850 Business Magazine Summer 2021 by Rowland Publishing, Inc.

BUSINESS JOURNALS

SANTA ROSA, OKALOOSA and WALTON COUNTIES

ALEX SANCHEZ Banking association leader is bullish on life in America

PROGRESS MONITOR Erica Grancagnolo keeps tabs on aviation park project in Santa Rosa County

BOS IS BOSS Destin developer monitors trends and makes plans A HAND UP gBETA helps businesses make their best pitch

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Water intrusion in a concrete structure can be a hard thing to diagnose. “We hired Phoenix Coatings when we had a water intrusion problem at Emerald Grande condominiums. That can be a hard thing to diagnose in a concrete structure. You don't know where it's going to lead. It's like going down a rabbit hole; you go until you find the rabbit and then you patch the hole. Throughout the job, George (Atchison) looked out for my interests by getting things done as efficiently and as inexpensively as possible. That's a real distinction in a contractor, or an auto mechanic, for that matter.” — Developer Peter Bos

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Paradise has arrived ON THE EMERALD COAST

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Obtain the Property Report required by Federal law and read it before signing anything. No Federal agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of this property. WARNING: THE CALIFORNIA BUREAU OF REAL ESTATE HAS NOT INSPECTED, EXAMINED, OR QUALIFIED THE OFFERINGS. Latitude Margaritaville Kentucky Registration Number R-201. For NY Residents: THE COMPLETE OFFERING TERMS FOR THE SALE OF LOTS ARE IN THE CPS-12 APPLICATION AVAILABLE FROM SPONSOR, LMWS, LLC. FILE NO. CP20-0062. Pennsylvania Registration Number OL001182. Latitude Margaritaville Watersound is registered with the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salesmen, 1000 Washington Street, Suite 710, Boston, MA 02118 and with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20552. This material shall not constitute a valid offer in any state where prior registration is required and has not been completed. The facilities and amenities described are proposed but not yet constructed. Photographs are for illustrative purposes only and are merely representative of current development plans. Development plans, amenities, facilities, dimensions, specifications, prices and features depicted by artists renderings or otherwise described herein are approximate and subject to change without notice. ©Minto Communities, LLC 2021. All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced, copied, altered, distributed, stored, or transferred in any form or by any means without express written permission. Latitude Margaritaville and the Latitude Margaritaville logo are trademarks of Margaritaville Enterprises, LLC and are used under license. Minto and the Minto logo are trademarks of Minto Communities, LLC and/or its affiliates. St. Joe and the St. Joe logo are trademarks of The St. Joe Company and are used under license. CGC 1519880/ CGC 120919. 2021

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850 Magazine Summer 202ı

IN THIS ISSUE FEATURE

lex Sanchez The longtime 38 Aexecutive director of the Florida Bankers

Association escaped Cuba as a child aboard a U.S.-sponsored Freedom Flight and never has lost sight of that good fortune. He sees the United States unequivocally as the greatest nation in the world and, in his various international travels, has discovered an almost universal fascination with American life. He regards the U.S. banking system as a model for the world and one which is sufficiently regulated to protect the interests of borrowers and depositors. He has a special fondness for community banks and is heartened that even as the banking industry experiences some consolidation, new community banks are being established, particularly in an attractive market like Florida. By Steve Bornhoft

SPECIAL REPORTS anta Rosa County Business 21 SJournal Shannon Ogletree and Erica

Grancagnolo present a study in contrasts — tall and dark (but not as brooding as he appears) versus light and bright (and as cheery and optimistic as she appears). Together, they work at the Santa Rosa Economic Development Office in efforts to improve the county’s quality of life; attract employers with high-paying jobs to offer; and ultimately to establish an independent identity for the county that does not rely on its proximity to Pensacola. Both recognize relationship building and maintenance as essential to what they do. Their efforts mirror those of communities within the county including Navarre, which is working to diversify its economy and decrease its reliance on the tourism industry.

PHOTO BY DAVE BARFIELD

kaloosa/Walton County 47 OBusiness Journal Even as Okaloosa

ON THE COVER: Her children provide Erica Grancagnolo with plenty of motivation as an economic developer committed to making Santa Rosa County a better, more opportunity-rich community tomorrow than it is today. As the assistant director at the Santa Rosa Economic Development Office, she is helping to oversee construction progress at the $ı0 million Whiting Aviation Park. Photo by Jennifer G Photography

and Walton counties work to attract industrial park tenants and establish programs to prepare young people for careers in cybersecurity, welding and drone navigation, they are dealing with traffic congestion and density issues along their coastlines. In Okaloosa County, the massive Shoal River Ranch industrial park stands ready to receive tenants looking for a site with ready access to highway and railroad arteries. Meanwhile, developers including Peter Bos, conceding the inevitability of stuffed coastal roadways, are tilting toward self-contained communities where residents and visitors will find close at hand the services, products and experiences they want without having to get behind the wheel of a car.

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IN THIS ISSUE PROMOTIONS

á PROTOCOLS AND PROCEDURES

16 The eighth annual Air Force Contracting Summit delved into the latest procedures, priorities, opportunities and trends while providing networking opportunities for local businesses and contractors.

POWERING FORWARD 30 The annual Gulf Power Economic Symposium, scheduled for Sept. 14-15, will focus the attention of economic developers, economists and business and community leaders on ways to advance the interests of Northwest

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Special Sections DEAL ESTATE

70 A Class A, two-story medical/ office building strategically located near Sacred Heart Hospital, Cordova Mall and Pensacola International Airport is available for lease. The property measures approximately 12,305 square feet and offers prospective tenants maximum flexibility in their designs. The space is in shell condition, which will allow tenants the opportunity to customize the space to fit their needs. Aggressive tenant improvement packages are available for qualified tenants.

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62 In Pensacola, a business accelerator, gBETA, selects local enterprises judged to have strong growth potential for participation in a program that puts fledgling entrepreneurs in touch with successful business executives and business creators who know a lot about taking a good idea and scaling it. The program is headed up by Jonathan Kretz, a native Texan who moved to Northwest Florida after his own business became a pandemic casualty. Competition to become a member of a gBETA cohort is strong. Successful applicants are remarkably varied.

I-10 66 Marianna has not won a big-time Amazon sweepstakes, but it is enjoying a little piece of the action — one that is generating jobs. The Jackson County community is newly home to an Amazon last-mile distribution center where packages are sorted and organized by delivery route. The work there relates to fulfillment of the giant online retailer’s delivery promises, a logistical challenge on a global scale. Jackson County officials are hopeful that Amazon will expand its presence in Marianna, which is already well established as a logistics center.

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á COLLEGE TO CAREER

56 Okaloosa Technical College specializes in career and technical education in its efforts to supply employers in Okaloosa and surrounding counties with the talent they need to succeed.

CRITICAL COMMUNICATION

68 For the Sacred Heart Foundation, annual reports are a vital means of updating donors and enlisting the support of prospective donors. Foundation president Carol Carlan entrusted Rowland Publishing with the task of packaging essential information in an attractive and effective printed piece.

PHOTOS BY JOHN HARRINGTON (62) AND COURTESY OF OKALOOSA TECHNICAL COLLEGE (56) AND RELIANTSOUTH CONSTRUCTION (36)

36 For 38 years, ReliantSouth Construction Group has played a role in advancing progress throughout Northwest Florida and the Southeast by delivering award-winning custom construction builds.

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Summer 2021

850 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA

Vol. 12, No. 4

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER BRIAN E. ROWLAND ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER MCKENZIE BURLEIGH EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE EDITOR Steve Bornhoft CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Hannah Burke, David Ekrut, Ph.D., Samuel Howard, Rebecca Padgett CREATIVE VICE PRESIDENT / PRODUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY Daniel Vitter CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jennifer Ekrut ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Lindsey Masterson SENIOR PUBLICATION DESIGNERS Sarah Burger, Shruti Shah PUBLICATION DESIGNER Jordan Harrison GRAPHIC DESIGNER Sierra Thomas CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Dave Barfield, John Harrington, Scott Holstein, Jennifer G Photography, Saige Roberts, Stephan Vance, Alex Workman 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 SPECIALIST Tracy Mulligan ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES David Doll, Julie Dorr, Darla Harrison DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Zandra Wolfgram SALES AND MARKETING WRITER Rebecca Padgett SENIOR INTEGRATED MARKETING COORDINATOR Javis Ogden ADMINISTRATIVE & CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALIST Renee Johnson OPERATIONS CUSTOM PUBLISHING MANAGER Sara Goldfarb CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE/AD SERVICE COORDINATOR Sarah Coven CUSTOM PUBLISHING EDITOR Jeff Price PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION SPECIALIST Melinda Lanigan ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT Amber Dennard

DIGITAL SERVICES DIGITAL EDITOR Janecia Britt 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 $20. To purchase, call (850) 878-0554 or go online to 850businessmagazine.com. Single copies are $4.95 and may be purchased at Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million in Tallahassee, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Pensacola, Panama City and at our Tallahassee office. Availability may change subject to COVID-19 restrictions.

850 Magazine is published quarterly by Rowland Publishing, Inc. 1932 Miccosukee Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308. 850/878-0554. 850 Magazine and Rowland Publishing, Inc. are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photography or artwork. Editorial contributions are welcomed and encouraged but will not be returned. 850 Magazine reserves the right to publish any letters to the editor. Copyright June 2021 850 Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Member of three Chambers of Commerce throughout the region.

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From the Publisher

The Time is Right

A trusted and valued employee earns more responsibility Fourteen years ago, I encountered a young woman at Rowland Publishing’s “Best of Tallahassee” event and immediately was impressed by her enthusiasm for life and her infectious energy. I soon would discover that she had a strong desire to succeed professionally in the world of publishing.

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do all that she could to support fellow employees and advance the interests of the company. She devoted many evenings to attending events sponsored by Rowland Publishing or helping to stage our own events, including Top Salons and Top Singles. She traveled to wedding shows as a representative of our Northwest Florida Weddings Magazine. Never have I seen her in a bad mood. Our relationship always has been grounded in respect and professionalism. Several years ago, I promoted her to vice president/corporate development. In that role, she developed and launched our digital marketing department and assembled numerous integrated marketing packages for clients, including the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation/Guy Harvey Enterprises. We are especially proud of our association with Guy Harvey, and she was an indispensable part of bringing that relationship about. No matter the calamity that befalls us, be it a hurricane, recession, oil spill or pandemic, she is an unwavering pillar at Rowland Publishing who always sees the glass as half full. Especially over the past year, she has worked to stay in touch with our customers and to extend them the understanding they needed when their businesses were dramatically affected by COVID-ı9. She genuinely cares for each member of our team and all of our clients. Like countless other businesses, we have been buffeted by the worst pandemic our country has experienced in more than ı00 years, and throughout, she more than anyone else has kept our ship upright and on course.

At all levels, she has excelled — and she has more rungs to climb. She has developed and burnished a reputation as a woman of influence in the region. For many, she is the face of Rowland Publishing. Rowland Publishing and I are immensely proud and honored to have McKenzie Burleigh as a leader in our company and in the pivotal role as the integrator on our senior leadership team. She is well on her way to mastering every aspect of the publishing business. The time is right for Kenzie to become Rowland Publishing’s associate publisher and to assume an even greater role in shaping each issue of our magazines. Without question, Rowland Publishing would not be the company it is today without the efforts of McKenzie Burleigh. Her future and the future of the company are bright, and the Northwest Florida will be a better place to live because of her passion and dedication. Take good care,

BRIAN ROWLAND browland@rowlandpublishing.com

PHOTO BY SCOTT HOLSTEIN

She was prepared to begin at the entry level, and I brought her on board as a part-time accounting department employee responsible for collecting past-due amounts from slow-paying customers. I was certain that she would quickly advance beyond that role. Within a week, she saw to it that many accounts had been made current or that customers had agreed to payment plans — plans that she closely monitored. Upon her graduation from Florida State, she came to me seeking more responsibility. I was delighted. Without hesitation, I moved her into a full-time customer service position and soon discovered that she had a knack for sales, a field of endeavor that is in many ways an extension of customer service. As years passed and Rowland Publishing grew, she grew with the company and became a key employee. I made her sales manager, and she helped our outstanding team of sales professionals achieve new levels of success while establishing herself as a company leader and lending me invaluable administrative support. If I-ı0 or State Highway 20 between Tallahassee and points west need resurfacing, she is a big part of the reason. While a Tallahassee resident, she made countless trips between the capital city and the Emerald Coast, where she hosted events, got to know community leaders and so immersed herself in the community that many people assumed she lived there. In Tallahassee, many of her mornings began at 5. She led classes at a fitness studio before arriving at the office to

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Slated for Thursday, Sept. 23, the 2021 Pinnacle Awards will honor 12 outstanding women from an 18-county region for their community service and professional successes. This year’s keynote speaker will be 2020 award recipient Marjorie Turnbull. The Turnbull Award, created in 2020 to recognize an “up and coming” young woman who encompasses what it means to be a Pinnacle recipient, was created in her honor. To learn more, visit 850BusinessMagazine.com/pinnacle-awards.

Northwest Florida Economic Summit Join the Defense Leadership Forum, in partnership with 850 Business Magazine, for the first Northwest Florida Economic Summit. Scheduled for March 14–15, 2022, at the Sheraton Panama City Beach Golf & Spa Resort, the summit will bring together local, state and national government leaders to discuss the latest information on programs, contracts and funding sources related to areas including military base construction, military-community partnerships, technology initiatives, cybersecurity and more. To learn more, visit 850businessmagazine.com/calendar/ northwest-florida-economic-summit. 14

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CUSTOM CONTENT

Air Force Contracting Summit Gathering promotes awareness of latest procedures, opportunities

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he eighth annual 2021 Air Force Contracting Summit, presented Feb. 8–9 by the Defense Leadership Forum at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa, updated businesses across the country about the evolving mission of the Air Force and its recent spending priorities and trends. In-person seating at the event, capped at 350, was sold out, and another 350 registrants participated virtually, according to Defense Leadership Forum chairman William Loiry. Event speakers combined to discuss innovative defense solutions supplied by industry and explained contracting procedures for small businesses. The summit

served to connect businesses with federal contracting resources and helped prime contractors identify new subcontractors. Or, as Charles F. Sills, national program director for the Defense Leadership Forum put it, the summit provided “actionable intelligence” in areas including: ■ Air Force budgets. ■ New Pentagon and Air Force systems for responding to cyber attacks. ■ Details on Space defense and the Space Force. ■ Other Transaction Agreements and other innovative acquisition strategies and programs. ■ New Air Force MILCON contracts, including Tyndall AFB reconstruction.

CUSTOM CONTENT

Clockwise from right: The Air Force Contracting Summit included nearly 700 in-person and virtual attendees. Mike Horsley, CEO of Horsley Construcrtion Group in Panama City, provides a Contractor Capabilities Brief at the Air Force Contracting Summit. Elizabeth Midkiff from the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Contracting is interviewed by WMBB’s Erika Orstad.

■ ■

■

New Air Force installation resiliency contracts. Air Force priorities for aircraft, weapons, facilities, technology and energy. Public and private financing sources. New contracting opportunities for prime defense contractors. New contracting opportunities and teaming arrangements for defense subcontractors. Details on specific new military contracts in all areas of procurement, including facilities and infrastructure modernization, aircraft, missiles and ammunition, vehicles, information and communications systems, cybersecurity and information warfare, innovative defense technologies, R&D, energy, and space defense.

Presentations were made from both macro and detailed perspectives. Todd Harrison, the director of the Defense Budget Analysis and Air Force Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, offered a big-picture look at U.S. military spending patterns. Going forward, he

said, spending may adhere to those patterns or may depart from them, given the change in administrations. He noted that the Air Force’s personnel costs have been growing due to the need to offer competitive compensation and benefits as an all-volunteer force. Operational/ maintenance costs have increased owing to expenses associated with maintaining an aging fleet. Congress, he said, has demonstrated a reluctance to retire legacy aircraft. “We are probably not going to have details of the Biden administration’s military budget request until May of this year,” Harrison said. But, to the extent that Air Force spending may remain flat, the availability of funds for procurement and construction will decline in an environment in which personnel and maintenance costs are growing. That can make it all the more important for businesses to stay on top of new contracting opportunities and to stay current regarding the manner in which contracts and agreements are awarded. The Air Force Contracting Summit fosters such awareness. Elizabeth Midkiff, a field support representative for the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Contracting, noted that the Air Force has done much since 2018 to encourage innovation and to remove layers of contracting authority and regulation. “We have encouraged the use of creative contracting tools and have rejected a culture of recrimination when things go wrong,” Midkiff said. “We are stretching the limits of the possible by bringing rapid contracting tools into our process, which has proved to be highly efficacious.” The Air Force has created opportunities, she said, for industry to submit recommended solutions to challenges to a panel of subject matter experts, including Air Force decision makers. Selected solution providers participate in a showcase event where they demonstrate their proposed approaches to challenges. Other speakers addressed topics ranging from community partnerships to the Space Force. Contractors who sponsored the summit made presentations outlining their capabilities and specialties. Finally, the summit excelled as a networking opportunity among participants and a chance to share and review job openings for subject matter experts, government affairs officers, data analysts, systems engineers and many more roles required by today’s military and the contractors who advance its mission.

» WANT TO GO?

The 2022 Air Force Contracting Summit is scheduled at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa on February 8–9, 2022. For more details, visit usdlf.org.

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CUSTOM CONTENT

Northwest Florida Military Report BY WILLIAM LOIRY

efense spending continues to be historic, with $740 billion approved for FY2021 and $753 billion proposed for FY2022. The huge spending bills impact military bases throughout the region. Northwest Florida is home to Tyndall Air Force Base, Eglin Air Force Base, USAF Hurlburt Field, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Corry Station and Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City. Defense activity funding in the area has totaled more than $22 billion, according to Florida’s Great Northwest, and it is considered one of the nation’s largest defense and homeland security locations. Highlights of the impact of defense spending in Northwest Florida include: Tyndall Air Force Base: Todd Harrison, director of defense budget analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an Air Force Contracting Summit speaker, expects the Pentagon to ask for 80 new F-35s in the 2022 defense

budget. Three F-35 squadrons, totaling 72 aircraft, are coming to Tyndall AFB, with the first set arriving in September of 2023. “Air dominance is critical to the National Defense Strategy, and basing F-35s at Tyndall will only further our service’s air superiority goals for 2030 and beyond,” said Col. Greg Moseley, Commander of the 325th. Eglin Air Force Base: Lt. Gen. Duke Richardson of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, unveiled the Air Force’s newest fighter at a ceremony April 7 at Eglin AFB. “The F-15EX provides a costeffective and expedient solution to meet National Defense Strategy capability and capacity requirements well into the 2040s,” stated LTG Richardson. More F-15EX aircraft will continue to arrive at Eglin AFB. Naval Air Station Pensacola: Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks visited NAS Pensacola on April 8. Hicks saw firsthand the damage caused by last year’s

WILLIAM LOIRY

William Loiry is an American business leader, defense and security facilitator, and philanthropist. More than 100,000 government, military and business leaders have attended his conferences on defense, homeland and global security, and disaster reconstruction. For more information, visit WilliamLoiry.com.

Hurricane Sally, which totaled $450 million in damages. Reconstruction contracts are ongoing. “At the Department of Defense, we know that the readiness of the force is very much tied to how well we manage through and think about resilience in the face of climate,” Hicks stated. She also noted that the estimate for rebuilding Tyndall AFB after Hurricane Michael is about $6 billion.

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SPECIAL REPORT

2021 Santa Rosa County Business Journal AN 850 BUSINESS MAGAZINE SPECIAL REPORT

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | WHITING AVIATION PARK | NAVARRE GROWTH

PHOTOS BY JENNIFER G PHOTOGRAPHY (GRANCAGNOLO AND OGLETREE) AND COURTESY OF LEONARDO COMPANY AND SANTA ROSA COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

Santa Rosa County Business Journal SPEC I A L R EPORT

No Rest for the Winners Persistence lands Santa Rosa County prospects BY HANNAH BURKE

or many, the world since March 2020 has been one of uncertainty. Some businesses thrived, some endured, and others were not so lucky. But even as the pandemic reconfigured most everything, economic developers in Santa Rosa County forged ahead, the best way they knew how. For Shannon Ogletree, executive director at the Santa Rosa Economic Development Office (SREDO), the key to success has always been connections. “Business is business, but in business, you deal with people,” said Ogletree. “Relationships matter. I once had a college professor who told me it’s hard to be mad at someone if you know their kid’s name, and that’s true. I want to get to know you and how you run your business.” Though Zoom meetings and phone calls have been unavoidable and while he much prefers face-to-face meetings, Ogletree said the pandemic’s forced seclusion was, ironically, uniting. Conferences with site selectors, typically held in office settings, originated from participants’ homes and often featured cameo appearances by restless spouses or children. People were more likely to engage in casual conversation, Ogletree said. He learned how contacts from Dallas or Philadelphia were faring. They would discuss their children’s virtual schooling or local conditions before

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Shannon Ogletree, executive director of the Santa Rosa Economic Development Office, has gotten used to conducting conferences with business site selectors virtually but looks forward to the full reopening of the economy and the resumption of face-to-face meetings.

PHOTOS BY JENNIFER G PHOTOGRAPHY (OGLETREE) AND COURTESY OF LEONARDO COMPANY

seguing into the advantages of one of the fastest-growing counties in the state. And, the advantages are abundant. “The county’s aggressive land pricing, cash incentives, lower property and personal income taxes and quality and quantity of available labor are pushing people to look to Santa Rosa County,” Ogletree reported. As the product of activity in the past year alone, Ogletree anticipates that about seven groundbreakings will take place over the next two to three years. Big names are rolling in, but local businesses, too, are flourishing, thanks in part to the SREDO’s rolling out of COVID-ı9 business relief grants. And, Santa Rosa County continues to grow “leaps and bounds,” said Ogletree. “In terms of growth census data that will come out later this summer, I’d say we’re growing between 2.5 to 3 percent per year. There are over 3,000 counties, and we should be in the top 5 percent as one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States.” Ogletree estimates new data will put Santa Rosa County’s population at about ı80,000. That total includes some 80,000 people in the workforce, 45,000 of whom report to jobs in Escambia County for employment.

Leonardo Helicopters will become the first tenant at the Whiting Aviation Park. An agreement between Santa Rosa County and the U.S. Navy and a Triumph Gulf Coast grant were critical to the park’s realization. 850 Business Magazine

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Santa Rosa County Business Journal SPEC I A L R EPORT

Santa Rosa is looking to change the latter figure. “My biggest hope for Santa Rosa County is that we are no longer a bedroom community to Escambia County,” he said. “For so long, we’ve been the little brother. When people think Northwest Florida, I want them to think Santa Rosa County.” The solution lies in creating highend, high-paying jobs that will establish Santa Rosa County’s presence and create attractive opportunities for its residents. The Triumph Gulf Coast board, Ogletree said, has helped set that effort in motion. 24

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Triumph has doled out millions of dollars in grants to fund infrastructure at Santa Rosa County’s three large industrial parks. Without Triumph’s backing, Ogletree said, “We’d have nothing but slabs of dirt, a hope, a dream and a prayer.” At this writing, the Whiting Aviation Park in Milton is wrapping up Phase I of its $ıı million infrastructure project, which has helped attract its first tenant, Leonardo Helicopters. The international manufacturer has committed to a ı00,000-square-foot facility within the aerospace and aviation park and pledges to create 40 to 50 highwage jobs upon its completion.

A $6 million infrastructure project is currently underway in Santa Rosa Industrial Park East. The ıı2-acre park, which targets manufacturing, already has three companies joining its first tenant, Cape Horn, a creator of high-end, offshore fishing boats. They are: n Project O’Brother, a company specializing in industrial powder coating. n Project Hard Metal, a metal stamping and computerized numerical control (CNC) machine manufacturer. n Project Induction, industrial manufacturers of renewable energy systems.

PHOTOS BY STEPHAN VANCE / RPI FILE PHOTOS

The Santa Rosa Industrial Park, already home to the boat builder Cape Horn, will soon see the arrival of three additional companies: a company specializing in industrial coatings; a metal stamper and computerized numerical control machine manufacturer; and a maker of renewable energy systems.

The future tenants will make capital investments totaling more than $22 million at the park and employ ıı0 people in above-average-wage jobs. Too, ı5 acres at Santa Rosa Industrial Park East will become home to Pensacola State College’s new truck driver training facility. Ogletree said talent developed there will surely land jobs at the Northwest Florida Industrial Park at I-ı0, which hosts logistics and distribution operations. The use of $3.5 million in Triumph funds has brought about 88 project-ready acres at the I-ı0 industrial park. The park offers immediate access to the northern

Gulf Coast region via the interstate, and the Pensacola International Airport, offering direct flights to major cities, is only a 25-minute ride away. That matters said Ogletree. “A company in one of our existing industrial parks, Gulf Cable, has headquarters in the New Jersey/New York area, and we know having direct flights helps them. And, it helps us see what cities we should be looking at.” So far, the I-ı0 industrial park has confirmed two occupants. Project Yummy will see to the construction of a $2.5 to $3 million, 25,000-square-foot distribution facility that will employ 30 workers. “Project

Lionheart” will employee 90 people upon the construction of a $5.2 million, ı00,000square-foot distribution center for pharmaceutical and medical devices. Both entities have promised jobs that pay well over the average wage in Santa Rosa County. Ogletree likens attracting business in Santa Rosa County to catching lightning in a bottle. “It’s about being at the right place at the right time, and making sure you’re ready” he said. “Obviously, we don’t try to put all our eggs in one basket. But, we had a strategic plan done a few years ago with a site consultant who said, ‘No product, no project.’ If we didn’t have the assistance of Triumph, none of this would be possible.” Interviewed in April, Ogletree said the SREDO has three to four proposals ready to bring before the Triumph board in May. He suggested one would involve partnering with various educational institutions to bring about an all-purpose training school that will significantly feed into the county’s industrial parks. “It’s Lexus’ pursuit of perfection,” said Ogletree. “Santa Rosa County can never be good enough. If we think we are, then somebody’s passing us by.” 850 Business Magazine

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Erica Grancagnolo, the associate director at Santa Rosa Economic Development, heads up infrastructure development at the Whiting Aviation Park. Despite the pandemic, the project has proceeded on time and on budget.

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Ready for Takeoff Aviation park adds to county’s attractiveness BY HANNAH BURKE

PHOTOS BY JENNIFER G PHOTOGRAPHY (GRANCAGNOLO) AND COURTESY OF SANTA ROSA COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICE (SIGN)

rica Grancagnolo was fresh from a meeting with the Santa Rosa County Commission where conversation took place about a potential project at the Whiting Aviation Park. Such discussions are happening regularly now that the first phase of construction at the 239-acre commercial/ industrial park is nearing completion and attracting the attention of potential tenants. Grancagnolo, the associate director of the Santa Rosa Economic Development Office (SREDO), doesn’t mind. As a woman committed to doing what she can to make Santa Rosa County a better place for people to live and work, she is excited by the seeds of economic development and the potential that they represent. “I’m excited to report that construction is in full swing, and we expect it to finish on time and on budget by early summer,” said Grancagnolo, who heads the Whiting Aviation Park infrastructure project. “The park looks really beautiful. The massive stormwater pond has been installed, and most of the water and sewer infrastructure is in. The earthwork has been taken care of, and it’s looking great out there.” She’s giddy about the road currently being paved to Don Salter Boulevard, which leads to the park and bears the name of the longtime county commissioner who devoted 20 years to working to make the project happen. But as construction at the park’s first 68 acres ends, an even bigger undertaking begins.

“While we don’t have a start date or all the funding lined up for Phase II, we will turn our focus to constructing a taxiway that will enable civilian tenants of our park to utilize the runway and control tower on the base,” Grancagnolo said. “Because we’ll be building on U.S. Navy property, it’s going to require a lot of coordination.” Construction of the Whiting Aviation Park, which lies adjacent to Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, relies upon a limited-access use agreement between Santa Rosa County and the Navy. The agreement allows for up to 75 operations by civil aircraft per day, including access to 6,000 feet of the Navy’s two, bi-directional runways.

The Whiting Aviation Park, which adjoins Naval Air Station Whiting Field, was a dream that County Commissioner Don Salter worked for many years to realize. He long saw the potential for synergies between the Navy and the private sector. An agreement provides for runway sharing. 850 Business Magazine

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Santa Rosa County Business Journal

Funding for the $ı0 million infrastructure project came by way of Triumph Gulf Coast, whose investment in Santa Rosa County has been “transformational,” Grancagnolo said. “We’re looking forward to their continued support and know we wouldn’t have this project without them. Companies won’t come if we don’t have shovel-ready sites.” That is, unless, you’re Leonardo. The aerospace company, with U.S. headquarters in Pennsylvania, is the eighth largest defense contractor in the world and Whiting Aviation Park’s first official tenant. Upon winning a contract in 2020 to replace the Navy’s fleet of TH-57 training helicopters, Leonardo committed to construction of a ı00,000-squarefoot customer support center that will employ up to 50 people. “Attracting a big name like Leonardo certainly puts us on the map,” said Grancagnolo. “I know for them time is of the essence, and they’re moving as quickly as possible to establish their presence here in Santa Rosa County.” 28

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According to Shannon Ogletree, director of the SREDO, the facility’s construction has an ı8- to 24-month timeline. In the interim, he said, Leonardo is set to operate out of a new hangar at Prince Peter Airport in Milton by early June. “Leonardo’s CEO was just here (this spring) and like what they’re seeing,” said Ogletree. “Our focus now is working with them on the placement of the Whiting Aviation Park facility and all its nuances.” Ogletree said Leonardo put their faith in Santa Rosa County, recognizing its strong military presence and abundant, experienced workforce. (The area is currently home to about 34,000 military retirees and gains around 2,400 retirees per year.) A strong talent pipeline from the area’s military installations isn’t the only incentive for the park’s potential tenants, however. “Our board of county commissioners has been very forward thinking in terms of economic development, and that’s

why we have successes like Leonardo,” said Grancagnolo. “One thing our board has approved is land pricing guidelines for our industrial parks, so we’re able to discount land based on the number of jobs created, the wages of those jobs and capital investment.” Too, there is the opportunity of establishing a relationship with Space Florida, an economic development association devoted to shaping the state’s next generation of aviation and aerospace businesses. Grancagnolo said Space Florida will work with the park’s companies on facility and equipment financing, which will result in many long-term benefits. Ogletree said that while no new companies have yet committed to Whiting Aviation Park, two entities are currently “kicking the tires.” “Now that we have Leonardo, people are starting to see that something must be going on in Santa Rosa County,” he said. “We’re getting a lot more looks from companies that wouldn’t have even considered us before.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF LEONARDO COMPANY

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Annual Economic Symposium gathers region to discuss development, growth Peter Zeihan

he future of Northwest Florida and its growth and development are the topics of discussion at Gulf Power’s annual Economic Symposium, hosted at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, Sept. 14–15. “Our Economic Symposium is an excellent tool to get our region together to focus on the development and advancement of Northwest Florida,” said Sandy Sims, external relations director and emcee for the event. “It’s important to have the conversations that focus our attention on the region and moving forward.” The annual event brings together local, regional and state business and community leaders for networking and discussion on Northwest Florida. Topics range from economic outlook to motivational issues. This year’s day-and-half-long event will feature speakers on a variety of topics, from the region and state economic outlook to geopolitical strategy. Keynote speaker Peter Zeihan will be returning to the 2021 event, having spoken at a previous Symposium.

To register for the 24th annual event, check out the Gulf Power Economic Symposium website at GulfPowerSymposium.com.

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manufacturing cut red tape experience zoning connection location implementation liaison perm aviation skill population aviation incentives development expediting water site selection access tr personnel gas acreage ownership logistics workforce cut red tape location industry transpor electricity results certification labor water distribution manufacturing zoning connection lo experience logistics implementation telecom liaison tax development permitting skill ince population transportation development expediting access site selection access trained certificatio acreage owner water site selection access training personnel results industry owner logistics lo distribution cut red tape acreage electricity aviation transportation results implementation wor manufacturing zoning connection certification industry location distribution electricity certifi results workforce manufacturing experience zoning connection site selection cut red tape ind skill transportation electricity development tax positioned personnel water acreage owner lo Santa Rosa County inresults Northwest Florida isaccess uniquely to offer population location distribution skill industry workforce electricity transportation local, state, and regional benefits to help land flight-based companies. certification r manufacturing cut red tape experience zoning connection location implementation liaison av permitting skill population aviation incentives development expediting water access site selection tr personnel gas acreage ownership logistics workforce cut red tape location industry transpor results labor certification water distribution manufacturing electricity connection location z Triumph Gulf Coast telecom permitting development skill population transpor experience aviation implementation ncentives expediting access liaison personnel gas acreage owner logistics electricity work Over the next decade-plus, $1.5 manufacturing zoning logistics population location distribution Spaceindustry Floridatransportation elec billion will be directed to Northwest results certification workforce manufacturing cut red tape experience zoning connection loc Florida for economic development Space Florida is uniquely mplementation liaisonThese permitting aviation skill population aviation incentives development expe enhancements. funds, from empowered by the State of water sitea selection access trained personnel gas acreage ownership logistics workforce cut red settlement related to the Florida with robust tools to aid ocation industry transportation labor water distribution Deepwater Horizon oil spill, electricity results certification companies in aerospace and manufac zoning connection location experience logistics implementation telecom liaison tax develop represent an unprecedented related industries, permitting skill incentives population transportation developmentincluding expediting access site sele opportunity for Northwest facility and access trained certification gas acreage owner water site selection access training personnel r Florida. The funds can be equipment financing ndustry owner logistics location distribution cut red tape acreage electricity aviation used to provide abatement and utilization of transpor results implementation workforce manufacturing zoning connection certification industry lo of property taxes, support statutory tax distribution electricityneeds certification zoning connectio infrastructure — such results workforce manufacturing experience efficiencies to reduce selection as cut red tape industry skill transportation electricity results development access tax pers buildings, roadways, rail short- and long-term water acreage owner logistics workforce elec spurs, utilities and more — population location distribution skill industry capital costs. transportation certification results manufacturing cut red tape experience zoning connection lo and to develop workforce mplementation liaison aviation permitting skill population aviation incentives development expe training programs. water access site selection trained personnel gas acreage ownership logistics workforce cut red ocation industry transportation results labor certification water distribution manufacturing elec connection location zoning experience aviation implementation telecom permitting develop Santa transportation Rosa Countyincentives expediting access liaison personnel gas acreage o skill population ogistics electricity workforce manufacturing zoning logistics population location distribution ind Aggressive Incentives transportation electricity results certification workforce manufacturing cut red tape experience z Companies in target industries can also qualify for connection location implementation liaison permitting several local programs to offset the costs of training new aviation skill population aviation ince development expediting water site access trained personnel gas acreage ownership lo or existing team members, get selection rebates on property and workforce cut red tape location industry transportation electricity results certification labor ad valorem taxes, and purchase industrial property at a distribution manufacturing connection location discount. There are alsozoning breaks on sales and use taxes forexperience logistics implementation te iaison taxequipment development permitting skill incentives population transportation development expe and electricity. access site selection access trained certification gas acreage owner water site selection access tr personnel results industry owner logistics location distribution cut red tape acreage electricity av transportation results implementation workforce manufacturing zoning connection certific ndustry location distribution electricity certification results workforce manufacturing expe Find out how Rosacut County can industry sweeten skill transportation electricity results develop zoning connection siteSanta selection red tape access tax personnel water your bottom line. Giveacreage us a call owner today. logistics population location distribution skill ind workforce electricity transportation certification results manufacturing cut red tape experience z connection location implementation liaison aviation permitting skill population aviation ince Contact Shannon Ogletree today. development expediting water access site selection trained personnel gas acreage ownership lo (850) 623-0174 • shannon@santarosa.fl.gov workforce cut red tape location industry transportation results labor certification water distrib or visit SantaRosaEDO.com manufacturing electricity connection location zoning experience aviation implementation te Business Magazine | SUMMER 2021 | 31 permitting development skill population transportation incentives850expediting access liaison pers

Santa Rosa County hits the incentive sweet spot for aviation and aerospace companies.

Santa Rosa County Business Journal SPEC I A L R EPORT

The Navarre area’s natural assets include spectacular Gulf beaches that account for strong bed tax collections. Navarre Beach is rich in places to watch the water and, in season, that football rivalry that can’t come around often enough.

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Growth Management For some in Navarre, the time for incorporation has come BY HANNAH BURKE

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SANTA ROSA COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

ccording to T.J. Goulet, there’s never been a better time to be in business in Navarre. The entrepreneur, business consultant and former Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce CEO points to restaurants, such as Samurai Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar, who have experienced record years and can’t seem to hire enough people. Tourism has fully rebounded to pre-pandemic numbers, propelling retailers such as Broxson Outdoors, a fishing charter and sporting goods rental company, toward unprecedented sales. Goulet’s 6-month-old plumbing business is so busy, he can hardly keep up. His established auto sales and rental company is selling vehicles as fast as he can get them. He’s not sounding an alarm, but for Goulet, this success sparks urgency. “We have to make sure we’re investing in Navarre now so we continue to enjoy this activity ı0 to ı5 years from now,” he said. Today, Navarre is a smallish, unincorporated, censusdesignated community along U.S. 98 that about 37,000

people call home. Although it trails Pensacola with the second-largest population along the Emerald Coast, Goulet said the Navarre area will never be like its “bigger, wealthier neighbor.” And that, he says, is just fine. “We don’t have the size or the desire,” Goulet said. “But, we have to plan for what we really want, which is for our beaches to stay uncrowded and for our lifestyle to stay simple and enjoyable but capable of generating revenue for the county.” A future focus on the tech sector, Goulet said, may be just the ticket. Discussion of a Navarre area technology center for education and business development began during Goulet’s chamber tenure, around 20ı9. The pandemic all but halted such conversation, he admitted, but he’s not giving up hope. “Mediacom, Cox and AT&T were all chamber members, and Cox had just come into the area with their fiber optic cable,” Goulet said. “We were able to get a great understanding of fiber optics and how, in Navarre, 850 Business Magazine

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it runs in one directional from east to west. If one line goes down, we have another in place, and that’s unique.” Goulet, who established a career in Philadelphia as a web developer, said his office next to Westchester University didn’t have such an advantage, and it was located within a technology park. After living in Navarre from ı999 to 2002, Goulet expressed interest in moving back to the area in 20ıı, but the data infrastructure in place at the time wouldn’t support his job. The introduction of fiber optic connectivity changed that, and in 20ı4, Goulet headed south. “I’m the example of who we can attract to south Santa Rosa County,” he said. “There are going to be millions of people who, as the pandemic ends, aren’t going to go back into the office. And if you don’t have to go back into the

While recognizing that the Navarre area relies heavily on tourism dollars, proponents of economic diversity believe the area has the potential to attract businesses in sectors including technology.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF SANTA ROSA COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

office, you don’t have to live in the suburbs. You can live on the beach and bring your job with you.” As jobs become less tethered, Goulet recommends that Navarre make an effort to capitalize on the financial service industry. It might have a strong future in attracting banks, finance companies and mortgage lenders, he said. A close friend of Goulet once managed 90 people with offices on two floors of the Wells Fargo tower in Minneapolis. About two years ago, the department went remote. “Now the only person on those two floors is a custodian who passes through once a week with a dust mop,” Goulet said. “That team has one face-to-face meeting per month, and that’s happening everywhere. The key to getting those type of folks who make six figures or more is having access to communications, and Navarre has that.” Of course, he’s not ignoring the success of the tourism industry. According to Julie White, tourist development director at the Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Office, visitation to Navarre plays a vital role in growing Santa Rosa’s economy. “As we look at the recent bed tax collection over 20ı9 and 2020 and into the first quarter of 202ı, collections in Navarre Beach, specifically, lead among the county’s three regions,” White said. But, Goulet feels Navarre has potential for much more. Navarre boasts a beautiful beach but also comparatively affordable housing and quick access to the region’s interstates and airports. He expresses frustration in the county’s lack of investment in Navarre and its frequent dismissal of the area as a center of tourism, while Milton, Gulf Breeze and Pace are geared toward industry. Too, he believes Navarre’s unincorporated status hurts the community both financially and representationally. “Navarre was close to becoming a city, but the pandemic hit and disrupted the timeline,” Goulet said. Incorporation proponents “literally couldn’t collect a signature and, basically, had to start the process over.” Incorporating a city costs money, Goulet said, for marketing efforts and signature gathering. “There have to be reasons for individuals and businesses to write checks,” Goulet said. “I’m in favor of incorporation because I believe Navarre needs a strong voice that is closer to the people, versus one voice for the entire zip code at the county level.” That local voice might see to adequate investment in transportation infrastructure, Goulet said, and in recreational spaces and parks that would help attract more residents. Taxes might increase, he concedes, but progress would be made. “People are going to keep moving to Navarre, and we’re going to keep growing,” said Goulet. “The question is are we going to do so haphazardly, or are we going to take it by the reins? “If the beach is all Navarre ever is, we’re going to have the same problems tomorrow that we’re having today.”

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PROMOTION

ReliantSouth: A Commercial Contractor You Can Trust

ased in Northwest Florida, ReliantSouth Construction Group has become a much sought-after contractor that provides full-service commercial general contractor/construction management services. Led by professional engineer Richard Dodd, ReliantSouth has completed various exemplary projects throughout Northwest Florida and the Southeast. Having started his construction career 38 years ago, Dodd has been leading successful and award-winning construction companies in this area for more than three decades. What makes ReliantSouth stand out from its competitors is its adherence to one primary mission: “We provide solutions and value to our clients while working collaboratively with all our stakeholders,” Dodd said. The past two years — first with Hurricane Michael and then the pandemic — have certainly dealt some unexpected hardships all across Northwest Florida. Contracting has certainly been anything but ordinary. However, ReliantSouth has both persevered and excelled. So, what’s their secret? “I believe it’s our perspective,” Dodd explained. “Because you see, life is truly a gift and should be appreciated all the time. Perspective helps you appreciate the little things.” ReliantSouth takes great pride in adapting to circumstances, remaining steady in uncertainty, and building quality projects that exceed client expectations. Perhaps that stability comes from the fact that the firm is blessed with a rich legacy. Also, seasoned, integrity-filled

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construction professionals make up the team who have worked together for years. And then there are the grateful ReliantSouth clients: Hurricane Michael decimated Southerland Family Funeral Home. Steve Southerland, principal in the business and former member of Congress, felt contracting with ReliantSouth was an excellent decision. “When Hurricane Michael completely destroyed our family’s business structure, we were devastated,” Southerland said. “However, we knew that

in order to pick up the pieces and build back better, it would require contracting with the best commercial contractor we could find. In our mind, there was only one choice — Richard Dodd and the ReliantSouth team. “They didn’t just meet our expectations — they far exceeded them and did so under budget as well as with the highest professional standards,” Southerland said. “Quite simply, we believe they are the ‘gold standard’ in construction, with their team of honest, respectful, and competent experts. When businesses are

We will deliver value and solutions to our clients by providing exceptional quality, attention to detail, and extraordinary service. These will be our trademarks as we build mutually beneficial relationships in a collaborative nature.

searching for a builder that will serve as a trusted advisor, who will also deliver value that exceeds price, look no further than Richard Dodd and ReliantSouth. It was one of the best decisions our family has ever made.” This proven track record is also why Bay District Schools chose ReliantSouth to build their $37 million elementary school in Panama City Beach, and why other business entities rely on this ethical firm to build their projects.

Wayne Lindsey, owner of Sonny’s BBQ, shared why he chose ReliantSouth to handle his restaurant construction. “I’ve been in the restaurant business for more than 35 years, and I was looking for a contractor who was honest and had my best interests at heart,” Lindsey said. “Once I found ReliantSouth, I knew I could quit looking. They do business the right way, with attention to detail, which is second to none.”

Richard Dodd explained what sets ReliantSouth apart within the industry. “It all boils down to ReliantSouth’s corporate culture and engrained core values,” Dodd said. “So whether a client needs a general contractor, a designbuilder or a construction manager, ReliantSouth has the expertise and values to make any dream a reality,” Dodd concluded.

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«««««

AMERICAN B A N K E R A L E X SA N C H E Z P R O U D LY R E P R E S E N T S T H E N AT I O N ’ S E C O N O M I C E N G I N E STORY BY STEVE BORNHOFT

PHOTOS BY DAVE BARFIELD

lex Sanchez winces noticeably as he rises from a chair to greet his visitor. He is tall and welcoming and affable, precisely as I remember him from my years spent working as a bank marketer. Sanchez, since 1993, has been the executive director of the Florida Bankers Association. He is among the most recognizable spokespeople for the financial industry in the country, is often seen on cable news programs, and is a prolific writer of opinion pieces that land in Florida dailies and the Wall Street Journal. Cuban born, he escaped the island with his mother at age 4 on a U.S.-sponsored Freedom Flight during the Kennedy administration and has always retained an immigrant’s perspective on the United States. A priest smuggled his father onto a freighter bound for Spain a year before Sanchez and his mother got out. The family set up housekeeping in the Bronx and later moved to Florida.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALEX SANCHEZ (LEFT)

Sanchez is an effusive personality who uses the word, “wow,” a lot. Should a conversation lag for a moment, he is likely to insert his steadfast belief that “we are living in the greatest country on earth, you know.” A military veteran, attorney, subject-matter expert, lecturer and lobbyist, Sanchez is nonetheless approachable. If you need a pickme-up, an attitude adjustment, he’s your guy — unless, perhaps, you happen to be the CEO of a giant credit union. He refrains from jargon and, in the manner of one-time “explainer-inchief” Bill Clinton, breaks down issues with comfortable hypotheticals and metaphors. Someone, a long time ago, taught Sanchez to frequently say the name of whomever he might be speaking to. People like that. “Steve, look, our country is the greatest country in the world, right?” Sanchez said. “My mother, she’s 90, I’m her caregiver, she asks me all the time, she says, ‘If we had to leave the United States, where would we go? Great question. Think about it. Where would you go? Netflix has a great documentary on Cuba. I’m watching it right now with my wife; it’s called The Cuba Libre Story. Five hundred years of history. I watch a lot more television these days than I did before COVID. But this series, it’s really good.” Like Sanchez, his eventual wife Patsy also fled Fidel Castro’s tyranny. As a ı3-year-old, she boarded a small boat with 25 others, including her mother, brother, father and grandmother, during the Mariel boatlift in ı980. The boat failed in turbulent seas, and Patsy was lifted to safety by a 2ı-year-old Coastie who went by the nickname Rocky and was part of the crew on a reliance-class cutter, the USCGC Vigorous. “Rocky squeezed orange juice into Patsy’s mouth and gave her apples, and she didn’t even know what they were,” Sanchez said. “He took a Polaroid picture of Patsy and himself and gave her his hat,” the kind with the ship name emblazoned on the crown. Patsy would keep that photo and, 26 years later, would succeed — as the product of a coincidence, many phone calls and the advent of the internet — in locating Rocky as he was about to retire from the Coast Guard with the rank of captain. “They spoke for an hour on the phone, and he invited her to attend his retirement ceremony on his ship on the Mississippi River in Kentucky,” Sanchez said. Rocky didn’t expect her to attend,

Clockwise from top: Alex Sanchez served his adopted country in the U.S. Air Force; Sanchez was joined, from left to right, by his mother-in-law, mother and wife upon receiving the Daughters of the American Revolution Citizen Award; Sanchez and his mother in New York City in 1962, a month after arriving in the United States on a Freedom Flight from Cuba.

««« Alex Sanchez with his wife, Patsy; she escaped Cuba in an overloaded boat and was rescued by a U.S. Coast Guardsman when the vessel was overwhelmed by high seas. Years later, she attended the Guardsman’s retirement ceremony.

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but she did, and when she stepped away from the crowd at the event, he recognized her. “They hugged and had dinner.” Today, Patsy, a breast cancer survivor, is a member of the Florida CareerSource State Board, having been appointed to her seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis. “You should write a story about her,” Sanchez said of his wife. “Much better story than me.” AN APPETITE FOR NEWS As a schoolboy growing up in New York, Sanchez bought the Daily News every morning to catch up on sports. “There was no ESPN,” he said. “I couldn’t find out who won the game last night by turning on the TV. There was no sports until the local news came on at 6. In those days, we looked forward to the Game of the Week with Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek. I grew up on that. I started reading sports, and then I gravitated to the news section.” He has been a newshound ever since. “We moved to Miami, and I bought the Herald all the time,” Sanchez aid. “When I lived in Tampa Bay, I had both the Tampa Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times delivered to my house. Up here, I wasn’t really a big Democrat guy, but I went to the Black Cat newsstand on Monroe Street and they had newspapers from all over the state. Lobbyists and everybody went there. I used to wait until about ı0 so I could buy the final edition of the Herald that they sold in Miami. I would buy three or four papers, the Tampa Bay Times, the Orlando Sentinel and others and read them all while riding a stationary bicycle at my house.” Sanchez finds it remarkable that his two daughters, both successful professionals, have never bought a printed newspaper. “We need strong papers, but I don’t think that is gonna happen,” he said. “The news media, to me, are the watchdog of our democracy. The

average person doesn’t have the time to go to City Hall and find out what’s going on. It’s gotta be that beat reporter that writes a story and we find ourselves saying, ‘Oh my god, the commissioner said that!’ A commissioner from Tallahassee goes on a trip to Paris to learn about the Parisian train system and he spends $7,000, but if there is nobody to report it … .” Well, you might have to wait until Dominic Calabro at Florida TaxWatch gets onto it. With the Democratic Caucus in the U.S. Senate numbering 50 members and with 50 Republicans in the Senate, Sanchez was hopeful that a spirit of ««« bi-partisanship not seen Alex and Patsy Sanchez inspect lately might take hold. covers of “Wow, I’m saying to Florida Banking, myself, now they are a magazine published by the both going to be forced Florida Bankers to come to the table Association, which because neither side can Sanchez serves as do anything without the executive director. other,” Sanchez said. “You want vanilla, and I want chocolate, well, how ’bout a swirl ice cream? But you are insisting on vanilla, and you’ve got a oneperson majority (with Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote). It doesn’t make any sense. How ’bout if we have vanilla this month and chocolate next month? That’s the great art of compromise and our country isn’t there, but it needs to be.” In any event, Sanchez, while he stops short of calling himself a libertarian — he’s more of a center-right guy — believes that government’s role should be limited. Throughout the Trump presidency, even conservatives didn’t talk much about the national debt, but Sanchez is growing increasingly concerned about it. “In any society, you need rules and regulations,” Sanchez allows. “Government has

You want vanilla, and I want chocolate, well, how ’bout a swirl ice cream? But you are insisting on vanilla and you’ve got a one-person majority (with Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote). It doesn’t make any sense. How ’bout if we have vanilla this month and chocolate next month? That’s the great art of compromise and our country isn’t there, but it needs to be.” — Alex Sanchez

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a role to play. It should take care of the needy and the defense of this country, protective services, police and fire. But banks shouldn’t say I’m going to open up a bakery or a furniture company, and neither should government. You remember in the old Soviet Union when people would try to buy Wrangler and Levis jeans right off the backsides of Americans because Soviet-made jeans weren’t any good?” Unlike Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the U.S.

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Sanchez says the government has no business being in the banking business. “Public banks, that’s over the line,” Sanchez said. “Spain got out of the public banking business 35, 40 years ago. Why would we be getting into it now? The extreme positions of either party are best left alone. The banking industry is meeting the needs of the American people.”

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This is the greatest country in the world, man. I can say that as an immigrant. … I have lectured at the business school at the University of Edinburgh. They give me topics to address, but what the students really want to talk about is life in the United States. They want to know how difficult it is to emigrate to our country.” — Alex Sanchez soon to be at $33 trillion once we get the infrastructure bill. Is this a runaway train? When will it stop, and what does it mean to our country? What does it mean to our grandchildren? We can’t just wipe out the debt. That means no one is going to buy our treasury notes. And then we’re going to have to really tighten the belt. Already, the interest payment on the debt is $400 billion on a $3.5 trillion federal budget.” Sanchez pauses. Before him, neatly organized on the coffee table in the middle of the sitting area in his office, lie books about Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, a king of Spain, a chairman of Coca-Cola. “Steve, this is the greatest country in the world, man,” Sanchez resumed. “I can say that as an immigrant. (And as a world traveler.) I have been

Florida Bankers Association executive vice president/COO Pamela Ricco, seated second from left; Alex Sanchez, next to her; and FBA vice president for government affairs Anthony DiMarco, seated at far right, traveled to Tanzania in 2013 as part of a Financial Services Volunteer Corps training mission.

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the graduation speaker for Bangor University in Wales. I spoke to 200 bankers two weeks ago in Edinburgh, Scotland. That’s a country I go to a lot. I have lectured at the business school at the University of Edinburgh. “They give me topics to address, but what the students really want to talk about is life in the United States,” Sanchez said. “They want to know how difficult it is to emigrate to our country. I tell them I’m not an immigration attorney, but if you get a U.S. job, the company will probably help you obtain a green card. People ask me that all the time.” Sanchez, with Florida Bankers Association executive vice president/ COO Pamela Ricco and executive vice president for government affairs Anthony DiMarco, have traveled to Tanzania as part of a Financial Services Volunteer Corps training program. At this writing, they are planning another such ı0-day trip to Tunisia. The FSVC, created by President George H.W. Bush’s administration, is a notfor-profit, public-private partnership whose mission is to help build sound financial systems in transitional and developing countries. Based in New York City, it focuses on combating money laundering and financial crimes, strengthening commercial banking systems, building capital markets and developing central bank capabilities. “There were a lot of Chinese interests in Tanzania, sucking the minerals out of that country,” Sanchez observed. “The Africans don’t interact with the Chinese. The Chinese go back to their living quarters at the end of the day, but we had dinner with our African hosts every

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALEX SANCHEZ

RUNAWAY TRAIN Sanchez, as is his fashion, wades into talk of the national debt with a spontaneously manufactured scenario. “What would you think if you were here interviewing me because you think I am someone important, and you learn that I owe Publix $800,000?” Sanchez began. “I buy all of my groceries on credit, I eat a lot and I buy the best and I haven’t paid any of it off in years. But I know the Publix CEO and he says, ‘Don’t worry about it, Alex, just put it on your Publix tab.’ But eventually he calls me and he says, ‘Man, it’s up to $800,000. How are you ever going to repay this?’ ” Sanchez believes that Americans, like the grocer in his example, should be getting nervous. “The national debt is at $28 trillion right now,” Sanchez said in April. “It will be $30 trillion once the money in the COVID relief bill is spent. I am not arguing that we didn’t need that bill, but what I want for people to realize is that this is all borrowed funds. Are you OK with that? Alex Sanchez passes a law that gives everyone a brand new car. Yippee! But we don’t have that money. “Our national debt when President Clinton left office in 2000 was $5 trillion. Twenty-one years later, we are

Alex Sanchez delivers remarks to students at Bangor University in Wales. His ambassadorial travels also have taken him to Africa. He has found that people throughout the world are fascinated about life in America.

night. They are fascinated by America; they love American football. You make trips like that, you feel like you are an American ambassador.” Sanchez decries calls for more oversight and regulation of the banking industry in the U.S. “The American banking system is the highest and best capitalized, strongest banking system in the world,” he said. “Right now, we have the optimal blend of banking regulation and operations. And we are in the greatest market in the world. Canadian banks are strong, too, but some of the European banks still have not fully recovered from the (2008) financial crisis.” Sanchez listed federal agencies that oversee banking activity: the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, the Federal Reserve Bank, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. “And then you have the Florida Department of Banking,” he pointed out. “We are well regulated. Let our bankers concentrate on hiring lenders, not compliance officers. That way, we can fulfill our mission, which is helping to make Americans’ dreams come true. Homeowners and business owners — we’re the ones that provide the capital that makes the economy go. Most

people don’t have enough money to buy a home. They need a loan. We all did, and you pay it off. It’s a great adventure. You start a business that way. Our community banks do a great job of that because they fly lower to the ground. “You see them at the Kiwanis Club meeting. You meet them for breakfast to talk about the business you’d like to start.” Sanchez said governors Jeb Bush, Rick Scott and now Ron DeSantis have all helped make Florida “not only a great place for business, but also a great place to live.” Sanchez served as a member of DeSantis’ Re-Open Florida Task Force. “I can tell you that in working with Gov. DeSantis and his team, he was very concerned about the medical data, and that’s why he reopened Florida gradually, step by step,” Sanchez said. “We took steps depending on what the medical data told us was happening in different regions of the state.” Sanchez is satisfied that the approach worked well and that the state’s most vulnerable residents were well protected. “Look at New York, look at California,” he said. “They lead the nation in COVID cases and they have been closed. If you are a small business owner in New York, I don’t know how you survive this. Gov. (Andrew) Cuomo has raised taxes again

by another $5 billion. I think the exodus of people and businesses from New York and California is just going to continue. Florida is a beautiful state, and we still have room to grow. And we are growing up vertically now. For business, whether you are selling shoes, computer components or banking products, this is the state you want to be in.” California, Sanchez said, is about to lose congressional seats due to declining population for the first time since it was made a state. “People there are fed up with high taxes, high costs, and I think our future is bright and I thank Gov. DeSantis for his leadership,” he said. Florida’s popularity and its attractiveness as a market extend to the banking industry. Big banks from elsewhere are buying Florida community banks in order to gain a presence in the state. “Somebody approaches you and wants to know much would you would sell your community bank for and you say, ‘Oh, it’s not for sale,’ ” Sanchez began another hypothetical. “But, Steve, you know how that goes. You’ve got that ’57 fire engine red Chevy convertible in your driveway. It’s got that cream-colored leather inside. People drive by it all the time. Finally, here comes someone who offers you seven times the Blue Book value, and you toss him the keys. That’s what’s happening with banks because people want very much to be in Florida.” Sanchez, then, acknowledges consolidation in the banking system, but said, too, that he is encouraged by the number of new community banks that are being established in the state. “People should have choices, and I am doing everything I can to encourage the formation of new community banks,” he said. POPULARITY EXACTS A PRICE Florida’s popularity is also driving up land prices and making it less possible for young people to buy a home. Do banks have a role to play in increasing the supply of affordable housing?

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“Yes, but only in conjunction with local governmental authorities, and maybe state authorities,” Sanchez said. “Banks are definitely a good partner, but we can’t do it by ourselves. It is an issue in Florida, especially when you get into our urban core areas and coastal cities.” Everything, of course, is relative. “New Yorkers come down and they see housing in Florida as highly affordable. The Europeans come in and buy that condo in South Florida. ‘You kidding me? I love the price, it’s great,’ they say. But housing is an issue for Floridians and one that municipalities are going to have to tackle. I mean where does a schoolteacher or a Publix employee find an affordable house in Destin or Palm Beach? They wind up driving 40 miles one way to work.” Never will Sanchez exit a conversation with a journalist without bringing up what he considers to be an egregious fairness problem. For decades, he has been trying to undo the tax exemptions extended credit unions. “Let’s say that 70 years ago, your grandfather and my grandfather were homebuilders,” Sanchez teed up another one.

“Bornhoft Construction builds them for everybody, but Sanchez Construction builds them only for low-income Hispanics. The government decides to tax-exempt Sanchez because they build homes exclusively for low-income minority buyers. Your grandfather doesn’t have a problem with that because, hey, he’s operating in a different market. “Our fathers play things the same way. They stay in their lanes. But I graduate from Harvard and I come back to Florida and I say, ‘This is silly, why am I restricted to low-income Hispanics? I should be able to build homes for everybody.’ And the regulators go along with me. They give me the cardinal blessing, and I get to keep my tax exemption.” Suddenly, Sanchez can build the same homes that Bornhoft is building and sell them to whomever he wants at a distinct competitive advantage given the tax treatment that the business enjoys. Bornhoft may be inclined to cry foul. “In ı925, Congress created financial cooperatives so people could borrow a little bit of money to get through until payday, maybe buy an icebox,” Sanchez

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said. “It was the St. Mary’s Catholic Church Credit Union. You had to be a member there. You need three bucks for the week? Here you go. “Now you have a Navy Federal Credit Union. Have you seen their commercials? Ran during the Super Bowl, Steve. The Super Bowl! They made $2 billion in net income last year. After they paid for their campuses in Virginia and Pensacola, their car expenses for executives, incredible salaries for the senior executive team, after all that, they still made $2 billion. I was an enlisted guy. They’re not making that money off of enlisted guys. They’re not making it off of officers, either. Our troops don’t have that kind of money. They’re hiding behind the military and financing yachts.” A tax exemption should be tied to a public purpose, Sanchez argues. “That’s been lost, Steve. Come on, dude!” Sanchez gets up to see me out, and there is the wince again. “Sciatica,” he said. “But I’m working on making my back stronger. I do 88 laps of backstroke every morning. Great exercise.” A little sciatica. Nothing to complain about. Just gotta work through it.

SPECIAL REPORT

2021 Okaloosa and Walton County Business Journal AN 850 BUSINESS MAGAZINE SPECIAL REPORT

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | WALTON WORKS | PETER BOS PHOTOS BY JOHN HARRINGTON (BOS) AND COURTESY OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE AND BARGE DESIGN (SHOAL RIVER RANCH)

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Setting the Stage for Progress Okaloosa County enhances its appeal to prospects BY SAMUEL HOWARD

s it did for the rest of the country’s economy, the coronavirus pandemic added a heavy dose of volatility to commerce in Okaloosa County.

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But Nathan Sparks, executive director of One Okaloosa EDC — known until recently as the Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County — sees reasons for optimism

even while acknowledging recent challenging times. Take Shoal River Ranch, Okaloosa’s so-called “gigasite,” a sprawling stretch of undeveloped land that Sparks said could someday host businesses requiring thousands of employees. For now, the ı0,500-acre site awaits its first tenant. Sparks said the pandemic has made the search for prospective employers difficult. Many businesses, he has noticed, aren’t in an expansion mode and are instead focused on building their financial resources. He called it a “very challenging landscape” for doing business.

RENDERING COURTESY OF BARGE DESIGN (SHOAL RIVER RANCH) AND PHOTO COURTESY OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL OF OKALOOSA COUNTY (SPARKS)

Conceptual drawing illustrates the potential at the massive Shoal River Ranch “gigasite” and its proximity to rail and highway transportation arteries.

Between the land acquisition and the final piece of infrastructure, it’s been a very good stage-setting year for Shoal River Ranch.” —Nathan Sparks, executive director of One Okaloosa EDC

But Sparks points to the recovering economy and slowing pandemic as signs that good news is in the pipeline. “So long as we stay the course and continue to execute the plan we envisioned three years ago, we will have the success that we intend to have,” he said. Steps prescribed by that plan are being accomplished. The county’s extension of water lines four miles and sewer lines three miles to Shoal River Ranch was expected to wrap up this spring, Sparks said. And in November, Okaloosa County commissioners voted to buy 588 acres there for about $2.2 million. The Holland M. Ware Charitable Foundation owns most of the land at

the ranch, located between Crestview and Mossy Head immediately south of the Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad and U.S. Highway 90. The economic development council is taking another step, developing conceptual plans to possibly divide an 88-acre parcel near U.S. 90 that was part of the county’s purchase. Sparks envisions that a business could build a 200,000-square-foot facility on one of those smaller lots and create several hundred jobs. The other 500 acres purchased by the county border an additional ı65 acres that Okaloosa County also owns, Sparks said. “That’s where you could do a million-squarefoot-facility — or more — and employ literally thousands of people,” Sparks said. 850 Business Magazine

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Even with the market pinch, Sparks said prospective employers are showing interest, and the project remains on track. “Between the land acquisition and the final piece of infrastructure, it’s been

a very good stage-setting year for Shoal River Ranch,” he said. There were highs and lows elsewhere in Okaloosa County due to the pandemic. The county’s unemployment rate spiked at ı3.3 percent in April 2020 but

plummeted to 4.ı percent by December. That’s still nearly ı.5 points greater than it was pre-pandemic, but nevertheless is one of the lowest county jobless rates in the state. In 2020, the local economy suffered during the important spring break season when Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended vacation rental operations via executive order but bounced back for a strong showing during the summer, Sparks said. With cross-country flights out of the question for many families, Sparks suspects that driving to Okaloosa’s beaches became an attractive Plan B for some vacationers. “I think the fact that our community tends to be largely a drive-to destination, that worked to our favor,” Sparks said.

Education is a priority

The Triumph Gulf Coast Board awarded Northwest Florida State College a $7 million grant in 2020 to develop an Aviation Center of Excellence (above) at Bob Sikes Airport near Crestview. The college anticipates awarding aerospace industry certificates to more than 300 students in the next 10 years. 50

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Despite the ailing economy, Okaloosa County voters approved a half-cent sales tax by a ı2-percentage point margin in November. Tax proceeds will fund the modernization of the county’s public

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL OF OKALOOSA COUNTY (RENDERING, MAP)

SPEC I A L R EPORT

school facilities, including expected improvements to technology and the school bus fleet. Sparks called the initiative “critically important,” one that the economic development council backed. He commended the district’s academic performance but said its facilities are “antiquated” and “decrepit in some cases” with leaky roofs and failing HVAC units. “When we have prospective employers and businesses visit our area and see schools that were built in the, you know, ’50s, ’60s, what have you, that really haven’t been updated in decades, it’s not the right signal we need to be sending regarding our priorities,” Sparks said. There’s more positive momentum in education, Sparks said. Triumph Gulf Coast, the nonprofit dispensing Deepwater Horizon oil spill damages paid by BP, awarded a $7 million grant last summer to Northwest Florida State College for its Aviation Center of Excellence. Construction on the center

at Bob Sikes Airport near Crestview was nearly complete as of early spring. With support from the HSU Educational Foundation, the $ı4.4 million facility will offer training in the aerospace industry. NWFSC hopes to serve at least 307 students over ı0 years, including those earning certificates in airframe and powerplant mechanics as well as professional piloting. The airframe and powerplant mechanics certificates, in particular, should appeal to separating and retiring service members from Okaloosa’s Eglin Air Force Base, Sparks said, because the military doesn’t require that qualification. “That’s a critical thing for our region’s aerospace sector,” Sparks said.

Pandemic pivot As Americans donned masks and added “PPE” to their vocabularies, one entrepreneur with local ties saw an opening in the personal protective equipment market. Bob Sires, until recently the owner of American Elite

Molding near Crestview, worked with One Okaloosa EDC to open U.S. Meltblown — a business now working literally around the clock to manufacture meltblown polypropylene filter material. The material is a component in medical gowns and masks, including the N95 respirators that many consider the gold standard of PPE. When U.S. companies began churning out masks during the pandemic, Sparks said, they did so with internationally sourced materials. Sires has said that resulted in shortages and delays. “This is a play to truly domesticate that entire supply chain,” Sparks said. Okaloosa County and Fort Walton Beach granted the PPE project ad valorem tax exemptions of $ı5,673 and $23,073, respectively. U.S. Meltblown expects to create 50 new jobs. The company leases ı4,000 square feet at the Fort Walton Beach Commerce and Technology Park, where U.S. Meltblown plans to make $3 million in tenant improvements. 850 Business Magazine

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Walton Works Innovative partnership provides for student education, inmate rehabilitation BY STEVE BORNHOFT

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ith dollars awarded by the Triumph Gulf Coast Board, the state’s disburser of damages paid by BP owing to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office is turning its DeFuniak Springs “campus” into a center of not just law enforcement, but also education and rehabilitation. In that effort, the Sheriff’s Office is partnering with Northwest Florida State College to create what Sheriff Michael Adkinson and NWFSC president Devin Stephenson believe

will be the finest public service academy in the state. “I don’t need to tell you about the value of competent, capable professional firefighters and paramedics and law enforcement personnel,” Adkinson said. “They literally have lives in their hands. And they are stewards of the people’s authority, so it’s important that they are not only professional, but tempered in their approach to difficult circumstances.” Public safety training will be “bifurcated,” Adkinson said, in that classroom sessions will be

PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE

Dignitaries gathered for ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the Walton Works Training Center of Excellence in DeFuniak Springs. Left to right: NWFSC trustee Rudy Wright; trustee Charlotte Flynt; trustee chair Lori Kelley; NWFSC president Dr. Devin Stephenson; District 2 Walton County Commissioner Danny Glidewell; District 3 Walton County Commissioner Michael Barker; NWFSC Trustee Vice-Chair Shane Abbott; District 1 Walton County Commissioner William “Boots” McCormick; trustee Graham Fountain; trustee Reynolds Henderson.

conducted at NWFSC’s new Walton Works Training Center of Excellence on U.S. 90, while training of a hands-on sort will take place at the sheriff’s campus and will utilize assets including a driving pad and a burn tower. Those assets were acquired with a Triumph grant award that the college obtained pursuant to the Walton Works Center project. About the hands-on training, Adkinson is especially excited. He counts it as one of the distinctions that sets the public safety academy in Walton County apart from other such programs. “You may go to school to become a correctional officer and never set foot in a jail until you graduate,” the sheriff said. “When you receive training at our campus, you will learn what lock and gate mechanisms look like. It’s important for a deputy sheriff to know where things are on an ambulance. The paramedic/EMT/firefighter and the deputy wear different uniforms, but they work together as members of the same team.” The burn tower, Adkinson explained, will enable trainees to work with live fire, learn how to navigate stairs during a blaze and how to contain flames during an event at a multi-level structure. The Sheriff’s Office, which runs Walton County Fire & Rescue north of Choctawhatchee Bay and is the largest such department in the county, donated retired fire trucks and ambulances to NWFSC for use in training. Adkinson said some classes will include both students seeking certifications and established public safety officials satisfying continuing education requirements. Already, Adkinson is engaged in giving inmates job training in areas including welding, heavy equipment operation and restaurant work. The driving pad means that he will be able to add commercial driver’s license training to the available skills choices. The Sheriff’s Office has gone so far as to acquire a semi for training purposes. “My philosophy is that when you have a facility like that

you are losing money when it is sitting vacant,” Adkinson said. “You spend $30 million or $40 million on a school building that closes at 3 or 4 in the afternoon and may be closed for the summer. It is important to give the people a maximum return on their investment. At the driving pad, we’re going to wear the asphalt out by using it both for inmate rehabilitation and public safety training.” Adkinson is fully aware that there are people who don’t support devoting training dollars and facilities to inmates. “I think it is the morally right thing to do,” he said. “But if you can’t buy that, I’ll give you an economic argument: It’s expensive to keep people in jail. I joke with the inmates, I’m doing this and you’re not able to vote for me. It’s funny, but the ‘why’ matters.” About vocational training for inmates, Adkinson said, “This is not the answer, but it is an answer.” He then cited a quotation from Voltaire: “Don’t allow perfect to be the enemy of better.” “Elected officials are risk averse,” Adkinson said. “They get so afraid of making a mistake that they become paralyzed.” (I commented to Adkinson that he was the first of many sheriffs in my experience who had ever quoted Voltaire. “I don’t know if that is a good or a bad thing,” he said, and then hit me with a Latin phrase, res ipsa loquitur — it speaks for itself.) The inmate rehab effort, to be sure, has been a learning experience for Adkinson, too. “With our welding program that NWFSC helped us out with, we discovered that welders need to understand how to use Microsoft office,” Adkinson said. “A lot of welders are independent contractors. You need to be able to set up your email and communicate that way so you can get jobs. That was an exit point that was easily corrected.” As part of the contract that the Sheriff’s Office entered when it received Triumph funds for inmate rehab, it agreed to a partnership with the Florida State University School of Criminology, which will conduct a long-term efficacy study of the program. “I’m a trust-and-verify kind of guy,” Adkinson said. “I don’t want to run out and spend a bunch of money on something that doesn’t work. I need to be willing to change and adapt.” The efficacy study, he said, will be the first of its kind in the country. He said he appreciated the Triumph’s board openness to new ideas and its preparedness to ask tough questions. And he is grateful for his office’s relationship with NWFSC. “NWFSC by moving forward to work with us gives us the opportunity to have a preeminent public safety training center,” Adkinson said. “And, at the end of the day, citizens of Walton and surrounding counties will benefit.” Dr. Michael Erny, the dean of career education at NWFSC, summarized a joint use agreement between the school and the Sheriff’s Office. 850 Business Magazine

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Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson discussed a joint effort by his office and Northwest Florida State College to create what he believes will be the finest public safety program in the state. NWFSC president Dr. Devin Stephenson looked on.

The school’s Law Enforcement Program is entitled to use of the firing range and driving pad at the sheriff’s campus. Students attend the college campus facility for classwork and activities and complete firearms training and vehicle operations training at the Walton County Sheriff’s facility. Students in the Firefighter Program report to the college campus for classroom activities and meet at the burn tower located at the Walton County Sheriff’s Office for hands-on 54

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training activities. The Walton County Sheriff’s department can use the tower for continuing education and skills training for its employees. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the Walton Works Training Center of Excellence in February. In his remarks at the event, NWFSC president Stephenson made a point of noting the success of a student who obtained a welding certification at the school and immediately thereafter went to work making $38 an hour.

It was the applause line of the night. The center, Stephenson said, “is all about taking people where they are and bringing them to a higher standard of living so that they can comfortably sustain and raise their families.” To do so, the school will closely align center curricula and programs with the needs of area employers. The project was funded substantially with a $2.7 million Triumph award. NWFSC, Stephenson said, has been awarded a total of $ı0 million in Triumph funds, more than any other school in the region. Looking about the Walton Works building, located next to the NWFSC Chautauqua Center, Stephenson said, “This is a dream and a vision that has been brought to reality.” It will succeed, he said, on the strength of partnerships with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, the Walton County Board of Commissioners, CareerSource and others. “We can bolster community education by working together,” Stephenson said. “I don’t care who gets the credit just so long as we make a difference.” As a condition of the Triumph funding award, NWFSC entered into a contract with Triumph Gulf Coast whereby it pledged that students will obtain ı,570 industry-certified credentials within five years. Via established career education programs, some 300 students, including the welding student that Stephenson singled out, already had secured credentials in February. “We’re on track to meet our goal,” Stephenson said. The center offers cybersecurity, welding, paramedic, EMT, firefighter, law enforcement, building construction, plumbing, carpentry and HVAC programs. Lori Kelley, a Freeport native and chair of the college’s board of trustees, saluted the efforts of NWFSC faculty and staff and their “laser focus on career education to meet industry needs.” The center’s impact, she said, will be “transformational.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE

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kaloosa Technical College has been around since 1975 under many different names and missions. Today, Okaloosa Technical College is proud to serve the citizens of Okaloosa County by offering career and technical education to positively impact the workforce of Okaloosa County and the state of Florida. Since Gov. Ron DeSantis shared his goal of making Florida No. 1 in the nation in technical education by 2030, Okaloosa Technical College has stepped up to board that train. Surrounded by military, defense contractors and businesses that thrive in Northwest Florida because of technical training and education, Okaloosa Technical College looks to attract those who want to truly make a difference in their communities and their careers. OKALOOSA TECHNICAL COLLEGE

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Offering courses in practical nursing, technology support services, cybersecurity, welding, automotive technology, air conditioning, heating and ventilation (HVAC), electrician, solar photovoltaic, marine engine technology, cosmetology, professional culinary arts, carpentry, and building trades and construction technology, Okaloosa Technical College is hands-on, face-to-face and critical in building and maintaining an essential workforce. Okaloosa Technical College is open to offering programs geared toward specific industries. They are always looking for ways to aid an industry in helping its own workforce. Partnering with OTC, an industry can boost employee morale and skills. Okaloosa Technical College has a place for every student, whether serving

the area’s veteran population with new transition options and extended education, or presenting dual-enrolled high school students with better opportunities as they walk across the graduation stage. “I get excited about the possibilities at OTC. With the state pushing us and our district supporting us, I know that we can have a tremendous impact in Okaloosa County,” said OTC Director Kelly Hayes. “People tell us all the time that they didn’t even know we are here, so we want you all to know — we are here, and we want you to share the word that we are here. Whether you are looking to ‘upskill or reskill,’ or whether this is your first step into any career area, we are a smart choice. OTC offers an individualized, studentcentered atmosphere where your story will be heard and the administration knows who you are.”

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Hot Properties Growth along Emerald Coast has exceeded developer’s vision BY STEVE BORNHOFT

he genius of the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, as a place to live or to visit, is its completeness. There is so much by way of recreational activity, eateries, shopping and other conveniences on or in close proximity to the property that a guest may feel little need to depart the resort in the course of a stay. That concept is no less appealing than it was when Peter Bos undertook the creation of Sandestin in ı979. To the contrary, it is surely even more desirable given the intensity and the density of visitation and development and the resulting traffic congestion along the Emerald Coast today. The region can feel good about some of the reasons for its popularity. “Our area of Florida in particular has gotten a lot of good publicity because it is generally a friendly area,” Bos said. “It’s a God-fearing, churchgoing and welcoming place versus other parts of the country.” COVID-ı9 notwithstanding, Bos’ opinions about the region’s growth potential and anticipated trajectory have not changed. “I have been working here since ı972 and I anticipated the area’s growth, but I will tell you that it has accelerated at an amazing rate, outstripping the available labor resource,” Bos said. “The cost of supplies is going up everywhere, but here labor, especially, is in extremely short supply. The results of that include price increases and long lines. The labor supply may catch up, but right now we are experiencing extremely rapid growth.”

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More working people would move to the Emerald Coast, Bos said, but there are few affordable places for them to live. Bos, who made time for an interview while driving to his next appointment, took note of the license plate in front of him in traffic. “I’m looking at a Massachusetts car,” he said. “A lot of people who have never been here before are literally driving the coast of Florida looking for a place to live. If they are interested in the northern Gulf coast, they may start in Pensacola and head east to Panama City or beyond.” Bos resides in Destin and is satisfied that, for him, there could be no better place to be. But he recognizes that it has “several unique problems” along with its spectacular natural assets, the Gulf of Mexico chief among them. “It’s an isthmus, a very narrow one between the Choctawhatchee Bay and the Gulf,” Bos said. “Most communities can grow with a series of parallel roads. We can’t. We have one road — Highway 98. The highway has been improved and it is under construction, but traffic over the bridge in Fort Walton reached capacity in ı986 and it is basically carrying twice what it should be carrying. And, so, we are facing massive traffic jams.” Development has accelerated, too, in the interior of the Florida Panhandle. “Crestview is the second-fastestgrowing city in the state, and it is growing despite the fact that to get there, people have to fight their way through an hourglass of an exchange

with I-ı0,” Bos said. “Every morning, it takes an hour-plus just to get through that intersection.” State Road 85 is the only highway running north from the coast to Crestview. “That’s because the entire area south of Crestview is Eglin Air Force Base, and the reservation cannot be chopped up into pieces with roads because that would destroy their mission,” Bos noted. “Eglin caused the interstate to be located way far north from the coast and limits possibilities for north-south connectors.” Photography by JOHN HARRINGTON

Destin businessman Peter Bos’ varied interests include boat sales and boat storage facility development and operations.

But, said Bos, Crestview nonetheless serves as a bedroom community with relatively affordable housing. And it is located in a portion of Okaloosa County that is home to 95% of the remaining developable — and not previously developed — land in the county. Once northern Okaloosa County is more fully made ready, Bos said, he expects that it will become home to employers offering high-tech, highwage jobs in fields including aircraft repair and maintenance, even auto manufacturing. “Everybody loves to live here, and

there is a huge pool of highly trained military personnel who are retiring and want to stay here or to move here and start their second careers,” Bos said. “But right now, the county is trapped until it can arrive at another northsouth road over or under I-ı0.” Circumstances in Walton County are markedly different. “It is not bifurcated by an Air Force base,” Bos said. “They have four-laned U.S. Highway 33ı and they receive a lot of attention because, 40 years ago, they switched to limited-height development and a New Urbanism

concept,” which characterizes South Walton county, an area known more familiarly as “30A.” Bos is amused and slightly amazed that one of the toniest communities in North Florida is named after a county road. He is substantially amazed that prices in South Walton have reached $4,000 a square foot for homes, many of them second homes, on or near the Gulf beach. “It’s staggering,” Bos said of home prices. “We have seen a 35% price increase in the last ı2 months.” As an aside, he noted that lots of those 850 Business Magazine

SUMMER 2021

Okaloosa/Walton County Business Journal SPEC I A L R EPORT

second homes are becoming primary residences as more people are coming to have the option of working remotely and living anywhere in the country. “We are going to become far less seasonal, far more year-round and that is good for business,” Bos said. “We used to have two, three months a year when we lost money. It’s hard to build a community when people have to give up their jobs for multiple months a year.” The property tax revenue associated with the real estate boom is enabling Walton County to stay ahead of the need for schools and public services. “But what they don’t have is enough roads,” Bos said. “They have no mass transit, no delivery system to the beach. You are limited to your own two feet or a bicycle and a basket. Still, it has a national reputation, and it is continuing to move.” So, where does the Emerald Coast go from here? “We’re going to have more traffic jams,” Bos said with certainty. “That’s unavoidable.” For a place like wellappointed Sandestin that goes from bay to beach, that won’t necessarily be a problem, but “properties that have no amenities of their own and you have to get in your car to do everything, that is going to be frustrating for people.” As a result, Bos predicts, smaller properties will be consolidated and there will be more “fully contained” resorts, “and they will fare best over the long haul.”

Eggs in various baskets “We’re in the hotel business, the shopping center business, marinas and boating,” Bos ran down an incomplete list of his enterprises that also includes consulting, homebuilding and senior living. “Boating and marinas are probably the two best industries you can be in. And RVs, they are doing well.” Bos is up to 79 boat dealerships in ı4 states carrying 72 brands of boats. His Legendary Marine merged with Singleton Marine six years ago to become a billiondollar company, OneWater Marine. 60

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Peter Bos promotes boating as an activity that brings families closer together. “To look at the water is one thing,” he says, “but to be on the water is better.” At age 74, Bos has a large-scale, mixeduse development on the drawing board.

Building upon the success of the Legendary Marina and dry boat storage in Destin, Bos is underway building four more such facilities in Gulf Shores, Alabama; Stuart, Florida; and two in the Bahamas. The islands, Bos said, will benefit as more people move to Florida and buy big boats capable of easily making trips there. “The only place you can be with your grandchildren, your children and your children’s friends and have a chance to get to know them all is in a boat,” Bos said in accounting for the exploding popularity of boating. “Because nobody can leave. There is nothing more family oriented than boating — and to look at the water is one thing, but to get on the water is much better.” There is plenty of room aboard Bos’ pride and joy, a ı20-foot North Coast yacht that he keeps docked in Jupiter

so he can run back and forth to the Bahamas easily. But what of that fully contained resort concept that Bos helped pioneer in the ı970s? Might he take a second run at it? “I have another destination concept in mind,” Bos said. “It will be a major attraction for the Destin area.” He will not be content to see the area become a retirement community. “Look at what happened to Fort Lauderdale. And Clearwater. What keeps our area vibrant is its tourism,” Bos said. “And you have to keep moving forward and upgrading. We are going to bring a new residential environment and tourist attraction that will be very, very well received by everybody.” Bos is 74 and feeling fine. “I look my age, but I don’t think I act it,” he said. “I’ve got more going on now than I have had in my entire life. I feel like a whirling dervish.” Photography by JOHN HARRINGTON

Guy Harvey’s

at Tropic Star Lodge

Twenty-five anglers each trip will have the opportunity to join Guy and Jessica Harvey on a 5 day/5 night VIP experience at the world-famous Tropic Star Lodge in Piñas Bay, Panama.

Proceeds from the events will go to the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation to support its marine conservation and research initiatives. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization, meaning that the cost of participation in the adventure will be tax deductible to you.

Total Cost: $9,800 ■

■

■ ■

■

Five day/five night all-inclusive stay at Tropic Star Lodge. Five people each day will fish with Guy Harvey.

Four people each day will fish with Jessica Harvey and with a scientist from Guy Harvey Enterprises.

Additional fishing days will be standard trips on a Tropic Star boat with captain and a mate.

A personalized Guy Harvey print for each angler. Welcome bag with Guy Harvey Tropic Star clothing and souvenir items.

Lifetime subscription to Guy Harvey Magazine.

Lifetime membership in the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation Hammerhead Club.

Private dinners each night with Guy, Jessica Harvey and a scientist from Guy Harvey Enterprises.

■ ■

■ ■ ■

■

Two drinks per day and wine at dinner.

Personalized 30-minute video of your adventure.

Breakfast/lunch and happy hour snacks.

Lodging at Tropic Star, double occupancy.

During the week, Guy will paint an original piece to be auctioned off on the last night. Two private “arrival” and “departure” cocktail parties at Tropic Star’s mountaintop Palace. Round trip air charter from Panama City to Piñas Bay.

Ground transportation from airport to hotel and domestic/international airport.

VIP greeting by Tropic Star representative as you depart your flight and personal support while going through customs. While waiting for transfer, admission to airport VIP lounge pending COVID restrictions.

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EMERALD COAST CORRIDOR

SUMMER 2021

Coastal Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa + Walton Counties

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Photography by JOHN HARRINGTON

ARTISANS At left, Ivo Alcala and Summer Sevi, both artists, combined to launch Alla Prima Coffee with an assist from the gBETA business accelerator program in Pensacola. Texas native Jonathan Kretz, who recently moved to Pensacola, runs the program. Here, he sips an Alla Prima brew.

A Place to Grow Accelerator program prepares emerging businesses for investor meetings By David Ekrut, Ph.D.

ccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 percent of businesses survive less than two years, and 45 percent close their doors within five years of opening. Those failure rates are lessened, however, when fledgling businesses and growing startups benefit from accelerator programs that school entrepreneurs in the proper steps to market and sell their products and services. gBETA is a program offered by the nationally recognized accelerator program, gener8tor, which has invested in 54 companies with a combined capital investment of over $ı20 million in follow-on financing. Gener8tor is active in cities across the United States and parts of Canada and has chapters as far away as Puerto Rico and St. Thomas. In 2020, gBETA expanded its program to Pensacola, soon after D.C. Reeves became the

chief entrepreneurial officer for the Studer Community Institute. “My first job was to scour the country and find best practices of people who are optimizing their entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Reeves. “We were attracted to gBETA because we wanted local companies and those in

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EMERALD COAST CORRIDOR

NAILING IT DeSheri McClure updates Jonathan Kretz on the progress of her business, DESHI, a provider of nail and skincare products and treatments. McClure’s business was one of five chosen to participate in last year’s gBETA cohort.

surrounding areas to have an opportunity to really accelerate themselves through a program that didn’t exist in our community before. They had such a sterling reputation with a large investor pool and a plethora of knowledge within the entire national organization that could be helpful to folks that go through our program.” Though sponsored by the Studer Institute, the Pensacola gBETA program is run by Jonathan Kretz. A native of Texas and graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington, Kretz relocated to Pensacola after the pandemic hit and his own business slowed and now helps other businesses to achieve success. For each cohort, gBETA Pensacola selects five businesses out of 40–50 applicants to sponsor in its seven-week program. Last year’s cohort included a wide range of businesses. Argo offers cutting-edge cybersecurity services. DESHI provides modern nail and skincare products and treatments. National Energy works with clean energy solutions. QuNav designs global positioning

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technologies with applications useful to the automotive industry and military-grade autonomous aerial vehicles. Shipshape Urban Farms squeezes 3.4 acres of hydroponic crops into a shipping container for a safer, fresher, more cost-effective food source. The initial round for selection is simple. “First push is keep it local,” Kretz said. The goal is to develop Northwest Florida into a hub of innovation, technology and entrepreneurship, so they narrowed the search to Pensacola and the surrounding region. The second part of the vetting process considers the scalability and growth potential for businesses. Kretz admits that choosing the final five is a challenge. It’s not as if the businesses that are not selected don’t have great ideas. “Mostly, they are not quite ready for gBETA,” Kretz said. Either their product or service is not ready to scale or they are in too early of a stage in the process of development, but Kretz sees it as a “big win” for the program that four out

of the five members of the 202ı cohort are applicants from the previous year. The program finds that repeated applications “show the resilience of a founder, failing forward, and getting back up and trying again.” Among businesses in the 202ı cohort, RCI Health Metrics has created an automated system used by nurses to more closely monitor patients’ pain levels based on a distress index. Rainey’s Closet makes rental formalwear for children available at affordable prices. Eduocity is a company specializing in micro-content curriculum to aid teachers in e-delivery systems in urban communities. Alla Prima coffee was founded by two artists who offer a top-tier coffee experience, combining their passion for the arts with premium coffee. Since their next cohort is still going to be virtual, gBETA Pensacola has recruited

Photography by JOHN HARRINGTON

NICE DUDS Erica Richards’ business, Rainey’s

Closet, is dedicated to making children’s formalwear available at affordable prices. Richards is a gBETA business accelerator alumna. The program pairs participants with entrepreneurs and business executives who relate to their growth goals.

a company from Orlando for their fifth founder, called Assist, who will make Pensacola their launch point. Assist is building Oddjobs, an app designed to connect workers with people seeking help with small-scale tasks from pulling weeds to painting a fence. Users employ the app to negotiate price and timing. Over a seven-week period, these companies will learn techniques in scalability, but the focus of the program, Kretz said, “is to show the key aspects of what an investor will want to see” in each of these businesses. After a morning of introductions, the program is kicked off with the daily “lunch and learn.” “We try to help our founders understand that there’s actually a minimalism that is required in the investor world,” Kretz said. “The lunch and learn will be on a very specific topic that is a support session that will

help them build out their executive summary.” This two-page report is arrived at in four to five weeks and is designed to provide prospective investors with a succinct introduction to a company. The process of building out the executive summary is different for each company. For a tech-based business such as Assist, Kretz and his team put in place a large goal such as “by the time they get to launch their MVP (minimal viable product) or their beta launch, we will have 500 users signed up. And then we’ll make it more bite-sized than that. We’ll say, how many users does that mean a week?” Founders track the growth of their businesses, actively work the network they are building and find mentors within the gBETA program to help them achieve their larger goal. To aid founders in building out their summaries, each business owner is paired with

mentors through a speed networking session. Every Thursday, founders will spend ı5–20 minutes with each mentor — everyone from entrepreneurs and CEOs to communityresource executives — finding partners with expertise compatible to their growth goals. After completing the executive summary phase, the focus in Weeks 5 and 6 is on developing a five-minute pitch deck. Each pitch is honed to be ready for Week 7, when founders “are put into the fire,” Kretz said. Founders use what they’ve learned to pitch their businesses to investors; each founder gets a minimum of 25 investor meetings. After this, they become alumni of gBETA, and the rest is up to them. Kretz and his team are also working to introduce a gALPHA program to give companies not quite ready for gBETA a place to grow.

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I-10 CORRIDOR

Gadsden, Leon Counties Northern Escambia, Santa Rosa,Jefferson, Okaloosa +&Walton Counties and Holmes, Washington, Calhoun, Jackson + Liberty Counties

More to Come? Officials hopeful that Amazon will add more operations in Marianna By Hannah Burke

he four Amazon shipping containers stationed at 3529 Russell Road in Marianna may not look like much, but they are significantly expediting e-commerce in Jackson County. The site is one of hundreds of Amazon last-mile delivery centers that are popping up around the country and has resulted in about ı5 new jobs locally. Last year, Amazon announced plans to establish ı,000 delivery hubs in cities and subdivisions across the U.S. Last-mile delivery centers, as described by the e-commerce giant, receive customer orders, sort them and load them into trucks for delivery. According to Zach Gilmore, the Director of Business Development at the Jackson County Economic Development Committee (Jackson EDC), the Marianna facility launched this February and works to ensure that the Amazon Prime service’s two-day delivery promise is fulfilled. “Obviously, Amazon has been overwhelmed from COVID,” said Gilmore. “With so many more people shopping from home, they’ve struggled to be consistent with twoday delivery. But, because of these centers, everything is going back to form.” Gilmore said Jackson County was already on Amazon’s radar. The e-commerce giant

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tasked local economic development teams with scouting potential sites as early as March 2020. The nearly 20-acre Russell Road parcel proved ideal in that it already was home to a 30,000-square-foot office building that Amazon currently leases. However, it is Gilmore’s hope that this space will eventually function as a distribution warehouse. “Right now, Amazon is testing a pilot program from those four shipping containers to see if similar setups will work in other locations,” Gilmore said. “The building is there in case the pilot program falls through, or if they outgrow what they’re doing now. We hope it evolves to where they distribute more packages from this location and can move into that building.”

Gilmore hears the program is thriving. The Marianna center already handles around ı,200 packages a day, and thanks to Amazon’s Last Mile tech team, Jackson County customers can monitor orders from the moment they are placed to delivery. According to Amazon’s website, new package-tracking technology uses “solutions from machine learning and operations research-based routing and planning algorithms, our in-house maps and navigation platform, IT and hardware innovations, doorstep delivery experience and the consumer-grade native mobile apps that bring all these experiences together.” Say you live in Sneads and order some home supplies on Tuesday. Upon confirming your order, Amazon will now assign

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AMAZON.COM

The business of fulfilling Amazon’s delivery promises requires tens of thousands of employees and innumerable facilities worldwide. Amazon has begun to supplement large distribution centers like the one pictured here with last-mile delivery centers, including one in Marianna.

your package a delivery window via the Amazon app. It may say your Windex will arrive between ı0 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Thursday. You’ll know as soon as your order arrives in Marianna and is sorted, loaded and out for delivery. You’ll even know how many stops remain before it reaches your doorstep. Tiffany Garling, the interim executive director for the Jackson EDC, said Amazon enlists local drivers who utilize their personal vehicles and that they, too, rely on the latest Amazon technology to execute deliveries. “Drivers use an app similar to Uber which tells them when to pick up packages from Marianna and which stops to make,” Garling said. “From what I’ve seen, drivers are also taking pictures of where they leave the

packages that then get sent to the customer. Customers can then leave feedback and let Amazon know how things went on the consumer side of things.” Attracting an international company is a great stride toward recovery for rural Jackson County, which was devastated by Hurricane Michael in 20ı8. On top of creating more jobs, Gilmore said, landing Amazon further solidifies the area as a distribution and logistics hub. “More companies are coming for site visits now than they have in the last decade, and I think that has to do with the change in the way people are doing business,” Gilmore said. “People are looking to expand their markets, and our location is ideal. I-ı0 runs straight through us, and we also have U.S. 23ı

that goes south to Panama City Beach and all the way up north to Chicago.” This April, Cowan Systems LLC, a Baltimorebased transportation and logistics company, announced plans to develop a new terminal at the Marianna Airport Commerce Park. Cowan plans to initially hire 50 drivers and office workers and told Jackson EDC officials that they expect to have ı00 drivers on the road in a year. And, Jackson County is ready for more. Gilmore said the county is looking to capitalize on their shovel-ready sites and eager workforce. He said the county’s elected officials and city managers are committed to attracting new business in any way practical. In Amazon’s case, the groundwork for expansion has already been laid. “We’re going to continue to maintain and further our relationship with Amazon and work with them in any way possible to make sure they’re happy with the service they get from the county,” said Gilmore. “We want to help them see what kind of talent we have here and show them, should they expand, we have the people to fulfill the positions.”

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SUMMER 2021

PROMOTION

Touch People with Your Story

or fundraising entities, including the Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation in Pensacola, annual reports are a key communication piece. They are a means by which foundations stay in contact with their contributors, recognize donors and report the impacts that their generosity has had on the betterment of a community. When effectively designed and written, the annual report can serve to stimulate additional gifts from the established and prospective donors who receive it. In 2018, Carol Carlan, the president of the Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation, contacted a trusted partner, Rowland Publishing, seeking assistance with freshening and enhancing the report. At that point, the relationship between RPI and the foundation was well established. Since 2016, the foundation’s “Stories from the Heart” has been a regular part of Emerald Coast Magazine. Carlan knew that RPI is a highly experienced provider of consulting and editorial services, print vendor

and project management, and publication design. The foundation’s role is a critical one in the life of the hospital it serves. As a not-for-profit organization, Ascension Sacred Heart relies upon donations from compassionate people who share its vision of ensuring that no one goes without quality patient care and lifesaving treatment. The 2021 campaign of the foundation will benefit the Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart, which supplies families from Pascagoula, Mississippi, to Port St. Joe with the finest medical services possible in areas including prenatal and neonatal care, pediatric cancer care, pediatric internal medicine and many more. The professional contributions made by RPI to the annual report have worked as intended. In the years since RPI got involved in improving the report, it has generated more than $500,000 in new donations that have saved lives and improved the health of the region.

» DO YOU NEED HELP WITH A CUSTOM PUBLISHING PROJECT?

Contact us today to learn how Rowland Publishing can help make your upcoming project a success. For more information, visit RowlandPublishing.com.

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I have had the pleasure of working with the Rowland Publishing team for five years. They have exceeded our expectations in their professionalism and the quality of their work. Our foundation can identify direct contributions exceeding a half-million dollars that resulted from RPI’s work. We are proud to be affiliated with their incredible organization. — CAROL CARLAN, PRESIDENT, ASCENSION SACRED HEART

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SUMMER 2021

P RO M OT I O N

DEAL ESTATE Just Listed

Class A Office/Medical Space For Lease BECK PARTNERS IS PLEASED TO PRESENT 50ı6 Grande Drive — a Class A, two-story medical/office building strategically located near Sacred Heart Hospital, Cordova Mall and Pensacola International Airport. The property consists of approximately ı2,305 square feet and offers prospective tenants maximum flexibility in their designs. The space is in shell condition, which will allow tenants the opportunity to customize the space to fit their needs. Aggressive tenant improvement packages are available for qualified tenants, and quoted rental rates are very affordable. The building will also offer prospective tenants the opportunity to use a large, common conference center for meetings; there is also a rooftop terrace for networking events, company gatherings and social events. The building sits in close proximity to numerous hotels, restaurants, shopping venues and various other commercial uses. The site provides abundant accessible parking. This location would be ideal for any medical or office tenant. Construction was estimated to be complete by the end of April 202ı.

LISTED PRICE: Leased at $19.50 per 22.50 square feet ADDRESS: 5016 Grande Drive, Pensacola SQUARE FOOTAGE: 12,305 YEAR BUILT: 2021

APPEAL: Brand new construction located in the medical hotbed near Sacred Heart Hospital. Affordable rents with above-market tenant allowances are available for qualified tenants. CONTACT INFORMATION: Thomas McVoy, (850) 270-0588 and Stacy Taylor, (850) 972-0156 70

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RENDERINGS COURTESY OF BECK PARTNERS

FEATURES: Premier office/ medical space in the Cordova corridor; parking is four per 1,000; close proximity to I-110, Sacred Heart and Pensacola International Airport.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR 8TH ANNUAL PINNACLE AWARDS CEREMONY

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PINNACLE AWARD RECIPIENTS and hear from keynote speaker and past Pinnacle Award recipient, Marjorie Turnbull. To see the full list of 2021 Pinnacle Award recipients and learn more about this year's program, visit 850businessmagazine.com/ pinnacle-awards.

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