850 Business Magazine Apr/May 2011

Slam Dunk NW FLorida State College sophomore Krys-Tina Scott’s business plan wins inaugural 850 Collegiate Entrepreneur Invitational

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ALSO INSIDE: IS Northwest Florida THE Silicon Valley of the 2020s? What your signature says about you www.850businessmagazine.com

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“Don’t Miss This Opportunity to Position Your Company in Grand Boulevard’s Thriving Business Hub”

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“Our recent relocation to Grand Boulevard has already exceeded our expectations. The Town Center offers our firm an easily accessible, high profile location with a multitude of on-site amenities.

When we meet clients, we can walk to a number of great restaurants while continuing the business discussion and not lose momentum.”

“After three successful years in Grand Boulevard, we have seen our business thrive exponentially to the point that we had to expand. It is truly a great place to work and play!”

Joe Capers, Owner/Partner Insurance Zone

“Since my relocation to Grand Boulevard, my law practice has grown significantly, requiring a larger staff and expanded offices within the Town Center.

As I suspected, Grand Boulevard has become the professional business hub for this area.”

Shannon L. Widman, ESQ, Founder Porath & Associates, P.A.

Tim Fulmer, Partner Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC, Destin/South Walton Office

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850 Magazine April – May 2011

IN THIS ISSUE

M AT H I N M OTI O N Jasun Burdick teaches students at Tallahassee’s SAIL High School about technology, physics and math — and he does it all under the guise of engineering robots. Read more in the STEM story on page 28.

850 FEATURES omorrow’s Business Leaders 22 TStudents from Northwest Florida’s public universities

Forward in Education 28 IInnvesting a race to win the global competition for new

put their best business ideas forward in 850’s inaugural Collegiate Entrepreneur Invitational for a chance to win a $5,000 prize. Nine teams competed in early January and the top three contenders are featured in this issue. Their ideas range from a better way to market specialty shoes and clothing to improving highway safety to developing a product to calm youngsters’ fears of monsters in the dark. Read about what these enterprising entrepreneurs have proposed — and how our panel of judges reacted.

jobs and industries, schools across Northwest Florida are embracing the call to better prepare students in math and the sciences. The focus on STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and math — is happening from the grade school level up through the universities. It is part of an economic development revival designed to bring high tech industries — and high paying jobs — to the 850 region.

By Margie Menzel

By Linda Kleindienst

On the Cover: Krys-Tina Scott’s idea for a brand that “Feeds the Sneaker Connoisseur’s Obsession!” won the 850 Collegiate Entrepreneur Invitational business plan competition. On our cover, she recreates the iconic NIKE Air Jordan silhouette outside Tallahassee’s City Hall.

Photo by Scott Holstein

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850 Magazine April – May 2011

Photos by Scott Holstein (pg 35,39,43)

IN THIS ISSUE

43

39

18 Departments THE 850 life

13 Carol Dover’s busy life revolves around her family, Florida’s restaurant and lodging industry and, last but never least, her horses. By Linda Kleindienst

WI-FILES

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In This Issue 09 From the Publisher 12 Business Arena 50 The Last Word from the Editor

Corridors

15 Everyone’s talking about cloud-based solutions for business.

What does it mean and will these “solutions” save you money?

By Buddy Nevins

CAPITAL

LEADING HEALTHY

BAY

POWER TOOLS

EMERALD COAST

18 What havoc unrelieved stress can wreak on the body. Some tips on what to do during the day at the office to relax. By Angela Howard

21 Have you ever considered how you sign your name — and what your signature says about the inner you? By Tony Bridges

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35 Marie Livingston made her mark on Tallahassee by serving up a good steak. Now she’s a living legend.

39 Long-awaited changes sought by the business community are finally coming to Panama City Beach’s Front Beach Road.

43 One year after the oil spill, local charter captain Mike Eller talks about his work for BP and how the disaster affected his life and his business.

850 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA

APRIL – MAY 2011

Vol. 3, No. 4

Publisher Brian E. Rowland

Editor Linda Kleindienst

designer Tisha Keller

Contributing Writers Tony Bridges, Angela Howard, Tisha Crews Keller, Linda Kleindienst, Margie Menzel, Thomas J. Monigan, Buddy Nevins, Lilly Rockwell

staff Writer Jason Dehart

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Scott Holstein Editorial Interns Brittany Barriner, Holly Brooks, Terrika Mitchell, Bianca Salvant, Janeen Talbot

traffic coordinatorS Abayomi Bamiro, Lisa Sostre

Sales Executives Jessica Hathorn, Mary Beth Lovingood, Lori Magee, Linda Powell, Rhonda Simmons, Chuck Simpson, Chris St. John

online 850businessmagazine.com facebook.com/850bizmag twitter.com/850bizmag

President Brian E. Rowland

DIRECTOR OF Lisa Carey PUBLISHING OPERATIONS DIRECTOR OF Dan Parisi INTEGRATED SALES

DIRECTOR OF Linda Kleindienst EDITORIAL SERVICES

Creative Director Lawrence Davidson ProDUCTION director Melinda Lanigan

Manager of finance Angela Cundiff HR/Administration

CLIENT SERVICE Caroline Conway REPRESENTATIVE

assistant Saige Roberts creative director ADMINISTRATOR OF McKenzie Burleigh

SALES and EVENTS TRAFFIC coordinator Abayomi Bamiro ART DIRECTOR Tisha Keller

senior editorial Beth Nabi designer graphic designers Marc Thomas, Daniel Vitter ad designer Patrick Patterson

Network Administrator Daniel Vitter RECEPTIONIST Amy Lewis

Web Site rowlandpublishing.com

850 Magazine is published bi-monthly by Rowland Publishing, Inc. 1932 Miccosukee Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308. 850/878-0554. 850 Magazine and Rowland Publishing, Inc. are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photography or artwork. Editorial contributions are welcomed and encouraged but will not be returned. 850 Magazine reserves the right to publish any letters to the editor. Copyright April 2011 850 Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Member, Florida Magazine Association and seven Chambers of Commerce throughout the region.

one-year Subscription $30 (SIX issues) 850businessmagazine.com 850 Magazine can be purchased at Books-A-Million, Borders and Barnes and Noble in Tallahassee, Destin, Ft. Walton Beach, Pensacola and Panama City and at our Tallahassee office.

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Proud member Florida Magazine Association

From the Publisher

The Future of New Business Looks Bright Indeed My thanks and admiration also go to those students who competed. I sat to the side of the room, listening as each detailed his or her business dream. Some were nervous, some weren’t. But all were professional.

At the end of the day, the grand prize went to Krys-Tina Scott of Fort Walton Beach, a student at Northwest Florida State College. She enthralled the judges with her presentation, her style and her go-get’em attitude. Read about her business and the judges’ reactions, starting on page 22.

We look forward to making this an annual event, so if you know any budding college entrepreneurs, please encourage them to look for the announcement of our 2011 contest this fall.

Taking a look ahead, I wanted to alert you to a special commercial real estate package we have planned for the June/July issue of 850.

We’ll be taking an in-depth look at the state of the industry in Northwest Florida to see if commercial properties — or vacant lands designed for commercial use — are beginning to be in higher demand.

We’ll have the experts tell you how we compare to the rest of the state and take a look at our region’s strengths and weaknesses.

Later in the year we will be giving you a look at how Northwest Florida is faring in the international trade market — and what we can expect when the expansion of the Panama Canal is finally completed, doubling its capacity, in 2014. Just last month, Gov. Rick Scott led a two-day trade mission to Panama. Scott has made trade with Central and South America a priority issue for his administration.

As always, if you have any story ideas or suggestions for 850, we encourage you to contact us. And I urge you to check out our digital edition online any time at 850businessmagazine.com.

Brian Rowland browland@rowlandpublishing.com

Photo by David Eggleston

If you’re worried about the entrepreneurial spirit of Northwest Florida’s youth, I have a word of advice: don’t be. It is alive and well — and our cover story in this issue of 850 stands as proof.

An important aspect of fostering growth within an economic region like Northwest Florida is to inspire an entrepreneurial spirit.

And we here at 850 felt we were in the perfect position to do just that.

So, last year we embarked on a journey to see if we could find a way to give wings to the dreams of local budding entrepreneurs, the men and women we expect to become the next generation of business leaders in our region.

Editor Linda Kleindienst met with representatives from several of the state universities and colleges in our 16-county area and spoke with others around the nation. As a result, we decided to launch Northwest Florida’s first business competition, the 850 Collegiate Entrepreneur Invitational.

We invited undergraduates at our public universities and colleges to submit their business plans for a chance to win a $5,000 grand prize. Entries came in from Chipola College, Florida A&M University, Florida State University, Northwest Florida State College and the University of West Florida. Finally, nine were chosen to compete before a fourperson judging panel.

My sincere thanks go to the individuals who judged the competition: Dale Brill, president of the Florida Chamber Foundation; Rusty Bozman, senior vice president of corporate development for The St. Joe Company; Marty Lanahan, Regions Bank area executive for North Florida and city president for Jacksonville; and Eric Miller, vice president/general manager of CenturyLink North Florida and Alabama.

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WHILE THE TITLE OF THEIR NEW publication was “Unconquered,” the Seminole Boosters were stymied by the challenges of producing a quarterly, glossy, 84-plus-page magazine with just one in-house graphic designer.

“We weren’t making deadlines,” said Jerry Kutz, the Boosters’ vice president of marketing and communications. “We’d get bottlenecked.”

Kutz said he approached Rowland Publishing in early 2009 because of the company’s reputation for creating quality publications on time. He also appreciated the publishing experience of owner Brian Rowland. “He’s a good consultant who can translate what I want into what I like,” Kutz said.

Since the collaboration began, Rowland Publishing has provided project management, design and editorial review services for seven issues of “Unconquered.” In addition to graphic designers refining the magazine’s look, seasoned editors from Rowland were able to make edits to the stories provided by the Boosters’ staff. “They like having that extra set of experienced eyes to look at them,” said Rowland Creative Director Lawrence Davidson.

Rowland’s services allow the Boosters to include timely information in their magazine.

Most recently, stories about new recruits were included in an issue that went to press just five days after National Signing Day. “When needed, it’s all hands on deck to get the project done,” Kutz said. “Rowland people are easy to work with and they keep you on pace.”

“Unconquered” is sent to about 15,000 Seminole Boosters and also is used as a marketing and promotional tool. “The magazine is like having four brochures a year,” Kutz said. “The layout and design is tied to our marketing plan.” ■

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“Rowland people are easy to work with and they keep you on pace.”

Jerry Kutz, Seminole Boosters Vice President of marketing and communications

At Rowland Publishing, we think one of our best attributes is the innate art to listen, understand and then produce what the client wants. Our creative solutions will showcase your business without straining your budget. Call (850) 878-0554 878 0554 or visit rowlandpublishing.com today.

CREATIVE. PRINT. SOLUTIONS.™

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n ews + numbers statewide

Compiled by Linda Kleindienst

Florida Marketing Campaign is a Financial Success $1 spent on marketing = $147 in tourism spending = $9 in sales tax collections When the national economy went sour, VISIT FLORIDA in 2010 launched a marketing campaign to bring more tourists to the state. In its first year, the “Your Florida Side Is Calling” campaign generated a return on investment (147:1) that was three times higher than in 2009.

Tourism remains Florida’s leading business — and generates $1 of every $5 in sales tax that is collected to fund state government. On any given day, there are more people visiting Florida than live in 12 U.S. states.

The state has already kicked off the 2011 campaign, with a focus on the traditionally strong feeder markets of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Florida’s Expanding Export Business With an 18 percent increase in exports over 2009 levels, Florida last year became the nation’s fourth largest export state, just behind New York, California and Texas.

State

$ in Exports, 2010

Texas

1,277,503,931,887

California

206,643,433,085

New York

67,686,037,936

Florida

55,226,964,749

Sales Tax Holidays Generate More — Not Less — Tax Dollars Everyone loves back-to-school tax-free shopping. And while the state may not be collecting taxes on some of those items shoppers are buying, chances are good those shoppers will pick up plenty of taxable items while they’re at the store. That makes tax-free holidays good for retailers and good for the state, according to a study by The Washington Economics Group released by the Florida Retail Association.

Retailers say they’ve learned from years of experience that when shoppers open their wallets to save big during temporary tax relief, they actually spend more overall.

Indeed, the report shows that in 2010, Florida’s three-day sales tax holiday generated $115 million more in taxable sales than the same weekend in 2009, when there was no sales tax holiday. That resulted in a $7 million tax bonus for the state.

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A Capitol App A Tallahassee communications firm has figured out how to put social activism in the palm of your hand so you can connect with your representatives in the Florida Legislature and members of the Florida Cabinet.

The new app — FL Capitol Connection — was developed by Vivian Myrtetus, president of Beacon Communications Group in Tallahassee, who served as communications director for former Gov. Charlie Crist and U.S. Sen. George LeMieux before opening her own shop.

Citizens can engage with their government by tracking committee action and bills — and are able to reach their representatives with the touch of a button. Twitter feeds from reporters and elected officials are also available — an especially handy tool to keep abreast of what’s happening while the Legislature is in session.

The free app may be downloaded through BeaconCommGroup.com or by searching for FL Capitol Connection at the iTunes app store. For Android-based phones, check out the Android Marketplace.

Location, Location … and Breakfast Staying close to a business meeting or the airport, getting points rewards, free Wi-Fi — and a free breakfast — are the most important considerations for business clients when they’re choosing a hotel, according to the annual Travel Trends Survey.

The survey was compiled by Travel Leaders, part of Travel Leaders Group, which is ranked as the No. 1 corporate travel management company by Business Travel News.

With signs that the economy is slowly turning around, nearly 40 percent of the more than 200 Travel Leaders owners, managers and frontline travel experts who were surveyed said they expect business travel to pick up this year. That compares to about 29 percent who were hopeful last year.

visit florida image courtesy Stephen Flint/ Pete Barret

Executive Mindset

Business Arena

Executive Mindset

) The (850 Life

s urvive and thrive

Cheer Leader Carol Dover, tallahassee President/CEO Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association

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1. Reading: “Decision Points”

c. rice and a. romney photos courtesy wikimedia commons

by former President George W. Bush.

2. Lifelong dream: I feel I’m

fulfilling it. I always wanted to have a good marriage, be a mother. It’s all about quality of life.

raised three kids and they all went to college.

5. Admire: The Bush Family, Condoleezza Rice and Billy Graham.

the people in the restaurant and lodging industry work for a very small return, maybe a 3 percent profit margin. They are the salt of the earth of our economy.

6. Hobbies: I work out and ride

10. Like to meet: Ann Romney.

my horses (dressage).

3. Social media: I’m terrible on

7. On the road: I’m probably

4. Personal Hero: My mother.

8. First job: I was the front desk

Facebook. I live on email. That’s my world.

She taught me an impeccable work ethic. Life dealt her some difficult cards. We lost dad when he was 49 and she was 49. She

Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

9. Lesson learned: How hard

away from home on the average of three days a week. clerk at the Holiday Inn off Lee Road in Orlando in high school and college. During college I worked for the Brown Derby.

She’s the wife of Mitt Romney and a grand prix dressage rider who has been dealt some serious health issues, like I was, but who was able to reach her goals.

11. Studied: Hotel and Res-

taurant Management from the Florida State University Dedman School of Hospitality.

ccomplished equestrienne.

Cancer survivor. Working mother. Influential lobbyist. Carol Dover, who manages the 10,000-member Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, is all that and more. And in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, she has now become an outspoken evangelist for Northwest Florida and what the region has to offer the world.

“I think if there was a silver lining in the oil spill … Northwest Florida was a little bit of a secret, a lot of people had no idea it was there,” says Dover, 53.

“But now, with the millions of dollars that were pumped into marketing the region, I believe that will help us in years to come.”

Dover has helped bring some of that money to the area. Her organization partnered with the region’s tourist development agencies on a marketing campaign designed to bring visitors back to the Gulf Coast, from Port St. Joe to Pensacola.

Now Dover’s group has kicked off a new website, GreatFloridaEvents. com, to give visitors the full scoop on Florida before they get here — from events and things to do to restaurants and hotels. The first region to go online: Northwest Florida.

“It will be one-stop shopping to find all the special deals.”

— Linda Kleindienst

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Executive Mindset

Wi-Files

P OOLING RESOURCES

While it may be hard to define, cloud computing is the future — and it may save your business big money by buddy nevins

W

hen experts predict the future of computing, their crystal balls are cloudy. As in cloud computing.

If you use Gmail or Hotmail or post your status reports on Facebook, you are already using cloud computing. But email and social networking are only the first wave. Bigger clouds are building on the horizon.

In cloud computing, remote networks share information and software. Data is stored on distant servers, not in an individual computer. One big advantage to users is that it allows access to their accounts from any computer in the world. A drawback is the continuing uncertainty about security.

Regardless of the fears about protection of personal data, experts agree that cloud computing will someday save businesses and individuals money. Cloud computing will inexpensively offer previously costly features such as customization of information through the availability of thousands of possible software variations.

“Cloud computing is coming but is not ready for prime time,” said Carl Lofstrom, president of the Northwest Florida Association of Computer User Groups. Lofstrom’s group is an amalgam of several computer clubs in the Walton County area. They believe so much in the future of cloud computing there was a workshop on it at their winter Tech ’11 conference at Northwest Florida State College.

Lofstrom is right. The big payoffs are in the future. But what is available is being used — and users like it. The University of West Florida recently switched from a computer-based Outlook mail system to cloud-based Gmail.

“It is free, more accessible and comparatively just as secure as our previous solutions, the Microsoft Exchange platform,” said Geissler Golding, Information Technology Services director at UWF. “Our thinking at the time was that we had reached a critical point with our current Exchange platform — hitting limits on mailbox sizes and aging hardware — and we were looking at

a very intensive upgrade, which in the end would basically deliver the same product …

With shrinking budgets at the state level we could better employ our resources in efforts that were more focused towards the mission of the university. In addition to having no monetary cost, the Google service delivered many collaborative tools which we never had the money or time to deliver to our community.”

Businesses, too, will be able to use a large range of cloud computing hardware in the near future. Tech giants like Apple and Google and a host of startup companies will be offering services and space on their servers.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmers predicts any company will be able to cut the cost of such necessities as billing and financial record keeping by using forms and software found

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creating results and stored on his company’s servers — available at a much lower cost. Firms like Carbonite are already selling services to back up everything from emails to documents on their remote servers. And Google is pouring tens of millions of dollars into developing hardware it would sell to supplement, and possibly replace, current desktop computers by connecting them to the cloud to hold most of their data.

The test versions of the Google Chrome OS have a new keyboard that sends a user to specific sites on the Internet with one tap of a key. A chief selling point, according to Google and other tech firms chasing the cloud, is that if a laptop is lost or an office burglarized, the data is still safe on the cloud. You just buy another computer and log into your account where everything is stored there for you. The new Chrome OS hardware won’t allow you to install software because it is designed to work only with software available on the Web. Google envisions thousands of applications — apps — that would allow users to customize their information technology without having to buy software for their home computer.

Fighting Crime Saving money isn’t the only advantage. Cloud computing is already helping the police catch bad guys and recover stolen goods through the North Florida Pawn Network. A cloud partnership between Leon County government and the Leon County Sheriff’s Office has reduced the cost of gathering and searching information about who is pawning what merchandise.

Under Florida law, pawnbrokers must report items that were pawned and police personnel are required to obtain either copies of the forms, computer printouts or electronic discs from pawnshops on a weekly basis. It was time consuming, costly and slowed down burglary and robbery investigations.

Lt. Steve Harrelson of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office and the county’s computer wizards came up with a better way. Almost four years ago they pioneered a cloud computing solution that allows all the information to be easily entered into one database. Pawnshops in counties that have joined the cloud electronically transfer the information, often by simple email, to the network hosted by Leon County. The information is now available to detectives in a day, rather than weeks. The network has become so popular that it has expanded to cover pawnshops from Walton County through the Big Bend to Marion County and parts of Georgia and Alabama bordering Florida.

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“It’s been a win-win for everybody,” said Hermon Davis, Applications and Database manager for Leon County. He said that more than 1,300 items — from firearms to digital cameras and even bicycles — have been recovered by law enforcement agencies due to the network. Davis is most proud that Leon County’s technology division received the prestigious Honor Program Award from Computerworld in 2010 for organizations that have used information technology to benefit society.

Clouds in Class and Government Northwest Florida students are also entering the cloud. It has already changed the way classes are taught, with thousands taking courses online using a college’s centralized servers. Florida State University offers an extensive range of teaching, including credit courses in technology and emergency management. Professor Norman Wilde, the Nystul Professor of Computer Science at the University of West Florida, taught a software course “that had students located in Washington, D.C., Tampa and San Francisco, as well as in the Northwest Florida area.” And later this year, FSU will be implementing cloud-based services “providing students with email and file storage services,” said Michael Barrett, FSU’s associate vice president and chief information officer.

The Florida House of Representatives also dabbled in cloud computing in 2010 and more is planned in the future. In a last-minute push to get every Floridian counted in the census, the House hosted MyFloridaCensus using a Windows Azure cloud platform. And the Legislature

may even use cloud computing to help Floridians participate in redistricting this year.

Security Concerns Remain But questions over the protection of data remain a major drawback that is holding back migration to cloud computing because some potential customers worry about putting their personal or proprietary information on a remote server. Indeed, potential users shied away from the cloud after widespread publicity about hacking incidents.

“There are obvious security issues,” conceded Wilde. But experts say the best way to guarantee peace of mind is to demand specific information about a cloud firm’s security before doing business with it. Another safeguard is to follow the example of the University of West Florida, which insisted on “a very explicit contract with Google about the security of our information” when it switched to Gmail, the university’s tech director Golding said.

“ If I owned a small business I would probably bet that Google or Amazon will have better system administrators than any I can hire, because that is their core competency.”

Norman Wilde, the Nystul Professor of Computer Science at the University of West Florida

“Ensuring that the data stored in these systems is kept secure from external access is critical …” said FSU’s Barrett. He suggests customers look at the track record of the company before signing any cloud contract. “Another security challenge facing public institutions such as FSU,” he said, “is the ability to retrieve data stored in the cloud to answer internal inquires and public records requests and subpoenas … The university needs to be able to respond to these needs as if the data were maintained in a locally-provided application.”

United Kingdom tech consultant Mac Scott, writing in the online publication Director of Finance, agreed security is a big issue. “Security becomes cloud computing’s major stumblingblock for business-specific applications such as core banking, insurance systems or point-of-sale for retail. Unless there are significant developments in IT security, it is unlikely that traditional or already established companies will turn to cloud computing for business-specific applications for many years.”

UWF’s Wilde suggests making sure everything sensitive that is put on remote servers is encrypted, although he warns that is not 100 percent foolproof.

Internet Access Is Critical Another snag for portions of Northwest Florida is the Internet itself. Cloud computing requires fast Internet connections to work, restricting its use in more rural areas. Help is coming, though.

More than $90 million in federal funds is being spent by the Florida Rural Broadband Alliance to connect homes, community facilities and small businesses to high-speed Internet in 14 Florida counties, including Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty and Washington in North Florida. As many as 16,000 businesses across Florida are expected to have high-speed access to the Internet for the first time, allowing them to access the benefits of cloud computing.

Such increased access to the Internet has the potential for a new form of economic development. New large cloud servers could be built in Northwest Florida to host Internet customers from across the globe. This would depend on making the building hurricane proof with a reliable source of electricity and network feeds.

“Many cloud computing vendors have shown up in small and mid-sized cities that meet the criteria and are in a location where they are able to attract the workforce necessary to support the cloud,” Barrett said.

“ Ensuring that the data stored in these systems is kept secure from external access is critical.” michael barrett, FSU associate vice president and chief information officer

When will cloud computing start taking over information technology for the average user?

UWF’s Golding predicts it will be here soon because the cloud will “certainly decrease costs for small business. If I ran a small business I would, for example, take advantage of Google’s offering for email, calendar and officer productivity software. I would also take advantage of cloud-storing of any information created locally, thus possibly reducing the cost of back-ups.”

Wilde agreed with his UWF colleague. “If I owned a small business I would probably bet that Google or Amazon will have better system administrators than any I can hire, because that is their core competency,” he said. n For further information about the Northwest Florida Association of Computer Users, visit nwfacug.org.

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Executive Mindset

Leading Healthy

w rangling your stress

The Great Stress Out Don’t make stress — and its related mental and physical problems — a way of life for you or your employees

by Angela Howard

tress. Apart, these six letters mean virtually nothing, but together they carry myriad meanings. Webster’s defines the word as “a specific response by the body to a stimulus; physical, mental or emotional strain or tension.” But for one business owner, stress is more accurately described as a phone call in the middle of the night. “(At) 2 a.m. the telephone rings and there is a voice on the other end saying, ‘Brian, we have just had a bus in an accident,’” said Brian Annett, president of Annett Bus Lines.

“It’s the most feared thing for me as a business owner.”

That fear can have a major impact both on the body and the mind. It can be a small,

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nagging pain near your temple or behind your eye, or it can be shooting jabs to the gut from an upset stomach.

“There’s not a cell or a system in your body that [stress] doesn’t cover,” said Donna Gillette, Ph.D., mental health counselor and founder of the Stress Management Clinic of North Florida in Tallahassee.

Gillette has been an expert on where the mind and body meet for more than 30 years and says it is important to learn to free your mental state of stress so you can calm yourself physically.

“Just because there’s stress out there, it doesn’t have to penetrate you,” she said.

But for so many in today’s working world, stress is part of their every day and

can cause a number of problems, both mental and physical.

What is Job Stress?

Job stress is slightly different from stress in general because, per the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the harmful physical and emotional responses are directly linked to one’s line of work.

However, research by NIOSH also suggests that personal and “situational factors” like a sick family member or financial troubles play a role on the impact job stress takes on a person’s body and mind.

For business owners, job stress is almost a way of life. In Annett’s case, he says managing a fleet of 55 motor coaches that will

collectively travel some 3.3 million miles this year alone brings about 100 percent of his stress.

“In my end of the business, the unknown is the largest contributor to stress,” he said.

But the same can also be said for small business owner Adam Pope. The 29-year-old owns and operates a Tropical Smoothie Café in Tallahassee, and even though he has only 5–6 employees at any given time, his days are filled with their share of stress too.

“Work plays a major role in contributing to the stress in my life,” Pope said.

And, while Annett and Pope do their best to manage the stress, both say it still creeps in from time to time.

“Not all stress can be avoided. When in this line of work [the food service industry], there are always unexpected issues,” said Pope.

“When I do get a little wound up, I will not be able to sleep and get sick for a day or two.”

According to the American Psychological Association, “Stress that is left unchecked or poorly managed is known to contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and suicide.”

Other health risks NIOSH found to be associated with stress include headaches or migraines, trouble sleeping, upset stomach, irritability, difficulty concentrating, low morale and unhappiness at and with work.

Some studies cited in NIOSH’s research even found links to ulcers, immune deficiencies and cancer.

How to Relieve Stress?

There are a number of ways to relieve stress or at least tone it down. The researchers at NIOSH suggest finding a balance between your work life and your personal life, having a relaxed and positive outlook and creating a support network of friends and coworkers to help relieve the stress.

For Brian Annett, that relief comes in the form of verbal communication, mostly with his brother at the office or his wife Christi at home.

“I have found that bottling worries up inside of me only makes them worse, and the perspective that someone else can give usually makes things better,” he said.

For Adam Pope and so many others, a physical outlet helps them to blow off steam and put the worries of the day to rest.

rhythmic exercises. The goal, she said, is to think of nothing.

The Franklin Institute adds a few other suggestions to the list, including:

Are You Victim to Stress?

According to the Mayo Clinic, warning signs of stress are: • Headache • Back or chest pain • Heart disease or palpitations • High blood pressure • Upset stomach • Problems sleeping • Anxiety • Restlessness • Irritability • Decreased immunity • Depression • Burnout • Forgetfulness • Lack of focus • Feeling insecure, angry, sad or sorry

>> Repeating a helpful quote or word >> Using good scents >> Laughing or crying >> Listening to soothing music >> Using hypnotherapy >> Taking an aromatherapy bath >> Taking deep breaths to control your breathing >> Jogging in place >> Climbing the stairs >> Taking a walk around the building or the block >> Using a short burst of energy, like throwing your hands in the air >> Bouncing on a personal trampoline to work your leg muscles Some of these relaxation techniques can only be done at home, but the majority can be implemented while on the clock or during a lunch break.

Economy’s Role?

“I usually try to relieve stress by doing things that I enjoy and may not get to do on a regular basis, such as play golf with a few of the guys or get out and do something fun with the family.”

Getting out and exerting energy is historically what humans were programmed to do to relieve the adrenaline that builds up inside.

It’s a reaction to the fight or flight response.

“Fight or flight was designed to save your life. It’s hard-wired in us all,” said Gillette.

According to The Franklin Institute, it is that design that gets our blood boiling when a perceived threat presents itself or something happens beyond our control, leaving us scrambling to fix it. In the past, these ‘threats’ would lead men into battle where they would fight — sometimes to the death — thus releasing that pent-up stress. Now, however, we are left to deal with the built up hormones in other ways.

Gillette recommends calming exercises like yoga, meditation, tai chi and other

Companies from coast to coast, both big and small, felt the effects when the bottom fell out of the U.S. economy back in 2008. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities went so far as to call it the worst recession since the 1930s, with a nationwide unemployment rate of 23.6 percent in 1932.

Fast-forward to December 2010, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics touted a mere 9.4 percent for unemployment in the U.S. As a state, though, the Bureau showed Florida sank farther than the nation, with an unemployment rate of 12 percent.

It’s no surprise that a number of businesses were impacted by the economic slump, and dozens along the Gulf Coast received a double dose of destruction when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, 2010.

So what can a business owner, manager or CEO do to help guide his company and his employees out of difficult times?

Gillette suggested bosses first learn, know and practice self-regulation techniques, which allow a person to clear her

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LEADING HEALTHY mind, relax her body and let the stresses of the day simply roll off her back.

Once the person in charge is in control of his own stress, he can help his employees deal with their stress. One way to do that, said Gillette, is to “adopt a ‘you succeed, I succeed’ mentality” with your workers.

“Let folks rejuvenate instead of push them to the brink,” said Gillette. “If you think you’re working more by working through your breaks, you’re not. You’re more productive when you take breaks.”

Pope and Annett both utilize an open-door policy with their employees, allowing for discussion about stressors in the workplace and ways to alleviate any problems. According to Gillette, that makes all the difference. She said if employees are encouraged to speak up, it makes for a better product in the end.

But Annett didn’t stop at just an open line of communication. As a bigger company — and one that operates nationwide — he took it one step further.

“Part of the training we provide our drivers helps them manage stress levels, and we provide policies that reduce the drivers’ exposure to increased stress, such as driving long time periods with no break and driving during the late night hours,” said Annett.

Neither Annett nor Pope has worked with Gillette, but both have adopted strategies that allow their workers to de-stress and re-energize throughout the day.

“In our offices, all employees are encouraged to work at their [own] pace, and if things are getting stressful, to get up, walk outside and relax.

Our dispatchers often take mid-afternoon walks around the outside of the facility to clear [their] minds, and sales executives often utilize couches provided within their office to relax,” Annett explained.

While Pope hasn’t gone to the extent of bringing in furniture for his employees to relax on, he does what he can to boost their enthusiasm for and at work.

“We try and offer incentives that boost morale and productivity in the store,” said Pope.

“We try and recognize all employees for good work ethic.”

At the end of the day, Gillette said it’s a “fundamental preset” that people like to matter.

So maybe the cliché of treating others the way you’d like to be treated can be used in the boardroom as well as the classroom. n

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Executive Mindset

Power Tools T he signature line

Redefining

John Hancock by tony bridges

H

ave you ever considered how you sign your name? If you’re like a lot of people, your signature is an illegible scrawl that you scratch out in a hurry when you finish a letter, fill out a document or write a check. You’ve written your name so many times in your life — hundreds, at least, probably thousands — that it’s just a routine process.

Does it really matter what it looks like?

Maybe. Maybe not. But there are people who believe signatures communicate a great deal about you, either positive or negative.

And, you have to admit, your name is just about the most personal thing you can ever put down on paper.

“I consider your signature a little bit like stagecraft,” said Susan Wirth, a nationally

recognized pen expert who specializes in matching clients with the right pen. “In other words, it’s an opportunity to convey anything you want.”

So, if you’d like to start making a statement with your signature, there are three things you need to consider: the ink, the pen and the style with which you write.

For your signature to make any sort of statement, it needs to be written in a way that other people can actually read it.

Greg Fox at the DonorPower Blog wrote a piece examining the signatures on the fundraising letters he receives from various organizations.

He did not have kind words for those who signed their letters illegibly, writing that potential donors might actually be turned off by that kind of sloppiness.

“Signatures like these say, ‘I’m an Important Person. I’m Too Busy to sign my name so you can read it,’ ” he wrote. “That creates distance between the signer and the donor — and distance is the last thing you want.”

He’s got a point. A scrawled signature does have a certain impatience about it that some recipients, either business or personal, could take for arrogance or indifference toward them.

If you’re a person who scrawls, you’ll have to practice to improve the legibility of your signature (and maybe improve your handwriting in general). You’ll also have to remember to slow down when you sign your name, at least until you get used to doing it neatly.

Obviously, your signature should be in cursive, following the basic styles you learned in school, but you also can give it certain flourishes to add your own personality.

You can loop the tail of the last letter back to underline your name, or make the first letters of your first and last name bigger than all the other letters, whatever you want. Just don’t go overboard.

Self-described handwriting analyst Elaine Ness writes on her website that, “A highly embellished signature, especially if larger than the body of writing, can indicate underlying feelings of inadequacy. Showy writing reveals a need to be noticed … As you might guess, it is common to see public figures sign their names just that way.”

Ness and others in the handwriting field also caution that signatures written in an undersized, left-leaning hand might subconsciously communicate to readers that you lack confidence.

“That can suggest you are almost painfully inhibited,” Wirth said.

Your best bet is to find one stylish, neat signature that feels comfortable to your hand and stick with it.

“It’s your territory,” Wirth said. “You want it to be authoritative and dramatic, but legible.” n

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URBAN JUNG LE Krys-Tina Scott used both the great advice and the startup cash she won to infuse her new business with life. Soon, the streetwear/footwear retail store will open on the Emerald Coast.

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K

rys-Tina Scott was born with an entrepreneurial spirit and it didn’t take long to manifest itself. By the time she was 3 years old, she was already running a business in her grandparents’ home she called “Room Service.”

Today, she is not just an entrepreneur in spirit — she’s got a store, a website, the goods and the customers to prove it.

Meet Krys-Tina Scott, proud proprietor of Acquired Sole — an urban-themed clothing and sneaker retail specialty shop in Fort Walton Beach — and winner of the 850 Business Magazine’s 2010 Collegiate Entrepreneur Invitational.

“I’ve always wanted to have a business … and I’ve always loved sneakers,” said Scott, a 21-year-old Northwest Florida State College sophomore whose major is business administration. Her business mission statement? Feeding the streetwear connoisseur’s obsession.

Scott was one of more than two dozen undergraduates from Northwest Florida’s public colleges and universities to enter the contest. Nine of those entries — which included representatives from Chipola College, Florida A&M University, Florida State University, Northwest Florida State College and the University of West Florida — were selected to pitch their business ideas to a four-judge panel that met in January at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa. “I have been working on my business plan for two years. When I saw the contest on my school’s website, I had to enter. This would give me a chance to share my idea with judges and possibly a potential investor. I was speechless when I won,” said Scott, who won a $5,000 prize and the opportunity to pitch her business plan to potential investors.

“Although I have won, that isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning of my journey. As Andy Warhol said, ‘Good business is the best kind of art.’”

Second place and a $2,000 prize were awarded to Ricky Harris, Brandy Johnson and Marian Lindsey of Northwest Florida State College. Their company, Global Soundtech Solutions, would offer emergency vehicle warning systems that alert motorists when an emergency vehicle is in their area.

Kelli Lampkin of Florida State University, who has developed a MonstersB-Gone product line to comfort children fearful of the imaginary monsters that lurk in their bedrooms at night, won third place and a $1,000 check.

“The purpose of 850 ’s Collegiate Entrepreneur Invitational is to encourage the dreams of the budding entrepreneurs who will produce tomorrow’s businesses by showcasing the top business plans produced by students at each college,” said Brian Rowland, publisher of 850. “We are proud to do business in Northwest Florida and want to continue to foster and encourage the region’s growth.”

Judges for the contest were: Rusty Bozman, senior vice president of corporate development for The St. Joe Company; Dale Brill, president of the Florida Chamber Foundation; Marty Lanahan, Regions Bank area executive for North Florida and city president for Jacksonville; and Eric Miller, vice president/general manager of CenturyLink North Florida and Alabama. “ ‘Brain Drain’ is a serious issue for not just Tallahassee … but for all of Northwest Florida. We’ve got to find a way At the end of the 850 Magazine Collegiate Entrepreneur to keep talent here in the region and the College Entrepreneur Invitational, three standout ideas prove that young Award is a great way to do just that,” Miller said.

Northwest Florida entrepreneurs are poised to Added Lanahan: “If our future leaders are engaged in this type of lead industry into the next decade and beyond. creative process that ties to business results, the state of Florida has a very

By Linda Kleindienst entrepreneurial future ahead of it!” >> photos by scott holstein

BIG + IDEAS YOUNG MINDS

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ACQUIRED SOLE Krys-Tina Scott First Place Winner

Goals + Objectives: To be the top sneaker shop on the Gulf Coast. Our first objective is to become established in Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola, Destin, Panama City and Mobile, Ala. We want the company to be known for top-notch customer service, product knowledge and product availability.

YEAR 1 sales projection: $100,000. (Increasing each following year by $50,000) Philosophy: Share our love of sneakers with others of like passion who don’t have the contacts or resources to obtain the product.

B

orn on Eglin Air Force Base, Scott has lived mostly in Northwest Florida and Virginia during her 21 years. She developed the concept for her store after realizing that there was no place in the region for her to buy the sneakers that she and her friends favored.

“I used to get upset because I’d go to local stores and they didn’t have the shoes I wanted. I found myself buying shoes online,” she said, adding that online purchases can be a hassle if the shoes don’t fit and then have to be returned. So, Scott decided it was time to open a store where her customers could try on the product before buying it. Her top brands are known in Hip-Hop as the Concrete Jungle and they’re particularly popular among high school and college students, as well as the military.

Now, “more and more vendors are coming out of the woodwork, asking me to carry their product. They want to be on the Gulf Coast. It’s a good spring break location,” said Scott, who has formed a General Partnership with James Hubbard, a Business Administration major at Old Dominion University.

In preparation for the store opening and looking for wall art, Scott approached the Boys and Girls Club of the Emerald Coast, asking them to sponsor a competition. She wants the kids to paint what hip-hop fashion means to them and then put the top entries on display in

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Products: Outerwear, sneakers, hats and accessories. (Brands include A-Life, Nike Sportswear, Vans, Timberland, Kidrobot, Cross and Castles, Rocksmith Tokyo, 9Five, The HUF, New Era.) What makes our products different from a generic Footlocker or Finish Line (is) those stores are run by corporations that stock items they believe will sell to surrounding demographics. We have done extensive market research to show these stores are not providing the products consumers want to purchase.

the store. She’s also having her school’s AfricanAmerican Business Association put on a fashion show at the store. And, there’s a position open for accountant — no salary, but you get a 20 percent discount on store merchandise.

No matter what happens with the store, Scott said she plans to continue at school. “Second term I’ll be taking another accounting class,” she said. “I’m taking as many classes as I can.”

EXPERTS SAY: Dale Brill Trendy. Staying ahead of the market is critical. Super! You’re ready. Anyone needing to renew their faith in the power of free enterprise need only look Krys-Tina Scott in the eye.

Marty Lanahan Very well done business presentation. Get better financial numbers. Use “ambassadors” or interns to help. Unique retail. Can generate immediate success.

Eric Miller Need to focus on marketing and getting reps in the field.

PLAN Strengths: We are the sole provider along the Emerald Coast for this line of products. Most individuals have to special order these products online and often there are limited quantities available. Our store will cut out the middleman and bring products to the consumer at a lower rate, without the hassle of shipping and handling.

Marketing: Twitter, Facebook, Blogspot, word of mouth, flyers distributed at local clubs and restaurants.

Product Pricing: 30 percent above wholesale price.

Estimated Monthly Expenses: $3,700, including $2,000 a month for rent, $250 a month for utilities and $100 a month for a security system.

The Global Soundtech Solutions team photographed at a Fort Walton Beach fire station.

W

hen Ricky Harris was a teenage driver, he remembers an incident when an ambulance came roaring up behind him, sirens blaring — and he had no idea it was there until it was on top of him.

“I looked out my rear view mirror and thought, ‘Holy smoke, where did that ambulance come from?,’ ” he now remembers. “My stereo was probably blaring. And, I thought, ‘there has to be a better way to do this.’ ” Saving time. Saving lives. Every second counts when an ambulance is rushing to a hospital or police are racing to an accident or crime in progress. To make sure the way is clear for them, Harris, Brandy Johnson and Marian Lindsey — all project management majors at Northwest Florida State College — developed an alert system that uses a transponder device to alert drivers that an emergency vehicle is in the area.

The vision of Global Soundtech Solutions is to offer that safety benefit to drivers within five years through an Emergency Vehicle Warning System that automatically turns down the radio and sends out an audible alert.

The three students worked on their business plan as part of a class project last fall for a

contemporary business practices class. Since participating in 850 ’s Collegiate Entrepreneur Invitational, they’ve met with a patent attorney and been actively seeking investors.

“When we started, we thought we had a good idea, but we didn’t realize it was that good,” said Johnson, 38. “I had taken business classes before, but this was the first one where we had to come up with a product. The toughest part was the research.”

Harris, 43, said he believes the concept is pretty sound and he would like to see it get off the ground because “it could be a positive for everyone.”

The plan may be slightly modified. Instead of requiring governments and motorists to purchase transponders, the three may tinker with their product and then pitch only to cities and counties to use in their emergency vehicles.

“We’ve changed it slightly to be a one-market product,” said Lindsey, 49, who developed the marketing plan. “This whole process has been very exciting. I’ve found out that I enjoy product development. And I like trying to figure out a way to market it.”

GLOBAL SOUNDTECH SOLUTIONS

BRANDY JOHNSON, MARIAN LINDSEY, RICKY HARRIS

Second Place Winner

Business Goal: For the Emergency Vehicle Warning System to become government mandated and become standard equipment on all vehicles operating on public roadways in the U.S. Product: The system is designed with a transponder and receiver with an effective range of two miles. The transponder (can be turned on and off) will be located inside each emergency vehicle and the receiver (cannot be turned off) in non-emergency vehicles.

When receiving a signal from the transponder, the receiver in the non-emergency vehicle will mute the radio, red lights on the instrument panel will flash and the words “emergency vehicle” will appear on the screen. An audible voice will say, “There is an emergency vehicle in your area.”

Marketing: There are 806 million potential customers of already registered cars and trucks on public roads who can be reached through automotive supply stores. The plan is to sell EVWE to every city, county, state and government agencies for their fire, policy, ambulance and water department vehicles currently in operation.

Competition: We have no competitors. Our product helps to prevent the accident, Onstar helps the consumer after the accident. Garmin and Tom Tom help with directions, but not if an emergency vehicle is coming in that direction.

Apple and Samsung help to communicate but do not communicate a situation is ahead.

Projected Income: If we charge $299.99 for each unit minus our total cost (estimated at $103.34) we will make a net profit of $196.65.

The first year we project selling at least 3,814 units, making a net profit of $750,000.

EXPERTS SAY: Rusty Bozman Why not just sell directly to auto manufacturers? Need patents, a market study and better understanding of production costs.

Dale Brill

Explore expanding added value by delivering a host of alerts, including traffic accidents, Amber/Silver alerts, Starbucks or product and service alerts. What’s the management team’s background? Could easily develop strategic partnerships. Are there constitutional issues mandating individuals to purchase a product? Consider an alternative exit strategy to establish a U.S. base and then sell the company to … Garmin?

Marty Lanahan Love the ideas. Great options and unlimited potential. No details on manufacturing. Focus on deployment. Identify the actual cost from accidents caused by emergency vehicles. How about fire trucks getting into gated communities?

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MONSTERS-B-GONE KELLI LAMPKIN Third Place Winner

Kelli Lampkin with part of her “monster kit” at the Premier Homes model in Tallahassee.

W

hile babysitting in her early teens, Kelli Lampkin often found it hard to get her young charges to go to sleep.

The problem? Monsters in the room.

Lampkin thought back to her own childhood and remembered a cure her parents had provided her to stave off a monster attack — milk with a dose of courage, also known as green food coloring. What better way, she thought, to combat imaginary fear than with an imaginary cure?

Thus was born Monsters-B-Gone, a bedtime product line designed to empower children to overcome their fears of the dark and make bedtime a more enjoyable experience — for the child and the parents. Products include a spray repellant lightly scented with soothing lavender, a Courage Formula to drink before bedtime that includes Chamomile (a medicinal herb known for its calming effect on the body) and bedtime accessories like pajamas, pillow cases, blankets, nightlights and flashlights.

Early experiments involved her cousin Joey, now 6, who is no longer afraid of monsters. Monsters, he tells Lampkin, are for babies.

“It’s a fun idea, but it’s still an idea,” said Lampkin, 21, a Florida State University junior with three majors — entrepreneurship, management and professional sales — and a minor in French.

Still, she has put her public stamp on the idea through trademarking, has started to get interest

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EXPERTS SAY ...

Rusty Bozman marketing.

Packaging would improve

Dale Brill

Need more financial, manufacturing and distribution plan detail. Find way to increase margins. Need more management detail — who are you and why should I invest in you? No sense of demand/need. Great potential. Good job making case for psychological need. Need marketing position clarity. Marketing will make or break this.

Company Mission: To make our products safe, organic and useful.

Product Development: Green was chosen as the product’s signature color because it is psychologically associated with peace and ecology and the color most historically proven to reduce stress and anxiety.

Marty Lanahan Cute, cute cute. I totally get it.

Target Market: Parents of children ages 3 to 7 and the children themselves. Similar products are on the market, but there are no other comprehensive product lines.

Eric Miller Start marketing right away. Productize/

Marketing Strategy: Marketing will have to be on a wide, commercial scale to toy stores, camps and hospitals. There will also be direct marketing through online sales and promotions. The website will have a blog for parents to comment on their success and give tips to others. Marketing will begin with small local businesses through networking and personal sales to develop business partnerships.

Good handle on finances. Figure out which product is best and stick with the top four. Play up clinical studies in pitch book. Get the “comprehensive monster banishing kit” in place – QVC could work.

Patent the logo before the product evolves. Does liquid consumable slow you down to get to the market? package kit.

from fellow students who want to partner with her and has developed a Facebook fan page for her products. She is now partnering with chemistry, psychology, nutrition and environmental studies students to develop a safe and effective repellent spray and courage formula, and her plan is to start sales in the fall of 2012.

“My favorite part of this whole process,” Lampkin admits, “is getting to play games with my younger cousins.” n

Financials: Estimated cost to complete research, development and the patenting process for the repellent spray and courage formula is approximately $10,000.

Without patent, the research and development costs are about $5,000 for lab time, supplies and labor. Anticipate at least a 35 percent markup to end consumers, at least a 25 percent markup to retailers.

850 would like to thank the students who participated in our Collegiate Entrepreneur Invitational Regional Competition. Chipola College: Anita Halling and Karl Halling, A Natural Balance; Northwest Florida State College: Ricky Harris, Brandy Johnson, Marian Lindsey, Global Soundtech Solutions; Krys-Tina Scott, Acquired Sole; Florida State University: Alex Richards, On Spot; Kelli Lampkin, Monsters B Gone; Florida A&M University: Andre Albritton, Jomar Floyd, Natalie Sinclair, KANAJ Real Estate; University of West Florida: Michelle Bridges, Kristin Doby, Madison Fisher and Donnie Morgan, RestIn Pets; Carman Whitaker, Nature Delivered

Presenting Sponsors: Regions Bank and CenturyLink Sponsors: Gulf Power; Matthews Jones & Hawkins; Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa; and O’Sullivan Creel.

THE EXPERTS

Rusty Bozman is senior vice president of human resources and corporate development for The St. Joe Company, the largest landowner in Northwest Florida. With close to 18 years’ experience, he oversees all of JOE’s office space, payroll function, auto fleet, centralized purchasing and facility management.

He previously held human resources leadership roles in the healthcare and information technology sectors.

Dale A. Brill is the president of the Florida Chamber Foundation. He previously served as the director of the Governor’s Office of Tourism, Trade & Economic Development under former Gov. Charlie Crist and was chief marketing officer for VISIT FLORIDA, the state’s tourism marketing agency. Earlier in his career, he worked at General Motors, helping the company develop its international business strategy, and was president of an advertising agency.

Marty Lanahan is Regions’ area executive for North Florida and city president for Jacksonville, overseeing banking operations that include retail, commercial, small business, real estate and wealth management. Prior to joining Regions in 1999, her banking career began with The Atlantic Bank/ First Union Bank. Her background includes commercial/corporate banking, small business banking and treasury management.

Eric Miller is vice president/general manager of CenturyLink North Florida and Alabama. He launched and built three companies of his own and has more than 15 years’ experience as an outside advisor or investor in early stage or startup companies involved in technology, manufacturing, financial services and telecommunications. He has worked across the U.S. as well as internationally, doing business with organizations in China, India, Spain, Germany and Portugal.

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E D U C AT I O N

Declaration of Interdependence A focus on STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and math — could have a huge impact on Northwest Florida’s economy, providing the work force needed to lure more high tech industry to the region

By Margie Menzel

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he blackboard is covered with cryptic notes. “Accelerator: Megan … Arm: Jake.”

Fifteen students pose with Roger the Robot, some holding energy drinks that they credit for helping them stay up till 2 or 3 a.m. these last weeks. “Married to the robot,” said Emily Gardner. “We were pulling all-nighters every night.”

Finally, on Feb. 22, 2011, the 120-pound “bot” — a 28" x 38" x 60" triangle on wheels, with a hook for an arm, holding a white inner tube — was shipped to Orlando for a competition with 50 other schools. And Gardner, a sophomore at Tallahassee’s SAIL High School, had added “engineer” to her list of career possibilities.

“I’ve learned so much mechanically,” she said. “I’ve learned stuff I could never learn from books.”

Now the students who built Roger are fixing their own cars and doing calculus beyond their grade level, says their teacher, Jasun Burdick. “It’s really great to have a project that makes the math real.”

Such classroom scenarios are taking place all over Florida, where students lag behind

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the U.S. average in science and mathematics. The state and the nation have failed to keep pace globally. Florida ranks behind 18 countries (including the 9th-ranked U.S.), according to the 2007 study “Chance Favors the Prepared Mind: Mathematics and Science Indicators for Comparing States and Nations,” published by Gary W. Phillips in the American Institutes for Research.

“If we want to win the global competition for new jobs and industries, we’ve got to win the global competition to educate our people,” President Barack Obama said after introducing his budget in February. Despite calling for cuts and freezes in federal spending, Obama said the time has come for a greater national investment in science and math education. “We’ve got to have the best-trained, best-skilled work force in the world. That’s how we’ll ensure that the next Intel, the next Google or the next Microsoft is created in America and hires American workers.”

In Florida, neither the business nor education communities have missed the implications of falling behind.

“East Asia is eating our lunch,” said Barney Bishop, president and CEO of Associated Industries of Florida, a major business lobby.

“And until we get really serious about where we’re at internationally, I don’t see how Florida can fulfill its promise of being a place where people want to do business in an international economy.”

In 2008, the national State Report Card on Higher Education chastised Florida for its “fairly low performance” in educating its young, suggesting that it weakens the state’s economy by limiting access to a competitive work force. The report noted that while Florida’s eighth graders had improved in writing, they performed poorly in science, math and reading. The same year, Enterprise Florida’s Strategy Council found that 15 of the fastestgrowing jobs through 2014 will require substantial math and science preparation, and said Florida is not only failing to develop an adequate supply of STEM-capable workers, but is losing ground.

“It puts a tremendous burden on the economic development process, because it limits what you have to offer in conversations with prospective employers,” said Dale Brill, president of the Florida Chamber Foundation and former director of Florida’s Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development. “The No. 1 question that companies looking to

Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

I N C U BATI N G EN TH U SIAS M Dr. Jacob VanLandingham of Florida State University’s College of Medicine is passionate about exciting students about science. His neuro-research lab is ground zero for promising treatments for brain inury and stroke prevention.

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HOME G ROWN Calvin Mattin graduated from Gulf Power Academy, a mentoring program the energy company hosts with Pensacola’s West Florida High School.

After hearing company employees speak, taking field trips to the plant and a part-time job with the company, Mattin moved on to become a full-time employee at the Pensacola powerhouse.

move into Florida want to know is the quality of the talent supply — and STEM falls right into our ability to supply the future needs of employers.”

Indeed, a Florida Chamber Foundation report calls Florida’s ability to attract and retain highly trained scientists and engineers critical to a future innovation economy — and points out that in 2006 Florida ranked 50th in the nation for science and engineering Ph.D.s employed in the state.

And that shortage affects local businesses.

Employers are finding it difficult to hire enough qualified workers in the STEM fields, said Chuck

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Brooks, a senior director at ARINC, a defense contracting firm in Bay County that provides support for the Naval Surface Warfare CenterPanama City division, Tyndall Air Force Base and the U.S. Department of Defense. And Leon Walters, president of the STEM Institute Council at Florida State University-Panama City, pointed to the attrition rate as area baby-boomers retire.

“There’s nearly always a requirement for engineers and scientists, due to people retiring and moving away and so forth,” Walters said. “Locally, I know there’s been a large turnover of retirees

… There’s a large demand here.”

In 2006, the state report card produced by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education noted that as the well-educated baby boomer generation begins to retire, the diverse young population that will replace it does not appear prepared educationally to maintain or enhance the state’s position in a global economy.

Last year the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state university system, called for an economy that goes beyond agriculture, tourism and growth. “While those sectors have helped to build the state that we know, it is obvious that we need to do more to create the future that we desire,” ran the BOG report.

“While they are and will remain vital to Florida’s economy, the existing three-legged stool needs a fourth leg that creates a more stable economic foundation and the capacity to thrive in the coming decades.”

Not only is there need, there is opportunity.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects employment in scientific and technical services to grow 34 percent by 2018, adding roughly 2.7 million new jobs. Employment in management, scientific and technical consulting services is projected to grow by a staggering 83 percent, in computer systems design by 45 percent. Demand will be spurred by businesses’ continued need for planning and logistics, the implementation of new technologies, and compliance with workplace safety, environmental and employment regulations.

Realizing the seriousness of the challenge, Florida’s business, military and education leaders are collaborating to reposition the state to compete more successfully.

“The STEM disciplines are the key to Florida’s economic future,” said Will Holcombe, chancellor of Florida’s State College System. “These scholars are tomorrow’s industry leaders in the cutting-edge technologies that will keep us competitive.”

Nowhere in Florida is the need for diversification into high-tech, high-wage jobs greater than in the Northwest, struggling to rebound from a double economic whammy — the Great Recession topped by the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

“STEM education is vital to economic recovery in Florida, and particularly in the Northwest Florida region,” said Judy Bense, president of the University of West Florida – and a science educator herself, former chair of UWF’s anthropology department.

Educators and business leaders predict a regional push to focus more on military and

Photo by HOWARD ROBINSON

stem education

industrial interests and less on tourism.

“Diversification is key for us,” said Jennifer Grove, the workforce development coordinator at Gulf Power. “STEM talent is the key to economic development. That’s what we’re looking to cultivate in Northwest Florida.”

Nor is the need just economic. It’s also a matter of national security, said Ace Summey, technical director of the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division.

“STEM is very important to the Navy and to the Department of Defense,” Summey said. “It’s a critical national security issue that in the long term, we have U.S. citizens who have the capability to deal with science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”

The Chamber Foundation’s Brill says Florida can pull even, if not ahead, in its STEM outcomes, but the consequences of failure would be far-reaching.

“If we don’t wake up, the brand will have suffered so much that we will forever lag,” he said.

“We can’t lose another generation.”

Marriage of necessity “It’s not just building a robot,” said Jasun Burdick. “You have to build a team.” He was talking about the one-armed Roger, but could just as easily have been talking about Florida’s efforts to expand its students’ STEM career options — creating collaboration across disciplines, professions and grade levels to create higher-skill, higher wage jobs.

Those efforts are underway.

In June 2009, Workforce Florida and Enterprise Florida created a statewide council to strengthen the STEM skills of the state’s students.

Business-led, it’s funded by a $580,000 grant from Workforce Florida, Inc., and designed to connect education, workforce, business and economic development leaders to build the STEM workforce and support innovation. It even has a STEMflorida Declaration of INTERdependence.

Among the pledges: ensuring Florida is equipped with the workforce development systems required to generate the needed quantity and quality of workers with the skills to advance the state’s knowledge-based economy. Those

“ [The shortage of STEM-qualified students] puts a tremendous burden on the economic development process, because it limits what you have to offer in conversations with prospective employers.”

Dale Brill, president of the Florida Chamber Foundation

M R. R O BOTO Jasun Burdick’s robot team from Tallahassee’s SAIL High School created this one-armed robot for a statewide competition in Orlando. The group of students saw math and physics in action while building the machine from the ground up.

Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

who have signed the declaration include such business heavyweights as the Florida Chamber of Commerce, General Dynamics Land Systems, Grace Healthcare, Gulf Power, IBM, Lockheed Martin, The MITRE Corporation, the National Forensic Science Technology Center, Pen Air FCU, Raytheon Company, Rockwell Collins, Scripps Florida, Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Science and United Healthcare.

As Florida works to catch up in the STEM disciplines, its business and education communities are finding collaboration essential.

Companies are reaching into the classrooms for talented would-be employees, while schools are finding the partnerships essential to providing

high-quality STEM training. Roger the Robot, for instance, was built with a $6,500 grant from JC Penney and help from the faculty and machine shop at FSU’s High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

“If, as a state, we are going to attract the type of businesses that we say we are, then we’re going to have to have the workforce that would do just that,” said Kimberly Moore, CEO of Workforce Plus, the workforce development arm of Gadsden, Leon and Wakulla Counties. “So a first step would certainly be bringing to the table the key stakeholders, which include the K–12 system, our universities, our employers, our chambers, which serve as the voice for business, and making sure there’s a game plan to meet that need.”

In mid-February, those efforts got another boost. The newly revamped Sunshine State Scholars program hosted the top-performing STEM students from each school district at a recruitment fair and awards luncheon honoring their achievements. Also on hand: university and college recruiters, eager to discuss postsecondary

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opportunities and reasons to stay in Florida.

“We need the best and the brightest to join our march in both keeping and growing the national and global competitiveness of Florida,” said Frank Brogan, chancellor of the State University System.

Enterprise Florida’s “Roadmap to Florida’s Future” found that the changing economy is forcing the state to plan differently for future growth. It noted that for the past few decades, Florida enjoyed rapid economic expansion fueled by population-driven growth and consistently ranked among the fastest growing states. But, “as Florida emerges from the global recession, it is clear that the trajectory or future growth will, and must, be different ... . Florida needs a plan to diversify its economy by building sustainable growth and expanding higher wage employment opportunities in an increasingly innovation and knowledge-based economy.”

So businesses like ARINC are stepping up.

In January, for instance, the defense contractor made a $10,000 contribution to the Junior Museum of Bay County to support STEM initiatives. The company also contributes to Surfside Middle School, Arnold High School, Gulf Coast Community College and the STEM Institute.

“I know there’s active engagement by the schools,” said ARINC’s Brooks, “but without the resources, it’s extremely challenging for [them], especially with the financial crisis and the national government’s cutbacks on funding, the state cutbacks on funding, to find enough resources to keep those projects going.”

‘Drilling down’ into the pipeline Florida’s K–12 students tend to be stronger in the STEM disciplines earlier than later. The National Center for Education Statistics found that

COVA L E N T BO N D S Kevin Kronawitter (left) and Dale Bosco are two students who have benefitted from Florida State University’s Chempreneur™ Program. Kronawitter is a business student who helped a chemistry professor and his student commercialize a pharmaceutical product. Bosco, a molecular biophysicist, used the program to develop commercialization for a protein separation patent held by his professor, Dr. Amy Sang.

in 2009, Florida fourth-graders scored higher in math than the national average; in the eighth and twelfth grades, though, they scored lower.

That same year, Florida fourth-graders scored slightly higher in science than the national average, but by eighth grade, they scored lower.

“We like to focus on middle schools because that’s where things go awry,” said Leonard Ter Haar, head of UWF’s School of Science and Engineering. “Up to fifth grade, kids love to learn and they love to discover things. So if we can keep that alive in the middle school …”

But that will take a new model — with businesses, colleges and universities helping K–12 students and teachers.

Frank Brown, dean of Science and Mathematics at Tallahassee Community College, said the state must “drill down” into the K–12 grades to prepare students for the rigors of the STEM fields.

“Unfortunately, there’s a large number of students who, when they take the placement test [for college], must take developmental courses,” he said. “We are pleased to offer those, and we support those students, but it greatly increases the time it takes for them to get their degree.”

Kevin Kronawitter

B.S., Finance and Entrepreneurship, FSU (2010) M.B.A., FSU (April 30th, 2011) Worked with Dr. Joe Schlenoff and his postdoctoral student to commercialize a product that would improve chiral separations for pharmaceutical production using a polymer developed by Dr. Schlenoff. Dr. Schlenoff’s novel polymer is used to coat the silica within a metal tube. This tube is used in a process called high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). This new tube with the polymer-coated silica will improve the speed, volume, and accuracy of these chiral separations, which are used in the process to manufacture pharmaceutical drugs on a large scale.

Dale Bosco

Separation of proteins from a protein mixture. Dr. Amy Sang has two patents for (1) a simple method of extracting albumin from complex samples and (2) separation of proteins from mixtures. Both of these were developed initially to help isolate potential biomarkers from patient samples. Bosco and a team of two other business students developed a business plan for the commercialization of the patents as well as a prototype kit.

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Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

B.S., Chemistry, Berry College (2008) Ph.D., Molecular Biophysics, FSU (2014)

i know there’s active engagement in the schools. but without the resources, it’s extremely challenging for them ... especially with federal and state cutbacks on education funding. chuck brooks, senior director, arinc defense contracting Those in higher education say it’s imperative for K–12 schools to interrupt the fear that students often develop for STEM disciplines “We’re missing a lot of opportunities to have people be excited about the STEM fields,” said FSU President Eric Barron. “And I think that’s a case where universities have to help K–12.”

The STEM program at FSU’s Panama City campus, for instance, began in 2008 as a summer institute. The next year, 200 middle and high school students trained with teachers, scientists and engineers to program robots, study coastal waters and work with the U.S. Navy’s electronic sensors.

The institute was partly funded with a $240,000 grant from the National Defense Educational Program and partly with a $100,000 grant from AT&T. Graduates can go on to Gulf Coast Community College and then, perhaps, to FSU Panama City. Given their connections to Tyndall Air Force Base, the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Panama City Division and the many local government contractors, students with STEM experience have an advantage in the area job market.

Grove oversees the Gulf Power Academy, established at Pensacola’s West Florida High School to provide hands-on mentoring to a pipeline of talent. Calvin Mattin, 21, now works in the operations department of Gulf Power, one of dozens of students who moved from the high school program to full-time employment at the company.

“They brought people in from the real world,” Mattin said. “You got to actually talk with them and see how interesting their job really was.”

After a stream of appearances by Gulf Power employees, the students took field trips to the company departments in which they were most interested. Then it was on to a part-time job and, for 42 graduates of the Gulf Power Academy, a full-time career.

Mattin says he was always interested in science and math, but that many students tend to fall by the wayside in those disciplines as they get older.

“The closer we got to high school, the fewer the people interested,” he said. “They’d say, ‘That’s too hard.’ Elementary school is when you make the best impression on kids — if they get interested at a young age, they might stick with it.”

Added Grove, “We all know that hands-on activities get anybody jazzed, especially kids. Give them a problem and let them go at it.”

Not only must Florida produce more STEM graduates, said FSU’s Barron, whose doctorate is in oceanography, but it must keep them from leaving the state for the high-paying jobs they’ll command on graduation. It’s also beneficial to students to be mentored by adults they admire.

UWF’s Bense has established a coalition of school leaders to promote school readiness.

“We get kids at UWF who never had a peer support structure or a family support structure,” said TerHaar. “They get some remedial stuff, and they just take off.”

Coming attractions Like any marketplace, Florida must connect educators and their students to the employers who might want to hire the latter. That means internships for students and externships for teachers.

“The great opportunity is for businesses to connect to what teachers and students need, and for students to see it’s their responsibility to their future to connect to what businesses need,” said the Chamber Foundation’s Brill.

But the shortage of K–12 teachers with STEM expertise concerns many of the stakeholders.

FSU is trying to help those teachers who may or may not be experts in science and math. With a $2.5 million grant from the National Science

Foundation, the university established its Florida Center for Research in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Under the auspices of Sir Harold Kroto, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1996, FSU is videotaping and posting online the most engaging, imaginative instruction for science and math students.

“FSU wanted me to explore how the Internet could be used more effectively to help teachers teach better, not just in Florida, but worldwide,” said Kroto.

That’s especially important in the Panhandle, which faces the challenge of wide expanses of rural areas and sparse population.

“Of the 29 institutions I represent, not one has its main campus in the Panhandle,” said Ed Moore, president of the Independent Universities and Colleges of Florida, “although many have branch campuses on community college sites.”

Such partnerships, coupled with distance learning, he believes will facilitate the spread of STEM-trained students.

FSU’s Barron is focused on connecting STEM education to innovation and advises students that they can learn early to be entrepreneurs.

He wants to design programs that cross between business and other fields.

An example is the FSU College of Business ChempreneurTM Technology Commercialization Experience, a partnership between budding chemists and entrepreneurs. Teams of students and faculty assess the market for their inventions, conduct due diligence on patenting, assess their commercial prospects and look for partners and companies to bring their technologies to market. The program was tapped as a finalist for the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship’s 2011 Innovative Entrepreneurship Education Course Award.

“It’s generating enough interest that we want it to spread to other areas,” Barron said.

Better STEM outcomes “clearly cost money,” said Brill, but he advises “resisting the urge to throw money at the problem … I don’t know why it can’t be underwritten by the private sector.

There’s a huge opportunity for the private sector to walk the walk. And they want to.”

Despite the challenges, Michael Plitkin, a program director at the defense contractor SAIC, is optimistic. He’s lived in Bay County 10 years and has seen the industry grow, providing more high tech jobs and gradually developing a more balanced economy.

His prediction for the region’s future: “I think Northwest Florida will be the Silicon Valley of the 2020s.” n

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Capital Corridor SOU N D BY T E S

Making Her Steak Marie Livingston was a newcomer to Tallahassee when she decided to open a steakhouse in 1992. Now she is a local legend — and the restaurant that bears her name is an institution by lilly rockwell

W

hen Marie Livingston moved to Tallahassee in 1991, she was a divorcée with two grown daughters, few friends in town and a hankering to open her own restaurant.

Livingston set her sights on a shabby building in southeast Tallahassee that most recently was home to a Mexican restaurant. Acquaintances told her it was cursed and urged her to consider looking elsewhere.

“They told me that building was jinxed,” Livingston says. “No restaurant had been there more than six months. But I told them that building had nothing to do with it.”

Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

Sure enough, for the past 18 years, Marie Livingston’s Steakhouse has fed Tallahassee residents its savory cuts of marbled beef, marinated in its signature secret sauce. The restaurant, which moved into its third location late last year on Apalachee Parkway (a few blocks west of its original home), is a raved-about local favorite, the type of restaurant where people plan 11:30 a.m. lunches and 9 p.m. dinners to escape the crowd.

Many Tallahassee residents don’t realize the popular steakhouse isn’t an out-of-town chain, nor is the name a marketing gimmick. There is a real Marie Livingston.

Livingston has perfectly coiffed, shoulder-length brown hair, a sweet, slow Southern drawl that comes

Local Happenings >> The fourth annual TechExpo conference, hosted by the Tallahassee Technology (TalTech) Alliance and the Tallahassee Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development, will kick off with an evening reception May 4 and feature a full day of presentations, exhibits and networking on May 5 at the Augustus B. Turnbull III Florida State Conference Center. For more information visit taltechexpo.com. >> The Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce is taking reservations for the summer Annual Chamber Community Conference, to be held Aug. 12-14 at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa. Learn more at talchamber.com.

Honors >> Elizabeth Willard Willis has received The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono service award for the free legal services she has provided to indigent clients. A sole practitioner in Tallahassee, her principal areas of practice are child and family law, dependency, guardianship, dispute resolution and mediation. Tallahassee Women Lawyers has also been awarded the 2011 Voluntary Bar Association Pro Bono Award. >> The Florida State University College of Business’ Sales Team proved its sales savvy last month as it claimed 4th place out of 64 schools at the National Collegiate Sales Competition held at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. >> Ron Sachs Communications earned 11 ADDY Awards, including two top prizes for the Explore Adoption Life Book, at the American Advertising Federation-Tallahassee awards ceremony.

Do! Design, a healthcare marketing agency based in Tallahassee, took home the Best of Show award for a brochure created for the Marcia G. Taylor Women’s Center at Henry Medical Center in Georgia. >> Two members of the Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering faculty have been awarded research grants from the National Science Foundation. Anant K. Paravastu, an assistant professor of chemical and biomedical engineering, has won a five-year NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award of $404,992 to advance his research into “designer” proteins, an area of study that could contribute to breakthroughs in the emerging fields of regenerative medicine and nanotechnology. William S. Oates, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has received $400,000 over five years, enabling him to continue his work with photoelastomers — materials that change shape in response to light, which could

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from her Alabama upbringing, and a gracious way of greeting strangers that immediately puts them at ease.

Not that she needs it, but the grandmother has the help of her two grown daughters, Sonya Livingston and Susan Higdon, both former professional dancers.

Though elegant in appearance and demeanor, don’t be fooled: Marie Livingston is a roll-up-hersleeves workaholic who spends her days making sure her damaged hardwood floors are fixed, the food is just right and guests are happy.

Retire?

“I hadn’t thought about it,” Livingston says, although she does allow that she “might want to take a few more days off.”

“I enjoy working,” Livingston admits.

Marie Livingston knows hard work, having managed or owned restaurants all her adult life.

She is renowned for her great food, but her success also is attributable in part to her business savvy and flair for restaurant décor.

It Began with a Date Livingston grew up in a speck of town called Malvern in southern Alabama, which currently has a population of 1,200 people. She spent a lot of her time in nearby Dothan and, after graduating from high school, decided to apply for a job at a new, popular barbecue restaurant there.

One of the co-owners of Dobbs Famous BarB-Que, Bill Livingston, decided that he needed to meet this applicant personally and asked Livingston if he could come to her house for lunch.

Afterward, he asked her to dinner in Dothan.

She didn’t get the job, but they did date — and eventually got married. Then she was put to work. For 26 years.

Livingston said she learned many business lessons at Dobbs. One tough lesson came when her husband’s business partner tried to wrest control of the restaurant away from her during a time when her estranged husband had fled town and couldn’t be reached. Because Livingston relied on the restaurant income to make a living and wasn’t paid a salary, it was imperative that she maintain some control.

Thankfully, Livingston said, there was a partnership agreement that said if her husband was “sick” for a prolonged period of time, she could step in.

“You don’t realize how important partnership agreements and legal things are,” Livingston said.

“It’s a small thing, but it makes a difference.”

A Tallahassee Lassie Besides the warnings against that first restaurant location, people scoffed at the idea of a new steakhouse when there were already three in town.

But Livingston was stubborn.

She had an eye for seeing potential in worn, abandoned restaurant buildings, thanks to her quarter-century of restaurant management

As the recession intensified, Sonya Livingston noted that her mother did the smart thing by moving to a less expensive building. experience and strong business instincts. Her exhusband had taught her the importance of keeping her overhead low — finding cheap rent, not going into debt buying equipment, and keeping labor and food costs down.

So Livingston decided to make a go of it, bringing along her interior decorator’s vision for how to style a restaurant. She adorned the first location with a country and Western theme, with red and green-checkered tablecloths and Frederic Remington prints of cowboys and horses.

Livingston opened her doors on April 21, 1992. Oddly enough, the restaurant’s name wasn’t even Marie Livingston’s. It was Texas Longhorn Steakhouse. But Livingston was confident in her concept and knew that the food was her secret weapon.

“I knew we weren’t going to have a large menu, I was going to simplify it,” she says. Livingston intended to use recipes she was familiar with from not only her ex-husband’s restaurant, but also from a steakhouse her sister had opened.

Livingston brought her family’s melt-inyour-mouth dinner-roll recipe and the secret steak sauce with her to Tallahassee, sure that they would be just as much of a hit as they were in Dothan.

Those first few months, she did most of the prep work in the kitchen, and baked the rolls herself every day.

“All of us, but especially my mother, would stand by the door every night at opening and introduce herself to every customer that walked in,” Higdon says.

Soon, there were repeat customers, and word spread about her famous sauce. There were some bumps in the road — such as when she got an angry letter from the Atlanta-based LongHorn Steakhouse accusing her of stealing their trademark.

Livingston promptly changed her restaurant’s name, and when the LongHorn Steakhouse moved into town on Valentine’s Day in 1993, Livingston expanded her hours to match theirs.

Confused customers thought she had opened

HEADSHOT PHOTOS COURTESY FLORIDA RETAIL FEDERATION (FLEMING) AND BEACON COMMUNICATIONS GROUP (BONFANTI)

lead to the development of highly adaptable “smart” structures with applications in robotics, medicine and energy harvesting. >> Thomas J. Maida, managing partner of Foley’s office in Tallahassee, has been selected to serve a sixyear term as a member of Foley & Lardner’s national Management Committee. >> Acura of North America has recognized Tony Bellomio and Myron Steen of Proctor Acura for their sales excellence. Bellomio has been selected as a Gold Master for the 13th year. Steen, sales Manager of Proctor Acura, received The Council of Sales Excellence Award. >> Mike Grindberg, Terri Rutledge and Thomas “Obie” Oberman of Proctor Honda have been recognized by American Honda as winners of The Council of Sales Leadership Award, which recognizes the achievements of the top performing sales professionals in the nation, both in volume and customer service.

Grindberg was awarded Gold Master for the 11th year, Rutledge won silver for the 9th year and this is Oberman’s first year at silver. >> Charlie Delgado, sales manager of Proctor Subaru, has won the Master Peak Performer Award from Subaru of North America. The dealership reached 141% of its 2010 sales objective.

Moving Up and On >> John Fleming has joined the Florida Retail Federation to serve as director of communications for the trade association. >> A longtime voice of and advisor to top Florida policymakers, Kathy Mears is joining FLEMING Christina Johnson at On3PR. Mears worked for former Sen. Dan Webster, two Senate presidents, Tom Lee and Ken Pruitt, and former Gov. Charlie Crist. >> Allison DeFoor and Colleen Castille have joined The Fiorentino Group. DeFoor, a former county and circuit judge and sheriff of Monroe County, was Gov. Jeb Bush’s Everglades czar. Castille was secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection under Bush from 2004-2007, and before that was Bush’s secretary of Community Affairs. They will be principals at the firm. >> Keiser University has named Shane Strum as the associate vice chancellor of Business Development.

Strum served as chief of staff to former Gov. Charlie Crist and was a transition advisor to Gov. Rick Scott. >> Financial services expert Sherwood Brown is the new Business Services director at Florida Commerce Credit Union, the largest credit union in North Florida. >> Big changes at The News Service of Florida. Kathleen Haughney, who was with the news reporting service since September 2008, has left to cover the capital for the Sun-Sentinel of South Florida. John Kennedy has left to cover Tallahassee for The Palm Beach Post. Joining the News Service are Lilly Rockwell, who left Rowland Publishing where she wrote for 850 and Tallahassee Magazine, and Brandon Larrabee. >> Former Agency for Persons with Disabilities Director Jim Debeaugrine has joined SCG Governmental Affairs, working with criminal justice and health care clients. >> Rafaela Hofmann and Kara Danforth have joined the audit department of Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC (CRI), ranked as the 34th largest accounting firm nationally and 4th largest firm in the South. >> Former Alex Sink campaign finance staffer Justin Day has joined Tallahassee-based Zepp Strategic Partners as vice president for strategic partnerships and policy development. >> Former Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp has joined the Tallahassee law firm of Messer, Caparello and Self. >> Stephen James has joined the Florida Association of Counties as its environmental advocate. James, an attorney, previously worked at the WREN Group in Tallahassee. >> Ken Granger, former deputy chief of staff and policy director under Gov. Charlie Crist, is joining Floridian Partners LLC.

a second location. But when they saw that the famous rolls were missing and there was no secret sauce, they came back to her restaurant.

“And nobody ever even noticed that we changed the sign to Marie Livingston’s,” she says.

A New Store, A New Style For 10 years, Livingston remained at the Apalachee Parkway location. But in 2000 she decided to open a second location on Tallahassee’s north side near North Monroe Street and Interstate 10, tucked behind a group of hotels.

Though she was successful at the North Monroe location, Livingston never forgot the business lessons learned from her days at Dobbs Famous Bar-B-Que. She had to keep her costs down. Her utility bills began soaring and one year reached $11,000 a month. She had 80 employees’ salaries to pay for, and rent was also increasing.

Livingston began searching for a smaller location with less overhead. Once again, she found a location that many restaurateurs had passed on.

Back on Apalachee Parkway was a closed Durango Steakhouse.

Livingston had a vision for renovating the building that transformed it into a more elegant, upscale dining establishment.

Opening two days before Christmas last year, the new Marie Livingston’s Steakhouse was jaw-droppingly different. The floors are made

of marble and hardwood, and the dramatic entryway has a dome made of distressed silver leaf along with a vintage red sofa for seating.

Livingston says she wanted to upgrade her décor but didn’t want it to be “too fancy.”

“This is a family restaurant,” she says. “We’ve always been oriented toward children and families.” Sure enough, most days there are families with small children in her restaurant, and her own grandchildren can often be found amusing themselves in her office.

Livingston is modest about her role in the restaurant’s success and quick to credit others.

“We don’t have a lot of turnover,” she says.

“I’ve got one employee who started to work with us when I first came to town in 1992. I’ve got another who has been in the back of the house for 10 years.”

Her daughters see it differently. The name on the sign is “Marie Livingston’s” for a reason.

“Think about somebody coming and opening a restaurant in a new place like she did in ’92, into a building that everyone tells you is not going to work, and they tell you ‘not a steakhouse’ because there are already too many and you’re a woman,” Sonya Livingston says. “But you have that conviction, and you know what you have to offer. It is really an inspiration for people to see someone come and do that and be successful.” n

Capital Corridor >> Outgoing statewide prosecutor William Shepherd has joined Holland & Knight as a partner and will focus primarily on white collar criminal defense. >> Sterling Ivey, who served as press secretary to former Gov. Charlie Crist, is the new spokesman for Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. Also joining Putnam’s team: Jim Boxold as Cabinet affairs director and Grace Lovett as legislative affairs director.

New >> Bing Energy Inc. of Chino, Cal., has selected Tallahassee as the new site of the company’s world headquarters. In collaboration with Florida State University’s Dr. Jim P. Zheng, the company is planning to turn revolutionary nanotechnology pioneered at FSU into a better, faster, more economical and commercially viable fuel cell. The move is expected to create at least 244 jobs paying an average wage of $41,655. >> Tallahassee public relations executives John Van Gieson and Alisa LaPolt Snow have joined forces, focusing their partnership on advocacy for businesses, associations and non-profit organizations. >> Tallahassee-based Moore Consulting Group has launched MCG Advocacy, a state and national public affairs practice specialty that will be led by the firm’s team of experts in communications, politics, media relations and public policy. >> Cellular Sales, the nation’s largest Verizon premium wireless retailer, has opened a new store at 1622 Capital Circle, creating up to 10 new sales positions. >> Gunster, one of Florida’ largest business law firms, has added three new members to its Government Affairs group — shareholder Charles Guyton and government affairs consultants Adam B. Corey and Joanna Clary Bonfanti. >> Jordan Raynor’s Direct Media Strate- BONFANTI gies has joined Washington D.C. firm Engage.

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“Buff”

“Chiseled”

“Simply Stunning”

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The 2012 Acura TL PROCTOR|ACURA 38

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• 3523 W. Tennessee St

• proctoracura.com

Panama City, Panama City Beach + Bay County

BAY Corridor SOU N D BY T E S

PARTY A N I M A L PCB’s Front Beach Road lives large in the vacation annals of many, but locals want to change how the strip looks — and is remembered.

Front Beach Makeover From party strip to upscale vacation spot, Panama City Beach’s Front Beach Road will evolve into a new era in beachside fun, if locals have anything to say about it by tony bridges

F

ront Beach Road is the artery that feeds the heart of tourism in Panama City Beach, and now it is undergoing a procedure that should dramatically improve the health of the vacation town.

Over the years, the road along Panama City Beach’s most valuable commodity — miles of white sand beaches — has grown choked by traffic, turning what should be a pleasant, breezy drive into a stop-and-go experience that frustrates visitors and isn’t always safe for pedestrians. Not to mention numerous potholes, unsightly power lines and the occasional overgrown vacant lot.

That’s why the road was designated a Community Redevelopment Area, paving the way for cosmetic and infrastructure improvements that began with the Pier Park shopping mall and is expected to conclude with a much wider, better-looking Front Beach Road.

Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

The hope is that the changes will help boost the ongoing transformation of Panama City Beach from an aging beach town into an upscale family vacation destination like nearby Destin.

“Once this roadway is completed, businesses should thrive with this new accessibility and revitalization,” said Mario Gisbert, assistant Panama City Beach city manager and director of the Front Beach Road Community Redevelopment Area.

“Blight” in a Vacation Town The Front Beach Road makeover project is a 30-year plan that started in 2001 with a decision to classify Thomas Drive/Front Beach Road as a “blighted” area.

This was the first step required by the state to create a Community Redevelopment Area.

Blight typically brings to mind images of trash-filled streets and rows of abandoned buildings with broken

LOCAL HONORS >> Leon Walters has been named the 2011 Humanitarian of the Year by the Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce. A 38-year Navy veteran, Walters established the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Institute at Florida State University Panama City and has worked with the Bay Defense Alliance and the Bay Education Foundation.

The Chamber’s 2011 Pioneer of the Year award went to Gary Walsingham, who opened the first Alvin’s Island store, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not and the new WonderWorks.

Changes >> Britt Greene is out as CEO, president and a member of the Board of Directors of The St. Joe Company, stepping down as part of an arrangement with Fairholme Fund, St. Joe’s largest shareholder.

New directors added to the board: former Gov. Charlie Crist, Carnival Corp. COO Howard Frank, Fairholme Capital Management founder Bruce Berkowitz and Fairholme Capital Management President Charles Fernandez. >> Lured by Bay County’s new international airport and economic development potential, Clearwater-based MarineMax Inc. — the nation’s largest dealer of recreational boats and yachts — is taking over sales and brokerage operations at Panama City’s Treasure Island Marina.

New Additions >> Fast-growing online travel provider Bookit.com has added 185 new employees, bringing its workforce up to 500. The Panama City Beach company has a roster of more than 90 travel destinations.

John Marks has been appointed market manager for Los Angeles, one of the fastest growing travel destinations in the U.S. >> Pier Park is growing with the addition of Marshall’s and popular dining spot Schlotzky’s. >> Gulf Coast Medical Center has welcomed Dr. Justo Maqueira, Jr., Ob/ Gyn to his new practice at Gulf Coast Women’s Services. >> Grand Panama Beach Resort has launched a newly branded website (grandpanamabeachresort.com) that provides a day-by-day glimpse into life at the beach. Design was by Cornerstone Marketing and Advertising, Inc., located in Grayton Beach.

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bay Spotlight

windows and graffiti-stained walls. But, in this case, it was the traffic that was fast outgrowing the city’s infrastructure — more than 3 million vehicles a year for a road built for pre-World War II traffic.

“As we revitalize Front Beach Road, we’re doing it to fix traffic issues,” Gisbert said. “That’s the blight.”

Time, weather and all those cars have taken a serious toll on Front Beach. Bone-rattling potholes are common, particularly in the heavily traveled eastern end around Thomas Drive. The lower-lying stretches flood frequently due to inadequate drainage. And, in some places, such as near Nautilus Street, the narrow road seems barely wide enough for oncoming traffic due to the crumbling shoulders, lack of curbs and prevalence of roadside parking.

During the peak tourist season, from March through August, driving on Front Beach is a marathon affair, sometimes taking 20 minutes or more to travel just a couple miles. Both the eastbound and westbound lanes fill up with traffic because there are few turn lanes. Vehicles trying to make left turns into parking lots form frequent roadblocks. Add to the already clogged road the fact that many drivers are simultaneously trying to get a glimpse of the Gulf, check out the various roadside tourist businesses and watch for pedestrians, and it equals gridlock.

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“ once this roadway is completed, businesses should thrive with this new accessibility and revitalization.” mario gisbert

Beach. Pedestrians are especially vulnerable at night when it is more difficult to see and drivers and pedestrians are more likely to have been drinking.

Among those killed or injured in recent years: a 53-year-old woman trying to cross the road near 2nd Street, a 39-year-old Georgia woman hit by a motorcycle and numerous young spring breakers struck near bars and condos.

As one poster on the Virtual Tourist website warned: “Mostly it is a tedious, creeping drive from one end of the beach to the other, especially around the strip. To compound this problem, you will also have to watch out for every drunken college kid … who is likely to dart in front of your vehicle.”

Not exactly the kind of endorsement that encourages new visitors.

Travel guide “Fodor’s Essential South” described it this way: “Invasive growth has turned the main thoroughfare, Front Beach Road, into a dense mass of traffic…When navigating Panama City Beach by car, don’t limit yourself to Front Beach Road — the stop-and-go traffic will drive you nuts.”

But traffic flow isn’t the only problem. With few sidewalks, pedestrians often are forced to walk close to the road. Several people die each year from being struck by vehicles on Front

CRA Brings Infusion of Dollars, Construction The diagnosis of blight was exactly what Front Beach Road needed because it allowed for the use of “tax increment financing.” That meant the county’s share of annual property taxes was frozen at 2002 property values, while taxes on any value above 2002 figures would go to the Community Redevelopment Area for use on Front Beach Road. In other words, as property values increase, so does the CRA’s budget for

images courtey panama city beach – cra

GR AND PL AN S The Panama City Beach Community Redevelopment District envisions new mass transit shelters (left) and pedestrian-friendly crosswalks (below) to improve the aesthetic value of Front Beach Road and ease traffic and pedestrian concerns.

making improvements.

Gisbert, the CRA director, said the rough cost estimate for the first half of the improvement project — spanning from 2002 to 2015 — is about $100 million. So far, the CRA has spent about $54 million, he said.

So, what has that bought?

One of the most visible examples is the complete transformation of Beckrich Road. What once was a narrow feeder road between Back Beach and Front Beach roads is now a spacious, divided promenade with sidewalks and old-fashioned street lamps and a median lined with palm trees.

It was renamed Richard Jackson Boulevard in recognition of Panama City Beach’s current city manager.

“You just feel like you’re in a Florida beach community,” said Tourist Development Council Executive Director Dan Rowe of the newly revitalized road. This project “is going to fundamentally change the look and feel of the main tourist corridor for Panama City Beach.”

Similar work was completed on Churchwell and South Thomas drives.

According to Gisbert, the work on Jackson “just scratches the surface” of what is coming for Front Beach.

All of the improvements are welcome news to Michael Greer, vice president of operations for Royal American Hospitality. His company owns and manages Boardwalk Beach Resort. Boardwalk controls about 2,000 feet of beachfront along South Thomas Drive.

“We have a fairly decent amount of skin in the game,” Greer said.

He said the South Thomas district has been a premier destination in the Panhandle for a long time and “it’s more than deserving of a facelift. At the end, I think it’s going to be absolutely great.”

The New Front Beach Road Long-time visitors eventually won’t recognize Front Beach Road.

The idea for addressing the traffic issues is twofold: One, improve flow by widening the road, adding turn lanes and building out the side roads.

Two, lessen the overall burden by adding lanes for pedestrians, bicycles and public transportation.

At the same time, the construction provides an opportunity for the Community Redevelopment Area to make other enhancements, including moving power lines underground, improving the drainage system and adding landscaping.

The CRA also is working with Bay County to extend fiber optic lines to Back Beach (Highway 98), Middle Beach and Front Beach roads so see “Front Beach” pg 48

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Coastal Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa + Walton Counties

EMERALD COAST Corridor SOU N D BY T E S

CA P TA I N O F D E STI NY Captain Mike Eller aboard Lady Em, a Vessel of Opportunity for 34 days last summer.

When ‘Opportunity’ Calls Capt. Mike Eller recalls his summer spent working as a BP cleanup contractor — while worrying about the future of his robust fishing business by thomas j. monigan ince Mike Eller left school 29 years ago to work on his father’s charter fishing boat, he’s seen his share of challenging situations. But nothing compares with last spring and summer, dealing with the oil spill created when British Petroleum’s (BP) Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded and sank off the coast of Louisiana.

Eller is tall, lean and sinewy. Self-described as a “lumberjack-looking fisherman,” he has a steady gaze toward the horizon, but he’s not the silent type. Ask a simple question and you’ll get a yarn or two.

For the record, Eller owns and operates two charter boats: Lady Em, a 60-footer that can take 16 passengers, and Fish N Fool, a 45-footer that can take six passengers.

And last summer both became Vessels of Opportunity (VOO), a boat hired by BP to spot and clean up oil. Lady

Photos by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

Em started June 21 and worked as a VOO for 34 days.

Fish N Fool started July 26 and worked for 18 days.

How would Eller characterize the summer of 2010?

“It sucked,” he said. “People were just out of whack.

The apprehension and the fear were very real, palpable things. People were mad at each other, because some were getting work and others weren’t. It just threw the whole town into a stumbling mess, because nobody had control over their own destiny.”

BP’s catastrophe occurred on the night of April 20.

In less than two weeks, effects of the disaster were being felt in Destin, which bills itself as “The World’s Luckiest Fishing Village.”

In early May, oil had not yet impacted local beaches, but negative regional and national news reports kept potential visitors away. By the first week of May the

HONORS >> Fortune has ranked Gulf Power and the other Southern Company subsidiaries as No. 1 in the electric and gas utility sector of its 2011 list of the “World’s Most Admired Companies.” Although it shares the No. 1 spot with NextEra Energy, Southern Company — which includes Mississippi Power, Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Gulf Power — was ranked first in six of the nine categories on which the survey was based. >> The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association has named Peter Bos as Hotelier of the Year. Bos is founder of Legendary, Inc., in Destin. >> Elise Coastal Dining, Pensacola’s newest fine-dining restaurant, has been named one of the nation’s 33 “Best New Restaurants” to open in 2010 by the acclaimed James Beard Foundation. >> Robert G. Kerrigan of Pensacola has received the 2011 Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award, the highest statewide award to honor lawyers who make legal services available to persons who cannot afford them.

Kerrigan is a partner with Kerrigan, Estess, Rankin, McLeod & Thompson LLP, a law firm he founded in 1975. >> David B. Pleat, founding partner of the law firm Pleat & Perry in Destin, has received the Business Person of the Year Award from the Destin Area Chamber of Commerce. He has also been named to the Shelter House, Inc., board of directors for 2011-12. >> Pen Air Federal Credit Union has been named the 2010 Gulf Breeze Area Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year. >> The Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa is the 2010 recipient of Hilton’s “Best Social Media Engagement” brand award in the Americas region. >> Emerald Coast Utilities Authority Executive Director Stephen E. Sorrell was among the top business and community leaders honored as “Professional Leader of the Year,” sorrell during the 51st Annual Pensacola Area Commitment to Excellence Awards, hosted by the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. >> The Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce recently presented local businessman Tom Vatter from Kool Breeze of Northwest Florida with its prestigious Legends Award and gave special Chairman’s Awards to the Santa Rosa Tourist Development Council for its efforts to market the community in 2010 and to Sandi Kemp from The Navarre Press. It also honored: Santa

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emerald coast spotlight phone calls in to Eller’s charter business were just a trickle. Guests simply asked a lot of questions at first, but after a week reservations slowed and then stopped altogether. By the end of May, guests began to ask for cancellations until the phone was ringing off the hook. “It was a very tangible, real thing for us,” Eller said.

Soon after that, BP started its Vessels of Opportunity program, which did not prove very impressive to the local charter boat crews. “It was such a mixed blessing for all of us, because on one hand it took the place of fishing, and that was a blessing, but on the other hand, it was mismanaged.

And the boats were being not utilized properly to deal with that oil,” Eller said.

According to this co-president of the Destin Charter Boat Association, Destin’s band of fishermen, though vocal, were not heard. “While we did have representatives of our industry saying things, and BP heard them and shook their head yes, nothing ever changed. And that became our mantra with BP: ‘They say all the right things.

They just don’t do all the right things,’” Eller said.

Those who worked as Vessels of Opportunity were well paid. Forty- to 60-footers made $2,000 a day plus expenses and crew and others made $1,500 a day, Eller said. But the actual work proved to be less than fulfilling. “It got us all out of our groove,” Eller recalled. “Normally we work seven days a week in June, July and August, and that wasn’t happening for everybody. There were a lot of deckhands without work.”

Since BP’s VOO headquarters was the main dock in Destin Harbor, the overall atmosphere changed dramatically. “Down at the dock it was just deserted, no people, no locals,” Eller said.

“You couldn’t go down there and hang out, and since the boat belonged to (BP) you couldn’t have a beer on the boat or anything.”

Accustomed to being in charge at all times, Destin’s charter captains were no longer giving orders. “They told us repeatedly, ‘You’re no longer fishermen, you belong to BP, so just be quiet and do what you’re told,’ and for a bunch of independent owner-operators that’s hard to swallow,” Eller said.

Even when BP money was finally flowing, the local economy was seemingly at a standstill.

“Deckhands and captains normally go and have a drink and a bite to eat after a day’s fishing, but nobody was spending any money, because nobody was sure of what was happening,” Eller said as his face creased into a wince. “I noticed the bartenders and waitresses suffered.”

But the financial restraint went well beyond socializing. “I didn’t buy any fishing tackle or any supplies,” he added. “I didn’t buy anything nonessential. We all cut it to the quick.”

There were some costly side effects. “Oil got

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photos courtesy inisfree hotels (butler) and pensacola area chamber of commerce (hale)

Need We Say More?

Rosa Medical Center as Corporate Citizen of the Year; Papa John’s Pizza, Business of the Year; Ralph Agnew, Member of the Year; and Linda Fusco from All Phase Cleaning Services, Volunteer of the Year.

Moving On and Up >> Veteran real estate executive Park Brady has been appointed chief operating officer for The St. Joe Company. Brady served as president and chief executive officer of ResortQuest, the nation’s largest vacation rental company, since June 2007. Hugh M. Durden is serving the company as interim CEO since the resignation of Britt Greene.

Former Gov. Charlie Crist is a new member of St. Joe’s board of directors. >> Legendary Marine has appointed Wanda Kenton Smith of Orlando to head up strategic dealership marketing efforts, serving as the dealership’s official in-house director of marketing, overseeing overall marine marketing for all four dealership locations. >> Joshua Butler has been named director of sales for the Hampton Inn Pensacola Beach Gulf Front by Innisfree Hotels. >> The Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of butler Commerce has hired Jen Hale as vice president of marketing and communications. Nancy Dietrich and Emilie Randall have joined the Chamber as account executives in the membership department.

Mia Hughes has been named as executive assistant to President and CEP Jim hale Hizer. Jennifer Ford is director of business development in the economic development department. >> Chris E. Smith has joined Cotton & Gates Attorneys at Law, Shalimar, after leaving the Office of State Attorney, 1st Judicial Circuit of Florida. >> Amy A. Perry has been named treasurer of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for the Destin Area Chamber of Commerce. >> The Better Business Bureau serving Northwest Florida has added Dr. Carol Law, the president of Drug Free Workplaces, Inc., to its board of directors. >> J. Jerome Miller, with the Destin law firm of Pleat & Perry, has been named to the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation Board of Directors. >> The Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa has promoted Gary Brielmayer to general manager. >> The Destin Area Chamber of Commerce has promoted Sandi McClanahan as a full-time membership consultant. >> Miki LaFountain has been named sales service coordinator with Cox Media in Okaloosa and Walton counties.

Medical Happenings >> The Baptist Health Care Board of Directors has voted Kirk Ball, Sr., as its chairman. A lifelong resident of Pensacola, Ball retired in 2009 as the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Fisher-Brown Insurance. >> Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola has selected Dr. Stephanie J. Duggan as its new senior medical officer. >> The nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings organization has ranked Sacred Heart Hospital among the top 5 percent of all U.S. hospitals for clinical excellence. As part of its ninth annual Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study, HealthGrades identified those hospitals performing in the top 5 percent nationwide across 26 different medical procedures and diagnoses. >> Paul Glisson, D.O., has joined Baptist Health Care as the organization’s first chief medical informatics officer. >> Amy Davis is the new director of Baptist Hospital Patient Access Services, including Baptist Medical

Park – Nine Mile. >> Andrew Radoszewski, MBA, MPH, CMPE, administrator of Cardiology Consultants, a 28-physician cardiology practice with locations throughout the Gulf Coast region, now serves as administrative vice president of cardiovascular services for Baptist Health Care. Ramon Aycock, M.D., F.A.C.C., interventional cardiologist and president of Cardiology Consultants, now serves as vice president of cardiovascular services. >> Brenda Stalnaker is the new director of the Baptist Medical Park Surgery Center. >> Emerald Coast Utilities Authority presented the “Protector of the Environment” Award to Sacred Heart Hospital’s cafeteria operations. This initiative rewards local businesses and food service establishments that promote a positive and safe working and clean eating environment. >> The Woodlands Center for Specialized Medicine in Pensacola has added Dr. Trish Green to its Diagnostic Imaging Department.

New >> BLAB-TV, a Pensacola station with local programming founded by trial attorney Fred Levin, is expanding its coverage area east to Okaloosa County and west to southern Alabama and Mississippi, rivaling the coverage area of local network and PBS affiliates. >> Beach Title Services, founded in 2005 and headquartered in Fort Walton Beach, has opened a new office in Pensacola at 601 E. Government Street. >> Bit-Wizards, a consultant and software provider, has launched a new website for the Emerald Coast Autism Center at ecautismcenter.org. >> University of West Florida President Judith A. Bense has announced the opening of the Office of Economic Development and Engagement, which will be directed by Rick Harper, the former director of the Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development. The new office, which will include the Haas Center, was established to enable the university to play a more significant role in economic development and job growth in Northwest Florida and across the state.

on my brand new $6,000 paint job that I spent 41 days last winter painting,” Eller recalled with a wry twist of a grin. It took three days and a lot solvent and “elbow grease,” but eventually he removed it.

In addition to the Vessels of Opportunity pay, Eller also received some BP compensation. “For Lady Em I filed a six-month claim and got it within 10 days,” he said. “The other boat I filed earlier and I still haven’t seen anything.”

Overall bookings were down 70 percent last summer, and Eller said he believes there will be some lingering hangover there for at least the next two years. “But by then, we’re just going to get an inkling of the resources we lost,” he said as urgency began outlining his words.

Summing it all up, Eller called short-term help from BP “very helpful.” But when this charter captain looks ahead, he still worries. “I just don’t think there’s gonna be a whole lot of fish they’re gonna let us catch and keep. Short term it could be three to five years. I think it’s going to be ugly. I think if you’ve got money now, you’d better save it,” he advised. n

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Front Beach, contined from 41

traffic lights can be connected to a control hub and synchronized.

The entire project, when completed, is expected to cover Front Beach Road from the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum to just west of Highway 79, as well as part of South Thomas.

“It’s taking (Highway) 98, which was basically a rural, country road and bringing it into the 21st century,” Gisbert said.

Among the other new features expected from the redevelopment: >> Two stormwater retention ponds that will be

landscaped into parks with benches, fountains and decorative walkways. One will be located between McDonald’s and a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The other is planned for the current site of the Burger King on Front Beach Road, which likely will move to a new location nearby, Gisbert said. >> A redesigned intersection at Front and Middle Beach roads, in front of the Ripley’s Believe it or Not! museum. The intersection will have new traffic lights, be more accommodating to pedestrians and include a “Welcome to

Panama City Beach” sign. >> T wo parking garages located on the east and west ends of the beach. The garages will offer restrooms and connections to public transportation, such as the Bay Town Trolley.

Gisbert said he envisions a Panama City Beach where “you can drive up, park your car and not have to get in your car again.” He expects future visitors to leave their cars at their condos or in one of the two new parking garages and walk along Front Beach or ride the tram to stores, restaurants and attractions.

But Greer, from Boardwalk, isn’t sold on that idea.

While the CRA holds public meetings twice a year to seek input on its plans and works closely with local businesses affected by the development, including Boardwalk, one point of contention remains. Greer said the Front Beach Road development does not adequately address parking.

He argues that the beach is too spread out to become a true walking community, as the CRA wants. He said pedestrians aren’t interested in traveling from Pineapple Willy’s to Pier Park.

Greer said he would rather see some of the space in the plans currently dedicated to bicycle lanes and tram lanes used for roadside parking, instead. As for the planned “multi-modal” centers, they are still years out from completion and too far from the South Thomas Drive area, he said.

Depends on the Economy Of course, none of this is going to happen overnight and much of it is tied to increases in property values — which haven’t been faring well lately.

Gisbert said the CRA’s annual budget peaked at $10 million in 2008, but has since dropped to about $7 million a year as the economy has slumped, dragging property values down.

When work was booming, engineering firm DRMP managed the project, but since the slowdown the city of Panama City Beach has taken over management.

Now, “the economy has to pick up before we can do a whole lot of anything,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gisbert said he recognizes that ongoing construction can be tough on local businesses dealing with torn-up roads and limited access.

“There’s going to be a benefit at the end of the project, but there’s definitely a hardship during the project if you’re in the effected area,” he said.

So far, it hasn’t been too bad, according to Greer.

“The business interruption has been minimal,” he said. “I could think of a lot worse. Any improvements like this will be attractive to business ... the strong will survive.” n 48

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The Last Word

This was the time when the Soviets had already stunned the world by putting the first Sputnik into space and the U.S. quickly responded with its own rocket marvels. Americans were starting to get rocket fever and the race to put a man in orbit was just on the horizon. Robots, rockets and ray guns were all the rage.

My rocket-making exercise was part of a class I took in sixth grade.

It was an elective that I thought would be fun and interesting. My other choices included language classes in Russian, Spanish, French and Latin. And there were math and writing classes available too. But it was this science course that totally fascinated me.

Those were the days when schools weren’t interested in rote learning. We were encouraged to experiment, to stretch our personal limits, to reach for the stars if that’s where we wanted to go. In the state of New York, the testing challenges came in high school — when you had to pass the Regents exams to prove your thorough knowledge of different subjects and get course credit for graduation.

Taking that science class in elementary school was definitely a stretch for me. My strength has always been in writing. Despite my father being an artillery officer with a penchant for numbers, algebra and calculus — who also, by the way, happened to be a great writer — I chose to follow a career that paired me with the written word. I’ve loved every minute of it. But I also know that my public school in the suburbs of New York gave me the opportunity to take a peek through other doors, a chance to experience the fascination of science.

Looking at the major industries of Northwest Florida, it’s clear that science and math education is a key to providing the work force needed for many of them — and for those businesses we want to attract to the region, many of them defense-related companies.

As this push comes to lessen the 850’s reliance on tourism and expand our economic horizons, our education system — from elementary school up through college — has embraced the need to educate the younger generation in math and the sciences. Thus was born STEM, the focus on science, technology, engineering and math.

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In the new world economy, an emphasis on these subjects will help our children compete.

Those students who build a robot today may be the brains behind the robots that work miracles tomorrow. If they build a rocket today, they may become the astronauts who land on Mars tomorrow — or who build the rockets to take us beyond our galaxy. Most importantly, their imaginations are being sparked and their brains are being engaged and opened to the many possibilities for future careers.

That’s why we wrote the story on STEM in this issue — to give you an insight into what the education community is doing to prepare our region for the businesses of tomorrow. Hopefully you, as today’s business leaders, will find a way to help this educational cause, in your own family or your community.

If you want others to read this story, don’t hesitate to turn them online to 850’s website (850businessmagazine.com), where you will find a digital edition of the magazine. We welcome online readers — and encourage you and others to “like” us on Facebook, where you can find us at 850 — The Business Magazine of Northwest Florida.

Through the FB page you can access our website, but you will also get news updates during the week on issues that affect your business.

As always, we look forward to your feedback and suggestions.

Don’t be shy. Our goal is to provide you with news that is interesting — and that you can use.

LINDA KLEINDIENST, EDITOR lkleindienst@rowlandpublishing.com

photo by scott holstein

I remember making my first rocket.

Propelled by a CO2 cartridge, it raced across the playground at Oakwood Elementary School and I was mesmerized by the power of it.

Our region is a vibrant, diverse mix of companies with a wide range of economic inuences. Our award-winning 850 Magazine tells the dynamic story of Northwest Florida’s exciting emergence in state, national and international marketplaces through insightful features, in-depth corridor spotlight stories and comprehensive articles on trends and perspectives that truly embodies the mantra: Our region’s business is our business. To put 850 Magazine to work for you, call (850) 878-0554 or visit 850businessmagazine.com today.