850 Business Magazine • Spring 2023

MOTHER-DAUGHTER TEAM ACHIEVES SUCCESS AS MILITARY CONTRACTOR

SECURING CHILDREN’S LIVES

Adoption attorney helps women through an emotional process

STUDENTS

WEIGH IN ON CORPORATE VALUES AND BEHAVIOR

LIVE THE LIFE YOU’VE DREAMED AT LATITUDE MARGARITAVILLE WATERSOUND!

Sunshine and cool breezes. Palm trees and margaritas. Welcome to Latitude Margaritaville, a 55-and-better community inspired by the legendary music and lifestyle of Jimmy Buffett, built on food, fun, music and escapism. Escape to the place where fun and relaxation meet. Escape to island-inspired living as you grow older, but not up. Escape to Latitude Margaritaville Watersound, located on Hwy 79, less than 8 miles from the beach.

New Homes from the low $300s

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↑ Student Dialogue

In conversation with five students at Florida State University Panama City, 850 Business Magazine executive editor Steve Bornhoft explored their habits and tendencies as consumers of goods, services and information; their places in the world and outlook on the future; whether labels like Gen X really mean anything; and how they assess the conduct of businesses. Inclusivity and individuality emerged as prominent themes in the students’ remarks. Students made it clear that they want to be respected for who they are and to have the freedom to live their lives as they choose as long as they don’t impinge upon the rights of others. They want to be seen as unique human beings, not members of a collective, and they look for businesses to embrace DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives and perhaps as importantly, do what they say they are going to do. Corporate values matter, they said. One woman said she is particularly interested in how businesses handle sexual harassment cases. A man said he would leave a store and take others with him if he found that management espouses political views that he strongly disagrees with. Curiously, the conversation turned especially spirited when students described their relationships with their personalized water bottles. At 850 Business Magazine, we extend our thanks to the students for their time and frankness, and we thank FSU PC for hosting the meeting.

Putting Principles in Writing

Across the country, businesses big and small craft values statements — which, maybe, differ from vision and mission statements — as a way of communicating core beliefs to their target audiences. We can suppose that some of these statements are more genuine than others, especially when we see a disconnect between company behavior and those pledges on its website. Done right, values statements are more than collections of the right words. They are commitments that list essential and enduring principles and priorities that prescribe the desired mindset and behavior of everyone who works at a company. In other words, they are the operating instructions for an organization and the cornerstone of organizational culture.

STORY BY DENISE LEE YOHN

For four years prior to groundbreaking, The St. Joe Company had worked on plans for a medical campus intended as a regional asset and one that will serve the fast-growing Latitude Margaritaville Watersound community. A chief consideration in that planning was the selection of project partners. Seeking to merge the benefits of education and research with the delivery of medical services, St. Joe made Florida State University a project partner. The selection of a service provider came down to a question of values. St. Joe was looking for a hospital that would support local governance of the campus versus governance from a remote corporate headquarters. In Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, they found one STORY BY STEVE

40Shared Values

BORNHOFT

ON THE COVER: Stephanie White, the founding attorney at Florida Loving Adoptions, holds Ryker, the adopted son of Brittany and Mike Moulton. White worked in commercial litigation for a time before concluding that it was not a good fit with her reasons for choosing law as her career. Resolved to devote her energies to a practice that impacts families, she changed gears. PHOTO BY MIKE FENDER

PHOTO BY MICHAEL BOOINI

Christ Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee, is also the brewmaster and one of eight partners in the city’s next brewery, slated to open in the Old City Waterworks building. Together, the partners bring complementary skills and talents to the equation.

24 WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS Mary

Periscope

49 FAMILY LAW Founding attorney Stephanie White of Florida Loving Adoptions says it is her goal to place children with a family that will love them forever and to make sure that the birth mother feels loved and cared for while she’s going through the adoption process. Her close interaction with birth and adoptive mothers often leads to lasting relationships. Recently, she was called to the bedside of a birth mother in labor and dropped everything to be at her side. Her extraordinary connections with her clients can be highly emotional, but for White, they make for a practice that is more satisfying than the commercial litigation she used to handle.

Pursuits

19

BREWING A pastor/ home brewer/ entrepreneur walks into a poker tournament and starts handing out beers. This may sound like the run-up to a bad joke, but for the Rev. Sheldon Steen, it was a golden opportunity to spread the word about Amicus Brewing Ventures. Steen, who pastors

Carmichael of Panama City Beach and her daughter, Rachael, are succeeding, in a big way, in what traditionally is a man’s world. Mom is the president and CEO and Rachael is the vice president/CFO at DMR Consulting, a military contractor located in Panama City Beach. In 2022, it was deemed by Inc. magazine to be one of the top 500 companies in America. The business takes on projects for the Naval Experimental Diving Unit related to small submarines called SEAL delivery vehicles and has been awarded a $48 million contract by the U.S. Navy involving mine countermeasures.

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COMMUNITY When Eugene Franklin exited the U.S. Navy following a 27year career, interest rates were sky high. He formed Franklin Mortgage and Investment Co. with the goal of helping people keep their homes by refinancing their investments at affordable rates. He saw the business as a ministry whereby he educated clients about home financing and encouraged them to relay what they learned to others. Franklin, who views faith as his foundation, worked as an associate pastor at First Baptist Church of Warrington in Pensacola and established organizations that have revitalized neighborhoods and supported Black businesses. He has served a long list of nonprofits as a board member.

58 INNOVATION

In the past 30 years, Patrick Rooney has held leadership positions at companies including Brand Asset Digital, Cogon Systems, Deloitte Touche & Co. and Manufacturing Technology Inc.

He’s also the lead principal at Coastal CxO Services Inc., where he leads a team of executives providing comprehensive business and technology consulting services. But it’s the work Rooney does as director of entrepreneurial development at Co:Lab Pensacola — a business incubator and growth accelerator created through a partnership between the Florida West Economic Development Alliance and Pensacola State College — that has emerged as his greatest passion.

64 VETERANS AT WORK

Precision is paramount in war. Stakes are high, and departures from perfection can result in failed missions or casualties. That reality applies to weapons systems, military hardware, troop movements — and to the painstaking manufacture of parachutes.

Co-founded by military veterans Aaron Nazaruk and Alexander Alvarado, Paradigm Parachute & Defense, Inc., supplies gear for maneuvers including jumps by paratroopers and the deceleration of aircraft and munitions. The Pensacola business has clients worldwide.

70 EDUCATION Dr. Tim Smith had a big job but was ready for a new challenge. Working in the offices of Orange County District Schools — the eighth-largest school district in the country and the fourth largest in Florida — he was responsible for supervising 20 Orlando-area high schools. But he felt a tug and traced it to Escambia County. Smith wasn’t ready to retire after 30 years working in Orange County, but he was ready to move from Central Florida. In September 2020, Smith was sworn in as Escambia County’s first appointed superintendent of schools.

CONTENTS

Promotional 28 HOMEWORK

Advancing technology and a pandemic have made working from home a big part of the new normal and complicated information security issues. Bit-Wizards advises companies that comprehensive policies and clear guidelines help ease anxiety among employees and employers about remote work.

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MATCHMAKER

William Loiry forges connections. He leads the Defense Leadership Forum, which unites military procurement operations and private-sector contractors at Air Force Contracting Summits, including the one conducted at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa in February.

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NEW PRESIDENT

Daniel Souers brings a wealth of talent and experience to his role as the new president and CEO at Gulf Winds Credit Union. He excels at community outreach, marketing, leadership, product development and financial management and combines those skills to enhance the employee and member experience.

34 BIRD'S EYE VIEW

Large insurers often rely upon Team Complete to conduct aerial assessments following storms. Following Hurricane Michael in 2018, Team Complete deployed more than half a dozen drones and surveyed more than 1,000 windand water-damaged properties in the Florida Panhandle.

68 MEETING DEMAND

Growth in Gulf Coast tourism has brought about a need for more space at Pensacola International Airport. To meet this demand, airport officials are finalizing plans and funding to modernize and expand the facility with improvements, including an expanded security area, an additional five gates and new parking options.

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER

BRIAN E. ROWLAND

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER MCKENZIE BURLEIGH

EDITORIAL

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Steve Bornhoft

SENIOR STAFF WRITER Emma Witmer

EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Raemi Creteur

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Paige Agret, Kari C. Barlow, Hannah Burke, Al Krulik, Denise Lee Yohn, Emilee Mae Struss

CREATIVE

VICE PRESIDENT / PRODUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY Daniel Vitter

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jennifer Ekrut

LEAD DESIGNER Scott Schiller

SENIOR PUBLICATION DESIGNERS Sarah Burger, Saige Roberts, Shruti Shah

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Sierra Thomas

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Dave Barfield, Michael Booini, Mike Fender, Mike Haytack, The Workmans

SALES, MARKETING & EVENTS

SALES MANAGER, WESTERN DIVISION Rhonda Lynn Murray

SALES MANAGER, EASTERN DIVISION Lori Magee Yeaton

DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, EASTERN DIVISION Daniel Parisi

DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, WESTERN DIVISION Dan Parker

ADVERTISING SERVICES MANAGER Tracy Mulligan

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Julie Dorr

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Michelle Daugherty, Darla Harrison

MARKETING MANAGER Javis Ogden

SALES AND MARKETING WRITER Rebecca Padgett Frett

ADMINISTRATIVE & CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALIST Renee Johnson

OPERATIONS

CUSTOM PUBLISHING MANAGER Sara Goldfarb

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE/

AD SERVICE COORDINATOR Sarah Coven

PRODUCTION EDITOR Paige Aigret

PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION SPECIALIST Melinda Lanigan

STAFF BOOKKEEPER Amber Ridgeway

DIGITAL SERVICES

DIGITAL EDITOR/MARKETING SPECIALIST Alix Black

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 (4 issues) subscription is $25. To purchase, call (850) 878-0554 or go online to 850businessmagazine.com. Single copies are $5.95 and may be purchased at Midtown Reader in Tallahassee and at Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million in Tallahassee, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Pensacola, Panama City and through our Tallahassee office.

Inclusion and Equality

In recent years, concern for inclusion and equality has been a focal point for discussion often fueled by a tremendous amount of emotional energy. Rightfully so.

From a societal perspective and consistent with the founding principles and ideals of our country, we can agree that all people are equal and should be treated in a similar manner, no matter what their race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender and physical abilities may be.

What a wonderful world it would be if it were dominated by tolerance, acceptance and understanding.

Always, there are differences between the real and the ideal. Throughout recorded history, collectives ranging from tribes to alliances of nations have engaged in conflict. Wars are being waged today.

Daily, we see scenes from the war in Ukraine in what has become a prolonged battle. Millions of people have been wounded, killed or displaced. Cities lie in ruins. Refugees flee to destinations unknown. We sympathize with the war’s victims, and wonder, “Isn’t the human race better than this?”

It is easy to become discouraged by or even numbed by the news. Still, we must avoid thinking that war is unavoidable, and we must continuously embrace peace as a goal.

Within our own country, deep divisions exist. People have a tendency to gather information only from sources with whom they are philosophically and politically aligned, and differences harden. Cooperation, even conversation, becomes difficult.

Absolutely, it is not easy for someone to turn to another and say, “I find some of your actions and opinions to be hurtful. Can we talk?”

The audience for our magazines at Rowland Publishing is diverse, and we make a conscious effort to write stories about people with diverse backgrounds and frames of reference. That is, we are intentionally

inclusive. But in being so, it is important that we always consider how any story we publish may affect readers with beliefs and points of view that may depart from those of the subject of a story.

Within the past few months, Rowland Publishing made an error in judgment in allowing a story to run without incorporating an opposing outlook. We should have done better. Because we did not, we appeared to be endorsing one opinion to the exclusion of others.

When I heard from people who were disturbed by the story, I extended them a heartfelt apology and immediately removed the story from our websites.

As an employer, Rowland Publishing strives in every aspect to be inclusive and treat every member of our team in an equal manner. That is the law, and it is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing to do. Workplaces are enriched by diversity.

As a publisher, I deliver magazines to more people than I will ever know. But one day, you may be inclined to reach out to me and ask, “Can we talk?” When you do, please know that my answer will be yes.

Respectfully,

Brian Rowland browland@rowlandpublishing.com

The continuous pursuit of ideals is an imperative

850businessmagazine.com

ENTRECON® 2022 AND A LOOK TOWARD 2023

In creating the EntreCon® Business, Leadership and Entrepreneurship Conference, the Studer Community Institute (SCI) brought about a new kind of gathering — one inclusive of people from all industries with a desire to learn and grow in new ways. The 2022 conference took place on Nov. 16–17 in downtown Pensacola. “After a difficult few years in the workforce, attending EntreCon® is a great way to learn from experts, gain actionable tactics, make connections and get answers from like-minded businesses while having fun,” said Rachael Gillette, president of SCI. Read the full recap by visiting 850businessmagazine.com/a-recap-of-business-leadership-andentrepreneurship-conference-entrecon-2022-and-a-look-towards-2023

LAST CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

Do you know a businesswoman who is making an indelible impact in her community?

850 Business Magazine is accepting nominations for its 2023 Pinnacle Awards program.

Nominations, which are due by May 6, may be made at 850businessmagazine.com/pinnacle-awards/nominations.

A HIGH-TECH CASE STUDY

Because technology is an integral part of their business, Backridge Tree Service hired the Bit-Wizards Managed IT Services team to handle all of its IT needs and concerns. The results were phenomenal. Read all about them by visiting 850businessmagazine.com/ a-high-tech-case-study

GIVEAWAY ULTIMATE HILTON SANDESTIN BEACH RESORT GETAWAY

Our work lives can be very rewarding but also challenging, and it’s important to achieve a healthy work-life balance. There’s no better way to unplug, relax and unwind than by experiencing an amazing Ultimate Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort Getaway. Enter to win the escape you’ve been longing for! Enter for your chance to win at 850businessmagazine.com/ ultimate-hilton-sandestin beach-resort-getaway

850 BYTES & BEYOND

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“Bytes” — essential information about business openings, professional promotions, awards, honors and more — at your convenience online.

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850 - The Business Magazine of Northwest Florida

“We’re not just developing a healthcare delivery system. It’s healthcare with research and education, all of which drives positive outcomes for our patients and the community. The best healthcare is locally driven by the people who receive care. That’s the model we’re bringing to Panama City Beach. Together with FSU and the St. Joe Company, we’re making a long-term commitment to building a regional healthcare destination.”

Mark O’Bryant, President & CEO, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare

| The FSU Health-Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Medical Campus in Panama City Beach

We’re transforming healthcare in the Panhandle.

CAPITAL LOCAL HAPPENINGS

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY OF FLORIDA ANNOUNCES PROMOTIONS

» Private Quarters

Hair Salon in Tallahassee celebrated 35 years in business on Jan. 15. The salon, which is owned by Brenda Moss, is located in Tallahassee’s Frenchtown community and has received awards from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, including Emerging Business of the Year, Outstanding Business of the Year and Small Business of the Year.

Appeal Board, and patent appeals and proceedings in front of the Patent Board of Examiners. She also handles domain name dispute arbitration proceedings under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and matters arising under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. Love earned her law degree from the Florida State University College of Law and her bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University.

Berkshire

Hathaway HomeServices

Beach Properties of Florida has announced the promotions of Katie Crowe to marketing/ operations supervisor and Karina Caraballo to marketing manager for the brokerage headquartered in WaterColor, Florida. Crowe and Caraballo are expanding their existing roles to take on additional responsibilities and management duties. Since joining the agency in 2021 as an operations coordinator, Crowe has been responsible for onboarding and training new agents at the brokerage. In her new role, she will continue overseeing agent onboarding along with orientation account management, mobilization of agent tools and company resources, serving as a communications liaison between the agency and area realtor boards and overseeing brokerage marketing initiatives. Caraballo joined the brokerage in February 2021 as a marketing coordinator. As marketing manager, she will develop and oversee company and agent marketing initiatives across all media platforms, institute best practices for agent marketing and employ the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand in all aspects of the company’s marketing efforts. In addition, Caraballo will serve as the liaison for brand partnerships with the 30A Company and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network.

» Stearns Weaver Miller has announced that Adrienne Love has joined the firm’s Tallahassee office as a shareholder who will lead the intellectual property practice. Love’s practice is focused on patent, copyright and trademark matters, including litigation of intellectual property cases in federal courts throughout the United States. Love has more than 15 years in practice where she has litigated trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings and appeals before the Trademark Trial and

» James Moore & Company has announced the following promotions: Ben Clark, CPA, has been promoted to audit senior manager at the Tallahassee office following eight years of service at the firm. Clark earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Florida State University. Chris Salak has been promoted to audit senior manager at the Tallahassee location. A member of the firm for seven years, Salak holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and another in finance and marketing from Florida State University.

» The Community Foundation of North Florida is celebrating 25 years of connecting people to charitable causes. Over that time, it has distributed more than $39 million in grants that have contributed to the greater good of the community. Looking ahead to the next 25

Katie Crowe

Karina Caraballo

years — and beyond — the Community Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in North Florida through the promotion and support of charitable giving.

NEW & NOTABLE

» Tallahassee Community College (TCC) has announced that the board of trustees of the Southern Association of College and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) has given the college approval to implement an associate’s degree program in Medical Laboratory Technology. The 76-credit-hour program can be completed in six terms and will be offered at the TCC Ghazvini Center for Healthcare Education. The program expects to launch in the fall of 2023 with an initial cohort of 30 students including

health care industry employees and individuals interested in careers in health care environments. TCC received a grant of $250,000 from Bank of America in late 2021 to fund the equipment needed to establish the program.

APPOINTMENTS

» Governor Ron DeSantis has announced the appointment of Karen Dearden to the E911 Board. Dearden, of Tallahassee, is the external affairs manager for AT&T Florida. She was previously the communications director for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her master’s degree in counseling and human systems from Florida State University.

» Governor Ron DeSantis has announced the reappointment of John Griffin to the Board of Optometry. Griffin, of Tallahassee, is an attorney with Carson & Linn, P.A. He previously served as cabinet aide and chief of the administrative law Section of the Office of the Attorney General. Griffin earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida and his law degree from Stetson University.

» Governor Ron DeSantis has announced the reappointment of Walter Melton, D.C., to the Board of Chiropractic Medicine. Melton is a licensed chiropractic physician and owner of Downtown

Chiropractic and Sports Development. He serves on the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles’ Medical Review Board and is a member of the Florida Chiropractic Association and the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce. Melton earned his bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and his doctor of chiropractic medicine degree from the National University of Health Sciences.

» Governor Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of Melissa Stone to the Florida Commission on the Status of Women. Stone, of Tallahassee, is the chief executive officer for Cavalry Strategies. She was previously the chief of staff for former Gov. Rick Scott. Stone earned her bachelor’s degree in

journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.

EMERALD COAST

LOCAL HAPPENINGS

» Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Beach Properties of Florida has announced the promotion of Jan Sirmans to chief operating officer for the brokerage headquartered in WaterColor, Florida. Formerly the vice president of operations, Sirmans will expand her role on the brokerage’s executive team by overseeing

FLORIDA FORT WALTONDESTIN HOSPITAL AWARDS COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP

HCA

HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital

has awarded a $15,000 scholarship to Okaloosa Technical College to support efforts to strengthen and expand the state’s health care workforce. The funding is part of HCA Healthcare’s ongoing commitment to partnering with organizations to help develop a diverse pool of future health care leaders and is designed to ensure that students have the opportunity to graduate and attain a high-quality degree or industry certification. Students enrolled in the nursing program at Okaloosa Technical College complete a year of clinical training at HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital while working toward their Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) certification.

EMERALD COAST // LOCAL HONORS

daily operations, implementing strategic goals and ensuring the delivery of quality customer service to clients and associates. Since joining the agency in 2011 as an agent coordinator, Sirmans has played an integral role in the company’s growth and expansion, assuming the role of director of operations in 2017 and vice president of operations in 2019. Prior to working in real estate, Sirmans accrued extensive experience in the banking industry, giving her insight into all sides of transaction management.

» Governor Ron DeSantis has announced the reappointment of Katie Spear, O.D., J.D., M.P.H. to the Board of Optometry.

Spear, of Pensacola, is the owner of The Vision Hub and Dr. Katie Gilbert Spear, PLLC. She is a member of the Florida Optometric Association, the American Optometric Association and is a former co-editor of Women in Optometry

Spear earned her bachelor’s degree from Auburn University, her master’s degree in public health from the University of Alabama,

her doctorate of optometry from the University of Alabama and her juris doctor from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

BAY LOCAL HONORS

» Bill and Mary Kay Thompson have been named recipients of Bay County’s 2022–23

Teacher of a Lifetime award

As husband and wife, the two were music educators for more than 30 years. The award was established seven years ago to recognize and honor teachers who have greatly impacted

their students and contributed to the community. Mary Kay was a music educator at Hiland Park Elementary School, A.D. Harris High School, Oscar Patterson Academy and Mowat Middle School. She retired from Hiland Park in 2010. Bill was a band director at Mosley High School, Rosenwald High School, and Merrit Brown Middle School and ended his career in 2010 at Mowat Middle School.

NEW & NOTABLE

» HCA Florida Gulf Coast has announced

that the opening of the Inpatient Rehabilitation Center with an expansion of rehabilitation services. The $20.5 million, 22,000-square-foot addition includes 20 additional private patient rooms, a gym and a dining area. The center specializes in treating patients who have experienced strokes, cardiac and pulmonary issues, orthopedic fractures, amputations, brain, back and spinal injuries, neuromuscular disorders and other health issues.

YOUR FRONT DOOR FOR BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

Whether you are looking to grow, relocate or start your company in Florida’s Capital Community, the Office of Economic Vitality (OEV) is your link to site location, talent solutions, financial guidance, technical assistance, and other concierge services.

INSPIRATION + PERSPIRATION + MANIFESTATION

BREWING AMICUS BREWING VENTURES

Apastor/home brewer/budding entrepreneur walks into a poker tournament and starts handing out beers.

This may sound like the run-up to a bad joke, but for the Rev. Sheldon Steen, it was a golden opportunity to spread the word about Amicus Brewing Ventures. Steen, who pastors Christ Presbyterian Church on Bannerman Road in Tallahassee, is also the brewmaster and one of eight partners in the city’s next brewery, slated to open in the Old City Waterworks building.

Steen, his wife Mary, and their friends Tim and Alison Denny, Laura and Tom Barrett, and Laura and Shaun York, hatched the idea for Amicus, fittingly, over beers. Long ago, the friends had discovered that camping and craft beers were mutual interests, but it wasn’t until 2021 that they began to wonder if they could make their beer passion profitable.

“We were at a really small brewery in St. Marys, Georgia,” Steen said. “It was an old house where the guy had torn down the walls and had a really basic setup. Everyone knew that I have been brewing for about 10 years, so they asked if I could do something like that. We started to talk about it. None of us were really sure how serious we were until a couple of weeks later. We talked more, and from there it just snowballed.”

All well established in unrelated careers, the amicae had no experience in the hospitality industry beyond waiting tables. But they discovered that they had complementary strengths adding up to the capacity to launch a business, even in the midst of an uncertain economy.

“As a contractor, I used to work for the Florida Parks Service, and I helped with historic restoration of places in the parks, so being able to restore a local building was super exciting for me,” Alison Denny said. “I’ve driven past this building a million times living in Tallahassee. Of our four families, two of us are Tallahassee natives and the rest of

us have lived here for 15-plus years, so we love the idea of being able to build back a local historic building.”

Constructed more than 130 years ago by the Philadelphia-based American Pipe and Manufacturing Company, the Old City Waterworks building represented a significant leap toward modernization at the turn of the 19th century. The City of Tallahassee’s purchase of the building and water system in 1908 came as one of its first investments in a utility, made at a time when Tallahassee’s population was rapidly growing.

← Friends with complementary skills and talents are teaming up to launch Amicus Brewing Ventures.

Pictured: Rev. Sheldon Steen, who is taking his homebrewing hobby to a new level, and Alison Denny, the project’s general contractor.

As a contractor, I used to work for the Florida Parks Service, and I helped with historic restoration of places in the parks, so being able to restore a local building was super exciting for me .”

— ALISON DENNY

photography by DAVE BARFIELD

Since the 1950s, however, the Old City Waterworks building stood empty, its legacy kept alive only by its placement on registers of historic places. About 20 years ago, that began to change. The city undertook restoration work and began to market the building to businesses that might honor its history while further developing the Cascades/ Downtown area.

The city granted Amicus Brewing a redevelopment grant that will cover about 20% of the project costs, including flooring, equipment purchases and additional construction.

Maintaining the integrity of the waterworks building is a priority for the Amicus team, especially for Denny,

whose construction company is in charge of the redevelopment work.

“We saved the old shingles from the roof, so we are going to line the tap wall with the old shingles,” Denny said. “The front of the bar is going to be made from some of the wood flooring from upstairs. Our tables are all going to be made of the beams we are taking down, so we are trying to use historic elements in the space.”

Beyond construction efforts, the Amicus team has been refining their recipes, catering events and consulting with members of the Tallahassee brewery scene. Steen said the support of organizations such as the Tallahassee Beer Society

← Rendering depicts the future Amicus Brewing Ventures buildings and grounds. The City of Tallahassee awarded the partners in the business a grant that will cover 20% of project costs.

↓ The Old City Waterworks building as it appeared in January 2023. Bottom: In developing plans and drawings for the building, the Amicus team has worked to maintain the integrity of the historic structure.

and advice from brewery owners, including Marsha and Ryan LaPete of Deep Brewing Company, have been invaluable.

The city’s support, Steen said, will speed progress toward the arrival of a bonafide brewery district in Tallahassee.

“

Proof is basically right across that walking bridge,” Steen said. “Fools Fire is over in the All Saints District, and Oyster City is right there on Gaines Street. Now with us being here, you are really starting to get a brewery district. A lot of cities have that, but Tallahassee doesn’t quite have it yet. We are almost there with those three, and I think adding us makes this whole area more connected.”

Military Service

Women-owned business aids war fighter readiness

story by HANNAH BURKE

When her husband suddenly died in 2012, Mary Carmichael couldn’t let the business he’d spent over a decade building founder.

In 1998, Marcus Carmichael and his business partner, David Hoskins, received an order to plan, test and evaluate support for an upgraded Doppler sonar on a SEAL delivery vehicle. Subsequently, their business, DMR Consulting, continued to offer engineering support and technical services to defense logistics agencies and Northwest Florida’s military bases.

“We had 42 employees at the time of my husband’s passing, and I couldn’t let them down,” said DMR president and CEO Mary Carmichael. “Despite

not being an engineer, I decided I was going to step in, and we were going to continue providing our services.”

With over 30 years of executive leadership experience overseeing the development of public facilities for municipal, state and federal government agencies, Carmichael felt prepared to handle the “business side” of DMR. She knew what was expected from a contractor and had a feel for the military.

“My father was in the Air Force, so I knew how important it was to support the war fighter,” Carmichael said.

She relied on the support of her daughter, Rachael Carmichael, who became vice president and CFO and officially cemented DMR as a womenowned small business.

→ President/CEO

Mary Carmichael and her daughter, Rachael, who serves as vice president/CFO, own DMR Consulting in Panama City Beach. The business has been awarded a $48 million contract related to mine countermeasures by the U.S. Navy.

When she was 15, Rachael Carmichael, “the technical brains of the operations,” her mother joked, began working summers at DMR as a student intern. She earned an associate degree at Gulf Coast State College and a bachelor’s degree in management information systems at the University of South Florida.

“We are women in a man’s world,” Carmichael acknowledged. “But we make a good team. Rachael is great at what she does, and I can handle the bigger picture and long-term planning.”

Planning is essential when you’re awarded a five-year, $48 million contract with the U.S. Navy, DMR’s biggest project to date and one related to the Navy’s MK-105 airborne mine countermeasures (AMCM) system. That system involves helicopters that carry hydrofoil sleds capable of detecting explosive mines.

DMR initially specialized in surface mine countermeasures and, according to Carmichael, was one of the first companies to establish an off-base repair depot for such systems. That depot is currently equipped to support all military needs, but DMR began leasing another repair depot dedicated to AMCM systems.

“It’s a system that saves lives, and we’re so proud to be a part of it,” Carmichael said. “We like to say we carry a project from the womb to the tomb because it’s about the life cycle of a system. Every aspect of the military has aging legacy systems where you either have to figure out a way to make them work, or you have to design a new one. Then, new systems need to be tested. Our services allow these legacy

We are women in a man’s world. But we make a good team. Rachael is great at what she does, and I can handle the bigger picture and long-term planning.”

— MARY CARMICHAEL, CEO AND PRESIDENT OF DMR CONSULTING

↑ The mother-daughter team of Mary and Rachael Carmichael has enjoyed notable success in what traditionally has been a man’s world. In 2022, their business, DMR Consulting, was named to Inc. 5000’s list of the top 500 companies in America.

systems to continue to function until the new ones are ready to implement, so there is no gap in time for the soldier or airman who’s out there performing their duty.”

Carmichael said many components of these legacy systems have become obsolescent. Parts are outdated and no longer commercially available. For that reason, DMR is equipped with a fabrication facility capable of manufacturing custom parts for the

military. It recently became a certified welding agency.

“We do projects for the Naval Experimental Diving Unit that involve SEAL delivery vehicles (small, crewed submarines) where we have redesigned and fabricated parts for the equipment they’re working with right away,” Carmichael said. “As a small company, we feel like we can really jump in there with a technical solution. We’re very responsive to our clients’ repair needs

and try to get equipment fixed and back to them as soon as possible.”

That rapid response time, as well as a resourceful and experienced staff, accounts for the success of DMR, which was among the top 500 companies in the Inc. 5,000 list of the most successful companies in America for 2022. It ranked No. 2 among engineering companies.

“I think it’s because we focus on the resources we have,” Carmichael said

Our region is so strong with the military that we want to support all aspects of it. To us, it’s personal and we are proud of our country. We want to continue to grow and serve.”

— MARY CARMICHAEL, CEO AND PRESIDENT OF DMR CONSULTING

of the award. “Many of our staff are veterans we hire straight out of the military fleets or squadrons and match them with subject matter experts and young engineers, so it’s really a team effort. It pays to have former users of these systems who get it.”

Carmichael said ratings from Inc. were based on a three-year period, during which time DMR experienced growth of 1,683%, much of it attributable to the MK-105 contract procured in 2021.

“What’s most important is to not just focus on a single contract but all areas of our services,” Carmichael said. “Going forward, we’d love to spread our wings and fly high with

the Air Force. We are very excited to support them in 2023 as the squadrons return to Tyndall and would love to get a bigger contract with them to help out.”

DMR recently began supporting the U.S. Navy through the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). It is

furnishing the DLA with custom parts to ensure systems are mission ready.

“Our region is so strong with the military that we want to support all aspects of it,” Carmichael said. “To us, it’s personal and we are proud of our country. We want to continue to grow and serve.” ▪

→ DMR Consulting employee Mitch Park focuses on his work in the welding room. DMR often hires employees newly separated from the military and pairs them with subject-matter experts and engineers.

Bit-Wizards Has Done Its Homework on Working From Home

The rise in remote work has created need for new round of company policies

For many, a remote workforce is a critical element of agility and competitive cost structure in the new postpandemic landscape. As a Managed IT Services provider, Bit-Wizards is well-equipped to help companies manage a work-from-anywhere workforce.

While the COVID-19 experience caused many businesses to pivot rapidly and make life-or-death decisions about remote work, Bit-Wizards has been preparing their clients for remote work situations for years.

Over the last decade, trends and the business climate shifted to a mobile and agile-first business model. For hurricane-prone states like Florida, it has always been a necessity. As a Florida-based technology company, Bit-Wizards establishes every client’s IT infrastructure and systems in a configuration to support remote work due to the potential for storms.

“Even before the pandemic, we worked with our clients to get them to a place where they weren’t locked into a specific building and could keep business

up and running no matter what,” said Bit-Wizards CEO Vince Mayfield. “Continuity and disaster recovery is a big part of what we do. We didn’t have to pivot hard to adapt to a remote workforce because we already supported our clients with an internet connection, backups and remote plans in place.”

Mayfield acknowledges that remote work has pros and cons. However, every business needs agility to compete in today’s market. But any company that relies on remote workers, even if only on occasion, should have guidelines in place.

Comprehensive policies and clear guidelines help establish operating procedures that ensure security and compliance, easing employee and employer anxiety regarding remote work. Some main policy points include physical and electronic data security, types of hardware devices utilized and communication methods.

Security should be a company’s utmost concern regarding data and technology. Safeguarding information and operations becomes more challenging when employees and their devices are scattered across locations.

“All companies are technology companies; that’s why they must be configured to facilitate security and compliance,” said Louis Erickson,

Chief Operations Officer of Bit-Wizards. “Often, we think remote work saves costs. But when physical and electronic assets are highly decentralized and distributed, they have more avenues for vulnerability, so if you fail to plan and invest in proper technology or security measures, it can cost your company a lot more money.”

Mayfield and Erickson advise businesses to use standardized, company-issued devices for all employees. Each remote device should have VPN access, methods for proper backup, antivirus protection and the most current software. All devices and systems must be managed and monitored in real-time using remote

management software (RMM) that examines threats and ensure the machines and devices are patched, virus-scanned and up to date. Employees should be required to enable multi-factor authentication on those devices, even on email accounts linked to personal phones. Bit-Wizards can help businesses install software that keeps track of each device and wipes it if an employee should depart the company.

“If you standardize your company’s IT infrastructure on an agile foundation that supports remote work by default, you enable your business to take advantage of a more flexible workforce. It will improve your company’s resilience and ability to pivot in adversity and disaster. But don’t do it alone. These systems are complex. Find an expert to help you implement your agility platform and your policies and procedures. It will pay you dividends financially and in peace of mind,” Mayfield said.

Second Northwest Florida Economic Summit Announced

William Loiry has for years organized and conducted summits related to leadership and opportunities for business contractors, but that’s not to say he doesn’t get excited when a new event enjoys a successful first year.

The inaugural Northwest Florida Economic Summit took place in October 2022 at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center. Positive feedback and enthusiastic attendance led to plans for a 2023 edition of the event, which will take place in early November 2023.

The 2022 event included U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn, who represents Florida’s 2nd Congressional District, and Jennifer Conoley, president and CEO of Florida’s Great Northwest, as keynote speakers. Rowland Publishing editor Steve Bornhoft and associate publisher McKenzie Burleigh joined on a panel focused on technology that featured the insights of Steve Millaway, founder/CEO of TechFarms Capital; Vincent Mayfield, CEO of Bit-Wizards; and Keith Bowers, director of the Leon County/ Tallahassee Office of Economic Vitality.

Highly popular were the matchmaking sessions where attendees had the opportunity to meet with local, state and federal officials who administer grants and award contracts. In many cases, those

Successful inaugural summit prompts plans for a renewal of the event

initial meetings resulted in plans for continuing conversations.

Loiry was particularly excited by plans among participants on a Northwest Florida leadership roundtable, who emerged from that discussion resolved to get together throughout the year to strategize about ways to diversify the regional economy.

“The summit and the leadership roundtable exist because many are concerned about too much tourism or out-of-control growth,” Loiry said. “We intend to alleviate some of this anxiety with a roadmap for healthy economic diversification in this region.”

The 2023 event, like the first conference, will include speakers, matchmaking

sessions, panels and opportunities to network with business leaders and influential agencies.

“A major focus for the 2023 event will be the expansion of tech in Northwest Florida as a growing economic sector,” Loiry said. “And we will increase the number of local, state, and federal agencies to coincide with the interests of audience members who are helping Northwest Florida develop in positive ways.”

Each year, the summit will change locations to spread the positive economic impact it generates throughout the region. Updates will be posted at NorthwestFloridaLeadershipForum.org and usdlf.org.

» WANT TO GO? Find out about more Defense Leadership Forum initiatives, as well as all upcoming summit and networking events, by visiting usdlf.org.

U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn (FL-2) served as a keynote speaker and spent time on the Summit exhibit floor.

Northwest Florida Military Report

BY WILLIAM LOIRY

More than 700 military and government officials, business associations and defense contractors participated in the 10th annual Air Force Contracting Summit on Feb. 7-8, 2023, at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa.

Almost 30 military and industry speakers filled the two-day program, organized by the Defense Leadership Forum, a public service organization. U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn (FL-2) provided the Summit Keynote Address.

Air Force Command presentations were provided by a host of installations, directorates and commands. Additional government presentations were provided by NASA SEWP and NITAAC.

Industry presentations were provided by AT&T Defense & National Security; Bank of America; Capitol Integration; Horsley Construction Group; Lockheed Martin; Mohawk Valley Materials; National Energy

U.S.A.; Raytheon Intelligence & Space; Schneider Electric; and Unanet.

Congressman Dunn, who serves on the House China Select Committee, said that with rising tensions and risks, especially from China, the nation needs private-sector contractors and experts working in concert with uniformed military.

“My experience in Congress has taught me that if you can get the state and local partners, such as the people at this summit, the tools to understand and strengthen supply chains in their regions — and then get out of their way — they become better partners for providing for our national security,” Dunn said.

Of special interest to the audience was a presentation on the multi-billion dollar reconstruction program for Tyndall AFB provided by Col. Patrick Combs, Deputy District Commander, Mobile District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Lt. Col. (USAF Ret), Steve Loken, deputy base civil engineer at Hurlburt Field, provided an update on the latest Air Force energy resilience contracts. Wayland Patterson, chief of the Air Force Contract Augmentation Program (AFCAP), provided insight into Air Force contingency contracting. And Claire Reynolds, representing the U.S. Army Partnership Program in the Pentagon, provided details on the latest military base/ community partnerships.

U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn (FL-2) with Summit Chairman William Loiry.

The 11th Annual Air Force Contracting Summit will take place in February 2024. See usdlf.org for particulars.

Gulf Winds Credit Union Welcomes New

President and CEO

For Daniel Souers, president and CEO of Gulf Winds Credit Union, satisfaction stems from serving others. A sense of community accounts for his career in credit unions and led him back to his native Gulf Coast to join Gulf Winds in October 2022.

“From the start, Gulf Winds Credit Union set itself apart because of the company culture and fantastic team of professionals that care about their community,” Souers said.

Souers brings talent and experience to Gulf Winds. He is adept in community outreach, marketing, leadership, product development and financial management and combines those skills to enhance the employee and member experience.

His extensive background includes service recently as the chief experience officer for a credit union based in Houston, Texas. Souers began his career as a market research consultant for a real estate development company. He later managed

marketing at a large credit union in Alabama. This experience helps him to lead with a members-first mentality.

In his first few months as CEO, he visited all thirteen Gulf Winds branches, which provide service across 75 counties spanning Florida, Alabama and Georgia in the course of a “listening tour.” Along the way, he gained valuable insights from employees and members while familiarizing himself with the Gulf Winds culture and identifying areas for growth.

“I intend to always be nimble and responsive to the needs of this team and the members,” Souers said. “A strong foundation of my career is the desire to help each individual member have the tools they need for success.”

Souers is adaptable to changing market conditions and member expectations. Within his first 90 days as CEO, the Gulf Winds team introduced a new money market account, an option that offers great rates, higher returns, no locked

and servant leadership

terms and access to your money at any time without penalty. This addition allows members to save their money while building their wealth.

Helping people extends into all facets of the community. The Gulf Winds Cares Foundation contributes to local charitable endeavors in the areas of elder services, youth services, basic needs and financial education. Additionally, Gulf Winds sponsors many community events throughout the year and gives its team members 16 hours of paid volunteer time a year.

“Gulf Winds has a stake in the region, which is why I want to always be a part in supporting our communities so they can thrive,” said Souers. “This is a dream job for me because I get to help people attain success and security. There’s a lot changing in this world, but I want to make sure that Gulf Winds and its standout culture and services are still here in 100 years.”

Daniel Souers is committed to active listening

Team Complete Goes High in the Sky

Aerial assessments allow for a bird’s eye view of damage

If you’ve lived in Florida for any amount of time, you’ve seen aerial footage of the devastation wrought by a hurricane. While it’s often difficult and disheartening to view, these images are the beginning of rebuilding.

In the aftermath of a disaster, one of the most vital steps is to assess the damage. More crucial is that the damage is accounted for in a safe and efficient way. Since 2016, Team Complete has offered aerial assessments to help communities assess damage and make plans for repairs.

While Team Complete is based in Florida, they provide service over a wide range. After a hail storm damaged schools throughout Amarillo, Texas, Team Complete owner John Minor called on recently hired Matt Miller to scope out the damage. One of his first duties was to obtain his FAA 107 drone license. Minor called on him to assess the condition of 46 schools.

Complete was pre-approved for airspace

authorization at every airport within 100 miles of the coast in the entire Southeastern U.S.

Subsequently, because of the success of the aerial assessments, all Team Complete inspectors obtain their FAA remote pilot license. Today, Miller is a senior project manager with certifications as a remote pilot, a Windstorm Insurance Network appraiser and an FLIR certified aerial thermographer.

Team Complete is often enlisted by large insurers to conduct aerial assessments following storms. One of the most notable was Hurricane Michael in 2018. With aerial technology, Team Complete deployed more than half a dozen drones and surveyed over 1,000 wind and water damaged properties in the Florida Panhandle in an expedient fashion.

Aerials are also often helpful in assessing and dealing with situations such as steep roofs, slick materials or a lack of access point.

The drone is piloted a couple hundred feet above the structure when it begins capturing photo and video and is then moved about to capture images at various heights and angles. The process is then repeated at night with a thermal drone.

Complete used the first dronemounted thermal camera available for civilian use (the DJI/FLIR ZenMuse XT) back in 2016 and has stayed up to date with technology as the thermal capability of these cameras has continued to improve.

Miller explains that thermal drones detect temperature anomalies which are often indicators of moisture, typically equating to pockets of water or water intrusion within a commercial flat roof or exterior wall system.

“Aerial inspections are a great asset to property owners, insurers and even the general public,” Miller said. “These are valuable images that ultimately save time and energy for all involved.”

Damage from Hurricane Sally

Thermal drone image of property

Matt Miller

Craf ting Core Values of Value

Too many companies settle on the predictable

story by DENISE LEE YOHN // illustrations by LINDSEY MASTERSON

Your organization probably has core values, but do your core values have teeth? By “teeth,” I mean, are your core values powerful and prescriptive? The way to give your core values teeth is to integrate and align them with your desired brand identity.

What are core values? They are the essential and enduring principles and priorities that prescribe the desired mindset and behavior of everyone who works at your company. In other words, they are the operating instructions for your organization — the cornerstone of your organizational culture. Your values should describe the attitudes and beliefs that you desire from all employees and help them translate those attitudes and beliefs into specific actions and decisions you want from them. Ultimately it should be clear how those behaviors produce the results you’re looking for.

In my experience as well as the research I did for my book FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World’s Greatest Companies, I’ve found that most organizations don’t have core values that do this — most core values don’t have teeth. Most organizations use generic platitudes for their core values, such as “we operate with integrity” or “we value respect and teamwork.” These values don’t say anything meaningful, and therefore, they don’t make a difference.

VALUES SCHIZOPHRENIA

I’ve also found that most organizations operate with two sets of values — one set speaks to internal workplace values that are intended to guide employees’ behaviors and decisions; and a separate set of desired brand attributes and values that describe the way they want their brand to be perceived by customers. In other words, companies state values through which they engage their employees that have little to do with

the way they want their employees to engage customers.

Case in point: I recently came across a company whose website talks about:

» offering the most innovative, world-renown products

» providing the most up-to-date service, and

» solving the root of their client’s problem, not just the surface symptoms.

Those values seem really compelling and differentiating. But that same company’s internal core values use the same well-worn buzzwords and bromides that pretty much every company has in their list of core values, such as:

» Great work ethic

» Respect for others

» Excellence in service

Do you see the problem? There’s a huge gap between what the company promises to do for customers — its brand identity — and the culture it expects employees to embrace to do it. And this company is not alone. Many companies suffer from

values schizophrenia, with huge disconnects between internal and external values. These disconnects not only prevent you from delivering on your brand promise, but could possibly lead to risk and crisis.

Consider the disconnect at Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo has always claimed a wholesome brand identity, using an image of a horse-drawn stagecoach, an old-fashioned looking logo and holiday ads about working hard to make sure kids got their toys in time. But then a few years ago, thanks to some whistleblowers and the resulting investigations, we found out what the company was really like. Employees had been creating phony bank and credit card accounts in customers’ names without their permission. They were doing this because they were trying to make impossible numbers that their managers expected them to hit.

Wells Fargo suffered significantly from this debacle. It would have been hard enough for the company to regain people’s trust given how egregious the problem was — but it’s been particularly damaging and

difficult for Wells Fargo because the corporate culture was so completely disconnected from the external brand identity the company aspired to.

ONE SET OF UNIQUE VALUES

To eliminate the gulf between organizational and brand values, you should use one set of core values to describe the unique way you do things on the inside and the outside. And when you do this, you’re more likely to have core values with teeth because they will be unique.

Most companies’ core values aren’t unique. The folks at ProHabits, the company that makes a leadership development skills and training program for managers to activate values and improve performance, recently conducted an analysis of the values at Fortune 500 companies. It examined 2,054 core values from 397 organizations that made them publicly available on their company website. Their analysis revealed that those 2,000+ values could be classified into only 56 distinct value categories — and a few core values were shared by the vast majority of companies. For example, over 80% of the companies they examined claimed “integrity” or some version of it as a core value. They also found that all but five companies included at least one of the top 10 values/ value categories within their own list of values.

P roHabits’s categorization of the values involved some

subjectivity, and I don’t agree with all their coding (for example, within the category of “integrity,” they included companies that stated values including “common sense,” “justice” and “self-esteem.”) But in looking at the investigation as a whole, the conclusion remains: Most companies’ core values are boring and banal, and therefore, most core values are ineffective.

your employees to think and act in order to produce the specific outcomes, including brand identity, that you want.

INTEGRATE AND ALIGN

The top 10 most common values/value categories ProHabits found were:

1. Integrity 81%

2. Teamwork 41%

3. Innovation 34%

If you articulate vague and vapid values that sound like any other company in your category, at best your employees will produce results like any other company in your category. At worst your people will start making stuff up.

4. Customer 31%

5. Respect 29%

6. Excellence ...... 25%

7. Diversity/ Inclusion 20%

It doesn’t matter if you want your brand to be trailblazing or traditional, spirited or steady. What matters is that you use one set of unique core values to shape what you want employees to do on the inside of your organization as well as what you want customers to think on the outside.

8. People 18%

9. Safety 18%

10. Community 18%

That’s what happened at Wells Fargo. During the time when its employees were engaged in the unlawful and unsavory practices, the company’s stated values were:

» People as a competitive advantage

» Ethics

» What’s right for customers

» Diversity and inclusion

» Leadership

These values were so generic, they were like wallpaper. So people adopted their own set of values, and that’s what led to the company’s problems. Your core values should express the specific ways you want

Take Amazon for example. Amazon calls its core values “leadership principles” and these principles include values such as “think big” and “invent and simplify.” The company uses these values to guide its employees’ attitudes and actions. These values are also what the company wants its brand to be known for on the outside. There is no confusion, no waste, no disconnect.

Of course, you have to operationalize your core values for them to have any real impact. And establishing your core values is a process of both identification and aspiration — you can’t just make them up. But getting your core values right is critical to the culture of your organization. Start with ensuring your core values have teeth.

PHOTOS

BOB PARDUESIGNS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (WELLS FARGO SIGN) AND COURTESY OF DENISELEEYOHN.COM (BOOKS AND HEADSHOT)

Denise Lee Yohn is a brand leadership expert and author of the bestselling books What Great Brands Do and FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World’s Great Companies.

Realizing a Transformative Vision

Shared values unite partners in medical campus project

story by STEVE BORNHOFT // illustrations by LINDSEY MASTERSON

The gathering spoke to the momentousness of the occasion. On hand were large delegations from Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and Florida State University’s main campus. They were joined by a congressman, an economic developer, local elected officials, business leaders, physicians, an airport director, contractors and others who came together in the middle of a workday on newly cleared land at an undeveloped intersection in Panama City Beach a mile and a half north of the Gulf of Mexico.

The assembly was positively giddy, characterized by the kind of spirit and enthusiasm that attends the arrival of a new school in a neighborhood previously without one, but raised to the 10th power.

In January, three regional titans — The St. Joe Company, Florida State University and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare — joined in a ceremony officially kicking off construction of the future FSU Health-Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Medical Campus at an 87-acre site located a few minutes south of the large-scale Latitude Margaritaville Watersound community, where

houses are coming out of the ground faster than mushrooms after a rain.

Panama City Beach city councilman Paul Casto was there. He recalled the days, well within his lifetime, when Panama City Beach was without an ambulance.

“If there was an emergency, they had to send one across the bridge from the old Bay Medical,” he said. “We’ve been talking about the need for a hospital on this beach for 40 years.”

Four years ago, talk of a medical center started to become more than that. St. Joe, FSU and TMH committed to bringing about a locally governed, comprehensive medical campus.

Jorge Gonzalez, St. Joe’s president and CEO, addressed the crowd, noting the difficulties experienced by many urban medical centers located on legacy properties that offer little room for expansion when the need arises. In the case of the Panama City Beach medical campus, space constraints may never become a problem.

Work has begun on an 80,000-square-foot medical office building that is scheduled to be operational

↑ Rendering of the future FSU Health-Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Medical Campus at an 87-acre site located a few minutes south of the large-scale Latitude Margaritaville Watersound community.

in 2024. The building will house TMH physician partners, a couple of whom already have set up shop in Bay County, and offer services including primary care, urgent care, an ambulatory surgery center and cardiology and orthopedic services. Simultaneously, work on a 100-bed hospital with an emergency center is taking place. The hospital will provide inpatient services to include surgery, cardiology procedures and imaging and is expected to be open for business in 2027.

Gonzalez discouraged anyone from thinking that completion of those projects will be a final destination. Rather, he said, they will be steps along the way to a campus that may one day number 500 hospital beds.

“Today, we are commemorating the beginning of the realization of a vision,” Gonzalez said in remarks leading up to the traditional tossing of spadefuls of dirt. “Collectively, we all want to work toward a health care campus that takes advantage of the natural synergies among research, teaching and clinical delivery.

“We know it’s a big, bold idea that is not easy, but, hey, without a big, bold idea, big bold things don’t get accomplished.”

For St. Joe, Gonzalez said, infrastructure is much more than roads, bridges and utilities.

“To us, it includes education, culture, the arts — and health care. In my opinion, there is nothing that affects quality of life more than the quality of health care.”

TMH and FSU are well acquainted. Over the past several years, the university has expanded its health research portfolio while also pursuing partnerships with major health care systems including TMH. In the fall, FSU will break ground on the FSU Health

Tallahassee Center on the TMH campus, a project made possible by a $125 million appropriation from the Florida Legislature.

In its strategic plan, TMH commits itself to creating a governance structure for the academic health center; clearly informing the general public about the TMH/FSU partnership in the center; and “optimizing health measures for the communities we serve while engaging community and stakeholder groups in support of the academic health center’s vision.”

The cultures of FSU and TMH are broadly similar. Both are ultimately service organizations committed to community betterment. Both, in their own ways, are educators. Neither is static, not remotely so.

TMH’s mission statement is succinct: Transforming care. Advancing health. Improving lives.

T he FSU mission statement is, more so, the stuff of academe: Florida

State University preserves, expands and disseminates knowledge in the sciences, technology, arts, humanities and professions while embracing a philosophy of learning strongly rooted in the traditions of the liberal arts. The university is dedicated to excellence in teaching, research, creative endeavors and service. The university strives to instill the strength, skill and character essential for lifelong learning, personal responsibility and sustained achievement within a community that fosters free inquiry and embraces diversity.

The organization’s values statements, no surprise, overlap.

TMH embraces integrity, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence — its ICARE values. FSU espouses Transformative Daring, Inspired Excellence, Dynamic Inclusiveness, Responsible Stewardship and Engaged Community.

↑ U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn, TMH President and CEO Mark O’Bryant, FSU President Richard McCullough, President and CEO of The St. Joe Company Jorge Gonzalez celebrate the construction kickoff of a new health care campus in Panama City Beach Jan. 17, 2023.

Visit The St. Joe Company’s offices in Panama City Beach, and you will find no core values statement on the wall.

According to David Demarest, St. Joe’s director of PR and communications, company leaders made the decision to refrain from crafting a values statement because such documents can tend to become “empty platitudes.” Too, they tend to be too long by half. Better, leadership thought, to let the company’s work in the community speak for itself.

But Jorge Gonazlez, St. Joe’s president and CEO, has shared his personal values in conversation with 850 Business Magazine. Chief among them are humility and trust.

The latter figured prominently in Gonzalez’s remarks at the construction kickoff, where he described his relationship with a fellow president/CEO — TMH’s Mark O’Bryant.

“It’s not easy putting big projects together,” Gonzalez said. “There are many things to think about and consider, and you can’t succeed if your partners and counterparts are not people who you trust. I have full trust in Mark. Throughout our dialogue, he has been nothing but authentic. His primary interest is in improving the quality of life in the communities TMH serves.”

In years to come, when people see the FSU Health Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Medical Campus move past 100 beds on its way to 500, some will recall that the partners in the first place were given to shared values, yes, and shared sensibilities.

“The best health care is locally driven,” O’Bryant told the kickoff

crowd. “It’s driven by the people who receive care. The health care needs of a community don’t need to be defined in faraway communities, whether it is St. Louis or Dallas or Chicago. Those folks don’t understand the specific needs of our community. I look out on people in the audience, and I see people who have served on the TMH board. What we are talking about is involving people who influence how we manage our services, how we extend our resources, how we focus our strategic efforts. We want to make sure that this organization reflects the needs of the people in this region and is committed to them.”

Gonzalez sang from the same sheet.

“As we talked to a lot of health care companies, one of the things that was important to us was for our health care partner to agree to a local governance structure, recognizing that health care delivery is inherently local,” he said. “That’s one of the first conversations that Mark and I had, and he was really the only one who understood and accepted that. Nothing against the others — they are all great people who do great things — but they make decisions in other places, not here, and we need local decision making.”

Gonzalez said that one of his favorite quotations, attributed to Benjamin Franklin, is, “Do well by doing good.”

And, when three large and outstanding entities — none so big that it permits itself to supersede the importance of community — come together, good things can happen.

Do well by doing good. It may be the best mission/vision/values statement that can be. ▪

FSU Values

TRANSFORMATIVE DARING

We support thoughtful risk-taking that leads to successes that improve our world dramatically. And when we face challenges, we confront them with resilience, curiosity and renewed desire to overcome hurdles to our goals.

INSPIRED EXCELLENCE We achieve the highest levels of success by drawing strength and understanding from the talents of those around us and from our interactions with them.

DYNAMIC INCLUSIVENESS

We believe the benefits of a richly varied community arise not only from the diversity of people it includes, but more importantly from intentional efforts to create a strong sense of belonging that encourages deep and high-quality connections.

RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP

We transform the resources we are given and the public’s trust in us into powerful impacts that better the lives of those around us, near and far.

ENGAGED COMMUNITY

We uphold the traditions and history that create a small-college culture within a large university. This makes FSU a welcoming place where people discover others like themselves — while also connecting to and learning from classmates and colleagues of vastly different backgrounds and experiences.

TMH Values

INTEGRITY We are honest and consistent in our words and actions by ensuring that every decision we make is morally and ethically sound.

COMPASSION We are kind and authentic in each interaction by showing empathy and understanding of the unknown struggles of others, forgiving mistakes of others and embracing failures as an opportunity for improvement.

ACCOUNTABILITY We are personally responsible for providing exceptional service and care while holding others to the same standard.

RESPECT We show concern for others while seeking to understand human differences by putting the organization’s needs above our own personal objectives and biases.

EXCELLENCE We strive to provide the highest level of quality and innovative care by continually seeking new and different ways to approach established processes, being open to change and celebrating the success of our colleagues.

Student Chatter About What Matters

Panelists value individuality, trust and inclusivity

story by STEVE BORNHOFT // photography by MICHAEL BOOINI

illustrations by LINDSEY MASTERSON

In early January, just a couple of days following the start of the spring semester, I met with four Florida State University Panama City students and a recent graduate of the school to discuss their ambitions, priorities, values, buying habits and other behaviors and generalizations often applied to post-millennials. We met on campus in the Dean’s Conference Room, a hifalutin space with a staggeringly gorgeous view of St. Andrew Bay. Among the students, perhaps none was aware that in 2009 in that very conference room, a blue-ribbon panel of prominent, powerful citizens (plus me) met to find ways to save the campus. It had been threatened with closure by then FSU president T.K. Wetherell, who had received a report from an FSU budget crisis committee. The Great Recession was upon us, and the committee had issued recommendations that included closing FSU Panama City. As a product of negotiation, Wetherell agreed to give the branch campus three years in which to become financially self-sufficient. Today, the campus’s future is assured. In recent years, FSU PC has aligned itself more closely with the needs of area employers, added new degree programs, become a four-year campus and built on-campus housing. In my conversation with the students, several themes would emerge, among them authenticity, individuality and respect for individual differences. The students have lived in Panama City for all or nearly all of their lives.

PANELISTS

I began by asking the panelists minus Michael, who would join later, how they feel about generalizations made about generations, including their own. Ethan was particularly vocal in response.

ETHAN: I don’t see the point. I don’t get them.

STEVE: Do you find that there are real distinctions between Gen X and Gen Z?

ETHAN: No, they’re all people.

STEVE: Are boomers people?

ETHAN: I suppose they’d have to be.

STEVE: Well, Ethan, that was a very inclusive thing for you to say, and I appreciate it.

I listed attributes often applied to Generation Z and asked the students if those traits apply to them:

» Value higher education.

» Technologically savvy.

» Community oriented.

» Strong sense of social responsibility.

» Desire to lead change in sustainable development.

» Especially willing to purchase goods and services online.

Makaila conceded that she is not technologically astute. Ethan does not find that he feels compelled toward social responsibility. Otherwise, the panelists said each of the attributes could fairly be used to characterize them.

Similarly, the students were unanimous in seeing items on the following list of workplace characteristics as desirable.

» Meaningful work.

» Inclusive company culture.

» Opportunities for professional growth.

» Stability and work/life balance.

» Autonomy.

» Collaboration.

» Presence of cutting-edge technology.

To that list, Ethan and Justine said they would add “diversity.”

As to sources of news, Makaila, Justine and Yamaan said they rely on social media. Ethan said he doesn’t follow the news.

ETHAN: I usually get it from my parents who say, “Did you see this on the news? I know you didn’t, but I just wanted you to know.” I just don’t think about the news. In a lot of it, there are things that I don’t want to see. There are stories that want to make me change how I think about things, and I’m not interested in that. The students said that they have never been led to make a purchase by an influencer. Michael, who had now arrived, said he takes product reviews into account after taking steps to determine they are legitimate. I asked the panelists whether they would be more inclined to post a negative or a positive review. Yamaan was quick to reply.

YAMAAN: A negative one.

STEVE: Have you ever posted a negative review?

YAMAAN: One time. There is a furniture place on the beach, and I had a bunch of scratches on a drawer and the guy was supposed to come and like paint over it, and he came and looked at it, but he never did it. I was kinda angry, so I posted a negative review.

I explored factors in buying decisions.

STEVE: Would you purchase a chicken sandwich from a fast-food chain whose owner has given large sums of money to an organization that opposes federal

MAKAILA WILSON, 22, graduated from FSU PC with a degree in psychology. Plans to attend graduate school.

JUSTINE SOWELL, 21, majoring in Professional Communication.

YAMAAN KABUKA, 20, majoring in Psychology.

ETHAN LEWIS, 20, majoring in Computer Engineering.

MICHAEL GOETZ, 22, majoring in Computer Science.

protections from discrimination for members of the LGBTQ+ community?

MICHAEL: A good example is right now. Student Affairs is giving away Chick-fil-A sandwiches. And if I was hungry and I hadn’t had lunch, I might just take one because they are already paid for, and not taking one wouldn’t make any difference at the end of the day.

STEVE: Would you purchase a car from a manufacturer who has been caught cheating on fuel emission standards?

YAMAAN: I would, if the price was right and the car was reliable.

Asked if they would use a social media platform if its owner steadfastly resisted the call for measures to protect users’ privacy, all said they would not.

STEVE: Would you patronize a restaurant that continued to serve Maine lobsters despite the fact that their numbers are plummeting due to rising sea temperatures?

ETHAN: If I knew, I would say no.

I went on to explore questions of company values.

STEVE: What corporate values do you most look for in companies?

JUSTINE: Mine would be how they handle sexual harassment. A lot of corporations don’t like to take as much

action as I would hope. Yeah, that would be a big one for me.

ETHAN: Trust — if I can trust them and they can trust me.

MICHAEL: Equity and inclusion. My mom, she emigrated from the Philippines and for the 20-plus years she’s been here, she has had to deal with discrimination in the teaching profession, even though she has a master’s degree and is one of the few teachers around who is qualified to teach special needs children. She constantly has to put extra effort in to get jobs that others easily get, even before they are licensed.

STEVE: How would you go about satisfying yourselves that a company lives by the values it espouses on its website?

JUSTINE: Probably look up whether they have gotten into trouble in public and how they handled it.

MAKAILA: I would look at what the staff has had to say about the business like

if they had a page where the employees talk about their actual experiences with the company.

MICHAEL: A values statement is like a first step. Having it is better than not having it, but it doesn’t sway me that much either way.

JUSTINE: I am very environmentally involved, you could say. In one of my favorite stores, you can buy these tote bags and if you buy one, the company plants a tree. I have like a hundred totes from this place. And you can go on their website and see all that they have done for the environment.

ETHAN: Current political values matter to me. If I see something that doesn’t align with my beliefs, I will immediately walk out of that store and make other people walk out of that store, too.

The conversation grew animated after the students all said they don’t drink water from throw-away plastic bottles (barring an event like a boil-water order) and talked about their preference for personal, customizable (with stickers) water bottles.

JUSTINE: My water bottle is gigantic. It’s 64 ounces and I drink 128 ounces a day if I can. I like being able to refill my drink whenever I want to without having to buy another one. And, somebody’s water bottle can tell you a lot about them. My favorite color is blue. On my old one, I had stickers all over it. I’ll also say that I carry mine as like a defense weapon. I leave campus late some nights, and it’s kinda sketchy walking to your car by yourself and 64 ounces to a head is not going to feel nice. ▪

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866-362-1413

story by PAIGE AIGRET

“It was definitely a journey,” said Stephanie White of the road that led her to open one of Pensacola’s first adoption-centered law firms.

White is the founding attorney of Florida Loving Adoptions/Berkowitz & White PLLC. She is a wife and mother of four children, a Sunday school teacher and an advocate for children in her community.

She was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Escambia Children’s Trust Board, which she now chairs. She serves on the University of West Florida’s board of trustees. And she serves on boards of several nonprofits including Secret Place, which offers services to survivors of human trafficking.

Her plate is full.

“I was raised to give back,” said White. “My faith teaches that we’re called to help others.”

Growing up, White knew as a student at Pensacola High School participating in mock trials and preparing for college that being a lawyer was her calling.

She earned her law degree at the Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas, where she met her now husband, Frank, and worked in commercial litigation.

“This sounds corny, but when I went to law school, I knew I wanted to do something to help people,” she said. But commercial litigation didn’t turn out to be what she’d expected. “It was not why I went to law school. And I did not feel fulfilled. That’s when I decided, I’ve got to do something that impacts people.”

White switched gears and worked as a foster care attorney in Dallas. But when she became pregnant, she and her husband departed the big-city rat race and moved to her hometown of Pensacola.

“I took some time off of work and when I realized that there was no adoption attorney here in Pensacola, I said, ‘Why don’t I start my own practice?’” White recalled. “I spent a

lot of time talking to attorneys from around the state. I went to Orlando and met with an attorney who does adoptions, and I got involved in the Florida Adoption Council.”

She launched her practice in 2017. Expansion followed in 2021 when she opened a second firm in North Palm Beach with partner Elizabeth Berkowitz.

“We find the birth mothers, we help with the adoptive parents to make their profiles, we vet the adoptive parents,” White said. “We get lots of inquiries from parents who want to adopt. And we have a process where we talk to them and make sure they are actually capable of adopting.”

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The firm specializes in private placement adoptions and works with foster care adoptions, too. At an adoption agency, a lawyer is arranged for, but an adoption firm eliminates the need for a third party.

I was raised to give back. My faith teaches that we’re called to help others. This sounds corny, but when I went to law school, I knew I wanted to do something to help people.”

— STEPHANIE WHITE

↖ Adoptions attorney Stephanie White often stays in close touch with families long after supplying them with legal services. Here, she meets up with the Moulton family in Pensacola. Pictured from left: White; Brittany Moulton holding adopted son, Ryker; daughter Kinsey; Mike Moulton; Kinsey’s sister, Addison.

“Any attorney who’s licensed in the state of Florida can do it. However, it is a very statute-specific process. So that’s why it’s highly recommended that you go with an attorney who has specialized in adoption,” White explained.

White has found great joy in helping parents, both birth and adoptive, in addition to children. And her firm makes the well-being of the birth mothers a top priority.

“You need to honor these birth mothers — they’re giving up a baby so you can raise their child,” she said. “There’s a lot of power for the birth

mother. And that’s what we tell them. They drive the train; they really do.”

Birth mothers choose the adoptive parents for their child and they get to choose the type of post-communication agreement, too — fully open, semiopen or fully closed.

“Our goal is to place the children with a family that will love them forever and to make sure that the birth mom feels loved and cared for while she’s going through the adoption process,” White said. “We work really closely with our moms who decide to place.”

The connections White makes would be atypical for most, but for her they are inevitable. In a recent adoption, she was called to the bedside of a birth mother in labor and responded immediately. She stays in touch with many of the birth mothers she meets.

“I feel like we are unique because we do get to know the birth mothers,” White said. “But I think that helps them to feel comfortable. It helps them to feel comfortable with the adoptive parents. It just helps with the grieving process, too.”

Florida law allows assistance to be provided to birth mothers throughout

the entire pregnancy and up to six weeks after birth. And Florida Loving Adoptions prioritizes counseling for them.

“There’s lots of grief in adoption that people don’t see and people don’t realize unless you’re in it and working it,” White said. “There’s lots of grief, but there’s also lots of joy and lots of hope.

“It’s challenging. It’s rewarding. Especially when you’re able to hand a baby to a family who hasn’t been able to have a child for years. And it’s also rewarding to get to know the birth mothers who are placing for adoption. Some of these moms are incredible. The strength they have is amazing.” ▪

ESCAMBIA COUNTY COMMUNITY PROFILE

322,699

14.49%

10.72%

9.53%

6.74%

5.99%

31,534

18,049

14,387 EDUCATION

13,436

SOURCE: Florida West Economic Development Alliance, 2022

← Stephanie White, founding attorney at Florida Loving Adoptions, compares notes with co-worker Nicki Brask in front of mural-sized photographs of Penscola’s waterfront from days gone by.

Keeping on Keeps Feeling Right

For decades, Eugene Franklin has served communities

story by AL KRULIK

With 13 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren vying for his attention, Eugene Franklin would seem to be covered up. Nonetheless, he is resolved to continue serving as an evangelist, educator, activist and community leader.

“I do all these things because it just feels right,” he said.

Growing up poor in New Orleans, Franklin, of Pensacola, has spent a lifetime achieving the American Dream, and along the way, working to make that dream possible for others.

“I want everybody to have a piece of America,” he said. “My goal has been bringing it to the table. I love this state, I love Pensacola and I want to give people an opportunity to develop and become the best they can be.”

Franklin, now in his 70s, spent 27 years in the United States Navy, both as an enlisted man and an officer. While traveling the world, he developed an appreciation for people and how they interacted in different cultural settings. Those experiences, combined with his religious faith, led him to a civilian life based on service to others.

One of his earliest ventures was helping Black residents in Pensacola buy their own homes.

“When I got out of the military and started working in the church, I heard about people with 18% interest rates on their mortgages,” he recalled. “So I formed Franklin Mortgage and Investment Co. with the goal of helping people keep their homes and get out of high-rate mortgages. It really was more of a ministry where we talked them through the process and then asked them to teach others.”

As time went on, in addition to his ministerial work as an associate pastor at First Baptist Church of Warrington in Pensacola, a 2,200-member congregation, Franklin began serving on many community and nonprofit boards of directors. While on the board of the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, he helped found the Gulf Coast African American Chamber.

That organization was instrumental in revitalizing the historic Belmont DeVillers neighborhood. “I helped them from about 1997 through about 2004,” Franklin said.

In 1999, Franklin joined the board of the National Black Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.

“They asked me to help organize and support chambers across the state, and out of that grew the Florida Black Chamber of Commerce, which

I helped found,” Franklin said. “The work is about legislation, about issues and sharing knowledge to help communities redevelop their business structure. We practice what is called cultural economics. We help businesses understand their history and then support local communities.”

Franklin also helped establish the National Cultural Heritage Initiative, which spurred the development of a tourism market that serves international travelers and Americans of African descent, and the Pan African Cultural Heritage Initiative. The latter organization, Franklin said, believes that “if you look at people, not by race, but by their culture, and you appreciate within their sphere of influence how they interact with each other and develop, you can get a better understanding of how to rebuild communities.”

← Eugene Franklin helped start the Gulf Coast African American Chamber, an organization that contributed to the revitalization of Pensacola’s Belmont DeVillers neighborhood, seen in photos at left and above. As the owner of a mortgage business, Franklin helped get people into homes during periods of high interest rates.

photography by MIKE FENDER

Subsequently, Franklin got involved in bringing about the Pan African Heritage Cultural Institute, “where we try hard to teach people how to rebuild their own communities by allowing them to develop them in the way that they feel comfortable. Whatever their needs are, what they want for their community, we try to facilitate to support their culture and their history.”

The National Cultural Heritage Tourism Center, yet another entity that Franklin helped foster, was instrumental in the redevelopment of Belmont DeVillers.

“We partnered with the Pensacola Chamber, provided them with historical information, and organized and promoted people who were working in the community in their cultural environment,” Franklin said. “It allowed people to come here and experience the culture — taste the food, hear the music. It’s a simple process, but it allows for the development of communities, and it has been a boon for Pensacola and the redevelopment of our downtown. It brings back properties that have been written off as of no use. When

people come back and build these clusters, people come in, redevelop the community and preserve its history, which is the most important part of cultural economics.”

Today, Franklin continues serving on boards and working to support neighborhoods in Pensacola and beyond.

“I’ve probably served on every major board in Pensacola,” he said. “Currently, I’m the chair of Pensacola Habitat for Humanity, which connects to my work in community development and also my ministry. I’m also a longtime and founding member of the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition.”

IHMC conducts research as part of the State University System of Florida and has locations in Pensacola and Ocala. It is focused on developing science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human cognition, perception, locomotion, performance and resilience.

My faith is my foundation. I was always the product of the church. I had a calling all my life for a community outreach ministry, and it evolved. So, I see myself as purpose-driven, and I’m going to go until I drop.” — EUGENE FRANKLIN

← Eugene Franklin, at left, is a student of Black culture and history. For 27 years, he served as an enlisted man and officer in the U.S. Navy and gained an appreciation for cultural differences around the world. The historical marker at right is located in Pensacola’s Belmont DeVillers neighborhood.

Franklin serves on the board of the Escambia County Health Authority, which finances bond issues for nonprofit hospitals, and helps local nonprofits obtain health supplies and other essentials.

Finally, Franklin said, “I serve on another board called Ready Kids, which is about early childhood education, which is something close and dear to my heart. We mentor and read to children who are behind in reading. Plus, I help train future leaders of the Chamber and other organizations that we created.

“My faith is my foundation,” Franklin said. “I was always the product of the church. I had a calling all my life for a community outreach ministry, and it evolved. So, I see myself as purpose-driven, and I’m going to go until I drop.” ▪

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2023 NEW MEMBERS

Warren Averett, one of the largest public accounting and business consulting firms in the Southeast, is pleased to announce the promotion of four exemplary professionals to Members of the firm.

To view more about the firm, please visit warrenaverett.com.

Co:LabPensacola

Entrepreneurial successes fuel optimism toward world stage

story by KARI C. BARLOW

When it comes to the economy in 2023, Patrick Rooney is hopeful and betting on the entrepreneur.

“In uncertainty and situations like we are in, entrepreneurs see opportunities,” he said. “I really think people are going to adapt.”

And Rooney — a self-described “serial entrepreneur” who has co-founded and led at least 11 startups in multiple fields including defense, manufacturing,

software development and education — should know.

“I really wanted to go out and start businesses,” said the graduate of the University of West Florida, who is also a CPA. “I’ve touched a lot of really cool stuff.”

In the past 30 years, he has held leadership positions in a variety of companies, including Brand Asset Digital, Cogon Systems, Deloitte Touche & Co. and Manufacturing Technology

Inc. He’s also the lead principal at Coastal CxO Services Inc., where he leads a team of executives providing comprehensive business and technology consulting services.

But it’s the work Rooney does as the director of entrepreneurial development at Co:Lab Pensacola — a business incubator and growth accelerator created through a partnership between the Florida West Economic Development Alliance and Pensacola

State College — that has emerged as his true passion.

“What we do well is provide support and resources,” he said. “We have a very active policy board and a network of folks who are available to be called in to assist people and to answer questions. We get questions about legal things, tax things, payroll, human resources, even technology questions.”

At its heart, Co:Lab’s primary value is in helping small startups build connections inside and outside Escambia County, Rooney said.

“We have a great entrepreneurial ecosystem here,” he said. “We have a lot of assets.”

To qualify for Co:Lab, a company must meet several state-regulated criteria including being based in a STEM discipline, having no more than 25 employees, staying with Co:Lab for no more than five years and exporting at least 51% of its business outside of Escambia County.

“You have to be a net importer of wealth, which is the fundamental definition of what is economic development,” Rooney said. “Economic development is a business that exports its services or products out of Escambia County. That’s a crucial metric for us.”

If a prospective company isn’t exporting at least 51% of its business, it can still qualify for Co:Lab, but it must have a plan in place to achieve that ratio within five years.

Co:Lab offers its companies office space at its West Garden Street building, where it has 22,500 square feet available on three floors.

“Depending upon their growth and expansion, they can leave whenever they would like to,” Rooney said. “They

← Patrick Rooney is the director of entrepreneurial development at Co:Lab, a business incubator and growth accelerator where an emphasis is placed on building connections, mentoring and learning from people who have successfully launched businesses.

Eighty percent of small businesses fail in the first five years. Failure is a requirement of success. That’s just a fundamental truth of being an entrepreneur.”

— PATRICK ROONEY, C O : LAB DIRECTOR OF ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT

do have discounted lease costs for the first three years, and then in years four and five, the rates really go up quite a bit to encourage the entrepreneurs to focus on building a viable, sustainable business such that they can afford to go out into the real world. Rents are not cheap.”

Like any incubator, Co:Lab’s primary goal is survivability.

“Eighty percent of small businesses fail in the first five years,” Rooney said. “They don’t survive, which is not a bad thing necessarily. A kid burns his hand on a stove, but he’ll never put his hand on another hot stove. Failure is a requirement of success. That’s just a fundamental truth of being an entrepreneur.”

The goal is to avoid failures that kill business.

“You want to take measured risks,” Rooney said. “Unfortunately, a lot of people haven’t failed enough to know where the risks are.”

That’s why Co:Lab places such an emphasis on building connections, mentoring, monthly check-ins, regular training sessions and learning from those who have gone before, and so far, the approach is proving successful. Since its inception, Co:Lab has had roughly 65 companies, including the current cohort, pass through its incubator, and the majority have experienced growth.

“Our survival rate is huge,” Rooney said. “I would wager that close to

80% of those firms are still alive and kicking.”

Rooney is especially excited about some of the new “clean tech” startups within Co:Lab right now.

“I have a Naval Academy graduate, an officer — a nuclear engineer coming out of the sub fleet — and he’s developed a global network of bitcoin mining servers and data centers,” Rooney said. “He’s powering them with hydroelectric power … and then he’s taking the heat output from the servers and he’s creating hydroponic greenhouse operations to grow healthy foods. And he’s just about to sign some big deals internationally and one in the U.S.”

Another early stage company takes recycled circuit cards from computer

↑ Co:Lab director of entrepreneurial development Patrick Rooney checks in with Doug Stanford of Vivid Bridge Studios, a video production company. Co:Lab extends space to its client companies until they get to the point where they can afford a place of their own.

systems and other technology, extracts the gold and sells that gold to the ethical jewelry market.

“As opposed to gold mining in countries where there’s slave labor or unsafe or unclean environmental processes, this is gold that’s traceable at least back to that technology it was extracted from,” Rooney said.

The common thread is that these entrepreneurs are creatively solving problems and meeting the needs of consumers and often other companies in a variety of industries.

“If there are problems that can be solved at a reasonable cost and people have money to spend for that solution, entrepreneurs are going to have a lot to contribute,” Rooney said. “I really believe that.”

That belief in the entrepreneurial spirit is why Rooney is cautiously optimistic as he looks forward.

“Pensacola has seen a huge uptick in companies moving here, talent moving here,” he said. “We have a lot of opportunities here for people. I think it’s going to be a better year.” ▪

↑ Participants in Co:Lab must be based in a STEM discipline and have no more than 25 employees. They may stay with Co:Lab for up to five years and must export at least 51 percent of their business to locations outside of Escambia County. “You have to be a net importer of wealth, which is the fundamental definition of economic development,” says Co:Lab’s Patrick Rooney. PHOTO BY MIKE FENDER

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Reaping What They Sew

Possibilities are opening up for Paradigm Parachute

story by EMILEE MAE STRUSS

Precision is paramount in war. Stakes are high, and departures from perfection can result in failed missions or casualties. That reality applies to weapons systems, military hardware, troop movements — and to the painstaking manufacture of parachutes.

Co-founded by disabled military veterans Aaron Nazaruk and Alexander

Alvarado, Paradigm Parachute & Defense, Inc., supplies gear for maneuvers, including jumps by paratroopers and the deceleration of aircraft and munitions. The Pensacola-based business has clients worldwide, including commercial enterprises, humanitarian organizations and space exploration interests.

“Our training process is pretty intense,” said Alvarado, a retired

U.S. Army parachute rigger, Federal Aviation Administration master rigger, military free-fall instructor and oxygen technician. “It takes three days to train, and then they begin sewing on live equipment.”

Alvarado said he has worked even with beginning employees with no experience and quickly moved them into production roles. Typically, he

added, members of the sewing team work 30–60 days before reaching optimal efficiency levels.

Paradigm obtains nylon from a local supplier; it is then shipped to New England for processing and inspection and returned to Pensacola. The business’s operations, Alvarado said, are subject to “a lot of government and military oversight to ensure safety.”

Founded in 2019, Paradigm has deep roots in Northwest Florida.

It was in Pensacola that the late Samuel George Miller once sewed U.S. Navy Blue Angels uniforms. His business, previously named Feminine Flair and now the Sewing Box, is still going. Just a month before Miller’s death in July 2022 at age 84, he witnessed a milestone that he had long hoped to see: U.S. Navy Lt. Amanda Lee became the first female F-18 fighter pilot to join the Blue Angels.

“The military history, especially with regard to sewing, was a big reason we wanted our business to be based in Pensacola,” said Nazaruk, who served in the U.S. Army for seven years and earned a Bronze Star.

Alvarado had some experience with sewing before launching Paradigm.

“In my early career, I was like, ‘What? Sewing? You want me to sew?’” he said. “And then I tried it and liked it. You lock in and go.”

When Paradigm was much smaller than it is today, the founders worked the sewing line. Today, it employs more than 50 people and is expecting continued growth. Paradigm has pledged to add at least 28 full-time jobs with a grant awarded by the Industry Resilience and Diversification Fund

← Personnel at Paradigm Parachutes are always mindful that for military paratroopers, the reliability of equipment is a matter of life and death.

↑ Above: A Paradigm Parachutes employee at work; workers on the sewing line achieve top efficiency after 30 to 60 days on the job. Lower photo: Paradigm Parachutes co-founders Alex Alvarado, left, and Aaron Nazaruk are military veterans.

program administered by the University of West Florida.

“One of the things we’re most proud of is providing stable jobs,” Nazaruk said. “We’re also teaching our employees a new skill and giving opportunities to engineers from the University of West Florida. Currently, we have four engineering interns.”

Alvarado said Paradigm will figure in upcoming space missions but wasn’t at liberty to share particulars.

“We’re excited about the future,” Alvarado said. “We’ve got a solid core of employees, and it’s encouraging when they express how much they love working here. We all work as a team with transparency and integrity to support the government and military operations.”

Brian Howell joined Paradigm as an employee in March 2021.

“I was fortunate enough to see a parachute that we built being tested,” he said. “To watch that parachute work flawlessly was an amazing sight to behold. Working at Paradigm means a lot to me. From the people to the vision — I want to come to work because it matters.” ▪

To watch that parachute work flawlessly was an amazing sight to behold. Working at Paradigm means a lot to me. From the people to the vision — I want to come to work because it matters.”

— BRIAN HOWELL, PARADIGM PARACHUTES EMPLOYEE

photography by MIKE HAYTACK

↑ The co-founders of Paradigm Parachutes located their business in Pensacola in large part due to the city’s military history and the presence of military installations in the area. The business employs 50 workers and anticipates adding another 28 with a grant from a program administered by the University of West Florida.

Pensacola International Airport Launches Expansion Plan

New concourse, new jobs put airport on the map as a regional powerhouse

In 2022, over 2.4 million passengers flew through Pensacola International Airport. This makes Pensacola International Airport (PNS) the largest Gulf Coast airport from Tampa to New Orleans. In addition, ongoing economic development initiatives will also bring 1,300 new aviation and aerospace jobs to the airport.

The continued growth of Gulf Coast tourism means an increased need for space at PNS. To meet this demand, airport officials are finalizing plans and funding to modernize and expand the facility. These improvements include an expanded security area, a second concourse with an additional five gates and additional parking options. Plans also call for upgrades to the existing terminal, expanded concessions area and improved utility infrastructure for the entire airport.

Once funded and completed, the effort will increase the airport’s flight capacity and improve the passenger experience,

said Matt Coughlin, Airport Director at Pensacola International Airport.

“We know from our passenger surveys that offering more flight options and amenities is important, and our goal is to modernize and expand the airport to meet that need in a modern, efficient and welcoming way,” said Coughlin.

Air travel is not the only growth industry at Pensacola International Airport. It is also home to a growing aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry.

Project Titan, the $210 million MRO facility expansion at the airport, recently hit a tremendous milestone with the completion of a 180,000-square-foot hangar at the airport.

This transformational project is funded by multiple grants, including Triumph Gulf Coast, Governor’s Job Growth Grant Fund, the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and the Florida Department of Transportation,

in partnership with the City of Pensacola, Escambia County and VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering, Inc.

Coughlin said that the combination of airport expansion and job growth makes PNS a significant contributor to the Northwest Florida economy.

“Here at Pensacola International, we’re a gateway for our community, but we’re also part of this community. We’re grateful to welcome travelers to the area and provide economic opportunity for our friends and neighbors on the Gulf Coast.”

Lofty Ambitions

story by AL KRULIK

Dr. Tim Smith had a big job, but he was ready for a new adventure. Working in the offices of Orange County District Schools — the eighth-largest school district in the country and the fourth largest in Florida — he was responsible for supervising 20 Orlandoarea high schools.

Even as busy as he was, he felt a “tug,” he said and traced it to Escambia County.

Smith wasn’t ready to retire after 30 years working in Orange County, but he was ready to move from Central Florida to its northwest corner.

“I was looking for a leadership opportunity where I could make a difference,” Smith explained. “I had experienced a principalship and worked in a district office, and I felt a desire to lead on a wider scale.”

In September 2020, Smith was sworn in as Escambia County’s first appointed superintendent of schools.

“One of the things that intrigued me about Escambia County is the diversity, especially the economic diversity,” he said. “Escambia has a significant number of students who are in poverty. And one of the great difficulties in public education throughout the United States has been having kids in poverty perform well in school and have great learning experiences. But one of the things we’re charged to do

is to reach every one of our kids and provide a great opportunity for them.”

As Escambia’s superintendent, Smith sees to the administration of 35 elementary schools, nine middle schools and seven high schools, as well as a number of specialized centers. As it turned out, Smith didn’t have much time to pursue his charge fullbore after coming aboard — COVID-19 was working from another syllabus.

“One of the biggest challenges with COVID is that it slows things down because you have to scale back just to have things manageable,” he explained. “In August, September and into October of 2021, we had a major COVID spike. We had gone through the summer, and COVID numbers were down from the prior year. We were very hopeful that it was in the rearview mirror. Then it came back with a vengeance just as the first week of school started for us.

“So, you had students who were missing school, or you had students in school, but their teachers might have been missing school,” Smith continued. “You add to that substitutes not coming in the same numbers as they had previously. What that all equates to is lost instructional time.

Escambia superintendent is committed to seeing all students succeed

↑ Above: Dr. Tim Smith, superintendent of schools in Escambia County, at the Dr. Vernon McDaniel Administration Building in Pensacola. Opposite page: Smith visits with students at the Global Learning Academy. Students from left: Yvonne Henry, Osho Campbell, Autumn Breeze and Elijahua Breeze.

Then in January, we had a shorter spike when things slowed up again. It was not nearly as long, and kids weren’t out as much. But they were out, and it was disruptive for about three weeks.”

This past school year, just as Smith was getting the system up to speed, another issue cropped up that threatened to end his tenure as superintendent. The catalyst was a particular test question given to middle and high school students pertaining to the district’s Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, a manual that outlines district policies on student discipline and behavior. According to Smith, the test had long been in place at the high school level.

The controversial test question concerned a fictional 17-year-old girl named Suzie and her 18-year-old boyfriend, Roger, to whom she had sent nude photos of herself in an ill-considered attempt to please him. After the pair broke up, Roger began circulating the pictures throughout the school, provoking so much derision and harassment toward Suzie that she dropped out and eventually committed suicide. The scenario was written to caution students against unacceptable behaviors while making them aware of some of the potentially extreme consequences of their actions.

For some parents, however, the story contained inappropriate language

and situations and had no place in a school setting. Social media lit up with commentary on the issue, and while some in the community saw nothing wrong with the question, others were asking for Smith’s head and led the School Board to add a discussion about Smith’s possible termination at its September meeting.

Ultimately, Smith’s contract was not terminated, and in the aftermath, he says that even though it was a very small minority that found the test question egregious, he decided not to repeat the activity.

“Clearly, there was some wording or language that could have been worded differently or crafted differently,” he said. “I feel bad that people were upset. I wish I could go back and change that. The goal was to educate kids about their rights, rules and responsibilities. But it’s not really a necessary piece for us. I don’t think we lose anything by pulling it out, and I think it’s something we would have done anyway. There are other steps to go over the rules that can be accomplished without doing the activity like we did.”

Smith’s response to the firestorm typifies his leadership style and his ability to withstand the slings and arrows hurled his way.

“One of the things I try to prioritize from the standpoint of leadership is

being united,” he said. “If we’re going to be united in helping every student to succeed, I need to lead in a way that builds unity. It’s OK in my role as the chief administrator of the entire school district for me to take criticism and for people to be upset with me — that’s just part of the territory.”

Now that things seemingly have calmed down, Smith is focused on dealing with a more fundamental problem.

↑ READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? Schools Superintendent Dr. Tim Smith joins in a reading activity with students at the Global Learning Academy. Smith is committed to bringing about a 100% graduation rate in Escambia County, and he recognizes that early education will be a critical component in bringing about that success, along with recruiting and retaining talented teachers.

One of the things I try to prioritize from the standpoint of leadership is being united. If we’re going to be united in helping every student to succeed, I need to lead in a way that builds unity.”

— DR. TIM SMITH, ESCAMBIA COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS

“Our single greatest challenge right now is our labor shortage,” he said.

In addition to not having enough support personnel and substitutes, Smith is dealing with a twofold challenge regarding classroom teachers.

“We’ve had a number of teachers over the past couple of years leave teaching, and the other piece is we don’t have as many young people going into colleges with education programs and getting trained,” Smith said. “When you put the two together, that is a very difficult situation. Ten years ago, when you had a vacancy, you’d get a number of applicants. Some of our schools now, especially in our high-needs areas, they don’t get any applicants for vacancies. So that is our single greatest challenge.”

Setbacks and distractions notwithstanding, Smith remains undaunted in his desire to help all students succeed.

“Our kids need us as educators to continue working for them,” he said. “That’s what I plan on doing tomorrow morning — waking up and going at it. There certainly are challenges in the field of education, but what we do is we dig deeper; we persevere. That’s what we want to do in Escambia. We have so many awesome people who care so deeply in this community. They’re all in. They want to see our school system do well. And that’s my job — to lead and bring people together so we can work on the betterment of our kids so that they can learn.” ▪

RENEWING ACQUAINTANCE

→ Many of us have had teachers in our lives who profoundly influenced us. We think of them from time to time and may wonder if they ever think of us. Did we leave an impression on them, or were we merely names on classroom rosters?

I was reminded, just seconds into my conversation with Tim Smith, that they do, in fact, remember:

Me: I just wanted to say before we begin that you and I once met because both my daughters graduated from Winter Park High School.

Smith: You know, when your name appeared on the email, the first thought that came into my head was Zoey.

Me: That’s right!

Smith: She was a valedictorian at Winter Park. You have two daughters, don’t you?

Me: Yes, my younger daughter was Emma. She graduated two years later.

Smith: Well, please tell them both I said “Hi.” (I spend several minutes filling Smith in on the last 10 years or so in my daughters’ lives.)

Smith: Their old principal is proud of both of your daughters. It warms my heart to hear how they’re doing.

— Al Krulick

Lessons Lying in Worlds at Our Feet

Might animal societies be worth emulating?

In this edition of 850 Business Magazine, we have poked around the subject of corporate values. My thanks go out to author Denise Lee Yohn for her helpful article about ensuring brand/values consistency and to the panel of students from FSU Panama City who fielded questions about their habits as consumers of products, services and information.

I have from time to time been involved in discussions aimed at arriving at values statements — or vision or mission statements or what have come to be known as diversity/equity/inclusion statements. Many of those meetings lacked genuineness. It was as if coming up with core values was a requirement that had been imposed by an outside authority; the effort, then, was to come up with something that sounded right.

But when honestly arrived at and consistently applied, values statements can serve a business or organization as guideposts. A company contemplating a new product initiative, relationship or acquisition may ask itself whether the action aligns with the values it espouses. Today, I arrived at the following core values list …

Industriousness: We derive satisfaction and achieve a sense of purpose by working hard in pursuit of ambitious goals.

Loyalty: We benefit as individuals from the combined efforts of all members of our community and in exchange devote ourselves to shared pursuits.

Perseverance: We meet setbacks with a renewed sense of resolve and a commitment to always building back better.

Cooperation: We demonstrate every day that we are greater than the sum of our parts. With all of our oars in the water and pulling in the same direction, we conquer tall challenges.

Respect: We value and appreciate the contributions made and roles played by everyone with whom we work.

… and did so not with a particular business in mind. Rather, I wrote it to reflect an ant colony. While people may struggle to steadily live by the values listed, ants seem never to depart from them. Such consistency has brought ants great success. They have been around for some 140 million years, and according to a study published last year by researchers at the University of Hong Kong, there are 20 quadrillion ants on Earth — 2.5 million for every man, woman and child on the planet. Indeed, there seems sometimes to be 5 million fire ants in my backyard, alone.

Farhad Manjoo, writing in The New York Times, noted similarities between ants and humans: “They live in societies, they’ve all got jobs, they endure arduous daily commutes to work,” while also remarking that much of ant life confounds him.

“There’s the abject selflessness, the subsuming of the individual to the collective,” Manjoo wrote. “There’s the absence of any leadership or coordination, their lives dictated by instinct and algorithm, out of which emerges collective intelligence.”

Manjoo cites the late E.O. Wilson, for whom the Biolphilia Center on State 20 near Freeport is named. Wilson, a leading expert on ants in his day, marveled at ant nests that he viewed as “cities to

rival anything in the human world.” In the latter stages of his career, he focused on people and the notion of self, concluding that the conscious mind cannot be separated from the neurobiological system of which it is a part.

Nonetheless, we humans operate based on free will more than instinct and present more individual differences than any other species. Those FSU PC students I mentioned prize individuality. Young people arrive in workplaces today with the expectation that job sites will conform to them. The individual demands expression. Consider the young woman who bagged my groceries the other day. She wore a company green shirt and conformed to a dress code calling for black pants, a black belt and black sneakers. But she also wore purple pigtails. Her apron was dotted with pins and her wrists were spotted with tattoos. Tackle hung from her ears. We live in interesting times. Paranoia strikes deep, the self sounds a beat, divisions are steep and yet we must somehow arrive at a kind of global cooperation the world has never seen if we are to survive ourselves. Can we summon what we need? Can we conquer the challenges that confront us? The ant-swers are blowin’ in the wind.

Value this day,

STEVE BORNHOFT, EDITOR, 850 MAGAZINE sbornhoft@rowlandpublishing.com

PHOTO BY MICHAEL BOOINI / ROWLAND FILE PHOTO

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