850 Business Magazine 2015 August/September by Rowland Publishing, Inc.

WHAT WILL THEY THINK OF NEXT? From Robotics to Apps to Harnessing Solar Technology, Northwest Florida is Riding a Wave of Innovation

RAISE A GLASS TO OUR LOCAL WINERIES

AMENITIES AT NEW ‘HAPPY’ AIRPORTS EASE TRAVEL STRESS

SPECIAL REPORT: GADSDEN COUNTY

‘MADE IN AMERICA’ IS ON THE RISE IN NW FLORIDA

W h at m a k e s u s S P E C I A L

are

the people we SURROUND ourselves with

Left to Right: Mike Carraway, Bob McLendon, Rick Long

SHOP . DINE . PLAY . STAY

WELCOME FISHER BROWN Grand Boulevard at Sandestin®, Northwest Florida’s premier destination for working, dining, shopping and playing, is proud to announce Fisher Brown as our newest office tenant. Fisher Brown provides comprehensive insurance solutions to a diverse business and personal clientele base throughout the Southeast. Today, Fisher Brown ranks as one of the largest bank owned insurance agencies in the United States, with over 180 associates and seven offices throughout Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee.

“Fisher Brown and Howard Group have a long-standing relationship based on uncompromisingly high standards and quality of work. Our new space in Grand Boulevard provides us the visibility and opportunity to better interact with business and individual clients in this market.” Bob McLendon, Executive Vice President, Fisher Brown

Contact Dana Hahn, Vice President of Real Estate, at dana@howardgrp.com or 850-837-1886 ext.205 and see for yourself how having your business in Grand Boulevard is a grand experience in every sense. 600 GRAND BOULEVARD, SUITE 203 | MIRAMAR BEACH | FLORIDA 32550 | GRANDBOULEVARD.COM A HOWARD GROUP | MERCHANTS RETAIL PARTNERS DEVELOPMENT

#GrandBlvdFL

Cloud Computing for the B2B Enterprise

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We’ve built the largest and most extensive network of fiber optics this part of the country has ever seen, allowing businesses to connect with the world at record speeds. With infrastructure like this, the way you work will never be the same, and you can claim your rightful place as an industry heavyweight. We’re opening the future for businesses along the Gulf Coast. Join us at slfiber.com/tallahassee

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

850 Magazine August – September 2015

IN THIS ISSUE

28 72

850 FEATURES Rebirth of Manufacturing 22 Manufacturing is a growing sector of Northwest Florida’s economy — and it isn’t your grandmother’s kind of industry anymore. Gone are the sooty smokestacks. Today, the focus is on environmentally friendly plants and the hiring of highly trained workers who are well versed in math and science. By Lazaro Aleman

a Glass to Wine Fall 28 Ris aise the season for wine festivals

PHOTOS BY HOLLY GARDNER

and, yes, there are wineries in Northwest Florida where the grapes are grown and then made into a wide variety of wines. As it turns out, the Sunshine State has the longest winemaking history in North America — so it only makes sense that the vines rooted here predate those in California, the No. 1 producer of wine in America. By Zandra Wolfgram On the Cover: Tallahassee tech whiz Ryan Kopinsky. Photo by Lawrence Davidson

In This Issue

Corridors

8 From the Publisher 12 News and Numbers 45 Sound Bytes 82 The Last Word from the Editor

I-10

Special Section

69 The Foley Cellulose mill, located in Perry, is a major contributor to the local economy, employing about 570 workers and supporting more than 1,000 jobs related to its operations.

DEAL ESTATE

BAY

67 What’s trending, what’s selling and what’s hot to buy in the 850?

72 Bill Buskell, owner of Pineapple Willy’s, has a unique perspective on Panama City Beach from his decades in business.

CAPITAL 76 What do plumbing components, solar energy and gardening have in common? They all come together in Jefferson County at Viz-Co US, a manufacturer of “visionary plumbing products.”

Departments LEADING HEALTHY 14 Meet some of the nation’s happiest airports and get some travel tips from local road warriors — all designed to reduce the stress in your traveling life.

WI-FILES 18 A look at some Tallahassee start-ups that are focused on the next wave of technology.

EMERALD COAST 80 Robotics Unlimited started making headlines last year when it kicked off a fundraising campaign to develop the world’s fastest running robot. Owner Colton Black was only 19 years old.

2015 BUSINESS JOUR NA L

GADSDEN COUNTY

Special Report ADSDEN BUSINESS JOURNAL With a renewed emphasis on promoting economic development, 51 GGadsden County’s business and government leaders work to lure in new business while helping existing businesses grow.

AN 850 BUSINESS MAGAZINE SPECIAL REPORT

850 Business Magazine

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 5

THIS IS

THAT place Where the kids had as much fun jumping into the waves as they did jumping into their bunk beds.

August –September 2015

850 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA

Vol. 7, No. 6

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER BRIAN E. ROWLAND

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL SERVICES Steve Bornhoft EDITOR Linda Kleindienst SENIOR STAFF WRITER Jason Dehart STAFF WRITER Chay D. Baxley CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Lazaro Aleman, David Ekrut, Rebecca Padgett, Sandi Poreda, T.S. Strickland, Zandra Wolfgram EDITORIAL INTERNS Casey Feindt, Kiyo Kawaguchi, Paige Sneed, Arianna Theofan PRODUCTION SPECIALIST Melinda Lanigan COPY EDITOR Barry Ray CREATIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Lawrence Davidson PRODUCTION MANAGER/NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR Daniel Vitter SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Saige Roberts ART DIRECTOR Jennifer Ekrut PUBLICATION DESIGNERS Shruti Shah, Rebecca Sumerall ADVERTISING DESIGNERS Jillian Fry, Amanda Hartsfield CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Dave Barfield, Matt Burke, Lawrence Davidson, William Fowler, Jennifer G. Photography, Holly Gardner, Colin Hackley/Visit Florida, Scott Holstien, William Howell, Alicia Osborne MARKETING, SALES & EVENTS DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING McKenzie Burleigh DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS Daniel Parisi AD SERVICES COORDINATORS Tracy Mulligan, Lisa Sostre ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Bess Grasswick, Darla Harrison, Lori Magee, Rhonda Murray, Will Patrick, Linda Powell, Paula Sconiers, Alice Watts SALES AND MARKETING ASSISTANT Christie Green EVENTS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATOR Leigha Inman OPERATIONS CORPORATE CLIENT LIASON Sara Goldfarb STAFF ACCOUNTANT Josh Faulds ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT Tabby Hamilton ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Caryn Nelson RECEPTIONIST Lisa Snell

DIGITAL SERVICES DIGITAL SERVICES MANAGER Carlin Trammel DIGITAL SERVICES COORDINATORS Jennifer Ireland, Rebecca Padgett DIGITAL SERVICES PRODUCER Chelsea Moore 850 BUSINESS MAGAZINE 850businessmagazine.com, facebook.com/850bizmag, twitter.com/850bizmag, linkedin.com/company/850-business-magazine ROWLAND PUBLISHING rowlandpublishing.com SUBSCRIPTIONS A one-year (6 issues) subscription is $30. To purchase, call (850) 878-0554 or go online to 850businessmagazine.com. Single copies are $4.95 and may be purchased at Barnes & Noble in Tallahassee, Destin and Pensacola and Books-A-Million in Tallahassee, Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola, Panama City and at our Tallahassee office.

+1 877 705 6641 • info@HiltonSandestinBeach.com HiltonSandestinBeach.com #HiltonSandestin #ThatPlace

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

850 Magazine is published bi-monthly by Rowland Publishing, Inc. 1932 Miccosukee Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308. 850/878-0554. 850 Magazine and Rowland Publishing, Inc. are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photography or artwork. Editorial contributions are welcomed and encouraged but will not be returned. 850 Magazine reserves the right to publish any letters to the editor. Copyright August 2015 850 Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Member of three Chambers of Commerce throughout the region.

NO-CLOSING-COST BUSINESS MORTGAGE Give your number cruncher something to smile about. AS LOW AS

SUCCESS!

850 Business Magazine

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 7

From the Publisher

Giving Back is Just What We Do

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

of our corporate mission — and an obligation for all individuals, regardless of their wealth — to give back, whether it be time, money or whatever resource is available to give. From now on, I’ll strive to provide you with an annual report card on what we do to avoid getting sideswiped by a similar snarky remark. On another note, in early January the FSU student newspaper celebrated its 100th anniversary. That is certainly a tremendous milestone, especially when considering the difficult time the newspaper industry is experiencing. This newspaper, and other college newspapers, has been a real training platform for a wide variety of students before they enter the real world. While our Tallahassee-based daily newspaper reported on the milestone, it only told part of the story, partly because the story was focused on the successful and public careers of two of its own longtime reporters. So, that being said, I would like to personally acknowledge the many individuals who work behind the curtain to make a newspaper run — people whose hard work was mostly ignored in that daily newspaper’s story. I’m talking about the graphic artist, the administrative staff who keep everyone on track and accountable and the advertising sales representatives who are on the front lines every day, rain or shine, carrying the message of why the newspaper deserves the investment of advertising dollars. Not only do the sales reps go out and find the advertisers, they often have to compel advertisers to pay their bills so that the newspaper can continue to operate and the reps themselves can make a living by earning their commissions. It is a tough job. So, let us never forget the people behind the curtain. After all, it’s those ad dollars that helped make it possible for FSU’s student publication to reach its 100th birthday. And those ad dollars at every publication help provide the platform for the editorial board and journalists to have their say, opening the pages that the writers need to record our history and express their personal opinions.

BRIAN ROWLAND browland@rowlandpublishing.com

PHOTO BY SCOTT HOLSTEIN

I was recently sitting at a meeting with a group of people, many of whom I didn’t personally know, who represented a cross section of our community. When it was brought to their attention that I worked with Tallahassee Magazine, one of the individuals said in a caustic tone, “Oh, you have that elitist magazine for rich people. You guys do nothing for the community.” With regard to the comment about Tallahassee Magazine being elitist, I can only assume the individual does not read it — or any city magazine — and spoke out of ignorance. I chose to bite my tongue, and I didn’t engage with him because I knew it would not be productive. But I felt a surge of emotion in response to his comments, knowing full well that at Rowland Publishing we are very involved in the community, in Tallahassee and along the Emerald Coast. It was quite disappointing to hear his uninformed comments about community involvement. But it also made me realize that we do not do a very good job of promoting our stewardship efforts in the communities we serve. That is partly by design, because I never felt the need to capitalize on our “giving back.” And, frankly, we’re way too busy publishing over 20 magazine titles in Northwest Florida during the year. But, based on these comments, I think it is time to provide you with an overview of what RPI and its staff do to make this region a better place for everyone to live. Here are a few hard facts that cover just the past three years. More than $350,000 was distributed to charities in the Tallahassee and Emerald Coast area. (For 2014, that includes $75,000 distributed to various charities in Tallahassee. More than $50,000 was distributed in the Emerald Coast region, where most of the dollars went to the Emerald Coast Junior League’s children’s programs. These funds come from our annual Best of the Emerald Coast event, which draws more than 2,500 attendees each year.) More than $1.5 million of print and digital media sponsorships and calendar listings in our magazines support nonprofit organizations in the Tallahassee area and Emerald Coast region throughout the year. I probably would not have shared all the above if that gentleman had not made the comment he did. Why? Because I feel that it is part

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850 Business Magazine

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 9

850businessmagazine.com A Day of Dialogue 2015 with Florida A&M University President Elmira Mangum, Ph.D.

ONLINE POLL RESULTS

In the cover story of the April/ May issue, we reported the way local economic development organizations count their success and spend public money differs from one county to the next. Should there be a uniform method established to verify the number of jobs being created and to let the public know how its money is being used for job development?

YES

67%

NO 33% | NOT SURE 0%

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES Ten well-deserving women have

been selected to receive the 2015 Pinnacle Award. These women exhibit integrity within their businesses and their communities. The honorees will be congratulated at a luncheon on Aug. 18 sponsored by Gulf Power and profiled in the October/November issue. Take a look back at the 2014 nominees, and stay on the lookout for 2015 nominee profiles. The fall Day of Dialogue series features influential speakers U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham and Florida A&M University President Elmira Mangum. On Sept. 23 in Panama City, Graham will host a question-and-answer session concerning issues in Congressional District 2. On Oct. 26 in Okaloosa County, Mangum will share the story about her path to success.

850businessmagazine.com/Pinnacle-Awards/

CURENT ONLINE POLL

In this issue’s story on manufacturing, we point out that new forms of clean manufacturing can bring good, high-paying jobs to our region — but there aren’t enough trained workers for those jobs. Are we giving our educational institutions enough resources to recruit and train these future workers? Visit 850businessmagazine. com/polls/ to take our newest poll now.

850businessmagazine.com/Newsletter-Mailing-List/

CONNECT WITH US … No matter what device or social medium, we want to be a resource to you. Find 850 Business Magazine in all the best spots. And be sure to join our group on LinkedIn and engage with other business professionals in the area.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES

Flip Books: View this issue and past issues in a digital book format.

Archived Stories: Peruse our vast archive of articles. Deal Estate: View the latest real estate happenings and listings. Restaurant Guide: Browse our listings of select Northwest Florida restaurants.

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

PHOTO BY MATT BURKE (A DAY OF DIALOGUE)

the latest from 850 Business Magazine? Sign up for our e-newsletter and get updates about our website, video previews and additional offers.

LONG LIVE LOCAL CRAFTSMANSHIP Gabe Grass of GrassLands Brewing Company believes everyone should have an opportunity to make their career a product of their passion. He has been able to, thanks to help from First Commerce. First Commerce crafted a personal banking experience that enabled Gabe to secure funding and get his business off the ground. Now GrassLands Brewing Co. is crafting a unique local brewery experience in Tallahassee. Crafting a stronger community through passion: that’s the power of yes.

NOW THAT’S

LOCAL STRONG

“Without the expertise of First Commerce, we wouldn’t have secured the substantial SBA equipment loan we needed.” GABE GRASS, FOUNDER & HEAD BREWER WITH SARALYN GRASS AND SCOTT HALL

FirstCommerceCU.org/Business 850.410.3559 | 1.800.533.5772 Federally insured by NCUA

850 Business Magazine

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 11

Executive Mindset

Business Arena ECONOMIC REBOUND BY THE NUMBERS

Economic Trends POSITIVE NEWS

Signs that Florida has emerged from the depths of the Great Recession grew stronger in 2014 as the state’s personal income grew faster than the national average. PERSONAL INCOME OF FLORIDIANS INCREASED

DISPOSABLE MONEY INCREASED

FLORIDA WAGES AND SALARIES INCREASED

FROM 2013 TO 2014

A recent report released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reveals that the personal income of Floridians jumped 4.6 PERCENT from 2013 to 2014, to $848 billion. That compares to the national average increase of 4 PERCENT.

Perhaps the best news for business interests in the state? Floridians have more money to spend. Disposable income — money that is available to put into savings or for consumer expenditures — rose by 4.2 PERCENT in 2014 (over 2013). Nationally, it rose by 3.9 PERCENT.

Florida wages and salaries also saw a jump in 2014 — growing by 5.3 PERCENT over 2013. According to the bureau’s most recent data from a variety of industries, construction industry wages took the biggest jump — 12.4 PERCENT — a clear sign the industry is rebounding from the major cutbacks during the recession.

4.6% 4.2% 5.3%

The only industry sector showing a drop in Florida wages and salaries is the military (including civilian and government employees), which reported a 2.8 PERCENT decrease.

BUSINESSES FOR SALE The entrepreneurial spirit is on the rise in Northwest Florida. That’s the word from BusinessesForSale.com, which compared data from the fourth quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2015. According to its information, there was an 88.9 PERCENT increase in the number of people making inquiries on businesses for sale in the Panhandle. Interesting statewide tidbits from comparing the two quarters found a:

79% 83% 80% increase in people looking to buy a business in Florida

increase in inquiries on businesses in Florida

percent increase in business listings for sale through the state

And if you’re selling a business? South Florida may be the best place to do it. According to BusinessesForSale.com, you’re likely to get 25 PERCENT more for your business, with Miami having the highest value — an average of $725,000 per business.

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

FLORIDA IS LOSING MILLIONAIRES The Sunshine State dropped two spots in the annual ranking of millionaire households per capita compiled by the Phoenix Global Wealth Monitor. The report estimates the number of affluent and wealthy households in the country each year based on a variety of sources. Florida in 2014 ranked

No. 32

on the list of 50 states and the District of Columbia, dropping from NO. 30 in 2013. (In 2013, it dropped 10 spots from 2012.) The ratio of millionaire households to total households (7,745,850) was 4.62 PERCENT.

TOP TEN RANKINGS Maryland Connecticut New Jersey Hawaii Alaska Virginia Massachusetts New Hampshire Delaware District of Columbia

r Registe d n early a ! save

2015 Gulf Power Economic Symposium Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, Destin, Fla. October 11-13, 2015 GulfPowerSymposium.com 1-877-262-0598 850 Business Magazine

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 13

Executive Mindset

Leading Healthy

HAPPY AIRPORTS EQUAL HEALTHIER TRAVELERS

COME FLY

WITH US

Happy airports take travelers to new heights BY SANDI POREDA

ou’re in an enormous building, surrounded by an endless variety of shops, delicious regional food and often live music. Beautiful artwork is on display, some built into the architecture and some showcasing local talent. You can purchase just about anything you can think of, except maybe a car. But you’re not in a high-end shopping mall; you’re in an airport. Airports around the country are getting more creative as they work to improve travelers’ experiences. Some airports offer nap rooms; some boast cutting-edge technology options. Others have excellent food. One even has a putting green overlooking the tarmac. And it’s all about the travelers. Trimmel Gomes of Tallahassee loves to travel; he takes, on average, 10 trips a year. This means he has a pretty clear sense of what makes an airport enjoyable for passengers. High on his list, he said, is connectivity. “The simplest thing an airport can do to keep travelers happy is offer free Wi-Fi,” said Gomes. Spending a lot of time in airports certainly isn’t unique to Gomes. Every year, millions of Americans travel globally. Some people can’t wait to get on the next plane, and others dread it. A bad airport experience can have a lasting impression on travelers, but

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

PALM BEACH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

a great airport experience can foster a love of travel that people remember for the rest of their lives. MissTravel.com, an online dating website for travelers, recently conducted a poll among more than 50,000 of its members to identify their favorite U.S. airports. Respondents were asked to rate the airports based on comfort, convenience, customer service and cleanliness. The top five favorite U.S. airports of MissTravel site users were as follows (in no particular order): PBI: West Palm Beach, Florida PDX: Portland, Oregon PHL: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania SAV: Savannah, Georgia SFO: San Francisco, California

Nan Rothstein of Jacksonville agreed with PDX’s inclusion on the list. “It’s like the Disney World of airports,” she said. “The moment you step off your plane, you feel that you are in the Pacific Northwest. Every aesthetic detail reflects it. Even the takeaway food spots have a huge variety of delicious healthy options.” Palm Beach International received high marks for being easy to navigate, but its most unique feature? A putting green inside Sam Snead’s golfthemed restaurant. Michael Simmons, the airport’s director of Finance and Administration, was there the day the restaurant and putting green opened and he remembers “Slammin’ Sammy” Snead himself being there for the event.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PALM BEACH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (GOLF COURSE) AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA BEACHES AIRPORT (DOG PARK)

“We play a lot of golf in Palm Beach County, and a lot of the people who visit here play golf,” said Simmons. “It’s a great tie-in with our local tourism industry. It’s a neat thing for people to talk about; they take a lot of photos and selfies from the putting green.” Simmons also said the employees appreciate the airport’s recognition as a happy airport. “We try to make it a fun experience here,” he said. “These concepts that are fun are one more thing to remember, and to have someone recognize that we are a happier airport because of this, it really makes our employees happy.” Travelers gave several other Florida airports high marks as well. Tampa resident Jachima Taino praised Tampa International Airport for its hub and spoke-style layout, noting that in her experience it was one of the most efficient and easy airports to travel into and out of. The Orlando International Airport may be one of the busiest airports in Florida, but Chris Gent, of Kissimmee, said it’s one of his favorite airports because of all of the natural light. Gent said the Orlando airport is also especially great for families — including his own family of 10 — because of all the things to see and do while travelers wait, including a giant aquarium in the food court, a video arcade, theme park stores and more. The Destin-Fort Walton Airport on Eglin Air Force Base wants to make sure that not only are the two-legged travelers happy but four-legged ones as well. Their Bark Park, a convenient pet relief area, is located just between the parking lot and the terminal for pets before and after flights. The airport also gets frequent visits from Dozer the Therapy Dog who helps to calm the nerves of stressed out travelers (and airport staff). "The Destin-Fort Walton Beach airport prides itself on offering world class amenities that are often found in much

larger airports with the convenience and hospitality of a smaller airport," said Mike Stenson, deputy director of the Okaloosa County Airports. Northwest Florida Beaches Airport in Bay County may not have a putting green, but it does have a Military Welcome Center. Open daily, the center offers a quiet place for active duty and retired military personnel as well as Department of Defense employees to relax while waiting for a flight or a ride home. The center offers snacks and drinks, television and Internet access and a children’s play area, as well as visitors’ guides, postage stamps and mailing services. Comments left by troops and veterans in 2014 reflected sincere gratitude for the hospitality. Northwest Florida Beaches is also working hard to expand the flight options available for its customers. This year alone, three new airlines — Silver Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines — have joined the airport and now offer additional direct flights. “Our airport continues to grow, and we are looking forward to ensuring our passengers have the ability to not only travel to the rest of the world, but also the ability to easily access other destinations in our state,” said Airport Authority Board Chairman Till Bruett. In the Capital City, the Tallahassee International Airport is getting ready to undergo an extensive modernization of its terminal, and all retail, coffee, food and beverage options are getting a full renovation. “We’re very excited about the new facilities, especially because they will bring with them a definite sense of place,” said Chris Curry, director of Aviation. One way or another, airports are stepping up their game to make travelers happy. From barbeque to rocking chairs, every effort is a step in the right direction.

DESTIN-FORT WALTON AIRPORT

CORPORATE TRAVEL CHART OF THE 20 BIGGEST SPENDERS Each year Business Travel News looks at how much corporate America spends on travel. In 2014’s evaluation, IBM topped the list of 100. Here are the top 20 companies and how much they spent in 2013. The numbers are in millions. IBM — $590 Deloitte — $405.2 General Electric — $330 Oracle — $329 Boeing — $318.3 Exxon Mobile — $293 EY — $255.6 PricewaterhouseCoopers — $244 Accenture — $243 Lockheed Martin — $226.2 General Dynamics — $214 Wells Fargo — $202 JPMorgan Chase & Co. — $199.7 Hewlett-Packard — $198 McKinsey & Co. — $195 Royal Dutch Shell — $191 Bank of America — $188 Apple — $180 Microsoft —$179 Google — $170

850 Business Magazine

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 15

LEADING HEALTHY

ROAD WARRIORS ON THE MOVE A few helpful tips from some frequent travelers BY LINDA KLEINDIENST

t’s late at night, the suitcase is on the bed and you’re wondering what to pack for a three-day business trip that begins with a 6 a.m. flight the next day. Only a last-minute check reveals what airline you’re booked on, which hotel you’ll stay at and what rental car you’ll use to get to your appointments. For those in the business world, this isn’t an uncommon scenario. And no matter how many trips you’ve made, you still find yourself staring at the suitcase — or you just start indiscriminately throwing in clothes and toiletry items you think you’ll need. Stop. It’s time to get organized. And to figure out how to make the most of the days you will spend in the air, on the road and in hotel beds. 850 Magazine reached out to some of the region’s road warriors to ask them for some tips to help others get organized, ease their travel and earn rewards. Perhaps most obviously, they said: Sign up for any and all free rewards programs for hotels, car rentals and airlines.

One of the biggest advantages of carrental loyalty programs? You can skip the lines and head straight to your vehicle, which could save 30 or more minutes. That’s crucial time saved if your plane arrives later than scheduled. Fern Senra, a director at Moore Communications Group in Tallahassee, finds himself on frequent flights to Miami and always puts his travel and event documents in a single bright red folder. “That way, when I have to check a departure time or address, I know where it is, and the color of the folder makes it easy to spot among the sea of gray and black in my briefcase,” he says. And, if he knows them ahead of time, he’ll load all of the addresses and phone numbers of the various stops on his itinerary onto his phone. “That way, I don’t have to pull over to enter an address into my phone’s GPS. All I have to do is choose one that’s already saved,” Senra says. Andrea Moore, regional manager for international trade in the Northwest

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| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

2015.05.008

Florida field office of Enterprise Florida, travels mostly in-state, and that involves a lot of driving. “Pack water, nutrition bars and baby wipes,” she says. “You never know when and where you get to eat and drink next and if you have to clean up a mess. “When I do travel internationally for business, I always write checklists and quadruple-check them. (Yeah, I know it’s overkill, but I have an irrational fear of leaving an essential behind.) After a very unpleasant experience with having my luggage go astray a few years back, I always have a change of clothes in my carry-on bag.” Anne Davis, a USTA community tennis organizer and former Florida State University tennis coach who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, also finds herself on the road quite a bit. Her advice? “Don’t sweat it. Expect the unexpected.” She’s learned to make a packing list to make sure she takes all of the essentials but urges travelers to keep

in mind that they can always buy what they forgot. “Pack light. I rarely do this. Only wish I could,” she says. “But always have a corkscrew!” Here are some more tips from the experts:

» If you travel internationally, apply for the Global Entry program run by U.S. Customs. If you are pre-qualified, it will ease your journey through Customs on return to the United States. » Check out tsa.gov to find out what other pre-clearance programs can make your journey easier, especially getting through those long security lines at the airport. » Plan your travel attire with items that you can mix and match — and that only require two pairs of shoes.

» Frequent travelers should keep a toiletry bag packed (with the requisite 3.4-ounce bottles) and ready to go. » When your flight is delayed, don’t stand in line — get online or on the phone. Call

the airline. And use Twitter to complain.

» Never forget the phone charger. (Depending on how many electronic devices you bring on the road, consider a power strip that stays in your suitcase as a reminder.) » Fully charge all your electronics before you leave the house. » Invest in your own Wi-Fi hotspot (they even come in cufflinks) to avoid access charges at airports and hotels. » Bring a scarf or pashmina that can double as a blanket. » Travel with a carry-on suitcase. » On long flights, make sure you hydrate, and take all those bottles of water that the flight attendants offer and avoid alcohol. It will help your body adjust to the change in time zones. » Have trouble sleeping in strange beds? Bring something from home that will help, like your own pillow.

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TRAVIS ALLE

WITH NONSTOP SERVICE TO:

TAMPA

Global access with daily flights on Delta, Southwest, United and Silver IFlyBeaches.com

850 Business Magazine

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 17

Executive Mindset

Wi-files INSPIRING INNOVATIONS

21 CENTURY MASTERPIECES ST

With computers as their canvas and code as their paints, digital innovators create things of practical beauty BY DAVID EKRUT

efore every great technological innovation, there is a person with a dream. Long before Google Glass, two guys in a garage were exploring an idea they called a search engine. A generation ago, smartphones existed only in the pages of science fiction. Now, we wake up each morning with an abundance of gadgets and utilities at our disposal. From weather prediction to shopping for clothes, we have more control over our lives than any generation before us — all with just the touch of a finger. Where does inspiration come from? Why are people driven to innovate? Are they simply attempting to make a few bucks on the next viral meme or app? Is it just supply and demand, placing products in the hands of consumers? Or is there a deeper reason for these digital creations? Today, computers are the cornerstone of modern society. We live in an age when

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

most of the workforce has no memory of living without computer technology in some form. Since its birth in 1942, the computer has gone from being the size of a room to smaller than the eye can see, thanks to nanotechnology. Algorithms, C++ objects and Java are the digital paints for crafting the next masterpiece. A blank canvas is white space on a computer screen awaiting input from a programmer, scientist or engineer. And the marvels they create can rival the likes of da Vinci or Michelangelo. Behind the beautiful displays and fancy buttons of our gadgets and gizmos are elegant codes and complex algorithms designed by individuals and teams, including two based here in Tallahassee, Ryan Kopinsky and the workers at F4 Tech. Kopinsky’s technological diversity has created an assortment of innovations. As an intern at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (ihmc.us),

TECHNOLOGICAL ARTISTRY Ryan Kopinsky wears his Google Glass to view the app he developed to help manage shopping lists. It’s called Shop X Glassware.

Photo by LAWRENCE DAVIDSON

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WILLIAM HOWELL

LAWRENCE DAVIDSON

WI-FILES

ADDING VALUE As a graduate student, Ryan Kopinsky (shown above at his computer) worked on developing an exoskeleton designed to help paraplegics to sit, stand and walk. His goal: Add value to people’s lives through robotics.

he wrote algorithms for the IHMC-NASA X1 Exoskeleton, a device that aids paraplegic patients in sitting, standing and walking. His work contributed to the functionality of the exoskeleton. In this defining moment, Kopinsky realized he “wanted to add value to people’s lives by using robotics.”

Kopinsky is working toward his Ph.D. in robotics at Florida State University, but it doesn’t stop him from working on “side projects,” too. He designed an app for Google Glass called Shop X Glassware that allows users to create and manage shopping lists. In 2014, Shop X Glassware became the 52nd app officially approved by Google, one of fewer than 200 apps that can make such a claim. “Innovation just means that one is making a significant, positive impact on the world. That is my ultimate goal in life,” Kopinsky said. Most would agree that he’s off to a pretty good start. (Find more of his work at ryankopinsky.com.) Not all innovators are driven to change the world; some, like the founders of F4 Tech, are motivated by gaps in technology. With changes in the global climate and pressure to lower production costs, the forestry industry has an increasing demand for efficiency. Just over 20 years ago, the methods for deforesting lands for industrial use were

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primitive. A surveyor would measure land by counting strides and inspect the density of a stand of trees by manually counting them. This data, with its inevitable propensity for errors, was input into handheld devices, then manually uploaded into a spreadsheet. In the digital age, innovation seemed inevitable, but many in the business remained content to use these outdated methods. The founders of Tallahassee’s F4 Tech (thinkf4.com), which stands for “Forestry for Technology,” brought the forestry industry into the 21st century. Their slogan almost sounds like a movement, and in many ways it is. Mark Milligan, president and founder of F4 Tech, received his MBA from Florida State as well as a B.S. in forest management from Louisiana State University. Raised in a family of foresters, after finishing his collegiate studies, Milligan felt there was a better way to do forestry. He developed a mobile device to aid in data collection using Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies.

PHOTO COURTESY F4 TECH

2014 Model Winner Maleena Pruitt wears a look by 2014 Emerging Designer Romey Roe

“First and foremost, we are foresters,” he says. But since founding the company in 1998, Milligan’s team has grown from one person’s vision of forestry to a team of technological innovators. With the help of people including Thomas Walthousen, director of Integrated Solutions, F4 Tech finds new ways to innovate GISdependent industries. Their Windows-based software has the flexibility to be used in many industries. F4 Tech’s main product line, called the Forge Echo, stores data collected in a variety of fields, such as mining, oil and gas, and agriculture. Their company has surveyed 1.5 million acres to supply accurate information to companies in need of extracting oil, minerals and natural gas and to provide current information on the species of trees for developing paper products. Milligan’s most recent innovation is SilvAssist Cloud software, which uses GPS to put collected data directly into cloud storage for use off-site. This technology revolutionizes all industries with a need for GIS. In a short period of time, Milligan and his team have taken the forestry industry from individuals counting trees on their fingers to surveying geographical regions with state-of-the-art technology and advanced algorithms. They are now measuring the world in ones and zeroes, the binary language of computers. Whether writing code to help a paraplegic patient walk or designing surveying tools to save trees, those who see the world with such clarity are the artists of our age.

MAPPING TREES Mark Milligan’s Tallahassee-based company developed a device that helps foresters map areas using GIS technology.

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Industrial Evolution

Manufacturing Goes Technical BY LAZARO ALEMAN

ention manufacturing to the average person and it’s likely to conjure images of grimy factories, belching smokestacks and haggard workers toiling at dreary assembly lines. Or to the more historically minded, it may suggest the Industrial Revolution, pioneer automaker Henry Ford and the Great Lakes’ Rust Belt. Granted, these perceptions are not without basis or bias, describing certain aspects of manufacturing that do persist to the present in some form or fashion in this and other countries. Overall, however, manufacturing has traveled far from its yesteryears and never more so than in recent decades, when the industry has undergone changes possibly no less revolutionary and transformational than when it converted from manual to machine-produced goods in the 18th century. Consider such developing technologies as robotics, advanced materials, 3D printing and biomanufacturing — all of which are reshaping the manufacturing landscape even now. The fact is that the industry has evolved and continues evolving. And modern-day manufacturing is apt to be clean, safe, increasingly green and technology-driven to one degree or another, with significant implications for the work force. “What we like to tell people, when we have a chance to preach our sermon, is that this isn’t your grandfather’s manufacturing anymore,”

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says Cindy Anderson, executive director of the Northwest Florida Manufacturers Council (NWFMC), a group that speaks for manufacturers in the 12-county region between the Alabama border and the Apalachicola River. In general, though, how does U.S. manufacturing today compare with your grandfather’s day? Arguments for both the sector’s decline and resurgence abound, from the president on down. Those who argue the former point of view cite, among other developments, the overall drop in manufacturing employment (a loss of some 7.5 million jobs since the peak year of 1979); the rise of Chinese manufacturing compared to the United States in terms of output; and the offshoring trend among American companies. True, counters the other side, manufacturing has fallen as a percentage of the U.S. economy, but only

HOLLY GARDNER

Smoke stacks are ‘out’ while knowledge of math and science is ‘in’

CLEAN INDUSTRY Manager Ed Phelan at Maritech Machine Inc. in Panama City, a precision machine shop that counts the military among its clients, demonstrates the new technology used in manufacturing today.

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WILLIAM FOWLER

because other sectors, most noticeably services, have grown faster. And yes, manufacturing employment has plummeted, but production increases annually, with output now exceeding the peak before the Great Recession. Moreover, say resurgence advocates, many American companies are reshoring (returning their operations home) or nearshoring (relocating in Mexico and other nearby countries) after taking stock of transportation costs, communications logistics and other factors. Both sides are in agreement, however, that technology is increasingly redefining industry, with resulting job losses domestically and abroad, as machines more and more take over routine tasks. Suffice it to say that technology has somewhat divided modern manufacturing into the traditional (involving the more labor-intensive, mechanically driven processes) and advanced (the information technology-based processes). Whichever form it takes, however, manufacturing is a recognized powerhouse in the U.S. and Florida economies. According to the most recent data from the National Association of Manufacturers, the country’s largest manufacturing association, the sector contributes $2.09 trillion to the U.S. economy and accounts for 12 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. It also employs more than 12 million Americans and supports another 5.6 million jobs. Manufacturing, moreover, is credited with conducting more than three-fourths of U.S. privatesector research and development, driving more innovation than any other area. And U.S. manufacturing workers on average earn significantly more than their counterparts in other industries. In Florida, the total manufacturing output in 2013 was $39.62 billion, accounting for 4.95 percent of the Gross State Product, and the state’s exported manufactured goods totaled $56.43 billion, ranking it sixth in the nation for overseas sales. The Manufacturers Association of Florida counts 19,159 manufacturers in the state, and “that number continues growing,” asserts Nancy Stephens, the association’s executive director. Manufacturing workers, meanwhile, number upwards of 317,000 and on average earn $54,087 annually, compared with an annual average of $43,651 for all other workers in Florida. In the Panhandle, Florida’s Great Northwest lists 850 traditional and advanced manufacturing companies and more than 25,000 manufacturing workers in the 16-county region that it brands and markets for economic development purposes. That region extends from Escambia to Jefferson County. Those manufacturers produce a host of products ranging from wood, paper and plastics to computers, medical devices and aviation/ aerospace components. The region’s highest

GEARING UP concentrations of manufacturers are found in Pensacola, Greg Britton, the Fort Walton/Destin/Niceville area, Panama City and chairman of the Northwest Florida Tallahassee, but individual companies and/or small Manufacturing clusters exist in every one of the 18 counties that make Council and CEO up the 850 area code. of Fort Walton Machining, predicts Ask Stephens of the Manufacturers Association of the Airbus plant in Florida how manufacturing is faring and she responds, Mobile will kickstart manufacturing “Great. There’s a lot of enthusiasm.” growth along Nowhere is that enthusiasm more evident than in Interstate 10. Northwest Florida, which economic development officials and manufacturers alike predict is poised for growth. Projections, in fact, call for the region to grow in manufacturing at a faster pace than any other part of the state. The reasons cited include availability and affordability of land; proximity to southeastern U.S. markets; a positive business climate; a skilled work force (thanks to numerous learning institutions and military bases); and a superb network of roads, rails, ports and airports that facilitate transportation. Add to that a multitude of economic development organizations working independently and in concert to attract foreign and domestic manufacturers, including U.S. companies that are reshoring. “Another important aspect is the several OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) around us,” offers Larry Sassano, president of Florida’s Great Northwest. “These assembly operations require suppliers and need manufacturing to help assemble their products. There’s Embraer in Jacksonville, Gulfstream in Savannah and Boeing in Charleston. The newest is Airbus, just to the west of our region.” No other development in recent years has singly generated as much regional buzz as the European airplane manufacturer’s decision to construct a $600 million aircraft assembly facility in Mobile, Alabama, some 50 miles west of Pensacola. Scheduled to begin rolling out planes in 2016, the Airbus facility’s expected regional spillover effect, including spinoff jobs, can’t be overstated, particularly on the Panhandle’s already dynamic aerospace/aviation sector. “In my opinion, Airbus is going to be the start of growth for the region,” says NWFMC Chairman Greg Britton, also CEO of Fort Walton Machining. “You know there’s going to be a supply chain that follows Airbus. If you look at Embraer, Gulfstream and Boeing, it’s just a natural progression for the I-10 corridor to grow in manufacturing. If you can picture the two ends, Jacksonville to

COURTESY OF © AIRBUS SAS 2013

Mobile, I believe you’re going to see aerospace clusters starting on the west (of Nowadays, however, work-force considerations have Jacksonville), and east (of Mobile), and working their way toward the middle.” moved to the forefront, especially as the labor marThe idea that Airbus will attract a host of suppliers and ancillary manuket tightens. facturing operations into the region isn’t lost on economic development “The No. 1 component of site selection is work officials. In 2013, Bay, Walton, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Escambia counties force,” says Sparks, of the Okaloosa Economic Deformed the Gulf Coast Aerospace Coalition and launched an initiative to atvelopment Council. “Incentives are still in the top tract aerospace suppliers and associated businesses to the region. three. Location is critical to have a shot. But once “It’s ongoing,” Okaloosa Economic Development Council Director Nathan you get beyond the dirt, or real estate piece, work Sparks says of the effort, mentioning trips to Germany, Seattle and Miami in force is the driver.” pursuit of the objective. “We see this as a tremendous opportunity to posiCompounding the jobs situation is an aging tion this part of Florida as a leader in the aerospace industry. We believe we’re baby boomer generation that’s eyeing retirement. in the right place at the right time.” Forbes magazine reports on a 2012 study by the It’s not only aerospace/aviation-related industries that economic developManpower Group that found that 53 percent of ment officials are pursuing, however. Take the Florida-Alabama Mega Team, skilled-trade workers in the United States were 45 composed of 12 Northwest Florida and Southeast Alabama counties. The and older, and 18.6 percent were between 55 and group is trying to lure a mega-manufacturer — preferably an automotive as64. In Florida, the corresponding figures were 55.1 sembly plant — to a 2,240-acre industrial site in Jackson County. percent and 21.1 percent, respectively. “We continue to market the site,” says team spokeswoman Jennifer Conoley. WestPoint Home in Chipley exemplifies the situ“When you look at the timeline of communities landing huge projects such as ation. The factory, which produces an assortment of auto assembly plants, it’s a very long process. However, we’re hopeful that if bedding products, is the sole surviving U.S. plant of a we continue to share our story about the available talent, transportation assets, textile manufacturer that once ruled home fashions. low business costs, quality training programs and quality-of-life factors, then “Through the years we’ve been ravaged by we can build our case that we’re an attractive place to do business.” imports, downsized and our plant almost closed,” All of these efforts, if successful, will translate into jobs, many of them says Terry Ellis, WestPoint’s vice president of in advanced manufacturing. The NWFMC, for example, projects that in its business development. “Because there’s been so 12-county area alone, 5,000 manufacturing jobs will need to be filled by 2020. much consolidation, there haven’t been many “This number includes growth in existing manufacturers, new industry opportunities to grow. As a result, I have an older development, and what we’re finding is a huge challenge — baby boomers work force that has survived the downsizings beginning to retire,” Anderson says. but that’s now nearing retirement age. Part of my The question becomes, who will fill these jobs? A major concern of manufacturers — aside from the perennial ones of foreign competition, government regulations, high energy costs, affordable health care, etc. — is finding qualified workers, especially for the high-skill jobs. “Finding qualified employees was pinpointed as a top challenge when the council was formed in 2013,” Anderson says. “We did a survey of manufacturers in the region and asked, ‘What is that one issue that you worry about keeping you from continuing to be successful?’ And it came out that it was finding a skilled work force.” The problem isn’t limited to Northwest Florida. Nationally, the National Association of Manufacturers reports that more than 80 percent of manufacturers experience moderate to severe difficulty finding skilled workers. It’s the same story statewide. AIRBUS ARRIVES With large aircraft components departing “Our biggest, most perplexing, difficult and persistent problem is finding qualHamburg, Germany, by cargo ship for the Airbus U.S. Manuified workers,” the Manufacturers Association of Florida’s Stephens says. facturing Facility in Mobile, A320 Family jetliner production in the U.S. is on schedule to begin in the summer of 2015. Just in April, the Florida Trade Consortium, a coalition of 13 state and community colleges across the state, including Tallahassee Community College (TCC) and Gulf Coast State “You know there’s going to be a supply chain that follows College, launched a statewide camAirbus. If you look at Embraer, Gulfstream and Boeing, it’s paign to place 1,000 trade students into advanced manufacturing jobs just a natural progression for the I-10 corridor to grow in within the year — an effort Stephens manufacturing. If you can picture the two ends, Jacksonville applauds. to Mobile, I believe you’re going to see aerospace clusters Underscoring the point, economic developmental officials report that starting on the west (of Jacksonville), and east (of Mobile), and incentives, location and quality-ofworking their way toward the middle.” — Greg Britton, NWFMC life issues used to be top priorities in Chairman and CEO of Fort Walton Machining companies’ site-selection decisions.

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challenge is making sure we’ve got younger folks to replace them.” Concern of a looming “skills gap,” or shortage of welders, electricians, machinists and other skilled tradespersons in the foreseeable future, is widespread, growing and viewed as critical to U.S. manufacturers maintaining their edge in an increasingly competitive global economy. It explains why manufacturers at all levels are joining forces with educators, community leaders and government officials to address the problem. “The biggest thing we’re tackling right now with laser focus is work-force development,” Britton says of the NWFMC. Not that programs to develop the needed talent are lacking. The region’s numerous colleges and universities offer a variety of degree and/or certification programs designed to turn out appropriately trained individuals. One challenge, however, is capturing that knowledge, according to Paul Dean, vice president of operations at Danfoss in Tallahassee, a company that engineers and manufactures Turbocor oil-free, magnetic bearing, variable-speed centrifugal compressors. “Most of the talent that graduates in fields of our interest often leave the area after graduating, which creates a gap in our qualified labor and professional pool within industry,” Dean says. Another challenge is that these programs simply aren’t sufficient to meet the demand. The NWFMC, for example, estimates that the education/work-force development programs in its 12-county region will produce about 25 percent of the needed workers by 2020. The solution, Britton says, will require a mix of these programs as well as other measures, including raising awareness of manufacturing careers, recruiting retiring skilled personnel from the region’s military bases for second careers and recruiting at a much younger age. This explains the NWFMC’s initiative, in partnership with the University of West Florida, to establish manufacturing academies in the region’s middle and high schools with funding from the Florida Legislature. The idea is that students who successfully complete these academies will possess the necessary skills for entry-level manufacturing jobs, along with earning national industry certifications and up to 12 college credit hours. “If you look at companies that have gone to places like Huntsville, Alabama, it’s because of the work-force training programs there,” says Russell Johnson, plant manager at Armstrong World Industries Inc. in Pensacola. View the academies as a return, if at an enhanced level, to the vocational schools of old — which all but disappeared from the scene starting in the 1980s as high school education became increasingly focused on college preparation.

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“We basically lost a couple of generations of individuals who came out of school with no interest in manufacturing,” says Ed Phelan, vice president of operations at Maritech Machines Inc. in Panama City. “We’re trying to step back into the high schools, where woodshop, metal shop and such have been eliminated, and trying to rebuild interest in manufacturing.” Unlike the earlier vocational training, which Phelan says essentially marked students as “losers,” a paradigm shift has occurred, with emphasis now on a strong foundation of science, technology, engineering and math, necessary knowledge in today’s advanced manufacturing world. Phelan cites as an example certain computerized heavy equipment in his operation used to carve metal and commercial-grade plastics into precise and intricate components. “It’s no dummy that can just walk in and handle them,” he says. “It takes a lot of training and skill. It takes the interest and ability to do some fairly basic WORKERS NEEDED math, and maybe even advanced Gone are the math. You have to be able to perceive smokestacks and in their place is things in three dimensions, read precision and high blueprints, understand the writing tech manufacturing, on the blueprint and convert all but skilled workers to run the machines that into actionable items. And then are in big demand, there is a coding process where you says Paul Dean (right), vice president put that information into the comof operations for puter in a special language.” Danfoss Turbocor Compressors in Nor do the academies, or manuTallahassee. (Below) facturing jobs themselves, preclude Maritech Machine in Panama City. going to college, manufacturers say.

LAWRENCE DAVIDSON HOLLY GARDNER

“I’ve got folks who started out on the manufacturing floor who are now program managers,” Britton says. “I’ve got another who went to school after he saved enough to become an electrical engineer. So it’s another career path to college as well, and they don’t have a lot of debt when they get out.” Equally important, manufacturers say, the academies offer a pathway to career opportunities for those who lack the ability, inclination or means to pursue a college education. “I see a large percentage of our kids who don’t graduate, or who graduate but aren’t going to college,” says Ellis, who also serves on the Washington County School Board. “They may have a different set of ideas or different talents or may not know what they want to do. Manufacturing provides opportunities for these kids and goodpaying jobs that provide benefits.” Although not part of the NWFMC, Danfoss engages in similar efforts to develop the needed talent. “We’re working with TCC and the local community (primary and secondary education) to create beta programs that can drive higher levels of interest in the traditional labor market such as electronic techs, logic programmers, mechanics, CAD techs, HVAC techs and other skilled trades,” Dean says. “For professionals, we’re partnering

with FSU to create joint (research and development) collaboration and the development of internships to help grow talent for our entry-level professional positions.” One of the obstacles manufacturers must overcome to attract younger workers entails dispelling misconceptions about the industry. “When people think of manufacturing, they think of old manufacturing centers and their dads coming home covered in soot and dirty and nasty, and that’s not manufacturing in today’s world,” Phelan says. It will also require engendering a public rethink of the viability of trade jobs and the idea that college is the be-all and end-all for everyone. “We all want our kids to go to college and be doctors, lawyers and engineers,” Johnson says. “But there are ways to make a comfortable living as a plumber, electrician or mechanical technician, and those jobs are there. We have to start investing in that segment of the work force, because everybody can’t be a doctor, lawyer or engineer.” Education is seen as key to the effort’s success. “We have to educate the public about manufacturing careers and how well they pay,” Britton says. “It starts with the kids and parents and guidance counselors and teachers. I think everybody is starting to see that.” One of the ways manufacturers are getting the word out is through Manufacturing Day, celebrated nationally in October. It affords parents and kids an opportunity to tour manufacturing facilities and learn firsthand about manufacturing careers. Others are manufacturing career and job fairs, such as the ones colleges sponsor, and presentations before Rotarians, Kiwanians and other community groups. Expectations are that as the economy continues improving and manufacturing grows, the demand for talent will increase. A certainty is that manufacturing will continue evolving and technology increasingly playing a larger role, in turn requiring ever-higher skill sets of workers. A 2012 report by the Institute for Defense Analyses, “Emerging Global Trends in Advanced Manufacturing,” concluded that advanced manufacturing would increasingly “rely less on labor-intensive mechanical processes and more on sophisticated information-technology processes” at a likely accelerating level. Or as Johnson more plainly puts it, “In manufacturing, every year we’re charged with reducing costs and doing more with less.” Which typically translates into greater automation and fewer, if higher-skilled, jobs. “So many people say that machines have taken over the jobs and no jobs are left,” says Anderson, the NWFMC executive director. “Well, for every machine that takes a job, somebody must design, operate and maintain it. So the need for employees hasn’t gone away. It just requires a higher skill set.”

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HALF FULL Northwest Florida’s Glass is More Than

Regional wineries are a close-knit business community with a shared passion BY ZANDRA WOLFGRAM

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HOLLY GARDNER

WINE IS FOR TOASTING. So go ahead and lift a glass to Florida. As it turns out, the Sunshine State has the longest winemaking history in North America — it only makes sense that the vines rooted here predate those in California, the No. 1 producer of wine in America. Winery in Crestview clarifies, “It’s a misconcepAccording to historians, wine and the art of tion to say fruit wines taste overly sweet. Our bluewinemaking emerged with the Europeans on Florberry wine, for example, has a sweetness, but it’s ida’s shores. French Huguenots who settled North not blueberry Kool-Aid.” America around 1562 made wine from the abunIt’s easy to find out if you like Florida wine, dant wild muscadine grapes they found growing because all of the wineries offer free tastings of near the present-day St. Augustine/Jacksonville their wines. In addition to the muscadine varietarea. This is the first recorded reference to wine ies, some harvest Conquistador, a Florida hybrid made from grapes grown in the New World. Since bunch grape, as well as Chardonnay, Merlot and that time, grape growing and wine production in Cabernet Sauvignon. Florida has continued to develop as an industry. Along with fruit wines that showcase Florida’s Fast-forward 450 years, and though the numbounty, from berries to citrus and even mango and ber varies depending on who you ask, according pear, some also make fortified wines such as port to the Florida Department of Agriculture and and sherry, as well as sparkling wine. Consumer Services there are 27 Wine is the core business for the certified wine farms in Florida. The Certified Florida Farm wineries in Northwest Florida, and number rises to nearly three dozen Wineries vary in size though some of them sell wine onif you include retail winery busiof volume output and line, most of the wineries sell direct nesses without farms. the types of wines they produce, including to customers — local residents and Typical wine production is meaindigenous grape varieties visiting tourists — fresh from the sured in gallons, and Florida winalong with exotic and farm from their doorsteps and gift eries range in capacity from 1,000 citrus fruits. Based upon shops. to 75,000 gallons, placing the state the Florida Farm Winery Program, certain criteria Speaking to local winemakers sixth in annual gallons produced in have to be met before reveals them to be a close-knit the United States. becoming certified. circle with a shared passion for the In Northwest Florida, there are sweet (and not so sweet) business currently seven wineries (some cerA WINERY MUST: of harvesting Florida fruit wines. tified wine farms and some retail  Produce or sell less Below is a “tour” of the wineries in businesses) producing and selling than 250,000 gallons of wine annually the Northwest Florida region. Florida wine. As the story goes, after repeated failed attempts to grow  Maintain a minimum of 10 acres of owned Monticello Vineyards & Winery vitis vinifera varietals more ecologior managed vineyards Cynthia Connolly is the real deal cally suitable clones of the indigin Florida … and so is her wine. With a Ph.D. enous muscadine or vitis rotundi Be open to the public in agricultural education and agrifolia were developed, with the help for tours, tastings and cultural engineering, Connolly, 64, of the University of Florida, during sales at least 30 hours though modest about it, is indeed a the 1920s and ’30s. The hearty diseach week wine expert. ease- and pest-resistant muscadine,  Make annual “It was all with a vision to be grown only in Southern climates, application to the Florida right here in this spot,” she says. remains the main grape harvested Department of Agriculture and Consumer “I just had to travel the globe and here. With some of the highest anback to get here.” tioxidants of any grape, muscadine  Services for As a devotee of clean living, she wines have the added bonus of rorecognition as a Certified Florida Farm Winery walks the talk of Monticello Vinebust health benefits. yards & Winery — her certified From the muscadine grape come organic wine farm situated on a several varieties called Carlos, 50-acre farm called Ladybird Organics in the Red Noble and Magnolia. These grapes are, by nature, Hills region of Jefferson County. In fact, like entresweeter than European varieties, and the wines preneur Jacque Perrin of Château de Beaucastel, produced are generally sweeter as well. That said, who was the first winemaker to experiment with winemaker Henry Kelley of Northwest Farms

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organic and biodynamic farming in France’s Southern Rhône Valley at the turn of the 20th century, Connelly was worm casting and composting on her organic farm in 1989, four years before the U.S. Department of Agriculture even developed standards for it. For this vigneron, it’s only natural. “To do something other than organic farm sort of baffles those of us who do it,” she says. “Organic farming is a different system or paradigm. A regular farmer considers what chemicals or fertilizer to apply, while an organic farmer thinks of the system and how to work in harmony with the natural balance of prey and predators to achieve a healthy balance of soil life that is sustainable and really does work.” It’s also curious to Connolly that to earn and keep an organic designation from the state, farmers bear the burden of proof. “We have to spend hours during intense inspections providing affidavits and showing all we are doing, whereas conventional farms don’t have to say what they are doing or reveal how much they are genetically modifying or anything else,” she says. Despite the fact that organic farming is a “a natural marvel” that she hopes will one day be the rule and not the exception, Connolly stays her course and explains that keeping things simple is cost-effective in the long run. Though Florida land is a challenge, understanding the soil leads to healthier plants that yield more fruit. She points to a state-of-the-art irrigation system valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars that stands idle. “I do not irrigate anymore. In fact, I don’t think I have in 10 years,” she says. Though Connelly has a 1,000-gallon wine capacity, she chooses to limit what she grows and sells only what she produces, which is 18 varieties of 100 percent organic fruit wine. Selling wine is about 90 percent of her business. The farm produces other citrus; micro greens; persimmon; pear; other fruits such as mulberries, blueberries and figs; and nuts. When she has time, Connelly supplements with consulting and workshops on vineyard establishment, organic farming, certification and other agriculture-related topics. “I love teaching,” she says. “I am passionate about this, and I love sharing it with other people. It sometimes only takes a few little things for the lights to come on and for people to then begin to get their hands in the soil.”

After 26 years of traveling the globe at various schools and jobs in order to make her vision a reality, Connolly still relishes the challenges Monticello Winery brings. “Farming is a commitment,” she says. “It is not like a dot-com or simply something you pay for like a storefront. It is something from the ground up, and that is a commitment . . . more like a marriage.” Chautauqua Vineyards There is a science to perfecting the art of wine. And since 1990, George Cowie has applied his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in food science from the University of Arkansas to his role of winemaker at Chautauqua Vineyards in Crestview. For Cowie, 50, winemaking is all about the intrinsic connection to the land. “The wine business is agriculture first and foremost,” he says. Having good land in a great location is a bonus, and being located near the off ramp for Interstate 10 and County Road 331, Chautauqua has both. The largest winery in Northwest Florida,

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PHOTOS BY JENNIFER G. PHOTOGRAPHY

AGED TO PERFECTION George Cowie uses 1,980 gallons of barrels for oak aging (opposite page) some wines at his Chautauqua Vinyards (above), the largest winery in Northwest Florida.

Chautauqua uses state-of-the-art European equipment for what Cowie describes as a three-pronged wine business: retail, wholesale and custom grape crushing. The winery was constructed in 1989 and boasts more than 70,000 gallons of temperature-controlled, stainless steel casks and 1,980 gallons of barrels for oak aging. Cowie is particularly proud of the 12,000-liter wine

its revenue comes from leveraging its capital press custom-built for Chautauqua by the investment in equipment to crush between Scharfenberger Company of Germany. 600 and 1,000 tons of grapes each year. “It’s the Mercedes Benz of presses,” he says. “The machine only sees action during It’s also the largest press of its kind east of the crush season, but you own it 365 days a year, Rocky Mountains. and the chillers aren’t used continuously, but Because muscadine grapes grow in clusyou must have them,” Cowie says. “We figters, Cowie says they are easily harvested ure it costs the same if we’re crushing Chauwith a mechanical grape picker. tauqua grapes or someone else’s, so you have “Three men can harvest 30 tons before to use your resources.” lunch,” the winemaker says. The process Cowie says the cost and the uncertainty of moves quickly, and the grapes are pressed the weather in Northwest Florida just prior within hours of being picked to ensure the to harvest time makes the business end of best quality wine. “You can’t make it any winemaking here “daunting,” but when better than it is the moment you pick it,” a customer leaves with a case of Carlos or Cowie says. Noble wine made from muscadine grapes, After crushing and chilling, the juice it’s all worth it. is clarified, cultured wine yeast is added “What’s gratifying to me is that what sells and the fermentation process begins. The the most, what people walk out the door with white wines are generally fermented at cases of, is what grows on Florcool temperatures, around ida soil, in Florida sun, what 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit, we’ve had care of from the to capture aroma and flavor. TRENDS IN WINE ground up. That’s gratifying.” Reds are then fermented “on In 2014, 302 million cases the skins” for several days to of wine were consumed in Three Oaks Winery extract the flavor and color the United States. Three Oaks Winery is located from the skin of the grape. The most popular in Vernon, a small, rural town Red wines usually are fervarietals are: about 30 miles north of Panamented at a cool 70 degrees. 1. Chardonnay ma City and 10 miles south of Both white and red wines 2. Cabernet Sauvignon I-10. It is owned and operated ferment until all sugar is 3. Pinot Grigio by Byron and Lucretia Biddle, converted to alcohol, this it4. Merlot who started the winery in self ending the fermentation 5. Blends 1996 after semi-retiring from process. The wines are then The sweet spot for wine numerous business ventures allowed to settle, and any pricing is $9–$11.99, but back home in Panama City. blending that is done hapAmericans are trading “We sold everything and pens at this stage. Finally, up and spending more on wine. started this farm with a vine the wines are clarified and given to us by one of Byron’s stabilized in preparation for Favorite imported wines viticulturist friends,” Lucretia bottling. Grapes harvested by value include: Biddle says. “Now we have in the fall are made into 1. Italy award-winning wines, and wines, which are typically 2. Australia we do pretty well — one of ready for bottling the fol3. Argentina our customers buys seven lowing spring. 4. Chile 5. France cases of it at a time.” Chautauqua sells about On their 11 acres, the 10,000 total cases of 14 difWine sales have been Biddles grow their own line ferent varieties of wine each growing at a rate of 2 of grapes, including the Conseason. percent to 3 percent per quistador bunch grape and the “For people who are suryear in the U.S. market for the past 21 years. muscadine grape, which proprised to hear there is Florida duces a wine that is smooth to wine, we have a broad prodthe taste and refreshing. The uct line — we have muscaoldest Northwest Florida winery on record, dine wines, but we also have chardonnay, merlot, blueberry and blackberry fruit wines they have the capacity to yield about 3,000 and port, sherry and dessert wine,” Cowie gallons of wine a year. says. “It’s hard to find someone who comes The 70-somethings wholesale to a couthrough who can’t find something they like.” ple of hand-picked local restaurants run Chautauqua sells wholesale to one or two by folks they know, but the bulk of their retail stores, but after wine retail, the bulk of business is direct to consumers. The Biddles

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HOLLY GARDNER

“It’s a hobby right now, but I plan to hire a manager and someone to run it,” he says. At this writing, he also plans to relocate the retail store perhaps to a city that does not currently have a wine retail shop, such as downtown Fort Walton Beach, where Kelley grew up. “My dream is to be a part of the tourism economy,” Kelley says. “People do come here for the beaches, but they eventually come off the beach, and I think this concept will do well there.”

KEEPING IT SMALL Byron Biddle (above and right) and his wife, Lucretia, sold everything they had to begin growing grapes at their 11-acre Three Oaks Winery, which now produces award-winning wines.

usually sell out to tourists from Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee visiting their gift shop, The Grapevine, but due to ongoing road construction, the business is down. “We generally do well, but the traffic has slowed business by 75 percent,” Byron says. “It is supposed to be done by 2017, so we hope to get through until then.” The Biddles say they run a “controlled” farm, meaning they purposely keep it small. Byron enlists his grandson to help during harvest, and the couple counts on fellow wine farmers when they need to. “I have had five businesses, and the camaraderie in the wine businesses is unbelievable,” Lucretia Biddle says. “There is no jealousy. No backbiting. Everyone looks out for one another.” Northwest Farms Winery Henry Kelley may be a new face to wine farming, but after helping Greg Evers’ Akers of Strawberries farm in Crestview part time for years, he’s no stranger to working the land. He purchased the Yellow River Winery from Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles at the beginning of 2015 and has already made a number of changes toward realizing his business goals. The first was to refresh the brand name. “I want Northwest Farms Winery to leverage the local aspect,” he says. “We are lo-

Old Oaks Winery Bridget Keegan began making wine for family and friends from vines on her 10-acre farm in Holmes County more than 25 years ago. In July 2012, Old Oaks Winery became recognized as a Certified Florida Farm Winery. It produces a number of grapes: Blanc du Blois, Champanel, Lomonto, Carlos and Black Spanish. Now, Keegan sells her old family favorites — Pumpkin, Red and White table wines. The Red Table wine is a blend with Champanel, and the White Table wine is a blend made with Riesling. cated in Northwest Florida, and our wines are produced with fruit from this area.” What Kelley isn’t changing is the wine, which sells well. Northwest Farms has capacity for several thousand gallons a year. Although the winery was closed when we caught up with him, Kelley said he had 4,000 bottles ready to be sold. Summer Crush, Feelin’ Peachy and Little Beau Blue are a few of the catchy names of the wines bottled there. And soon there will be a new offering made from the Florida sand pear. “We don’t believe anyone has made wine with it before,” Kelley says. Kelley isn’t quite ready to quit his day job in community affairs for the Okaloosa County School District, so he is managing his winery in the evenings and on weekends.

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

Wineries That Drink in the View Tourism pairs well with wine. In fact, wine tourism is leading the growth of the wine industry in many regions of the country. According to MKF Research — a leading source on the U.S. wine industry — there has been a “dramatic increase in destination wineries and wine trails.” Part of the $90 billion industry includes 30 million wine lovers sipping, swirling and sampling their favorite vintages across the nation. Here in Florida, wineries hope to capitalize on those looking to “drink in” the fruits of the local coastal lifestyle. Two Northwest Florida wine businesses are well positioned to do so. Emerald Coast Wine Cellars, a “sister” retail center for Chautauqua Vineyards & Winery located on

And by all accounts, the market for wine is Scenic Highway 98 in Miramar Beach, and Panama growing. MKF Research reports that all generaCity Beach Winery, located on Thomas Drive, are tional segments are increasing their wine connot wine farms, but both sell award-winning fruit sumption. Because Americans are increasingly wine and hundreds of wine-themed accessories seeking opportunities to socialize, wine has a and custom gift baskets out of their retail shops at high level of consumer value. This translates to enviable locations near the Gulf. retail patterns, meaning you can purchase it in Emerald Coast Wine Cellars, managed by Memore and more locations, includlissa Webster, is a bonded winery ing restaurants, which are increasthat could produce on site but ing their quality of wines (and chooses not to. Instead, the MiraTHE GLASS IS wine lists) to keep up with conmar Beach-based boutique shop HALF FULL FOR sumer demand. is a retail showroom for 16 ChauFLORIDA WINERIES Land in Florida and in towns tauqua wines that range in price Northwest Florida wine is across the United States that was from $7.95 for Emerald Coast Sugar produced by a community network of small once flush with tobacco, cotton Sands white or Emerald Coast Sunbusinesses. They may be and other crops is now a fertile set red to $25.45 for Vanilla Sherry small, but they still make a home to grapevines. By its very and Chocolate Port. You can shop measureable contribution nature, wine and grapes are longfor dozens of wine-related prodto the nation’s fourth term investments and therefore ucts, gadgets and accessories from largest economy. Though potentially offer long-term emmuscadine grape juice, syrup and the industry doesn’t ployment opportunities. Wineries grape seed oil to battery-operated, produce a consistent and vineyards have intense capital lighted wine-bottle stoppers. The annual report, according and credit requirements that can store offers free daily tastings of all to a report commissioned run $15,000 to $35,000 per acre its wines and takes orders for cusby the Florida Grape Grower’s Association depending on the region, grapes tom gift baskets for all occasions. (2011), the wine industry and planting pattern. And with Panama City Beach Winery was pours $895 million into the the first saleable crops not appearopened in 2000 by Kay and Larry economy annually. ing for three or four years, revenue Honeycutt and soon became a remay not be earned from wine sales freshing alternative to the beach. Here are some until one to three years after that. The Honeycutts leverage their place additional Florida wine Add in agricultural risks from in the Sunshine State by proudly fast facts: weather, disease and pests and it’s marketing their approval from the  1,000 acres dedicated an industry relatively few finanFlorida Citrus Commission to use to wineries cial institutions have a comfort the coveted “Florida sunshine tree”  6,417 jobs annually level with. Consequently, beyond label on their citrus wines. The label their grapes, growers and wineries is fitting for their premium special $43 million in local/ have a tough row to hoe. ty wines, which are made from 100 state taxes The future of wine in Northwest percent pure Florida citrus juice.  $51 million in federal taxes Florida, if not the nation, may deIn addition to citrus, Panama City Source: Florida Grape pend on planting seeds — eduBeach also produces wines from baGrower’s Association, 2011 cational seeds. Studies show the nanas, blackberries, carrots and chergrowth of viticulture and oenolories. A newer product is called Cool gy research has not kept pace with the expansion Freeze. Inspired by the beach, Cool Freeze is designed of the industry across the country. as a frozen treat to cool tourists after a day on the waBut with Northwest Florida’s benevolent wineter. All the wines are sold on site and online and can be making experts willing to teach and share, the shipped throughout the country. built-in tourism destination and the increased consumer demand pouring into the market, The Future Looks Sweet for Florida Wine might the region be well positioned to attract a Wine is said to speak of its community and history. few more winemakers in order to sell a bit more If Northwest Florida is any indication, the wine wine before its time? industry here, though small, is still worth raising Unlike manufacturing or service enterprises, a glass to in celebration. Why not? Wine, wine vineyards, once planted, cannot be outsourced to grapes and ancillary industries create employment another country offering cheaper labor, a better and new market opportunities in rural communities. In fact, wine sales in the United States have business climate or tax incentive. Wine is inhergrown by nearly 25 percent since 2001. Florida has ently tied to a particular place. So here’s to winerincreased in the number of wineries by 19 percent, ies literally rooted in Northwest Florida — may according to Wine Growers of America. they grow and prosper.

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TASTE AND TOUR All wineries in Northwest Florida offer free tastings. Some even welcome hands-on help (well, they’ll want you to put your best foot forward, actually) during harvest in late August and early September. In fact, you may just find a full festival under way. Just give them a call before heading their way. CHAUTAUQUA WINERY 364 Hugh Adams Road, DeFuniak Springs (850) 892-5887 Free tasting 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily Handicap accessible. Chautauqua Annual Harvest Festival; Oct. 17, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. EMERALD COAST WINE CELLARS 1708 Scenic Highway 98 East, Destin (850) 837-9500 10 a.m.–6 p.m. daily Custom wine-themed gift baskets available. MONTICELLO VINEYARDS & WINERY 1211 Waukeenah Highway, Monticello (850) 294-WINE (850-294-9463) 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, Monday Aug. 28–29, red grape harvest Sept. 4–5, white grape harvest Call for appointment time. Monticello Annual Harvest Festival; Oct. 24–25, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. NORTHWEST FLORIDA FARMS WINERY 212 Main St., Crestview TBD New location TBD by Henry Kelley (850) 371-0089 OLD OAKS WINERY 1536 Will Lee Road, Bonifay (850) 547-2254 8 a.m.– 6 p.m. Thursday–Saturday PANAMA CITY BEACH WINERY 8740 Thomas Drive, Panama City Beach (850) 233-5950 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Saturday, noon–5 p.m. Sunday Order wine products online at pcbwinery.com. THREE OAKS WINERY 3348 Highway 79, Vernon (850) 535-9463 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Wednesday–Saturday Tours of the winery facility are available by request.

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Walton Area

Chamber

Building a Community of Opportunities where you can Connect, Grow and Succeed!

BUILD Mentoring Council provides quality professional development and training for our area’s emerging leaders and entrepreneurs. It is ideal for motivated individuals seeking to make a greater impact on their organization and community.

IMPACT Mentoring Program connects aspiring leaders with community mentors. It begins with a comprehensive assessment, identifying areas where one-on-one coaching can best enhance your professional and leadership skills. You’re then matched with a mentor whose proven record of success will help you reach your civic and professional goals.

SOAR Entrepreneurial Leadership Series connects start-up and intermediate business owners with seasoned CEOs in a series of panel luncheons and meetings. Learn firsthand how these top-level mentors navigated the challenges of business ownership, including business strategy and planning; financial management; marketing, advertising and social media; human resources; and legal issues and law compliance. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

The Walton Area Chamber offers professional development opportunities including the BUILD, IMPACT and SOAR initiatives. New series begin in September. WaltonAreaChamber.com • Contact Kellie Jo Kilberg at 850.267.0683 / kelliejo@waltonareachamber.com 63 S. Centre Trail, Santa Rosa Beach • 95 Circle Drive, DeFuniak Springs 34 | AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

S P E C I A L A DV E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N

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

PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

S P E C I A L A DV E RT I S I NG S E C T I O N

SOUTHERN MEDIA INC.

JIM GRIMES, SR., PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER P. O . B O X 1 5 5 0 7, P E N S AC O L A

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S OUT H E R N M E D I A I N C . C O M

Southern Media account executive Jim Grimes, Jr. shown with father, founder and president Jim Grimes, Sr. Not pictured: Creative director Michael Kenney

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PROVIDE? We are a full-service advertising agency. We provide competitive and effective creative in all print, online, broadcast and radio media. Our creative is guided by the diverse experiences of our creative team and the extensive resources at our disposal. We are a research-driven advertising agency that makes intelligent decisions with our clients’ dollars. WHAT SETS YOUR BUSINESS APART? We maintain excellent relationships with the media we do business with and we have respect from the people we buy from. We employ some of the most talented and creative people in the industry. Once we sign a client, because of our performance and service, they don’t leave.

WHAT TRAINING HAVE YOU HAD? I have 36 years of experience in all aspects of television broadcasting. I have served as president and general manager of seven television stations. I opened SMI in March of 2000. WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? Developing solid partnerships with clients. I enjoy watching them grow and develop advertising strategies that work for them. Southern Media upholds the company pledge to our clients: We pledge to serve every customer with the highest level of sincerity, fairness, courtesy, respect and gratitude, delivered with unparalleled responsiveness, expertise, efficiency and accuracy. We will offer the finest personal service and products delivered by caring team members who take responsibility for meeting the needs and goals of our customers.

“We are committed to providing our clients with high quality creative, effective budget and strategic planning, reasonable pricing and a lasting partnership. It’s not rocket science. It is common sense. Our clients always come first. In 15 years, we have never lost a client based on performance.”

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

STEARNS WEAVER MILLER WEISSLER ALHADEFF & SITTERSON, P.A. 10 6 E . C O L L E G E AV E . , S T E . 7 2 0

| TA L L A H A S S E E

(850) 580-7200

S T E A R N S W E AV E R . C O M

Located at the crossroads of government and commerce, Stearns Weaver Miller’s Tallahassee team is positioned to navigate clients’ legal and business issues. With offices throughout Florida, the firm offers full-service counsel to clients from the Panhandle to the Keys and beyond. From small start-up ventures to some of the largest multinational corporations in the world, the firm is proud to represent many of the businesses that have contributed to Florida’s growth.

RICHARD I. BLINDERMAN

REGGIE L. BOUTHILLIER

GLENN BURHANS

KENNETH B. METCALF*

BRIDGET SMITHA

REAL ESTATE

LAND DEVELOPMENT, ZONING & ENVIRONMENTAL; GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

LITIGATION

LAND DEVELOPMENT, ZONING & ENVIRONMENTAL; GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

LITIGATION

*Nonlawyer Director of Planning

GIS ANALYSIS & MAPPING We have added in-house expertise in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) data management, analysis, mapping and CAD to complement the services provided by our statewide Land Development, Zoning and Environmental team.

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

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PATIENTS FIRST

BRIAN S. WEBB, PRESIDENT & CEO 7 C O N V E N I E N T TA L L A H A S S E E L O C AT I O N S

(850) 668-3380

PAT I E N T S F I R S T. C O M

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PROVIDE? At Patients First, we provide family medicine and urgent care services at seven locations in Tallahassee. We also offer a comprehensive array of employer health and occupational medicine services. Our motto has always been, “When you need a doctor, not an appointment.” HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN BUSINESS? Serving Tallahassee since 1989, Patients First has provided quality health care for more than 25 years WHAT IS THE SECRET OF YOUR BUSINESS OR PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS? Our providers and our dedicated team exemplify the highest quality of medical care. Catering to families, students, employers and visitors, we strive to deliver a quality medical experience for all of our patients. Our entire staff takes pride in helping people who are either injured or ill. Furthermore, our full scope of family medicine services focuses on preventive care as well as treatment.

MATT BURKE

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? I would have to say the opportunity to make a difference with both employee’s and patient’s lives by providing exceptional care within a positive work environment. The satisfaction of developing and leading an organization that is committed to the Tallahassee community is certainly something I am extremely proud of. WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF PATIENTS FIRST? My vision is to further expand and improve as we continue to fill this critical marketplace niche. Our longstanding history and track record of providing convenient, quality and affordable primary and urgent care have resulted in a dominant position in the region as well as giving us a following of established, loyal patients. By offering a unique blend of services with an emphasis on always putting the patient first, we will hopefully continue to be a respected leader within our community.

“We put your family in our family medicine.”

2014 | 850businessmagazine.com | AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

AMERIS BANK

S T E V E N L O H B E C K , V I C E P R E S I D E N T, C O M M E R C I A L B A N K I N G 1 5 0 S . M O N R O E S T. , TA L L A H A S S E E

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AMERISBANK.COM

AREAS OF SPECIALTY: Ameris Bank offers commercial banking solutions, including SBA lending, cash management services, traditional retail products, specialty banking products and wealth management services. My specialties are focused in two areas. First, the commercial real estate platform has allowed me to finance retail centers, apartments, hotels, office parks and many other projects. My second focus involves catering to the growing business community. I feel a great sense of pride when my clients and I start with an idea and end with a complete product that helps them succeed in their business. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY OR STRATEGY? At Ameris Bank, compared to most other financial institutions, we bring something different to our clients. Our expertise and progressive suite of products uniquely position us to offer services typically found at larger institutions while we also give our clients the one-onone attention they deserve. We are committed to providing businesses with solutions needed to succeed.

LAWRENCE DAVIDSON

WHAT IS THE “SECRET” OF YOUR BUSINESS OR PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS? The secret is simple: trust and relationships. I strive to become part of each client’s team. Whether advising them on long-term strategy or simply helping plan the purchase of a new piece of equipment, I am accessible at any time of the day and will always work in the best interest of the client. HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS? The best way for me to measure success is client satisfaction that leads to referrals and repeat business. In today’s competitive banking environment a customer has endless financing opportunities. I know that I am doing a good job when my clients achieve their goals and continue our relationship. At the end of the day, if my customer does not succeed, I don’t succeed.

“In today’s competitive banking environment a customer has endless financing opportunities. I know that I am doing a good job when my clients achieve their goals and continue our relationship.” 850 Business Magazine

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

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HOWARD HOSPITALITY |

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KANSAS PITTS

10 0 G R A N D B O U L E VA R D , M I R A M A R B E AC H

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PROVIDE? Howard Hospitality, a division of Howard Group, is a hotel management company. The Destin/ South Walton hotels we manage provide superior lodging options for business and leisure travelers visiting our beautiful area. With an innovative mindset toward staff training and guest experience, the properties managed by Howard Hospitality thrive in our market and in today’s fast paced travel industry. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN BUSINESS? The Courtyard and Residence Inn by Marriott Sandestin at Grand Boulevard opened its doors to travelers in 2006 and have been managed by Howard Hospitality since 2012. WHAT SETS YOUR BUSINESS APART? Howard Hospitality is honored to be a leader in hotels for staff service and guest satisfaction. Both the Residence Inn and Courtyard have been recognized by Marriott for outstanding guest satisfaction scores for 2014. Both properties were awarded the 2015 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence and were

inducted into the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame for five consecutive years of outstanding reviews. Earlier this year, Marriott International recognized Tania Koehler, General Manager of the Courtyard and Residence Inn at Grand Boulevard, with the 2014 Diamond General Manager award for both the Courtyard and Residence Inn brands. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR LOCATION? The Grand Boulevard Town Center fosters an all-inclusive environment in which we are proud to be a part. Our hotels are only steps away from the best dining, shopping and entertainment in the area. WHAT IMPACT DOES YOUR BUSINESS MAKE IN THE COMMUNITY? Howard Hospitality is grateful to be able to dedicate time and resources toward helping our community in a variety of ways. We have recently partnered with local charity initiative Food For Thought to raise awareness about and help fight child hunger in our area. While Food For Thought is our primary charity partnership, we also support a variety of other organizations.

“As a company, we absolutely believe in the concept of taking care of both our internal and external guests. Through valuing the relationships we create, we are able to serve the individuals visiting the hotel as well as our employees.”

2014 | 850businessmagazine.com | AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

AWARDS4U

SA M VA R N , OW N E R , P R E S I D E NT, Z E N MAST E R O F R ECOGNITION WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PROVIDE? We provide products that make people feel good about their accomplishments! We are a manufacturer/retailer of awards and recognition products. We also provide a vast array of promotional products for brand reinforcement or event promotion. WHAT SETS YOUR BUSINESS APART? Everyone says it, but I really believe it is our people. It all starts there. We have extremely loyal and dedicated staff members who truly believe that recognition is important. They want to make that recognition special, and their desire is reflected in our customer service and the quality of our products.

ALICIA OSBORNE

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? I simply love my staff and our customers. Our customers are the best, and we catch them at a time when they are doing something good for someone else. I think they feel good when they’re working with us, and it’s our job to make them look good in the eyes of their boss or just the recipient of their award. We really do touch people’s lives every day. It doesn’t get better than that! WHAT IMPACT DOES YOUR BUSINESS MAKE IN THE COMMUNITY? We contribute to countless organizations through door prizes, donations and sponsorships. We are most proud of our school medallion programs. These programs, in every high school in Leon County, offer a no-cost opportunity for the schools to recognize up to 100 of their students that might ordinarily get overlooked. We’ve done this program since 1988 and believe that almost 10,000 students have enjoyed their moment of recognition. 1 3 8 7 E . L A FAY E T T E S T. , TA L L A H A S S E E ( 8 5 0 ) 8 7 8 - 7 18 7 | AWA R D S 4 U. C O M

SIX PILLARS FINANCIAL ADVISORS/ FIRST COMMERCE INSURANCE AGENCY

JO HN MEDINA, PR ESI DENT AN D JEFF ASKI N S, C F P ® , S E N I O R V I C E P R E S I D E NT — TA L L A H AS S E E , F L WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PROVIDE? At Six Pillars, we understand that businesses, their leaders and their employees need professional guidance in planning for the future. Our trusted advisors provide a wide range of financial planning, insurance and investment services that include retirement planning and rollovers, succession planning, employee benefit plans, risk management, commercial and personal insurance, workers’ compensation and more. DESCRIBE YOUR BUSINESS PRACTICE. A subsidiary of First Commerce, which offers business and consumer banking services, we share in the goal of being your financial partner for life by providing holistic strategies. WHAT SETS YOUR BUSINESS APART? Six Pillars is committed to supporting our clients’ tallest ambitions, while keeping them secure in their foundations. We are proud to have been voted the “Best Financial Advisor” by the readers of Tallahassee Magazine for two years in a row.

SCOTT HOLSTEIN

10 L O C AT I O N S – TA L L A H A S S E E , M A R I A N N A , T H O M A S V I L L E ( 8 5 0 ) 4 10 - 3 5 6 8 | S I X P I L L A R S FA . C O M J M E D I N A @ S I X P I L L A R S FA . C O M | JA S K I N S @ S I X P I L L A R S FA . C O M Six Pillars Financial Advisors is not NCUA Insured. Not credit union guaranteed. May lose value. Not NCUA Insured Not Credit Union Guaranteed May Lose Value Securities and Advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. Insurance products offered through LPL Financial or its licensed affiliates.

850 Business Magazine

2014 | 41 | AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015

PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

S P E C I A L A DV E RT I S I NG S E C T I O N

BELTONE HEARING CENTER S HA R ON YORDON, HAS, BC- HI S, N O RTH FLO RI DA R E TA I L MA N AG E R A N D GR EG ORY YORDON, H AS, BC- HI S, M S, BOARD CE RT I F I E D H E A R I N G A I D S P E C I A L I ST Beltone Hearing Centers provide hearing evaluations and also dispense and service hearing aids. They offer assistive listening devices, batteries, noise plugs, swim plugs and wireless accessories for the hearing aid, including remote controls, phone links, MyPal and TV links that can communicate wirelessly with iPhones or iPods, as well as some Android phones. Three generations of the Yordon family have served the hearing impaired. Sharon and Gregory are both Nationally Board Certified Hearing Aid Specialists with 57 years of combined experience. Sharon has a BS in speech pathology and audiology, and Gregory has an MS in counseling psychology. They operate eight Beltone locations throughout Northwest Florida, along with their son and daughter-in-law. The best part of their job is helping people across the Panhandle enjoy the sounds of life through better hearing. It is rewarding to help a grandparent hear a grandchild for the first time, or to help someone hear a spouse or child again. Hearing aids continue to improve. They are smaller and create more natural sound. At Beltone, they strive to keep up with the needs of their patients through improved technology, continuing education and working with your doctor. 10 3 1 W. 2 3 R D S T. , S U I T E A , PA N A M A C I T Y ( 8 7 7 ) 6 0 8 - H E A R ( 4 3 2 7 ) | B E LTO N E . C O M

THE SLEEP CENTER

R I C H A R D B R A N H A M, STO R E OW N E R WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PROVIDE? We offer affordable, name-brand mattresses, daybeds, futons and adjustable beds in a non-pressure atmosphere. We provide professional customer service and will install your new mattress set and remove the old one. WHAT SETS YOUR BUSINESS APART? We ensure our customers get exactly what they need, unlike most of our competitors who focus on what they want to sell. This creates a relationship of trust between our staff and our customers, which grows our return business tremendously. Word of mouth is huge in our area, so we work to make a great impression from the time the customer first meets a member of our sales team to the time that delivery service is leaving his driveway. We go above and beyond to create a positive and fun shopping experience.

HOLLY GARDNER

WHAT TRAINING HAVE YOU HAD? We receive extensive, hands-on professional training by each company at least twice a year. This is very important to us because we don’t want to just sell a mattress. We want to make sure each customer gets what is best for them.

2014 | 850businessmagazine.com | AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? Being able to help make our community a better place. We work closely with multiple charities in our area, including Covenant Hospice, Anchorage Children’s Home and Food4Kidz. 1 8 3 0 W. 2 3 R D S T. , PA N A M A C I T Y ( 8 5 0 ) 7 8 5 - 0 9 10 | T H E S L E E P C E N T E R . I N F O

PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

S P E C I A L A DV E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N

EYE CENTER OF NORTH FLORIDA

This surgery center is the largest “single specialty” surgery center in our region and hosts a staff of “eye care only” surgical nurses. The Eye Center of North Florida offers a full service eye care practice covering all areas of optometry, ophthalmology and low vision rehabilitation. Each location has a complete optical shop and contact lens department in addition to the optometry and ophthalmology clinics. Our contact lens department is like no other in the area. Dr. Edinger, our low vision specialist, is the Southeast’s only physician able to put hard-to-fit contact lens wearers in the EyePrint Pro custom fitting contacts. The Eye Center of North Florida has a proven reputation for serving the Emerald Coast area with the highest standards of eye care.

HOLLY GARDNER

The Eye Center of North Florida was formed in 1999 following the merger of two of the most trusted long-term eye care practices in the Florida Panhandle: Newberry Eye Clinic and Gulf Coast Eye Clinic. Since then, The Eye Center of North Florida has grown and now has four offices, over 100 employees and an AAAHC accredited in-house ambulatory surgery center.

( 8 0 0 ) 7 7 8 - 3 9 3 7 | E Y E C A R E N OW. C O M | 2 5 0 0 M A R T I N L U T H E R K I N G J R . B LV D . , PA N A M A C I T Y | ( 8 5 0 ) 7 8 4 - 3 9 3 7 10 9 0 0 H U T C H I S O N B LV D . , PA N A M A C I T Y B E AC H | ( 8 5 0 ) 2 3 4 - 1 8 2 9 5 2 8 C E C I L G . C O S T I N S R . B LV D . # B , P O R T S T. J O E ( 8 5 0 ) 2 2 7 - 7 2 6 6 | 1 4 0 0 M A I N S T. , C H I P L E Y | ( 8 5 0 ) 6 3 8 - 7 3 3 3

RJ YOUNG COMPANY C H R I S B E T H E A , SA L E S MA N AG E R

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PROVIDE? Solutions to securely manage paper and digital information, maintain vital information technology systems and empower businesses with leading printing and copying technologies, including 3-D printing and managed print services. WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY CONSIST OF FOR YOU? Consulting with customers and prospective customers on strategies to improve efficiency and productivity in their businesses. A goal is to show them how their copier, or multifunctional printer, is an on-ramp to digital information management rather than “just a copier.” WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR LOCATION? Florida is a growing market with unlimited potential. RJ Young brings a unique product to the table by offering solutions for many of today’s business challenges under one roof to ensure business managers and owners are successful. Many customers in Florida today have to contract with multiple partners to accomplish the goals that RJY can provide in one stop. WHAT TRAINING HAVE YOU HAD? Our teams are consistently going through various training from our manufacturing partners such as Ricoh USA, Canon USA, Samsung, Lexmark and more, to be certified to service their products. Our solutions and IT teams retain multiple certifications and complete ongoing training programs to stay on top of software and information technology systems. 2 5 W. C E DA R S T. , P E N S AC O L A

(850) 433-8655

850 Business Magazine

R J YO U N G . C O M

2014 | 43 | AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015

PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

S P E C I A L A DV E RT I S I NG S E C T I O N

INSPIRED TECHNOLOGIES

M A N A G I N G PA R T N E R S : N I C K R O U TA , C R A I G G O O D S O N , P H I L L I P S H O E M A K E R |

(850)

402-3700

INSPIRED-TECH.NET

ALICIA OSBORNE

3 0 5 8 H I G H L A N D OA K S T E R R AC E , TA L L A H A S S E E

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PROVIDE? We are an all-inclusive technology firm that provides consulting, wireless, telecom and managed services. As a managed services provider, we allow businesses to offload IT operations and support at a flat-rate price. WHAT TRAINING HAVE YOU HAD? Our industry knowledge and training in each of our service areas is second to none. We pride ourselves on staying current in industry trends, safety standards and certifications. WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? Without a doubt, building and cultivating our relationships with clients. The excitement of offering the diverse set of services that we do at Inspired allows us to collaborate

with a very diverse client base and challenges us to excel in multiple business environments. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR YOUR BUSINESS? Opportunity. We work every day to provide new opportunities for our clients, for our team of employees and for the communities we serve. We’ve been able to achieve this by assembling an exceptional team and building excellent long-term relationships in the 850 market that we call home. That opportunity is what we will continue to provide and it’s what defines Inspired Technologies.

“We pride ourselves on staying current in industry trends, safety standards and certifications.”

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

BUSINESS NEWS

CAPITAL NEW BEGINNINGS

» Al Basford has been named

vice president and commercial lender for Tallahassee State Bank, a division of Synovus Bank, and Patricia Griffin has been named branch manager of the Capital Circle branch.

» Thomas Howell Ferguson

P.A., a professional accounting, assurance and tax services firm headquartered in Tallahassee, has welcomed Leigh Jenkins, CPA, as the new Assurance Services Department manager. Melissa Myers and Allan Franklin III are also new additions to the department.

» Michael Hardine in July took

over as interim dean of the Florida State University College of Business to replace the departing Caryn L. Beck-Dudley. Hardine, who joined FSU in 2001, had been associate dean for strategic initiatives.

» Chris Cate is the new vice

president of corporate communications for 180 Communications, a Tallahassee-based public relations firm.

» Hoy + Stark Archi-

tects have chosen Erika Hagan as an additional partner in the company. Hagan, also serving as vice HAGAN president, became a registered architect in March 2014.

» Fiore Communications, a full-

service marketing firm based in Tallahassee, has hired Robby Cunningham, APR, as senior account manager to oversee major client activities and provide strategic content development. The company also opened its first satellite office in Duluth, Minnesota, which is being managed by digital marketing strategist Liz Kossakowski.

» Wilson & Associates LLC, a

Tallahassee-based lobbying and association management firm specializing in the fields of energy, infrastructure, construction and defense, has added Jennifer Hatfield as vice president of regulatory affairs.

» Mindy Perkins

has assumed the role of president of VR Systems, a leading elections management technology PERKINS provider. Perkins, who has been with the company for 14 years, previously served as executive vice president.

» Tallahassee Community Col-

lege has selected Barbara Wills as the vice president of administrative services. She previously worked as an assistant superintendent with Leon County Schools.

JENKINS

MYERS

FRANKLIN III

» Greg Martin has joined the

public sector practice of North Highland, a global managementconsulting firm. He will be based in the Tallahassee office.

» J. Cameron Yar-

brough has joined the Gunster law firm as a government affairs consultant in the Tallahassee office. YARBROUGH

» Ameris Bank has named Vicky

Shetty, CTP, as vice president and regional treasury solutions officer. She will work with business clients to provide customized treasury management solutions.

» Courtney Schoen has been

named coordinator of the City of Tallahassee’s Think About Personal Pollution (TAPP) program.

» Will Davis has

been promoted to senior lender and vice president of Commercial Lending at Centennial Bank and will oversee the comDAVIS mercial lending team in the Tallahassee/ Quincy market. Park Broome, formerly with First Commerce Credit Union, has joined the Centennial BROOME team as a vice president of Commercial Lending. Both will be working out of the Betton Branch.

LOCAL HONORS

» The Datamaxx Group, led by

CEO, President and Co-founder Kay Stephenson, was named one of Florida’s 2015 Top Women-Led Businesses by The Commonwealth Institute, a distinction earned for nine consecutive years. The rankings are based

SOUNDBYTES

on an annual survey distributed to roughly 5,000 businesses in Florida and analysis of survey responses by Kaufman Rossin, a South Florida accounting firm. Datamaxx ranked 27th and was the only Northwest Florida-based company included on the list.

» City of Tallahassee Underground Utilities, with 376 employees and one of the largest departments in the capital city’s government, has received the Governor’s Sterling Award for 2015 for its leadership in efficiency. It is the first public utility in Florida to earn the honor. » Bevis Funeral Home was se-

lected as the “Chamber Business of the Year” when The Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce announced its winners of the 2015 Chamber Awards. Other winners: The Highland Gardener — Entrepreneurial Start Up of the Year; Southern Scholarship Foundation — NonProfit of the Year; Sweat Therapy Fitness — Locally Owned Business of the Year; Bevis Funeral Home — Service Business of the Year; Full Press Apparel — Manufacturer of the Year; United Solutions Company — Technology and Innovation.

» Proper Channel Inc. and Stadium Runner, LLC, were selected as the 2015 recipients for the Elevator Pitch Night Technology Commercialization Grant program of the Leon County Research and Development Authority. Proper Channel, which took home first place and a $15,000 prize, is creating a tool that offers a visual front end for an environment’s knowledge database. Stadium Runner, awarded a $10,000 second place prize, is creating a robust logistical delivery system for food service operators on college campuses. » John Medina, president, Investments and Insurance of First Commerce Credit Union, has been appointed to a one-year term as the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Tallahassee Regional Board Chair. » Jon Harris Maurer, 29, has joined Equality Florida as the youngest member of the board. Maurer is an MAURER attorney specializing in environmental, energy and regulatory law with the Tallahassee law firm of Hopping Greens & Sams. 850 Business Magazine

» Tallahassee Community College has been named one of the 2015 Promising Places to Work in Community Colleges by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development. This designation recognizes the college for its commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. Only 16 colleges nationwide received this honor. » O’Dwyer’s, the nation’s leading PR industry news source, has identified Sachs Media Group as Florida’s top-growing integrated marketing, public relations and public affairs firm. Sachs recorded a 20.8 percent growth last year and earned top rankings as the No. 1 firm in the southeastern United States for environmental and public affairs PR and for financial PR. The firm was also ranked No. 2 in Florida for health care PR. » Florida State University has

been ranked the No. 8 online college in the United States in TheBestSchools.org’s 50 Best Online Colleges for 2015–2016.

» Peter Antonacci, former general counsel to Gov. Rick Scott and current shareholder in GrayRobinson’s ANTONACCI Tallahassee office, and Matthew Z. Leopold of the Carlton Fields Jorden Burt law firm, have been appointed to serve on the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission. » Summit Bank and Panhandle Educators Federal Credit Union are listed by DepositAccounts in the 2015 edition of its Top 200 Healthiest Banks/Credit Unions in America. » The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship in the Florida State University College of Business has HARRELL appointed Allison Harrell, a shareholder with the Tallahassee accounting firm of Thomas Howell Ferguson P.A., to its North Florida Outreach Fellows Program. » The Florida Bar in June honored 196 attorneys for 50 years of dedication to the practice of law — including six from Tallahassee: Hon. Donald R. Alexander, John R. Beranek, Ralph C. Datillio, Robert R. Feagin III, William Guy McKenzie Jr. and John Shaffner Slye. | AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 45

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| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

BUSINESS NEWS LOCAL HAPPENINGS

» Tallahassee Community

College is offering an Associate in Science degree program in pharmacy management beginning this fall.

» Home2 Suites by Hilton

has officially broken ground at Magnolia Grove. Slated for completion this fall, it is located at the southwest corner of Magnolia Drive and Park Avenue East and will cater to business travelers and extended-stay guests. It is the company’s first in Tallahassee.

APPOINTED BY GOV. SCOTT

» Stacy Gromatski and Michael

Howard, both of Tallahassee, to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency State Advisory Group. Gromatski, 52, is president and chief executive officer of the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services. Howard, 21, of Tallahassee, is a student at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

» Dwayne Maddron, 54, of Tal-

lahassee, a portfolio manager with Capital City Trust Company, as chair of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency State Advisory Group.

» The Rev. Marcus Smith, 33, of

Gretna, deputy manager of the Office for Prevention and Victim Services for the Department of Juvenile Justice and the senior pastor and president of Beulah Hill Missionary Baptist Church, to the Florida Faith-Based and Community-Based Advisory Council.

» Thomas D. “Bo” Winokur, 49, of Tallahassee, who has served as assistant general counsel for the Executive Office of the Governor since 2011, to the First District Court of Appeal.

PHOTOS BY ROVIDED BY PROFILED INDIVIDUALS

EMERALD COAST NEW BEGINNINGS

» David M. Joyner,

M.D., has been selected as senior vice president and executive director of the Andrews JOYNER Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine. He is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Andrews Institute, including phy-

sician alignment, strategic business partnerships and affiliations, branding and recruitment.

» Brian Wood has assumed the

role of gallery director for Justin Gaffrey, overseeing all operations in the Blue Mountain Beach gallery, supporting new brand initiatives and facilitating national and international sales.

» Stan Connally, president

and CEO of Gulf Power Company, has been appointed to a one-year term as the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Central Panhandle Regional Chair. He is one of 12 regional chairs who will work with local business leaders and state legislators to highlight business issues.

» Javier Rosa, a more

than 20-year veteran of the culinary industry, has been named the new executive chef at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.

ROSA

» The University of West Florida has established the Center for Research and Economic Opportunity by merging the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and the Office of Economic Development and Engagement. The new center will be led by Rick Harper, the newly named associate vice president for research and economic opportunity. LOCAL HONORS

» The Florida Bar this summer

honored 196 attorneys — including seven from the First Circuit — for 50 years of dedication to the practice of law. The local honorees were: C. Ledon Anchors Jr., Fort Walton Beach; Joe Ladon Dewrell, Shalimar; Anthony F. Mielczarski Jr., Henry Clay Mitchell Jr., H. Edward Moore Jr. and Robert Leslie Stone of Pensacola; and William Stephen Westermann, Destin.

» The “Running Man” robot de-

signed by a team from the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola took second place in the June DARPA Robotics Challenge in California. IHMC, the top U.S. contender, took home a $1 million prize.

» Ken Naylor has been named

a senior vice president and commercial banker at Coastal Bank and Trust, a division of Synovus Bank, in Pensacola.

SOUNDBYTES

» The Combined Rotary Clubs of

Pensacola and the University of West Florida College of Business named Michael Murdoch, CEO of AppRiver, and Heidi Blair, director of USO Northwest Florida, as the 2015 recipients of the Annual Ethics in Business Award.

» Ideaworks, a digital marketing and public relations firm based in Pensacola, has been recognized by Google as an AdWords partner agency. Three Ideaworks employees — Brittany Miller, Stephan Vance and Searcy Sledge — were also recognized as AdWords-certified professionals, meaning they have passed multiple exams assessing their expertise on Google’s digital products. » Two Pensacola Beach hotels recently received Awards of Excellence from the world’s largest travel site. Holiday Inn Express Pensacola Beach and Margaritaville Beach Hotel were inducted into the 2015 Hall of Fame by TripAdvisor in May. » Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa and Seagar’s Prime Steaks and Seafood — the longest-standing AAA FourDiamond restaurant in Florida’s Panhandle — have received the 2015 Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor. This is the fifth consecutive year Seagar’s received the award, automatically placing it into the TripAdvisor 2015 Hall of Fame. » Destin’s Beachside Inn, managed by Newman-Dailey Resort Properties, earned the TripAdvisor Award of Excellence for the third consecutive year with an average review ranking of 4.5 out of five stars by guests during the past year. » Pensacola Bayfront Stadium has been ranked among the Top 25 Best Ballparks in the Minors by Baseball America sports magazine and website.

» Each year, Fort Walton Beach Medical Center honors a physician, employee and volunteer with its HCA Awards of Distinction. The 2015 winners of the Frist Humanitarian Awards are Dr. Eric Duffy, Priscilla Moore and Mariece Herring. The honoree of the Excellence in Nursing Award, celebrating the extraordinary clinical and compassionate care delivered by nurses every day, is Christine Ketnick.

MARIECE HERRING, CHRISTINE KETNICK, PRISCILLA MOORE AND DR. ERIC DUFFY

» TOPS’L Beach & Racquet Resort in Miramar Beach, a property managed by the ResortQuest brand of Wyndham Vacation Rentals, was recently named a Gold Medal Resort by Tennis Resorts Online. » Café Thirty-A in Santa Rosa Beach has been recognized as a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Hall of Fame winner. The award celebrates excellence in hospitality. » Pensacola’s Saenger Theatre has received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award. » Fort Walton Beach Medical Center and Twin Cities Hospital have been recognized for their dedication to patient safety by being awarded “A” grades in the Spring 2015 Hospital Safety Score, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from preventable medical errors, injuries and infections within the hospital. LOCAL HAPPENINGS

» Air Force Col. Christopher P.

» Which Wich and Smashburger are opening in the recently completed expansion area of Destin Commons, boosting to 16 the outdoor lifestyle center’s dining options.

» Gulf Winds Federal Credit Union, Pensacola and Tallahassee, has earned a five-star rating from the nation’s credit union rating firm, BAUERFINANCIAL INC. of Coral Gables, for 84 consecutive quarters.

APPOINTED BY GOV. SCOTT

Azzano became commander of the 96th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base in June and was nominated for the rank of brigadier general.

850 Business Magazine

» Charles Clary, 64, of Destin, an architect with DAG Architects and a former Florida state senator, to the Board of Directors of Florida Health Choices Inc. | AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 47

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BUSINESS NEWS

SOUNDBYTES

» Coleman Lee Robinson, 44,

of Pensacola, who has served as an assistant state attorney for the First Judicial Circuit since 1994, to the First Judicial Circuit Court.

» Martha Tutchtone, 36, of

Gulf Breeze, human resources director for Gulf Power Company, to the Early Learning Coalition of Escambia County.

BAY LOCAL HONORS

» DeTect Inc., a fully integrated

radar company headquartered in Panama City, received the Inaugural Gulf Coast Trade Alliance Export Achievement Award for the State of Florida. Since its founding in 2003, DeTect has delivered over 260 of its radar systems worldwide with over 55 percent of its Florida and Colorado manufactured products being exported. The company is the world leader in advanced bird radar technologies for realtime aircraft-bird strike avoidance, wind energy bird and bat mortality risk mitigation, and industrial bird control. More than 140 of its MERLINTM bird radars operate in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia.

LOCAL HAPPENINGS

» Oceaneering International, as part of a consortium with GE Oil & Gas, has secured a contract that added over $100 million to its Subsea Products backlog. Plans are to manufacture the product at Port Panama City. A 10-year tenant of the port, the company currently employs more than 200 workers in Panama City and is a major contributor to the port’s $1 billion annual economic impact.

PHOTOS BY ROVIDED BY PROFILED INDIVIDUALS

» The new Applied Welding

Technologies Lab opened at Tom P. Haney Technical Center in May. The new lab features 8,000 square feet of combined hands-on instructional and classroom space. The program has 50 welding booths, a hydraulic metal brake, computer-controlled plasma system, two Vertex Weld Simulators, an Educational Robotic Welding Cell as well as the latest state-of-the-art ventilation system.

NEW BEGINNINGS

» Carol Edwards, an FSU alumna, has been chosen as the new dean of Florida State University Panama City. She came from Texas Tech University where she served as the dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Edwards earned her doctorate in art education from FSU. » Panama City banker Greg Seymour is the new vice president of commercial lending for Hancock Bank in Bay County.

SEYMOUR

» Catherine Collins has joined the The Resort Collection of Panama City Beach as marketing manager. She previously worked as the events director for the Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce.

I-10 LOCAL HAPPENINGS

» Marianna-based Farm Credit of Northwest Florida is returning $2 million in profits to nearly 850 members who primarily live, operate or own farms in the rural communities of the region. The refund is the equivalent of approximately 15.6 percent of the interest earned on each member’s loan during the last year and is paid entirely in cash.

FARM CREDIT OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA

» Ameris Bancorp, the parent company of Ameris Bank, has acquired 18 Bank of America locations throughout southern Georgia and northern Florida. The new locations include banking centers in Blountstown and Defuniak Springs. APPOINTED BY GOV. SCOTT

» Thomas Kinchen, 68, of Graceville, president of the Baptist College of Florida, to the Commission for Independent Education.

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850 Business Magazine

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| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

2015 BUSINESS JOUR NA L

GADSDEN COUNTY

AN 850 BUSINESS MAGAZINE SPECIAL REPORT

Empowering our community the cooperative way Talquin Electric Cooperative has provided reliable utility service to Gadsden County for 75 years, including electric, water and wastewater services. We are open for Business! Our management team is ready 24/7 to meet your utility needs.

talquinelectric.com 2 / 2015 G A D S D E N C O U N T Y B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L

A Partnership for Progress in Gadsden County What’s Inside Jobs Overview | Communities Site Development Cover Photo by Visit Florida/Colin Hackley

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER BRIAN E. ROWLAND EDITORIAL EDITOR Linda Kleindienst PRODUCTION SPECIALIST Melinda Lanigan CREATIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Lawrence Davidson PRODUCTION MANAGER/NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR Daniel Vitter ART DIRECTOR Jennifer Ekrut ADVERTISING DESIGNERS Jillian Fry, Amanda Hartsfield

Tallahassee Community College, part of the Gadsden community since 1966, is committed to offering meaningful training that leads to employment and contributes to the county’s economic development. TCC’s new Gadsden Center, built on land donated by the City of Quincy, is expected to be completed in early 2016 and will be well-equipped to provide Gadsden residents with workforce programs for in-demand jobs.

SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING McKenzie Burleigh DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS Daniel Parisi

PHOTO COURTESY OF GADSDEN COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

AD SERVICES COORDINATORS Lisa Sostre, Tracy Mulligan ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Darla Harrison, Lori Magee, Rhonda Murray, Will Patrick, Linda Powell, Paula Sconiers, Alice Watts SALES AND MARKETING ASSISTANT Christie Green

rowlandpublishing.com 2015 G A D S D E N C O U N T Y B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L / 3

JOBS OVERVI EW

Open for Business

As Gadsden County works to grow jobs, it is also addressing workforce needs

ust north of Florida’s Capital City lies the rolling hills, Victorian homes, horse and plant farms and antique oasis of a small, still relatively unknown county named after James Gadsden, an aide-de-camp to Gen. Andrew Jackson during the Florida campaign of 1818. Once known for its shade tobacco farms — it’s one of only a few places in the United States where the tobacco to wrap cigars could 4 / 2015 G A D S D E N C O U N T Y B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L

be successfully grown — Gadsden’s economy today has a varied mix of businesses that include manufacturing, agriculture, technology and security. Its 508 square miles sit in the midst of a prime location for business development, yet about 46 percent of the county’s workforce travels to work each day in Leon County. Recruiting new business to any county or city is tough work. A county could have

dozens, if not hundreds, of other competitors vying for that same business. It all comes down to the sales pitch, location and tax incentives package. It’s standard practice now for counties to offer tax breaks and help coordinate other incentives at the state and federal levels to businesses willing to guarantee a certain number of jobs in an area. The pitch for Gadsden County focuses heavily on the county’s four intersections with

PHOTOS BY SCOTT HOLSTEIN

By Linda Kleindienst

Gadsden’s Major Employers* Coastal Plywood, Havana (300-plus workers) — Largest private employer in the county engineers and distributes wood products throughout the South and Southeast.

(Left) T-Formation, located in Midway, is the third largest volume printer of t-shirts in the U.S. (Above) David Gardner, executive director of the Gadsden County Chamber of Commerce.

DIFFERENT APPROACHES WITH SIMILAR GOALS

Interstate 10, as well as its proximity to three deepwater ports (Jacksonville, Panama City and the Port of Port St. Joe, which is being redeveloped), two shortline railroads, a major rail line, two international airports (Northwest Florida Beaches in Bay County and Tallahassee) and two state universities, along with vocational and technical institutions. About 20 square miles of the county are contained in a state Enterprise Zone, which offers tax incentives and advantages to businesses that locate within the boundaries. Several business parks are located in Enterprise Zones, including the Gretna Industrial Business Park, the Quincy Industrial Business Park, the Quincy Interstate Business Park and the Gadsden 10/90 Commerce Park.

The county’s economic development efforts are varied. There is the 2-year-old Gadsden County Development Council, which was formed by the county commission and includes representatives from all the county’s cities, and the Gadsden County Chamber of Commerce, which represents business interests. Thecountyhasheldmeetingswithresidents as part of its Competitive Florida Partnership Program to get their input on Gadsden’s strengths with the goal of fostering cooperation between everyone involved in economic development and increasing the county’s median household income by 2018. At the same time, the county’s Tourist Development Council has hired a marketing consultant to kick off a major new marketing strategy in the coming months to promote tourism. The Chamber is focusing on entrepreneurship, small business development and the retention and expansion of existing businesses, according to Executive Director David Gardner. “There is plenty of opportunity here,” says Gardner. “We are inundated with folks looking to start businesses. It’s exploded.

Supervalu, Quincy (260) — Food distribution warehouse Corrections Corporation of America, Quincy (240) — Gadsden Correctional Institution. Gadsden Tomato, Quincy (180) T-Formation of Tallahassee, Midway (150) — Screen printing and embroidery. Walmart, Quincy (130) TeligentEMS, Havana (120) — Electronic manufacturing and services provider. May Nursery, Havana (120) Tri-Eagle Sales, Midway (110) — Distributor for Budweiser and Anheuser-Busch beverages. * Information provided by Gadsden County Development Council 2015 G A D S D E N C O U N T Y B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L / 5

6 / 2015 G A D S D E N C O U N T Y B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L

COURTESY OF BASF

Small manufacturing, service businesses, day care centers, health care. It covers a wide spectrum. That’s where I think a lot of opportunities are going to be.” Beth Kirkland heads the nonprofit Development Council, recognized by Enterprise Florida as the county’s economic development organization, which puts a stronger focus on having the county and its six municipalities work alongside a wide variety of government agencies and local business to bring more business to Gadsden. Targeted sectors for growth include transportation and logistics; agribusiness; manufacturing; ecotourism; law enforcement training, services and supplies; and construction materials and services. “We have strengthened our relationships with groups like Enterprise Florida, Florida’s Great Northwest, Opportunity Florida, Freight Moves Florida,” she says. “We have made sure every time one of those organizations has brought a site consultant to Florida we are present and engaging. And we are planning our own trips to those consultants. We need diversification, moving away from a

Employees from the BASF site in Quincy volunteered to bring hands-on science to Gadsden County elementary schools during National Chemistry Week in October. Students actively participated in fun, hands-on chemistry experiments and activities to help them gain an appreciation for science.

rural county that sits next to the Capital City. We need diversification into sectors away from government.” TDS Telecom in Quincy has helped ensure that Gadsden is prepared for future growth as far as access to broadband, according to Frank

Holcomb, the company’s regional market manager, who is active in the Chamber. “I would say over 95 percent of Gadsden now has access to data broadband. As far as technology goes, we’re in a good position,” he says. Still, he thinks the county’s future

“There is plenty of opportunity here. We are inundated with folks looking to start businesses. It’s exploded. Small manufacturing, service businesses, day care centers, health care. It covers a wide spectrum. That’s where I think a lot of opportunities are going to be.” — David Gardner, Executive Director, Gadsden County Chamber of Commerce

is indelibly linked to Tallahassee and Leon County, because that’s where the major centers for workforce development are headquartered. “We’re more dependent on a regionaleconomicdevelopmentplan,moreso than just Gadsden alone.”

CHALLENGES AHEAD Gadsden does face some challenges when it comes to recruiting businesses. “One of our weaknesses is the labor force,” concedes Kirkland. “We need to build the pipeline. Most workers now go to the Capital City.” One company trying to help build that pipeline is BASF, which is putting together an outreach program to work with educators

from elementary grades up through college to promote better preparation for STEMrelated jobs. The BASF site supports attapulgite mining operations in Florida and Georgia. The product is used in a wide variety of products, from pet litter to pharmaceuticals, and about 130,000 tons were shipped from Quincy last year, according to Carlos Barrios, production manager. “And we plan to grow Quincy between 2 to 3 percent a year,” he adds, pointing out that the company is on track to invest $2 million a year into improvements. “One of our benefits here is access to major highways, so when you’re distributing to the Southeast, you can get the product out easily.”

BASF has 79 employees in Quincy, some of them having worked through five different ownerships of the facility, which has been open for 105 years. One worker has been at the Quincy plant for 50 years. “We’ve not had too much trouble staffing, but we do have an aging workforce like everybody else,” says Larry Ware, the Quincy plant’s human resources manager and leader of local community partnerships and education efforts. “Last school year, we gave a presentation to fifth-graders, having them do an experiment on filtration and absorbability, and then we gave them lab coats and equipment to work with.” The company is also working with Tallahassee Community College on a certified production technician program for its employees. The voluntary program includes 80 hours of training, with some of the classes at the college’s facility in Gadsden and other classes at the work site. “This coming year, I want to invite (high school) teachers out to our facility for them to see how what they are teaching applies to real work,” Ware says.

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COMMU N ITI ES

Gadsden’s Cities and Towns Offer Variety From art to farming to manufacturing, Gadsden’s communities have a wide range of industries By Linda Kleindienst

SCOTT HOLSTEIN

adsden County and its communities are home to a wide variety of industries that have come to the region for myriad reasons, including: an available workforce for a particular industry; handy transportation connections; plentiful natural resources (timber and the rare Fuller’s Clay); existing facilities like the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Training Center, which is becoming a hub for securityrelated companies. The county has engaged its citizens in a visioning process as part of the Competitive Florida Partnership Program to determine what they see as the area’s greatest strengths. “We have been working hard toward improving our economic development initiatives,” points out Allara Mills Gutcher, Gadsden County’s planning and community development director.

8 / 2015 G A D S D E N C O U N T Y B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L

(Left to right) David Wright, Jim Marois and Nicholas Comerford in plots of carinata (a plant used for biofuel) at North Florida Research & Education Center in Quincy.

Gadsden Demographics

Education

» Population (est. 2014) — 46,281 »G adsden is the 43rd most populated out of Florida’s 67 counties. » Under 18 years of age — 20.6% » 18–64 years — 60.7% » 65 and older — 18.7% » Median Age — 39.6 years

» High School Graduate or Higher — 77.2% » Bachelor’s Degree or Higher — 14.9% » Median Household Income — $35,380 » Land Area — 516.66 square miles » Persons per square mile (2014) — 93.1 » Unemployment Rate (April 2015) — 6.7% » Labor Force as percentage of population — 51.3%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau and Florida Legislature Office of Economic and Demographic Research

2015 G A D S D E N C O U N T Y B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L / 9

Here’s a glimpse of what is already happening in the county’s six cities: 1 CHATTAHOOCHEE — Home to the largest public employer, Florida State Hospital, which has more than 2,200 workers. It has a state-recognized Main Street program to help with local business development and there is a growing focus on leveraging the historic Apalachicola River to promote tourism. 2 GREENSBORO — Stands to benefit from the rail line that starts at the Port of Port St. Joe, follows Highway 12 north and connects to the CSX main line — a key to attracting new industry. Has partnered with Gretna on economic development.

3 HAVANA — The town that tobacco built has become a Mecca for antique shoppers, with many of the shops located in historic buildings, and given birth to an active artists’ community. Has an active economic development committee and large landholdings are available for development. 4 GRETNA — Worked at upgrading its infrastructure and is positioning itself to attract industries that might be interested in several of the properties within its borders that were identified in the strategic site inventory program. It is home to Creek Entertainment, located just off the Interstate 10 exit, a parimutuel facility that provides simultaneous broadcasting of races at other venues along with poker tables and recently won a court decision to allow slot machines — a likely boon to tourism if the ruling stands. 5 MIDWAY — Home to the largest of the county’s five industrial parks, Gadsden 10/90 Commerce Park, which has available space and recently became home to a regional distribution center for Safeway Auto Glass. 6 QUINCY — The county seat of Gadsden. Has a redevelopment agency and successful Main Street program. Cultural amenities include the Gadsden Arts Center and Quincy Music Theater while lakes, rivers, hiking trails and a local golf course provide recreational opportunities that can boost eco-tourism. A part of Quincy’s colorful history includes a connection to Coca-Cola that made millionaires out of many residents. In the early 20th century, a Quincy banker convinced many of the town’s wealthier farmers and merchants to buy stock in a new Atlanta soda company — Coca-Cola. At the time of its initial public offering in 1919, Coke stock was $40 a share. Eventually the price rose, the stock split and many Quincy residents became rich.

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PHOTOS BY SCOTT HOLSTEIN (5), VISIT FLORIDA/COLIN HACKLEY (3,6) AND COURTESY OF GADSDEN COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (1,2) AND PCI GAMING (4)

Engaging industry, education and government in economic and community development strategies to RETAIN, EXPAND and ATTRACT jobs and capital investment. Coordinating our PEOPLE, PRODUCT and INFRASTRUCTURE to address the needs of businesses in today’s ever-changing global marketplace

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SITE DEVELOPMENT

Gadsden Is Setting Its ‘Sites’ Identifying and promoting locations for future economic development is a priority By Linda Kleindienst

s the saying goes, it’s all about location. And as Gadsden County enters the economic development arena with a new energy, the idea is to let the world know there are plenty of locations available for new and expanding companies that want to do business here. “Selling a county is just like selling a product in a store,” says Beth Kirkland, executive director of the Gadsden County Development Council, which was established by the county in 2013. “You need to have choices. And the more product you have on the shelf, the better off you are.” Toward that end, the county has been working to identify sites ready for commercial development and wants to begin engaging landowners to let the county market those properties to prospective buyers. The goal is to attract companies that will help grow

the economy of the area, bringing better and higher-paying jobs to local residents. “Our focus has to be on land (for future economic development),” Kirkland explains, adding that what buildings are currently available might be too old or have height limitations that could restrict a major manufacturing prospect. A neighboring county to Leon — the more urbanized home of state government, two major universities and one of the largest community colleges in the state — Gadsden retains its mostly rural nature. Farms and other available (and affordable) vacant land cover much of the countryside between the county’s small towns. In 2014, the county was invited to be a part of Enterprise Florida’s Strategic Site Inventory program funded by Duke Energy Foundation. Duke provided $120,000 for a study

that included 23 North Florida counties — all with access to a major interstate and railroad lines. Gadsden was the westernmost county in the region to be reviewed. The purpose of the grant was to identify 100 sites within the utility company’s service area best suited for prospective businesses ready to embark on large industrial and commercial projects. “When Florida competes to win business location projects, particularly for large global companies, we are competing not only with sites in other Southeastern states but also with sites in other countries,” said Gray Swoope, former Florida Secretary of Commerce and CEO of Enterprise Florida, when the grant was awarded. “It is important to our objective of bringing new businesses and jobs to the state to be able to demonstrate that we have a broad inventory of suitable sites that meet their criteria.” 2015 G A D S D E N C O U N T Y B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L / 13

For more information about our great destination, whether for business or pleasure, visit www.dosomethingoriginal.com or email us at egadsdeninfo@gmail.com Chattahoochee H Greensboro H Gretna H Havana H Midway H Quincy

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“Selling a county is just like selling a product in a store. You need to have choices. And the more product you have on the shelf, the better off you are.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF GADSDEN COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

It feels like we invented it; and once you experience the small town charm of Chattahoochee, Greensboro, Gretna, Havana, Midway and Quincy, you’ll think we did too. If you’re looking to live, work, play or vacation differently, we invite you to Do Something Original in Gadsden County.

Land in prime locations for strategic development of industrial and manufacturing projects is considered to be at an alltime premium. Duke Energy’s investment in the Strategic Sites Inventory program provides communities in the initial program area — all of them located along logistically optimal routes for manufacturing — with key information about best possible sites for development and gives those communities a distinct competitive advantage in winning new projects. “Our partnership with Enterprise Florida on this important initiative underscores our shared focus and commitment to economic development and job creation in Florida,” says Alex Glenn, Duke Energy state president for Florida. “The Strategic Sites Inventory program will enable the state of Florida to proactively market premium site locations and more effectively compete for projects through advancedsiteselection.” The study inventory identified 119 sites within the 23 counties. In Gadsden, it found 20 sites ranging in size from 200 to 1,200 acres — the most in any of the counties surveyed. The next largest inventory — Beth of available sites was in Kirkland, Executive Sumter, which has 12. Director of the “These are sites that exhibit strong potential Gadsden County for projects,” explains Development Council Kirkland. “That means there is low impact from undesirablefeatures.Therearenowetlands,noendangeredspecies, no important archaeological sites. They were mainly looking for high and dry parcels of land close to transportation assets.” She says it is now up to the county to look at prioritizing those sites that have been identified for further research. “We now need to start the due diligence stage,” she says. “It’s important to reflect that we have robust utility infrastructure and a number of providers. Enhanced water, sewer, electric and natural gas exist in some places. That’s what businesses want. They want to see a site that is ready to go. In the sites we’ve identified so far, we have work to do.” The end result of the program is to feed a pipeline that allows communities to take sites through an evaluation or site certification program, leading to additional qualified options for companies that want to grow in Florida by investing capital and adding jobs. In 2013, Gulf Power launched a similar site certification program for Northwest Florida counties in its service area. Nine sites are currently pending certification.

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DEAL ESTATE Just Sold

A Blank Canvas Primed for Growth The buyer liked that the property could immediately be developed,” said Summit Park CEO Claude Walker. The Florida Sheriffs Risk Management Fund purchased the property on April 24, 2015. FSRMF is a self-insurance pool providing different lines of insurance coverage or protection to sheriffs in Florida.

The intent is to build an office on the property that will serve as the operations headquarters. The organization currently leases an office building in Tallahassee but was looking to have a space to claim as its own. To do so, it was decided to start with that blank canvas and construct the building to meet the group’s needs. n

Quick Look Address: 2090 Summit Lake Drive, Tallahassee List Price: $980,000 Sold Price: $930,000 Acres: 2.82 Contact: Claude Walker, Summit Group (850) 219-8216

CLAUDE WALKER/SUMMIT GROUP

The most admired masterpieces always start off as a blank canvas. The same can be said about barren land that has the potential to hold a flourishing business. The recently sold property at 2090 Summit Lake Drive in Tallahassee’s Summit East Technology Park was purchased with that kind of purpose in mind. Summit East Technology Park is a high technology and high-amenity commercial office building campus located just off Interstate 10. Businesses are drawn to this site because it provides ample space, effortless highway access and visibility within the community. Prominent businesses such as First Commerce Credit Union, United Solutions and First American Paddle already reside on the property. “It is a unique, high-end business park with a site that was ready to be developed.

By Rebecca Padgett

DEAL ESTATE

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Apartment complex near all of Tallahassee’s conveniences Location is everything. It may be a cliche, but in the case of Broward Park Apartments it holds true. While it features a beautiful Spanish style, private living and off-street parking, this property’s most desirable amenity is definitely its location. This property is within minutes of Cascades Park, downtown, Apalachee Parkway and Governor’s Square Mall, some of Tallahassee’s most popular destinations. One would think that being so close to these Tallahassee hot spots would mean sacrificing peace and quiet.

By Rebecca Padgett

That’s not the case with these apartments. Tenants can have their proverbial park-hopping, mall-shopping, downtown cake and eat it too in the peace and quiet that Park Avenue living provides. “This property is right on the corner of Broward Street and Park Avenue. It’s a couple blocks from downtown and a 15-minute walk to Cascades Park. The area is only going to increase in popularity as the demand to be near Cascades and downtown expands and continues to welcome more

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young professionals, retirees and everyone in between,” said agent Jared Willis. There are 17 units, 14 one-bedroom and three two-bedroom, ideal for someone looking to invest in a property that produces income. “This property has a lot of potential for a real estate investor looking for a smaller income-producing apartment complex,” said Willis. One of the biggest selling points is that the complex stays fully occupied, and the cash is consistently flowing. Also, while the property’s location is convenient for shopping and a day in the park, it also provides easy access to Tallahassee’s college campuses and for those who work in downtown, Midtown or along Apalachee Parkway, making it attractive to college students and young professionals. The apartments are standard but spacious with one and two bedrooms complete with bathroom, living room and dining room. The kitchens come furnished with dishwashers and refrigerators. n

850 Business Magazine

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Model of Efficiency

Georgia-Pacific’s Foley Cellulose plant in Taylor County provides jobs, saves resources and works to foster good relations with the community By Jason Dehart

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FOLEY CELLULOSE

ustainability may be an overused buzzword, but it aptly describes how successful businesses manage manpower and other essential resources. Factors including adherence to a free-market idea, demand for a product and acceptance by the public of a business further add to its foundation for longevity. At Foley Cellulose, a division of industrial giant Georgia-Pacific, “sustainability” means working every day to make sure all of those bases are covered. “We use it because it’s a common word, but sustainability is about making sure the

resources and support infrastructure needed for businesses and society to continue are in place,” said Georgia-Pacific engineer Chet Thompson, who’s been working at the plant since 1987. The Foley Cellulose mill, located in Perry, was opened by Procter & Gamble in 1954. It was sold in 1993 when P&G sold off its Cellulose and Specialties Division. The partnership that bought the plant became Buckeye Technologies Inc. in 1995. Buckeye ran it until Georgia-Pacific bought it in 2013. Foley Cellulose converts truckloads of Southern pine trees to “specialty” pulp and “fluff” pulp, which are sold to customers

PINES TO PULP At the Foley Cellulose plant, Southern pine trees are converted to pulp and then sold worldwide to make products that include clothing, diapers, tires, filters, towels and food casings.

850 Business Magazine

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 69

worldwide. The fibers processed there are found in products used around the world. Depending on the level of processing, wood pulp can be used in clothing, baby wipes, tires, shampoo, diapers, incontinence products, feminine hygiene products, filters, concrete, paints, towels and even food casings. “A lot of the products that everyone uses in their daily lives, many that people don’t realize, have some form of cellulose in them,” said Foley spokesman Scott Mixon. “I love ice cream, and many times the brand that I buy has cellulose in it. We rely on cellulose more than most people realize.” The company pays $4 million in local taxes annuRENEWABLE RESOURCE Parts ally and contributes more of trees not used than $230 million to the in the papermaking process Florida economy in payroll, provide 83 percent wood purchases, materials, of the Taylor County plant’s supplies and services. About energy needs. 570 employees work at Foley Cellulose, and it’s estimated that the paper mill sustains more than 1,000 jobs related to its operations. The company prides itself on being a good corporate citizen by giving back to organizations such as the United Way and community programs. “We do this in four areas: education, entrepreneurship, environment and community enrichment,” Mixon said. “This year we’ll contribute $130,000 to the community. We’re also one of the largest United Way contributors. Last year, we gave United Way close to $184,000 in contributions. We believe very strongly that although we are a profitbased company, our responsibility is to give back to the community that provides us a home.” SAVING RESOURCES Foley’s sustainability program is focused primarily on raw resources and is broken down into five categories: power, water, wood, carbon and making sure the plant’s carbon footprint meets greenhouse gas standards. “And then we are also looking at ways we can better use our materials to make alternative products. That’s sustainability in a nutshell,” Thompson said. When it comes to power, Foley wins the race for conservation hands-down. A whopping 83 percent of the plant’s total energy comes from parts of trees not used in the paper-making process. “Most of the energy we get here is from actual residual materials left from our pulp-making process,” Thompson said. “So we’re high-percentage

renewable energy, and 83 percent of our energy is from renewable biomass versus 60 percent for Georgia-Pacific as a whole. Even looking at the industry worldwide, we have a very efficient site here.” A new turbine generator and improved processes help the plant use steam more efficiently. It doesn’t produce any additional steam, Thompson said, but it’s using it more efficiently — so much so that it’s able to generate 12 megawatts more power. It’s like saving 200,000 barrels of oil. “It also reduces some emissions, so there has been some major progress made here within the last five years of having a sustainable energy approach,” he said. “We’re buying less power and making it ourselves, and we’re making that power on the same amount of fuel that we had before, which is an improvement of efficiency.” Meanwhile, water consumption also is going down. The pulp-making process uses a lot of water. When Thompson started working at the plant in 1987, it was using almost 50 million gallons a day. In 2005, that number was down to 42 million gallons a day, and now it’s a little more than 36 million gallons a day — all while making the same amount of pulp. A project slated to kick off in September is expected to save another 1.1 million gallons a day. “I’m not saying 37 million gallons is not a lot of water, but there have been significant drops in consumption,” Thompson said. “From a well field and sustainability aspect in the area, we … are not depleting the aquifer.”

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

Some of the results, to date, of the Foley Cellulose plant modifications made during the Fenholloway River Water Quality Project:

▪ 54 PERCENT IMPROVEMENT in treated effluent color, dioxin is not detectable ▪ 28 PERCENT REDUCTION in biological oxygen demand ▪ 49 PERCENT REDUCTION in total suspended solids ▪ 25 PERCENT REDUCTION in ammonia nitrogen ▪ 26 PERCENT REDUCTION in total phosphorus ▪ 14 PERCENT REDUCTION in volume of treated effluent

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FOLEY CELLULOSE

RESTORING A RIVER The company is past the midpoint in a long-term project to return the nearby Fenholloway River to recreational water quality standards. The river is a small, 36-milelong black water stream that drains the 392-square-mile San Pedro Bay watershed in northeast Taylor County. The cleanup project has spanned the three owners of the location. Significant progress was made under the Buckeye ownership, and it remains a priority of Georgia-Pacific to finish the project. Degradation of the Fenholloway was a major controversy that pitted environmentalists again the mill owners and workers. But the beginnings go back nearly seven decades. To stimulate economic development in the post-World War II Florida economy, the state Legislature in 1947 designated the river an “industrial stream” to attract industry, primarily manufacturing, to Taylor County. Simply put, it opened the door for industrial waste to be discharged into the river. That began to change in the late 1960s and early ’70s as the federal government took a greater interest in the environment and crafted stringent regulations for air and water. Thompson said that before the Clean Water Act of 1972 was passed, some “pre-legislation” in the late 1960s called for states to designate uses for water — but the Fenholloway’s classification didn’t change. “What that means is the state actually went through and said this water will be for industrial use, this water will be for fishing and recreation, and this water will be for potable water/consumption use. The Fenholloway was designated consistent with the 1947 legislation as industrial use,” Thompson said. However, legislation also called for studies to be conducted every three years to find out how all the state’s waters could achieve a minimum goal of “recreational” — water where it is safe to fish and swim. As this was going on, Procter & Gamble was taking steps to improve the Perry plant. In 1968, the first industrial secondary wastewater treatment facility in Florida was built, and this was followed in 1972 by the addition of 120 acres of treatment ponds. In 1988, better ways of recycling and reducing chemical discharge were put in place. But by the early 1990s, it was realized that more could be done.

“Through a number of actions Florida got very serious about this, with the Fenholloway, in 1991,” Thompson said. That year, a federal Use Attainability Analysis had the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Procter & Gamble all asking the question: What’s it going to take for the Fenholloway to meet those fishable and swimmable standards? In 1994, the Florida DEP came out with a report that said the cleanup would be possible and suggested ways to do it. “One was to make certain mill improvements,” Thompson said. “The primary thing there was to move our chemical process from a pure elemental chlorine process to a chlorine dioxide process. It still has the ‘chlorine’ word in it, but it’s a different chemical and it reacts differently with the pulp, and it doesn’t create some of the issues that pure elemental chlorine does.” At the same time this was happening, it was also noticed that the San Pedro Bay watershed — the headwaters of the Fenholloway — needed some attention. This led to a threephase, $500,000 project to “restore wetland function” to the watershed. (That project has since been completed.) As the watershed was being restored, other wheels were in motion. In 1997, the Florida DEP began the approval process for projects to restore the Fenholloway, and in 1998 the EPA began studying whether “fishable and swimmable” standards could be met without having to redirect the plant’s effluent discharge.

CLEANING UP Post World War II relaxation of environmental laws led to pollution of the Fenholloway River, and the company is still working on improving water treatment.

In 2003, the EPA concluded that redirecting the treated discharge was necessary, and that is one of the final steps Foley Cellulose is taking as part of a new EPA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. (The other is upgrading the plant’s wastewater treatment system.) The treated effluent — which retains a certain degree of saltiness — will be channeled via pipeline from its current discharge point in the freshwater portion of the Fenholloway to more naturally salty areas a mile and a half from the mouth of the river. That part of the project has to be complete by March 2021. Overall, this water quality project is perhaps one of the most ambitious restoration projects of its kind in Florida and in the end will cost upwards of $200 million. “It will complete all criteria to meet both freshwater and marine water standards on the river and will have finished that long effort that we’ve been working on since 1991,” Thompson said.

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BAY CORRIDOR

Panama City, Panama City Beach + Bay County

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

Chicken Commander R For Bill Buskell, success is all about good taste By Steve Bornhoft

estaurateur Bill Buskell likens his businesses to battlefields. He’s the commander and has generals whom he trusts at each of his Panama City Beach encampments. But he learned long ago that it’s important for him to maintain contact with the troops on the front lines. Given a chance, they may recommend a better or more efficient way of doing things. And, sometimes, he concedes, they are right. For example, Buskell was inclined to charge a cover at Willy’s Live, a nightclub that adjoins Pineapple Willy’s, his 40-yearold, Gulf-front, landmark restaurant on Thomas Drive. A charge, he figured, would keep out the riff-raff. But a front-liner suggested that the cover charge was a bad idea. His theory: Drop the charge and people will come and go more freely. Tables will get turned. And, meanwhile, you can discourage undesirables with your choice of music. “OK,” Buskell said. “We’ll try it.”

The result: Three-thousand dollar nights became $13,000 nights. Under those circumstances, he had no problem thanking the employee for his idea. Not that Buskell has always listened to “reason.” If he had, chances are that he never would have entered the restaurant business. In the 1970s, Buskell managed and had a modest ownership interest in a 100-room hotel, the Artist Inn, located where Willy’s Live is today. When, in 1981, the majority owners got ready to sell the business, Buskell spoke up for a portion of the property that included a bait and sandwich shop. It was made available to him for $1.3 million. His wife at the time told Buskell he was crazy to even think about the deal. “She told me that if I bought the property, she’d divorce me,” Buskell says with a wry smile. “I bought it and she was true to her word.” The Pier 99 bait shop would give way in 1984 to Pineapple Willy’s, the name inspired by a drink that Buskell sampled while vacationing in Jamaica. (He bought the drink

WISELY INVESTING PROFITS Bill Buskell was looking for a place to spend his profits from Pineapple Willy’s, so he spent $1.2 million to buy a former Tony Roma’s and turned it into the motorcycle themed Wicked Wheel.

Photos by HOLLY GARDNER

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SELLING ‘THE BEST’ A fun atmosphere and good food, including pond-raised Mississippi catfish, is helping the Wicked Wheel turn profits.

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recipe, which includes Myers’s Rum and crème de coconut, for $20 at the bar and serves it to this day.) Nearly half of the restaurant was destroyed by Hurricane Opal in 1995, and Buskell found that navigating the state bureaucracy through the rebuilding process was “far worse than the storm itself.” But Pineapple Willy’s has otherwise grown steadily and last year did $14 million in business. “I didn’t set out with a plan to get that big,” Buskell says. “We have evolved and succeeded based on trial and error and discovering what works while sticking to our commitment to quality. We know that we can’t be slowed down by what it takes to prepare mashed potatoes, but we can serve new potatoes.” There was a time when Buskell joined his father in the candy brokerage business. He paid close attention when, in the course of a sugar and chocolate shortage, some confectioners survived and others did not. “What I learned is that it all comes down to quality and taste,” Buskell recalls. “People were willing to pay an increased price for a Hershey’s bar, but there was a limit to what they’d pay for hard, pure-sugar stick candy.” So it was that Buskell turned aside a suggestion made by the kitchen manager at the Wicked Wheel Restaurant, another of his properties.

Roma’s restaurant and set about converting it to the motorcycle-themed Wicked Wheel. “We needed to do something with the profits we were making at Pineapple Willy’s to prevent the government from getting 40 percent of them,” Buskell says. The Tony Roma’s property, idle and deteriorating for years, had come down in price from $2 million. The Buskells picked it up for $1.2 million, but that was just the beginning. “We should have torn it down and started over,” Buskell winces. “I had no idea that my son would invest $7 million in the redevelopment project.” When the globetrotting Buskell came in off the road, he discovered that the Wicked Wheel had no cash flow and that he was

Pineapple Willy’s

PHOTOS BY HOLLY GARDNER

“WE HAVE EVOLVED AND SUCCEEDED BASED ON TRIAL AND ERROR AND DISCOVERING WHAT WORKS WHILE STICKING TO OUR COMMITMENT TO QUALITY. ” BILL BUSKELL, OWNER OF WICKED WHEEL AND PINEAPPLE WILLY’S Buskell favors the use of 91 percent fatfree cottonseed oil in his fryers. The manager told Buskell he could save him $16,000 a year by using canola oil instead. “No, you can’t,” the commander said. “That cottonseed oil coats and enhances the spices and people experience the best chicken they’ve ever had. That keeps ’em coming back, and that’s worth a whole lot more than $16,000.” Buskell retired nine years ago at age 66 and set about traveling the world — Europe, Australia and more — with his wife, Mary. In his absence his son, Eric, along with a onetime Pineapple Willy’s manager, acquired with Buskell’s blessings a former Tony

$4 million in debt. He cashed in his retirement to keep Pineapple Willy’s afloat, closed the Wicked Wheel and took over. “I put a sign out front that said, ‘Closed Due to Plumbing Problems,’ ” Buskell winks. “I was flushing out the old and bringing in the new.” Buskell fired half the staff, redid the menus and committed the restaurant to serving the best chicken, catfish and burgers available anywhere. Give him a chance to describe his recipes and cooking methods and the experience is Pavlovian. Saliva flows. “We buy pond-raised, corn-fed catfish from Mississippi,” Buskell points out. “Twoand three-ounce fillets. We’re not interested in catfish once they are big enough to have

that oily vein in them. We coat the fillets by spraying them with lemon juice and then batter them with Zatarain’s. Anyone can sell catfish; we sell the best catfish.” Today, the Wicked Wheel is turning a profit. And Buskell has added next door a large entertainment and special events venue, The Barn. Already, it’s hosted concerts, a blues festival, a fundraiser for an animal shelter, a memorial service for a newspaper editor and an open forum on Spring Break concerns. Buskell got the idea for The Barn while attending a special events convention in Nashville. “I heard about people spending $50,000 or $100,000 on themed weddings, and I resolved to get some of that business,” Buskell says. “There really was no suitable place on our beach for occasions like that.” Buskell, then, is going about the business of discovering what works best at The Barn and applying to one more enterprise the advertising and marketing principles he learned 50 years ago as a student at Virginia Commonwealth University. If The Barn’s country music/barbecue buffet approach doesn’t work, he’s prepared to convert the place to a smokehouse restaurant like the 4 Rivers in Tallahassee. He’s never without a Plan B. “I’ve been fortunate,” Buskell recognizes. “And I’m grateful to have a lot of good people working for me (400 in total) who get along with one another and respect each other. Many of them are just getting started, and I have a lot of respect for people in entry-level jobs who are working to be the best chicken picker they can be so that they can qualify for the next job up the line.” With those entry-level folks in mind, Buskell founded a charity, Beach Cares Inc., that provides immediate, problem-solving assistance to deserving folks who may not have money for a new carburetor or the light bill. Buskell is the agency’s chief sustaining contributor. “We all encounter bumps in the road,” Buskell says. “And if someone has the courage and the humility to ask for help, I want to give them a hand. “Buy them lunch if they haven’t had any. They’ll enjoy the best chicken they ever had.” n

850 Business Magazine

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CAPITAL CORRIDOR

Gadsden, Jefferson + Leon Counties

Plastics Manufacturer Goes Green

Jefferson County’s VizCo-US is Florida’s only solar-powered manufacturer By Lazaro Aleman

he photovoltaic panels, stacked two high and marshaled row upon row in a seemingly endless array, occupy nearly half of a 10-acre field in the Jefferson County Industrial Park. Composed of 3,280 solar panels, each 3 1/2 by 6 feet, the ground-mounted assemblage of skyward-angled blue-gray reflective boards is designed to generate 1,450,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, more than enough energy to power an adjacent manufacturing plant. The plant, solar array and surrounding acreage (on which sheep graze, eliminating the need for mowing) are the property of VizCoUS, a manufacturer of “vizionary products” based in Bradenton, Florida. VizCo produces innovative components for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industry. These products, which include alarms, drain pans and pipe clamps for water heater tanks, are largely fabricated at the Jefferson County facility and marketed worldwide. Most recently, VizCo added to its offerings the Simple Garden, or “SimGar,” described as “the grow whenever, wherever container” or “the world’s only anytime, anyplace gardening system . . . scientifically engineered to simulate ideal growing conditions.” Which is to say that the SimGar is a solar-powered, self-watering, self-aerating, indoor/outdoor, portable plant-growing unit. VizCo’s president, founder, idea man and self-described “top dog” is Christopher Cantolino, formerly head and founder of Resource Conservation Technologies Inc. (RCT), a company that for nearly 10 years led SOLAR ‘OUTPUT’ in the manufacturing and marketing (Right) Christopher Cantolino shows off of condensate sensors and pans for the produce from a Simple HVAC industry. As Cantolino explains Garden or SimGar, a solar powered indoor/ it, RCT and a competitor merged in outdoor plant growing 2013 to form VizCo, which was officontainer. (Above) VizCo operates off 3,280 solar cially launched in January 2014 and panels at the Jefferson emphasizes “U.S. made” in its products. County Industrial Park.

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF VIZCO

Cantolino opened the Jefferson County factory in 2007, and in 2014 he expanded the facility in anticipation of increased production, augmenting the plant by 5,594 square feet (to 33,938 square feet total) and adding the solar array. The reason for the array was not only to secure a cleaner and cheaper source of energy but to increase efficiency and maximize production by countering the not-infrequent fluctuations in electrical current that were playing havoc with the manufacturing process. “It’s all about cutting costs and doing things faster, better and cheaper,” says Cantolino, whose quest for the competitive edge makes him a passionate adherent of speed, efficiency and innovation. With the installation of the solar array, VizCo has also seemingly gained a singular distinction in the state. “To our knowledge, VizCo-US is the only manufacturing facility in Florida completely powered by solar through net metering,” says Andrew Tanner, the owner of Region Solar, the Sarasota-based company that installed

the array and that installs similar systems across the state and the country. Tanner’s assessment of VizCo’s unique status as the state’s only solar powered manufacturer, particularly in the Panhandle, is supported by Duke Energy and Gulf Power, the two electric companies that serve the North Florida region. Spokesmen for the two utility companies say that to the best of their knowledge, no other manufacturer in their respective territories is solely powered by solar energy in conjunction with net metering. Both a concept and set of laws, net metering allows solar power generators to tie into the power system and gain credit for whatever electricity they contribute to the grid. This means that any excess energy that VizCo produces during daylight hours is credited to the company against what electricity it uses at night (it frequently operates on 24-hour shifts), on rainy days or during other periods when its electric consumption exceeds its solar system’s output. Duke Energy then bills VizCo only for its “net” energy use.

Cantolino can point to data charts showing that the solar system is producing more than enough energy to run his plant as well as power the nearby Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and jail, should the latter choose to avail themselves of the electricity. That’s saying something, given the high energy consumption of the factory’s massive thermoplastic-molding equipment. Indeed, to tour the plant in the Jefferson County Industrial Park is to gain an appreciation of the magnitude, complexity and sophistication of the mega-machinery that create the plastic parts that constitute VizCo’s products. These machines include an enormous extruder and several different-sized thermoformers. The extruder converts small plastic materials (beads or pellets and such) into large, solidified plastic sheets via melting, melding and molding. The thermoformers then reheat the sheets and shape them into various configurations, followed by the trimming and finishing process. At this point, the different products are quality-inspected and stacked for shipment.

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Your local business Internet and phone provider

Visit FSU Credit Union’s newest branch at 6274 Old Water Oak Drive

Tim Duff, Keith Hay and Paul Watts, CEO Electronet Broadband Communications

RE AL CUSTOMERS . RE AL ISSUES . RE AL SOLUTIONS . FSU Credit Union now has seven locations throughout Tallahassee and Crawfordville. We were experiencing problems with our communications provider, which was affecting many of our branches. We contacted Electronet for assistance and they provided new broadband connections. After the new Electronet circuits were installed, our performance improved dramatically. We were so pleased that we had Electronet build fiber into one of our newest branches. We have been very pleased with the performance and the reliability. Plus, we like the fact that we can call on our local representative if needed, not some auto attendant or an 800-phone number. We are very pleased that we made the switch to Electronet and highly recommend them. Keith A . Hay

2012 TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS OF THE YEAR WINNER

Recipient: Electronet

3 4 1 1 C A P I TA L M E D I C A L B LV D . TA L L A H A S S E E , F L | 2 2 2 . 0 2 2 9 | W W W. E L E C T R O N E T. N E T

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consulting services

managed services telecom wireless

FUTURISTIC GARDEN While indulging his creativity, VizCo President Christopher Cantolino worked on an upscale version of his SimGar gardening system for home settings.

“One hundred degrees is cool to us when these tools operate at 400 to 500 degrees,” says Cantolino, explaining that vast volumes of water are required periodically to cool the machines, thereby conserving energy and minimizing the equipment’s wear and tear, as well as lowering the temperature on the newly molded products. “We use a lot of energy, but we’re trying to economize.” Examples of that economization include the use of the solar array and the utilization of every bit of plastic in the production process, so that scraps remaining after the trimming process are collected, reground and reprocessed to make new products, ultimately leaving only dust waste. “We produce 20,000 pounds of finished sheets in a 24-hour period,” Cantolino says. “And in a year, we process a million pounds of material. Our inventory of raw material is anywhere from 50 to 500,000 pounds, so space is critical, which is one reason we expanded the storage space.” Although his background is in marketing, Cantolino is always postulating “what if” propositions and coming up with solutions to problems or ideas for new or improved products, a knack he has exhibited since childhood. Among his latest ideas in development: an upgraded SimGar model that makes it more palatable for upscale settings; a system to cool solar panels and improve their efficiency; and a worm-house attachment that would make the SimGar self-fertilizing. “I come up with ideas out of need,” Cantolino says, adding that if he had the time, he would indulge his creativity and the pursuit of his ideas that much more. “Everything I do is because I want something better or nicer.” n

PHOTO COURTESY OF VIZCO

“ONE HUNDRED DEGREES IS COOL TO US WHEN THESE TOOLS OPERATE AT 400 TO 500 DEGREES. WE USE A LOT OF ENERGY, BUT WE’RE TRYING TO ECONOMIZE.” CHRISTOPHER CANTOLINO, VIZCO’S PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER

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FL: CMC056269 | GA: CN208982 850 Business Magazine

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 79

EMERALD COAST CORRIDOR

Coastal Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa + Walton Counties

TECHNOLOGY UNLIMITED Colton Black, shown in his Pensacola office, is committed to the start-up game, calling it “very addictive.”

At Home in ‘Silica Valley’ Meet the 20-year-old wunderkind who is helping rewrite the geography of tech By T.S. Strickland

n a rare quiet moment, Colton Black sat back in an overstuffed break-room chair at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and looked out the windows toward downtown Pensacola. It has been a busy year for Black. He became chief technology officer of a robotics start-up. He proposed to his girlfriend — with a ring he designed and manufactured using a 3-D printer — and he is in the final stages of negotiating a game-changing deal to license his company’s pioneering drone technology. It would be a dizzying position for anyone,

at any age — let alone 20. But Black doesn’t seem dizzy. He is remarkably self-assured and carefree — no black circles under the eyes, no tousled hair — just mile after mile of youthful optimism. “I have taught myself to treat business like a game,” Black said. “If I fail, I can always just start over. Even better … the more failures one has in business, the better one becomes.” That optimism might sound naive to some but, so far, Black is winning. When people talk about tech startups, they usually think of Silicon Valley, not the silica beaches of the Gulf Coast.

| AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2015 | 850businessmagazine.com

It is surprising for many to find tucked in Pensacola’s historic heart, amid towering live oaks and colonial-era houses, one of the nation’s leading research institutions in the field of robotics — the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. It is here that Robotics Unlimited — the company Black co-founded with French scientist Sebastian Cotton — got its start. Black came to the institute as an intern in 2012, less than a year after graduating high school, and quickly distinguished himself from his peers. “He’s very passionate about what he’s doing and is extremely knowledgeable,” said the 30-year-old Cotton. “He’s the kind of guy who can take something and learn it on his own.” By the time he hit the seventh grade, Black had been hired by the University of West Florida to debug an educational computer game. By high school, he had made his first foray into business — selling homemade games on a website he also built. Black’s real break came after graduation,

Photos by DAVE BARFIELD

when he landed a two-month internship at Kiva Systems, a Boston-based robotics company that sold to Amazon in 2012 for a reported $775 million. “I learned a lot about the professional world,” Black said of his time in Boston,” … (and) Kiva Systems was small enough still where I could work on some pretty cool stuff.” When he returned to Pensacola, Black started interning at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, where he joined a team of researchers co-led by Cotton to work on “Fastrunner” — an effort funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to build a better running robot. Although he was a college freshman at the time, Black was soon promoted to lead electrical engineer. The agency slashed funding for the project before a working prototype could be created, but not before the team had built a six-legged robot called Hex-runner that demonstrated many of their ideas. It was faster and TECH WHIZ more energy efficient By high school, than anything on the Black was selling homemade games market, and it was on a website he capable of performing had built. Here he is working on circuit well on a variety of boards (below) in rough terrains. his office. Seeing promise, Cotton decided to license the technology from the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition with the intent of further refining and commercializing it. He asked others on the team to join him before deciding to cast his lot with Black. Cotton said he was attracted to the young engineer because of his entrepreneurial bent and raw talent, which Cotton said surpassed that of most graduate-level electrical and mechanical engineers. Since founding the company, the duo has focused on refining the Hex-runner platform and exploring possible applications. In April, the two hired their fourth fulltime employee and were spending most of their time — and paying the bills — by consulting for several regional firms. However, they had focused on the future. Black said they hoped to wrap up their initial round of investment by July — with the

goal of raising $600,000. Meanwhile, they were also closing in on a deal to license their technology to a leading multinational toy company. Though they could not disclose details, Cotton said the revenue potential would be enough to sustain the business through the next two years of growth. The deal would also lay the groundwork for the second phase of their business plan — to market their drones to the defense industry for use in border surveillance and related applications.

Black said they have already been approached by a couple of interested defense contractors and have been in the process of applying to a security-focused business accelerator in San Diego. If accepted, it could raise the company’s profile and valuation and introduce them to deep-pocketed venture capitalists. Even if that were to happen, though, Cotton said the company is committed to “Silica Valley.” “We will stay in Pensacola for sure,” he said. “It is a very nice place to live. The cost of living

is fairly low. If you try to start a new company in Silicon Valley, the amount of capital you need is going to be through the roof. Here, we can start small and grow slowly.” As for Black, he’s considering dropping out of classes at UWF, where he studies electrical engineering, so he can focus fully on the company. (He already logs more than 50 hours most weeks.) Regardless of how things pan out, though, he is committed to the start-up game. “It’s very addictive,” Black said. “It’s not just the risk element. You’re in charge of your own destiny — and the promise is bigger.”

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The Last Word

Whoever came up with Enterprise Florida’s “Perfect Climate” marketing pitch to the world has to be tone deaf to reality in the Sunshine State. A tie? Really? News flash. The number of women-owned firms in Florida is growing. I mean, really growing. They are responsible for hiring hundreds of thousands of workers and are big contributors to the state’s economy. But while Enterprise Florida officials say they want to take a new approach to their marketing campaign to bring new businesses to Florida, the tie will apparently remain an element. According to the fifth annual State of Women-Owned Businesses Report from American Express OPEN, women are doing well here, thank you very much. (See chart at right.) Nationally, today there are an estimated 9.41 million women-owned firms (an increase of 73.7 percent over 1997), which are responsible for employing more than 7.9 million workers and have annual sales totaling more than $1.46 billion. Florida is ranked 12th in the growth of women-owned firms in the past 18 years and 35th in the growth of firm revenue during that same time period. But apparently, Enterprise Florida doesn’t plan to drop the tie, perhaps just reduce its prominence, according to its chief marketing officer, Melissa Medley. Besides, she told The News Service of Florida, the campaign has gone over

well with the agency’s target audience, “business decision makers.” The tie was introduced in early 2013, the brainchild of a Jacksonville firm. It suffered some backlash at the time, but no changes were made and the Legislature didn’t bother to step into the controversy. Debate died down but the issue reemerged during the Legislature’s spring session as Enterprise Florida sought more money for its marketing efforts. Florida should be recognized as having a good climate for any business, no matter the sex of the CEO or founder. The numbers don’t lie. And in our October issue, we plan to introduce you to some amazing women from Northwest Florida who are making a tremendous impact in business and their communities. We will be announcing the 10 winners of our annual Pinnacle Award and telling you a little of each one’s personal story and recipe for success. I am sure you will agree that these women have made a mark in our region with their contributions. The October issue will be unveiled at Gulf Power’s annual economic symposium to be held Oct. 11-13 at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. We are proud to say that Gulf Power has joined with 850 to sponsor this year’s Pinnacle Award. So, get ready to raise a glass to the women who have made a difference in Northwest Florida’s community and business world.

LINDA KLEINDIENST, EDITOR

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lkleindienst@rowlandpublishing.com

Based on 1997, 2002 and 2007 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s quinquennial business census, the Survey of Business Owners shows that in 2015:

82.4% INCREASE

Florida has an estimated 616,200 WOMENOWNED FIRMS — an 82.4 percent increase since 1997 (337,811 firms).

30.5% INCREASE

Those firms EMPLOY 484,700 WORKERS — a 30.5 percent increase over 1997 (371,412 workers).

67.8%

MORE THAN

Their ANNUAL SALES TOTAL CLOSE TO $81 MILLION — 67.8 percent more than in 1997 ($48,261,328).