment (maintained), and if any damage occurs to a marker we have to replace or repair — whichever we can do to satisfy the family. So it’s not just we bury and that’s the end of it. It’s forever. You’re always doing something. I have equipment every week that I’m having to repair. So it’s a constant thing.” Not only do vehicles and power tools need gas and oil and regular maintenance, but cemeteries and funeral homes are not immune to acts of nature, according to Art Kimbrough, president, CEO and founder of The Overstreet Company. His company owns, operates and manages funeral homes and cemeteries throughout the Southeast, including Tallahassee Memory Gardens. “Dirt is dirt and grass is grass, and that’s got to be mowed and kept, but if you have storms you have to watch out for erosion and other kinds of things that are there,” he said. “Tree growth has to be managed so that they don’t uproot things. Trees can also fall over, so it’s just like any other kind of thing you can imagine.”
Matt Burke
When Hicks sells property of any description — whether it’s a space, a mausoleum for an entombment or a niche for “cremains,” the ashes of a cremated body — 10 percent of the money has to go into a perpetual-care trust fund. “That’s so one day, when all the property here in, say, Tallahassee Memory Gardens has been sold, there is money to still maintain the cemetery,” Hicks said. “We cannot go in and pull that out. That stays in there to maintain.”
ees. The national median cost of a funeral in 2012 was $7,045. If a vault is included, the median cost is $8,343. (A vault is an in-ground box that encloses a casket and keeps the surrounding soil from sinking.) According to John Ricco, executive director of the Florida Cemetery, Cremation & Funeral Association, there are 167 licensed cemeteries in Florida, and 91 of those are corporately owned. There are 17 licensed cemeteries in the 850 area code (excluding city cemeteries and national cemeteries). In 2013, there were 887 licensed funeral homes in Florida, 98 of which were in the Panhandle. There are 2,313 funeral directors in the state, 180 of them in the 850 region. The Price is Right There According to the Federal Trade Commission, funeral homes must have published price lists to show to families so there are no hidden costs anywhere. “You have to show them every one of these prices for your caskets, your services, everything. So it’s not just you sitting
down and making up prices, you have to have published prices,” she said. “It’s the same thing when you’re selling a preneed, you have to show them.” Kimbrough said that doesn’t stop a company from setting whatever price it thinks will cover the cost of doing business, but it still has to be published and available to the customer. “If we want to change it, we have to republish the price,” he said. Costs being what they are (and rising every year), it actually behooves people to start thinking about the unthinkable, and planning for the inevitable, sooner rather than later. You can save yourself not only money but time and unnecessary headaches by locking plans down now. Besides, you can’t think logically or make a major purchase when you’re emotionally compromised in the wake of a death. So anything you can do ahead of time is great. That’s called “pre-arranging.” “We’re licensed to sell pre-arrangements. So a family can buy a pre-arrangement in the cemetery, or in the funeral home, at today’s price, select everything they want, make all their own decisions about how much money is to be spent and pay for it at today’s price,” Hicks said. “I’m servicing people from 25 years ago. They’re not paying another dime for what they have purchased. That’s locked in. So what an
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The Business of Cemeteries
By the Numbers According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), there were 32,800 funeral directors in the United States in 2012, and the number of funeral service workers was expected to grow 12 percent between 2012 and 2022. The revenue stream from funeral homes and crematories was expected to reach $16.2 billion in 2014, and that revenue had increased 5.2 percent per year between 2011 and 2013. Approximately 86 percent of funeral homes in the United States are privately owned by families, individuals or closely held companies. The remaining 14 percent are owned by publicly traded corporations. The average NFDA-member funeral home handles 113 calls per year and has three full-time and four part-time employ-
Perpetual Care Art Kimbrough, president of The Overstreet Company, which operates several cemeteries throughout the Southeast, including Tallahassee Memory Gardens, says cemetery upkeep is a constant job and customer service must be “excellent.”
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advantage for families that they can pay for it, make a down payment and pay so much a month and get what they want.” That kind of arrangement gives families a peace of mind that’s priceless. Still, it amazes Hicks that more people don’t do it. “From the time we take our first breath we actually start the dying process, so at some point as an adult we should at least have a discussion,” she said. “And if your parents don’t have it, (their children) should at least sit down with them even though sometimes we don’t want to — myself included, with my own parents. And I was in the industry. But when it came time, it had to be addressed, and it was better to address it when everyone was in good health and we could sit around and talk about it.”
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burdensome, and it’s relatively easy to start up a death-care service. “I would say in comparison to initial entry for some other industries, obtaining a death-care-related license is less difficult,” she said. The initial entry cost to get into the cemetery business could be high in terms of the licensing fees, and that would run in the $5,000 range. The potential licensee has other incidental fees as well, such as fingerprinting, but taken as a part of what it would cost to get a cemetery venture going, that’s a small part of the startup cost. A failure to comply with the regulatory scheme can cost a business in many ways. “Where expenses add up is when a company fails to comply, and it is then the subject of disciplinary actions. That’s where it can get expensive,” Wiener said. “In terms of soft costs, when a licensee has a significant disciplinary problem, it has then impacted its reputation, not just with the regulator, but with the public, because the media can pick up such a case and run with it.”
Bare-bones Burial (Above and opposite page) Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve in DeFuniak Springs offers low cost “green burials” that use shrouds or simple pine box coffins, but no vaults or chemicals. Simple markers indicate grave sites. (Below) Tallahassee attorney Wendy Wiener represents all aspects of the “death-care” industry.
Matt Burke
A Well-Regulated Industry Regulation in its current form, especially for cemeteries, began in the 1950s and then, for funeral homes, in the decades after, according to Wendy Wiener, a Tallahassee attorney who represents all segments of the death-care industry in Florida. “But the law really morphed into a single regulatory scheme for all of the death-care industry (cemeteries and funeral homes) in the early 1990s,” she said. Prior to that, cemeteries were regulated by one agency, funeral homes were regulated by another agency and preneed by a third. “It has proven beneficial to both the industry and the public for the regulation to be by a single agency,” Wiener said. Before there was significant regulation, Wiener said there weren’t “voluminous problems” in the industry because prior to the existence of commercial cemeteries and their regulations, many cemeteries in Florida were either administered by religious institutions or were nonprofits related to particular ethnic groups. In either case, members were well taken care of. Today, however, she said, “It’s a much more streamlined process and it’s much better for the consumer because in the past, if the consumer had a concern about a death-care matter or contract, the consumer might not know who to turn to. It was harder for consumers to know where to get their questions answered.” Meanwhile, though many laws and rules exist, they’re not unduly
Scott Holstein
A Green Disposition? Just as there are many types of cemeteries, so too are there different types of burial or disposition. Some are more exotic than others (such as chemical dissolution and launching cremains into space), but the more conventional and traditional methods include the classic below-ground casket-in-vault burial with a headstone, aboveground entombments and cremation.
Today, the environmental movement has spawned a new interment industry: “green burial.” It’s a bare-bones (no pun intended) approach to burial that intends to be completely natural. For example, there are no embalming fluids or vaults, and your remains are placed in a biodegradable container or shroud. According to the Green Burial Council, the whole idea is focused on promoting conservation and reducing the environmental impact of our final resting place. There are at least two green burial sites in Florida — Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve in DeFuniak Springs and Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery in Gainesville. Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve is a 350-acre former farm marked with fields, creeks, ponds and pine forest. About 70 acres has been set up as a “green” cemetery, according to John Wilkerson, 66, who grew up there and started the nonprofit memorial park in 2002. A ninemember board of directors manages the preserve, and because it has only one fulltime employee, it relies on volunteers to make a go of it.
That said, though, Wilkerson said green burial simplifies modern burial practices and conserves land. There are currently 79 people buried at Glendale — but there are pets as well: 17 dogs, 10 cats, one chicken, one guinea pig and one goat. In contrast to a conventional modern burial’s cost, Glendale charges $1,800 “for opening and closing” the grave space at time of need, Wilkerson said. A nearby lumber mill sells wooden, biodegradable caskets for around $500 — which can conveniently be used for shelving and storage until they’re needed, he added. “People are in desperate need for something that works and doesn’t cost $10,000 or $20,000 and saves the planet’s resources,” he said. Wilkerson said that in time, green burial could be as commonplace as cremation is today simply because it eschews the use of toxic preservation chemicals, costs less and gives the survivors a better way to reach closure. “It appeals to people with an aversion to embalming and people who are looking for a more satisfying method to deal
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The Business of Cemeteries
Funeral homes and cemeteries can and will be shut down if they don’t comply with the rules or correct problems that have been uncovered. “Fifty years ago there were some bad actors that would take money and not (put it in the required trust account) and problems occurred, but those sins of individuals in an industry were corrected over time,” Kimbrough said. “Legislation was put into place to highly regulate and prevent those kinds of things. So it’s very safe in today’s environment for consumers who are buying pre-need policies. There is very little risk of abuse anymore that was once there 50 years ago.”
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Matt Burke
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Reviving Old World Traditions St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Tallahassee is offering its parishioners the opportunity to spend eternity (cremains only) inside the church. Niches are available in the apse, altar and an undercroft crypt for prices that range from $3,500 to $25,000.
Rendering by Bradley C. Touchstone, AIA//Touchstone Architecture
On Sacred Ground Being buried on sacred ground — either near a church or inside a church — has always been a great Christian tradition, according to Father Andrew Rowell of St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Tallahassee. The 2,000-member church has existed
Matt Burke
for 10 years, but a new cathedral resembling a classic, Old World church opened less than a year ago. Interments inside the church’s new cathedral are strictly for cremains only. Columbarium niches are made available to the church’s parishioners in the cathedral’s apse, altar and undercroft crypt, which is located beneath the church. A church brochure states, “In a time when environmental consciousness prods us to use less space for burial, a columbarium allows us to inter human remains with reverent respect in a sacred space that is both convenient and compact.” In all, the cathedral offers interment space for 3,500 souls, with the majority of those occupying the undercroft because it has the most space, Rowell said. The undercroft was still under construction in January, but renderings depict a quiet gallery with benches and a candle altar. As the new cathedral was being built, the church offered “construction prices” to parishioners who wanted to buy a crypt before prices increased after construction. Those “construction prices” ran from $3,500 for an undercroft single crypt up to $20,000 for a place in the sanctuary. Post-construction prices will range from $5,000 for a single undercroft crypt up to $25,000 for a spot in the sanctuary. Cremation is “an environmentally conscious way of interring your remains and a less expensive option,” Rowell said. “Cremation is somewhat new to America, but it’s been a practice in other cultures for centuries, and Scripture tells us ashes to ashes and dust to dust. The reality is, the Lord will give us glorified bodies not dependent on the physical condition of our earthly remains. And so within the context of our new building, we inter these human remains with full funeral rites, and when you come to worship the Lord on Sundays, you are also in the presence of loved ones that have gone before you, and the church remains together in worship.”
with grief,” he said. “They are allowed to actually lower the body into the grave, and we encourage them to shovel in dirt and participate in the burial. And that physical activity helps in the grieving process.” Green burial may have appeal but doesn’t exactly have a large market share — yet. “If I saw the need here, if there was a lot of interest in the green burials, then definitely I would consider an area that we could investigate and explore having a green burial cemetery area,” Hicks said. Kimbrough agreed. “If the market says they want it, we will provide it. But the market is not telling us in Tallahassee,” he said. “The only time it’s come up for me is people have read about it somewhere and they’re curious and they’re asking are we doing anything like that. But in terms of asking for it, no.” Ultimately, just like other businesses, funeral homes and cemeteries have to do two basic things, Kimbrough said. “You got to meet the needs of your customer, and successful cemeteries and funeral homes are those that meet the needs of those folks. In this business care, compassion, sensitivity, options available, follow-up, all of that goes into it. Any kind of customer service experience has to be done with excellence,” he said.
Coming Soon for Veterans Site work on a new National Cemetery is currently under way east of Tallahassee on U.S. Highway 27/Apalachee Parkway. The Veterans Administration bought the 250-acre site from The St. Joe Company for $6.8 million in August 2012. The new cemetery is a long-term project, with 18 or more phases set to be constructed over the course of the next 100 years. Phase One, consisting of about 35 acres, will be built by 2017, depending on the availability of federal money. Currently there are national cemeteries in Pensacola, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, St. Petersburg, Bushnell, Sarasota and Lake Worth. The St. Augustine National Cemetery is closed and Bay Pines National Cemetery in St. Pete is open for cremations only. Each year, 22,500 cemeteries across the United States bury approximately: embalming fluid: 827,060 gallons, which includes formaldehyde caskets: 90,272 tons of steel
The Business of Cemeteries
caskets: 2,700 tons of copper and bronze caskets: 30-plus million board feet of hardwood vaults: 1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete vaults: 14,000 tons of steel (Compiled from statistics by Casket and Funeral Association of America, Cremation Association of North America, Doric Inc., The Rainforest Action Network and Mary Woodsen, PrePosthumous Society)
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Begin with a strong foundation.
Development: residential, commercial, industrial Financing assistance, conventional or private Partnerships and joint ventures Site selection/property acquisition • Planning/permitting Construction services • Property management
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remaccllc.com • 850.309.7368 820 A Park Avenue, Tallahassee
Deal Estate It’s Just Business
LuLu’s Buffet, Destin
Rendering Courtesy of Igor Silvestar / I. Silvestar Associates
Destin
» Lucy Buffett, owner of Lulu’s Gulf Shores in Alabama and sister of troubadour Jimmy Buffett, plans to cross the state line and spread her “Gumbo love” by opening Lulu’s Destin this summer. The new restaurant will open within the Legendary Marine complex at the base of the Mid-Bay Bridge and feature sandy “beach” areas, great views, locally sourced food and live music. The project is expected to create 200 new jobs in the area. Tallahassee
»
The city’s newest retail development has been purposely designed to encourage walking, biking and riding the bus as an alternative to driving. The storefronts of Magnolia Grove, a 9.27-acre shopping and hospitality center built by The Ferber Company, are being built adjacent to the sidewalk with parking in the interior so that shops
are convenient to foot traffic and bus stops. The development is expected to be completed this summer. The development, being built on the southwest corner of Magnolia Drive and Park Avenue, will be home to retailers including Starbucks, Smashburger, Blaze Pizza, Mattress One, Oishii Bento Pan Asian & Sushi, Which Wich, Stanton Optical and a 134-room Home 2 Suites hotel by Hilton. More than 200 new jobs will be created when it opens.
Fort Walton Beach
» Movoto, the online real estate brokerage, has entered the Fort Walton Beach real estate market as part of a $20 million dollar expansion project. In 2014, more than 60 million U.S. residents used Movoto to search for information about towns and cities across the nation, using tools such as Movoto’s ranking of best places to live in Florida. The company has sold more than 16,000 homes across the country since its founding in 2006.
It offers listings in 42 states and the District of Columbia. It will upload information directly from the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors.
Santa Rosa Beach
» Locally owned and operated Prudential
PenFed Realty has joined forces with Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Real Estate Brokerage Network to form Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty. The full-service brokerage joins a growing roster of affiliates that have transitioned to the network since September 2013. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices now counts nearly 34,223 agents and 1,056 offices operating in 47 states. The brokerage network was named 2014 “Real Estate Agency Brand of the Year” by consumers in the 26th annual Harris Poll EquiTrend® study and “Startup of the Year” among all U.S. industries at the 2014 American Business Awards. Compiled by Linda Kleindienst
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Deal Estate Just Listed
A Miracle on Highway 98 It is rare in this day and age to find waterfront property with easy road access in an ideal location. The 3.18 acres located at 931 Miracle Strip Parkway in Fort Walton Beach is one of those prized finds. As Realtor Craig Barrett said himself, “You’re not going to find this size property for this price in Fort Walton Beach on the Intercostal Waterway.” This partially cleared property has 314’ of water frontage and 250’ of frontage on Highway 98. An old house was recently removed from this lot, clearing it for commercial use. The property is intended for commercial ventures such as residential, hotel, restaurant or retail. The property is not in the city limits, but the city is willing to wave annexation fees and assist with utilities in order to offer a more liberal zoning.
Craig Barrett / NBI Properties Inc.
By Rebecca Padgett
Any venue would get the breathtaking view of the Gulf from a structure over two stories high. The land is also high and dry with little risk of potential flooding. It is located directly across from government-owned properties, so there is no need to fret over the view possibly being obstructed. “The selling points are definitely the size of the property and its waterfront location, the proximity to the city and the zoning is just great,” said Barrett. n
Quick Look Address: 931 Miracle Strip Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach List price: $1,350,000 Acres: 3.18 Contact: Craig Barrett, NBI Properties Inc. (850) 243-0007
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Deal Estate Just Sold
Storage Facility Sells Before It’s Listed NAI TALCOR Realtor John McNeill recently finalized a huge sale on not just one specific space, but a 620-unit storage warehouse in Tallahassee. Newly constructed on 3.8 acres on Barcelona Lane, the 98,000square-foot space sold for $7.1 million within 15 days of initial conversations. The California buyer worked closely with a South Florida NAI affiliate and McNeill in order to close the deal quickly. In fact, the property was never listed or even on the market. Structurally, the building provides all of the necessities for a fully operating self storage facility, with features such as climate-controlled units, high-tech security and plenty of lighting. The warehouse will continue to function as a selfstorage facility serving SouthWood residents, Florida State University students and tenants in nearby office buildings. McNeill said there has been a tremendous call for quality constructed buildings in high growth
John McNeill / NAI TALCOR
By Rebecca Padgett
Quick Look Address: 2401 Barcelona Lane, Tallahassee states like Florida. With an accessible location, quality design and steady rates, this property was scooped up fast. “New construction likely made the buyer comfortable with initial maintenance in early years of ownership. The property is also stabilized with great property rates as well as excellent rental rates,” said McNeill. n
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COSTA LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE AT NORTHWEST FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE
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Attention to detail can be the difference between mediocre customer service and world-class, memorable experiences that drive repeat business. In this course, you will examine time-tested Disney strategies that help create world-class service. Spend one day with Disney Institute and you’ll benefit from our insights on quality service and learn to think differently. Are you ready to D’Think your customer experience?
•Determine how you can drive service differentiation •Develop quality service standards •Utilize tools to deliver exceptional service •Learn how to recover from a service failure
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Register Today! Space is Limited. Costa Leadership Institute at Northwest Florida State College is proud to be a selected sponsor of Disney’s Approach to Quality Service and wishes to thank its marketing participants: • Registration - Early Bird Special, $235 before March 31 • Spronsorships avaiable • Visit www.nwfsc.edu/LI to register or for more information 50
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As to Disney artwork/properties: © Disney
An 850 Business Magazine Special Report
Escambia County 2015 Bu si n e s s Jou r n a l
Jobs Overview | Studer Institue | Port/Airport | Business Development | Military | Tourism Demographics | Health Care | Institute for Human and Machine Cognition
TABLE OF CONTENTS
10 4 J obs Overview President/Publisher Brian E. Rowland EDITORIAL Editor Linda Kleindienst Senior Staff Writer Jason Dehart Staff Writer Chay D. Baxley Production Specialist Melinda Lanigan CREATIVE Creative Director Lawrence Davidson Production Manager/Network Administrator Daniel Vitter Art Director Jennifer Ekrut Advertising Designers Jillian Fry, Amanda Hartsfield Staff Photographer Matt Burke SALES & marketing Director of Sales and Marketing McKenzie Burleigh Director of New Business Daniel Parisi Ad Services Coordinator Lisa Sostre Account Executives Darla Harrison, Tanya Heath, Lori Magee, Tracy Mulligan, Rhonda Murray, Linda Powell, Paula Sconiers, Chuck Simpson, Alice Watts, Drew Gregg Westling Sales and Marketing Assistant Christie Green
rowlandpublishing.com | facebook.com/RPIcreative
2 / 2015 E s c a m b i a C o u n t y BUSIN E SS J OU R NA L
A wellspring of talented workers, combined with concentrated community efforts, is helping to bring new economic development to Escambia County.
7 S tuder Institute
Passionate about the place they call home, Quint and Rishy Studer have invested in a think tank designed to improve Pensacola’s quality of life.
10 P ort/Airport Two
of the county’s biggest economic drivers, the Port of Pensacola and Pensacola International Airport, have attracted new business ventures that will pump millions into the local economy.
12 B usiness Development Local
businesses looking to grow and new start-ups alike have help at hand from the Florida Small Business Development Center Network and the Gulf Coast Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
16 M ilitary Pensacola and
the U.S. Navy have a 100year partnership that has resulted in the Department of Defense pumping $6.7 billion into the local economy each year.
18 T ourism It’s more
than just the beach that brings tourists here. With a new tagline of “Loved by explorers since 1559,” Pensacola is luring in visitors with its history, culture and revitalized downtown.
21 D emographics 22 I nstitute for Human and Machine Cognition Top
researchers from around the globe come to the institute looking for ways to help machines and people develop a more synergistic relationship.
25 H ealth Care
Four major health systems provide medical care for the Pensacola area, giving top notch local care with newage technology, techniques and practices.
Courtesy of FSBDC (12) and Illustration courtesy of Bullock Tice Associates (10); Cover photos By Scott Holstein (port) and Courtesy of IHMC (robotics) and Visit Pensacola (Miltary)
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Jobs Ove rvi ew
Focus On Jobs Diverse economy helps Escambia County’s job growth trajectory By Linda Kleindienst
W
4 / 2015 E s c a m b i a C o u n t y BUSIN E SS J OU R NA L
Jerry Margarden (left), outgoing president and CEO of the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, and and Scott Luth, head of economic development
corrugated brown boxes and fluff pulp for diapers and other hygiene products. “There’s a much more upbeat feeling here today than we had even five years ago,” says Jerry Maygarden, the outgoing president and CEO of the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce who is now taking over the Chamber Foundation. Indeed, there is a certain bustle in the region. There is a renaissance going on in the
downtown area, sparked in part by new development from The Studer Group. And the greater metropolitan area is growing. Houses are going up, people are moving in and getting jobs. Meanwhile, the military side of the economic equation remains strong, pumping up to $6.7 billion a year into the local economy, while tourism has grown to where Pensacola Beach had its best summer season ever in 2014. “We are very fortunate here with the diverse
photo by Matt Burke
hen the bottom dropped out of the economy in 2008, the private business sector in Escambia County put together a plan that focused on creating jobs, opportunity and investment. It resulted in Vision 2015 and a goal to create 3,000 new jobs. But even before the clock closed out 2014, the plan was way ahead of schedule. The total of new jobs was already pushing 8,000. Some of that growth is due to the expansion of Navy Federal Credit Union, which announced in October 2014 that its plan is to bring 5,000 new jobs to the area by 2026, for a total employee base of 10,000 workers. In making the announcement, Navy Federal CEO Cutler Dawson said of Pensacola, “It’s a great place to grow your business and a wellspring of talented people to employ.” And that’s exactly the message Pensacola and Escambia County economic development officials are sending to the world. So far, it seems to be working. Existing companies are expanding, and new companies are coming to the county’s deepwater port, the international airport and local commerce/ industrial parks. In October another big announcement came from International Paper, a global leader in packaging and paper products, which plans to reinvest more than $90 million over the next five years by reopening its Pensacola Containerboard Mill, located in Cantonment. The mill, which during its last year of operation had a local economic impact of $330 million, produces material to create
nature of the economy,” explains Scott Luth, CEO of the Community Economic Development Association for Pensacola and Escambia County, the new agency that will lead the county’s economic development efforts. “In 2013, we had West Fraser elect to reopen the McDavid Mill to cut lumber to support the growing construction industry. Another company in the paper printing business is looking at expansion. Now there are two new companies at the port and another at the airport.” Economic developers in the county are working to attract suppliers for Airbus, which this year will begin assembling A320 jetliners at a new facility in Mobile, Alabama. The first planes are expected to start rolling off that assembly line in 2016. Another focus is on technology. At the University of West Florida, a new major field of study is cyber security. In 2014, the university’s Innovation Institute launched the Center for Cybersecurity. “Cybersecurity is more than just IT,” said Sikha Bagui, the center’s director. “Cybersecurity has applications in the health care sector, telecommunications sector, financial sector, industrial sector and defense contracting. There is a critical need to fill 50,000 cybersecurity jobs in just the federal government and private industry.” Luth said part of the area’s attraction for business is the fact that within a five-mile radius the county has Interstate 10, rail lines, a deepwater port, an international airport, two four-year colleges and Naval Air Station Pensacola. Meanwhile, from a lifestyle standpoint, the community offers a double A baseball team that plays in a new state-of-the-art stadium, a growing downtown retail corridor in Pensacola, a cultural hub that offers opera, orchestra and theater productions, as well as a historical center that has become part of the tourism lure. “We used to talk about only the beach. Now people are coming to see where Andrew Jackson once slept,” says Maygarden. “We’ve got an emerging cultural arts center, and it all adds to the attractiveness.” Pensacola is also unusual in that, for its size, it has a large medical complex with four major hospital systems — Sacred Heart Health System, West Florida Hospital, Baptist Health Care (which includes the world-famous Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine) and Naval Hospital Pensacola. And those facilities have affiliations with major medical centers around the country, including the Mayo Clinic and M.D. Anderson. Maygarden says new businesses being courted by the county are appreciative of how unusual it is to find that kind of a health delivery system in a region the size of the greater Pensacola area. In selling the region, the county also has the military to thank for a workforce that some employers are looking to hire. “Thanks to the huge military industry complex we have, there is the availability of a workforce,” Maygarden says. “And we’re beginning to see the fruits of that now in people who call us asking about sites. The local colleges also place a heavy emphasis on programs that focus on the aerospace fields.” In 2012, Mayor Ashton Hayward unveiled the city’s new effort to change its image with a branding campaign that included a new logo and a new motto — Pensacola: The Upside of Florida. The thrust was to capture a larger share of the future by improving the regional economy. Luth credits the aggressiveness of the community — the city, the county and the private sector, all working together — with helping to bring many of those 8,000 new jobs to the greater Pensacola area during the last several years. “They have created an atmosphere in which these companies can be successful,” he says.
Greater Pensacola Chamber Small Businesses, Big Jobs More than 1,100+ Local Businesses Yearly Networking Events Small Business Advocacy PensacolaChamber.com 850.438.4081
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A stronger economy. A cleaner environment. Together, we can fuel change.
Driving change that’s better for Pensacola.
Pensacola is a leader in converting fleets to compressed natural gas (CNG) with more than 100 CNG vehicles on the road in the Pensacola area. CNG coversions in Escambia County have saved more than $1 million dollars a year in fuel cost and have reduced harmful emissions. Contact Larry Hunter at 850-342-1851 to learn about Florida CNG conversion rebates of up to $25,000 per vehicle.
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Stude r Institu te
Gates That Open Doors for Everyone
Investing for the greater good By Tisha Crews Keller
Photo By Hamilton Images
T
he Gates Foundation is to Africa what The Studer Institute is to Pensacola. In terms of investing for the greater good, no better comparison can be made. Quint and Rishy Studer, the philanthropists behind the Studer Institute, believe that keeping resources at home — to improve quality of life in their own backyard — is the highest level of stewardship. They created the Studer Institute as a way to do just that. The think tank is a team of around 20 professionals at the top of their field who share one common trait: a passion for the place they call home. Founder and principal investor Quint Studer made his name and fortune in the health care industry, where he now serves as a consultant and best-selling author. Clearly, though, his main goal is to give back to the community that cradled him. “In looking at more national think tanks, such as the Brookings Institute or the Hoover Institute, I’ve always felt that it was important for people to have good research, good data and then good information about what the data is showing,” Studer explains. “I think if we don’t measure it, then we don’t improve it.” So, with the Studer Institute, what he sought was really to create what people normally do nationally with institutes and think tanks, but to do it on a local level. The impetus was to improve the quality of life for the Pensacola metro area. “Most cities are already so developed that they don’t have the amount of empty land that
Quint and Rishy Studer, the philanthropists behind the Studer Institute
allows for good urban planning to use that land wisely,” Studer observes. “And the most valuable opportunity we have is Pensacola State College and the University of West Florida. Gallop data shows there’s an advantage to communities that have universities in their area because of the tremendous talent. One of the reasons that Studer Group could grow the way it has is because we had talent locally.” The point isn’t really that Studer believes Pensacola is so different from its sister cities such as Panama City, Destin and Mobile, Alabama. The difference is in his approach to giving back. “I don’t think Pensacola is different than
those other places,” Studer says. “What makes me passionate about this city is that I live here. Rishy and I think everyone has a human responsibility to make their area the best it can possibly be.” And so the Studer mantra goes: By working together, we can impact things locally. The main goals for the Studer Institute team are to shed light on socio-economic facts about the greater Pensacola area and to begin brainstorming ways to turn challenges into success stories. For instance, the Institute’s Pensacola Metro Report 2014 is the current edition of an annual report on economic and human 2015 e s c a m b i a c o u n t y BUSIN E SS J OU R NA L
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factors that affect business development in the area. For 2014, the report uncovered several key measures that show the good — and the bad — story on the area’s readiness for true economic development. The report looks at long-term data trends from 1970 through 2013. The publication examines four main indicators of a community’s well-being: economic, public health, demographic and educational sectors. Harnessing the synergy of these four indicators and telling a much broader (and complex)
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story of the community allows the Institute’s academics to dig much deeper into the issues and discuss possible modes of change.
The Good and the Bad Since 2000, the greater Pensacola area has made huge strides in its rebranding and economic development initiatives. Specific success points indicate a rebound that is still growing in downtown and beyond: ▪ Palafox Street/Downtown renaissance with growth in new and expanding business
Photo by Michael Spooneybarger
Pensacola Bayfront Stadium, home of the Blue Wahoos
▪ A booming financial services sector, led by a $250 million investment by Navy Federal Credit Union ▪ Beach and aviation tourism growth since the 2010 BP oil spill ▪ Growth in technology and knowledgebased businesses, especially in Gulf Breeze ▪ Potential growth in niche markets associated with IT and aerospace ▪ Mixed-use retail/commercial buildings on tap for the downtown landscape In terms of challenges, Pensacola has its share — but not without the determination to change. The bottom line for Studer is that Pensacola has a stagnant population. “If you’re going to bring jobs and dollars into your community, you have to attract people,” he maintains. The Metro Report reveals several key factors that are holding the area back from its full potential, and these are really no different from anywhere in the United States or, in particular, the South. According to the Studer Institute, the main top-line challenges are poverty, poor health outcomes and low educational achievements overall. Low graduation rates affect the community as a whole, not just individual lives and families.
Poor lifestyle choices contribute to rising rates of behavior-based chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity. The gap between the average Escambia County salary and the state — and U.S. — averages is widening. Studer believes the wage index and education are the critical problems for his beloved city. “Our (wage index) used to be above the Florida average, and now it is behind,” he laments. “That wage index is earning power. It might feel good for some employers to pay a little bit less so they can make a little more profit, but in the long run that’s detrimental to the community because you’re taking dollars out of the system. So I think our wage index is something that we need to address. We need to take that leap of faith and realize that when you pay your employees more, you improve productivity, improve service and it improves the bottom line — it doesn’t hurt it.” For Studer, the No. 1 component for success is also the one that’s going to take the longest to impact: education. Graduation rates are too low in Escambia County, particularly with the minority population. “We have wonderful school board personnel, but just looking at the data we’ve seen key measurements stay flat over the last
13-14 years, despite hard work,” he explains. “So I don’t think it’s a matter of talent or expertise. It’s important to focus on the bright spots — areas where teachers and administrators are showing it can be done — and scaling those throughout the rest of the system. It’s also looking at Santa Rosa County, which seems to be performing better in education, and looking for answers outside our metro area. The long-term solution is improving educational performance and graduation rates in a collaborative way.” Studer believes the educational challenge ties in with another factor — single parent households in the area. “We can’t impact whether people get married or stay together, but we can certainly improve services for those people such as after school programs, early education and so on,” he says.
Coming to the Table The Metro Report is national-level research that is targeted at the local community — and not many communities have access to that. The true purpose of the Metro Report, though, is to entice community leaders to talk about ways to turn the negatives into positives. “We’re interested in creating conversation in the change,” Studer says. “That sometimes
means leading the dialogue also. We’ve noticed there is tremendous demand for leadership development. So the Studer Institute plans on being a front runner, providing education and training on how to create great work places. If we do that, we’ll grow this community.” To that end, the Studer Institute is planning critical business education such as non-profit board development and small business training. Right now, The Studer Institute is funded completely by philanthropy. In the future, the hope is that other companies and individuals will see the value and help with funding. “This isn’t anything new,” he says. “As I traveled the country over the last 15 years, you see how … think tanks can look objectively at what works best and how to scale it across the country because they’re not being paid by a certain vendor to show a certain outcome. The unique thing is doing this at the local level. It’s unique but fun to focus completely on a local environment.” In the Pensacola metro area, the Studer Institute thinks that by taking something that has positive aspects nationally (think tank approach) and using it locally, they can not only come up with the measurement but also help create the conversation to improve the quality of life for area residents.
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Where it is technically
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Port/Ai rport
Here to Serve The Port of Pensacola and Pensacola International Airport are economic heavy lifters in this region By Jason Dehart
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wo of this city’s biggest economic dynamos — the Port of Pensacola and Pensacola International Airport — are embarking on new business ventures that will add a total of 500 new jobs and millions of dollars to the local, and regional, economy. A lease agreement signed this past summer solidifies the hold that the city-owned Port of Pensacola has on a critical segment of the oil and gas industry. For the past five years or so the port has been a service depot for a wide range of ships and vessels that service the needs of exploration, surveying, pipe-laying and harvesting of oil and gas. Today, the latest development is that port client Offshore Inland Marine & Oilfield Services will team up with DeepFlex to build a major undersea pipe manufacturing plant here. The new plant will hire 200 new workers, which will dramatically add to the port’s current workforce of about 100 full-time employees, according to Port Director Amy Miller. The average wage of those new workers will be at least 115 percent of the regional average, she said. “It’s a huge economic development project, not just for the port but for the region, and it 10 / 2015 E s c a m b i a C o u n t y BUSIN E SS J OU R NA L
really gives us a foothold in the offshore oil and gas industry,” Miller said. “The pipe that is manufactured at this plant will be deployed to oil and gas production projects not just in the Gulf of Mexico but all over the world. About a year from now you’re going to have flexible composite pipe that’s stamped ‘Made in Pensacola’ all over the world.” When the plant gets going in the second half of 2015, it’s expected to crank out up to 62 miles of special pipe a year. Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward said the new facility is the result of dogged campaigning. “Two-and-a-half years ago, I set out a new vision for our port, designed to position it to better compete in a changing global marketplace and to be an economic engine for our region,” he said. “We are beginning to see results. The constant modernization of subsea oil and natural gas production, combined with our nation’s renewed dedication to reducing dependence on foreign oil, has provided new opportunities for our historic port to play an important role in our city’s economic growth and diversification.” Just how big a player is the offshore oil service industry? Overall offshore expenditures in the
Gulf of Mexico are expected to reach $167 billion between 2013 and 2016, officials said. That amount can only go higher as more areas of the Gulf are explored, Miller said. “There is evidence that there is oil and natural gas producing capacity in the eastern Gulf from the Louisiana/Mississippi border eastward to Florida territorial waters,” she said. But deep-sea pipe manufacturing isn’t the only industry coming to Pensacola. The city recently signed a lease with VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering — a world leader in aircraft heavy maintenance — to build a major maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at Pensacola International Airport. Three hundred jobs will be created, each with an average salary of around $41,000. Officials said that VT MAE is one of the world’s leading MRO companies and will provide a crucial boost to the regional economy. Under the terms of the lease, the city will build an aircraft hangar on nearly 19 acres that can accommodate two wide-body passenger aircraft. It’s expected to be ready to go in mid 2016. “By working with VT MAE, we will be able to create good, high-paying jobs and cement
Photo Scott Holstein (Port) and Illustration courtesy of Bullock Tice Associates (airport)
Pensacola’s position as a true contender for aviation and aerospace industry investment,” said Mayor Hayward. “This partnership aligns well with our regional goals to create a robust aerospace cluster and will help create greater business and job opportunities for the citizens of Pensacola and Escambia County.” Interim Airport Director Daniel Flynn said the airport is a large economic engine that already has about 1,700 employees. Regionally, the airport provides more than 5,772 jobs and produces an annual direct and indirect impact of over $565 million. Pensacola International Airport served 1.5 million passengers in 2013. “So you can see that one tenant bringing in 300 additional jobs is a significant increase in the number of individuals employed at the airport,” he said. Like their counterparts at the seaport, Flynn is hoping the airport is able to capitalize on ancillary industry sectors within the aerospace industry. “As the Airbus plant in Mobile opens up, Pensacola is situated in an ideal location for some of the second- and third-tier suppliers to be located,” he said. “We’re far enough away that Airbus and a second- or third-tier supplier in Pensacola aren’t competing for the same labor pool, yet we are close enough to accommodate the needs that they might have. So as we progress with some of our economic development initiatives we are looking at other airport properties to attract some of those other suppliers.” Passenger service, meanwhile, is up slightly and several direct flights have been added, Flynn said. Gone are the days when flying anywhere out of Pensacola involved a stop in Atlanta — although Atlanta certainly is still one of the airport’s major markets. “We have direct nonstop service to a lot of major hubs. If you go west, you have direct service to Houston, direct service to Dallas; to the north, you have direct service to Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, and on Saturday and Sunday you have flights to Washington, and to the south direct service to Miami and Orlando, Tampa,” he said. “So, again, the Pensacola airport has very good air service connections. We are very pleased with where we stand in terms of commercial service out of Pensacola. We are working with the incumbent carriers to open up new markets that might benefit them and us, and other entrants who could augment the service we already have.” Flynn said that while everybody focuses on growth and travelers want to see more carriers added, the thing to remember is a lot of airports have experienced significant decline in the number of passengers over the past few years. Not so at Pensacola, he said. “From a traffic standpoint we are happy with where we are. Last fiscal year we were 2 percent above where we were (the previous) fiscal year in terms of passenger counts,” he said. “Obviously trying to work in this economic environment the last few years has been challenging, however Pensacola has been successful in maintaining service levels.”
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Busi ness Developm ent
Pensacola: A Cradle for
Business Innovation and Growth
Specialized programs spur economic development
M
ost large urban areas have an array of services for small business owners and entrepreneurs. In fact, economic development these days is big business itself, with large cities and counties competing for as few as 50 new jobs to an area. Incredibly, Pensacola and Escambia County have not one, but two specialized programs that provide assistance and low-risk alternatives for small businesses and startups to get the boost they need in the precarious early stages of business. With the considerable resources of the federal government, a full university and the area’s Chamber of Commerce, there is little issue left unmitigated for a small business owner or entrepreneur.
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The Florida Small Business Development Center Network at the University of West Florida (FSBDC at UWF) and the Gulf Coast Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce are two programs that are fit for a much larger economic development area than just Pensacola.
The Power of the Network The Florida Small Business Development Center Network at UWF is the perfect starting place for the (not necessarily) new business owner. According to its website, the FSBDC at UWF provides tools, training and resources to help business owners at all stages to grow and succeed.
By Tisha Crews Keller
“The goal,” explains Kelly Massey, FSBDC director, “is to provide small business — whether established or just beginning — with tools and resources to help mitigate common entrepreneurial pitfalls.” This means that a small business owner or entrepreneur may find at the FSBDC professionals who can answer practical questions such as how to obtain certificates and registrations; where to register business names; examples of business concepts/plans; mapping out the first steps of beginning a business; and even how to land government contracts — a specialization that makes a lot of sense in the military-heavy Escambia County region. The FSBDC is part of a statewide service network of more than 40 locations, funded in
photo by Matt Burke (Myhre and Massey) and Courtesy of FSBDC (Bishops Coffee)
(Left) Bishop’s Coffee & Tea was founded in the summer of 2007by Tionna Bishop, whose desire was to become her own roaster and provide people with great quality coffees and teas from around the world. (This page) Michael Myhre (left), CEO of the Florida Small Business Development Center Network, and Kelly Massey, regional director.
part by the U.S. Small Business Administration. With additional money from supporters such as the Defense Logistics Agency, the State of Florida, the University of West Florida and other public/private partners, the center at UWF serves as the lead host institution for the network. Because of its diverse funding, the FSBDC is able to provide assistance to business owners in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties at little or no cost. “No matter if a business is just beginning or has been in business for years, we provide specialized resources and assistance to help them,” Massey continues. “We offer a comprehensive toolkit of services for qualifying existing businesses looking
to accelerate market growth, including Growth Acceleration, International Trade, Government Contracting and Business Continuation.” Massey has recruited a team with diverse experience and education to make the most of the SBDC’s influence. “Our professionally certified consultants have a variety of backgrounds and education,” he explains. “Several have more than 20 years of experience in small business consulting.” His team of eight includes consultants, managers and — a new addition — an international trade consultant so that clients may take advantage of the area’s unique opportunities with the military and the deep-water port. Doug Herrick, owner of SunFarm Energy in Pensacola, is a great example of the FSBDC’s influence. In 2011, the former naval aviator co-founded SunFarm Energy to design and install commercial and residential solar energy systems. Working with the FSBDC at UWF, Herrick received business advice and resources to grow his company. He also worked with students at UWF’s College of Business on a human resources project that provided insight he could use.
Herrick’s experience is not unususal. The FSBDC employs UWF graduate students to provide assistance to the Escambia business community. “This demonstrates an invaluable opportunity for both students and our clients,” Massey says. “Students are given an opportunity to apply what they have learned in class, and small businesses in our region benefit from their knowledge.” In addition, the FSBDC at UWF offers free or low-cost workshops to area business owners, with topics such as, “Franchise Basics,” “How to Do Business with Eglin and Hurlburt Air Force Bases” and “International Trade Basics.” These workshops are held at a variety of times and locations and advertised through the center’s website.
Investing Today in Tomorrow’s Employers The federal government and higher education aren’t the only ones interested in business growth in Escambia County. The Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce dedicates considerable resources to startups and business growth. As part of its overall mission, the Chamber focuses on 2015 e s c a m b i a c o u n t y BUSIN E SS J OU R NA L
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Ideally, the CIE is a “short-term (1–3 years) bridge” between a home office and Class A office space. In other words, it’s perfect for businesses that are at or near revenue needs. Kelly Reeser, director of Entrepreneurial Development, manages the CIE and the programming for the tenants of the facility. “The CEI provides a physical location for entrepreneurs to gather, work and share ideas,” she explains. “As well as a network of the experience and wisdom of business owners who are willing to mentor and assist growing companies.” Currently home to 12 tenant businesses, the center has about 7,500 square feet of leasable space, which varies in size from 100 square feet to over 900 square feet.
In simple terms, the CIE provides very affordable office space and on-demand consulting services for beginning businesses and entrepreneurs. Each client receives a business coach and access to an entrepreneur-in-residence for individualized business development. Jeff Phillips, CEO of Accountingfly, is one of the CIE’s go-to examples for success. The company provides recruiting services and software to the accounting industry. “The CIE has offered Accountingfly discounted rent and office services to help preserve startup capital,” Phillips explains. “They introduced the team to one of the CIE’s board members and other mentors and provide executive coaching to our leadership team.” The small company started in 2012 and has already made a name for itself in the accounting industry. Recently, Phillips was named “One of the Most Influential People in Accounting” by Accounting Today Magazine. Unique programs provide the incubator companies the ability to connect with each other and mentor professionals so they can grow their business. Many of the “mentor” Doug Herrick (right) and Donald Long professionals offer are co-founders of free or reduced-price SunFarm Energy, services for CIE a Pensacola solar integrator company tenants. Educational that began in 2011 courses and “lunch and provides and learn” opporsystems for commercial and tunities allow for residential use. the CIE’s experts to provide feedback and custom ideas for things like funding and workforce training programs. Discounted rates on Chamber programs and memberships are also extended to CIE tenants. To qualify for the CIE program, companies must submit an application online (gulfcoastinnovation.com). Requirements include a business plan or executive summary, with (at minimum) a proof of concept. A selection committee reviews applications, evaluating whether the business is at the stage to enter into a lease and the potential for growth and jobs creation. Whether a small business is barely out of the garage or even established but still considered “small,” Pensacola and Escambia County have resources to accelerate growth and push forward ideas. These programs come from a variety of sources, but one thing is clear: Pensacola is ready to be known as a cradle for innovation and business growth.
photo by Matt Burke
business expansion and entrepreneurial growth. This relates directly to the focus on creating high-wage, sustained growth jobs in the area. The Gulf Coast Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) is the Chamber’s outreach to startup and fledgling businesses. Formed in 2008, the CIE is a partnership between the Greater Pensacola Chamber and Pensacola State College. The CIE incubator is managed through the Chamber and receives support from both municipal economic development funds and private investors. The CIE targets “early stage, high-growth companies” to increase the odds of their success. The list of innovators associated with the center includes Cogon Systems, GridSouth, Avalex Technologies and more.
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Tax season is not the only time of the year to hire a certified public accountant (CPA).
Hire a licensed CPA,
Because Every Business Counts Beyond taxes, CPAs are licensed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) to perform financial audits, reviews and compilations. Only a licensed CPA is legally authorized to audit financial statements for bank review or compile financial records for the purpose of expressing opinions regarding the reliability or fairness of the information at hand. Bookkeepers and accountants do not require licensure to perform basic bookkeeping or accounting functions, however only licensed CPAs are allowed to use the CPA designation and advertise or represent themselves as a CPA. CPAs licensed by DBPR must meet strict professional and technical requirements to provide advanced financial, business and tax services to their clients. Eligible candidates must graduate with an appropriate baccalaureate or master’s degree and meet certain work-experience requirements before they can sit for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Uniform CPA Exam to become licensed. After obtaining professional licensure, CPAs must also complete 80 hours of continuing education every two years to maintain their license.
In addition to extensive education and testing, licensed CPAs are required by law to carry Errors and Admissions insurance, which adds an additional level of protection for their clients. When selecting a CPA, consumers should always verify the professional license with DBPR prior to hiring. Licenses can be verified quickly and easily by visiting www.myfloridalicense.com, by calling 850-487-1395 or by downloading the free DBPR Mobile app from the iTunes or Google Play app store. When verifying a license, consumers should also make sure the license is current and check for any complaints or disciplinary actions against the licensee.
Unlicensed activity occurs when an individual offers to perform or performs services that require a state license and the individual does not hold the required license. Florida law sets specific rules and guidelines for obtaining professional licensure and holds the people who have met these requirements to high professional standards. Floridians are asked to report any suspected unlicensed activity to DBPR by emailing ula@myfloridalicense.com or calling the Unlicensed Activity Hotline at 1-866-532-1440.
It is important for consumers to not only choose a licensed CPA to make decisions regarding their business’ finances, but to also select one that meets their specific needs. Florida CPAs have a wide variety of expertise, clients and past experiences. Prior to hiring, consumers should find out what type of accounting work a CPA typically performs and compare it to the specific service needs of their business. DBPR is reminding Floridians of the danger of hiring unlicensed CPAs to assist them with their business’ financial needs.
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M i l itary
Celebrating 100 Years of Community Naval Air Station Pensacola and the local community have supported one another — and reaped the rewards together By Laura Bradley
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ensacola’s Naval Air Station is practically its own city — 23,000 military and civilian personnel make up the base, which has everything from a seaport, to an airfield, to its own version of a college campus with the Naval Air Technical Training Center. The base contributes $1.3 billion annually to the local economy in military salaries alone; including indirect contributions, the Pensacola Chamber
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Foundation estimates that along with NAS Pensacola, the Department of Defense contributes around $6.7 billion per year to the greater Pensacola region. But the relationship between the base and Pensacola at large comes down to much more than just numbers — it’s a relationship of give and take and most importantly of mutual support. “It’s a superb relationship between Pensacola and the military,” said Rick Harper, an economist at the University of West Florida. “Pensacola is one of the most military-friendly towns in the nation because there’s such a long history of naval aviation in the community.” Personnel moving in from other parts of the country tend to fall in love with Pensacola and form lasting relationships with not only the community but special people within it. Pensacola’s nickname as the “Cradle of Naval Aviation” is often amended, Harper said, to the mother-in-law of naval aviation, “because so many fliers come through Pensacola and meet their spouses.” Most people who work on the base are military personnel — they make up about 17,000 of the 23,000, according to Patrick Nichols, public affairs officer for NAS Pensacola. Most military personnel are on the base for aviation preflight and flight training, being trained as naval flight officers. But the base also trains Air Force combat systems officers, allied forces and more. Aviation reigns, Nichols said, adding
Photos Courtesy of Visit Pensacola, Inc. (military) and Individual (dollen)
that they also train in aviation maintenance — everything from air traffic control to aircraft handling and maintenance. The base also teaches recruiters and survival training, along with a “large contingency” of doctors and nurses going through operational medicine training. The other roughly 6,000 people on the base are civilians. Most (about 2,700) are civil servants, paid by the Department of Defense to work in areas like public affairs, public works and security. Contract personnel make up the next biggest portion of civilians at 1,900 — people working in fields that range from culinary services and cleaning to aircraft maintenance. The rest, about 1,300, are nonappropriated positions working in the galley and recreation facilities like the gymnasium, movie theater and bowling alley. Although the base is big enough to be its own city, it’s anything but isolated from the community. “For 100 years the City of Pensacola, and the county and surrounding communities have been supporting NAS Pensacola,” said Nichols. “It’s hard to meet someone who doesn’t know someone or isn’t related to someone that is somehow affiliated with NAS and the Navy.” Many officers who come to Pensacola end up staying once they retire. It’s a combination of access to the base, exchange and military hospitals, and the local friendliness. Nichols himself is one of those charmed transplants.
“I’m from Colorado originally,” he said. “I came here, fell in love with the beaches. The people here support the base, they support the Navy, the military in general, and it’s just a great community. So it does bring a lot of people back.” Although one might guess this phenomenon is common to any place near a base — and to an extent, it is — there’s something even more special about Pensacola. Per capita, Florida has the most military retirees. According to the Office of the Actuary, there are over 32,800 retired military people in the 325 zip code. Per capita, this is more than any other zip code — 782, the area of San Antonio, Texas, has the most total military retirees, at over 36,000, but its population is also much, much larger.
Bronze Star Medal. After about 27 years living outside the state, Dollen returned to Florida, serving as Command Master Chief at NAS Pensacola for his last 12 years before he retired from the Navy. “I’d been all over and actually I couldn’t think of a better place to retire than Pensacola,” Dollen said. The weather was certainly a factor — like most of us, Dollen isn’t a huge fan of cold weather or snow — but access to military infrastructure and the warmth of the community were big deciding factors. Dollen is now a member of the USO Advisory Council, along with Leadership Pensacola, and vice president of the Pensacola Council of the U.S. Navy League. He also works as a realtor with Coldwell Banker, helping military retirees and families find their homes in Pensacola. It’s familiar territory for Dollen, as he pointed out it ties in with his previous duties as a Command Master Chief, to assist and support his sailors and their families. “This is just another way of taking care of people,” he said. And the newcomers tend to fall in love with the area. Most plan on sticking around; even if they’re only stationed for a few years, Dollen said a lot of them want to come back. “The community is very vibrant,” Dollen said. “You’ve got a great downtown area, and all the festivals … It’s just a good place. There’s always something new to do in the Pensacola area.” In addition to the usual local events, community outreach from the military translates into a strong, friendly presence in the community — from Blue
“I’d been all over and actually I couldn’t think of a better place to retire than Pensacola.” — Michael Dollen, member of the USO Advisory Council and vice president of the Pensacola Council of the U.S. Navy League
After growing up in Pensacola, and graduating from Pine Forest High School in 1978, Michael Dollen joined the Navy in 1983 and spent over 30 years serving across the country, from New York to California to Hawaii — and eventually Florida. He even spent a year in Baghdad, Iraq, as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and earned a
Angels shows (in November 187,000 people showed up for their three-day homecoming event) to thousands of hours in volunteer work in the community. It’s hard for a military retiree not to feel at home in this stretch of the Sunshine State. And, as Dollen pointed out, “the beaches, of course, are beautiful.” 2015 e s c a m b i a c o u n t y BUSIN E SS J OU R NA L
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tourism
Beyond the Beach
Visit Pensacola explores new direction in tourism promotion By Ashley Kahn Salley
Y
ou might think marketing one of the world’s most beautiful beaches would be an easy job. But selling Northwest Florida isn’t always a day at the beach. Just ask Steve Hayes, president of Visit Pensacola, the destination marketing organization that separated from the Greater Pensacola Chamber after 25 years to become an independent entity in January 2014. After the Chamber conducted a nationwide search to hire a leader for its tourism arm, Hayes was just settling in when the structural change occurred. “I think pulling it out of the Chamber has certainly benefited the community,” Hayes says. “It has given us more purpose, more direction for where we need to go and how we help grow things, not only for tourism but for the community.” When he relocated to Pensacola from the Tampa Bay area, Hayes himself became the Gulf Coast tourist, learning and exploring the community he now promotes. He did this by walking — everywhere. What he discovered is a uniquely explorable town, full of energy, activity and buzz.
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Getting Tourism Off the Ground When you’re marketing a beach, there’s a lot of competition — especially in Florida. With 1,350 miles of coastline to contend with, Hayes and his team have to differentiate Pensacola from beaches at home and around the globe. “A few things I heard off the bat is that Pensacola is a drive destination, and we still are predominantly, but you have to look at how we grow our air business,” Hayes says. “When you have non-stop flights coming in from major markets, people will come to vacation and do business.” Yet despite the relative difficulty of direct air travel, 2014 was another record year for Northwest Florida tourism. Not only was occupancy up, but the money people paid to stay here also increased. “It’s great to have someone stay in a hotel or condo, but what’s more important is the visitor out spending in the restaurant, shopping, going to different attractions,” Hayes says, “because it provides a greater economic impact.” Pensacola Beach is currently rated No. 19 of the Top 25 Beaches in the U.S. on TripAdvisor, with reviewers touting “vistas only God
Fort Pickens
Value of the Visitor » $ 1,134 Average Spend Per Visit » $ 178 Average Spend Per Day (compared to $148 statewide) 46 percent spent in lodging, leaving 54 percent in revenue to area businesses »T ourism jobs make up 9 percent of the labor force in Escambia County
could create.” While people come first and foremost for a beach vacation, the strong numbers can also be attributed to the city’s vibrant cultural scene and rich history — with popular regional attractions that include the National Naval Aviation Museum, Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore and Historic Downtown. Visit Pensacola is capitalizing on the city’s broad appeal with its latest campaign tagline: “Loved By Explorers Since 1559.” “My first reaction was how beautiful it all was,” Hayes says. “You have beautiful beaches, a strong military presence, a business center of Northwest Florida, the historical and cultural aspect; it’s all here — just in a smaller footprint.” That small footprint gained a big audience in recent years but for reasons beyond the scope of any marketing team. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 prompted BP to air national television ads that thrust “The South” into the spotlight. And for better or worse, this stretch of the Sunshine State exudes quintessential Southern charm.
Putting Pensacola on the Map
Photos Courtesy Visit Florida/Colin Hackley
One project Hayes has implemented in his short tenure is research. Prior to his arrival, Visit Pensacola did not conduct ongoing research to show the value of the visitor (see sidebar). The agency now has a year-and-a-half of data, which Hayes plans to use to determine the overall impact of tourism. Any native of Pensacola can tell you that few people outside of Northwest Florida know where it is — let alone what it has to offer as a destination. Pensacola, Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key boast pristine scenery and just enough to do, without the crowds and congestion. And Pensacolians want it to stay that way. So do former and prospective visitors, Hayes learned by conducting focus groups in Chicago, Nashville, Dallas and the Washington, D.C. area. But how do you put Pensacola on the map without getting away from what makes it great?
National Naval Aviation Museum
Some Tourist Highlights National Naval Aviation Museum — It’s no surprise that one of the world’s largest air and space museums is located in Pensacola, home to the Cradle of Naval Aviation, which in 2014 celebrated its 100th birthday. Admission is free. Historic Downtown
“What’s funny is our customer says that,” Hayes says. “We talked to past visitors and visitors to Northwest Florida who had not been to Pensacola. Those who had been enjoy the area because we are not like Panama City, Destin or Gulf Shores.” For now, the goal of Visit Pensacola is learning how to smartly grow the business — keeping the natural ambiance and tranquility while still giving visitors things to do, so their length of stay remains the same and they keep coming back. To that end, the organization has embarked on a five-year strategic plan to grow the right way. “You can grow tourism by making the customer feel more welcome, by making sure they have the types of products they are looking for, by educating and helping locals embrace the benefit of tourists — all without having to build five more hotels,” Hayes says. “It can be done smartly with controlled growth, so it doesn’t take away from what we have here.” Because, as Hayes discovered on his long walks through the city, “It just feels good, and a good place to be.”
Blue Angels — On most Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from March through November, the pilots of the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron can be seen practicing over the National Naval Aviation Museum. Practices typically start at 11:30 a.m. (Central Time) and last about an hour. On most Wednesdays they make themselves available for autographs. Historic Pensacola Village — Costumed guides take visitors through several of the 20 properties operated by the University of West Florida Historic Trust that are located in the Pensacola National Register Historic District. Blue Wahoos — A minor league team that is a Class Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, the Wahoos play at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. In 2014 the Wahoos’ stadium was ranked as the second best overall ballpark experience out of 160 surveyed by Stadium Journey.
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Demograph ics
Escambia County Info Time Zone Central Standard Elevation 143 ft. Population Escambia County — 305,817 (2013 est.) Pensacola — 52,703 (2013 est.) Median Age 37.6 years Median Family Income $55,200 Education Attainment (Age 25+) High school graduate or higher — 87.1 percent Bachelor’s degree or higher — 23.2% Mean Commute to Work 21.7 minutes People Per Square Mile Escambia County — 458.7 Pensacola — 2,303.5 Median Home Cost $145,750 (Oct. 2014)
Old Christ Church
37
Photo Courtesy oF Visit Pensacola, Inc.
Some of Greater Pensacola’s Leading Employers Baptist Health Care, health care — 4,494 employees Sacred Heart Health System, health care — 3,498 employees Navy Federal Credit Union, financial service center — 3,113 employees Gulf Power Company, electric provider — 1,774 employees West Florida Healthcare, health care — 1,300 employees Ascend Performance Materials, manufacturing — 800 employees West Corporation, business, processing, outsourcing — 800 employees Medical Center Clinic, health care — 500 employees Santa Rosa Medical Center, health care — 498 employees International Paper, manufacturing — 450 employees Cox Communications, communications — 400 employees
sites in the Pensacola area are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Did you know? » Pensacola’s streets were laid out by
British cartographers in the 1700s. » Pensacola is the westernmost city in
Northwest Florida. » Escambia County is Florida’s 19th most
populous county, with 1.6 percent of Florida’s population. » Escambia and St. Johns were Florida’s
original two counties, formed July 21, 1821. » Escambia comes from a Spanish word for
“barter” or “exchange.” » Pensacola was the original capital of
Florida, where Gen. Andrew Jackson exchanged flags with Spanish Gov. Jose Callava, bringing West Florida under control of the United States.
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Institu te for Human & Mac h i ne Cogn ition
Small Town, Big Ideas
How the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition made Pensacola a research hub By Ashley Kahn Salley
T
hey have developed innovative technologies for space exploration. They’ve created apps to help kids monitor medical conditions via text message. And recently, they set a land-speed record for legged robots at a worldwide robotics challenge. Meet the researchers of the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition. Headquartered in Pensacola, the institute was founded by Dr. Kenneth Ford and Dr. Alberto Cañas at the University of West (Right) Testing Florida in 1990. the Grasshopper By 2004, the exoskeleton, which Florida Legislature was designed by IHMC and built by recognized its merits NASA to address the and spun IHMC exercise needs of into an independent astronauts living in zero-g environments not-for-profit orgafor extended periods nization and member of time. (Below) of the state univerAlberto Cañas (left) and Kenneth sity system. Today, Ford, founders of the institute has a the Institute for staff of around 100 Human and Machine Cognition. in Pensacola and 15 at a satellite campus in Ocala. Of the Pensacola-based team, 85 percent are technical — and half of those are Ph.D. research scientists. What those scientists choose to do on a daily basis is largely up to them. Associate Director Sharon Heise sums up their efforts for the layperson: “We refer to
Cañas
Ford
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(Below) Testing of the X1a Exoskeleton’s powered ankle, designed to address paraplegic mobility. (Right) More than 800 visitors attend an open house featuring IHMC’s robotics research facility.
it as human-centered computing. What we really do is work on all manners of systems and technologies that essentially help people perform better.” As a society faced with a near-constant influx of new technology, we often feel a need to adapt to our personal devices more than they adapt to us. IHMC places an emphasis on making man’s relationship with machine more synergetic. “We look at people working with technology as a whole system, with the siliconebased element and the carbon-based element of equal importance from a design analysis and evaluation,” Heise continues. “We think about ‘fit’ a lot. We fit our machines, but our machines need to fit us, so we can leverage and augment each other’s best capabilities and mitigate each other’s weaknesses.”
Photos Courtesy of the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition
Just Another Day at the Office IHMC employs experts in the fields of cognitive science, computer science, mechanical engineering, artificial intelligence, mathematics and even medicine. Offices are scattered to facilitate interaction and learning. Researchers celebrate their successes and work through inevitable challenges, each providing a unique perspective and knowledge base. They can pursue any passion they wish as long as it’s consistent with the institute’s philosophy of developing technologies that are helpful to people. (They don’t develop weapons, for example.) “Since we provide our researchers so much autonomy, our people set down roots and they tend to stay,” Heise says. “There is a pervasive sense of joy and satisfaction, because they are doing things that have a tangible impact on society and national security.”
There’s also a lot of diversity, adds Senior Writer and Communications Manager Carl Wernicke, because IHMC recruits the best of the best from all over the world. (You read that right — top researchers come from far and wide to put down roots in Pensacola, Florida.) “To me, it shows that even in Pensacola, you can operate at the very highest levels,” Wernicke says. “People come here and they walk down the street and we take them for lunch or coffee, and they really like it. The more urbane Downtown Pensacola becomes, the better we are able to sell it.” There’s an economic impact, too. Research projects at IHMC are funded by grants — mostly government, some corporate and private sources — but all from out of town. “We focus very hard on getting our goods and services locally if we can, so we do a lot of local business. Say a local restaurant, local people go and eat there, pay their salaries, and the money is recirculated,” Wernicke notes. “But ours is coming from outside of the community and going into it. To me, that’s an interesting difference and really creates an impact by bringing that new money in.”
The Business of Discovery Wernicke says his workplace sparks considerable curiosity, because it is a business of discovery, rather than production. “A lot of times people say, ‘What do you produce?’ but you don’t actually see many products going out the door,” he explains. “That’s because we are imbedded in other projects, always doing research on portions of other projects.” Heise says the bulk of work roams the range of basic research all the way through prototype development. At that point, the
institute relies on a transition partner to help carry its research into the market, where it can be of use to national security or society. These so-called “transition partners” are major industry leaders, among them titans like NASA, Boeing and Honda. Much of the research centers on assistive technologies in three primary classes: ▪ s ensory assistance (helping with sight, touch or balance) ▪m obility assistance (helping with gait or push recovery), and ▪ c ognitive assistance (helping with memory or perception). The implications of technologies studied and produced at IHMC are as far reaching as they are awe inspiring. At any given moment, you might witness a paraplegic man take steps using advanced exoskeletons, learn how Alzheimer’s patients may someday recall forgotten memories or get a glimpse of the latest trends in cybersecurity. Or, you could see a funny-looking robot racing through the grass across the street. (And that’s just a typical Tuesday.) Those robots have got people wondering what IHMC is all about. “People jump on the ‘cool’ projects, but they don’t see the other research we do,” says Wernicke. “I think in the last couple years because of the ‘cool’ factor, people have a lot better idea of what we do and who we are.” To see for yourself, mark your calendar for the next Evening Lecture Series. These events are headlined by some of the most celebrated scientists around the globe (like the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society). There’s always something new to learn. Visit ihmc.us — or the institute itself — to learn more. 2015 e s c a m b i a c o u n t y BUSIN E SS J OU R NA L
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Health care
Ester Remegio, Sacred Heart Hospital Pensacola
A Question of Access Staying local for solutions to common health care woes
Photos Courtesy of Sacred Heart Hospital
S
ometimes national problems can have simple, homegrown solutions. At least that’s the theory many health care providers in Escambia County operate on these days. Through quality care, improved communications between facilities and physicians, and a fresh dedication to new-age technology, techniques and practices, Escambia’s health care scene is primed for improved outcomes and positive development. But transitioning into a healthful community requires more than just proximity to medicine. According to Mark Faulkner, president and CEO of Baptist Health Care, his team (now 6,500 strong) is focused on keeping the lines of communication open between health care providers and patients — educating locals on the importance of preventive care, as well as early diagnosis and intervention.
By Chay D. Baxley
“We’re all about the quality of life for our community,” shared Faulkner. “Every day we come to work we think of ways to elevate the quality of life for our community. That’s our singular focus. We realize and recognize where our roots are.” And his institution isn’t alone in its initiative. “I always tell people that we have four really, really good hospitals,” emphasized Dr. Michael S. Oleksyk, vice president for Medical Affairs at Baptist Health Care — referring to his place of employment as well as Sacred Heart Health System, West Florida Hospital and Naval Hospital Pensacola. Sacred Heart and Baptist are non-profit health care providers; West Florida is a private facility affiliated with HCA. Oleksyk has been a physician in the area for nearly 29 years and enjoys professional privileges at all three 2015 e s c a m b i a c o u n t y BUSIN E SS J OU R NA L
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New private rooms and exterior of West Florida Hospital
Escambia Health Care by the Numbers » Four hospitals — two nonprofit, one private and one military — cater to the residents of Escambia County. » In 2014, approximately 10,000 workers were employed by the county’s hospital facilities. » Sacred Heart in Pensacola is a 566-bed acute care facility, which includes Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart and Sacred Heart Women’s Hospital. » Baptist Hospital is a 492-bed tertiary care facility. » West Florida Hospital is licensed for 515 beds. » Total number of civilian hospital beds: 1,573
deciding to switch its internal layout to private rooms for all admitted patients. The act inspired others unilaterally. “We’re really focused on quality,” emphasized Doidge. “We’re (also) focused on reducing hospital acquired infections, such as Sepsis. In January of 2009, we went to all private rooms. We were the first hospital in Escambia County to do that. It helps lower infection rates. It helps give the patient a better place to rest and recover. Since we did that in 2009, the other hospitals have followed suit.” Today, the county’s 1,573 beds are all in private rooms. For residents like Doidge who have had family in all of the surrounding facilities at some point, the switch was an encouraging upgrade. “When you’re at your worst,” sympathized Doidge, “the last you want to do is have people around that aren’t giving you the peace and relaxation and the comfort needed for you to recover.” Faulkner, of Baptist, said patients can expect a lot more attention to be paid to outcomes and to elevating the overall health of the community. “I think we recognize it’s not a question of quality providers, it’s a question of access,” he said.
Photos Courtesy of West Florida Hospital
of the county’s civilian hospitals. During his tenure, he has seen the local medical community adapt to meet the demands of an evolving system — forming connections with leading industry leaders, like their recent partnership with the Mayo Clinic, and expanding their overall scope of care. “For an area this small, the quality of health care is phenomenal,” said Oleksyk. From pre-natal care to innovative cancer treatments, there’s not too much the dedicated medical professionals of Escambia aren’t trained to tackle. A few complex cases (for example, burn victims and transplant patients) are still outsourced to neighboring communities with more experience. Largely though, residents’ overall health can be attended to in-house — close to home and loved ones. Keeping things local is something the medical professionals of Escambia pride themselves on. Across the board, this close-knit community of caregivers is focused on one thing: quality care for their patients. “We’ve put a lot of resources into quality,” shared Kendrick Doidge, vice president of Business and Public Relations at West Florida Hospital. “(We’re) trying to provide the highest level of quality for the community that we serve.” According to Doidge, an Escambia native, West Florida Hospital’s dedication to quality prompted the administration to assemble “medical taskforces” charged with staying abreast of the latest and greatest in health care innovation. As a result of their discoveries, the hospital made a dramatic change by ultimately
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SoundByteS
BUSINESS NEWS
Capital New Beginnings
» Jeremy L. Susac, a partner at
Florida’s business law firm Berger Singerman, is now a member of the Florida Energy System Consortium advisory board. Susac is a member of Berger Singerman’s Government and Regulatory Team, and his practice focuses on energy and environmental law, and water/ wastewater regulation. Based in the firm’s Tallahassee office, Susac has extensive experience with regulations governing entities subject to the jurisdiction of the Florida Public Service Commission, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
» Allison Harrell
and Michael Kalifeh have been admitted as shareholders and will join eight others as owners of Thomas Howell Ferguson PA, Harrell a professional accounting firm headquartered in Tallahassee. Harrell, leader of the not-for-profit team, has approximately 11 years experience auditing Kalifeh governmental, notfor-profit and other entities. Kalifeh, leader of the firm’s private business and entrepreneurial focused team, has approximately 11 years of accounting experience in providing tax compliance and consulting services to corporate, partnership, not-for-profit, trust and individual clients.
» Leon County Administrator Vin-
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PROFILED INDIVIDUALS
cent S. Long is now president-elect of the newly formed Florida Association of County Managers Inc. The FACM is a professional association of chief executive officers created to address common challenges and opportunities that impact county government. County managers from throughout the state recently attended the Florida Association of Counties (FAC) Legislative Conference in Tampa to formally establish FACM as an affiliate of FAC.
» Heather Mitchell, formerly presi-
dent and CEO of United Way of the Big Bend, is now vice president for resource development at Tallahassee Community College and executive director of the TCC Foundation.
»
The Florida Chamber Foundation has named Jerry Parrish as chief
economist and senior director of research. He previously served as chief economist and director of the Center for a Competitive Florida at Florida TaxWatch.
» Shannon Wood
is now a mortgage loan consultant for Gulf Winds Federal Credit Union. Wood’s job is to work with realtors and business Wood leaders throughout the community to promote the mortgage division’s loan products and service. Wood has more than 10 years of experience in the credit union industry and before joining Gulf Winds worked for nearly five years as the assistant vice president of the Home Loan Department at Envision Credit Union.
» Brett Cyphers of Tallahassee
has been named the new executive director of the Northwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board. Cyphers previously served as the assistant executive director since June 2012 and replaced Jon Steverson, who was appointed to secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Cyphers is a veteran of the United States Army and Florida National Guard and holds a degree from Florida State University.
» The Florida Restaurant and
Lodging Association’s Tallahassee Chapter recently installed new officers for 2015. The installation took place at the Versi Lounge in the 101 Restaurant in December. The new officers are President Sam McKay of Staybridge Suites; VP of Restaurants Mike Schmidt of The Egg Café & Eatery; VP of Lodging Michelle Wilson of Hampton Inn & Suites; Treasurer Emily Johnson-Truitt of Springhill Suites; and Secretary Russell Daws of Tallahassee Museum. The chapter also swore in a new board of directors: Adam Corey of 101 Restaurant, Clint Brewer of Republic National Distributing, Ernie Moses of Candlewood Suites, Wade Shapiro of Legacy Insurance Solutions, Steve Adams of ClubCorp of America, Jon Sweede of 101 Restaurant, Bo Schmitz of Four Points by Sheraton Tallahassee Downtown, Jonathan Brashier of Aloft Tallahassee Downtown and Amanda Morrison of Madison Social.
» Congratulations to the 2015
Knight Creative Communities Institute Community Catalyst Class: Paige Carter-Smith, Fran Conaway, Ashley Daniels, Brad Johnson, Stefanie Kiedrowski, Jack Levine,
Lucas Lindsey, Joseph Lowder, Christine Nieves, Rev. Robert Streater, Alana Taylor, Krishnan Viswanathan and Gayle Webb. KCCI brings together a diverse group of visionaries who implement “sense of place” projects to retain, attract and harness talent, increase entrepreneurship and enhance Tallahassee’s economic mobility.
» Michael Anway,
former Health and Human Services policy coordinator for Gov. Rick Scott, has joined Holland & Knight’s Florida Government Advoanway cacy Team as senior policy advisor in Tallahassee. Anway will advise health care industry clients, including Medicaid vendors and providers; pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology companies; hospitals and research institutions; and technology companies on government relations strategies.
» The Tallahassee Board of REAL-
TORS® held its annual installation of officers and directors in December. Mariela Santurri was installed as 2015 president and Trina Searcy as president-elect. The 2015 board of directors include Susan Gwynn, secretary; Georgia Turner, treasurer; Jeff Doxsee, past president; Leah Chapin, director; Dana Cummins, affiliate director; Stan Derzypolski, director; Sonya Hall, Wakulla Chapter director; Tiffany Hamilton, director; Greg Lane, director; Caryl Pierce, commercial council director; Jackie Sharpton, Gadsden Chapter director; and Debbie Williams, director.
Good Works
» Sweat Therapy Fitness recently
hosted a “Super SweatFest” at the Midtown studio in Tallahassee to raise money for the local Big Bend chapter of Girls on the Run. More than 40 people participated and raised a total of $550. Girls on the Run of the Big Bend is part of a network of more than 200 nonprofit councils across the country. Kim and Brian Bibeau, owners of Sweat Therapy Fitness, presented the donation check to Ericka McKibbin of Girls on the Run on Dec. 11.
» Gulf Winds Federal Credit Union donated $20,000 to America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend this past Christmas season to help put groceries on the table for folks during a tough time of year.
Regional Airport and Fort Lauderdale International Airport, and an additional flight to Orlando International Airport as well. “Fort Lauderdale is one of our top three destinations. We are happy to work with our partner, Silver Airways, as we continue to enhance the intra-state services offered at TLH,” Director of Aviation Chris Curry said. “Nonstop, daily flights between Fort Lauderdale and Orlando will provide the residents in our community with greater connectivity within the state.” Silver Airways is one of three major commercial air carriers servicing the Tallahassee market. The others are American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
» Tallahassee Community Col-
lege will once again be a host site for Leadercast, a one-day live streaming event that is simultaneously broadcast from Atlanta to more than 100,000 leaders around the globe. Leadercast features a nonstop lineup of world-renowned leaders speaking straight to local leaders about issues that impact their organizations and their local communities. This year’s event will take place on Friday, May 8, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Leadercast Tallahassee location will be TCC’s Ghazvini Center for Healthcare Education. The theme of this year’s program is “The Brave Ones,” and speakers have been chosen to exemplify bravery in both personal and public spheres, including Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai (the “Bravest Girl in the World”); Rudy Giuliani, 107th mayor of New York City; Aja Brown, mayor of the City of Compton (California); Cmdr. Rorke Denver, Navy SEAL Commander and author. To see the full speaker line up and additional information, go to leadercast.com/live. To purchase tickets, go to xorbia.com/e/lc454/ Leadercast-2015
Local Honors
» Aegis Business Technologies
took home several honors at TSAE’s annual event, including Supporting Organization of the Year; Aegis Account Manager Garrett Lucas took home the trophy for Associate of the Year.
» Tallahassee attorney Lawrence E.
Sellers Jr. was re-elected to his seat on the Florida Bar Board of Governors without opposition to represent the Second Judicial Circuit.
Local Happenings
Appointed by Gov. Scott
service between Tallahassee
Ketcham, 62, both of Tallahassee,
» Silver Airways is now offering
» Benjamin Bush, 38, and Clayton
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to the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board. Bush is an attorney with Garner, Bist, Wiener, Bowden, Bush, Dee, LaVia Wright P.A. Ketcham is president of Ketcham Appraisal Group.
»
Tom Byron, 57, and Gwen Keenan, 49, both of Tallahassee, to the State Emergency Response Commission. Byron is the chief engineer for the Florida Department of Transportation. Keenan is director of emergency response with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Emerald Coast Local Honors
» Pensacola-based Innovation
Coast, Space Florida and the Florida Small Business Development Center Network joined forces to present the biggest innovation award and business plan competition in the state’s history. First place winner of $100,000 was IRIS (Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems), a technology that doubles the diabetic eye screening rate, preventing blindness and reducing health care costs. Second place winner of $50,000 was Accountingfly, an online recruiting company connecting top talent with accounting firms. The third place winner of $5,000 in services and office space, from the Pensacola Chamber Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, was Robotics Unlimited. The company creates disruptive robotics technology and brings it to the mass market. Winners of Microsoft “Bizspark Plus” subscriptions, a $60,000 value in Microsoft software and Azure services, were: Paracosm, Robotics Unlimited and Cognitive Big Data Systems.
» Certified Manufacturing Enter-
prises of Holt (Okaloosa County) was presented with the Governor’s Business Ambassador Award for the company’s commitment in creating jobs for families in Northwest Florida. CME offers long term, multiyear, turnkey programs that include kitting, laser wire marking, cable and harness assembly, electromechanical assemblies and circuit card assembly.
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PROFILED INDIVIDUALS
» The Emerald Coast Utilities Au-
thority was awarded the 2014 NGV Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to the advancement of natural gas as a vehicular fuel, outstanding educational leadership, vision and innovation. ECUA maintains and operates the largest diversified natural gas vehicle fleet in the state with a current roster of 100 vehicles and a projected total of 130 vehicles by October 2015. The program has delivered over $350,000 in
maintenance cost savings that are ultimately translated into additional cost savings for customers.
» Twin Cities Hospital in Niceville
was honored with an “A” grade in the fall 2014 Hospital Safety Score, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from errors, injuries and infections. The Hospital Safety Score is compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading experts on patient safety and is administered by The Leapfrog Group, an independent industry watchdog.
» Gulf Power Company was recently named a 2014 Utility Customer Champion — an industry leader in building customer trust, achieving operational excellence and offering value-added products and services — by Cogent Reports, a division of Market Strategies International. Gulf Power scored 755 (out of a possible 1,000 points) on the Engaged Customer Relationship Index, which is based on in-depth responses from 40,000 residential customers of the 127 leading U.S. electric and natural gas utilities.
» Glenn Scharf, CPA with Salt-
marsh, Cleaveland & Gund, has been recognized as one of the “Top 10 Public Accounting Professionals” in Florida. Each year, the National Academy of Public Accounting Professionals distributes a “Top 10” list in each state. To become eligible, one must be nominated by a client or a licensed accountant. The lengthy evaluation process reviews various qualifications, including the years of experience, areas of expertise and certifications.
» Chuck Landers of Saltmarsh,
Cleaveland & Gund has been elected to shareholder. He joined the firm in 2005 and has served as a senior manager in the Audit & Assurance Services Department.
» Seagar’s Prime Steaks and Sea-
food, the only AAA Four-Diamond restaurant in Destin, has received an OpenTable Diners’ Choice Award for Top 100 Steakhouses in America. The accolade, which honors hospitality excellence, is derived from more than five million reviews submitted by OpenTable diners for more than 20,000 restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Local Happenings
» John L.
Hutchinson, Gulf Power’s director of Community and Economic Development, retired in late
2014 after 24 years of service with the local utility and a total of 32 years working for the utility industry.
» G.S. Gelato & Desserts, a
manufacturer of authentic Italian gelato and sorbet in Fort Walton Beach, has maintained double digit growth for the past 19 years and is expanding its production capacity to accommodate customer demand with plans to build a 25,000-squarefoot temperature-controlled storage warehouse. The goal is to increase production by 40 percent in 2015.
» Ronald Jackson, president
of Pensacola-based Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund, has been named chairman of the Board of Directors of PKF North America for 2015. PKF North America is a leading association of 104 separate and legally independent accounting and consulting firms located in the U.S, Canada and Mexico. Its member firms have net fees totaling approximately $1.5 billion.
New Beginnings
» Pete Knowles has been named
president and chief operating officer of the Legendary family of companies. Bruce Craul will continue his responsibilities as chief operating officer of all the HarborWalk Villagerelated companies. Knowles joined Legendary in January 2013 as executive vice president. Prior to joining Legendary, he spent 24 years in finance and banking, culminating as president and CEO of BankTrust.
» Stirling Properties has opened
its first Florida office in Pensacola at the SunTrust Tower at 220 West Garden Street. It joins 12 other offices located in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
» Chef Phillip McDonald joins the
Bud & Alley’s team as executive chef of The Pizza Bar at Bud & Alley’s on 30A in Seaside. McDonald, who was born and raised in Destin, recently returned to the Emerald Coast after a year honing his culinary skills with some of the best in the New York culinary scene, including a six-month stint as sous chef at Reynard in the Wythe Hotel.
» Martin Stewart has been ap-
pointed the new sales manager of the Coldwell Banker United, REALTORS®, Pensacola Beach office. Stewart has been with the company since 2012.
BaY
Local Honors
» The Bay County Association Hutchinson
of REALTORS® recognized Katie Patronis with its 2014 annual independent Broker of the Year
award, which recognizes outstanding commitment to professionalism and performance within the local real estate community. Patronis was just 18 years old when she earned her real estate license while working with her mother, Melissa Ryan, at her CENTURY 21 office. She now comanages CENTURY 21 Ryan Realty as a broker and owner.
» Tidewater Beach Resort, part
of Wyndham Vacation Rentals®, the world’s largest professional manager of vacation rentals, was awarded a 2014 Reader’s Choice Award by the readers of ConventionSouth magazine.
Local Happenings
» Neal Wade,
who led the Bay Economic Development Alliance for the past three Wade years, has left to head a new Economic Development Academy at the University of Alabama. A former director of the Alabama Economic Development Office, Wade was senior vice president of economic development for The St. Joe Company before joining the EDA.
I-10 Local Happenings
» Farm Credit of Northwest Florida has designed the Youth Agricultural Loan Program specifically to help active 4-H and FFA members get a running start with their agriculturerelated projects. Loans will be offered for up to $2,500, will not exceed 18 months, are contingent on a purchase of cooperative stock up to $50 (2 percent) of loan amount and will need to be co-signed by a parent or guardian. There are no fees involved with this program. Find more information and the application on Farm Credit’s Young, Beginning, Small and Minority Farmers Web page: farmcredit-fl.com/ ybsm-farmers.
Appointed by Gov. Scott
» Hannah Sumner Causseaux, Kyle Hudson and Daniel Ryals III to the Chipola College District Board of Trustees. Hudson, 33, of Westville, is the Holmes County Clerk of the Circuit Court. He previously was a teacher in Holmes County. Causseaux, 30, of Bristol, is the former director of appointments in the Executive Office of the Governor. Ryals, 63, of Blountstown, is a real estate broker and the chairman of the Calhoun County School Board.
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BAY Corridor
Panama City, Panama City Beach + Bay County
Hands-on Education Haney Technical Center Director Frank Stephens stands beside an F-15 jet on display at Tyndall Air Force Base. Stephens has secured an F-15 that will become the centerpiece of Haney’s aviation program.
A Fighter Goes to School Its wings clipped, an F-15 comes to complete stop at technical center Story and Photo By Steve Bornhoft
T
he arrival at Haney Technical Center of a retired F-15 fighter jet will have resulted in part from the fact that Frank Stephens, the school’s director, grew up in the tiny Ohio town of South Zanesville. Zanesville, home to the only Y-bridge in the United States, has that claim to fame — but out-of-the-way South Zanesville has none at all. Stephens was a country boy who learned at an early age to hunt, trap and harvest corn with a corn knife. His farmer grandfather taught him the art of blacksmithing, but upon graduating from high school in 1951, Stephens found that he was without a marketable skill. He and six buddies would get together each afternoon to commiserate following another fruitless round of job campaigning until one day Stephens arrived for the bull session with unexpected news.
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“I got me a job,” he announced to the group, “and you can have one, too, if you want one.” Greeted with puzzled looks, Stephens disclosed that he had joined the Air Force. Necessity had proved to be the mother of induction. Within a month, another member of the group followed Stephens’ lead, and the remaining five enlisted in the Navy. The Korean War was newly under way. Stephens, who by his own admission never applied himself as a classroom student, thrived in the military. He rose through the ranks and eventually was entrusted with a key management and planning role that placed him in charge of about 40 percent of the Air Force budget. He would retire as a full colonel. After leaving the Air Force, Stephens applied his well-honed logistical expertise to trade/industrial education in his home
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state. He demonstrated the value of technical magnet schools in bringing about integration through a means other than forced busing. And he developed from the ground up an aviation school at an airport in Cleveland. Decades later, he would establish another highly credible, FAA-approved aviation program at Haney Technical in Panama City. His route to North Florida had been improbable. As an Air Force reservist, Stephens visited Tyndall Air Force Base and Bay County’s airport, then located in Panama City. Someone had left a copy of the Panama City News Herald, opened to the classified ads, on a bench at the airport. A help wanted ad sought candidates for the job of Apalachicola High School principal. Little did Stephens know that the ad had been running almost continuously for years.
Stephens, a bit whimsically, applied for the opening and got the job with unanimous school board approval. He would become the 15th AHS principal in 13 years and hold the job for six years before narrowly losing a race for Franklin County superintendent of schools. “In Franklin County, you don’t get your old job back when you run unsuccessfully for superintendent,” Stephens explains. So he soon arrived at Haney as assistant director, his fondness for flying still very much in tow. “We took a look at an aviation program at a high school in Okaloosa County and resolved to do better,” Stephens recalls. “The Okaloosa program wasn’t accredited by anyone. For ours, we wanted Federal Aviation Administration approval.” Haney’s accredited program leads to air frame/power plant licenses. And jobs. “We’re seeing a lot of students leave here with an A & P license and go directly to jobs with the big airlines,” Stephens notes. “Three just landed jobs with Delta in Texas. We have a student who went to work for Titan Air Industrial Repair and is now one of two employees there who does testing of refurbished engines with dynamometers.” Fifty-six students, including Sean Draig and T.J. Fidler, are currently enrolled in the program. Contacted in December, both were excited about the much anticipated arrival at Haney of an intact F-15. Draig, a Coast Guard reservist, once harbored a desire to fly F-15s, but acted upon it too late. He had aged out of eligibility for the Air Force’s officer program. Still, he’s given to curiosity about the plane and how it’s put together. “It will be great to be able to learn on an F-15 and it will help draw people to our program,” Draig said. “We don’t have the rows of helicopters and Cessnas that they have at the Alabama Aviation Center (in Ozark) or Lively Technical Center (in Tallahassee). So, it will be good to have something no one else has.” Haney was due in mid-January to become the only school with an operational F-15 (versus a shell on a pedestal) on campus. “The publicity surrounding the F-15 will help sell the aviation program,” Fidler agreed. “If it had been in place at Haney a few years ago, I would have signed up a lot sooner.”
Stephens couldn’t conceal his excitement and a certain amount of pride, either. Not long after he started at Haney, Stephens traveled to Eglin Air Force Base with an interest in acquiring surplus equipment including, ideally, an F-100 engine that propels the F-15. “People with contracts and connections often get stuff that schools should get,” Stephens has found. “We should have priority, but sometimes we get steered away from getting what we need. With my Air Force background, I knew how to put pressure on in the right way. I knew I was going to hear a squeak come from somewhere.”
complete until Air Force personnel expressed concern about tire wear, leading to a search for spares. (Not available at Pep Boys.) Then, a concern occurred to Stephens. “I recognized there was no way the school could receive the plane until the gatling gun was removed,” Stephens said. “We looked into that and found that ammunition was still aboard the plane. Stripping the gun from the F-15 lightened its nose, so we had to tuck sandbags up there.” All of this is to say nothing of paperwork hassles which required Stephens to call in a marker with a friend in the Pentagon to solve.
“Students will have the opportunity to see firsthand the relationship between the starter engine and the F-100 engines and to understand the fuel systems involved. Their experience with the F-15 will prepare them for working on the most sophisticated airplanes they will ever encounter.” Frank Stephens, Director of Haney Technical Center That squeak came from Tyndall. “How would you like to have the whole F-15 with the engines still in it?” the caller wanted to know and described how that might be possible. Stephens was all in. When an F-15 showed up on a surplus equipment list, Stephens made sure he was first in line with his bid. In March 2014, he learned that his bid had been successful. Over three trimesters, Stephens and the Air Force worked to determine how best to deliver the $20 million baby to Haney. After some debate, towing the plane was thought better than trying to trailer it. Wing tips – three feet on each side – were to be removed along with the tops of vertical stabilizers. Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen got involved in soliciting cooperation from municipalities along the route from the base to the school. A Tyndall tug secured to the rear of the plane, it was agreed, would hang with the F-15 until it reached the westerly foot of the du Pont bridge. This logistics list goes on and was thought
Will the struggles have been worth it? Stephens has no doubt. “Students will have the opportunity to see firsthand the relationship between the starter engine and the F-100 engines and to understand the fuel systems involved,” Stephens enthused. “Their experience with the F-15 will prepare them for working on the most sophisticated airplanes they will ever encounter.” Of the F-15, Stephens is a big fan. “The F-15 has met the enemy 101 times in the air and 101 enemy airplanes have been shot down. Our loss rate, zero. In most airplanes, when you’re involved in a dogfight and start making maneuvers, you lose air speed. That’s when you get overtaken; that’s when you’re vulnerable. With the F-100s, the F-15 doesn’t lose speed. You make that turn and give it more power and the F-15 keeps right on going.” And, as classes of Haney aviation students will discover, it doesn’t look bad even standing still. n
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Capital Corridor
Gadsden, Jefferson + Leon Counties
Cyber Security Jim Hunt (left) credits Christophe Réglat and his experts at Coaxis International with rescuing Moore Communications from a cyber attack nightmare.
Gone in Seconds Don’t let years of confidential client data walk out the door By Jason Dehart
D
eep inside a non-descript concrete bunker surrounded inside and out by Vegas-level security, Christophe Réglat, president and CEO of Coaxis International, shakes his head as he ponders the power of denial. “People think it happens to others. They think, ‘It’s not going to happen to me,’ ” Réglat said from his Tallahassee headquarters. He’s referring to disasters — the natural kind and those perpetrated by data thieves. In either case, you can lose priceless files of valuable confidential information that just can’t be replaced. And if you don’t have a properly maintained and secured backup
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somewhere, it’s game over. Réglat said that in this fully digital age, 80 percent of companies that have lost everything end up going bankrupt. “People don’t realize you can’t go back to your storage room where you have paper and get it back,” he said. Fortunately for Jim Hunt, vice president at Moore Communications Group, Coaxis — a top-tier IT provider of private “cloud” storage and security — was their backup when an incident last spring shut the whole company out of 20 years’ worth of irreplaceable (and priceless) files. Hunt said the company used to have servers on-site until just a few short
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years ago when they contracted with Coaxis to be their private “cloud.” “Our entire network, everything we do, is on the cloud. Literally. We have no servers in-house. Everything is off-site,” Hunt said. They went into the cloud, he said, to reduce the cost of equipment and maintenance and to prevent losing everything in the event of a disaster. In this case, the disaster arrived in the form of “CryptoLocker,” a “ransomware” computer virus that sneaks into a network and encrypts every file it can get its grubby little digital fingers on. When an employee turns on his or her computer, they’re greeted by a sinister message that informs the user they either pay up and receive a key or lose their data forever. The message is even accompanied by an ominous countdown clock. According to an alert from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s
Computer Emergency Readiness Team, a 2012 survey by the anti-virus software company Symantec showed just how profitable such a bug is for the bad guys. Using data from a “command and control” server of 5,700 computers compromised in one day, Symantec estimated that about 2.9 percent of those users paid the ransom. At an average ransom of $200, the bad guys were able to bring home $33,600 for one day’s work, or $394,400 per month, from a single C2 server. This success spawned various forms of ransomware, and more destructive and lucrative versions like CryptoLocker were introduced in 2013. According to DHS, some versions encrypt not just the files on an infected device but also the contents of shared network drives. The files are rendered useless until the hostagetakers receive a ransom within a 72-hour timeframe. Hunt said this is exactly what happened one morning at his office. An employee opened up a laptop to begin work only to discover something had gone very wrong. CryptoLocker had locked up every file they had. A message popped up indicating that they had a limited amount of time to pony up a king’s ransom in return for a decryption key — or else. Fortunately, there was no need to pay the IT kidnappers. Everything was safely and securely backed up a few miles away at the Coaxis facility. By lunchtime everything was restored — an amazing feat considering the massive number of files and records. “Imagine what you would do if you didn’t have a good backup,” Hunt said. “If we lost anything, we lost time. It was nothing short of a miracle. Had our servers still been inhouse and we’d been responsible (for fixing it), we would be at the mercy of whatever our last backup was and hope that the mechanism and technology was working.” A couple hours of lost time is nothing compared to the disaster that could have been, Réglat said. Companies that live and breathe by their data, and are required to maintain compliance with confidentiality regulations, can’t afford to have “downtime” or compromised security. This is especially true for CPAs, law firms, doctors and medical offices. “When you think about it, it’s not your
Photo by Matt Burke
company’s info that has been hacked. It’s your client’s info,” he said. “You have to protect the info of your client or patient. In 20 minutes your company can lose everything. People have to grasp this idea in the digital age. They have migrated from a paper environment to a digital environment, and that digital environment has to be protected. We have seen big problems when people
“In 20 minutes your company can lose everything. People have to grasp this idea in the digital age.” Christophe Réglat, president and CEO of Coaxis International have lost their data, and it is not a joke. It’s a real thing, and if they think it’s not going to happen to them, they need to rethink that.” Réglat said that viruses have always been the bane of computer users. In the case of Moore Communications, the Cryptolocker bug was traced back to a Gmail account. But there’s another type of data theft to be aware of: social hacking. This doesn’t have anything to do with social media. Social hacking takes place when the bad guys bypass firewalls altogether and decide to show up in person to rob your data. “This is big. Social hacking is done by extremely intelligent hackers. They’re very intelligent people. They’re not idiots. If they want to get in somewhere, they’re going to get in somewhere,” he said. “Nowadays everybody has firewalls and stuff like that. These people know they’re not coming in through the network. So what do they do? They’re going in physically.” So, rather than beat a machine, social hackers attempt to exploit human fallibility. They pick a mark and case the joint to discover what cable or ISP or other data service
provider the mark uses. Then, they go online and recreate a badge. Next, they take their laptop and proceed through the front door. All it takes is a less than discerning receptionist and they are “in.” The impersonator says something like, “We got a complaint that your Internet is slow. I need to look at your server.” “So, you get in and you hook in and people don’t pay attention and you leave with the data,” Réglat said. “You have to teach people to be aware. It’s the little things that people don’t realize.” Hackers aside, it pays for a company to make sure that any backup they do on their own actually happens. They don’t necessarily have to be clients of a cloud service to do this, according to Rick Gargan, CMO of Coaxis. It can still be an on-site server — you just have to make sure the data is removed from the premises every night and downloaded to an off-site backup. It can mean the difference between going to work the next day or closing shop. A disaster can happen and you think you’re safe only to later experience a groan-inducing discovery that your info wasn’t backed up properly, he said. For example, Gargan recalled the time an insurance company that was not a client asked Coaxis to help recover some lost information. “It’s a perfect example of you think you’re covered and doing the backups but when you go to get the information out, the backups really didn’t exist,” he said. “And what was backed up was irrelevant to the business. There wasn’t anything to save because the backup wasn’t being done appropriately. Nobody was ever confirming the backups were completed and that the content they needed to have was there. We have since moved them to hosted services and have put their mind at ease.” Gargan noted that when Coaxis clients have had issues, they have been able to recover what was lost thanks to the hosted services. “Most of those have either had servers on site that have crashed or have had viruses, but in those cases Coaxis has been able to step in and save everything in all those instances,” he said. “Most of them were current clients, but one was in the process of transitioning the IT to Coaxis.” n
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EMERALD COAST Corridor
Cheers! C
Coastal Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa + Walton Counties
The Emerald Coast inspires friends to create a refreshing new coastal cocktail By Janie Harris link! You’re sitting on the beach and toasting to another day of life on the Emerald Coast. But what is it that you’re sipping on? It should be an iced down cocktail that represents exactly what living on the Emerald Coast is like, but what drink represents the simple life of living on the coast? Two entrepreneurial Emerald Coast mixologists believe it should be No. 850, a 34 proof spirit that fuses rum with hints of citrus, pineapple and coconut concocted right here. In 2011, Bess Grasswick of Freeport sat down at the bar where her childhood friend, Ricky Fannin, worked. It was there that the two creative-minded pals in their late twenties decided to become business partners and explore bottling a beachy adult beverage. The ready-to-drink cocktail concocted by Fannin in his own home was not always named after the Emerald Coast’s area code. It was named after its clever creator. Fannin, who while working as a bartender was asked to make a patron a beachy beverage she had never tried before. Impressed with the drink and its creator, she called it “The Ricky” in honor of the barkeep who served her the refreshing, fruit-infused cocktail. The drink-inventing duo didn’t really care to call it “The Ricky,” so they looked to their community for inspiration for
a new name. With the obvious parallels between the area and their drinkable invention, No. 850 was a keeper. “We liked the fact that our area is really unique, but it’s got these classic elements,” said Grasswick. However the two friends did not just bottle a cocktail. They opened a company, and the company had to be named, too. Grasswick and Fannin wanted another name that represented the area well, so they bounced ideas off each other and their friends. The Chaste Company became a contender, and after a friend made a joke about being chased (because chaste sounds like chased) off the beach, they knew it would be a great name. Chaste is defined as without unnecessary ordination, simple — and Fannin believes that the Emerald Coast is a simple living area.
Beachy Beverage Peering through the 34 proof rum in the EC’s coastal-inspired signature cocktail are notes of citrus, pineapple and coconut.
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Chasing a Dream Bess Grasswick and Ricky Fannin grew their childhood friendship into a thriving business partnership. They credit the special attributes of life on the Emerald Coast such as a relaxing day at Eden State Park, where they are pictured, with the inspiration behind their carefree cocktail concoction.
Photos by Matt Burke
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Our goal is to help you pursue yours. It’s that simple.
“It (the name) really does reflect our area,” said Fannin. With support from local retailers, Fannin and Grasswick have expanded No. 850 to stores across North Florida. While they were supported by residents and locals alike, putting a bottle on a shelf was more difficult than they expected. “It was a process,” said Fannin. It was a process that they couldn’t have an ego with. And they have continued to grow their company, but they haven’t been able to drink in their success just yet. Fannin still works as a bartender while Grasswick handles the day-to-day operation of the company. They are focused on growing No. 850 into a staple behind the bar. Fannin and Grasswick made No. 850 a ready-to-drink beverage with the ability to allow bartenders to mix it up and make a number of other drinks with it, including mojitos and bloody beer. And while there are always challenges in launching your own company, Fannin and Grasswick crack jokes and spend their time enjoying the progress of their dream. Even if it doesn’t work out the way they hoped, they chased a dream and will never regret trying. “We are really thankful for the opportunity that we got to do this,” said Fannin.
Photos by Matt Burke (Fannin and Grasswick) and Sarah Lyn (Making Drinks)
Mix it Up There are 13 different cocktail recipes online at chaste.co, from Bloody Beer to the Red Headed Ricky. Or simply enjoy a classic Chaste No. 850 poured over ice with a lime garnish.
No. 850 Mojito
At Merrill Lynch, you’re at the center of every conversation. Your Merrill Lynch financial advisor will take the time to understand what’s most important to you: your family, your work, your hopes and dreams. Together, we’ll create an investment strategy that’s uniquely yours.
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management 34990 Emerald Coast Parkway Suite 400 Destin, FL 32541 866.625.2295 850.269.7000
Ingredients 6 ounces of Chaste No. 850
Soda water
4 lime wedges
Sugar cane or fresh mint for garnish
Fresh mint Simple syrup
Ice cubes
Method Squeeze 4 lime wedges in glass. Add fresh mint. Pour in 6 ounces Chaste No. 850. Add a splash of simple syrup. Muddle to extract all flavors. Fill remainder of glass with soda water. Serve over ice. Garnish with fresh mint, sugar cane or lime.
Life’s better when we’re connected®
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management makes available products and services offered by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (“MLPF&S”), a registered broker-dealer and member SIPC, and other subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation (“BAC”). The Bull Symbol, Merrill Lynch Personal Investment Advisory and Merrill Lynch are registered trademarks or trademarks of Bank of America Corporation. Investment products: Are Not FDIC Insured Are Not Bank Guaranteed © 2014 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. AR9U5C6E | AD-08-14-0278 | 470949PM-0314 | 08/2014
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forgotten coast Corridor
Gulf, Franklin + Wakulla Counties
From Shack to Biological Supply House Panacea’s Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratories celebrates 50th year By Lazaro Aleman
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he Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratories (GSML) in Panacea has traveled far from its origins, when it was a struggling startup business in a ramshackle shack and its staff consisted entirely of founder Jack Rudloe, later joined in the enterprise by his wife Anne. Today, it is an internationally recognized biological supply house and environmental education center/aquarium boasting ample interior and pavilion space for exhibitions and programs, and showcasing hundreds of live Gulf specimens, most notably invertebrates and other small marine creatures. Managed by the Rudloes’ younger son, Cypress, and operated by a six-member staff plus volunteers and interns, the facility continues its original function of collecting and selling marine specimens to universities, aquariums and museums across the country and abroad for educational and research purposes. Since 1990, moreover, part of the GSML’s mission has been advancing marine biology knowledge and promoting protection of marine species and the environment. Which explains the facility’s evolution into a popular tourist/roadside attraction and self-sustaining private nonprofit. Too, its educational outreach has expanded in recent years with the addition of a sea-mobile, an aquarium-on-wheels that travels to area schools and events to teach about marine life and conservation, while its sea turtle research/rehabilitation program is counted among the oldest in the country. Last May, the lab not only celebrated 50 years, but the Washington D.C.-based Environmental Law Institute honored the Rudloes with the National Wetlands Award — one of several recognitions accorded them over the years for their contributions either to marine biology research or environmental protection. The award specifically hailed the couple’s efforts in helping preserve 35,000-plus acres of Panhandle wetlands, advocacy that didn’t come without battle scars or the creation of enmity in some quarters.
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Anne, a marine biologist, FSU adjunct professor and author, died in 2012; Jack, however, remains very much a maverick and an activist, committed to wetlands protection and the preservation of estuarine ecosystems. He also remains integral to the GSML, although at 71 he readily admits his role is in transition. He now performs more of a fundraising/planning function, while Cypress manages the day-today activities. “Cypress is better at smoothing relations,” Jack says, allowing that his many fights to keep the center alive over the years have hardened and made him a bit cantankerous. “But honestly, with the state bureaucrats and their regulations and rules, unless I busted heads and stomped them on the battlefields, this place wouldn’t be here.”
Surviving a Half Century Jack Rudloe (foreground) and son Cypress keep Panacea’s Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratories running as a supply house and educational center. The feisty Rudloe, known for his battles with bureaucrats and academics, started the lab in 1964 with his wife Anne, who died in 2012. (Left) The Sea Mobile traveling aquarium.
Photos by matt Burke
On any given day, the staff and volunteers are apt to be engaged in upkeep of the facility and its specimens, along with providing educational field tours to school children, attending to walk-in visitors and monitoring the gift shop and tank exhibits. All the while, the collection of specimens remains paramount, both to maintain the living inventory and fill specific orders. “Just last night, the crew was out until 3 a.m. collecting specimens,” Jack relates. “Thirty percent of our income is sea urchins and fertile sea urchin eggs for embryology classes and embryological research. So we’re constantly diving, dragging or picking up sea urchins and shipping them.” Browse the GSML’s webpage, and the catalogue of live marine specimens available for purchase range from plants and sponges, to jellyfish and sea worms, to hermit and horseshoe crabs, to sharks and rays. The facility does about $200,000 in specimen sales annually. Did he think 50 years ago the marine lab would be around today? Jack Rudloe laughs. Starting out he had no plan other than for it to survive five years, if that, he says, explaining that the enterprise was an outgrowth of his scientific bent and high school work with plants, and later with sea urchin eggs as a lab technician at FSU. The university, in fact, played a role in the lab’s founding, however indirect or unintentional. Indeed, Jack’s difficulties with FSU, and academia and bureaucracy in general, are longstanding, well-documented, and by his telling, reverberate to the present. Kicked out of FSU in his freshman year, he joined an international Indian Ocean expedition, where he not only earned enough to buy the
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Panacea property, but also made significant connections with folks in the scientific community — most notably taxonomists from Yale, Harvard, Boston University and other prestigious institutions. He also received encouragement from Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck, whom Jack befriended in 1962 and who himself was an amateur marine biologist with his own ambivalence about academia. The GSML’s early years and struggles for survival are documented in Jack’s first book, “The Sea Brings Forth,” one of 12 books he and Anne authored individually or collaboratively through the years, along with countless magazine articles. He’s currently at work on his latest book, tentatively titled “Panacea Prophecy.” “Writing has always been a major part of my existence,” he avers. “My mom told me years ago I was in a conflict between writing and doing specimens. She said shut this thing down and stay writing. But I’ve persevered in a bifurcated existence.” He foresees expansion for the GSML.
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“I see it becoming more a regional environmental center,” Jack says. “Right now a lot of visitors are not part of the tours and there are no specific events for them. We want to set up regular activities, such as shark feedings and crab races. We want to make this more of an entertainment center, as well as an education center. Someplace people can come and spend the day because they get more information and there’s a ton of stuff to see.” He envisions an Octopus Garden in the woods opposite the GSML. The garden, he says, would display sea creature models amidst the flora, underscoring the ecology of coastal forests and marine species. As for personal goals, he wants to revisit some of the international worksites of his early years, such as Africa, the Orient and South America. Only he wants to do it as a tourist. “It might be fun taking it easy,” he says. His activism and environmental advocacy, however, he vows to continue “until the day I die.”
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Living Laboratory (Top) Sea creatures like hermit and horseshoe crabs and starfish are kept in tanks where visitors can get up close and personal. (Above) The lab also runs a sea turtle research and conservation program, the third oldest in the U.S. The lab treats and releases 5 to 20 protected Loggerheads and endangered Kemp Ridley turtles each year.
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i-10 Corridor
Northern Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa + Walton Counties and Holmes, Washington, Calhoun, Jackson + Liberty Counties
The Mercedes of Horses Paso Fino Ranch in Madison is the home of champions By Lazaro Aleman
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he innumerable photos, plaques, ribbons and other awards covering the walls of the office in the main barn of Greener Pastures Ranch in Madison County represent but a fraction of this outfit’s winnings — both by its horses and its mother-daughter founders. Indeed, in the world of Paso Finos, or finegaited horses, Henrietta and Robin Ratliff and their Sin Par (without equal) stable of horses are nationally and internationally recognized. Going back nearly 50 years to Fort Lauderdale, where the operation was located before moving to North Florida in 1986, Henrietta pioneered the breeding, training, showing and promotion of Pasos — a breed then practically unknown in this country. For her achievements, she was inducted into the Paso Fino Horse Association’s (PFHA) Hall of Fame in 2002, as was El Pastor, the foundation sire, in 2000. A PFHA founding member who in her day won her share of prizes and helped popularize the breed, Henrietta today is accorded iconic status among Paso Fino aficionados. Robin, meanwhile, is an accomplished horsewoman and trainer in her own right, whose hundreds of awards — including the prestigious USA Equestrian C.J. “June” Conan Jr. Trophy in 2002 — attest to her excellence. She also judges and is active in the PFHA and associated organizations. Together, the two own the 100-acre ranch, which includes a 29-stall barn with
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an indoor riding ring, 10 paddocks, an outdoor riding ring and seven pastures. They also own 46 Pasos and board another 30 from clients across the country. Pasos, Henrietta and Robin will tell you, are smart, versatile, good-natured horses that can do anything other horses can do, including cantering, loping, jumping and, yes, even barrel racing and cattle herding. Their singular distinction, however, is their extraordinarily smooth gait. When translated from Spanish, Paso Fino means “fine step.” “A trot is a two-beat diagonal gait,” Robin explains. “A pace is a two-beat lateral gait.
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The Paso gait is right in the middle. It’s a fourbeat, more to the lateral side. You hear onetwo-three-four, one-two-three-four, one-twothree-four, and it’s super smooth.” Adds Henrietta, “They’re incredible. Their legs work right under them in synch. There is no other horse in the world like it, not even the American walking horse. It’s like sitting in a rocking chair.” Smitten with Pasos upon her first ride on one in 1967, Henrietta flew to Puerto Rico soon after and purchased one. Native to Spain, Pasos were brought to the New World by Christopher Columbus on his second
Passion for Pasos Henrietta (right) and Robin Ratliff at their Greener Pastures Ranch in Madison County, where they breed, train and board Paso Fino horses. Pasos were brought to the New World by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage in 1493.
Photos by matt Burke
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“In my core I am a businesswoman. Money was always the goal. But there was so much passion mixed with it, it was the perfect marriage.” c0-Founder Henrietta Ratliff “We like to win,” Robin says. “I think my mother is the most competitive person ever, maybe even more than me.” And success is a given. “I wasn’t willing to accept anything less,” Henrietta says of her accomplishments. Nowadays, Robin largely manages the operation and handles the day-to-day chores, from bookkeeping and blacksmithing to ordering feeds and operating and repairing the equipment. All the while, she trains horses and shows, judges and conducts clinics nationally. The boarding and training mostly generate the ranch’s present income, the breeding/selling aspects having taken a back seat since the recession. “The market took a hit some eight years ago, and we slowed on the breeding and selling,” Robin says. “By gum, the minute the market returns, there’ll be babies on the ground again at Greener Pastures,” ” Henrietta enjoins. The average Paso will sell between $3,000 and $5,000. Depending on the circumstances and a horse’s experience and pedigree, however, that price can vary greatly.
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“A horse is worth how much somebody pays for it that day,” Robin says. She attributes the ranch’s successful navigation of the hard times to operating within their means and never losing sight of their priorities. “It comes down to not spending what you don’t have, and the horses come first,” Robin says. “A lot of horse people went under because they overextended themselves.” Her mother’s foresight also was a factor. “She’s one of those people who can see ahead,” Robin says. “She sees the big picture.” At 84, Henrietta no longer rides; she quit four years ago. Still passionate about Pasos, however, she regularly attends shows and cheers for Robin, whom she considers the best rider and trainer, bar none. “She can take any horse and win,” Henrietta says. “Now it’s my mother talking,” Robin says, smiling. As for Pasos, give Henrietta her due for a mission accomplished. “It’s no longer a breed struggling to be known,” she says.
Photo Courtesy of Lynn Farrand
voyage in 1493 and over the centuries were largely confined to Latin American countries. When Henrietta was introduced to the breed, Greener Pastures Ranch was a quarter horse operation — but it soon converted to Pasos. From the start, her zeal in promoting the breed was near-missionary. Blue Ribbon “It was viscerPerformer Cocada Sin Par is al,” she says. “It crowned the National was as important Champion of Western Pleasure at the 2014 as eating, spreadGrand National Show ing the word.” in Lexington, Kentucky. Shown also are owners This explains Robin (astride horse) and the family’s Henrietta Ratliff. countless weekend trips across the country in the early years to sell Pasos wherever and whenever the opportunity presented itself, regardless of the event’s distance, obscurity or size. “Exhilarating,” Henrietta characterizes these excursions. “Exhausting,” Robin, then about 11, recalls them. Did these early efforts possibly represent more a cause than a business proposition? Nonsense, Henrietta asserts; it was always first and foremost a commercial venture. “In my core I am a businesswoman,” she says. “Money was always the goal. But there was so much passion mixed with it, it was the perfect marriage.” That passion, which Robin shares, forms the cornerstone of their successful business partnership, notwithstanding their differences in personality and temperament. The two admit to having disagreements, as business partners will. But ultimately, the mother-daughter bond prevails. “In spite of it all, we love each other,” Henrietta says. “Somehow, we come around.” Most importantly, they balance each other, says Robin. “No matter our disagreements, she’s my mother and I’m her daughter and we share the same vision, though we may sometimes differ on how to get there.” Horse ranching, the two agree, is a laborintensive business, requiring a thorough understanding of horses and 100 percent commitment. “You have to live it,” Henrietta says. “It’s not a 9-to-5 job.” Ethics and honesty count. “If you lose your reputation, you’re done,” Robin says. In their case, the will to excel is formidable.
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The Last Word
Huntington, unlike most towns in Florida, has been around a long time, founded in 1653. There were two main streets lined with any type of shop you could imagine. Sort of like an outdoor mall — the way most towns developed. Sometimes Mom would drop me off with a few friends at the movie theater while she made her shopping rounds. We’d see a movie and then cross the street to the pizza parlor or maybe walk down the street and do some window-shopping or slip into the five-and-dime to look around. (Am I dating myself here?) When I reached my teens, “the mall” was built — several miles from downtown, more centrally located to attract shoppers from the region. An enclosed facility, it was the perfect spot (especially when it was cold, snowing or raining) for teenagers to hang out on a Saturday to do some shopping, some eating and lots of socializing. Still, downtown continued to thrive, and we had the best of both worlds. Today, we see malls closing around the country or scrambling for ways to reinvent themselves and bring back shoppers. Small towns are losing many of their “mom and pop” stores. Part of the reason is that the smaller stores can’t compete with the box store down the street that buys in bulk and undersells them, but a lot has to do with the growing influence of the Internet on our lives. How did you shop for the holidays this past season? Did you shop local or turn to your computer or one of your smart devices to order and ship gifts to friends and relatives? Beyond that, how did you deposit that check you got in the mail from Aunt Susie? Did you point and click with your smart phone or drive to a local branch of your bank to put it in your account? Research shows that the only thing growing faster than the Internet is online banking. A 2014 study from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System reported that more than half (51 percent) of U.S. adults were banking online — and the
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percentage has surely grown since then — and that 33 percent of cell phone users were mobile bankers. This past holiday season, online shopping — especially driven by mobile devices — had increased by 13.9 percent. Mobile sales (including smart phones and tablets) accounted for about 45 percent of the traffic. So, are we, as a society that is relying more and more on our smart devices, sounding the death knell for our small towns and our malls? It leads me to wonder what our towns of tomorrow will look like and whether even more brick and mortar will disappear. Somehow, it was comforting to me growing up to know that my hometown had a center, a place that was familiar, where I could walk into the bank to take money out of my savings account, go to the movies, eat a slice of pizza or get an ice cream soda, mosey into the Woolworth’s to buy lipstick and window-shop along the way. For the past five years, Long Islanders have voted Huntington as the best downtown in the region. I visited several years ago and felt a sense of comfort that, while the store names have changed, the basic concept of a downtown was still intact and thriving There have been attempts throughout the 850 region to spruce up some of our downtowns, breathing new life back into areas that have fallen into disrepair or onto hard times. Pensacola especially is making a hard push in that direction now. I wonder how our towns will look in the future as we turn more and more to our smart devices to do our work for us. I can only hope that deep down we all keep that yearning for the familiar, a place that feels like home, a downtown with stores where we can look at and touch the items we want to purchase for ourselves and friends, with a bank that has the friendly teller who remembers our child has a Christmas Club or special savings account. A downtown helps build a sense of community and a sense of pride in who we are and where we came from.
LINDA KLEINDIENST, EDITOR lkleindienst@rowlandpublishing.com
Photo by kay Meyer
I remember going shopping with my mother when I was a kid, driving into downtown Huntington (in New York on the north shore of Long Island) to visit the bank, the grocery store and do whatever else was on her list to do that day.
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