850 Business Magazine Summer 2022

850 VOLUME 14 NUMBER 4

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY CONQUERS CHALLENGES

REHABBING DISTRESSED PROPERTIES

Full STEAM Ahead

+

LITTLE’S LUNCHES

Santa Rosa County’s Karen Barber envisions bright futures for students

+

DON SALTER

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ST. JOE RESTORES AREA LANDS WITH NATIVE PLANTS JENNIFER CONOLEY’S PIPELINE IS FULL

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SUMMER 2022

FEATURES

CONTENTS

→ 30 INDUSTRY FOCUS

PHOTO BY DAVE BARFIELD (30)

As endemic to Florida as tourism, itself, are the food and beverage and hospitality industries. At 850 Business Magazine, we checked in with industry stakeholders and leaders to talk about how those businesses are doing in the face of a lingering pandemic and challenges, including a worker shortage and inflation, particularly as it has affected costs to travel.

Restaurateurs and Susie McKinley, the editor of Florida Restaurant & Lodging Magazine, provide insights.

We touch base, too, with recent graduates of Florida State University’s tourism and hospitality program and discover that they are proud to be a part of what is now increasingly regarded as a profession. stories by ROCHELLE KOFF, AL KRULICK, EMMA WITMER and HANNAH BURKE

ON THE COVER: Dr. Karen Barber, the superintendent of schools in Santa Rosa County, emphasizes the role that primary and secondary schools play in providing workplaces and industries with the employees of the future. Santa Rosa schools offer numerous magnet programs related to occupational fields.

PHOTO BY MATTHEW COUGHLIN

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 5

CONTENTS

SUMMER 2022

21

ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION

For generations, trees planted on St. Joe Company lands were destined ultimately for paper mills. Today, the company remains significantly engaged in silviculture, but its foresters are now also involved in working to restore lands set aside as mitigation banks to the kind of condition they were in early in the 20th century. That means ridding these areas of invasive plant species and replacing them with longleaf pine and native grasses.

To the extent that St. Joe succeeds at that, the company earns development credits that it may retain for its own use or sell to other developers.

24

DISTRESSED ASSETS

The Edgewater Group, headquartered in Pennsylvania, specializes in acquiring and enhancing distressed businesses and properties so as to make them profitable or saleable. The company chooses to focus on small-to-midsize markets where they can have meaningful impacts not just on the assets they turn around, but on communities as a whole. Increasingly, Edgewater has discovered a liking for the Southeast, so much so that it has now established an office in Tallahassee.

Periscope

51

EDUCATION

Across Florida, schools, especially community colleges, technical schools and branch campuses of major universities, are working to align their course offerings with the present and anticipated needs of employers in their service areas. In Santa Rosa County, where Dr. Karen Barber serves as the superintendent of schools, that work starts early.

For years before she became her school district’s top official, she directed initiatives including a federally funded STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) program that she continues to promote. So it is that Santa Rosa County is home to a host of magnet programs related to entrepreneurship, cybersecurity and other areas expected to remain relevant for many years to come.

58

AVIATION Year after year, Don Salter worked toward the realization of a project that he was convinced would serve Santa Rosa County as a game-changer. Fellow county commissioners respected his aviation park idea, but funding to make it a reality proved elusive.

Finally, Salter and the county got the break they needed in the form of a grant award from

6 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

60 Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc. So it is that a calamitous oil spill brought about Whiting Aviation Park, a development that has been enhanced by a shared runway use agreement with the U.S. Navy.

60

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

A product of Gulf County who is inclined toward using analogies that involve fishing, Jennifer

In Every Issue

12 From the Publisher 16 N ews in Brief 74 T he Last Word from the Editor

PHOTOS BY MIKE FENDER (60) AND COURTESY OF ST. JOE COMPANY (21)

Pursuits

21

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850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 7

CONTENTS

SUMMER 2022

Conoley has risen steadily through the ranks of economic development professionals.

At one time, she worked with Neal Wade at the Bay County Economic Development Alliance.

She moved on to become an economic development specialist with Gulf Power Co. and today is the president and CEO of Florida’s Great Northwest. Working with county-level alliances, she is bringing Northwest Florida to the attention of the world.

DRIVING TRAFFIC

For Ken Wampler, the president of Newman-Dailey Resort Properties, the worlds of business and community service overlap. He joined the Newman-Dailey team in 2009 and took charge of association management and business development efforts. Always results-oriented, he has overseen successful start-up, turnaround, and high growth club and resort operations. Now, he is lending his expertise to the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council.

68

NUTRITION Students at four private schools in Walton County may not know how good they have it. With a focus on nutritional value, Chef Glenn Huggins, who trained at a Le Cordon Bleu school in Texas, prepares their lunches as part of Little’s Lunches, a business that he owns with his wife, Jennifer, who is a nutritionist in her own right. Together, they decided that rather than try to prevail on school bureaucracies to improve school menus, they would do the work themselves.

70

NEW URBANISM

Since its earliest days, Seaside has grown to depart markedly from the quiet, selfcontained mixture of people that its original architect Robert Davis envisioned after touring venerable villages in Europe. Still Thomas Cordi, the executive director of the Seaside Institute, hopes that the town will re-embrace concepts of New Urbanism. If that is to happen, he recognizes, it will be necessary to achieve a balance between concerns for tourism and the interests of residents.

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DEAL ESTATE

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WIZARDRY Technology solutions provider Bit-Wizards closely collaborates with its clients to address their unique problem or goal. While many companies provide one-sizefits-all solutions, Bit-Wizards tailors technology to the customer.

For 22 years, it has invested in employee satisfaction, industry education and client relationships, resulting in a trusted and highly regarded technology company.

44

FULL SERVICE

Complete, Inc., is a professional services firm that specializes in insurance claims appraisal, an alternative dispute resolution process and property damage forensics. It is made up of certified general contractors, floodplain managers, licensed insurance appraisers, engineers, thermographers and remote pilots.

No wonder they call it Complete.

8 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

42 45

THE PLACE TO MEET

Since it opened in 2021, Hotel Effie has become a go-to location for business retreats and meetings. Leave ordinary behind.

An event booking with Hotel Effie includes access to a conference service team, concierge team and audio/visual team. The teams see to lighting and sound, menus and every detail involved in a successful meeting.

46

BILL’S LATEST

William Loiry’s inaugural Northwest Florida Economic Summit, planned for October, will address areas including technology, biotechnology,

cybersecurity, military defense, distribution/logistics, energy and construction. In highly valuable matchmaking sessions, business leaders will meet one-on-one with public officials who award grants and contracts.

49

BUILDING BETTER

JM Phelps Construction specializes in small retail and light industrial projects. Justin Phelps and his team are part of the next generation of contractors, one that is innovative, enthusiastic, efficient and strongly customer-oriented.

Already, the St. Joe Company has added JM Phelps Construction to its short list of preferred contractors.

PHOTOS BY MODUS PHOTOGRAPHY (70) AND COURTESY OF BIT-WIZARDS (42)

64

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 9

Summer 2022

850 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA

Vol. 14, No. 4

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER BRIAN E. ROWLAND ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER MCKENZIE BURLEIGH EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE EDITOR Steve Bornhoft SENIOR STAFF WRITER Emma Witmer STAFF WRITER Hannah Burke CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rebecca Padgett Frett, Rochelle Koff, Al Krulick, Thomas J. Monigan

CREATIVE VICE PRESIDENT / PRODUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY Daniel Vitter CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jennifer Ekrut ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Lindsey Masterson SENIOR PUBLICATION DESIGNERS Sarah Burger, Saige, Roberts, Shruti Shah GRAPHIC DESIGNER Sierra Thomas CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Dave Barfield, Michael Booini, Steve Bornhoft, Matthew Coughlin, Mike Fender, Jennifer Hendrix, Modus Photography, Alicia Osborne, Saige Roberts, The Workmans

SALES, MARKETING & EVENTS SALES MANAGER, WESTERN DIVISION Rhonda Lynn Murray SALES MANAGER, EASTERN DIVISION Lori Magee Yeaton

COMING FALL 2022

850 MAGAZINE SPECIAL EDITION, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, EASTERN DIVISION Daniel Parisi DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, WESTERN DIVISION Dan Parker ADVERTISING SERVICES SPECIALIST Tracy Mulligan SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Julie Dorr ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Michelle Daugherty, Darla Harrison DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Zandra Wolfgram MARKETING MANAGER Javis Ogden SALES AND MARKETING WRITER Rebecca Padgett Frett ADMINISTRATIVE & CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALIST Renee Johnson

OPERATIONS CUSTOM PUBLISHING MANAGER Sara Goldfarb

Have a business in the Innovation and Technology industry in Northwest Florida?

Let us know what impact you are making in the region for an opportunity to be a part of this special edition.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE/ AD SERVICE COORDINATOR Sarah Coven PRODUCTION EDITOR Paige Aigret PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION SPECIALIST Melinda Lanigan STAFF BOOKKEEPER Amber Ridgeway

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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 Midtown Reader in Tallahassee and 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 2022 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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Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­ 2022 | 11

SUMMER 2022

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Get Renewed by Something New Treat yourself to a first-time experience

As we enter life’s fourth quarter, it can seem that one is running out of things to do for the first time. Recently, though, I was reminded that some of our most dramatic adventures can occur well after halftime.

12 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

fly fisherman who began by fishing streams and graduated to the seas, offered me a tutorial. I would have had an easier time absorbing Steve’s tips had I not been jacked up on adrenaline!

We arrived at Pacific Canyon, where cobalt blue waters are known to hold billfish. Steve was first up. Within 20 minutes, he hooked a sailfish that jumped and danced across the water.

I studied Steve as he coolly reeled in the magnificent fish. All of my senses were on high alert. My turn was next.

I made a few practice casts with the fly rod in an effort to at least approximate the rhythm and technique that Steve had displayed. The boat motored along at maybe six knots while dragging a half-dozen hookless teaser baits.

Without warning, a bill appeared among the baits, and pandemonium ensued. Three Spanish-speaking crew members screamed instructions I could not understand, while Steve offered advice that I had a hard time carrying out aboard our rocking vessel.

Twice, I had shots at sailfish that I failed to capitalize on, but Neptune smiled on me and gave me a third.

Sweet success! I hooked a sailfish of about 95 pounds, the onboard experts said. “Reel, reel, reel,” they encouraged me as the captain backed the boat down toward the fish, and I was showered with sea water kicked up by the transom.

It seemed that my heart was banging my eardrums, and I reeled as furiously as I could. Twenty minutes later, a mate grabbed the fish’s bill, photos were taken and the fish was released.

I enjoyed a great sense of accomplishment as high-fives were exchanged all around. At this point, I was content to collapse in a chair and attempt to relax — a person can take only so much. I had been reminded of the old Kung Fu series; Steve was the master, and I was a grasshopper.

One among the many lessons I learned was this: No matter your vocation, avocation or station in life, create time in which to experience something new. It’s a great restorative and motivator.

Keep it reel,

Brian Rowland

browland@rowlandpublishing.com

PHOTO BY THE WORKMANS

In April, I was honored to help host a fishing expedition in Guatemala along with Dr. Guy Harvey, his daughter Jessica, Steve Roden and Guy Harvey Magazine editor Fred Garth. We were joined by ı3 outdoors enthusiasts who were thrilled at the prospect of making multiple sailfish catches during each of our days on the water.

Participants included a couple in their 70s and two much younger men whose wives had treated them to spots on the trip as surprise birthday gifts.

Some 40 miles offshore, we saw dozens of sea turtles at the surface and countless dolphins chasing baitfish.

Those baitfish attract billfish, too, and the bite was on! Mates scrambled about the deck, assisting anglers who battled fatigue during bouts with billfish that lasted up to 30 minutes before the sails were brought to the side of the boat.

Dr. Guy Harvey is a highly successful businessman, a respected student of marine biology, an accomplished artist — and a heckuva angler. He was instrumental in pioneering ways to catch sailfish on a fly.

For our last day at sea, one of the boats was designated for fly fishing, and Fred asked me to jump on board and give it a try.

“Count me in,” I said, despite never having held a fly rod before.

Leaving shore, we ran for two hours during which Steve, a longtime

Fly TLH.

Because your time is better spent on the things that matter most.

Easily Accessible Parking | Free Wi-Fi | Shorter Lines Including TSA PreCheck Conveniently Located Concourses | Friendly Ser vice | Cell Phone Charging Stations TLHAirport.com 850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 13

850businessmagazine.com P RO M OT I O N

2022 PINNACLE AWARDS Thank you for your nominations.

We are thrilled to soon honor 12 outstanding women from an 18-county region for their stellar community service and professional successes.

To learn more details about the 9th annual Pinnacle Awards presented by 850 Business Magazine, visit 850BusinessMagazine.com/ pinnacle-awards.

850 BYTES & BEYOND Let’s get down to business. Now you can access the latest 850 Business “Bytes & Beyond,” including business openings, people on the move, job listings and more at 850BusinessMagazine.com/news.

EXCLUSIVE

ASK THE EXPERT The Wizard of Oz isn’t the only one in the know. Check out our digital exclusive, “Ask A Wizard,” to read answers to techy questions supplied by the wizzes at Bit-Wizards. Ask a question and be entered for a chance to win a free technical consultation or an ad in 850 Business Magazine. Go to 850BusinessMagazine.com/ innovation/ask-a-wizard

to learn more.

THE LATEST NEWS Stay up to date with local stories and news reports about local businesses, events and happenings.

DIGITAL EDITION On the go? Take us with you. View 850 issues present and past in a convenient digital book format at

850BusinessMagazine.com/ digital-edition.

CONNECT For the latest news and information, sign up for our free e-newsletter.

WIN ACCESS TO THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA ECONOMIC SUMMIT

One winner will receive two full registrations to the Northwest Florida Economic Summit on Oct. 17–18, 2022, at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center. If you are a business owner who is interested in securing infrastructure contracts or would like to be a part of matchmaking sessions that unite company representatives with decision-makers and industries that influence how infrastructure dollars are spent, this conference is for you. A winner will be selected on Aug. 31, 2022.

Enter by visiting 850BusinessMagazine.com/ win-two-registrations-to-the-northwest-florida-economic-summit.

14 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

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PHOTOS BY THE WORKMANS (TURNBULL) AND COURTESY OF WILLIAM LOIRY (NORTHWEST FLORIDA ECONOMIC SUMMIT) AND BIT-WIZARDS

Marjorie Turnbull, 2021 Keynote Speaker

Commercial Banking, Lending & Real Estate Services Stephen Stabler President, Walton County

Capital City Bank proudly brings to Walton County more than 125 years of specialized lending that supports growing businesses. Stephen Stabler is a banker who knows business, so ask how our loans for everything from essential equipment to commercial real estate can help your business meet its potential. Call Stephen today.

205.394.5032 ccbg.com/business Loans subject to credit and property approval.

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 15

NEWS IN BRIEF

SOUNDBYTES

CAPITAL LOCAL HAPPENINGS

» Capital City Bank recognized

↑ Crissie Anderson, center, and Mike Anderson, right, were recognized by the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship given their status as owners of two of the fastest-growing businesses in Florida. They were joined by partner Brandon Stricklin.

BAY // LOCAL HAPPENINGS

FLOORING COMPANIES MAKE PRESTIGIOUS FSU LIST

The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at the Florida State University College of

Business congratulated Crissie and Mike Anderson, the owners of two Miramar Beach companies that are among 2022 Seminole 100 honorees. The distinction is reserved for enterprises that are among the fastest-growing businesses in the state and are owned

by FSU alumni. “We are so honored to be selected for this award,” said Crissie Anderson, the owner of Floorzz, which was ranked No. 3 on the list of some of the most innovative and profitable businesses in Florida. Renovation Flooring, owned by Mike Anderson, ranked 66th. Mike graduated in 2003 from Florida State University Panama City with a bachelor’s degree in criminology/ criminal justice. He was one of the first FSU PC students to complete the school’s Underwater Crime Scene Investigation program. Crissie Anderson graduated in 2005 with a master’s degree in criminology. She and Mike met when both were taking underwater crime scene classes. Both credit FSU PC with teaching them critical thinking skills and how to work in a team environment.

“The Criminal Justice program at FSU led me to apply new ways of thinking to everyday problems, create modern solutions and strive to change industries to be more effective and efficient,” Crissie said.

Both Crissie and Mike believe that the adoption of core values is foundational to a successful business. For Floorzz and Renovation Flooring, those values include honesty, efficiency, integrity and generosity. “We value family and believe it drives our company’s success,” Crissie said. “We strive to make work a fun, enjoyable environment and encourage physical, spiritual and mental wellness among employees. One of the key values for us is education, so we continually educate ourselves in all aspects of our job and use it to improve the lives of our employees and customers.”

16 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

four members of its Tallahassee bank operations team who recently received officer promotions: Lee Ann Newton was promoted to transactional risk and fraud prevention officer, Cindy Rawls to vice president of online banking and support, Zeynep Solak to assistant vice president of project management and Beverly Spath to vice president of central document imaging. Newton joined the Capital City Bank team in 2019 after compiling 14 years of banking management experience. Newton implements the fraud detection, prevention and response function of the bank. Rawls is a long-tenured associate with more than 35 years of service with Capital City Bank. She oversees day-to-day operations for the Electronic Banking Services department.

Solak joined Capital City Bank in 2021. She directs a three-person team of in-house project managers. A Capital City associate since 2011, Spath has more than 35 years of experience serving in operations management roles at community banks throughout Florida. She directs all activities and standards related to document imaging and retention operations.

Additionally, Capital City Bank announced the promotions of

Daniel Petronio as corporate banking manager, Myles Bradley as specialty lending manager and Chris Wilson as treasury management and institutional banking manager. All three associates have regional management roles in the Corporate Banking division.

» Former Florida Chief Deputy Attorney General Patricia “Trish” Conners has joined the Tallahassee office of Stearns Weaver Miller as a shareholder in the Antitrust, Competition & Consumer Protection Group. Conners is a nationally renowned litigator and creative legal strategist with expertise in antitrust and competition law. For 36 years, she served seven attorneys general in various senior executive positions in the Florida Attorney General’s Office, including as chief deputy.

LOCAL HONORS

» Tallahassee

Community College

has been recognized as a Gold Award recipient in the Military Friendly Schools Awards program. Since 2003, Military Friendly Schools Awards have been given to colleges and universities that have leading practices, outcomes and effective programs specifically for student veterans.

Retention, graduation, job placement, repayment, persistence and loan default rates are all used to determine an institution’s

compiled by REBECCA PADGETT FRETT

veteran success rates.

Over 1,800 schools participated in the 2022–23 evaluation, and 665 schools earned awards designations in Gold, Silver and Bronze categories. Only 282 schools, including TCC, were selected for the Gold award status.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF EVGENIYA STETSENKO (FLOORING COMPANIES) AND INDIVIDUALS

» Local Dunkin’ franchise network Rajan Partners presented a $25,000 grant to a Tallahassee-based foundation, Hang Tough, to help fulfill their vision of building a community for families dealing with childhood illness or special needs.

The grant stems from Rajan Partners’ in-store fundraiser that took place in February. As part of the program, guests were invited to donate $1 to the Hang Tough Foundation at participating Dunkin’ restaurants throughout Tallahassee. The entire grant will go toward Hang Tough Foundation’s 10 programs and services that are provided at no cost to Hang Tough Hero families. » Achieving the Dream (ATD) has awarded Tallahassee

Community College

the prestigious Leah Meyer Austin Award, the highest distinction a college in the ATD network can earn. The award is bestowed to one college annually that employs a holistic approach to reducing equity gaps between student groups and increasing success for all. The award recognizes institutional strength, aligned policies and procedures, a studentfocused culture and notable increases in student outcomes.

This year’s award was accompanied by a $25,000 prize.

» Stearns Weaver Miller announced

that their government and administrative law practice has received a Tier 1 designation in the Tallahassee metropolitan from U.S. News – Best Lawyers in its Best Law Firms rankings for 2022.

Best Lawyers is one of the few legal ranking publications to rank the administrative/ regulatory practice area. The firm is one of less than 10 ranked Tier 1 in Tallahassee for administrative/ regulatory law and one

Santa Rosa Golf & Beach Club

of less than 20 in all of Florida. Additionally, group chair and shareholder Gigi Rollini, shareholder Glenn Burhans Jr. and shareholder Vinette Godelia were ranked in the Best Lawyers in America 2022 for administrative/ regulatory law.

construction and leasing of real property. She has extensive experience identifying and resolving title and title insurancerelated issues and advising clients in complex real estate transactions.

» Stearns Weaver Miller announced

NEW & NOTABLE

that Denay Brown has joined the firm’s Tallahassee office as a shareholder in the real estate department.

Denay routinely advises clients on the entire spectrum of real estate transactions, including acquisition, disposition, lending and financing,

EMERALD COAST The Santa Rosa Golf & Beach Club has announced that its membership is full.

While other experiences, including beachfront dining at Vue on 30A are still available, the golf club and beach club are now limited to members. The decision

to take the club private followed months of internal discussion, financial modeling and additional outside expertise. The change ensures that members have ready access to a beautifully redesigned golf course along with elevated service throughout the club.

LOCAL HAPPENINGS

» ASM Global,

a premier venue management and services company, has appointed Jeffrey Alan Sharp as general manager of the Saenger Theatre, located in Pensacola.

Sharp has associate degrees in aviation

CAPITAL // LOCAL HONORS

BEST PRACTICES APPLAUDED

Leon County recognized Proof Brewing Company with gold-level

status through the SustainaBiz program. SustainaBiz salutes local businesses for implementing sustainable practices in the areas of energy, water, waste management, community and staff involvement, and the local economy. Founded in 2012, Proof Brewing has made substantial efforts in implementing sustainable business practices, such as recycling 500,000 pounds of grain each year and donating it to local farmers who use it to feed their livestock. Beyond these efforts, Proof Brewing became the first craft brewer in Florida to use Earthly Lab’s CO2 recapture system, called CiCi, to recycle carbon produced during the brewing process.

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 17

flight technology and business management and a bachelor’s degree in human resources management from the University of West Florida.

Sharp is also a United States Army veteran of the Gulf War. His background also includes restaurant management and commercial building management. He started with the Saenger in 2015 as a part-time maintenance technician, was promoted to maintenance supervisor, then operations manager and ultimately general manager.

» For the second year in a row, the

Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine

SOUNDBYTES

provided local sports medicine coverage for the Sun Belt Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships held March 2–7 at the Pensacola Bay Center.

The continuum of care at the Andrews Institute utilizes the skills and training of surgeons, non-surgical sports medicine specialists, and physical, occupational and speech therapists at locations across Northwest Florida.

BAY LOCAL HAPPENINGS

» Visit Panama City Beach has announced

Publix Super Markets

compiled by REBECCA PADGETT FRETT

as the title sponsor of the outdoor fields facility at the Panama City Beach Sports Complex. With this partnership, the sports tourism and community recreation venue will be re-christened “Publix Sports Park” at Panama City Beach. Publix Sports Park is a $41 million, state-of-the-art facility that includes nine turf fields, four natural grass fields, dedicated tournament buildings, two championship fields with seating for up to 1,500 spectators and more than 1,000 parking spots. The complex hosts soccer, lacrosse, rugby, football, baseball, softball and other youth and elite amateur sporting events.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida

LOCAL HONORS

» As part of the Starbucks Foundation’s Neighborhood Grants program, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida (BBBSNWFL) was selected to receive a $2,000 grant. The

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award was thanks to a nomination made by a Starbucks employee who recognized the value of the work of BBBSNWFL. Funds from the grant will be used to support BBBSNWFL’s mentoring programs from Pensacola to Panama City.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF INDIVIDUALS

NEWS IN BRIEF

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850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 19

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FORESTRY

ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION

PURSUITS I N S P I R AT I O N + P E R S P I R AT I O N + M A N I F E S TAT I O N

PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. JOE COMPANY

Compensatory Restoration Mitigation banks benefit environment, enable development story by STEVE BORNHOFT

TURNAROUNDS / DISTRESSED PROPERTIES 850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 21

FORESTRY

ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION

A

s a personification of the American expression “Mutt and Jeff,” no pairing could be more spot-on than Tim Stuhr and Jeff Allan.

Stuhr is the shorter and more senior of the two and has been with the St. Joe Company for a total of 42 years.

He does the driving. The lanky Allan, more familiar with the workings of the company gas card, mans the pump when one in St. Joe’s fleet of uniformly white SUVs nears “E.” Both men relate to a traditional St. Joe activity: silviculture. Stuhr serves the company as its director of forestry, and Allan is a forester. While St. Joe is most frequently thought of these days as the developer of large resort and residential communities, it very much remains in the pine-tree growing business.

In a typical year, Stuhr said, St. Joe will reforest 3,000 acres of clear-cut land by planting 625 seedlings per acre.

“The Grove Collaborative Co. brags about planting a million trees across the country in a year,” Stuhr remarked.

“That ain’t nothin’. We do twice that, and we’re just a little company in North Florida.”

Allan, more than Stuhr, is involved in growing trees not intended for harvest.

That is, he helps oversee restoration work at St. Joe’s mitigation banks.

Today, I am riding shotgun, and Allan is wanting for legroom in the back seat as Stuhr steers us toward a gated and locked entrance to the 5,056-acre Breakfast Point mitigation bank. Presently, we head down a forest road, cross what Stuhr called a “female bridge” over Botheration Bayou and head toward West Bay. The mitigation area encompasses a peninsula, roughly the shape of lower Michigan, that juts northward into the bay.

The Breakfast Point mitigation bank comprises five project areas in different stages of restoration. The aim is to return set-aside ecosystems, including

22 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

↗ Controlled burns, including this one conducted at the St. Joe Company’s Breakfast Point Mitigation Bank, are an effective tool for ridding a land area of undesirable invasive plants.

“coastal flatwoods” and “cypress mixed forests,” to the condition they were in as of ı920. To the extent that they succeed that way, St. Joe earns development credits. Some ecosystems generate more points than others.

“There are several different scenarios, all of them governed by the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” Allan explained. “They have specific requirements related to plants, regeneration and elimination of invasive species.”

Prescribed burning is an effective tool in eliminating unwanted vegetation.

To a great extent, it provides Stuhr and environmental consultants retained by St. Joe a blank canvas to work with.

↑ St. Joe Company forester Jeff Allan

points out a longleaf pine seedling planted among native grasses. St. Joe, long a timber company, is now planting trees not intended for harvest.

MULTIPLE STRATEGIES

PHOTOS BY STEVE BORNHOFT (ALLAN) AND COURTESY OF ST. JOE COMPANY

→ The St. Joe

Regulators establish square-meter plots along a transit line and inspect them annually for progress.

“They look at grasses and other vegetation and make a list of what species are growing,” Allan said. “That’s how they monitor the progress of the mitigation bank.”

As a developer with abundant land, St. Joe is an obvious candidate for the mitigation program. It helps them obtain development orders — and it also is a source of revenue.

“We are doing a lot of development in the area, and we know that we are going to be impacting wetlands,” Stuhr said. “We had the land available to us to establish mitigation banks to help offset the impacts that we will have. So, we

decided to create one for our benefit and for the benefit of others.”

In fact, St. Joe has two Bay County mitigation banks — Breakfast Point, located along much of the south shore of West Bay, and the 3,036-acre Devil’s Swamp, which abuts Steelfield Road and straddles the Bay-Walton county line.

“The consultants and the agencies identify all the different ecosystems that are on a tract of land,” Stuhr said. “They assess the condition of an ecosystem, figure out what it should look like and develop the criteria that will be used to mark your progress toward restoring it to year-ı920 condition.”

The tour aboard the white SUV passed by areas that are awaiting restoration work and some where progress is obvious.

It’s out with the popcorn trees and torpedo grass and in with the wiregrass and longleaf pines.

“The agencies give you a certain number of credits for each type of ecosystem when you get it restored,” Stuhr said. “We may retain those credits ourselves or we may sell them to others who need them to get a project approved. Around here, you can hardly do any development without impacting wetlands.

“You’ve got to offset. You’re destroying that, but we are restoring this.” ▪

Company pursues two types of mitigation strategies.

Mitigation Banks St. Joe has two mitigation banks, Breakfast Point and Devil’s Swamp, totaling 8,092 acres. The owner of a mitigation bank gains credits from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for restoring ecosystems to criteria determined by the agencies. The credits may be sold to anyone developing property in the area that the mitigation bank influences. The value of the credits can vary greatly due to market forces.

Mitigation Areas St. Joe has two large mitigation areas totaling 10,298 acres and many small ones.

The big ones are the Topsail Hill MA and the Airport MA. Mitigation areas are generally managed and restored to mitigate for a specific project. Joe manages the Topsail MA for its projects in that area of Walton County. The Airport MA was set aside by St. Joe to mitigate impacts arising from the construction of the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport.

It is managed by the local airport authority.

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 23

TURNAROUNDS

DISTRESSED PROPERTIES

Property Resuscitation Edgewater Group adds values to properties story by STEVE BORNHOFT and EMMA WITMER

W

hen times are good, Apalachicola teems with visitors who choose the quaint village for family vacations, romantic getaways or as the staging area for fishing trips.

But when the real estate bubble burst in 2008, the local economy went from boom to bust. The river of robust real estate investment that Apalachicola had been attracting went dry. Meanwhile, Apalachicola Bay’s once productive oyster beds, which were scoured when it was feared that they would be smothered by oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, gagged for fresh water and struggled to make a comeback.

General manager Leigh Coble became the Water Street Hotel and Marina’s first employee when interests from Key West and Atlanta combined in 2007 to develop what were intended as 30 luxury condominiums. When the market crumbled, only five units sold. In 20ı2, the property was foreclosed against.

A year later, Robert Brier and Ketan Vora, co-founders of a multidisciplinary real estate firm, took an interest in the asset. For the two men, Water Street met the criteria they look for in an investment property that is down but not out and presents a strong upside.

Between 20ı3 and 20ı4, their Edgewater Group acquired two properties in Apalachicola: the Water Street Hotel & Marina and the Historic Coombs House Inn & Suites. At Water Street, they kept Coble, with her strong community connections, on board.

“Edgewater brought a lot of expertise and knowledge on how to run a hotel, and we needed it,” Coble remembered. “Ketan was amazed that we didn’t own any vacuum cleaners, but we just didn’t have the money.”

Brier and Vora sifted through financials and closely examined costs.

Once the Edgewater team succeeded in making Water Street profitable, they started to invest, first in the property and then in the broader community.

Edgewater brought a lot of expertise and knowledge on how to run a hotel, and we needed it. Ketan was amazed that we didn’t own any vacuum cleaners, but we just didn’t have the money.” — LEIGH COBLE, GENERAL MANAGER OF WATER STREET HOTEL 24 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ZIMMERMAN AGENCY

←↙ The Edgewater Group acquired two Apalachicola businesses — the Water Street Hotel & Marina (three photos) and the historic Coombs House & Suites (yellow building, lower photo) — and restored them to profitability.

Pennsylvania-based Edgewater focuses on properties in secondary and tertiary markets and has found the Southeast to its liking.

It has opened an office in Tallahassee.

“All of a sudden we were putting in new mattresses, TVs, sofas and furniture,” Coble said.

“We added a workout room, fixed up the pool and rolled on a new coat of paint. The Water Street finally looked like the luxury spot it was meant to be.”

At the community level, Edgewater and Water Street support and sponsor events.

“We try to give back to the community and focus on hiring local employees,” Coble said. “During hurricane Michael, we really saw the community come together. We had no power, but all of the restaurants donated food. So did we. We would all just head downtown and cook for anybody who needed it. After Michael, we felt like we needed to give more back and return a sense of play to children. So, we got together with some locals to sponsor a movie night with snow cones and popcorn. The whole community came out.”

In 20ı9, Water Street became the first hotel in Apalachicola to become part of Choice Hotels, a national franchise and booking service.

“Edgewater has helped us get Apalachicola out there,” Coble said.

“Before Edgewater, nobody here did online booking. Now, we get a lot of European customers, and everyone is doing it. They have really changed the hotel business in Apalachicola, and it has had a major impact on our community.”

Started in 2008, Edgewater was at first an advisory firm that might, for example, help a bank upgrade its REO (real estate owned property) to a salable condition. Edgewater personnel served as expert witnesses in state, federal and bankruptcy courts across several states and acted as a receiver of distressed properties.

In recent years, it has added a separate company focused on real estate investment.

“We are focused solely on incomeproducing real estate in secondary and tertiary markets — hospitality, neighborhood retail, multi-family housing, office and mixed use,” Vora said.

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 25

DISTRESSED PROPERTIES

The investment company employs what Vora called a “land and expand” strategy.

“We find a property worthy of investment, acquire the asset and keep it growing,” he said. “We like smaller markets because of the impact we can have on not just the investment, but communities and the people who live there. We are very active in our efforts to become part of the community.”

As evidence of that, Vora noted that the Edgewater-owned Wyvern Hotel in Punta Gorda, a part of the Ascend group of upscale hotels, received the Ascending Community Service Award last October. The hotel supports Back Pack Kidz, a charity dedicated to feeding hungry children.

“We have managed our growth internally on the advisory side,” Brier said. “On the real estate investment side, we have raised money from private investors in three different real estate funds that we manage for private equity firms.”

In addition, Edgewater, itself, is working to establish a $ı00 million equity fund that Vora said will be leveraged to acquire $250,000 to $300,000 in properties.

Established first in Pennsylvania, Edgewater now has an office in Tallahassee and is staffing up in anticipation of future growth.

“Our significant growth has occurred in the Southeast — Alabama, Florida and Georgia,” Brier said. “We

↑ In Tallahassee, the Edgewater Group has acquired an office park, a hotel and a multi-family

residential development that it expanded to include student housing. In addition, it acquired, rehabbed and sold for a large profit a small shopping center.

have a great base in Tallahassee that we are looking to expand upon.”

Already, Edgewater has 200 employees.

“We acquire, we own, we operate,” Vora said. “We are not what you would call financial re-engineers. We must be able to add value to the property. We must grow the top line as well as the bottom line.”

Emphasized Vora: “We reposition assets versus just flipping them.”

Vora said Edgewater found Tallahassee attractive due to its “economic diversity and stability from a risk-management perspective.”

Its activities in Tallahassee have included acquisition of an office park,

a hotel and a multi-family residential property that it expanded to include student housing.

Edgewater acquired the Valley Crossing Shopping Center near Tallahassee Community College when it was 50% occupied. When tenants saw Edgewater investing in the property, they became confident enough to make investments, themselves. A lawn mower repair business added a new mower showroom, and a hair business doubled its size.

The property was fully leased up when Edgewater sold it in June 202ı.

For a profit of $ı.35 million. ▪

We find a property worthy of investment, acquire the asset and keep it growing. We like smaller markets because of the impact we can have on not just the investment, but communities and the people who live there.” — ROBERT BRIER CO-FOUNDER OF EDGEWATER REAL ESTATE Robert Brier

Ketan Vora

26 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ZIMMERMAN AGENCY

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850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 27

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28 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF COUNTS REAL ESTATE

FEATURES: Repairs following Hurricane Michael include new roofs, rebuilt offices, new rollup doors, new LED lighting, replacement siding, new 6-foot chain-link fence, new sprinkler systems and alarm panels, new HVAC and more.

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 29

Come heavy winds, labor shortages, supply chain issues or the occasional global pandemic, the beef must go on. And the shrimp, the whole pompano, the blackened redfish, the chilled stone crab claws, the Oysters Rockefeller — the menu goes on. Florida’s fine restaurants make it possible for all of us, residents and visitors, to treat ourselves. Memorable meals become part of stories that are told and retold, stories that begin with, “Remember the time we ate at that Silver-Spoonaward-winning restaurant right on the water? The sunset was magnificent, and everything from the shrimp cocktails to the digestifs was perfect.” Such experiences are the product of top-notch ingredients, masterful preparation, exceptional services and, indispensably, the people whose hunger for delighting others is never fully satisfied.

30 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

RPI FILE PHOTOS BY SAIGE ROBERTS ( WINE) AND ALICIA OSBORNE (WAITER)

POURS & PORTIONS

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 31

POURS & PORTIONS

A Hasty Evolution

For restaurants, the pandemic has been a mother of invention story by ROCHELLE KOFF // photography by DAVE BARFIELD

adjust,” she said. “The industry has changed forever.”

In a recent edition of the magazine, McKinley featured technological advances with a cover story on the use of robots in the hospitality industry. Pictured below is a futuristic-looking robot at the Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa. The 4ı-inch robot, named Servi, was developed by the startup Bear Robotics, and it can handle tasks such as food running, drink serving and dish bussing. The idea is to alleviate some of the staff’s hard work, according to Bear Robotics co-founder and ↑ Florida Restaurant & Lodging COO Juan Higueros.

Magazine keeps industry stakeholders apprised of developments including Sergio’s Cuban restaurant in technological advances and relevant the Miami area utilizes a Servi votes by the Florida Legislature. robot that can carry trays of food and return dirty dishes to SERVI the kitchen. Human servers still

BY BEAR serve food to seated customers, but it cuts ROBOTS down on the physical demands of employees, a crucial issue now facing the industry.

The biggest challenges facing the hospitality industry are: “Workforce. Workforce.

Workforce,” said McKinley. “It was a challenge before, and now it’s in a critical crisis mode.”

Staff shortages are pervasive in hotels as well as restaurants.

On the bright side, so much technological innovation has come out.

The restaurant industry was never famous for its technological advances. They were just slow to move forward, but now things have totally changed.” — SUSAN MCKINLEY, EDITOR OF FLORIDA RESTAURANT & LODGING MAGAZINE

32 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEARROBOTICS.AI

S

ince the pandemic started, the restaurant industry has experienced more ups and downs than a kid on a seesaw.

Restaurateurs began adding takeout and curbside delivery, creating or expanding outdoor dining, offering cocktails to-go and even selling groceries — from toilet paper to top cuts of beef.

“It was tough, really tough,” said Susie McKinley, editor of Florida Restaurant & Lodging Magazine, the official publication of the FRLA, which is headquartered in Tallahassee. “We lost thousands of businesses, thousands of employees.”

The magazine is distributed quarterly and has a circulation of more than 38,000.

While restaurants are now booming, McKinley said, problems persist, among them labor shortages, supply chain disruptions and higher costs. Yet, she sees reason to be optimistic.

“On the bright side, so much technological innovation has come out,” said McKinley, also the director of research and marketing support for the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association. “The restaurant industry was never famous for its technological advances.

They were just slow to move forward, but now things have totally changed.

“I’ve heard that the industry has jumped five to seven to possibly ı0 years due to the pandemic and everything they’ve had to do to

↙ Susie McKinley, the editor of Florida Restaurant & Lodging Magazine, samples appetizers worth writing about at Mimi’s Table in Tallahassee.

At one time, she served as the director of the state Division of Hotels and Restaurants.

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 33

POURS & PORTIONS

Association, among other volunteer positions.

McKinley jumped over hurdles in the equestrian world. Now she and her coworkers are helping those working in the hospitality industry to do the same. As for more innovations to help smooth the way:

◾W orkforce gig hiring via an ↑

Hotels across Florida have struggled to fill front desk and other jobs, forcing management personnel to work various jobs.

“We have hotel general and regional managers going into hotels and making beds,” she said.

“I talked to one hotel in Pensacola, and the manager said, ‘I’m the only front desk person we have seven days a week.’ It’s crazy. Everyone I know is working harder.”

McKinley has been working hard for the industry for years.

She studied history as a student at Stetson University and is also a certified professional manager.

Married to Will McKinley and the mother of two children, McKinley has been with the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association for more than 20 years, joining the team headed by Carol Dover, the organization’s CEO and president, and Dan Murphy, senior vice president of membership and corporate relations.

“I love working with hotels and restaurants,” said McKinley, “It’s a great industry, people-oriented.”

She was formerly the Florida director of the Division of Hotels and Restaurants where she managed a staff of more than 300 and the regulation of restaurants and hotels across Florida. In her first stint at the division, McKinley started the inspector training program at

34 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

the division. In this role she was trained by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and became certified in fire safety training.

McKinley previously held management positions at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and was a partner in a Blockbuster Video franchise.

She’s a big animal lover, passionate about horses.

“My dad was an attorney and a judge, and we moved from Indian Harbour Beach to Orlando to this house with no one around,” said McKinley. “My dad thought it would be great to get my brother and me a pony. He joked it was the most expensive $ı00 he ever spent.”

McKinley immersed herself in the horse world. She showed horses throughout the country as a junior rider competing in various levels and later, after launching her career, resumed riding as an adult amateur.

McKinley still owns her own horses in Tallahassee, which she said “has a vibrant equestrian community.”

McKinley is a United States Equestrian Federation licensed official and judges shows in Florida and the Southeast, and she’s also the scholarship coordinator for the Southern Hunter & Jumper

app or website. “You as a waiter might not want to work at one particular place,” said McKinley.

Instead, you can sign up as an independent worker on an app or website. Employers can contact you, and you can fill in at different restaurants. ◾ S oftware that aggregates delivery companies. ◾ L ocal marketing apps. ◾V oice inventory apps. “Usually inventory is a two-person job,” she said. “With voice inventory, it can be done with one person.” ◾Q R code ordering, menu viewing and paying at the table.

“The winner of 2020 was the QR code,” said McKinley. ◾T ip out apps for servers to track and record tips. ◾U se of kiosks for ordering food. ◾N ew on-site communication tools.

An effective communication tool for the FRLA has been GreatFloridaJob.com, said McKinley.

The site aims to connect employers with job seekers. Since June ı, 202ı, 352 employers have posted ı,245 jobs, which included food runners as well as bartenders and fine dining servers, she said.

There were applications for 754 of those jobs.

The site has had 56,652 page views since June ı, with 39,04ı unique views, McKinley said.

McKinley has visited restaurants all over Florida but “one of the things interesting in Tallahassee

← William Lawson, the chef and owner at Mimi’s Table in Tallahassee, happily serves guest and restaurant industry advocate Susan McKinley her favorite vintage. Away from work, McKinley is a prominent figure in the world of equestrian competition.

An effective communication tool for the FRLA has been GreatFloridaJob.com, said McKinley.

The site aims to connect employers with job seekers.

Since June 1, 2021,

352 employers

PHOTO BY ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS / JACOBLUND (HOTEL)

have posted

1,245 jobs,

which included food runners as well as bartenders and fine dining servers, she said. There were applications for

754 of those jobs.

The site has had

56,652 page views since June 1, with

39,041 unique views, McKinley said.

is that there are a lot of independent restaurants here,” she said. “Sure, there are corporate restaurants, but there are a lot of independent restaurants with great, authentic flavors. A lot of cities don’t have that.”

With workforce issues pressing both independent and corporate restaurants, the FRLA has jumped on the “Be Kind” promotion instituted by the Rhode Island Hospitality Association.

“People wonder why there’s a wait for a table when there are empty tables,” said McKinley. “It’s because there’s not enough staff in the kitchen to put out the food or not enough servers to serve it.”

The “Be Kind” tool kit conveys the message: “We’re short-staffed. We’re doing our best. The real challenge is the workforce, and we’re doing everything we can to address it,” she said.

The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association has more than ı0,000 members: 7,500 of those members are restaurants; ı,200 to ı,500 are suppliers and allied members; and

the remainder are lodging members.

The association states that its mission is to protect, educate and promote Florida’s $ııı.7 billion hospitality industry, which represents ı.5 million employees.

Among its efforts, the FRLA has been involved in advocacy efforts and at least four programs providing relief to the industry throughout the pandemic, said McKinley.

They include the CARES Act Employee Retention Credit; the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (emergency funding); the Payroll Protection Program (PPP); and the Employee Retention Tax Credit (to help keep staff on the payroll).

In addition, FRLA worked with industry partners to provide $75,000 to Children of Restaurant Employees (CORE); worked with For The Restaurant Hospitality to inform the industry of available small business loans and PPP; delivered more than ı million masks to industry employees statewide; and worked with the National Restaurant Association and the American Hotel & Lodging Association to lobby Congress for industry relief and liability protection.

The association regularly provides training, scholarships and education such as ProStart, the high school education program that’s focused

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 35

POURS & PORTIONS

on culinary arts and restaurant management.

McKinley has had a front-row seat to the many trends in the hospitality industry, among them:

◾O utdoor dining and the continuation of streetlets, parklets or streeteries — structures to expand seating outdoors. ◾A lcohol to-go, which started after the pandemic hit. “Cocktails to-go was huge. It really kept a lot of people going.” ◾ “ Cleanliness and food safety is the new gold standard,” she said. ◾T akeout and curbside service are here to stay. ◾R ewards and customer loyalty programs. ◾H igher salaries for employees. ◾G host kitchens for products that are delivery only. They might be a space in an existing restaurant, but they don’t serve customers. They are often shared commissary spaces or used for virtual brands. ◾V irtual brands — restaurants, delivery services or ghost kitchens selling celebrity products such as cookies from Mariah Carey, tortas from TV host/actor Mario Lopez and Flavortown Kitchen from Guy Fieri.

Another trend: Restaurants are cutting back on days or hours.

“If you can’t get staff, you don’t want to burn out who you’ve got,” said McKinley, who lives in Tallahassee.

She remains hopeful the hospitality industry will overcome these challenges.

“It always seems like they have hard knocks, but they always seem to come back and serve the community,” McKinley said. “With restaurants and hotels, they just keep on going.” ▪

36 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

For the FRLA, a Mixed Bag Association won support for some of its legislative priorities story by AL KRULICK

The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association was in a position to claim a partial victory at the conclusion of the 2022 legislative session. It had advanced priorities including: ◾ Data privacy ◾ Vacation rentals ◾C orporate income tax/ ◾ Special restaurant and qualified improvement hotel liquor licenses property ◾ Funding for Visit Florida ◾ Clarifying the difference ◾ Swim-up bars between guest and tenant ◾ The tourist development tax Only some of these issues were addressed in the session.

Here is where things now stand:

Vacation Rentals

Regarding vacation rentals, which are licensed through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the FRLA supported the following: ◾R equiring advertising platforms to confirm the licensing/registration of vacation rentals with the relevant state agencies prior to listing. ◾ Requiring collection and remittance by the advertising platform of all taxes due. ◾P eriodic reporting to the state by advertisers listing vacation rentals on their platforms, including the physical address, so that tax collection and legal compliance can be confirmed. ◾R easonable penalty provisions for noncompliance. Clear and consistent audit provisions. ◾A n option for local registration so that local governments can better understand and respond to what is happening in their jurisdictions.

Two identical bills were filed in the Senate and House that sought to pre-empt local control over online vacation-rental platforms like AirBnB and give that authority to the state.

The bills would not have revoked local control over registration requirements and certain other aspects of operating a vacation rental property. The Senate bill died in Appropriations; the House bill died in the Ways & Means Committee.

Special Restaurant and Hotel Liquor Licenses

The financial success of food and lodging establishments benefits Florida’s residents, its communities and its economy. Currently, hotels must have a certain number of rooms to receive a particular type of liquor license. Restaurants must also adhere to certain square footage and seating requirements to qualify for a special restaurant liquor license. The FLRA supported reducing these requirements and regulations to reflect developing trends in the hospitality industry,

PHOTOS BY SAIGE ROBERTS / RPI FILE PHOTO (CYPRESS DRINK) AND ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS / FAMVELD (SWIM-UP BAR)

Swim-up Bars

encourage the development of new businesses and increase the financial success of existing businesses.

With the passage of House Bill 1447, the Florida Legislature paved the way for smaller Orlando restaurants to obtain full liquor licenses. Approved by a Senate vote of 38-0, the bill reduces the square footage and seating requirements for restaurants in the Orlando “Downtown Restaurant Area” to qualify for a type “4COP SFS” full liquor license.

To qualify for this license, the new law merely requires that the restaurant fall within the Downtown Restaurant Area; occupy at least 1,800 square feet of contiguous space; be equipped to serve meals to at least 80 people at one time; and derive at least 51% of its gross food and beverage revenue from the sale of food and non-alcoholic beverages during the first 60-day operating period and each 12-month operating period thereafter.

Funding for Visit Florida

The FRLA supported continued funding for Visit Florida, the state’s public-private tourism marketing group, because it plays a vital role in attracting visitors to the state. It also supported extending the repeal date for Visit Florida, allowing the organization to plan further out into the future, which will enable it to attract top talent and facilitate long-term marketing strategies. The Florida legislature voted to move Visit Florida’s repeal date to Oct. 1, 2028.

Regarding the agency’s funding, both the House and Senate bills provided $50 million in state money during the current year and $30 million in federal stimulus money. However, the House bill provided one-time funding not guaranteed in future years, while the Senate preferred recurring funding. In the end, the Senate concurred with the House bill.

Currently, the Florida Building Code does not contain standards for swim-up bars.

This means any establishment wishing to construct a swim-up bar on its premises must seek a special variance to do so.

The FRLA supported requiring the Florida Building Commission to adopt requirements and procedures for the approval of swim-up bars at commercial and public pool locations in order to clarify the requirements and streamline the approval and construction process.

House Bill 719, which would have allowed for the construction and operation of aquatic bars serving food and beverages at hotels, theme parks and entertainment venues died in the Commerce Committee. Senate Bill 1044, which would have required the Florida Building Commission to adopt requirements and procedures within the Florida Building Code for the approval of swim-up bars at commercial and public swimming pool locations, died in the Community Affairs Committee.

The Tourist Development Tax

The FRLA opposed adding any new uses for state Tourist Development Tax revenues, believing that they are only intended to promote and market tourism.

HB 6075, which attempted to remove the provision requiring that a specified percentage of all tourist development tax revenues be used to promote and advertise tourism, died in the Tourism, Infrastructure & Energy Subcommittee, as did a companion bill, SB 1898.

Data Privacy

It is the FRLA’s policy to keep confidential any information it may collect from its members and the general public, and believes that customers are entitled to have control over their personal information. However, it further believes that Florida must adopt reasonable regulations that take into account the changing nature of commerce. FRLA believes the cost of compliance for businesses must be carefully considered, and businesses must be given an adequate opportunity to correct any errors and respond to complaints without the threat of costly litigation.

Senate Bill 1864, which would have created the Florida Privacy Protection

Act in order to codify the collection and protection of personal information, died in the Commerce and Tourism Committee.

A similar House Bill, HB 9, died in the Judiciary Committee. Both bills were opposed by the FRLA.

Corporate Income Tax/ Qualified Improvement Property

A temporary Florida Corporate Income Tax rate reduction expired on Jan. 1, 2022. Combined with Florida’s decision to not adopt the federal deduction for qualified improvement property, this could mean significant increases to corporate income tax collections in Florida in 2022. The FRLA supported the Florida Legislature adopting the qualified improvement property “fix” to the federal CARES Act, making qualified improvement property eligible for bonus depreciation for Florida corporate income tax purposes. This would result in lower taxes for Florida companies subject to the Florida Corporate Income Tax. Senate Bill 1090, which would have provided for adjustments taxpayers must make to adjusted federal income with respect to bonus depreciation died in the Appropriations Committee.

Clarifying the Distinction between Guest and Tenant

Section 509.141, Florida Statutes, has long provided that a lodging establishment operator may ask law enforcement to remove a guest who fails to make payment or engages in dangerous or undesirable behavior such as dealing in controlled substances, public intoxication or brawling.

The statute lacks fundamental clarity, however, which can make it difficult for law enforcement officials when they are called upon to remove a guest. This can also result in the lodging establishment owner being subject to lengthy landlord/tenant eviction proceedings, which were never intended to apply to lodging establishments.

The FRLA supports a revision of the statute to more clearly define the relationship between the guest and the lodging establishment from the outset. This will provide clarity and efficiency for the guest, the business and law enforcement.

No action was taken in the 2022 legislative session.

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 37

POURS & PORTIONS

A Tall Order

Restaurants contend with rising costs, employee shortage story by EMMA WITMER

I

n his ı6 years as a restaurant owner, Jesse Rice never had a problem finding employees. If Rice ever found his Tallahassee farm-to-table operation, Backwoods Crossing, to be low on staff, he would send out a social media blast, and within a matter of days, jobs would be filled. Today, that is not the case.

In February 2022, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported that the number of job openings in the country exceeded the number of job seekers by 5 million.

Businesses in many sectors are struggling to fill open seats, but the food and beverage industry has had an especially difficult time.

Countless people do restaurant work at some point in their lives, but few make it a career. Restaurants typically offer modest wages for entrylevel jobs that attract students or unskilled workers. Historically, when one person quit or moved on to the next gig, a replacement was readily available to work the hostess stand or bus tables.

With the onset of the COVID-ı9 pandemic, restaurants across the country were forced to close their doors and lay off most, if not all, of their employees. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis allowed counties to establish

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their own pandemic policies and protocols.

Tourism-dependent coastal counties were among the first to announce that they were reopening.

Restaurant customers immediately came back, but employees were slow to do so. Stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits afforded workers the chance to stay home and weigh options.

“In the last few years, I have had to do paid advertising to get people to come apply,” Rice said.

↑ For years, Jesse and Tyler Rice filled jobs at their restaurants via word-of-mouth or social media posts.

Openings persisted only momentarily.

Times have changed.

The pandemic forced many restaurant employees from their jobs, and many have been slow to return.

PHOTOS BY SAIGE ROBERTS ( BACKWOODS CROSSING) AND JENNIFER HENDRIX / RPI FILE PHOTO (FIREFLY) AND COURTESY OF GRUBBRR.COM (KIOSK)

“Even when people do apply, it has become really toxic. Some people have acted like they wanted a job, showed up for one day and then realized that they could qualify for unemployment. All they had to do was show that they were applying for jobs, so once they had proof of that, we’d never see them again.”

Maria Goldberg is the marketing director for Great Southern Restaurants. She and Southern Restaurants president Collier Merrill said there was no playbook on how to deal with challenges that restaurants have faced in recent years.

“We’re calling audibles every day,” Merrill said. “We have had to limit hours because we didn’t have enough staff. Looking at Jackson’s and Angelena’s, our fine dining options, we had to shut down our brunch and lunch services. They are still shut down. We didn’t want our service to be affected.”

Great Southern took another hit in late 2020 when Hurricane Sally knocked out a section of Pensacola’s Three Mile Bridge.

“Half our workforce lived across that bridge and we thought, ‘Are you kidding me? What’s next?’” Goldberg said. “Between the pandemic, natural disasters, inflation and an unreliable supply chain, we’ve had to adopt an attitude where we are ready and waiting for the next thing, where we are excited for a challenge because you just never know.”

Firefly, a fine dining establishment in Panama City Beach, has had to cut back on hours, eliminating service one night per week. ← Kiosks for placing

food orders, such as this one manufactured by GRUBBRR, are in place at nationwide chain restaurants including Del Taco, Bento and The Chicken Shack.

↑ While some fast-food restaurants have addressed labor shortages by replacing

employees with kiosks, that is not an option for fine-dining establishments such as Firefly in Panama City Beach, above. There, diners expect to be served and fed.

“Trying to get 350 seats in the restaurant, we need a full staff,” said Firefly owner Dave Trepanier. “You have a good group of staff, but you can’t ask the good ones to come in every night.”

In Panama City Beach, Trepanier said, the worker shortage began in 20ı8 when Hurricane Michael dramatically reduced the supply of affordable housing. As a result, most of his staff commutes from outlying communities.

“I had someone call out sick recently because they couldn’t afford gas to get to work,” Trepanier said.

Some see technology as a solution to the labor shortage problem.

In January 2022, GRUBBRR CEO Sam Zietz took to network television to promote his company’s self-order kiosks as a labor shortage cure-all.

Nationwide chains such as Del Taco, Bento and The Chicken Shack are using the equipment, but it is not for everyone.

“We have to have hands-on service,” Trepanier said. “I’m not going to have iPads at the table.

When you come to our restaurant, you pay a premium for service.”

Restaurants are endeavoring to increase wages for hourly workers but are simultaneously dealing with

cost increases due to supply chain issues and inflation.

“It’s easier for corporate franchise restaurants to pay more money,” Rice said. “You go to Carrabba’s, for example, and all their sauces come in a bag, and their food costs are exactly ı8 percent, or whatever.

They don’t have a manager that’s dedicated enough to do the dishes, so they offer more money than we can afford to compete with.”

Rice said Backwoods Bistro has been understaffed for more than a year. Everyone from Rice’s front house manager to Rice, himself, has had to pick up the slack washing dishes, seating diners or preparing food.

Most of his employees, Rice said, want to work in the creative environment produced by his revolving menu and farm-to-table concept. He has a strong core staff, but without more help, his most reliable employees have felt the strain.

Still, there is room for optimism.

“What has been so wonderful is that everyone, customers and staff, have been so patient and kind,” Goldberg said. “They know what’s going on, and we’re all in this together. Every day, things are getting better.” ▪

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 39

POURS & PORTIONS

Making It in the

Hospitality Industry FSU PC program readies students for management roles story by HANNAH BURKE // photography by MIKE FENDER

M

ax Imm and Mason Taylor were about a month into their studies as hospitality and tourism management majors at Florida State University Panama City when the pandemic hit.

They and their classmates grew increasingly uneasy as restaurants, resorts and other businesses within the hospitality industry began shutting down. The jobs they one day hoped to secure were disappearing, and no one could predict what might be the long-term repercussions of a global pandemic.

Nonetheless, the FSU PC program, which is part of the internationally acclaimed Dedman College of Hospitality at FSU’s main campus in Tallahassee, stayed true to its commitment to providing expertled education for tomorrow’s hospitality workers.

Professors employ Sims-like computer games that enable students to manage their own virtual hotel or restaurant. For an integrated marketing class, Imm and Taylor paired up to create a marketing plan for a bar through comprehensive web research and telephone communications.

“We had to get creative about how we learned and made connections,” Taylor said. “But I went into this program knowing that the industry could always fluctuate and, at the end of the day, people were going to resume traveling.”

Now an assistant general manager at the Courtyard by Marriott Panama City, Taylor is witnessing a recovery from the worst of the pandemic. Bed tax collections have skyrocketed and now exceed pre-pandemic numbers.

“Business travel is especially booming now, with some people staying for five to six days or three

↗ Mason Taylor, who majored in hospitality and tourism management at Florida State University Panama City, works as an assistant general manager at the Courtyard by Marriott Panama City. Business and leisure travel is booming, he says.

to four weeks at a time,” said Taylor, who manages a team of over 20 staff members at the 84-room hotel.

“Leisure travel, too. Visit Panama City Beach said they’re expecting tourism to double this year, so we’re anticipating that.”

As an FSU PC student, Taylor satisfied an internship requirement by working at the Sheraton Panama City Beach Golf & Spa Resort. Upon graduating in 20ı7, he landed a job at a Marriott in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and was later excited to accept a management position back in Panama City.

Taylor said the program helped prepare him for his current

My biggest takeaway from that program was not the knowledge I gained from books, but from the professors who are industry professionals. … They helped sculpt me and often gave their personal time to help me.” — MAX IMM

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF MAX IMM

responsibilities, which include overseeing daily operations, maximizing revenue, and hiring and training new associates.

FSU PC’s lodging management course, he said, introduced him to Marriott’s brand standards and reward programs. And, every week, he utilizes a cost conversions method he picked up from a food and beverage management class.

“It’s the personal, one-on-one relationship you get from a smaller campus, where most classes are with the same professor, that helped me connect with the coursework,” Taylor said. “Even if I had an online class I was struggling with, I knew there was someone on campus I could go to for help.”

The same rings true for Imm, who got a job last spring as an assistant general manager at Drury Inn & Suites St. Louis Brentwood.

His new apartment overlooks the Mississippi River and Gateway

Arch, and Imm said he’s already smitten with the city’s food, sports and all that jazz.

“I can honestly say if it wasn’t for FSU PC, I’d still be on the docks working for beer money,” said Imm, who at one point dropped out of college to become a boat captain in Destin. “I was nervous to come back to school, but from my first class with my instructor Tracee Watkins, I felt at home. The program helped me understand my goals and got me set up with this job. I wouldn’t have this view if I never went back.”

Imm counts Watkins and FSU PC instructor Joy Saddler as both mentors and friends who continue to support him in his endeavors.

Watkins gave Imm a winter coat before he left for Missouri, in which he posed beneath the Arch for a picture and sent it to the two women with a note: “I made it!”

“My biggest takeaway from that program was not the knowledge

I gained from books, but from the professors who are industry professionals,” he said. “Joy helped develop 30A and Seaside, managing the public works program there for years. Tracee specialized in restaurants. They helped sculpt me and often gave their personal time to help me.”

Imm, whose first job at age ı6 was at the Emerald Grande at HarborWalk Village in Destin, said he could finally understand concepts such as average daily rate (ADR) calculations that he had heard about but never really comprehended. He still totes his managerial accounting and revenue management textbooks to work.

“The technical things you learn are invaluable,” Imm said. “My job is car counts, budgeting, forecasting and meeting those goals. At my last job, I was even able to implement the predictive ADR calculator I learned about at FSU PC and do forecasting based on those numbers.”

Imm said the program gave him an enhanced appreciation for hospitality. Through electives, he learned about innkeeper laws dating back to the Code of Hammurabi and explored the history of international wine, food and culture.

Recently, he “Zoomed” into one of Watkins’ classes and was able to share his on-the-job experiences.

“It’s cool being able to give back to what I consider one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” said Imm. “You don’t necessarily need a degree to work in hospitality, but mine allowed me to hop, skip and jump into management.

“I’m now able to directly impact people’s days with the work I do. From hotels to restaurants, your actions can directly affect somebody’s happiness, and what a wholesome aspect of the industry that is.” ▪

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 41

CUSTOM CONTENT

IF EVER A WIZ THERE WAS

Bit-Wizards carefully cultivates client partnerships

M

ost of us take technology for granted until a problem arises or a change has to happen, and we need someone who knows the ins and outs of a field that might as well be black magic for the layman.

Technology solutions provider Bit-Wizards closely collaborates with each of its clients to address their unique problem or goal. While many companies can provide one-size-fits-all solutions, Bit-Wizards tailors the technology to the customer.

Bit-Wizards works to establish a partnership with clients, first by getting to know their business.

“We don’t just bring in a customer, build their software and walk away,” said Jason Graves, director of software engineering.

“We invest in long-term relationships in hopes of working together for years. A

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major reason why we don’t outsource is that by working with the same people, you can expect a consistent level of quality.”

Bit-Wizards is versatile and current. It uses a variety of technologies and proven methods to help businesses reach their goals. Over the years, they have collected an impressive roster of clients.

“Because we specialize in collaboration, providing quality service is more valuable than dollars. It’s our responsibility to use our industry expertise to point clients in the right direction,” said Louis Erickson, chief operations officer.

Recently, Bit-Wizards partnered with Anheuser-Busch to develop a custom software/ hardware solution that uses laser engraving and 3-D controllers to custom engrave Stella Artois chalices at high-profile events, like the Super Bowl, worldwide.

When TSA Consulting Group needed a system to analyze hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement transactions for compliance, it enlisted Bit-Wizards to find a way to administer the data to multiple vendors easily. The solution provided is a web-based application that is adaptable to the ever-changing IRS tax policies and easily integrates with existing accounting applications improving productivity, accuracy, communication and saves money.

On a local level, Rex Lumber needed a more efficient way of tracking lumber inventory in and out of their manufacturing plants. Bit-Wizards created a system using cameras and scale integration software along with motion detection, increasing processing time more than three times the previous

Above: Director of Software Engineering Jason Graves, and software engineers Lulu Colvin and Russ Davis, draw out a database diagram to solve a datarelated issue for a custom software application.

Opposite: AnheuserBusch’s Stella Artois Chalice engraving kiosk supported by Bit-Wizards’ custom software and hardware solution.

manual processing rate. Another Northwest Florida company, Go Southern, was experiencing significant product loss from their properties. Bit-Wizards stepped in to create a solution that tracks the linen supply when items are taken to be laundered. The solution includes extracting data from the property management database,

printing bar code tags that show what should be in each laundry bag, and scanners to follow each set of linens from the laundry facility to the property and back to ensure it is accounted for every step of the way.

“Building software is never simple, and although a lot of effort goes into building, maintaining and deploying

software, software removes complexity from the end-user, and that’s our primary goal,” said BitWizards CEO Vincent Mayfield.

For 22 years, Bit-Wizards has invested in employee satisfaction, industry education and client partnerships. The return on that investment has been a trusted and highly regarded technology company.

Bit-Wizards | 70 Ready Ave. NW, Fort Walton Beach | BitWizards.com | (850) 226-4200

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­2022 | 43

CUSTOM CONTENT

Mexico Beach, Hurricane Michael

Completely Covered

F

ixing people’s problems has long figured in John Minor’s life.

Minor grew up carrying his father’s toolbox in and out of every house in Gulf Breeze, Florida.

When Hurricane Opal came calling for everything that his family had built on Soundside Drive, he knew the challenge that would become his life’s work.

Today, Minor is helping others as the President of Complete, Inc., a professional services firm that specializes in insurance claims appraisal, an alternative dispute resolution process and property damage forensics. His group is made up of certified general contractors, floodplain managers, licensed insurance appraisers, engineers, thermographers and remote pilots serving insurance companies, municipalities, counsel and select property owners on complex losses originating from hurricanes, fires and other construction challenges.

When Minor first started his career restoring his neighbors’ properties, he was trained by Paul Davis Systems where Bill McBride gave him a chance. That was a long time ago when the industry was different with many more handshakes and kept promises. Since then, the storm names have changed, but people know who they can trust. They can and do trust Minor and his team, with some of the largest, most delicate and important property claim disputes.

Minor has spent a career studying hurricanes, sometimes from the inside out. Minor works alongside University of Florida’s FCMP, which collects valuable data by putting equipment in the paths of landfalling hurricanes.

Minor is the first truck in and the last one out. Minor, a trial-tested expert, has been requested to lecture on restoration, appraisal and construction pricing at the National Hurricane Conference, Lorman

Education Services, FSU stormrisk.org, among other educators.

At this stage in his career, Minor has two major goals: employee and client satisfaction.

Team Complete includes his brother Dan Minor, a retired Navy lieutenant and certified consulting meteorologist; Mike Sico, Pensacola manager; Jimmy St. Romain, operations manager; Matt Miller, senior project manager; engineers James Coil, PE and Luis Pappaterra, PE; and his long time bookkeeper, Paula Phillips.

Matt Miller, John Minor and Mike Sico

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PHOTO BY LOVEMATE PHOTOGRAPHY (GROUP) AND COURTESY OF CGC IMAGE

Mother Nature is unpredictable; Team Complete is always dependable

CUSTOM CONTENT

S

Hotel Effie Elevates Business Meetings

ince it opened in 2021, Hotel Effie has become a go-to location for corporate happenings ranging from small-scale board meetings to corporate retreats that take over all 250 of its rooms.

Hotel Effie offers more than 20,000 square feet of meeting space, a 13,000-square-foot ballroom and 10 dedicated meeting rooms. In addition, the hotel is connected to the newly renovated Baytowne Conference Center, which provides an additional 30,000 square feet of meeting space, a 13,500-square-foot ballroom and 14 meeting rooms.

Effie’s Juniper ballroom, which can host up to 1,200 attendees, is easily divided into six individual rooms to create breakout spaces or meal locations.

The Elderberry and Silverbell are smaller ballroom options that can accommodate up to 135 people, making them ideal for company dinners or award presentations.

The Dogwood and Longleaf boardrooms

comfortably hold 40 people, making them great for more intimate meetings. Each is designed with cool blue ocean hues and the cream and gold colors of the nearby sandy dunes.

An event booking with Hotel Effie includes access to a conference service team, concierge team and audio/visual team. These teams see to lighting and sound, menus and every detail involved in a successful meeting. The culinary team serves food far exceeding the quality served at your typical conference or business meeting.

“Hotel Effie provides a one-of-a-kind experience in the 850 region that you can’t get anywhere else because of the luxury amenities guests have access to, both on our property and on Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort’s property,” said Andrew Lott, executive director of resort and group sales. “Hosting a business event here is a great way to recognize and reward your employees by treating them to luxury.”

Once the meeting day is done or when free time allows, it’s time to play. Guests can enjoy Ovide, a restaurant curated by celebrity chef Hugh Acheson; Ara, the rooftop pool and bar; Spa Lilliana; and the fitness center. Lott notes that Ovide makes an ideal location for a business lunch or holiday party, and the rooftop can be reserved as a unique and scenic event space.

Additionally, Effie guests have access to Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort’s four championship golf courses, worldclass tennis courts, a marina, miles of beachfront, water-sport rentals, the complimentary resort tram and The Village of Baytowne Wharf, a shopping, dining and entertainment hub.

“Throughout your time at Hotel Effie, the staff provides thoughtful gestures that set our experience apart as first class, whether it be through service, a culinary experience or amenities available,” Lott said. “We often see guests come to Effie for a business meeting and then come back as a leisure guest.”

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New Conference Focuses on Economic Diversification Northwest Florida Economic Summit will revolve around contracts and collaboration 46 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

W

illiam Loiry, a defense and security facilitator and business leader, is a promoter of responsible business growth. To advance that objective, Loiry is bringing a new targeted summit to Northwest Florida.

Since 1996, Loiry has organized security and defense summits throughout the nation. Now he is bringing about an inaugural Northwest Florida Economic Summit, scheduled for Oct. 17–18 at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center.

The summit will give business owners, government officials, military personnel, academics and community leaders from Tallahassee to Pensacola a chance to learn from one another about how best to serve and improve Northwest Florida.

Loiry believes that the region relies too heavily on tourism and related activities and that its stability and prosperity require economic diversification.

While acknowledging tourism is essential, Loiry knows the region is capable of much more.

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Thousands of military and business leaders annually attend the conferences of the Defense Leadership Forum.

“This summit will help make Northwest Florida a stellar place to live and work by bringing together people with the experience to begin diversifying the economy even more so,” Loiry said.

The summit will address areas including technology, biotechnology, cybersecurity, defense (aviation, aerospace, special forces, shipbuilding), distribution and logistics, energy and construction. The meeting will feature roundtable discussions, general sessions and invaluable matchmaking sessions.

In matchmaking sessions, business people meet one on one with local, state and federal officials that award grants and contracts.

Loiry said a number of construction and engineering companies will be represented at the summit. All are interested in contracts that will arise from the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill that was passed recently.

Additionally, the summit will focus on projects planned by the U.S. Department of Defense, Florida Department of Transportation, Florida’s Great Northwest, Enterprise Florida, Triumph Gulf Coast and agencies related to small business.

“This summit is different because it’s not focused on 30,000 feet ideas and it’s not structured like ‘TED Talks,’ ” Loiry said. “Instead, we are highly focused on how small, mid-sized and even large businesses can connect and gain economic grants and contracts in order to expand.”

» WANT TO GO?

For more information on the 2023 Air Force Contracting Summit and the 2022 Northwest Florida Economic Summit, visit usdlf.org and northwestfloridaleadershipforum.org, respectively.

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­2022 | 47

CUSTOM CONTENT

Northwest Florida Military Report

Congressman Neal Dunn Keynotes the 2022 Air Force Contracting Summit

BY WILLIAM LOIRY U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn (Florida, District 2), a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, delivered the keynote address at the 2022 Air Force Contracting Summit, which was held Feb. 8 and 9 at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa. The ninth annual Summit, a national military business event, brought together more than 700 military and government officials, business executives, contracting experts and financing leaders to discuss the 2022 defense budget, Air Force mission and contracting priorities, and new support for companies with innovative defense solutions.

Speakers from the Pentagon, Air Force bases and Air Force commands provided the latest information on Air Force procurement opportunities, accelerated innovation contracting, Tyndall AFB reconstruction, military base energy resiliency, support for small business tech programs, military-community partnerships and more.

Of special note were opportunities at the Summit for companies to pitch their products and services to DEFENSEWERX, SOFWERX, DHSWERX, MGMWERX and the Doolittle Institute, Pentagon-supported organizations that speed the development of innovative solutions to benefit the warfighter and the nation.

The 2022 Air Force Contracting Summit was organized by the Defense Leadership Forum, a public service organization that brings together members of Congress, military officials and business leaders through Defense Contracting Summits nationwide.

Representatives of leading defense contracting firms including General Dynamics, ARMA Global, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and L3Harris Technologies participated in the summit. More than 60 on-site exhibitors were on hand, representing a wide range of products and services from aircraft maintenance to command-and-control systems to military base reconstruction.

CONGRESSMAN NEAL DUNN AND WILLIAM LOIRY

Congressman Neal Dunn (FL-2) with Summit Chairman William Loiry at the 2022 Air Force Contracting Summit. More than 100,000 government, military and business leaders have attended Loiry’s conferences on defense, homeland and global security, disaster reconstruction and economic development.

For more information, visit WilliamLoiry.com.

Local and Northwest Florida companies and organizations participating in the summit included Florida Power & Light; Carr Riggs & Ingram; Horsley Construction; Gulf Coast Energy Network; and many others.

Interested in attending the 2023 Air Force Contracting Summit? Visit usdlf.org.

Join us as we celebrate 50 years of dedication by our team members

TO HELP OUR CLIENTS AND COMMUNITIES THRIVE. We’re proud to be part of the Gulf Coast community, and we look forward to the future.

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Building the Next Generation

JM Phelps Construction takes its place among industry leaders

T

he companies that shaped Justin Phelps’ professional development are the same companies that build some of the most substantial projects in the region.

While working and growing in his construction career, Phelps aspired to becoming one of those industry leaders.

The president and CEO of his own company for 10 years now, Phelps has joined the ranks of the big players.

JM Phelps Construction specializes in small retail and light industrial projects including medical facilities, gas stations, restaurants and marinas. He is not alone in that. What sets his company apart is its people.

Phelps and his team are part of the next generation of contractors — innovative, enthusiastic and efficient individuals who tailor design solutions to each of their projects.

JM Phelps Construction is attracting notice, especially among contract administrators who have discovered its reliability and Phelps’ skill in relationship building.

“For a long time, there have been a handful of general contractors who have controlled the market share,” said Phelps. “I grew up working for them and admiring what they did. It’s cool to see a new generation of contractors, myself included, come along and start taking the reins as well.”

Phelps’ stellar reputation and growing list of completed projects led the St. Joe Company to hire JM Phelps Construction as their preferred retail/ light industrial contractor.

Phelps is currently building the 53,000-square-foot St. Joe Marina featuring a boat barn that will store boats up to 42 feet in length. A fueling station, storm infrastructure, parking and dining/

retail space also figure in the project. The new structure will replace one that was lost to a storm and was half the size of the facility now under construction.

“It’s not exactly easy to get St. Joe work,” said Phelps. “The opportunity to do big, influential projects with them is something I am immensely grateful and proud of.”

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COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE AND ADVISORY SERVICES Office

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SANTA ROSA, OKALOOSA & WALTON COUNTIES

AN

850 BUSINESS MAGAZINE

SPECIAL REPORT

PERISCOPE

DETAILED LOOKS AT

NORTHWEST FLORIDA COMMUNITIES

Employability is Job No. 1

Santa Rosa County schools groom paths to work

story by PAIGE AIGRET

E D U C AT I O N

|

AV I AT I O N

photography by MATTHEW COUGHLIN

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E C O N O M I C D E V E LO P M E N T

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DRIVING TRAFFIC

|

NUTRITION

|

NEW URBANISM

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 51

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

EDUCATION

S

anta Rosa County District Schools Superintendent Dr. Karen Barber makes careerbuilding programs a priority.

“If we are just successful in getting students their diploma, and we haven’t helped prepare them for life after high school, then we haven’t done our job,” she said.

Teaching came naturally for Barber, leaving no question about her career path.

“I have known what I wanted to do since I was ı0,” Barber said. Growing up in a family with six children, she often found herself helping her siblings with school work.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in special education in ı982 and a master’s degree in educational administration in ı994, Barber achieved a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of West Florida in 200ı.

In total, she has been an educator for 35 years and became a principal for the first time at age 34.

Following the retirement of Tim Wyrosdick and with 25 years of experience on her resume, Barber decided to pursue the job of superintendent, which in Santa Rosa County is an elective office.

Winning election in August 2020, she became the county’s first female superintendent.

Prior to becoming superintendent, Barber spent ı2 years as the director of programs for Santa Rosa County District Schools. In that role, she worked on programs focused on increasing graduation rates, including a housing program for families with

school-aged children and a support program for youths in the juvenile justice system.

One program that followed her into the superintendent’s office was a federally funded STEAM program.

Barber wrote the grant application that made Santa Rosa County one of the first counties in the country to adopt the project-based learning program centered on science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

“Our focus is really on removing barriers to educational opportunities for all of our students so that we can make sure they graduate on time and are prepared to transition into college and career,” Barber said.

The district has now established a STEAM Leadership Council that includes representatives from schools as well as businesses in the community. The council also hosts STEAM family nights at schools and partners with businesses and industry leaders on field trips and internships for students and teachers.

“Here we are seven years into the program; STEAM is alive and well,” Barber said.

She is aiming to establish a STEAM Learning Ecosystem, which would connect the district with tools, resources and assessments to further their progress with the STEAM approach.

The district currently offers 30 middle school, 46 high school and ı9 postsecondary technical college career training programs that help prepare students for skilled occupations in high demand.

If we are just successful in getting students their diploma, and we haven’t helped prepare them for life after high school, then we haven’t done our job.” — DR. KAREN BARBER 52 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

↘ Dr. Karen Barber, Santa Rosa County’s superintendent of schools, has long been involved in the district’s federally funded STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) program. For her, it is a key to ensuring that students are on tracks leading to good jobs.

photography by MATTHEW COUGHLIN

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 53

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

EDUCATION

In just the past year, middle and high school students earned 2,083 nationally recognized industry certifications; 282 high school students participated in dual enrollment courses; and ı94 students from the district’s Locklin Technical College graduated with industry-valued credentials.

A committee of teachers, administrators and guidance counselors closely monitors those subgroups of students that tend not to meet graduation requirements. Its efforts are supplemented by those of 25 new guidance counselors hired with funding from the American Rescue Plan.

The district is at work on a 2022-2027 strategic plan after surveying 33,000 stakeholders, conducting six town-hall meetings and interviewing students, teachers and community members.

Barber said the collected responses reflect the needs for more educational opportunities, closer relationships with guidance counselors and an increase in project-based learning.

Effective with the 2022-2023 school year, high school students will be using a dashboard tool that highlights graduation requirements and is similar to degreeauditing platforms used in universities.

Barber also emphasizes the importance of extracurricular activities related to career paths and development of leadership skills.

She sees extracurricular programs as “ways in which we can make sure that our students engage beyond the classroom in not only relationships, but opportunities.” The programs help students “feel like they belong at school and feel that they have value.”

Santa Rosa County is at an aboveaverage 90.3% graduation rate.

“We’re happy with that, but we’re not satisfied,” Barber said. Always looking for ways to improve, she recognizes that “if we have a healthy school district, then we’re going to have a healthy community.” ▪

54 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

COMMUNITY PROFILE

TOTAL POPULATION

191,311

SANTA ROSA COUNTY METRICS

0–9 10–19 20–29

4/21–3/22

30–39

JOBS ADDED

4,338

40–49 50–59

CHILDREN IN POVERTY

60–64

13.9%

65+ AGE DISTRIBUTION 0–9........... 22,715

40–49..... 23,957

10–19........ 24,109

50–59.. .... 25,960

20–29 . . .... 23,593

60–64...... 12,732

30–39 . . .... 26,220

65+.......... 32,025

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT <GRADE 9 . . ...................................... 2.08% GRADE 9–12.................................... 6.35% HIGH SCHOOL............................... 27.03%

3RD GRADERS READING AT GRADE LEVEL

65%

HOUSING PERMITS ISSUED

2,181

SOME COLLEGE............................ 23.47% ASSOCIATE DEGREE . . .................... 13.07% BACHELOR’S DEGREE................... 17.99% GRADUATE DEGREE...................... 10.01% 2.08%

10.01%

6.35%

SALES TAX REVENUE

$16.09 Million POVERTY RATE

17.99% 27.03%

13.01% 23.47%

10.0% LAND IN CONSERVATION

40%

SOURCE: Applied Geographic Solutions, Florida Chamber of Commerce

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If you’re ready to make your mark in aviation manufacturing, repair, maintenance, or overhaul operations, we have the perfect spot for you.

Contact Shannon Ogletree today.

(850) 623-0174 • shannon@santarosa.fl.gov or visit SantaRosaAviation.com 850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 55

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850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 57

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

AVIATION

→ Longtime Santa Rosa County Commissioner Don Salter makes remarks at a ceremony held to unveil “Don Salter Boulevard.”

Salter’s dogged determination brought about Whiting Aviation Park and a joint runway use agreement with the U.S. Navy.

A Proud Legacy Assured

Don Salter changed the course of events in Santa Rosa County story by THOMAS J. MONIGAN

58 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

F

ittingly, Don Salter Boulevard leads to the new Whiting Aviation Park, which adjoins Naval Air Station Whiting Field near Milton in Santa Rosa County.

The park’s first tenant, Leonardo Helicopters, will occupy a support center measuring ı00,000 square feet while employing as many as 50 workers. Currently under construction, the Leonardo facility is projected to be ready in the middle of 2023.

“My understanding is they’re going to create other facilities in the next few years that would create up to 300 jobs,” said Salter, for whom the realization of the aviation park was a crowning achievement in his career as a public official.

“There are very few communities in the world where someone can say a single individual changed the course of events for their area, and Don Salter is one of those individuals,”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DUNCAN MCCALL ADVERTISING

said Shannon Ogletree, Santa Rosa County’s director of economic development.

“Don Salter exemplifies character, morals and integrity that we should all strive for to build a more positive place to live and work,” Ogletree added.

“He made a positive difference in the lives of thousands of people who didn’t even know his name; he never asked for a ‘thank you’ or a pat on the back. He wanted to do what he felt was right for Santa Rosa County and its residents.”

Don Salter was born in Jay, in the north end of Santa Rosa County in ı947.

“My dad (Cuyler Salter) was a farmer and raised peanuts, but he gave up farming and moved ↑ Don Salter with his wife Kay, son Donnie us to Cantonment in Escambia and daughter-in-law Mandy. All are bullish County when he went to on the future of Santa Rosa County. work for the St. Regis Paper Company,” Salter recalled.

ALL IN THE Salter attended J.M. Tate High School, FAMILY where as a freshman he played baseball with → For 52 years, a senior named Don Sutton. Sutton went on Don Salter has to earn a place in Major League Baseball’s been married Hall of Fame. to his wife, Kay. “She was a Navy Salter’s two older brothers joined the brat, and I met Marine Corps, and one of them was killed her in Pensacola in Vietnam. Salter and his remaining in 1964 when two brothers each became U.S. Army I was in the paratroopers.

Army,” Salter said. “We got Salter served stateside with the ı0ıst engaged in 1965 Airborne Division and went to Vietnam and got married with the ı73rd Airborne Brigade as a combat in 1970.” The platoon sergeant. He was awarded the Bronze couple has a Star for his service there. son, Donnie. He and his wife, After leaving the Army in ı968, Salter went Mandy, have a to work for Gulf Power Co. That meant living son Ethan, 9, in Pensacola for a time, but in ı973, Salter and a daughter, took on a job with the utility that allowed Evelyn, 6. “They him to live in Milton. live about a mile from my house,” “I worked my way up through construction Salter said. crews and went to school at night,” Salter said. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Troy

University in ı983, followed by a master’s degree in ı985. In ı990, he became Gulf Power’s Santa Rosa County district manager.

Salter retired from Gulf Power after 32 years of service in 2000, the year in which he was first elected as a Santa Rosa County commissioner.

That was just the beginning.

Salter would be re-elected four times and serve as the commission’s chairman in 2004, 2009, 20ı4 and 2020.

After his Gulf Power career, Salter “wanted to continue community support and worked closely with all the bases, especially NAS Whiting Field, to bring about land acquisition,” he said.

“We were able to acquire about ı0,000 acres around Whiting to buffer that base from residential encroachment, and that started about 2002.”

One of the first purchases was 269 acres next to the back gate at the base’s eastern fence line.

“From there we started creating the Whiting Aviation Park,” Salter said. The first phase of the park’s development comprises 60 acres.

“It took seven years of me working with leaders at Whiting Field, Jacksonville and people at the Pentagon in Washington to get a limited access use agreement” which entitles the aviation park the use of runways at the base, Salter said. “This led to some excellent work. One thing I’m proud of is Santa Rosa County being a lot better off now than it was then.”

Salter was also proud to have lowered the county’s millage rate while a commissioner.

“I fought hard for revenue equity to make sure we took pressure off property taxpayers with things like the sales tax and gas tax,” Salter said.

What does he see for the future?

“I think Santa Rosa County will continue to see the high growth rate it has seen over the last 20 years,” Salter said. “People want to move here because of low taxes, quality of life, the military installations and the school system. As long as those things stay good, we will continue to see people moving here.” ▪

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 59

OKALOOSA COUNTY

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Think Globally, Grow Regionally

Florida’s Great Northwest collects success stories story by AL KRULICK

J

ennifer Conoley well remembers her first day as the newly selected president and CEO of Florida’s Great Northwest (FGNW). She was about to become the leader of a 20-yearold, regional economic development organization representing ı2 counties across the Florida Panhandle. There was that. But her Day ı was also the first day in which the COVID-ı9 pandemic began to alter the course of life in Florida.

“March 23, 2020 was my first day,” she recounts. “I had just returned from spring break with my family. At the time, my two boys were in pre-K and 3rd grade. And my first day was the first time the school said, ‘Keep your kids home.’ That was lots of fun.”

Fun and recreation have long been parts of Northwest Florida life, and tourism is a major component in the regional economy. FGNW’s mission, however, is to advocate for a broader mix of economic development — a need that became all the more apparent when the pandemic shuttered many of the area’s traditional tourist venues.

“We were set up to make sure that people are aware that Northwest Florida has more to offer and that we are, indeed, a top location for business,” Conoley said.

“Our main focus is on industries that can

60 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

operate anywhere. So, we are working to attract manufacturers, cybersecurity firms, logistics and distribution companies and more.”

Conoley reports, somewhat counterintuitively, that COVID-ı9 didn’t reduce FGNW’s workload and activity level.

“In fact, we found the opposite,” she said.

“I can’t tell you how many Zoom meetings we did with site selection consultants or company prospects. We got in front of these CEOs and company decision-makers that we targeted through our proprietary business intelligence lead platform, and they knew Florida was open for business.”

The prospects were located primarily in Northeastern states or on the West Coast and were tired of being closed. Florida was an opportunity to maintain continuity in their business operations.

“So, we were very busy,” Conoley said.

FGNW is a 50ı(c)(6) nonprofit corporation funded solely by private sector investors, such as banks, law offices and accounting firms that believe in a regional mission. It works hand-in-hand with other local economic development organizations, such as chambers of commerce, tourism councils, Main Street programs, job and career groups, as well as representatives from individual counties.

photography by MIKE FENDER

↙ While the COVID-19 pandemic might

have been expected to slow economic development activity in Northwest Florida, fishing for prospects actually improved. Said Jennifer Conoley, president and CEO at Florida’s Great Northwest, “Our goal is to get as many fish in the net as we can, get them close to the boat, and then one of our counties can bring them over the side.”

“We meet on a regular basis to support one another, and we stay laser-focused on our mission: marketing and brand awareness,” Conoley said.

Born and raised in Northwest Florida and having lived in several parts of the region from Port St. Joe to Pensacola to Panama City, Conoley readily describes FGNW’s approach in language that any native can understand.

“I think of it like a fisherman,” she observed. “We are casting the net out into the water trying to gather fish.

Our goal is to get as many as we can in the FGNW net, get them closer to the boat and then one of our counties brings them over the side.”

Over the last two years, that process has landed two very big catches. One was Probes Unlimited, a manufacturer of precision temperature sensors based in Landsdale, Pennsylvania.

“We found this company through our business intelligence work and saw that they were a shop that had an opportunity to grow,” Conoley said. “Through our marketing efforts, we reached out to the CEO, and we talked about doing business in Northwest Florida. His main concern was labor. He was headquartered in Pennsylvania and was having a mighty hard time getting people to come to work. So, based on the things that he needed for his business, we worked with our local counties and

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 61

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

got him to come to some locations in Northwest Florida on a site visit.

He was able to tour those places and ended up in Bonifay.

“The Holmes County Economic Development Commission had recently purchased the old Bonifay middle school building,” Conoley said.

“And they made a commitment that if Probes Unlimited expanded their operations to that middle school site, which they wanted to make into an advanced manufacturing campus, they could meet his timeline. That was in March/April 202ı. On July ı4, 202ı, Probes Unlimited opened its doors in the fifth grade wing of Bonifay Middle School. They started with ı8 employees, and the CEO has been so impressed with the people in Northwest Florida, they’re moving more work to the Florida location.

Now, they’re up to 50 employees — all local people.”

Bay County has benefited by FGNW’s efforts, too.

“Central Moloney Inc. (a manufacturer of transformers) just announced 200 jobs coming to Bay County,” Conoley said in March. “That’s a lot of jobs, and that all started with FGNW. The CEO wanted to grow, but he wasn’t necessarily doing a formal search. He had just gotten back from a site visit in Texas when he decided to answer one of our emails. After he came and visited various communities in Northwest Florida, he ended up settling on the former GKN Aerospace building adjacent to the Florida Northwest Beaches International Airport. That’s a great example of two companies that would not have had Northwest Florida on their radar had it not been for FGNW knocking at the door.”

As for the future, in what one hopes is a post-pandemic world, Conoley

62 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

↑ At top, economic development and Holmes County officials, along with employees of

Probes Unlimited, gather at a former middle school now occupied by the temperature sensor manufacturer. CareerSource Florida provided Probes Unlimited with a grant that helped offset employee training costs. Lower photo: A large spec building at Venture Crossings Commerce Park was vacated by GKN Aerospace, but is now home to a transformer manufacturer, Central Maloney, Inc., thanks to efforts by Florida’s Great Northwest.

said, “We are gaining momentum, and we’re making an impact on the quality of our place. Our goal, moving forward, is sharing those successes because that’s a key to future success, too. We have to share the success of companies that are taking a chance on Northwest Florida with

other folks. And I promise you, they’re already getting curious.

When companies make any type of investment like this in a new location, people are watching. So, we’re going to do everything we can to support their continued success and then tout that.”▪

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CAREERSOURCE FLORIDA (PROBES UNLIMTED) AND PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ST. JOE COMPANY (GKN)

OKALOOSA COUNTY

Twenty-five anglers each trip will have the opportunity to join Guy and Jessica Harvey on a 5 day/4 night VIP experience at the world-famous Tropic Star Lodge in Piñas Bay, Panama.

Total Cost: $9,800 ■

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Up to five people each day will fish with Guy Harvey.

Scientist from Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation will also join the trip and be available to fish with anglers.

■

Two drinks per day and wine at dinner.

■

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.

■

Private cocktail party Round trip air charter from Panama City to Piñas Bay.

■

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

■

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■

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

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Subscription to Guy Harvey Magazine.

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

For available expedition dates, contact browland@GuyHarvey.com

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 63

OKALOOSA COUNTY

DRIVING TRAFFIC

↗ Ken Wampler quickly

rose through the ranks at the Newman-Dailey Resort Property Group and today serves as the organization’s president. As a community volunteer and promoter, he leads the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council.

64 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

photography by MODUS PHOTOGRAPHY

Business Developer, Tourism Promoter Newman-Dailey’s Wampler builds relationships story by AL KRULICK

F

or someone who was born in Northeastern Maine just a few miles from where I-95 begins, Ken Wampler has seen a lot of Florida.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in recreation services and mathematics from the University of Maine, Wampler went on to earn an MBA from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. Over the next few decades, he sojourned from Amelia Island Plantation to the Palm Coast Golf Resort and the Bay Hill Golf Club & Lodge in Orlando, performing various professional and managerial duties.

Some 20 years ago, he and his family made their way to the Panhandle, where Wampler led successful start-up, turnaround, and high-growth club and resort operations. In 2009, the NewmanDailey Resort Properties Group asked him to head up its business development department.

Today, Destin is home, and Wampler is NewmanDailey’s president.

“We do vacation rentals, association management, as well as real estate sales and services, and long-term leasing,” Wampler said. “Our footprint goes from Inlet Beach, just west of Panama City, all the way to Fort Walton Beach in vacation rental and association management. Long-term leasing goes a little bit further than that, as does real estate sales. We have, roughly, 300 short-term vacation rental units, over 500 long-term leasing units and 66 different associations that we manage containing about 3,000 individual units. When I joined Newman-Dailey, we had ı7 associations; we have 66 now. The staff across all business units is about 75.”

Not content to be just a successful businessman, Wampler has served on and chaired many local committees and county initiatives over the years. He was named the 202ı Destin Chamber of Commerce’s Business Person of the Year and currently leads the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council, a quasi-governmental organization. The TDC comprises volunteers from the lodging industry, their hospitality partners and elected officials.

“It’s funded through the tourist development tax,” Wampler explained. “When you stay at a hotel, motel, campsite or short-term vacation rental, you pay a bed tax that goes to the Tourist Development District. It is an optional tax that a county can levy with a citizen’s referendum. The individual lodging partners are responsible for charging, collecting and remitting the bed tax to the county. Last year, bed tax revenue totaled $33 million.”

According to Wampler, the TDC is limited by statute to authorizing spending on marketing and sales efforts; beach nourishment and improvements to the natural environment; and capital acquisition and improvement.

With “Little Adventures,” a marketing initiative carried out in the midst of the COVID-ı9 pandemic, the TDC encouraged parents with young children to enjoy various outdoor activities such as sailing, fishing, water sports and tide pool exploration.

“We were promoting the quality of life,” Wampler said. “While there were restrictions, you could still enjoy the outdoors. The TDC partnered with a lot of hospitality businesses that provided those forms of

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 65

OKALOOSA COUNTY

DRIVING TRAFFIC

entertainment, and we promoted Little Adventures. It took off like wildfire.”

Wampler applauds decisions made by the TDCs in both Okaloosa County and South Walton to buy beachfront property to provide for greater public access to the sand and the Gulf.

“A lot of people think that the beach is public, and in reality, it’s not,” Wampler said. “That creates a lot of angst with locals and with people staying here on vacation but not at a beachfront property. So, both counties have taken an aggressive approach to use part of that money to go out and acquire beachfront property to improve the environment for all. I think that’s a good effort.”

In Okaloosa County, the Emerald Coast Convention Center was funded as a way to foster more convention and group business.

“The hotel industry calls them SMERFs: social, military, educational, religious and fraternal get-togethers,” Wampler said. “There was no large meeting space for golf groups, weddings, reunions, so that’s what spawned the idea of the Emerald Coast Convention Center. It’s funded by the Okaloosa County tourist development tax collected from the lodging partners.”

Last October, the voters of Okaloosa County voted to expand the tourist development tax district to the entire county; it had been limited to the southern part of the county.

“What we added in Okaloosa County was a lot of outdoor arts and recreation possibilities,” Wampler said. “Now, we need to leverage the new part of the bed tax district for the benefit of the lodging partners as well as the other hospitality businesses because it’s important to me that we’re all in this together. It’s important to me that we generate relationships for a lifetime. I don’t plan on going anywhere, and I’m actively involved in the community for that very reason.” ▪

66 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

OKALOOSA COUNTY

COMMUNITY PROFILE

TOTAL POPULATION

214,428

0–9

OKALOOSA COUNTY METRICS

10–19 20–29

4/21–3/22

30–39

JOBS ADDED

3,781

40–49 50–59

CHILDREN IN POVERTY

60–64

15.3%

65+ AGE DISTRIBUTION 0–9........... 27,192

40–49...... 24,128

10–19........ 24,741

50–59.. .... 25,508

20–29 . . .... 30,584

60–64..... 13,909

30–39 . . ..... 32,167

65+........... 36,199

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT <GRADE 9 . . ...................................... 2.26% GRADE 9–12..................................... 5.12% HIGH SCHOOL............................... 24.94%

3RD GRADERS READING AT GRADE LEVEL

63%

HOUSING PERMITS ISSUED

925

SOME COLLEGE.............................. 24.7% ASSOCIATE DEGREE . . .................... 11.55% BACHELOR’S DEGREE.................. 19.58% GRADUATE DEGREE...................... 11.82% 2.26% 5.12%

11.82%

24.94%

19.58%

SALES TAX REVENUE

$22.09 Million POVERTY RATE

10.7% LAND IN CONSERVATION

11.55% 24.7%

53%

SOURCE: Applied Geographic Solutions, Florida Chamber of Commerce

FUTURES

What are you waiting for?

ENROLL TODAY!

(850) 678-5111 | NWFSC.EDU CRESTVIEW • DEFUNIAK SPRINGS • FT. WALTON BEACH • HURLBURT FIELD • NICEVILLE • SOUTH WALTON • ONLINE NORTHWEST FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE IS ACCREDITED BY THE SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS COMMISSION ON COLLEGES (SACSCOC) TO AWARD ASSOCIATE AND BACCALAUREATE DEGREES. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ACCREDITATION OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE MAY BE DIRECTED IN WRITING TO THE SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS COMMISSION ON COLLEGES AT 1866 SOUTHERN LANE, DECATUR, GA 30033-4097, BY CALLING (404) 679-4500, OR BY USING INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON SACSCOC’S WEBSITE (WWW.SACSCOC.ORG). NORTHWEST FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE IS COMMITTED TO EQUAL ACCESS/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN ITS PROGRAMS, ACTIVITIES, AND EMPLOYMENT. MATERIALES DE LA UNIVERSIDAD SON DISPONIBLES EN ESPAÑOLA LLAMANDO A LA OPHIDIAN DE ADMISIONES DE NORTHWEST FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE AL 850-678-5111 850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 67

WALTON COUNTY

NUTRITION

Infusing Children with a Desire for Good Food Little’s Lunches encourages investment in nutrition story by STEVE BORNHOFT

W

hen then foster parents Jennifer and Glenn Huggins became responsible for two brothers, they found that the boys would eat nothing but McDonald’s fare. They were used to only that.

A food fight was on.

“We placed peas and chicken Alfredo in front of them and sat at the table all night until they ate it,” Glenn recalled one in a series of standoffs.

“We fought with them and fought with them.”

Mind you, Glenn is not accustomed to having to coax people into eating what he serves. He is a graduate of the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin, Texas, where he gained certification as an executive chef.

68 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

It took time, but Jennifer and Glenn eventually succeeded in expanding the boys’ food palates by steadily offering them healthy foods and avoiding unhealthy snacks that she dismisses as “fillers.”

Today, the Hugginses are the adoptive parents of three brothers — Mason, 9; Max, 5; and Miles, who is going on 3.

“Our oldest kid will eat raw oysters, he’ll eat olives — anything you put in front of him that’s good, he will eat,” Glenn said. “We got our youngest at three months, and we just feed him anything that we are eating; he will stuff raw spinach in his mouth and eat it.”

Max is picky, for now. His palate shrank when the pandemic arrived,

and his Head Start program began requiring that children eat only lunches prepared at the school. That meant pizza, chicken nuggets and more of the same.

Good eating habits are easily broken, but Max’s diet is under repair.

Jennifer and Glenn operate Little’s Lunches & Kitchen at 30Avenue in

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LITTLE’S LUNCHES

→ Jennifer Huggins and Chef Glenn Huggins, owners of Little’s Lunches, advance children’s health by delivering nutritious, expertly prepared lunches to students at four private schools in Walton County. ↓ Son Max Huggins, 5, dressed a pizza during a cooking class at Little’s Lunches, located at 30Avenue.

Inlet Beach in Walton County and at a second location in Texas. The business represents a merging of his culinary talents and her experience and training in child psychology and development.

Its operations revolve around a stance line, “Investing in Family Nutrition.”

That investment takes several forms.

Little’s Lunches prepares and delivers some 500 meals a week under contract to four private Walton County schools: Gateway Academy, which Mason attends; Ohana Institute; South Walton Academy; and Compass Rose Academy.

Jennifer said five more schools will be added in August. The business supplies box lunches to summer camps and sells private label products, including sauces, butters and olives.

In addition, Little’s Lunches offers daily lunch specials on-site, take-home chef’s dinners, cooking classes for children and adults, and chef’s table dinners at which Glenn provides both a fine dining experience and a cooking lesson.

But its focus for starters was little people.

Jennifer and Glenn met when both were working jobs at Baytowne Wharf following their high school graduations. They moved together to Texas where Glenn studied French cuisine and Jennifer attended Texas State University in San Marcos.

Their schooling complete, Glenn accepted an offer to become the executive chef at Messina Hof, a vineyard in Bryan College Station, and Jennifer went to work as the director of a church-affiliated preschool.

Jennifer completed what amounted to graduate studies in child nutrition provided by the Texas Agriculture Commission and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Office, and then implemented a farm-to-table concept at the preschool.

Soon, personnel at other private schools became curious about what Jennifer was doing. She thought about establishing a consultancy.

“Instead, we said to ourselves, ‘Why don’t we just make the meals and deliver them to the schools, and then they don’t have to worry about them?’” Glenn said. “Jennifer started the business while I was at the vineyard, and then one summer, it just took off.”

Little’s Lunches supplements meal deliveries with an outreach program designed to encourage parents to employ healthy eating practices at home.

“We put together newsletters with tips and recipes,” Jennifer said. “Every year we roll out a program called Table Talk. We send talking points to all of

the families who follow us and get our food and encourage parents to talk to their children about what they are eating and get their opinions about it.

It’s important to involve even small children in making choices.”

Jennifer said parents don’t often think about how best to describe and model the behaviors that they want their children to adopt.

“A dinner table is a great place to do that,” she said.

What’s the best way to introduce children to broccoli? Gradually.

“At the beginning of a school year, we serve loaded mac ’n’ cheese with little bits of broccoli in it,” Jennifer said.

“Then we introduce bigger chunks, and at the end of the year, we serve orange chicken with full pieces of broccoli as a side. If kids see a food consistently, they will start trying it and start to build a want for it.”

In such a way, broccoli is like an advertising message. Multiple exposures are required before it registers.

Glenn, in the course of a day, finds himself preparing food for both developing and refined tastes.

And you know what? Put a bite of that snapper in front of Miles, and he will wolf it down. ▪

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 69

WALTON COUNTY

NEW URBANISM

Preserving Potential The Seaside Institute promotes ‘smart’ development story by HANNAH BURKE

A

s executive director of the Seaside Institute, Thomas Cordi is engaged in learning how best to meet contemporary challenges.

The nonprofit institute is committed to creating sustainable, connected and adaptable communities based on the core tenets of New Urbanism — an outlook that discourages sprawling, single-use neighborhoods and champions walkable, diverse developments.

Maintaining a sustainable community is not without its challenges, however, and the Seaside Institute is relying on New Urbanist experts for advice on how to best proceed.

“One of the problems we’re facing now is that there’s been a balance tipped in favor of tourism over residents,” Cordi said. “We love tourism, but we want to readdress this balance, increase the number of people who live here and enhance their quality of life.”

One of the Seaside Institute’s chief initiatives this year is making Walton County the next big “Zoom town.” Cordi said the area already is feeling the effects of the “remote work revolution” that resulted when the COVID-ı9 pandemic spawned a new work-from-home era.

“This is an alternative form of economic development,” Cordi said. “Rather than trying to lure big companies like Amazon to our county, let’s lure talented young people, investors and those who want to live here because it’s beautiful and full of incentives.”

70 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

↗ As the executive

director of the Seaside Institute, Thomas Cordi hopes to employ New Urbanist principles and bring about a balance between concerns for tourists and the needs of residents.

photography by MODUS PHOTOGRAPHY

Rather than trying to lure big companies like Amazon to our county, let’s lure talented young people, investors and those who want to live here because it’s beautiful and full of incentives.” — THOMAS CORDI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE SEASIDE INSTITUTE The Seaside Institute has invited representatives from the country’s three most successful Zoom towns — Tulsa, Oklahoma; Bentonville, Arkansas; and Tucson, Arizona — to share their success stories at a future seminar.

“Walton County is one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States, and people are moving here in droves,” Cordi said. “Studies have shown that in Zoom towns, there’s a multiplier effect.” For every move-in, multiple jobs result.

For example, Cordi said a Seaside Institute board member, Carl Tricoli, moved to Walton County from Houston. Tricoli purchased property and is currently

developing ı0 homes on the beach. He has hired advertising firms, Realtors and construction companies.

But to attract a bigger talent pool and become the next big Zoom town, Walton County must reevaluate its infrastructure, Cordi said, and take “affirmative steps.” That could mean the addition of more shared workspaces, strong fiber internet, new cultural entertainment venues and affordable housing.

“We don’t have a lot of affordable housing here on 30A, which can be a problem,” Cordi said. “We want to build an affordable town here based on New Urbanist principles. It’s a plan we started in the ’90s and never implemented. We’re still working on it, but right now,

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 71

WALTON COUNTY

NEW URBANISM

there’s plenty of room up north in Freeport and DeFuniak Springs. The entire county can become a magnet.”

One of the problems faced by coastal Walton County, Cordi acknowledged, is its “tremendous” mobility issue. Traffic is a nightmare come tourist season, there is no public transit and parking is rarely available along Scenic Highway 30A. With a population influx, things could get worse.

“We’ve been doing mobility studies since 20ı5, and we are trying to work with the county to deal with them,” Cordi said. “One of the tenants of New Urbanism is the high cost of free parking.

We want to get people out of their cars.

We have a transit hub developing in Grayton Beach where people are going to be able to park their cars and get on an electric bike or an electric shuttle that may even be autonomous.”

There are traffic problems, too, along U.S. Highway 98, where a project to add more lanes has been underway for four

years. That’s not the best move, Cordi said. “If you have a weight problem, you can loosen your belt a few notches, but you still have a weight problem.”

The Seaside Institute’s annual Seaside Prize Weekend this spring was dedicated to walkable cities and streets. The institute hosted numerous New Urbanist speakers and welcomed city planner, author and lecturer Jeff Speck, who spoke to Walton County stakeholders, planners and residents about pedestrian-friendly communities.

Speck, along with Seaside, Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach planners Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, wrote Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, a text Cordi calls the “bible” of New Urbanism. In it, urban sprawl emerges as the devil.

“Sprawl creates these transportation problems because if you live on 98, you have to get in your car just to go buy a quart of milk,” Cordi said. “I think

people are becoming disenchanted with sprawl. It’s giving rise to a new New Urbanism. They’re rethinking, redesigning urban neighborhoods toward mixed-use developments.”

Communities evolve and face new challenges. That’s why adaptability is one of the Seaside Institute’s core tenants, Cordi said.

Denser, less environmentally destructive developments also relate to the institute’s mission of sustainability, a movement for which Cordi has long advocated.

Cordi is a former political science professor and executive director of the Associated Students of the University of California Auxiliary.

His student union was the first in the country to invest in solar power.

Cordi also presided over the nonprofit organization Sustainable Tallahassee, where he successfully implemented recycling programs and promoted solar power and electric vehicles.

We don’t want to put moratoriums on development, but we want smart development. We want growth to be smart growth, where we build the infrastructure as we develop.”

— THOMAS CORDI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE SEASIDE INSTITUTE

72 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

photography by MODUS PHOTOGRAPHY

He is relying on that experience to change the ecology of Walton County and is calling for a sustainability plan comprising tree ordinances, recycling programs and an emphasis on ecotourism. The institute previously engaged local business leaders with their “Go Emerald Green” symposium series on YouTube, where they explored sustainable business practices.

The Seaside Institute’s architects and planners can carry them only so far, and cooperation from the community and the county will be essential in shaping the future.

“If we keep developing the way we are, we’re going to kill the goose that lays the golden egg,” Cordi said. “We’d like a redesign of the comprehensive conservation development plan. We were involved in that in ı994, and we made predictions about what consequences would happen if actions weren’t taken. They’re coming true now.

“We don’t want to put moratoriums on development, but we want smart development. We want growth to be smart growth, where we build the infrastructure as we develop. Our county has a lot of potential, and we don’t want to squander it.” ▪

WALTON COUNTY

COMMUNITY PROFILE

TOTAL POPULATION

77,386

WALTON COUNTY METRICS

0–9 10–19 20–29

4/21–3/22

30–39

JOBS ADDED

1,264

40–49 50–59

CHILDREN IN POVERTY

60–64

17.3%

65+ AGE DISTRIBUTION 0–9............ 8,608

40–49....... 9,403

10–19......... 8,259

50–59.. ...... 10,911

20–29 . . ....... 7,977

60–64........ 6,130

30–39 . . ...... 9,737

65+........... 16,361

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT <GRADE 9 . . ...................................... 2.63% GRADE 9–12..................................... 7.92% HIGH SCHOOL............................... 28.85%

3RD GRADERS READING AT GRADE LEVEL

61%

HOUSING PERMITS ISSUED

1,475

SOME COLLEGE............................ 23.24% ASSOCIATE DEGREE . . ..................... 8.62% BACHELOR’S DEGREE.................. 19.06% GRADUATE DEGREE....................... 9.68% 2.63%

7.92%

9.68%

$22.63 Million POVERTY RATE

19.06% 28.85%

8.62%

11.6% LAND IN CONSERVATION

↖↑ Established in 1996, The Seaside School,

Inc., is one of the oldest public charter schools in Florida. Its Seaside Neighborhood School, in photo, serves students in grades 5–8. The Seaside Post Office is small enough to have been moved from one location to another in the town square.

SALES TAX REVENUE

23.24%

39%

SOURCE: Applied Geographic Solutions, Florida Chamber of Commerce

850 Business Magazine | SUMMER­­­2022 | 73

LAST WORD

FROM THE EDITOR

Grow Carefully By now, it is a quaint memory.

Panama City Beach’s chief tourism official announced with unbridled enthusiasm that a private businessman had plans to build a navigational skills-challenging maze right next to a miniature golf course. And that wasn’t all. The Tourism Development Council’s Events Committee had succeeded in securing a spot for Panama City Beach on a powerboat racing circuit’s calendar.

These developments, the official said, were sure to be game-changers of real and incalculable benefit to hospitality businesses and other enterprises tied to tourism.

My, how times have changed.

In consecutive weeks in April and May, that destination, which so looked forward to the arrival of a field of plastic panels, also hosted a jazz festival, a motorcycle rally and a triathlon. All put heads in beds.

All attracted people with fat wallets.

Across North Florida, destinations ranging from resort properties to entire communities have worked for decades to refine and enlarge their appeal to visitors. That effort has involved a balancing act as proprietors, restaurateurs, tourism boards and policymakers have worked to preserve relationships with established visitors and markets while adding new ones.

In that, they have done well. Appeals across the region are various, and that diversity is a strength, as it is in all economies. In Northwest Florida, one can find a wine festival that features a corndog stand and blends supplied by Publix and another where a harpist is heard and VIP guests are treated on arrival to flutes of lavender champagne.

We do it fried, grilled, sauteed and blackened.

74 | SUMMER 2022 | 850BusinessMagazine.com

This edition of 850 Business Magazine is devoted in the main to stories about the hospitality and restaurant industry. As concerned as communities are about attracting other types of employment, that industry remains an essential pillar, as our experience during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic made clear. It’s a tough business that seems always to find a way to carry on despite its short-term vulnerability to plagues that have included an unprecedented oil spill, accumulations of June grass spiked by nutrient pollution, hurricanes, economic downturns and a coronavirus.

The industry succeeds in no small part because our region has retained its inherent and God-given appeal. We live in a beautiful place, one that wasn’t going to remain unflooded forever.

Increasingly, people are growing concerned that the destination may be overwhelmed. Back 30 years ago when the maze was news, we promised ourselves that we would not repeat the mistakes of South Florida. We would preserve a quality of life and visitor experience uncompromised by maddening crowds and environmental degradation. We would do our part to see to that, and state agencies, including the Department of Community Affairs and the Department of Environmental Protection, would have our backs.

Instead, it seems, we are adopting new sales tax levies to build more infrastructure so that we can hope to accommodate more and more people.

For four years, a project to add lanes to U.S. 98 in Destin has been underway.

A project to widen that highway in Panama City Beach has been announced.

A proposal to build a new road uniting

highways 98 and 30A in South Walton has occasioned a furor among environmentalists because it would transect a state park.

At some point, adding roadways and traffic lanes is not the best move, Thomas Cordi, the executive director of the Seaside Institute, told Rowland Publishing’s Hannah Burke.

“If you have a weight problem, you can loosen your belt a few notches, but you still have a weight problem,” he said.

Cordi is right about that.

Let’s not run ourselves up against what was once Yogi Berra’s assessment of Toots Shor’s restaurant in New York: “That place is so crowded no one goes there anymore.”

Let’s not kill the pelican that laid the golden egg.

Take care,

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

PHOTO BY MICHAEL BOOINI / ROWLAND FILE PHOTO

Region must safeguard its inherent appeal

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