2012 October–November Issue of 850 Business Magazine

+

How and When to Find a Good Attorney for Your Company The Many Health Benefits of Taking a Stand at Work How Tiny Holmes County Attracts Companies With High-Paying Wages

Is it time for Your Business to Bring in a Consultant? $4.95

OCT-NOV 2012

An American Horseman A Wakulla cowboy turns his dream into a national enterprise

www.850businessmagazine.com

A product of Rowland Publishing, Inc.

WHERE BUSINESS GETS INTERESTING. Real marketing requires creative thinking to get business moving. It’s the way Kerigan has approached our work for more than a decade—where we’ve been challenging conventions with engaging stories and standout design.

Ready to see what Jack Kerigan and Catherine Lynn can do for your business logo, ad campaign or website? Just get in touch and let’s get rolling.

Port St. Joe: Jack Kerigan Tallahassee: Catherine Lynn

850-229-4562 850-588-4499

SERIOUS CREATIVITY

kerigan.com

Images courtesy of TBG Partners

We’ve Got You Covered Serving the Panama City Beach Airport!

Corporate accounts with additional benefits available.

Contact Sterling Scott for more information.

Personal greeters find you an open space Air-conditioned shuttle picks you up and drops you off right at your car Free luggage handling Shuttle service every 5–7 minutes Complimentary copy of 850 Business Magazine and USA Today Visit website for discounts Long-term rates available

EARN FREE PARKING! 5540 Enterprise Center Drive, Panama City, FL • coveredairportparking.com • (850) 236-7275 $9.95 per day, plus tax and airport fee

WE’RE ALL ABOUT YOU! 2'6) IS A FULL SERVICE INSURANCE AGENCY PROVIDING RISK MANAGEMENT COUNSEL EMPLOYEE BENElT SERVICES COMMERCIAL INSURANCE AND lNANCIAL SERVICES TO BUSINESSES ACROSS THE STATE 2'6) S TRAINED PROFESSIONALS WORK CLOSELY WITH YOU TO BUILD A COMPREHENSIVE CUSTOMIZED BUSINESS PROTECTION AND EMPLOYEE BENElT PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY 2'6) IS THE .ORTH &LORIDA RESOURCE FOR BUSINESS PROTECTION

4

|

4HOMASVILLE 2OAD 4ALLAHASSEE &, s s RGVI.com

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

s

850 Magazine October – November 2012

IN THIS ISSUE

42

850 FEATURES now Your Law(yer) 24 If Kyou’re a small business owner looking looking for an attorney, do you start with the phone book? And how do you know when you need to find the right legal partner? If you’re in business, chances are you’ve already dealt with a situation where you needed an attorney — whether you know it or not. From incorporation to employee I-9 forms, the advice of a competent legal mind can save you money, worry and time in the long run. The right legal partner and advice gives business owners peace of mind. By Tisha Crews Keller

oaching for Success 36 CWhen is the right time for your business to bring in a consultant? What types are there and who is best for your company?

Local experts share their thoughts on when is the best time to call for help — and what to look for when choosing a consultant or a coach to help your business get back on track. By Jason Dehart

PHOTOs BY Scott Holstein

40 Under 40 42 Meet more of Northwest Florida’s-up and-coming business leaders in this fifth installment of 40 Under 40. From Tallahassee to Pensacola, from a former major leaguer to an economic development specialist to a hot shot realtor, see who is making a mark on the business world and in their own community. By Linda Kleindienst On the Cover: Horse trainer Trey Young at his family’s 3Y Ranch in Crawfordville. Photo by Scott Holstein

64 In This Issue

Corridors

8 From the Publisher 69 Sound Bytes 74 The Last Word from the Editor

Departments The (850) Life

11 Karen Moore is active in her business, her community and life.

GUEST COLUMN

13 Ken Lawson, secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, talks about helping business thrive — and asks for your suggestions.

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

14 Why you should deliver concise and relevant reports to your clients.

CAPITAL

50 Learn how a Tallahassee-based company made a big splash on the national production scene by beating out New York and Hollywood companies to produce a major fishing show and work with big time music headliners.

EMERALD COAST

54 30A entrepreneur Mike Ragsdale never hesitates to take a leap of faith.

Whether it’s in business or in his family life, he lives to take on a challenge.

BAY

56 Bay County’s new airport was supposed to be an engine for economic growth. Has it succeeded?

FORGOTTEN COAST

WI-FILES

16 The importance of including the Internet in your marketing plan.

60 Trey Young is the quintessential American cowboy, a Wakulla County native who has a special knack for training horses and is now spreading that knowledge through television and national appearances.

LEADING HEALTHY

I-10

22 The health benefits of standing up while you are at work.

64 Tiny Holmes County has become a hotbed for manufacturing in Northwest Florida, attracting companies that are paying high wages and making a major impact on the local economy.

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

5

850 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA

October – November 2012

Publisher Brian E. Rowland Editor Linda Kleindienst designers Laura Patrick, Saige Roberts Contributing Writers Lazaro Aleman, Kayla Becker, Steve Bornhoft, Jason Dehart, Madelynn Graham, Jennifer Howard, Tisha Crews Keller, Ken Lawson, Buddy Nevins, Laura Ries, Liesel Schmidt, Kimberley Yablonski

staff Writer Jason Dehart

Editorial intern Kayla Becker

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Scott Holstein

traffic coordinator Lisa Sostre

Vol. 5, No. 1

Sales Executives Rhonda Chaloupka, Jon Fistel, Lori Magee, Tracy Mulligan, Dan Parisi, Linda Powell, Frank Sandro, Chuck Simpson, Chris St. John online 850businessmagazine.com facebook.com/850bizmag twitter.com/850bizmag

President Brian E. Rowland

DIRECTOR OF Emily Bohnstengel Operations

DIRECTOR OF Linda Kleindienst EDITORIAL SERVICES

Creative Director Lawrence Davidson

director OF New Dan Parisi Business Development

ProDUCTION Manager Daniel Vitter

Marketing and Media McKenzie Burleigh Development Manager

CLIENT SERVICE Caroline Conway REPRESENTATIVE

Administrator of Marjorie Stone

Sales and Events assistant Saige Roberts creative director TRAFFIC coordinator Lisa Sostre

graphic designers Jennifer Ekrut, Laura Patrick, Shruti Shah

Production Specialist Melinda Lanigan Staff Accountant Gen Trombley Network Administrator Daniel Vitter

Web Site rowlandpublishing.com

850 Magazine is published bi-monthly by Rowland Publishing, Inc. 1932 Miccosukee Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308. 850/878-0554. 850 Magazine and Rowland Publishing, Inc. are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photography or artwork. Editorial contributions are welcomed and encouraged but will not be returned. 850 Magazine reserves the right to publish any letters to the editor. Copyright October 2012 850 Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Member, Florida Magazine Association and seven Chambers of Commerce throughout the region.

Awards4U is the official provider of mounted features for Rowland Publishing titles. For more information contact Sam Varn 850.878.7187. one-year Subscription $30 (SIX issues) 850businessmagazine.com 850 Magazine can be purchased at Barnes and Noble in Tallahassee, Destin, Pensacola and Panama City and in Books-A-Million in Tallahassee, Destin, Ft. Walton Beach, Pensacola and Panama City and at our Tallahassee office.

6

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

Proud member Florida Magazine Association

Some Teams Win National Championships…

Others Save Lives.

This team doesn’t score touchdowns in front of screaming crowds, but their fans are just as loyal.

Drs. Tetreault, Bhanderi and Patel are board certified in medical oncology.

1600 Phillips Road, Suite 300| Tallahassee, FL 32308 | (850) 877-8166 | FLCancer.com

850 Business Magazine

|

Proud Sponsor of Florida State Football

October – November 2012

|

7

From the Publisher

Fun Can Make Your Team Stronger Work at our company has picked up to where we’re going at a pretty serious pace again. There are a host of new projects to work on and a new member has joined the team — and both happenings are good news.

It’s easy to lose perspective when one is busy and moving fast, but the other day Emily, a new member of our management team, shared her excitement at being part of a dynamic team of publishing professionals who care so much about their job and the people they work with. It was one of those “wait a minute” moments where I realized how fortunate I am to work with people who have such a passion for what they do.

Let’s face it, life at this office often takes on the feeling of a Seinfeld episode as certain stressful times bring out a level of humor and commentary that makes you feel like an extra in a sitcom. It seems we deal with a never-ending string of critical deadlines for our publications, and then there are the efforts the team puts forth to help our clients, a continual dance of dialogue, cajoling, reminding as we work to deliver a project that’s as good as it can be.

Humor is the salve that helps relieve the stress of our publishing world, and our team does it so well.

After working under some out-of-the-ordinary pressure the last few weeks, one member of our team, Caroline Conway, who has organized several social interactions for the crew, suggested we plan a kayak outing on the Wakulla River. Staff, significant others and families were invited to join up for a Sunday on the river.

With one team member nearly eight months pregnant and another not skilled in swimming, I towed my boat to the river, loaded with coolers of food and beverage, and we all set out by boat, canoe and kayak from T-n-T Hide-A-Way’s launch site for a journey through the “real” Florida. Along the way, we encountered a manatee family that was as curious about us as we were about them. For many, it was the first time having a personal encounter with this gentle giant of the river. There

8

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

were plenty of turtles and at least one alligator sighting.

We made the two-hour journey up the river, lunched on sandwiches together and just spent some time talking about life, family and things totally unrelated to our work. I sat there looking at my co-workers, feeling a special energy and counting my blessings that I have great people to work with.

We spend so much time at work and with our co-workers that I believe making some special out-of-the-office time to enjoy some fun things builds a bond, a team and a “magic” that will help a company find success on so many levels.

Perhaps Rensis Likert, an American educator and organizational psychologist who helped found the Institute for Corporate Productivity, said it best: “The greater the loyalty of a group toward the group, the greater is the motivation among the members to achieve the goals of the group, and the greater the probability that the group will achieve its goals.”

Brian Rowland browland@rowlandpublishing.com

A Special Note:

I am proud to share some very good news with you. At the recent Florida Magazine Association annual conference, we brought home two awards in one of the most prestigious and difficult-to-win categories — Best Written Magazine (under 50,000 circulation).

We compete with most of the major Florida titles in this category.

And for the fourth consecutive year, we have taken home an award in this group. 850, which has won a medal in this category for four years running, took second place, and Tallahassee Magazine won third place.

They were edged out by Sarasota’s Gulfshore Life. 850 also recently took first place honors for Best Trade/Special Interest Magazine in Florida in a contest run by the Society of Professional Journalists.

It is this recognition that separates our work from all others who try to emulate our publications. Congratulations to our editors, Linda Kleindienst from 850 and Rosanne Dunkelberger from Tallahassee Magazine, for riding on the high road where there is so little traffic!

Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” — Andrew Carnegie

tallah has asse seemagaz azin inee.co com m

SIMPLY TEXT “TTMAG” TO 909 947 TO BECOME A TALLAHASSEE INSIDER WITH MEMBERSHIP TO TALLAHASSEE MA AGAZIINE’S TOP OF THE TOWN Welcom Wel comee to com to TOP T OF THE TOWN, presented by TALLAHASSEE MAGAZINE. Gain access to events, promottion ions, s inv invita itatio ita tions tio ns, off ns offer erss and er and mor moree ffrom rom an ex exclu clusiv clu sivee club siv club of local vendors to take advantage of while you are in Tallahassee.

Wantt to Wan to join join?? Visi Visitt tall ta ahasseeemagaz g ine.com and look for the Top of the Town logo to siggn up for your exclusive member b ship. hip OR tex textt “TMA “TMAG” G” to 909 90947 47

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

9

Clients Remain the Center of All We Do.

When numbers count, people and relationships matter. Our accounting professionals take great pride in providing one-stop solutions to support the financial success of our Pensacola area neighbors and friends. For the best in accounting, tax and consulting for your business or family, it all adds up to Saltmarsh: local, personal, professional experience since 1944.

Our Accountants Put Your Success First.

1FOTBDPMB r 'PSU 8BMUPO #FBDI r 0SMBOEP r 5BNQB www.saltmarshcpa.com 800.477.7458 10

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

Executive Mindset

) The (850 Life

S urvive and thrive

Energized Entrepreneur Karen B. Moore, Tallahassee

1

Founder, CEO Moore Communications Group

K

10

12

14

3

1. First job? Camp counselor for the Girl Scouts at Camp Ticochee.

(During those camp counselor years, she was nicknamed Cottontail.) I also taught swimming lessons to seniors at the YMCA. In fact, I was 15 years old and one of my students was 84 years old!

2. What did you want to be?

A teacher for students with disabilities.

3. “Away from work” passion? I collect antique prayer books. I have more than 600 books, some dating from the early 1500s.

4. Last book you read? I am a voracious reader. I try to read two to three books a week. Just this morning, I completed “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson. I really enjoy nonfiction. I try and incorporate something of value, an inspirational point, from each book into my life. What I will take from this book is that committing to a corporate culture of innovation is a game changer.

5. Favorite food: Anything my husband cooks. I love his

Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

jambalaya. My son Jarrod is also an awesome cook.

than 55 countries and love to take pictures.

6. Last vacation? Last month

11. Best advice you ever received? My parents said, “Just

I went to Hong Kong. My next trip is to Iceland with my family to celebrate my father’s 80th birthday.

7. If you could have a cup of coffee with anyone …

I would have coffee at Starbucks with several folks — Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth I, Thomas Jefferson and Mother Teresa. Each person having made a significant difference in history — can you imagine the conversation!

try it!” From eating fried rat in Thailand to canoeing for a week in the Okefenokee Swamp, I am willing to try anything once.

12. Favorite pet: Rusty, our 19-year-old golden retriever mix. But, I did have a pet boa constrictor named Pinky who would be a close second.

13. Most prized possession:

The engagement ring my husband gave me. We have been married 34 years.

8. Biggest challenge? The same as every other working professional, balancing work and family life.

14. Fun adventure: My hus-

9. Most people don’t know …

15. If you could do anything:

I am actually very shy. I would be very comfortable sitting in a chair and reading a book, with a glass of wine and Baxter the Cat on my lap.

10. Hidden talent? Photography. I have traveled to more

band, son and I rode camels in the desert once. Fun! I would create a foundation to assist young entrepreneurs help make their dreams come true.

Or, I could be a world traveler and find unique destinations and write about them for travel magazines. There is plenty of time to do both someday.

aren B. Moore understands what it takes to pursue your passions in business and in life.

When she launched her public relations business 20 years ago she took a “big leap of faith.” But she nurtured her one-woman shop until it blossomed to employ 24 people with offices in Miami, Jacksonville and Washington, D.C. Along the way, she achieved many of her professional goals, including serving on the Board of Trustees of 11 different organizations. Under Moore’s leadership, her company has earned more than 375 industry awards. She has served as a speaker to more than 250 organizations and addressed the White House Summit on Women Entrepreneurs in the 21st Century. Moore has provided media training for Fortune 500 companies and even the British Olympic Team.

A Florida native, Moore grew up in Orlando. After earning her bachelor’s degree in Russian history from the University of Central Florida and a master’s degree from New Mexico State University, she served as adjunct faculty at several universities.

Moore has seen a lot of her goals realized, but that doesn’t stop her from constantly stretching to reach the next one. The firm has been recognized as one of the 100 best businesses to work for in Florida three years in a row, an accomplishment that she is particularly proud of.

Always eager for an adventure, Moore is a world traveler having visited more than 55 countries, including Ecuador, Turkey, Thailand, China and Iceland. Despite having a Starbucks gold card, she does all this while drinking only decaffeinated coffee. — Kimberley Yablonski

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

11

In Business to Write Business.

SM

We want to be your business partner when it comes to insurance protection.

Contact us today for quality business protection from Auto-Owners Insurance.

We’ll take care of your business insurance, while you take care of business!

Brown & Brown Insurance 3520 Thomasville Rd, Ste. 500 • Tallahassee, FL 32309 (850) 656-3747 • (850) 656-4065 Fax

TALLAHASSEE’S

PREMIERE

PERFORMING

ARTS FESTIVAL

sevendaysfestival.org for tickets 850.644.6500 /SEVENDAYSOFOPENINGNIGHTS /7DAYSFESTIVAL /SEVENDAYSTALLAHASSEE

12

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

Executive Mindset

Business Speak The New DBPR: Friendly, Fast and Fair

PHOTO COURTESY KEN LAWSON

I

f you’re a licensed professional or you have a business in Florida, chances are your license comes from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. More than being a mouthful, DBPR is the state agency responsible for licensing and regulating many of Florida’s businesses and professionals, from hotels and restaurants to real estate agents, from veterinarians to certified public accountants and many industries in between. Our department licenses more than 1 million businesses and professionals, and it’s safe to say that every single resident and guest of our great state interacts with at least one of our licensees, probably several, on a daily basis.

The words “government regulation” often have a sour connotation. No one wants to deal with over-burdensome rules and red tape, especially as our state is trying to get people back to work. There is no excuse to have rules on the books that don’t make any sense or make it unnecessarily difficult to get a business up and running.

When he was sworn into office in January 2011, Gov. Rick Scott asked all of his agencies to take a close look at our current rules. Here at DBPR, it’s our job to find those rules and regulations which may be outdated, unnecessary or duplicative and do away with them. Sometimes this means working with the Florida Legislature to repeal statutes; other times it means working with the professional boards that oversee many of our professions. Whatever it takes, we’re committed to reducing unnecessary regulation in Florida.

In addition to streamlining our regulations and eliminating unnecessary rules, we’ve worked hard to make sure we are enforcing the remaining rules with a strong but fair hand. Most businesses aren’t looking to skirt the rules, but let’s face it — sometimes the rules are complicated, and well-meaning people may miss a step or

K e n L aw s o n Ken Lawson is Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. A native Floridian and graduate of Florida State University, he began his legal career in the U.S. Marine Corps and later served as an assistant U.S. attorney. At the U.S. Department of the Treasury he was responsible for the oversight of several federal law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service. Before taking over as DBPR secretary, he was vice president for compliance for nFinanSe Inc., a Tampa financial services company.

two. If our department is looking into rule violations, our first priority is compliance and helping that business owner or professional make things right and come back to the center. However, if we find someone with no respect for his or her professional rules and standards and with repeated violations, we’re going to come down hard and heavy. We have a responsibility to protect the health, safety and well-being of Florida’s public and our state’s consumers, and holding our licensees to the appropriate standards is part of that process.

Sometimes, it’s not the regulations that trip businesses or professionals up — it’s getting started in the first place. Applications for licensure may be confusing or may ask for information that doesn’t make sense. Several months ago, I asked my license processing team to review the applications for more than 19 different professional license groups. I wanted to see if the applications could be simplified, not necessarily making it easier to qualify for licensure but making it easier to navigate the application process. I’m pleased to report that since we began our review, the rate at which applications were returned for some type of deficiency, for construction applicants alone, has dropped from more than 75 percent to less than 30 percent, on average. That’s real progress! I’ve also been sending surveys out to our licensees, asking for feedback and getting input on what we could do better. This feedback has been instrumental as we work through the license improvement process. You can contact me directly at ken.lawson@dbpr.state.fl.us.

Once our department issues a license, it is our responsibility to enforce the standards set for each business or profession.

It’s important we don’t lose sight of our true role in this process — we are partners with the businesses and professions we regulate. Since last year, we’ve made changes to the way our inspectors present themselves — prompted by feedback from a Northwest Florida small business owner — and we’ve instituted a “Bill of Rights” card so our licensees know what to expect during an inspection and who to call with questions. These steps may seem small, but we are changing the culture here. Business owners and professionals shouldn’t be afraid of regulators — we should work together to make Florida the best place for businesses to grow and thrive. Our state deserves nothing less. n

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

13

Executive Mindset

Management Strategies

C LIENT REPORTS

Communication is Everything Social media reports can ensure client understanding

by Madelynn Graham

I

n business, communication is king.

Whether externally with your customers or internally with your employees, contractors or vendors, communicating clearly and effectively ensures understanding and is the roadmap to successful outcomes.

For professional service firms with ongoing relationships, one important tool for effective communication is the client report. Client reports can ensure that the people paying the bills know what you’ve done on their behalf, what accomplishments have been achieved and demonstrate the value of your services.

Such reports are especially important in the complex and ethereal realm of social media, where it can be especially challenging for some clients to understand what platforms were used, what tasks were undertaken, what interactions took place, who is paying attention, what was accomplished and how the entire effort impacts their bottom line.

For public relations and digital marketing professionals providing social media services, monthly social media reports can validate your efforts and secure client buy-in by recapping program objectives and strategies, highlighting the various tasks undertaken and showing the results achieved. These reports can be tedious — for you to assemble and for your clients to pore over — especially when you find yourself focusing more on the footnotes to define jargon that is foreign to even your word processing program. But your clients are not looking for a vocabulary lesson; they are looking for results.

14

|

October – November 2012

|

Show the client why they need your firm by illustrating how you are helping them.

Instead of dedicating your report to defining terms like “engaged users,” “virality,” and “total reach,” use the monthly summary as just that — a summary. Follow these simple tips for keeping your reports effective, concise and relevant: • Be clear. Show the client the benefits of engaged users and total reach instead of just listing statistics riddled with numbers and percentages.

The client does not know what equation you used to get these numbers, thus a long list of “total reach” and “virality” holds no value.

• Do include charts and graphs as visual aids, but remember these will also fall flat if your client does not understand what they represent.

Define parameters so the client knows what they are looking at and why it is important.

• Use examples, like notable comments and feedback to demonstrate the value of engagement, as opposed to presenting the engagement with just a numerical value. A screenshot of a viral post that generated positive feedback and consumer interaction says more than a list of the most popular posts with a percentage beside them.

• Be visual. Sometimes a chart or diagram can explain much more than a number, especially when looking at trends and growth. Include graphics and visual elements on your report, but make sure these are relevant and include captions as necessary.

• Do not surround these graphics with lengthy sentences sprawling across the page. Dedicate a

850businessmagazine.com

space for text and condense your objectives into bulleted points that make it easy for the client to understand what you have accomplished and which strategies were used.

• Be brief. Condense your report to one or two pages, with clear objectives and progression statistics. Include only the pertinent information, but be sure to contextualize all statistics and graphics in a way that makes sense. Your clients are busy too, so be brief but thorough.

As advertising and marketing goes digital, monthly reports are essential for tracking progress. Most clients do not have time to monitor their business’s social media accounts and Web activity — that’s why they hired you. Using a social media management program like Hootsuite and Facebook Insights generates all the data you need. Your job is to discern what information your client needs to know.

Individually updating social media outlets is time-consuming and makes compiling social media reports more difficult when users find themselves searching for data on a profile-byprofile basis. Some effective tools for content management that all PR professionals should know are:

» Crowdbooster, Socialflow: Measures and optimizes when content should be published

» Prosodic: Analyzes the who, what and where to aid publishing

» Shoutlet: Helps companies manage complex content publishing at scale

» Tigerlily Apps: Optimizes content to publish by theme audience and location

» Uber Vu: Mines the data, then optimizes content to be published

» Bazaarvoice: A contextual powerhouse that turns data into doing, harnesses the power of customer conversation and leads impactful conversation, connecting with and building the new customer Social media management programs organize multiple social media platforms through one accessible site. For example, Hootsuite allows users to add profiles and then select streams relevant to each profile. For a client’s Twitter profile, streams may include scheduled tweets,

sent tweets, mentions, retweeted posts and various search topics. The importance of monitoring

2000

mentions and retweets is to track interactions ef-

1500

fectively and reply in a timely fashion. The key to

1000

social media is interactivity. A “dead” social media

500

profile is one that is not gaining followers, getting

100 TIME

media makes this easy for brands, it also makes

CLICKS

brands to control their own image. While social

VIEWS

VISITS

comments or posting regularly. It is essential for

it possible for consumers to make their own fake profiles for your brand and generate more activity if the official profiles are not properly maintained.

As social media grows from the giants (Facebook and Twitter) to the varied blog hosting sites like Wordpress and Tumblr, it is easy for business owners to fall behind in maintaining and creating an online presence. As a PR professional, you have the knowledge and skills to multi-manage the profiles and keep your client up to date with trending programs.

When creating client social media reports, adhere to a clean format that is visually appealing and organized. Utilize visual tools like screenshots when you want to show interaction between fans and followers of the clients. Screen-

TIME

MONEY

shots also work when featuring exceptional viral posts, graphs and charts to concisely represent follower growth and virality.

Keep in mind that your client wants the big picture — what was done, what was accomplished, how does this improve their bottom line.

Give them the highlights, not a play-by-play of the month’s activity. Don’t bore them with the

DATA 30% 20% 10%

minute details — give them an interesting snapshot of your accomplishments!

In business, communication is king — and effective client reports will ensure a royal relationship.

Madelynn Graham is an account coordinator at the Tallahassee public relations firm RB Oppenheim Associates and its digital marketing division, Digital Opps.

For more tips and tactics on traditional and digital mar-

DATA 30% 20% 10%

keting, go to www.rboablog.com. n

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

15

Computer + Idea + Time = Smart Marketing The Internet levels the playing field for businesses

by Buddy Nevins

T

he promoters of the First Annual Clearwater Super Boat National Championship had a problem. The event was just six weeks away and it was uncertain that enough boating fans would bother to show up. In addition to the traditional newspaper and broadcast stories, the powerboat races needed a kick. Then they got it — through a coordinated social media campaign on the Internet.

“We had six weeks to pull off that event, and we used social media in tandem with press and TV commercials to get the word out,” recalled Karla Jo Helms, the chief executive officer of JoTo PR in the Tampa Bay area.

16

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

Using Facebook and other websites, Helms found and connected with boat and sport enthusiasts and powerboat clubs. She encouraged local hotels, restaurants and other tourist organizations to offer roughly 1,000 links on their Web pages to the super boat championship website.

There were 3,100 fans and followers on the social media sites and 12,000 hits on the event’s website within four weeks.

“We connected with them and posted videos,” she said. “By the time the event rolled around, we had 60,000 people and $4 million injected into the economy. The next year, using the first year’s momentum, we did the same and had 100,000 people — and doubled the tourism money injected into the economy.”

Executive Mindset

Wi-Files

word-of-mouth marketing

The Clearwater Super Boat National Championship is just one example of how the Internet has changed opportunities for businesses.

A Level Playing Field “Any small business can realize its potential before it ever opens its doors. The Internet allows small businesses to meet that potential without spending the millions of advertising dollars it used to take to reach a national, or even a global, audience. The Web levels the playing field,” explained Matthew Titus, an interactive marketing strategist for CYber SYtes, a Web service company in Panama City.

If a business isn’t using the Internet to reach out to potential customers, it is a good bet that their competitor is. No matter how established a business is, the low cost of Internet marketing allows an upstart to come into its backyard and steal clients. No matter where a business is located, in small or large communities, it could be losing money if its marketing plan does not have an Internet component.

The reason: An entire generation — anyone who was born after 1960 — gets the bulk of its purchasing advice online.

“Consumers and businesses are relying on online platforms and social media to get data,” Helms said. “Heck, we don’t return phone calls anymore without Googling a phone number if they do not leave a message.”

The good news is that Internet marketing is cheap. At a minimum, all it takes is a computer, an idea and time. “You can become your own publisher now. You do not have to wait for your big opportunity to get the word out. You can do it yourself,” Helms explained.

The place to start for anyone needing help is the local chamber of commerce, professional associations, service clubs, colleges or even adult classes at the public schools. In almost every corner of the state, groups and schools offer free introductory computer workshops for the novice. Many offer advanced free sessions for the more computer savvy. And these workshops are usually run by Internet specialists happy to design websites and help with bits and bytes of a marketing plan for those businessmen and women too busy to do it themselves.

Once you know a little about computers, you can quickly understand how they have turned the small business world into a jungle.

Start Web surfing. See what your competitors are doing. Your customers once had to drive to compare prices and service. Now shopping comparisons are only a click away. Businesses, even those in the most remote parts of the state, cannot count automatically on customer loyalty because of their location anymore. If your customer has a computer and a mailbox, you’ve got a competitor. “While

(the Internet) is wonderful for businesses of all sizes, it also means the market for even the most obscure products and brands has become much more competitive,” Titus said.

Before investing any further time and money on Internet marketing, your business needs a plan. The idea is to tell your customers what you sell and how it is better than any of your competitors. The plan should include a budget — how much you are willing to spend to reach customers. And you must decide what method will drive customers to your business. Although relatively new, the Internet already has many components that can be part of a marketing campaign.

A business can build pages on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. It can post videos of its products and services on YouTube. It can use a technique called search engine optimization, or SEO, to appear near the top of Google, Bing or Yahoo searches for key words. Pay per click, or PPC, ads can be purchased. E-newsletters can be distributed through an email list. Articles can be written and offered to other websites in the industry.

“A smart interactive strategy, or single media campaign, can use a number of tactics that work together to achieve your goals,” according to Titus. “Each of them plays a unique role in defining brand or achieving the goals of your business. Unfortunately, there is no out-ofthe-box strategy for any business on the Web because no two brands have the same vision.”

Using SEO Since consumers making a purchase are apt to use a search engine to find providers, search engine optimization is key. This is a strategy to design a business website page using key words. Those words will trigger the Web page to appear on the first page of Google, Yahoo or Bing searches for products.

There are SEO consultants available everywhere who can make a Web page search engine friendly. SEO techniques have been proven to work, as Andrew King illustrated in his “Website Optimization,” published in 2008. The book discussed a dentistry practice in Philadelphia that grew from one to nine new patients per week by adding words to the front page of its Web page. Designers incorporated language on the Web page that could catch the most common searches for lucrative services that the practice wanted to offer. They included “cosmetic dentistry,” “restorative dentistry,” “preventive care,” “pain free,” “Philadelphia dentistry” and “dental services.” The dentist also added some minimal advertising to Google that cost money only when somebody clicked on it. In nine months, the practice “hired

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

17

WI-FILES

another dentist. It added new staff and moved to a larger office to accommodate the influx of new patients,” according to King’s book.

Businesses serious about an Internet campaign also should be on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, said Mike Campbell, who runs Trusteria Services in Tallahassee. He has helped many small businesses in Northwest Florida with their Internet campaigns and tells clients that social media is a good marketing tool.

Based on a 2012 survey done by Edison Research, it is easy to see why Campbell believes social media is a way to build business. From 2010 to 2012, the percentage of Americans following a brand on social media climbed from 16 percent to 33 percent. Although two-thirds of Americans still don’t use sites like Facebook and Twitter, many of those who do use it frequently and use it to make purchasing decisions.

Who are those one-third using social media? It is no surprise that the young are frequent users of social media: 80 percent of those under 24 years of age have a personal profile page on such a site.

But popularity is not confined to the young, with 55 percent of Americans 45–54 having a profile on social media, too.

The sites are addictive. Roughly 22 percent of Americans — that’s 58 million — check the sites several times a day. Most important to businesses, 47 percent of those using social media say that Facebook is likely to influence their purchases.

“There is nothing more powerful than word-of-mouth marketing, and social networks give you the opportunity to create, manage or combat that,” Titus said.

USA Today outlined the impact of social media this summer for 7-Eleven, which used Facebook and Twitter to build interest in a free Slurpee promotion.

The convenience store chain expected to hand out 10 million Slurpees, up from 5 million last year, after 7 million signed up as Facebook fans of 7-Eleven or Slurpee. “Social media will double the size of our promotion in one year,” said Joe DePinto, chief executive officer.

Numbers like that have been repeated in many big and small businesses, but there is a drawback to social media sites for businesses. To do it right costs money and time. “Someone must be found to keep the site posting up to date,” Campbell said. That person in charge of the social media could be a consultant or the business owner, an intern, a trusted employee or even a family member.

“The worst thing a business can do is create a social media page and do nothing with it. Studies have shown that if the social media is being engaged and there is positive conversation going on, other people will take note,” he said.

Is the Internet for your business? You can’t afford not to do it.

“As far as a business reaching its full potential without utilizing the Internet, I think businesses can succeed, but they are leaving potential customers at the table,” Campbell said. n

“There is nothing more powerful than word-of-mouth marketing, and social networks give you the opportunity to create, manage or combat that.”

Matthew Titus, interactive marketing strategist

18

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

19

Executive Mindset

Creating Results VISUAL MARKETING PUT TO THE TEST

Are Words Obsolete in Marketing?

Take a look at some of the most recent marketing successes, which are visual successes, not verbal ones.

By Laura Ries

1. The lime.

Until 2009, there had never been a Mexican brand on a list of 100 most valuable global brands compiled by Interbrand, considered the world’s leading brand consultant.

There is now: Corona, the beer with the lime on top of the bottle.

Today, Corona is the 86th most valuable global brand, worth $3.9 billion. In the United States, Corona outsells Heineken, the No. 2 imported beer, by more than 50 percent.

20

|

October – November 2012

|

2. The chalice.

3. The silver bullet.

A second imported beer is moving up the ladder in America and for exactly the same reason Corona was so successful. It’s Stella Artois from Belgium.

Stella Artois is the Budweiser of Belgium, so ordinary fast-food restaurants sell it in plastic cups.

No plastic cups for Stella Artois in the U.S. market. The importer provided bars and restaurants with its unique, gold-tipped chalice glasses.

Today, Stella Artois is one of the top 10 imported beer brands in America.

The only mainstream beer that has increased its market share in the past few years is Coors Light, the silver bullet.

Coors Light has already passed Miller Lite, the first light-beer brand, and recently Coors Light also steamed past Budweiser to become the second largest-selling beer brand in America.

850businessmagazine.com

4. The duck.

Then there’s the remarkable transformation of Aflac, the company that brought us the duck. In the year 2000, the company had name recognition of just 12 percent.

Today it’s 94 percent. And sales have gone up just as dramatically.

The first year after the duck arrived, Aflac sales increased 29 percent. And 28 percent the second year. And 18 percent the third year.

5. The pink ribbon.

In 1982, Nancy Brinker started a foundation to fight breast cancer in memory of her sister, Susan G. Komen, who had died from the disease. Since then, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has raised nearly $2 billion.

Today, it’s the world’s largest nonprofit source of money to combat breast cancer. A recent Harris poll of non-profit charitable brands rated Komen for the Cure as the charity that consumers were “Most likely to donate to.”

6. The red soles.

7. The green jacket.

Look at the success of Christian Louboutin, a French designer who regularly tops The Luxury Institute’s index of “most prestigious women’s shoes.”

In 1992, he applied red nail polish to the sole of a shoe because he felt the shoes lacked energy.

“This was such a success,” he reported, “that it became a permanent fixture.” And ultimately built the phenomenally successful Louboutin brand.

In the world of professional golf, there are four major championships: (1) The U.S. Open, (2) The British Open, (3) The PGA Championship and (4) The Masters. The first three are hosted by major golf organizations, but the Masters is hosted by a private club, the Augusta National Golf Club.

Every, year the Masters gets more attention than any of the other three events.

8. The colonel.

Consider KFC, now the leading fast-food restaurant chain in China with more than 3,800 units in 800 cities.

To most Chinese people, the letters “K F C” mean nothing, but Col. Sanders is known as a famous American and the leading friedchicken brand.

9. The Coke bottle.

10. The cowboy.

What Coca-Cola calls its “contour” bottle is 96 years old. Few are currently sold but recently, the company gave its iconic bottle a major role to play in its advertising programs.

The results have been impressive.

Recently Diet Coke passed regular PepsiCola to become the second best-selling cola drink.

And look what the cowboy has done for Marlboro cigarettes.

The year Marlboro was introduced, there were four strong cigarette brands in America: Lucky Strike, Camel, Winston and Chesterfield.

Yet today, Marlboro is by far the leading brand, outselling the next 13 brands combined.

It’s also the world’s best-selling cigarette brand.

Excerpted from a “Visual Hammer,” a book written by Laura Ries, president of Ries & Ries, a marketing consulting firm in Atlanta.

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

21

Executive Mindset

Leading Healthy JOIN THE WELLNESS INITIATIVE

Take a Stand Tallahassee office ‘stands up’ for health

By Kayla Becker

Shannon colavecchio Director Moore Consulting Group

22

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

SCOTT HOLSTEIN; Statistics medicalbillingandcoding.org

C

lients and colleagues who pass Shannon Colavecchio’s office door are sometimes surprised at what they see — she’s standing up for most of the day, eye-level with her computer screen at an elevated desk.

Colavecchio, a director of Moore Consulting Group as well as an avid fitness instructor and blogger, didn’t just misplace her chair. As part of the office’s in-house Wellness Program, she opted for a healthier lifestyle by switching to a stand-up desk.

A new phenomenon in the workplace, the stand-up desk is an easy-to-assemble attachment that sits on top of the normal desk surface, making sitting a bad habit of the past.

“If you think about it, we sit everywhere all the time,” Colavecchio said. “We never walk anywhere, we drive.

Compared to 50 or even 20 years ago, we are just not moving enough.”

In fact, sitting could be killing you. According to an eye-opening infographic from Medical Billing and Coding, people with sitting jobs have twice the rate of cardiovascular disease as people with standing jobs.

Though most Americans continue to sit on average 9.3 hours daily both at home and in the office, research has shown there are severe health consequences to lounging for too long. As soon as you sit down, electrical activity in your leg muscles shuts off, calorie burning drops to one per minute and enzymes that help break down fat drop by 90 percent.

Just by standing during office hours, workers who use the stand-up desk see improved circulation and core strengthening, increased energy, productivity and brainpower and less back pain.

“It actually started to help in terms of taking pressure

SITTING INCREASES RISK OF DEATH UP TO 40%

0.7 Hr/Day

Average Physical Activity (Waking Hours): 6.5 Hr/Day

Sedentary Low-Intensity Physical Activity

9.3 Hr/Day

Medium-Vigorous Physical Activity

SITTING MAKES US FAT Obese people sit for 2.5 more hours per day than thin people.

Between 1980 and 2000:

» Exercise rates stayed the same » Sitting time increased 8% » Obesity doubled 1 in 3 Americans is obese Sitting expends almost no energy

off of my back, and I had more energy,” Colavecchio said.

“You also burn more calories when you stand than if you sit. It’s minimal, but if you do it for eight hours a day, it adds up.”

So far, the stand-up desk is catching on. Another colleague, Jaime Fortune, started doing her own research on the benefits of standing. When she came across “Drop Dead Healthy,” a book detailing author A.J. Jacobs’s quest for a healthy lifestyle, Fortune was convinced.

“What really got to me is even if you work out consistently, you don’t reap any benefits of exercising if you sit for eight hours,” she said.

To test out the benefits, Fortune fashioned a makeshift stand-up desk out of copy paper boxes, and after just a couple of days, she was hooked. Now she always keeps a pair of comfy shoes under her stand-up desk.

“It’s funny because I don’t get tired of standing for long periods, but now when I sit for more than 30 minutes I do get lethargic,” Fortune said.

Not long after, Jim Hunt, vice president of Moore Consulting, also ordered a stand-up desk to help with tense shoulders and uncomfortable muscles that resulted from sitting.

“Before, I swapped chairs and did everything I could to get comfortable, but standing makes the difference,” Hunt said. “I leave here with more energy at the end of the day.”

With two other employees in the process of ordering their desks, Colavecchio is glad that the company’s Wellness Program is paving the way for a healthy office lifestyle with stand-up desks.

“I’m excited that we’re doing it, and if we can be an example to other people in the office or to people in Tallahassee, I think it’s great.” n

% Energy Increase Above Sitting 50

100

150

200

250

Standing Chewing Gum Walking Climbing Stairs

HOW SITTING WRECKS YOUR BODY People with sitting jobs have twice the rate of cardiovascular disease as people with standing jobs.

As Soon As You Sit: Electrical activity in the leg muscles shuts off Calorie burning drops to 1 per minute Enzymes that help break down fat drop 90% After 2 Hours: Good cholesterol drops 20% After 24 Hours: Insulin effectiveness drops 24% and risk of diabetes rises

GET OUT OF YOUR CHAIR For many of us, sitting for 8 hours a day at our job is inevitable.

But it’s the extra sitting outside of work that turns a serious problem potentially deadly.

Walking burns 3–5 times the calories that sitting does.

Take every opportunity to walk around the office.

Stretching

850 Business Magazine

Walking

|

Jumping Jacks

October – November 2012

|

23

Business Law

Legally Speaking Can you go it alone, or is it time to call a professional?

By Tisha Crews Keller

S

ooner or later, it’s going to happen to everyone.

So experts and small business owners alike agree: Form a relationship with a business attorney before you need one.

If you’re in business, chances are you’ve already dealt with a situation where you needed an attorney — whether you know it or not. From incorporation to employee I-9 forms, the advice of a competent legal mind can save you money, worry and time in the long run.

“A large amount of small businesses fail,” says Michael Jones, partner at Matthews Jones & Hawkins, a multi-service legal practice in Destin. “But you have to be able to take the risk — because nothing risked is nothing gained. And small businesses have the same [legal] protections as anyone, even GMC and Ford.”

Jones explains that sometimes small business owners (SBOs) don’t fully understand that the legal framework of business law means most any business transaction can be designed to protect the SBO’s own interests and allow the owner to take the risk necessary to grow their business.

“The number one concern of a SBO is personal liability,” Jones says.

The right legal partner and advice gives owners peace of mind, because they want their personal liability to end at their family — they don’t want to put their loved ones (and personal wealth) at risk for the growth of the business.

Shane Fischer, an attorney and president of Shane E. Fischer, P.A. in Winter Park, Fla., agrees. “Whether it’s

24

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

reviewing vendor contracts, leases or representing you in a lawsuit, you’re really only hiring an attorney for one reason, to protect your business from loss,” he explains. “Alternatively, if loss is unavoidable, [your attorney] should seek to minimize the damage from a lawsuit.”

So, if you’re the SBO looking for an attorney, do you start with the phone book? And how do you know when you need to find the right legal partner?

Brothers in Arms Matthews Jones & Hawkins deals with hundreds of SBOs, from real estate to banking to retail and professional services. According to partner Dana Matthews, there’s one common denominator among them all: Solid legal advice on the front end makes for a better outcome in the long run.

By and large, Matthews notes, “Clients don’t understand contract language and that ends them up in a dispute. A handshake deal ain’t papered and isn’t enforceable.”

Understanding that verbal agreements are not appropriate in business is something the “gentleman business owner” in Northwest Florida often learns the hard way.

Lila Jaber, a shareholder at the Tallahassee office of Gunster, provides perspective from both a legal and SBO standpoint. “The right attorney, especially with a pre-existing relationship, is better equipped to act quickly to help with acquisition paperwork, incorporation and business filings, business structure and finding the appropriate employment structure.”

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

25

26

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

B u s i n e s s L aw

“Clients don’t understand contract language and that ends them up in a dispute. A handshake deal ain’t papered and isn’t enforceable.” ➢ Dana Matthews, partner at Matthews Jones & Hawkins

Insulating these issues with legal representation actually mitigates the exposure a small business has to lawsuits and disputes, she explains. Essentially, getting it right the first time is your best defense against costly and potentially disastrous legal situations.

Mark Bonfanti, a labor and employment attorney with Gunster, points out that when seeking a business attorney SBOs should keep in mind that general [legal] practitioners are not the best suited to fit corporate needs. “It can be a potential pitfall to hire an attorney who is unfamiliar with the business region and workforce,” he explains.

Justin Meyer of Meyer and Associates, Counselors at Law, PLLC, practices in New York, New Jersey and Florida. He agrees that finding an attorney familiar with your business is ideal.

“You want an attorney who knows your business,” he says. “Not one who is first learning how everything is done when you are trying to get a deal finished.”

When the attorney knows about your business, they can most likely give better — and more timely — advice.

“Small business owners need lawyers for all kinds of reasons,” Fischer notes, “such as business formation, negotiating contracts, employment or for litigation when they need to sue or are being sued. Rarely can one attorney help with all those issues, which is why it’s important to build a relationship with at least one attorney who you know and trust. Since the legal community is pretty tight knit, even if your lawyer friend can’t help you with a particular issue, chances are they can refer you to another attorney who can.”

The typical situations in which SBOs need legal advice are the ones you’d expect: startup, HR, tax and regulatory compliance and collections. Let’s take a closer look at each of these and the legal implications for a small business.

Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

Business Structure and Startup Whether you’re going it alone as a business owner or beginning with partners, choosing the best business model is key.

Matthews considers his firm a very proactive legal partner. Business consulting is a large part of what they offer SBOs. “When we have a client that wants to open a new business,” he says, “we are very proactive in finding the business entity that best suits them.”

Working with the client’s CPA, Matthews discusses the best model for the business and sets up the legal framework, while the

accounting expert works on the books. Getting the infrastructure right is key, he says.

Key ingredients to the formulation of the proper business setup include: looking at the risk package, the number of partners and their individual financial situations, the financial goals of the business, figuring out if all parties intend to invest long term and what they want to do money-wise, the tax advantages available, tax compliance issues, amount of partner participation and exposure limitations.

Leases and Real Estate Transactions A lease of any kind includes any number of rights and obligations that the SBO may not understand. From improvements to code violations, knowing what you as the business occupant are required to handle and what your commercial landlord is on the hook for can be a potentially costly misstep if you’re not careful.

For instance, Jones had a client that wanted to form a new business. He entered into a commercial lease for five years — before the building was finished. This professional, while an expert in his own right, didn’t really understand the contract language and when the lease payments would begin.

He found out that the rent was due before his business was viable, so he went looking for a business partner to help raise capital. The new partner was Jones’ client and came to him with an unfortunately typical scenario.

Upon review of the business setup and obligations on behalf of his client, Jones found that the landlord was unwilling to pay for any building construction — and the first partner had unwittingly agreed in the lease to pay for all improvements. So, before committing fully, these two partners needed help to find out the setup costs, budgeting and inherited problems stemming from the original (uninformed) lease agreement. Had they started the venture with the proper legal counsel, this costly lease situation could have been avoided altogether.

HR and Immigration Traps One of the hairiest aspects of business — and rightly so — is employment law. When dealing with people who depend on you for their livelihood and in turn whom you depend on for yours, situations are usually ripe for legal pitfalls.

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

27

B u s i n e s s L aw

“Many times businesses get into trouble with I-9s because they either don’t have one for each employee, the ones they have aren’t filled out correctly or they aren’t treating all I-9s the same. Basically, the information you collect for any employee you have to collect for all — no more, no less.” Elizabeth Ricci of Rambana & Ricci ➢

28

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

they are hired whether it can be transferred to your business.

Legal issues don’t end after successful employment, though.

Hiring, firing, payment and discipline have tripped up many business owners.

Proactive employee training on policies and procedures is one way to decrease the likelihood of future — and costly — litigation, says Bonfanti. Open communication with employees and an attorney during critical decision making will help ensure legal compliance. This includes how to structure work environments, chains of command and employee management challenges.

Many lawyers will tell you that making the most out of an employment relationship is the best route — instead of just jumping to the termination conclusion. Even with Florida’s liberal employment laws, it usually pays to protect your business investment in employees and try to make the relationship work, even with your feistiest people.

According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), most employee performance problems can be resolved with early, effective communication with employees. Among their list of early-intervention techniques are: clear communication, feedback loops, training and positive reinforcement.

When dealing with performance issues, it’s important to work with your attorney for guidance and document the problems and the attempts at resolution. The more difficult the problem, the more important it is to deal correctly with the situation. As NFIB points out, with the increase in employment litigation, you can better protect your business by giving challenging employees the chance to make it right before you take disciplinary or termination actions.

(Get more tips at www.nfib.com.)

Dealing with Uncle Sam and His Cousins Tax and regulatory compliance is a major headache for many SBOs. Hands-down, the number one piece of advice for dealing with them is to talk with your attorney early in the process. If you receive a notice of tax audit, your attorney should be your first call. If you have regulatory compliance issues, always dial your lawyer immediately. Every business sector has its own specific set of laws and regulations governing the industry. Know these rules well and be sure you fall into compliance. Your lawyer should be well versed in the issues that affect you and always be comfortable discussing them with your counsel.

Photo by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

Immigration issues, for instance, can be complex. Especially in the agriculture sector of the 850, dealing with the often indispensable yet non-citizen employee is a common dilemma.

Buffalo-based immigration attorney Julie Kruger explains that lawyers specializing in immigration issues can provide advice on complying with federal laws in hiring new employees, verifying employment eligibility of newly hired employees and the types of documentation status that can be requested. Immigration lawyers can also help SBOs who are foreign nationals themselves to get either immigrant or non-immigrant status in the U.S. and can help business owners who want to sponsor a foreign national employee.

Kruger’s advice is to use a seasoned immigration attorney and be very organized to avoid chaos and costly confusion.

Likewise, Tallahassee-based immigration law expert Elizabeth Ricci of Rambana & Ricci knows that many SBOs get into trouble with the employment verification process. She sees this problem in most any business sector, but especially in manufacturing, aquaculture, construction, technology and education. Many employees in these areas are from other nations such as Canada, Mexico, Africa, India and China. Far from a blue-collar problem, many businesses employ highly skilled professionals from outside the U.S. Regardless of the occupation, though, the responsibility for correctly verifying employment and structuring supervision and equality in the business structure falls directly on the SBO. Even when using a third-party placement company — as many high-tech companies do — things can get complicated.

“Immigration is stepping up their investigation and enforcement activity on these professional placement firms,” Ricci warns. “Employers will want to make sure their I-9s are in order.” (The I-9 is the one-page document that verifies eligibility for employment — and applies to U.S. citizen workers and non-citizens alike.)

“Many times businesses get into trouble with I-9s because they either don’t have one for each employee, the ones they have aren’t filled out correctly or they aren’t treating all I-9s the same,” Ricci warns. “Basically, the information you collect for any employee you have to collect for all — no more, no less.”

Typically, it’s the revenue audits that find immigration problems: the IRS, Florida Department of Revenue or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reviews. The main point for SBOs is to ensure ALL your employees have work authorization and find out before

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

29

“A reputable, experienced lawyer can be a true business partner who can help a business achieve its goals.”

New laws are passed every year. Some of those may negatively affect how you run your business, while others may lighten the load for documentation, etc. Many firms that deal regularly with SBOs make it a priority to keep clients educated about new case law and the changes that affect Florida businesses.

Likewise, if your particular industry sees new federal rules that apply to your business, you should always get legal advice on how to implement those changes at your company. For instance, a trucking company may need to change its documentation procedures to fit the new Hours of Service regulation with regard to driving hours and professional drivers. Without a clear understanding of your situation, though, it can be hard to determine if any — or all — of a new regulation applies to you.

Show Me the Money If you’re in business, then you know by now that getting paid is one of your biggest and most important headaches. According to

30

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

➢

Robert Sniffen, managing partner of Sniffen & Spellman, P.A., Tallahassee

Daniel Uhlfelder, a Santa Rosa Beach attorney, the most important aspect of collecting payment is having a good written contract that addresses payment issues.

“The contract should spell out the remedies available for nonpayment and give a roadmap for how collection processes will take place,” he explains. “I would recommend you have competent counsel draft the agreement. If it is done correctly, it is worth the cost.”

Uhlfelder also says that while not required, a written contract makes collection efforts much easier since there is a clear understanding of the rights of the parties involved. Breach of contract claims are much more straightforward and easier to litigate than breach of oral contract or other claims.

If you have the contract in place and still find yourself waiting on a check, what is the right course of action?

“Do not allow outstanding invoices to go beyond a month or two,” Uhlfelder advises. “The longer the delay in payment, the less

B u s i n e s s L aw

likely you will get paid.” He recommends that you try in-house collections first — through phone calls and letters.

“Do not be too brash or overbearing at first,” he warns. “Try a phone call or personal note and be understanding. If you are unable to get results that way, I suggest you send a certified letter seeking payment.

If that doesn’t work, seek legal counsel about your next steps.”

In addition, if you are considered a debt collector based on your particular line of work (a person or entity regularly attempting to collect consumer debts — including lawyers — are considered “debt collectors” by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act), there are restrictions on what you can do to collect payment. If you are concerned about engaging in harassment, Uhlfelder suggests you contact an attorney to go over acceptable debt collection practices.

Additionally, your attorney can give you the green light on moving on to a collection agency if need be.

“Do not allow outstanding invoices to go beyond a month or two.

The longer the delay in payment, the less likely you will get paid.”

Daniel Uhlfelder, Santa Rosa Beach

➢

PhotoS by SCOTT HOLSTEIN

Budgeting for Disaster When thinking about attorneys, many SBOs think cost, first. However, it’s important to remember that whether you want to budget for it or not, sooner or later you’re likely to need legal counsel.

“The amount you’ll want to budget for legal fees varies depending upon the size of your business,” Jones points out. “Definitely budget a certain number of hours per month or year for maintenance. When you think about it, insurance is a budgeted protection. It should be the same for legal protection.”

Sometimes, high-risk businesses do set aside a dollar amount in their annual budgets. Just like your CPA, renewal fees, licensing fees, etc., legal counsel is an important cost to plan for in advance.

Fortunately, many lawyers are willing to negotiate costs to get a new client. So, how much should the SBO set aside for legal advice?

Most lawyers refrain from offering dollar amounts, but they will talk in hourly ballpark figures. Jones offers this guidance: » A mom/pop retail operation can count on at least 5–10 hours of legal work per year, just for review and routine issues. » Professional services like doctors and accountants are looking at 10–20 hours per year.

However, these issues tend to bleed over into the personal realm, so if you venture very far into estate planning or divorce issues, you can count on more time in the attorney’s office. Once you get into litigation of any kind, the number of hours is unpredictable.

Fischer points out that most lawyers bill hourly, but some will do a flat fee, especially for routine filings or business setup costs. Discuss with your attorney which is more comfortable — and feasible — for you.

If you don’t want to be charged a lot of money, have a plan in mind before you get to the attorney’s office. This way, you can narrow the issues and the bill.

“Most lawyers won’t admit this because they love ambiguity — as large legal fees reside in that ambiguity,” he goes on. “For example, if you’re not sure what type of legal entity to establish for your business, do some preliminary research so you have at least some idea of what you want and can narrow the issues with your attorney during your meeting, saving you money.”

Fischer also says being completely honest with your lawyer is a good

way to save on legal costs. Attorney-client communications are private, so don’t worry about the weaknesses in your case. Your legal counsel needs to know all the aspects of your issue to make the best strategy.

“Don’t worry that we’ll see you as stupid or a bad person if you admit mistakes,” he promises. “We’re used to it and won’t judge you personally. However, if you lie and we rely upon your lie, it could affect your case strategy — and, in severe cases, ethics rules might force us to withdraw. So, be honest with your lawyer!”

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

31

B u s i n e s s L aw

WHO TO CALL Tallahassee attorney Rob Sniffen, managing partner of Sniffen & Spellman, P.A., believes businesses should demand a clear, straightforward assessment at the front end of the attorney relationship and find out what range of service is involved.

“An experienced lawyer can typically provide a range of what the business might expect to pay for the representation,” he says.

Ultimately, it’s up to you how much your business will spend on legal fees. If you plan in advance and get good legal counsel in setting up and running your business, you will save yourself a ton of money on missed opportunities for litigation. If, however, you go it alone with an online legal service or copy an old collections contract, you will set yourself up for disaster.

Most seasoned SBOs believe it’s better to get good advice and follow it rather than search for legal representation in the midst of heated litigation. Regardless of when and how you find your attorney, make sure you’re getting what you need and want out of the relationship.

Remember, though, that your attorney is your ally but not your partner in crime.

Lawyers are professionals who will help you find the best solution for your business, but only to the point of legality. They must abide by certain codes of conduct and ethics, so don’t count on getting too cozy.

“It’s a business relationship, so if you’re looking for a therapist, a support group or someone to share war stories with, save your lawyer fees and buy drinks for a friend. It’s cheaper,” Fischer advises.

What you need, according to Sniffen, is “responsiveness, honesty and someone who tells you what you need to hear — not necessarily what he or she thinks you want to hear. A reputable, experienced lawyer can be a true business partner who can help a business achieve its goals. Forming a long-term relationship with an attorney develops a bond of trust and candor that is worth its weight in gold.” n

Advertisement

For the legal needs of your business — and yourself — here’s Who to Call in Northwest Florida.

SNIFFEN & SPELLMAN, P.A. 123 N. Monroe St. Tallahassee, FL 32301 | (850) 205-1996 sniffenlaw.com

Matthews Jones & Hawkins, LLP 4475 Legendary Drive, Destin, FL 32541 | (850) 837-3662 323 E. John Sims Parkway, Niceville, FL 32578 | (850) 729-7440

Avoiding Common Legal Issues

destinlaw.com

The National Federation of Independent Business compiled this list of legal problems to avoid (and how to do it) at www.nfib.com: » Be careful with employee relations. Vagueness is your No. 1 enemy. Be clear about expectations and consequences with employees and document everything. The list of potential problems includes discipline, full-time versus contract work, policies and procedures, basis for termination, immigration and citizenship inquiries, etc. » Leave out the sexual harassment. While not the sexy issue (no pun intended) it was in the 1990s, sexism and unfortunate behaviors in the workplace still abound. Make sure a clear paper trail follows all accusations and clear communication is present — always. » Get it in writing with customers and vendors. Use an experienced attorney to draw up your contracts, and don’t try to cut corners here. Set a blanket policy to steer clear of oral agreements, and you’ll more likely end up the winner in disputes such as collections, property rights, etc. » Keep it your intellectual property. Get with an attorney to decide the best way to document your ideas, inventions, copyrights, trademarks, patents and more. Figure out what independent contract workers, partner companies, fulltime employees, etc., own and don’t own with regard to your business. » Spell out financial relationships. From investors to shareholders to family and friends, be clear about who invested what, how much they get for the investment and when/how it will be paid. Also be aware of disclosure issues, and get your attorney’s advice on documenting and solidifying these deals.

32

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

clark Partington Hart Law Firm (888) 777-5105 www.cphlaw.com

Harrison Sale McCloy 304 Magnolia Ave., Panama City, FL 32401 | (850) 769-3434 hsmclaw.com

PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

MATTHEWS JONES & HAWKINS, LLP

Michael Jones and Dana Matthews What kind of law do you specialize in?

Matthews Jones & Hawkins transaction and litigation teams encompass a full spectrum of real estate representation, estate planning, asset protection, corporate reorganization and complex work-out transactions, bankruptcy, civil, criminal, family law and personal injury. The firm has attorneys licensed in federal and state courts in Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, District of Columbia, Alaska and has offices in Destin and Niceville.

Tell us about your recent expansion of staff and services.

Dana Matthews started the Destin firm in 1983. Michael Jones had his own firm and since 1984 served our region with diligence, compassion and integrity in the areas of personal injury, probate and estate planning. “Mike and I have been best friends since age 12 and decided to spend the rest of our careers working side by side,” says Dana Matthews. Over the past year they hired three new attorneys to handle the firm’s growing litigation practice.

What is your business philosophy?

We truly believe hard work and our free enterprise system in a democratic society make it possible to turn dreams into reality. When you incorporate that concept into the desire to provide unparalleled service to clients in need, success and client satisfaction will result.

You made a bold choice to use a panther to symbolize your firm in your marketing campaign. Why? The Florida panther’s strength, agility and tenacity are the qualities our clients expect and deserve.

What is the “secret” to your success?

Client service is key to our law practice.

Our clients can expect an honest assessment of their legal situation without empty promises. We strive to develop relationships with each and every client so that our attorneys and staff have a clear understanding of each individual client’s personal and business needs.

4475 Legendary Drive Destin I 850.837.3662

What does the future hold for your firm?

The growth and success of Matthews Jones & Hawkins throughout the past quarter century has been tied to the growth and vitality of Northwest Florida. We expect that relationship to continue into the future.

destinlaw.com

323 E. John Sims Parkway Niceville I 850.729.7440

PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

SNIFFEN & SPELLMAN, P.A.

Robert J. Sniffen & Michael P. Spellman Firm Specialties: Labor and employment law, civil rights defense, education law, law enforcement liability, insurance defense.

Business philosophy: There are four core concepts that guide us: strength, agility, experience and commitment.

Special benefits you bring to a business client: Our lawyers are devoted to our clients and have a tremendous amount of experience in their respective practice areas.

Most common legal mistake a business can make: In the world of employment law, failure to address an issue early before it becomes a problem, can leave the client vulnerable to a lawsuit.

Best advice for a business owner: Preventive maintenance is crucial to a business. The key is to anticipate problems and put the right measures in place before a lawsuit is initiated.

What is the “secret” of your professional success?

Treat your clients fairly, put their interests above your own and be responsive to their needs.

How do you measure success?

Assisting our clients in problem solving and helping their businesses navigate through legal challenges.

Awards, honors: Our firm is “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in its “Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers,” which identifies the most distinguished law firms in the nation. We have been listed in Florida Trend’s Legal Elite and The Best Lawyers in America (since 2007).

“Being a lawyer is not a job, it is a profession, one in which our interests are put below those of our client. To be a selfless servant to our clients and their enterprises is a gratifying calling.” Robert Sniffen, Managing Partner

What makes your law firm unique?

We pride ourselves on how responsive we are to our clients.

Sniffen & Spellman, P.A.

123 North Monroe Street Tallahassee I (850) 205-1996

sniffenlaw.com

PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

CLARK PARTINGTON HART LARRY BOND & STACKHOUSE

Law Firm “Our attorneys draw on their thorough knowledge to implement effective strategies and explore remedies for resolution in a broad range of practice areas.

Experience is what makes us stand out.”

Clark Partington Hart Larry Bond & Stackhouse opened in 1976 and concentrates on business law, including commercial transactions, real estate and wide-ranging litigation. Serving primarily Northwest Florida-based businesses, the firm’s attorneys provide specialized legal services for anyone needing assistance with business, banking, real property, litigation, taxation, wills, trust and estates.

Why did you choose this region for your business?

Our shareholders saw and continue to see tremendous opportunities to help growing businesses succeed. As the largest Florida firm headquartered west of Tallahassee, we’ve been honored to continue serving a growing list of clients from our region and beyond.

Has your business expanded recently?

We recently opened a new office in Tallahassee, which has grown from

106 E. College Ave., Suite 600 Tallahassee I 850.597.7483

three to seven employees in 18 months. We look forward to assisting our clients with their growing needs and are committed to expanding our staff as necessary to meet those needs.

How do you measure success?

Our clients’ success is our success. We offer a full range of clientfocused legal services, and we’ve seen our clients’ businesses grow and prosper.

How would you describe your business philosophy?

We strive to assist clients throughout the Panhandle with their legal needs, and we welcome the chance to make a difference in the communities we serve.

One Pensacola Plaza, Suite 800 125 West Romana St., Pensacola I 850.434.9200

cphlaw.com

34990 Emerald Coast Parkway, Suite 301 Destin I 850.650.3304

Consulting

Game Changer

When things get tough on the field of business, it may be time for a consultant, or a coach, to help restore perspective and purpose, or manage a complex system.

By Jason Dehart, PHOTOS BY SCOTT HOLSTEIN

business is tough. In this economy, it’s tougher. Sometimes, you need to stop and reexamine your strategy and your team’s performance. Other times, you need help to successfully carry out a large project.

Let’s use a sports analogy for a moment.

It’s fourth-and-forever on the other team’s 20yard line. You’re taking your last time out to talk things over with your quarterback. Do you try for a touchdown, go for a field goal, settle for a loss, a tie, go back to the training room, restructure your entire team or acquire the other team’s franchise in a leveraged buy-out?

But the questions don’t end there.

How is the team’s morale? Do they feel that the work they do is valued by the boss, and that there’s a greater purpose for their labors beyond making touchdowns and collecting a paycheck?

Is each team member in the right position to maximize his or her skillset? Are they all communicating efficiently and effectively? Do they have the right training? Are they able to relax and breathe once the job is done, or are they drowning under a relentless schedule?

It’s these kinds of questions the business consultant — or, nowadays, a business coach — is here to help answer.

“Business consulting has been around forever,” said Mark Raciappa, a Tallahassee-based

36

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

certified business coach with ActionCOACH Business Coaching. Recognized as a leading global business-coaching firm, it’s one of the most awarded franchises in the world today.

“Business coaching” is a new methodology for solving old challenges, Raciappa said. Namely, how do we run better businesses, how do we make more money, how do we attract and keep the right people, how do we market to our customers, how do we get them to come back?

“Consultants have been dealing with those questions for eons,” he said.

Raciappa likes using a sports metaphor to describe how he works.

“In most cases you have athletes and you have a coach. The athlete represents the raw skill and talent, and the coach I like to say represents the old man with a clipboard and whistle,” he said. “He’s there to teach and train, to help refine. Come game day, though, the coach is on the sidelines and the players are out there competing on the field. And, periodically, they come back over to the sidelines to huddle with the coach and talk about what’s working, what’s not, what needs to change, what we need to do differently. So the coach again analyzes the game plan, the strategy, makes the assignments, sends the players back on the field.

That’s basically what I do.”

VISION

LEADERSHIP GOALS

TEAMWORK SUCCESS

INSPIRE MOTIVATE

MENTO R

Building a Winning Team Tallahassee Business Coach Mark Raciappa huddles with his clients to talk about what’s working, what’s not and what needs to change to achieve success.

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

37

Calling in the Experts Companies need to call for help when they’re facing major challenges or changes that require an expertise they don’t have, says Barbara Ray, of international business consulting firm North Highland.

Coaching a business team in that manner requires an intermittent presence over a period of time, but sometimes companies, corporations and entire government sectors can face singular problems that require the services of a more conventional business consultant.

“It depends on the organization and depends on their direction, but typically a consultant will come in to solve a problem at a given point in time and ultimately work themselves out of a job,” said Barbara Ray, vice president and office leader of the Tallahassee branch of North Highland, an international network of business consultants. North Highland has 49 offices in the United States and around the world, staffed with thousands of experienced leaders in the consulting industry.

Solving Problems Large and Small There are a number of different reasons why a business would want to hire a consultant.

38

|

October – November 2012

|

Companies generally hire consultants to advise on business or information technology (IT) initiatives that exceed the skills or expertise of their existing staff, according to Travis Goins, vice-president of Pensacola’s H2 Performance Consulting Group. H2PC was founded in 2005 and today is a management consulting company that primarily provides project management services. Goins estimates that at least 60 percent of the company’s current work is focused on “enterprise architecture” or project management for enterprise information technology systems.

Let’s say something happens in the life cycle of a particular company that doesn’t happen on a regular basis. Updating your information management technology is a good example.

Those kinds of systems may not be changed out but once every five to 10 years. The state of Florida, and the federal government for that matter, may not change out a system but once

850businessmagazine.com

every 20 or 30 years. Therefore, you may not have the expertise on staff to handle that kind of a major change.

In some cases, the change involves millions of users and huge, complex systems. Goins said that H2PC currently manages certain upgrades to the Veterans Administration’s post-911 G.I. Bill system. After the terrorist attacks on 911, Congress passed a new G.I. Bill for veterans, and a new payment management system was needed to pay the participating educational institutions. That was no small task, he said.

“That would be a good example of a multiyear, complex project because of its size, importance and number of users,” he said. “It’s important that payments get processed appropriately.”

In general, though, Goins said that any company, regardless of whether a start-up or a Fortune 500, may find itself in need of external expertise.

“However, high growth companies tend to use us the most on the commercial side, because

C o n s u lt i n g

they need to move quickly and sometimes don’t have the time or resources or long-term need to expand their permanent staff,” he said.

North Highland’s Ray said that situations requiring a consultant are not unlike being a fulltime writer who needs to repair a leaky roof. It’s a complex job that he could possibly do on his own, with the proper preparation, but to be on the safe side, winds up hiring an expert roofer to tackle the problem for him.

“You can take time and your weekends and nights and read books and manuals and figure how to repair your roof. But since you probably only need to repair your roof once a decade, and you’d want it done right, you’ll probably hire outside help. It’s the same as that,” she said.

Consultants also are there to take certain companies, like banks, through the process of making even bigger changes. Geir Kjellevold, Ray’s colleague and principal at the Tallahassee branch of North Highland, said that during the early part of the recession clients such as banks needed consultants to help them go through mergers and acquisitions.

“That’s a good example of where consultants are often needed. To take you through a large change like that,” he said. “During the recession there were some companies and industries that scaled back on their usage of consultants and others, like in the example of banking, that would use them probably more than they had in the past because they were going through a lot of changes.”

Kjellevold said he also noticed that companies needing help to figure out where to cut costs and save money without affecting services or product offerings often called up consultants to help them figure things out.

“And so I think on the cost-cutting, cost-saving, greater operational and organizational efficiencies, that type of work, we saw continued need for those services,” he said.

Another case is where a smaller company suddenly finds itself growing by leaps and bounds. That can be unfamiliar territory, too, Kjellevold said.

“It depends on the organization and depends on their direction, but typically a consultant will come in to solve a problem at a given point in time and ultimately work themselves out of a job.” Barbara Ray, vice president and office leader of the Tallahassee branch of North Highland “So all of a sudden things are more complex than they were before. They were a smaller company before, now they’ve become twice the size and finding they’re training and stretching in all sorts of ways,” he said. “You can help them get to that next level. Or maybe they’re facing some competitive threats they haven’t seen before. They have to start thinking through how to address that.”

Oftentimes it might be that a company has a number of problems they’re trying to sort out. It can be difficult to distance yourself, Kjellevold said.

“You need somebody you can bring in who has an external perspective, someone who goes around and does this for a living and can spot the pattern and what looks to them (the business owner) maybe as unrelated things, to look for the underlying issue,” he said. “So that’s more problem-solving. They know they want to reach some next level, some next goal, but they don’t know quite how to get there. So I would

say consultants, if you want to think about it this way, we’re sort of part architect and part guides. We help you draw blueprints for how to get from one place to the other, and then we might help guide you to get there.”

Coach Versus Consultant Sometimes a business owner may want something simpler, such as improving communications and teamwork among employees. That’s where a business coach can be useful.

Denise Owens, a career and personal development coach and owner of Coaching Options in Tallahassee, offers coaching, training, assessments and sometimes helps facilitate team-building exercises. When she is hired by a company as a consultant, she will likely begin by making personality assessments that help coworkers learn how they fit in.

“Maybe they’ve got a new team of people together and they want to be able to have that group of people really work well together, to hit the ground running and not spend a lot of time trying to figure each other out. They want to be able to spend time doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” she said. “I would say my role is one of being a partner … connecting with people to find out where they are and help them get to where they want to be.”

Each participant in these exercises receives an assessment that gives them information about their behavioral style and also what Owens calls their workplace motivators. That report is an opportunity for them to learn about themselves, how they communicate, how they behave with other people and also what motivates them in the workplace.

“During the training they have an opportunity then to build what I call a ‘team wheel.’

“And that wheel is where they really do get a chance to see … how they communicate, what’s their behavioral style, and a lot of light bulbs go on at that moment,” Owens said. “That first training session is really a good opportunity for them to learn about each other to start the whole learning process.”

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

39

c o n s u lt i n g

In Owens’ line of work, it’s not unusual to have recurring clients that require ongoing coaching.

“I started my business in 2005, and I’m still working with my very first client,” she said. “She has continued to move around within her organization and she has been over different groups of people. So whenever she gets promoted or moves into a different job she’ll call me and say, ‘Denise, I need you to come in and do this with this group of people now.’ ” This continuous loop of feedback and affirmation is what makes “coaching” different from “consulting,” Raciappa said.

“If you engage a consultant to help you in your business, they come in, they analyze what’s going on, they ask you some questions and when they get done they basically say, ‘Okay, based on what you told me, here is what I think you should do,’ ” he said. “And then you have a credible opinion based on an expert in that industry.”

But having a credible opinion poses its own challenge, he said, because there are as many opinions as there are consultants. He cautioned that mere opinions may not get to the heart of the matter all the time.

“If we bring in 10 economists right now, which are one form of consultant, and ask all 10 of these knowledgeable, credible experienced experts what is their opinion of our recovery from this recession as a nation you will likely get 10 knowledgeable, credible different opinions. Now what do you do?” he said. “You’ve got 10 experts with varying degrees of prediction as to what is right and wrong. So here’s the primary difference. A consultant advises you what you should do, and a coach asks you what do you want to do.”

Choosing Wisely Selecting the right consultant for your particular job starts with doing your homework, Goins said.

“Look into and research the firms that are in the local and regional area to help keep travel budgets down. Ask organizations in your area, for example, if they need project management expertise for an enterprise-wide IT project, then reach out to the local branch of the Project

40

|

October – November 2012

|

Management Institute,” he suggested. “They will have member firms; certainly a few consulting companies among their members, who are certified as Project Management Professionals. Once these firms are located, then interview several companies and see if they are a fit for the initiative from both an expertise standpoint and culturally.”

The right cultural fit is very important, according to North Highland’s Barbara Ray and Geir Kjellevold.

“If you’re going to trust them to build a roadmap for whatever, solving the problem that needs to be solved and helping guide you there, I think first and foremost the cultures should be well aligned,” Ray said. “So if you’re looking for sort of the checklist, specific things to look for, I’d say that would be number one.”

Next, check to see if the prospective hire has a track record of solving problems, especially problems similar to what you’re experiencing.

And look for references. The last piece is looking for a consultant that has a track record of moving on once the job is done. You may not want someone who basically becomes a part of the staff. You want a consultant who will want to move your organization to whatever the next level is, or solve whatever problem is there in front of you — as opposed to doing it for you or becoming another staff member.

“There are some … that might be more looking for almost becoming a permanent part of your staff, in a way,” Kjellevold said. “That can be pretty expensive. And it’s probably not the best use of a consultant.”

However, long-term management of a complex system involves months, perhaps years, of client support, Goins said. It just depends on the types of service the consultant provides and what the customer’s needs are.

“We work with our clients from the beginning to establish a very specific scope of work with very specific deliverables over a specific timeline,” he said. “Those tend to be three, six or even 12 months in the commercial realm and longer in the federal market. Our philosophy is geared around helping the client through their project, to get them to a successful go-live and

850businessmagazine.com

“Look into and research the firms that are in the local and regional area to help keep travel budgets down.

Once these firms are located, then interview several companies and see if they are a fit for the initiative from both an expertise standpoint and culturally.”

Travis Goins, vice-president of Pensacola’s H2 Performance Consulting Group maybe just a little beyond go-live. After that, we like to turn over daily operational components to the client. Typically, we’ll help build a training plan early in the project life cycle to prepare the client’s staff for eventual hand-off.”

Meanwhile, your own mindset as a client is just as important and shouldn’t be overlooked when selecting a consultant. You have to be mentally prepared to “go back to school,” in some cases, and accept the changes suggested by the consultant.

“They should be open to the advice and recommendations from the consultant, however, the consultant has to do a good job in explaining why they are making recommendations,” Goins said. “Our philosophy is to give the client multiple options and then explain the pros and cons of each option. We also try and highlight what our other clients have done under similar circumstances.”

Providing the Resources When companies need to move quickly and don’t have the internal resources to handle complex, multi-year projects, consultants can provide them with multiple options — and sometimes highlight what others have done in similar circumstances, says Travis Goins, vice president of Pensacola’s H2 Performance Consulting Group.

In the business coaching line of work, Raciappa said, the client has to be mentally prepared to “hit the books.”

“I think it really is a function of peoples’ willingness to learn and grow and develop themselves,” he said. “Some people truthfully take the impression been there, done that, got the T-shirt. They don’t want to go back to school.

And those are the people who are not amenable to a coaching program because coaching is like going back to school. Some people don’t want that accountability.”

But that is what a business coach is there to do: provide a level of accountability that ensures a company’s objectives are reached. In a way, it’s similar to Ray’s philosophy of “teaching them to fish.”

“A coach wants to make sure you implement those great ideas you said you wanted to do, and then as a coach helps you assemble the game plan,” Raciappa said. “The coach now becomes your accountability partner. In essence, your conscience, to make sure that you’re going to in fact do all the things you said you were going to do. Coaching helps people do what they want to do and tends to help them get it done quicker.”

Ryan Boyett, owner of B&T Fencing, Inc., of Tallahassee, is one of Raciappa’s clients. He said there’s a certain amount of delayed gratification involved with this kind of consulting work, but it’s been worth it.

“It’s a very positive experience,” Boyett said.

“It’s like going to school. It keeps me from being

complacent or standing still. We meet with him once a week and go over the plan that is in place, where the problems are, what we want to change and how we want to change it.”

Boyett and his wife Elisabeth, the company president, have owned the business since 1999 and they signed on to ActionCOACH after attending a motivational open house seminar.

Inspired, they attended a consultation meeting, liked what they saw and signed up. Three weeks later, new office procedures inspired by the consultations allowed them to cut their accounts receivable in half.

“That is phenomenal,” Boyett said. “The biggest thing for me is there is no one above me to hold me accountable, but Mark holds me accountable.” n

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

41

Living A Dream Heather and Chris Thomas left the corporate life behind to help others share and experience their love of boating.

42

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

By Linda Kleindienst | Photos by Scott Holstein

Young leaders making their mark on the 850

F

rom a former major leaguer to a social media guru, the young business leaders we feature in this issue’s 40 Under 40 are having a major impact on economic development in the 850 region.

Four have started their own business and all are firm believers in the future of Northwest Florida. Like many others we have previously highlighted in this series, they feel there isn’t enough collaboration within the region to sell it nationally as a good location for new and expanding businesses.

Their combined business-savvy is awe-inspiring. More importantly, they’re enjoying their work today, fervently hoping to make an impact on Northwest Florida’s tomorrow.

Social media savvy Ryan Cohn started What’s Next Marketing right after graduating from Florida State University three years ago. In 2011, the company was named as a finalist by Forbes Magazine for America’s Most Promising Companies. The Ad Club of Boston named the company as Emerging Interactive Business at the 2011 South by Southwest Festival. No surprise then that this summer his company was acquired by Ron Sachs Communications — and that he’s writing a book to help business and government leaders navigate the fast-changing landscape of social/digital media platforms.

Another graduate of FSU, Jennifer Conoley is a mainstay for the Bay County Economic Development Alliance, where she heads up the marketing program. She got her professional start with Herrle Communications in Tallahassee and now lives in Panama City, where her job with the EDA is to promote Bay County to businesses looking to relocate.

Former FSU power hitter John-Ford Griffin, introduced this year to the FSU Baseball Hall of Fame, spent a decade playing in more than 1,000 major and minor league ballgames before returning to Tallahassee. He is the vision behind The Powermill, a 16,000-square-foot facility where he hopes to pass some of his knowledge on to middle and high school athletes through hands-on coaching and skill practice. He’s also started an apparel line named “hollachaboy.”

Jeremy Johnson is a Realtor who works on Pensacola Beach — and closed more than $4 million in sales during the first half of 2012 in spite of the economy. His grandmother established the first Pensacola Beach newspaper, The Islander, which his mom owns and manages today as Island Times. An expert marksman, he is in the process of opening a gun sales shop — and is involved in a rescue program for golden retrievers.

Chris Thomas left the high pressure life of working for a Fortune 100 company after his father, a Destin charter boat captain, passed away. He took early retirement from corporate life and returned to Destin with his wife, Heather, to start Destin Vacation Boat Rentals, now in its third year of operation. Heather Thomas does PR and marketing for the company. She has a tourism blog and was named one of the Amazing Women of 2011 by a top website for women.

Like the young leaders we have previously profiled, these six represent some of the best that Northwest Florida has to offer and are a credit to their community and the entire region. Our thanks go out to all of you in the community who have taken the time to nominate these young leaders of tomorrow.

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

43

John-Ford Griffin, 32 Tallahassee

Sports Entrepreneur Partner, The Powermill Sports Facility; Owner, Hollachaboy Apparel

Business Philosophy Always compete. Be the Harley.

My Work Entails Working with young athletes to develop the physical and mental skills necessary to compete at a higher level.

Definition of Success Success to me means that you accepted the challenge, overcame adversity and achieved your goal. Hollachaboy!

Mentor/Role Model My family as a unit has and always will be the inspiration in my life.

Family and friends are all that matter.

Hardest Lesson Learned That Mariano Rivera is that good!

My career After my career in baseball, I felt that I had a wealth of knowledge in how to prepare to compete and I wanted to pass that on to aspiring young athletes.

Important Leadership Skills Awareness.

Risk. Passion.

What advice would you give your 16-yearold self? Stay cool, brotha.

I get my inspiration from … The challenges life brings.

Northwest Florida Business Growth Inspire our youth to think hard work and commitment are two awesome traits to have.

What I plan to be doing in 10 years Not even close to thinking of that. I like to think life will be good to me if I work hard.

Community Involvement My job now gives me the pleasure of working with our community’s exceptionally talented youth. I love my job and hope I can inspire my kids to grow with confidence — on and off the field.

44

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

Jennifer Conoley, 29 Panama City

Economic Development Director of Marketing & Communication, Bay Economic Development Alliance

Business Philosophy Never stop learning, improving and exploring.

My Work Entails The Bay EDA team works with its strategic partners to enable the Bay County area to create new, quality jobs while sustaining and growing the existing economic base. I assist companies in locating or expanding their business in Bay County as well as develop marketing strategies designed to

promote our area as an ideal business location.

Definition of Success Success is setting and achieving goals, all while overcoming life’s obstacles and challenges.

Mentor/Role Model My role model is my dad. While he will always hold a special place in my heart for being my father, he also has instilled in me qualities that can only be taught through actions, such as determination, faith and passion. He knows how to handle tough situations and has shown me what it means to have a strong work ethic.

Hardest Lesson Learned Don’t be afraid to speak up for what you believe is right.

Important Skills for a Leader Honesty,

transparency, passion and the willingness to mentor others.

What advice would you give your 16-yearold self? Stop worrying so much! Life has a wonderful way of working itself out — especially when you’re motivated and focused on what’s important to you.

Northwest Florida Business Growth I am fortunate to help grow high-skill, high-wage jobs in Bay County every day through our local economic development efforts. I believe if we continue to create synergy in our local communities and throughout the region, Northwest Florida has all of the key economic development assets in place to be the next great growth area in Florida and the Southeast U.S.

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

45

Jeremy S. Johnson, 30 Gulf Breeze

Real Estate Sales & Community Association Management Broker Associate and Community Association Manager, Island Realty of Pensacola Beach

Business Philosophy Excellent service to facilitate repeat business.

My Work Entails As a Realtor, my primary focus is client relations. Attention to detail and excellent execution of real estate deals is imperative. As a community association manager, this requires oversight and

46

|

October – November 2012

|

management of a $1 million operating budget.

the curve, you’re falling behind.

Definition of Success Being respected by your colleagues for your skill and business ethics.

Important Leadership Skills Honesty, transparency, ownership and excellent communication skills.

Mentor/Role Model Quint Studer, founder of Studer Group and owner of Pensacola Blue Wahoos. I respect his willingness to take risks for the betterment of a community that he believes in and his unwavering commitment to do the right thing.

Hardest Lesson Learned Being successful in a tough economic market takes out-of-thebox solutions. You must continually develop your professional skill set and push yourself outside your comfort zone, as this is the only way to grow. If you’re not thinking ahead of

850businessmagazine.com

My Career The real estate industry always interested me, and a family friend introduced me to the business.

What advice would you give your 16-yearold self? The best years of your life are yet to come. Stay focused, work hard, have fun and the rest will fall into place.

Northwest Florida Business Growth Create incentives for high tech businesses to relocate their offices to Northwest Florida, bringing high paying jobs here.

Heather and Chris Thomas, 35 and 39 Destin

Small Business Owners Director of Operations (Chris) and Director of Communications (Heather), Destin Vacation Boat Rentals

Business Philosophy Be passionate about what you do.

My Work Entails Chris: Oversee the day-to-day operations of the business.

Heather: PR, marketing, social media and website development.

Definition of Success For us, success is finding something that you genuinely love to do and learning how to make a living doing it.

Mentor/Role Model Our families have both been instrumental in shaping the people we have become. Chris’s dad, in particular, is probably most responsible for the direction we have taken in our lives. We will always remember him for his drive, determination and passion for life and hope to someday pass his legacy down to our children through our example.

Hardest Lesson Learned Heather: That it’s okay to take risks. I spent a lot of time putting our goals and dreams on hold because I was afraid of failure.

My Career Chris: My dad passed away a few years ago, only six months after being diagnosed with cancer. It made us realize that life is too short not to spend it doing what you love. I decided that I wanted to follow in my Dad’s footsteps and put my knowledge of the charter fishing industry and love of boating to use by helping others enjoy the sport.

Important Leadership Skills Passion, drive and determination.

What advice would you give your 16-year-old self? Chris: Follow your instincts. Heather: Believe in yourself and don’t be afraid to take risks.

Northwest Florida Business Growth Empower future entrepreneurs with the courage to follow their dreams.

What I plan to be doing in 10 years Chris: I believe the journey is more important than the destination. Life presents us with so many unique opportunities and adventures, and right now I’m just looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us in the future.

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

47

Ryan Cohn, 25 Tallahassee

Communications Executive Vice President of Social/Digital Operations, Ron Sachs Communications

Business Philosophy Good is never good enough. Period.

My Work Entails We provide social and digital solutions to organizations, associations, brands and leaders nationwide, primarily focused on strategic leadership, grassroots advocacy and comprehensive analysis/positioning in the social sphere.

Definition of Success I’m a numbers guy and all about goal setting and metrics. The social web provides endless opportunities for data collection. If you aren’t basing your marketing and outreach decisions on data-driven analysis, your business is potentially losing out on massive results.

Mentor/Role Model Prominent sociologists Paul Adams, Noah Brier, Jane McGonigal and Duncan Watts. Others have taken me under their wing, including Ron Sachs, Jack Latona, Dr. Jon Bailey and Dr. Abe Fischler.

Hardest Lesson Learned Be very careful who you trust in your inner circle. As you grow and people start taking notice of your abilities, many will see potential dollar signs and do whatever they can to profit off your successes. If your gut is telling you that someone isn’t meant to be trusted, stay away.

Important Leadership Skills A great leader will construct strong systems and processes, identify and train top talent and (most importantly of all) empower them to achieve more than they ever thought they could on their own. Empowerment is what sets leaders apart from managers.

Northwest Florida Business Growth Northwest Florida has huge potential to grow into an innovation hub, but there needs to be a stronger sense of unity among community and industry leaders. If everyone could get on the same page and focus on achieving the same broad goals, we could make a lot more traction on the national level, across a variety of growth sectors.

What I plan to be doing in 10 years I work hard to create a vision for what I believe the world will look like in 10 years, but when you take into account that our biggest industry power, Facebook, was launched only eight years ago, it’s crucial to stay on my toes and ahead of the curve as new innovation occurs.

48

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

Capital Health Plan is celebrating 30 years of serving this community.

Thanks to our members, physicians and staff, your local commercial health plan is ranked

TOP HMO in the Nation.

www.capitalhealth.com 2012.850.03

In “NCQA’s Private Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2011-2012,” the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) recognized Capital Health Plan as the top ranked plan among commercial HMOs. Capital Health Plan is the number three plan overall among commercial HMO, HMO/POS, and PPO plans.

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

49

Capital Corridor

Gadsden, Jefferson + Leon Counties

Staging a Coup I n the world of entertainment, Production Support Group Inc. and Reel Rock Productions Inc. are definitely off the charts.

Literally. You just about have to be invited to their offices to even know the address for the two companies, which are tucked away in a nondescript warehouse on a one-lane road on the northwest side of Tallahassee. Even if you do happen to stumble across this private headquarters, be prepared for a chilly reception. Walk-ups are not allowed or encouraged.

“People who use us know how to find us,” said Larry Schmidt, the founder and owner of the two companies. “We’re not snobs or anything.

It’s a security issue. It’s a capital-intensive business. We are here for pro event people, and we very much control who comes here.”

Production Support Group and Reel Rock are different sides of the same coin. Schmidt explains it this way: PSG is the rental service company, a one-stop shop for audio, lighting, staging or audio visual needs, while Reel Rock is the leasing and retail sales division.

Reel Rock was the original company that the former restaurant manager started back in the early 1980s.

Schmidt had no business plan when he started out renting sound equipment. All he wanted was a career that was fairly recession-proof. Despite his lack of a formal “business plan,” and the fact that he entered the trade without any previous experience in stagecraft, he built a company that has endured recessions that have crippled or even wiped out other production companies.

“A lot of guys ask me, ‘What was your business plan?’ You know, if I did a business plan, it would be so off the mark. It wouldn’t even be close to what this has worked out to be,” he said with a laugh. “I would not have been able to sit down and put it on paper and imagine that this is going to go on.”

Indeed, thanks to diversification and a healthy bit of do-it-yourself can-do attitude, his business is going stronger every year. For two years in a row now, Reel Rock has produced the Bass Anglers Sportsman’s Society’s Bassmaster Classic — the “Super Bowl” of freshwater

50

|

October – November 2012

|

fishing tournament shows. Reel Rock landed that gig by beating Production Resource Group, an international giant in the live event production industry. (“We call them ‘The Borg’ because they just swallow everything they get in contact with,” Schmidt said.)

Bookings and Beyond “I really hated the job I was doing. I didn’t really care for the business,” Schmidt said about his old job, which was managing restaurants.

But he had a back-up plan. A big music lover, he thought maybe the music business would offer enough challenges for a lifetime and be fairly immune to economic downturns.

“I thought in my own mind that probably the way to make money in this business would be to find a band that did original music instead of what we call a ‘copy’ band,” he said. “So I found a band … and I asked them if I could try my hand at doing the business part of it. Started doing bookings for them, which I soon found out is a very distasteful business. Club owners are not the easiest people to work with. Let’s keep it at that.”

But on his first gig with the band he got his first big break — and it wasn’t booking acts.

“They had the lighting system in pieces on the floor, and they told me if I could figure out and put it together I could be the lighting guy,” he said. “Well, I did the show that night, and that was my first taste of the technical end of it.”

Schmidt said the band played gigs on both Florida coasts but found out that tourist areas didn’t want original music. They wanted bands to play cover music. That is, pop music that was already on the airwaves. It was a roadblock the band couldn’t overcome. They ended up at a club down in Lakeland and “didn’t last through the whole night.” From there, half the group stayed in Lakeland and the rest went back to Tallahassee.

“At that point, it was my suggestion that we had the equipment, why don’t we rent the equipment out to other bands?” he said.

That’s how Reel Rock Productions was born, formed with four partners in 1980. The new company rented out its audio and lighting gear to other Tallahassee bands. In the process,

850businessmagazine.com

Schmidt learned how to do audio. But while he was learning new skills, the partnership was breaking up. They lost one partner almost right away, another partner lasted two more years.

The last partner parted company in 1987.

Schmidt kept the company. Then, in 1997, he split it to form Production Support Group as the rental service company and left Reel Rock for leasing and retail sales.

The reason for the new name? Well, back in the early days, a name like “Reel Rock” conjured up images of long hair rock ‘n’ rollers. Not exactly a popular visual for potential clients like straight-laced churches and corporations. So, the name was changed to a more conservativesounding appellation.

Picking Up Steam During this same time frame, the TallahasseeLeon County Civic Center opened up and Schmidt found himself doing some freelance work and learning the art of rigging, the “stuff that’s hanging from the ceiling.”

Photos Courtesy Production Support Group and Peter Mitchell Associates (crew)

Creativity and diversification help Tallahassee company beat bigger competitors By Jason Dehart

Goin’ Strong Despite the recession, demand for services provided by Reel Rock Productions and Production Support Group has continued to grow. Clockwise, from top: Florida State University Homecoming 2007, the Production Support Group crew, retirement gala for Sybil Mobley from the Florida A&M School of Business.

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

51

52

|

October – November 2012

|

Hometown Hero Owner Larry Schmidt has never forgotten where he got his start, so he remains committed to good local services. He says simply, “You never forget your roots. Our roots were here … ”

services, so it forced us, being in this locale, to diversify enough to be able to make a business grow,” he said. “If you’re going to try and grow off the music business here, we’d still be in the stone age.”

That’s why they do much more than music.

They’ve done shows for every presidential candidate since Michael Dukakis in the late 1980s.

They’ve done corporate “theater” presentations, unveiling ceremonies, “mega-weddings.” They even provided audio-visual service for an overflow crowd at a recent funeral.

Remember Where You Came From Even as they began to take on national clients, Schmidt continued to work in the local, smaller market.

“You never forget your roots. Our roots were here, working in this local economy,” he said.

“We also have the advantage of working in an economy of state government, of two universities, a very large community college, so there’s a lot of things that are consistent in this locale that are not necessarily in other cities.”

850businessmagazine.com

That commitment to local service paid off last year when Production Support Group took the 2011 Parnelli Award for “Hometown Hero Sound Company.” For the live event industry, this is like winning an Emmy.

“It’s a huge win for a small company from Tallahassee,” he said. “This is a big honor for us.”

It was an award 30 years in the making, but Schmidt said the company hasn’t reached its peak quite yet. He’s going to continue building on the tradition he’s established for reliability, rapid service, devotion to the latest technology and a reputation for pushing the envelope.

“We see new doors and we want to continue to open those doors. Like any company we want to be bigger and better, but we will also not be leaving our local clients.”

Does he have any words of wisdom for budding entrepreneurs trying to survive in the worst economy in decades? Sure. Don’t despair.

Don’t let anybody tell you it can’t be done.

“Don’t let gloom and doom stop you. I didn’t take ‘no market here’ as an answer,” he said.

“There are still successes. It hasn’t stopped.” n

Photo Courtesy Production Support Group

“So, I specialized in that … and was still building the company. I don’t think I got a paycheck for 10 years, because I was interested in buying more equipment,” he said. “Everything that I earned we bought new equipment with.

I think I first got an apartment after about ’87.

It’s very much like the story of you lose everything and start over.”

His main goal during all of this was to learn every job in the staging industry, including audio, lighting, rigging, pyro, special effects, anything that he could lay his hands on.

At this point he was working local acts and was just starting to pick up some regional shows with the rental equipment. Branching out more and more, he also picked up work for churches, doing their Christmas and Easter shows. All the while he was told there was no market locally for what he was providing.

“In the early ’80s there had been a company that had done similar things, and they went out of business. So, the artistic community at the time expressed … they did not feel there was any type of market here for this type of business,” Schmidt said. “It could have been me being naïve, but I thought the only difference was nobody taught them that there was a need for the business here.”

The corporate market gradually started to open as he met more people, and the two companies started to seep into every “nook and cranny” in the market. Then a recession hit in the mid-’80s. Ironically, that’s when the business really started taking off.

“Entertainment is, I hate to use the word, recession-proof. But it fares better than other businesses in recessionary periods,” he said. “It’s hard to say exactly what caused the company to do better. I lost my last partner in ’87, and our sales immediately started going up, which I attributed to having one captain on the boat as opposed to having to try to satisfy several peoples’ direction.

“So who knows if it was just a point in time, or was directly resulting from a single captain or whatever. But even during that recessionary period of time we started picking up the pace.”

When the economy dropped again in 2008, some corporate clients were lost, but at that point the business was so diversified that it could survive the downturn.

“It was lucky for us that we were (diversified), because we saw many a production company go right down the tubes,” he said. “We lost a chunk of our corporate market, but we had our best wedding season that year.”

This ability to provide different services — ranging from pyrotechnic displays to bubble machines — for a wide range of clients came about because the company had to learn to survive in a small local market.

“We always looked for other avenues for our

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

53

Scaling Up 30A entrepreneur Mike Ragsdale takes aim at growing his online business By Jennifer Howard

P

54

|

October – November 2012

|

Today 30A, Tomorrow the World Entrepreneur Mike Ragsdale took his success in promoting 30A to a national and international level with the advent of TownWizard.

along 30A. “I think there is a certain type of person who is willing to ‘give it all up’ to just be near the water,” he says. “My story is absolutely no different.”

Mike Ragsdale quickly became something of a local activist, promoting all things 30A. From Digital Graffitti, among Ragsdale’s earliest local endeavors, through the successful development of 30A.com, the entrepreneur’s mission has been to effectively communicate the 30A way of life. Celebrating the unique and authentic sense of place found in South Walton is of paramount importance, he believes. The Internet and its tools are the media for his creative communication.

“Much of the 30A audience is out of the area,” he says. “We are keeping people in touch with a

850businessmagazine.com

place they love. It’s a privilege. I’m just in love with the 30A brand. I am in love with it as a place and with the opportunity that still exists for our area. I’m just excited to be at the table and to be able to help contribute. It’s just an honor.”

With 30A.com flourishing, Ragsdale did not intend to simply tread water. His next leap into the entrepreneurial unknown was to scale 30A’s success by creating TownWizard, a webbased guide tool that gives users street-level local knowledge and local color about a particular town.

“TownWizard was spawned from 30A,” Ragsdale said. “People that I didn’t even know approached me about doing a 30A type business in their town. I was reluctant to partner with someone I didn’t know. So we decided to take

Photo Courtesy Mike Ragsdale

rominent 30A entrepreneur Mike Ragsdale embraces change. The self-described “repeat offender” entrepreneur and creative promoter prides himself on acting when he recognizes or envisions a challenge.

“It’s like jumping off the high dive,” he says.

“The quicker you can make it up the ladder, the better.”

Known locally for successful projects such as Digital Graffitti in Alys Beach, 30A.com and Town Wizard, Ragsdale along with his wife, Angela, and two of his children took a significant leap into the unknown late last year when the family packed up and set off for an eight-month trip around the globe.

The ambitious journey to visit lesser known places in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia was not the 40-something father of four’s first leap off the high dive. He spent most of his life in and around Birmingham, Ala., achieving entrepreneurial success in businesses as diverse as online consulting, fitness and the restaurant industry. “My wife and I were always dreaming about doing something radically different,” Ragsdale says. “The kids said, ‘Give it up. You talk but never do anything.’ We decided it was time to wake up, do something or quietly resolve to be happy (in Birmingham).”

The Ragsdales drew a latitude line across the U.S. on a map, staying south of Birmingham because they did not want to shiver through life in a colder climate. They considered California, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and quite liked Savannah, Ga. “About that time, a friend who knew we were looking to move told us about his home that was for sale in Santa Rosa Beach,” he says. “We came to look at it, fell in love and in about 60 days we’d moved.”

It was September 2006 and the Ragsdale family knew they had found their forever home

Coastal Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa + Walton Counties

the foundation of 30A.com, the know-how to launch it and monetize the system.”

Partnering with Jeff Armstrong of Seagrove Beach, he used the tools developed for 30A to create a business plan for a universal local guide to provide that all-important authentic sense of place. Destin Shines was the first test case.

“Many people who visit a place want to know the local flavor, the local sense,” Ragsdale says.

“So TownWizard empowers a true local entrepreneur to help provide that authenticity. It’s almost like a business in a box.”

Armstrong, 45, shares Ragsdale’s passion for entrepreneurs and their enterprises. The two first met at work in Alys Beach, where Armstrong remains CFO. As part of the team’s efforts to replicate 30A.com’s success, and get a better

EMERALD COAST Corridor

understanding of the system launch from an entrepreneur partner’s point of view, Armstrong started PCBShines.com. “We really created this business from scratch as a test case for future entrepreneurs.”

TownWizard goes where government or taxfunded promotional organizations can’t, Ragsdale believes.

“Yes, we have great organizations to promote the area, but we [TownWizard] have great partnerships,” Ragsdale says. “They have a job, but we can drill down deeper. They can’t promote an individual business. At the publishing level, we can really get down and introduce you to those local businesses. You need to have both [kinds of organizations]. I think it’s wonderful when we work together.”

TownWizard is now in more than 150 different markets in eight countries on four continents, including Lima, Peru, and Guam. “We also just received a round of funding from our European partner,” Armstrong said. “They’d bought two locations in The Netherlands. They realized how great it was and signed a licensing agreement for Europe.” The Euro-partners will be marketing TownWizard Europe, using the same logo, software platform and concept. One thing they’re still trying to work on — the language barrier in Europe.

What TownWizard does better than any competitor, Ragsdale believes, is answer the universal question: What do you want to do today, this weekend or next week? Plus, the answer comes from a source with deep local knowledge and up-to-the-minute details about whowhat-when-and-where in the particular town or neighborhood. “Larger [online] sites lack relevance,” Ragsdale explains. “That is where TownWizard has the advantage. I am not really worried about the Googles of the world.”

TownWizard radically inverts the business model of most online guides. First, the business does not focus on tourists, but cultivates locals to share their knowledge online. It was something of a no-brainer, Ragsdale and his partners felt, that visitors always want to eat where locals eat, do what locals do and experience a place as if they had an insider’s perspective.

“We also recognized that small is better,” he says. “So much of IT marketing focuses on large metropolitan areas. What’s missing is information about rural America and great neighborhoods. No one had focused on them.” Ragsdale is proud that even if TownWizard only reaches

100 people in a given area, it reaches the “right” 100 people who have key information to share.

TownWizard’s entrepreneurial promise is very seductive, Ragsdale says. It’s affordable, can be operated from anywhere an Internet connection is available and is fun. As its website promises, you get “everything you need to create a local guide for all mobile devices and the Web.” The problem is that not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, he discovered. “I felt very personally responsible to help them succeed,” he says. “It was very tough for me when one of our entrepreneurs did not do well. I took it very hard. But I can’t hand-hold. That’s just a statistical reality. It was an intense educational process for me.”

TownWizard had reached a point in its growth that called for yet another commitment to take a plunge into change. Ragsdale reached out to friends from AOL/Time Warner to help him find the best way to replicate the TownWizard system while maintaining the all-important personal relationships that fuel it. The quest took the business partners to California, where their schedule literally read like a Who’s Who of Silicon Valley. “At 9 a.m. we met with Apple, 11 a.m. it was Google and 4 p.m. was Facebook,” Ragsdale recalls. “We spent the last year and hundreds of thousands of dollars to scale up the tools.” The result is not only a scaled-up TownWizard, but a system in which it is much easier to integrate something new.

Maintaining close ties with its entrepreneur partners is part of the online business’ operating matrix that Ragsdale feels is integral to its success. Monthly conference calls — with 40–50 partners and recorded to be shared with others — are used to discuss next versions of the software, share ideas and showcase successes.

With its success rippling out across the globe, 30A.com remains a focal point for Ragsdale.

“The No. 1 goal for me is to make sure 30A. com is a shining model success story,” the selfdescribed town evangelist says. “I’m the product guy, always dreaming about what to add.”

TownWizard now has a life of its own and has moved past the critical point in its life span where businesses face the challenge of grow or limit their success. The opportunities are global, and the product doesn’t have a shelf life, Ragsdale and his partners believe. They continue to think big, while maintaining the authenticity of relationships that allow TownWizard users to obtain timely local knowledge. n

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

55

BAY Corridor

Panama City, Panama City Beach + Bay Counties

With Wings and a Prayer Bay County hopes to land a whale at new airport By Steve Bornhoft

W

hen Bay County voters in March 2004 rejected a referendum to relocate the airport, proponents of the move recognized they had some sales work to do.

They formed Partners in Progress, comprised mainly of businessmen and women and chaired

by Ed Wright, then dean of the Panama City campus of Florida State University. The group contended that a new airport, with longer runways, near West Bay would be safer than the existing facility; would obviate consideration of the environmentally questionable alternative of extending runways at the old airport into Goose Bayou; and would attract new airlines, resulting in lower fares due to competition for passengers.

And they projected that Bay County’s economy would take off in response to an airport project. Realtor Tom Neubauer, speaking as a member of Partners in Progress, promised: “A relocated airport can be the economic engine that drives our local economy for decades to come.”

The proponents did prevail, and Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport became the first new airport built in the United States since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The first flight arrived on May 23, 2010.

“Optimism and speculation really spiked as the airport was coming on line,” says Scott Bowman, broker/sales manager with Prudential Shimmering Sands Realty in Panama City Beach. So, too, did asking and listing prices for raw land in the airport area.

Now, more than two years after the airport opened, has the optimism proved justified?

56

|

October – November 2012

|

“Not yet,” Bowman reports. “There hasn’t been much additional growth. Of course, the economic climate in the country and in Northwest Florida has been less than optimal. Businesses continue to see those conditions as risky ones in which to expand.”

No one knows that better than Neal Wade, executive director of Bay County’s Economic Development Alliance and the county’s industrial recruiter-in-chief, a position he has held since January of this year. Still, he is encouraged.

“I’m in my honeymoon period,” he says, “and that will end if somethin’ good doesn’t happen.

But the project activity we’ve got right now, I’ve never seen anything like it. We’re going to close some out and we’re going to have some announcements.”

Wade is satisfied that he has the tools to work with and finds that Bay County has dramatically raised its economic development sights. No longer, he suggests, will it thrill at overtures from hazardous waste recyclers and toilet part manufacturers as it has in the past.

“The arrival of the airport provided Bay County with the impetus to redefine economic development,” Wade says. “Ten years ago, there were very few attractive sites available. That’s changed. The area was heavily reliant on tourism, but the economy and the Great Recession have led Bay County and the state as a whole to change that.

“We have local technology companies that are booming. We have aerospace opportunities. We have logistics opportunities. We are an emerging, diverse economy. Today, we can play

850businessmagazine.com

Sign of the Future?

Construction of a building for ITT Exelis at VentureCrossings is the first economic development spark generated by the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport.

major league ball, and that is new. I came in with a lot of relationships with site consultants I’ve known over the years, and the state is working to raise awareness of the region.”

Wade’s relationship with Florida Secretary of Commerce Gray Swoope may be as significant as any other. Swoope was commerce secretary in Mississippi when Wade held the same job in Alabama and the two men jointly marketed border regions. Wade strongly encouraged Gov. Rick Scott to name Swoope to his current position. He’s a big fan.

Photo by Scott Holstein

“Gray is … giving his life and soul to bringing Florida into a more competitive situation,” says Wade.

John Wheat, the man who directs the anticipated center of Bay County’s new economic oasis, is certainly breathing easier these days — especially given the resolution of litigation surrounding environmental issues (ground cover, drainage, runoff) at the airport and the bringing about of financial stability.

Wheat departed Tampa for the wilds of West Bay after having been courted by Airport Authority members in Bay County and nudged to make the move by airline executives.

“When I got here (May 2011), the airport’s financial integrity was at risk due to development

cost overruns,” says Wheat, the airport’s executive director. “We were experiencing some serious rough air.”

In his first year on the job, Wheat and the Airport Authority took steps to improve the airport’s cash position, including a restructuring of its financing with the State of Florida and negotiating more time in which to pay incentives to Southwest Airlines. Wheat is now comfortable with the level of the airport’s cash reserves and with its market share.

In part because of the reduced fares that the Partners in Progress foresaw, Bay County now boasts a 24-percent market share among airports from Pensacola to Tallahassee versus the meager 9 percent that the old airport commanded.

“Fares have been reduced upward of 35 to 40 percent as a function of competition,” Wheat notes. “We brought in Southwest, a low-cost carrier that also tends to put on more sales. But the real key to any lowering of fares is always the marketplace and competition. Southwest came in with eight flights a day, propelling huge growth, and Delta also grew dramatically.”

While impressed by the work of local officials in landing a new airport, Wheat recognizes, too, that the contributions and influence of The St. Joe Company, which provided the land, and the support of then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his brother, President George W. Bush, were crucial.

“The last major commercial service airport that was developed had been Denver, and that

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

57

58

|

October – November 2012

|

Promoting ‘Coopetition’ By marketing the entire Gulf Coast as a region, it will bring more attention — and prospects — to the area, says Neal Wade, executive director of Bay County’s Economic Development Alliance.

development organization. He ended up becoming the head of the group.

“In the years since, I’ve earned my Ph.D. on the job and I’ve seen the key factors in economic development decisions evolve and trade places,” he says in reflection. “Twenty years ago, incentives and site location were probably the big drivers. Today, I believe it’s all about workforce.

I believe you have to convince a company that you can furnish the employees they need.”

In Wade’s view, Bay County is home to many highly skilled and talented workers and is capable of readily attracting more, given the quality of life it has to offer. Too, it is home to three schools — FSU-PC, Gulf Coast State College and Haney Technical Center — that have pledged to tailor curriculum to the needs of employers.

How would Wade quantify the West Bay area’s growth potential?

“I’ve heard forecasts to suggest that there will be 30,000 people working out there in 10 to 15 years,” Wade says. “That’s probably a bit ambitious, although if we hit that megaproject, that could happen maybe quicker than some people think.”

St. Joe has 1,000 acres ready for commercial development right outside the airport fence, with the ability to do tens of thousands of more acres. He expects that the airport will become an economic center unto itself, like Alliance Airport in Dallas.

“Ten years from now, we probably won’t recognize the place,” Wade says.

In the meantime, he plans to keep a sharp eye out for good projects.

“It’s my rule of thumb that I want to look

850businessmagazine.com

“I’ve heard forecasts to suggest that there will be 30,000 people working out there in 10 to 15 years.

That’s probably a bit ambitious, although if we hit that megaproject, that could happen maybe quicker than some people think.” Neal Wade, executive director of Bay County’s Economic Development Alliance back on a project and be able to say that we did everything we could to win it,” Wade says.

“There have been some that I’ve lost that I really didn’t want to lose. But there were some that I’ve won that I didn’t necessarily expect to win.” n

Photo by Scott holstein

was back in the 1990s,” Wheat says. “When I look at what Bay County was able to accomplish, raising the money that they did and coming up with the approach that they did, I think that’s pretty outstanding. That’s really hard to do in any community in the country. A lot of things had to come together.”

Wade believes the growth potential is almost unlimited, but the challenge remains in persuading businesses to expand. For the residential sector to grow, he says, you first have to grow the business community. “It’s about getting that first large client to come in here. We’ve got to have a whale.”

Wade felt the same when he was Alabama’s commerce secretary and was part of the team that helped bring Mercedes to the state, which was not globally competitive.

“When Mercedes came, it was like that Good Housekeeping seal. That was the tipping point for economic development in the state,” Wade says. “I think that’s what’s going to have to happen here. We’re going to need a global, goodsized aerospace company to locate at the airport and, once that is done, I think you’re going to see much more activity.”

Wade said that this summer the decisionmakers responsible for two major planned aerospace projects have been looking at Bay County, specifically because of the new airport. Competition, however, remains severe. Lots of whalers are plying the oceans.

Escambia and Okaloosa counties have attractive sites, Wade points out. And then you have Alabama, Georgia and the other southeastern states — not to mention some global competition. Under those circumstances, he favors something he calls “coopetition.”

“By that I mean that if we market the entire Gulf Coast region as a corridor, we’re going to attract more attention and get more prospects,” Wade explains. “Coopetition is a word that came out of the auto industry. What it basically says is that we’re going to cooperate, work together for the good of the region, then we’re each going to compete when we get that larger plant in, compete for suppliers and shares of the ripple effect.

You work together to help the whole region and then you compete and everybody benefits.”

He expects the first big announcement to come in technology, but added that there are projects active in various industry sectors: technology, logistics, aerospace.

His optimism is based on experience. In 1991, Wade was in charge of corporate communications at Alabama Power Co. when the president of the company, Elmer Harris, asked for help in assembling a statewide, private economic

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

59

An American Horseman Trey Young’s passion for horses pays off By Lazaro Aleman

W

ith a television show on HRTV, a horse boarding-and-training operation that’s gone national and bookings for horse-training clinics and demonstrations across the country, 32-year-old Wakulla County native Trey Young will tell you business is good — real good.

He will also tell you he’s living his dream; that what he does is hard but fun and rewarding work; that it’s the last thing he expected or wanted to be doing a few years back; and that it’s his plan one day to take his American-style horsemanship international.

Visit with Young at his rustic office on the 800-acre 3Y Ranch that he, his dad Skip and

60

|

October – November 2012

|

brother Brian operate just southeast of Crawfordville, and you find a man who’s on top of his game; and who is by turns extremely confident, disarmingly modest, unsparingly honest and equally amazed by — and grateful for — his good fortune.

It’s heady stuff to be sure, when you consider that in 2008, when Young took up horse training seriously, he was riding and training local horses of questionable quality, and the office, barns, corrals and other outbuildings and trappings that define his present-day operation didn’t exist. Yet a mere five years later, he is riding, training and boarding some of the best horses in the country.

And demand for his expertise is national.

850businessmagazine.com

On this particular day in late June, for example, he had 45 horses under his care, several from as far away as California, North Carolina, Virginia and Massachusetts. And his itinerary for the remainder of the year included clinics and demonstrations in Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and North Carolina, not to mention the weekend clinics he regularly holds at the 3Y. “I knew it was going to come to this,” Young says. “I just didn’t know how fast it was going to come.”

He credits the HRTV exposure in large part for his success.

“It’s been great,” he says of the show, which weekly reaches some 20 million viewers on

Photos by Scott Holstein

Gulf, Franklin + Wakulla Counties

Dish, Comcast, Cox Cable and Verizon Universe.

“Ever since it started, it’s been a whirlwind. I’ve got sponsors of every kind and I’ve got horses from all over. And my clinics have gone through the roof. Yeah, business is crazy — crazy good.”

How the show came about is that a man he met at a horse show in Central Florida connected him with a would-be producer who shot five pilots, all of which HRTV accepted. That was in December 2010; the rest is history.

Convinced as he is that he’s doing what he was meant to do, however, it wasn’t what Young wanted to be doing growing up, or even a few years back.

“I said my whole life I’d never do what Chris Cox does,” he says, referring to the highly-regarded horseman, clinician and author, who is a longtime family friend and mentor.

What he wanted to be, ever since he was a kid, was a rodeo cowboy. It started with his first horse, which he got at age two, and which fostered a passion for horses and riding that has sustained and defined him to the present.

By high school, Young was riding bulls and roping in the Florida Rodeo Association, on his way to achieving his dream. Then a bull-riding accident just shy of his 16th birthday nearly killed him. As it was, he spent 15 days in intensive care and had nine plates implanted in his face. “It makes you understand why you’re here,” Young says, reflecting on the experience.

The accident ended his bull-riding, but it didn’t end his rodeo days or his passion for riding and roping. In 1999, at age 19, he left Wakulla to attend Weatherford College in Texas on a scholarship while living and working on Cox’s Texas ranch. A year later, he quit college to join the pro rodeo, intent on making the national finals. He figured if the rodeo gig didn’t work out, he always had his father’s funeral business as a fallback.

Call his years on the pro rodeo circuit his rite of passage. Young got to meet and make a great many friends, some of them future champs. He also got to travel the country, ride some excellent horses and experience life’s ups and downs full tilt, including drugs. In 2005, he hit bottom. That’s when his dad went and got him and brought him back to Wakulla.

Young, one to draw lessons from life, looks back philosophically on that period.

“I don’t know if everyone goes through it, but I know I did,” he says. “I was pretty wild; I’m pretty wide open still, but not in that respect. You live and learn. The good and bad things I learned

Head ’Em Up Trey Young took away several top honors during the recent Extreme Mustang Makeover in Salado, Texas, including first place in reining and team roping and third in steer stopping. The wild mustang he ‘made over,’ Monster, was the high selling horse after the event.

“Bad habits in horses can be fixed in no time. It’s hard to retrain adults who have been doing something wrong for 20 years.” Trey Young along that road were the best things I could ever learn in my life. I learned about people. And that’s what this industry, any industry, is about, is learning to deal with and read people. And it was great for me because I was born and raised here, and my dad, he had money and businesses and I was always Skip’s son. But when I was out there I wasn’t Skip’s son, I was Trey Young. And that was a big deal to me. That helped me to figure out who I was as a person.”

On his return to Wakulla in 2005, Young went to work at his dad’s funeral home. It took him a while to regain his bearings and decide

forgotten coast Corridor

the funeral business wasn’t for him.

“I couldn’t do anything if I didn’t love it,” he says.

That’s when he settled on horse training as a career. He decided also that if he was going to do it, he had best learn from the best: Hence, his nearly two year apprenticeship starting in 2006, first under Cox and then under Jay Holmes, another outstanding horseman.

“I got to learn from two of the best,” Young says.

What he learned he combined and expanded to develop his own style and techniques, which is what he teaches in his clinics and demonstrations. It’s all about gaining mastery over a horse to the point the animal is perfectly attuned to the rider’s least pressure and responds accordingly. It involves gaining the animal’s respect and trust and establishing a bond, accomplished via a method called pressure and release.

“It’s all about being able to control that horse with your legs and your seat and not having to use your hands,” Young says. “If I press on this part of his body, he’s going to do this. If I push on this part, he’s going to do that. I want, if I point him at that wall there, for him to run through it for me because he trusts me that much, because I haven’t put him in a position to hurt him. I’ve got his trust that much.”

He compares it to teaching a child: You ask the first time, ask a second time and the third time you tell, accentuated by a whack to the behind if necessary to emphasize the point.

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

61

Living A Dream Always a cowboy, Trey Young knew he wanted a career with horses. He had no idea that by the age of 32 he would be filming a television show and sharing his style of horsemanship across the country.

62

|

October – November 2012

|

who go home and practice and those who don’t, he says.

It’s also a matter of recognizing a horse’s limitations.

“You have to learn a horse’s strong points and let him excel in these and not try to make him do things that he’s not capable of doing,” Young says. “You’ve got smart horses, athletic horses and smart, athletic horses. You want the smart athletic horse that’s willing to learn and can learn, but then again has the athletic ability to do what you’re asking.”

His goal at the 3Y Ranch is to produce allaround horses.

“I want a using horse — a horse I can go use,” Young says. “Whether I want to go rope on him, cut, jump, do a trail competition or whatever.”

Beyond that, his goal is to promote and improve the equine industry, particularly among the young. Ultimately, it’s to take his program international.

“It’s going to happen,” Young says. “I want it to be a worldwide thing where we go and show what we do, which is the American horseman way. This isn’t something I came up with; this is something that’s been around 100 years. I got to

850businessmagazine.com

“Cowboys are cool now, but for a long time, they weren’t.

I was a cowboy when cowboys weren’t cool.”

Trey Young learn it from some of the best guys, and I’ve been able to take it to this level. It’s all about pressure and release, and it all came originally from America. That’s what I want people to understand.”

Are his former Wakulla High classmates impressed or surprised by his success?

“My friends in high school didn’t know where I was going, but they knew it would involve horses and the rodeo,” Young says.

He smiles appreciatively.

“Cowboys are cool now, but for a long time, they weren’t,” he says. “I was a cowboy when cowboys weren’t cool.” n

Photo by Scott holstein

“You want to be as soft as you can, but you have to be as firm as you have to be,” Young says.

Allow a horse to get away with unacceptable behavior once, and it takes a hundredfold to correct it, he says. One of the most common problems he encounters is horses that aren’t properly trained and riders who can’t control their mounts. Typically, the horses are easier to retrain than the owners.

“Bad habits in horses can be fixed in no time,” Young says. “It’s hard to retrain adults who have been doing something wrong for 20 years.”

He finds children and women the easiest to teach, the former because they “get it” quickly and naturally, the latter because they’re open to learning. Men, particularly older ones who have been riding a while, tend to resist learning, especially from a younger man. Young finds the latter attitude is changing, however, as the legitimacy of his program becomes more established.

It’s always a good feeling for him to see a horse and rider evolve, he says.

Do most people eventually get it?

Most people do; some sooner than others, he says. It depends on how much work they’re willing to put into it. He can always tell the folks

The law firm of

We are pleased to congratulate these attorneys who have been recognized by Florida Trend magazine and Super Lawyers.

201 2 LEGA L E LI TE

2 0 1 2 S U P E R L A W YE R S an d R I SIN G STARS

Florida Trend magazine recognizes “Legal Elite” attorneys from nearly 30 practice areas.

Super Lawyers magazine recognizes “Super Lawyers” from more than 70 practice areas.

“Rising Stars” are those who are 40 or under, or who have been practicing for 10 years or less.

Attorneys Recognized As

Attorneys Recognized As

”LEGAL ELITE”

”SUPER LAWYERS”

Kenneth B. Bell

William E. Bond, Jr.

W. Christopher Hart

Bruce D. Partington

Appellate Practice

Real Estate Transactions

Commercial Litigation

Construction Litigation

Kenneth B. Bell

William E. Bond, Jr. W. Christopher Hart

Appellate Practice

Bankruptcy & Creditor/ Debtor Rights

Dennis K. Larry

Bruce D. Partington Harry B. Stackhouse

Personal Injury Plaintiff: General

Real Estate

Construction Litigation

Tax

Attorneys Recognized As

”RISING STARS”

Scott A. Remington Commercial Litigation

Jeremy C. Branning General Litigation

PENSACOLA 125 W. Romana St., Suite 800 (850) 434-9200

DESTIN 34990 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Suite 301 (850) 650-3304

Megan F. Fry

Bankruptcy & Creditor/ Debtor Rights

Ryan P. Hatler

Construction Litigation

TALLAHASSEE 106 E. College Ave., Suite 600 (850) 597-7483

888.777.5105 | www.cphlaw.com 850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

63

I-10 Corridor

Northern Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa + Walton Counties and Holmes, Washington, Calhoun, Jackson + Liberty Counties

Industrial Revolution Holmes County is a well-oiled machine By Liesel Schmidt-Pierson

D

espite the recent downward trend in the economy and a shrinking job market, Holmes County’s deceptively small size contains big things. This tiny dot on the map in Northwest Florida is causing an unexpected ripple through the industrial landscape of the state’s economy.

And the world has taken notice as notable government and commercial companies have become clients to the local cluster of precision parts manufacturers and fabricators, companies whose products make the big machinery of life run a little bit more smoothly.

According to Enterprise Florida, the state is home to more than 17,500 manufacturers who collectively employ more than 300,000 workers.

They contribute nearly $40 billion to Florida’s economy each year — or about 5 percent of the state’s gross domestic product. Overall, Florida was up nearly 5,000 manufacturing jobs in May this year compared to 2011.

In Holmes County, there has been a 10 percent increase in manufacturing jobs in the past year — and manufacturers represent a majority of the county’s 10 major employers. In 2011, the average manufacturing wage was $40,586. (In comparison, the average wage in the county for all jobs was $25,688.) Also noteworthy is the fact that the county is centrally located between several Department of Defense military installations, including Tyndall and Eglin Air Force bases, Pensacola Naval Air Station, Naval Support Activity Panama City and Forts Rucker and Benning Army installations.

The Holmes mini-cluster of precision metal parts manufacturers and fabrication shops includes AUS Manufacturing, Environmental Supply and Manufacturing, Holmes Tool and Engineering, Johnson Laser Works and Manown Engineering.

A major contributor to the local bottom line is AUS Manufacturing of Bonifay, which provides its clients with some of the most precisely made metal parts available. Its main client base is a host of power utility plants in the U.S. and

64

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

Photos by Scott Holstein

Steel to Parts At AUS Engineering in Bonifay, steel comes in the back door and precision parts go out the front door to a long list of clients that include a host of utility plants in the U.S. and overseas as well as defense projects.

overseas, but it also builds parts for naval defense, Sikorsky helicopters and even roof hatches for foreign embassies.

“When we say precision, that means we do it with intolerance, within thousandths of an inch,” says AUS Vice President James Sellers.

“It starts from raw material coming in our back door. Steel ... goes to a saw to be cut into lengths, and then we take it from there either to a manual mill or lathe or a CNC (computer numerical control) mill or lathe.” The computer-controlled machining process is virtually automatic once the program has been developed for a specific piece. Simply put, says Sellers, “Raw steel in the back door and parts out the front door.”

That level of precision is crucial in an industry that supplies parts to clients in both the government as well as the private sector. When asked what, exactly, is the secret to the company’s success in a bad economy, Sellers credits “low overhead, tight management” and a highquality product.

Manown Engineering’s success seems similarly driven. “Seems like all small businesses have had to redefine success since 2008,” says Chief Operating Officer Jason Gilmore. “Our run rate in 2009 was nearly half that of 2008, [but] ownership continued to make decisions for our long-term vision [in spite of] any short-term pains. We committed to staying in

constant contact with our customers; prospecting for new clients; and investing in our people, plant and processes. We have strengthened our customer relationships, daily maturing our talents and trusting that God will continue to direct our steps.”

Since 1965, Manown has been a contract manufacturer of precision-machined components

and assembled products for a diverse range of industries including aerospace, defense, energy, motion, air and water technology, pumping and mining, oil and gas, agriculture and other original equipment manufacturers. The company’s capabilities have been honed down to a fine science, perfected with computer programs and the newest technology.

“Our entire organization understands that continuous improvement is where we are always heading,” Gilmore says. “By establishing systems and processes, we are able to set standards and let these standards put pressure on the organization to achieve our desired results –– quality parts, customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, fulfilled employees and financial stability.”

With stability comes growth and the growth of these companies has created jobs, bringing in not only revenue but more people –– which in turn creates additional sources of demand on other areas of commerce. It’s a self-fueling machine that is honed, in a way, by the precise movements of precision parts manufacturers and machining companies. In many ways, a fitting analogy.

“A healthy manufacturing industry will grow a local economy in multiples,” says Gilmore. “Manufacturing creates more economic activity and jobs than any other industry. We pay above average ad valorem and personal property taxes; consume more power than most utility customers; and, arguably, offer salaries and benefits higher than most industries. We also bring in ‘new’ money. Most (of) our customers and prospects are outside of the 850 area code, and we have some outside of the (country). I can’t think of an area that is not touched by manufacturing.”

Jim Brook would agree. The former director of economic development in Holmes County, Brook is now executive director of Opportunity Florida, the Northwest Florida Business Development Council. In his opinion, “These companies are a unique asset ... an opportunity to attract ancillary business and industry.”

Obviously, that opportunity is being seized, though it is done “quietly, without a lot of fanfare and attention. Our fabrication microcluster does some amazing work and supplies quality products to large multinational companies, as well as the military and the everimportant energy industry.”

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

65

66

|

October – November 2012

|

Laser Focus Lasers do the precision cutting of metal at Johnson Laser Works in Bonifay. Manufacturing workers in Holmes County earn above average wage for the area.

Paying Better Wages While AUS declined offering actual numbers on wage averages for their employees, Jim Brook’s findings conclude that the five companies featured “employ workers at higher than average wages, approximately $48,500.” Manown has averaged 12–15 employees over the past 5 years, with an average wage between $35–$40k annually, while Coates cites the average hourly wage at ESMI to be $13.65 for their average of 20 employees. Johnson Laser Works and Holmes Tool were unavailable for comment. of the machines that run our world. Simply stated, these manufacturers “produce parts for government and industrial uses that are made from a variety of materials including plastic, rubber, stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum (and) brass ... these parts are made from drawings provided to us by our customers,” says Kyle Coates, Environmental Manufacturing and Supply Inc.’s vice president of sales and manufacturing. “Our business is diversified between general industrial customers and government contracts.

Our general industrial customers are from a wide range ... so that we are not dependent on just one area of the economy.”

Similarly, no singular area of the economy has benefited from their success. “We have consistently employed an average of 20 people and paid taxes to the local economy,” Coates says of EMSI. “We have [also] consistently supported

850businessmagazine.com

Holmes County

» Population (2011) 19,873 » Land Area 478.78 square miles » Average Annual Wage (Sept. 2011) $25,688 Source: U.S. Census Bureau; Bureau of Labor Statistics

and donated funds to many of the youth sports programs in the community and schools.”

As the industry continues to grow, it has a direct impact on every area of life. The fact that these companies offer a tangible product is too simple. What they truly provide is much more far-reaching: Communities are built around the stability they bring, beginning yet another cycle of production. Holmes County is, in its own way, part of an industrial revolution. n

Photos by Scott holstein

That work, coupled with ambition and a capacity to hone their companies’ procedures as finely as the products they manufacture, has largely been the driving force behind this manufacturing cluster’s continuing success in an unpredictable economy. “Each employs skilled machinists operating advanced technology, such as CNC mills, lathes, water jets, plasma and laser cutters, and other highly automated metal working machinery,” says Brook.

Such practices require a particular level of skill and knowledge to execute — and a particular kind of worker. That creates a demand for workers, and those jobs have led to a spike in the local economy as well as a marked decline in the county’s unemployment rate. A good example came in December 2011, when Holmes County had a jobless rate of 7.6 percent, some 2.3 percent lower than the Florida state average and almost 1 percent lower than the national average.

Brook credited the industry’s expansion and 21 new jobs created by automotive parts company LKQ in 2011.

“We were very fortunate that LKQ decided to expand the Bonifay facility following a recent acquisition of a competing manufacturer and a reshuffling of their processing and distribution strategy,” says Brook. Coordinating with the Holmes County Planning Board and the Holmes County Board of County Commissioners, LKQ and the Holmes County Development Commission worked with the local and corporate officials over several months preceding the expansion to navigate through land-use issues and the comprehensive plan to facilitate the project.

The process was not without complications.

Says Brook, “There was some question ... (about whether) the company was going to shut down or choose to expand here. I believe a friendly planning board, a pro-jobs county commission and the Enterprise Zone (program) helped to give Holmes County the nod.”

The county’s Enterprise Zones encompass the towns of Bonifay, Esto, Noma, Westville and Ponce de Leon. New and expanding companies are potentially eligible for a series of sales tax breaks as well as credits on their property, municipal energy and state corporate income taxes based on how many employees they hire and the wages they pay.

Such incentives also reward the employees whose skills fuel the fire. In fact, according to Brook, workers earn “higher-than-average wages ... as compared to other non-government industries in the county.”

Those of us who see only the end result of these multi-stepped processes, often give no thought to what really happens — from start to finish — when producing all the moving parts

STREN GTH AG I LITY EXPERI EN CE CO M M ITM ENT

Representing only Employers in Labor and Employment Law Matters ALSO ADVISING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND SCHOOL BOARDS IN: CIVIL RIGHTS LITIGATION ■ TORT DEFENSE ADMINISTRATIVE LAW ■ SPECIAL EDUCATION LITIGATION

123 NORTH MONROE STREET

■

TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301

■

■ ■

ELECTION LAW LAW ENFORCEMENT LIABILITY

PHONE: 850-205-1996

■

WWW.SNIFFENLAW.COM

The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based upon advertisements. Before you decide, ask Robert J. Sniffen & Michael P. Spellman to send you free written information about our qualifications and experience. Florida Rule of Professional Conduct 4-7.2 and 4-7.3.

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

67

1750 ATTORNEYS 35 LOCATIONS ° GTLAW.COM

Local Knowledge, National Reach Greenberg Traurig’s Tallahassee office is home to a multidisciplinary legal team with deep Florida roots. For 40 years, our lawyers and governmental affairs professionals have worked in the state capital at the intersection of business, government and the law. We provide our clients with a wide range of practical legal counsel and business services, including: • Administrative Law & Litigation • Business Entity Transactional Practices • Corporate & Securities

• Environmental & Land Development • Governmental Affairs • Health Business

• Litigation • Probate Estate & Trust • Real Estate

[ FRED W. BAGGETT | GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A. | 101 EAST COLLEGE AVENUE | TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301 | 850.425.8512 | BAGGETTF@GTLAW.COM ] Some of Greenberg Traurig’s Tallahassee attorneys are listed in the 2012 editions of Florida Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, Florida Legal Elite, Legal 500 United States and the Chambers & Partners USA Guide.

Greenberg Traurig is a service mark and trade name of Greenberg Traurig, LLP and Greenberg Traurig, P.A. ©2012 Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Attorneys at Law. All rights reserved. °These numbers are subject to fluctuation.

15081

E V E RY T H I N G S I M P LY

tastes better when

THE BARTENDER KNOWS YOUR NAME

DIS S COV CO O ER YOU YOUR R FAVORITE COCKTAI T L AT H OTELDUVAL.COM

68

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

BUSINESS NEWS

Capital New Beginnings >> Scott Fennell has joined Workforce Florida Inc. as executive vice president for operations and chief financial officer. A certified public accountant, he has more than 15 years of experience working with workforce and economic development budgets and policy as well as governmental audits. Fennell will also serve as Workforce Florida’s treasurer. >> Gainesville-based Campus USA Credit Union has opened its first Tallahassee office at 1511 Killearn Center Boulevard. The first credit union to open on a college campus in 1935, it now has more than 65,000 members in 12 Florida counties, including Jefferson, Gadsden, Leon and Wakulla.

Campus USA Grand Opening >> Pea Green Solutions CEO Samantha Strickland has launched a new brand for her firm: The Pod Advertising. The new name reflects the firm’s emergence as a fully operational advertising agency. >> Kelly Layman has joined MedAffinity Corp. as an executive and shareholder. MedAffinity is a Tallahassee-based start-up company providing doctors and other health care practitioners with next-genLayman eration software for creating electronic health records. Layman most recently served as executive director of communications at the Florida Board of Governors for the State University System

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PROFILED INDIVIDUALS

>> Crump & Associates, a training and professional development company founded by Christy Crump in 2008 and headquartered in Tallahassee, has been acquired by the Center for Individual Excellence. >> Holland & Knight has expanded the firm’s Florida government advocacy team by adding Kimberly Case and Beth Vecchioli as senior policy advisors in the Tallahassee office. Case has 15 years of experience in state government, most recently serving as legislative affairs director and policy advisor for Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. Vecchioli represents clients in the areas of insurance regulation, lobbying and financial services matters. She was a senior level

manager and regulator at the Florida Department of Insurance/Office of Insurance Regulation for more than 10 years. >> Konky Sotomayor, DVM, developer of the Salmogenics Vaccine, has been appointed Chief Scientist of Global Green Inc. >> Ohio Wesleyan University administrator Eric S. Algoe has been appointed associate vice president for administration at Florida State University. He will assist with the development and implementation of programs that have a university-wide impact. >> John Wayne Smith, former legislative affairs director at the Florida Association of Counties, has joined William Peebles, whose Tallahassee firm represents several cities, counties and other local governments. >> Washington-based government affairs firm Three Bridges Advisors has opened an office in Tallahassee that will be managed by Vice President Alan J. Suskey, who previously worked for SRI International in Washington and as a congressional aide. The Army veteran served two tours of duty in Iraq. >> Florida-based marketing and communications firm Taproot Creative has named Stacey Getz, APR, as partner and vice president of public relations.

Getz, 29, previously served as director of strategic communications for the agency. >> Lyndsey Cruley has rejoined the public relations shop at Bascom CommunicaGetz tions after serving as spokeswoman for Senate President Mike Haridopolos. >> The Florida Sheriffs Association has named David Brand as public safety services coordinator. Brand spent 28 years with the Tallahassee Police Department, where he retired as the Internal Affairs Commander, and 10 years with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. >> Global consulting company North Highland has added Barbara Ray as vice president and new local office leader in Tallahassee. She will also serve as a member of North Highland’s Public Sector Global Expertise Network leadership team and will lead company efforts to expand its public sector footprint in existing markets as well as create opportunities in new markets. >> Veteran law enforcement officer Jay Etheridge has been named Deputy Chief Financial Officer over law enforcement. He will oversee the Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud, which enforces the criminal laws related to insurance transactions; the Division of State Fire Marshal, which is responsible for conducting fire, arson and explosives investigations; and the Division of Public Assistance Fraud, which investigates cases of fraud within federal and state public assistance programs. >> Clear Channel Media and Entertainment has named Chuck Redden as market manager. He

SoundByteS has more than 25 years of experience in the radio industry and began his career as a program director at WJLQ-FM in Pensacola. >> Logan Lane and Mike Tucker, owners of SignDeRedden sign Promotionals Inc., have opened a SIGNARAMA store, the world’s largest sign franchise, at 2915 East Park Ave., Tallahassee.

Local Happenings >> A $1 million gift to the Florida State University College of Business from Dollar Tree Inc. President and CEO Bob Sasser and his wife, Pam, has kick-started the college’s $65 million campaign for a new building. The university has committed to matching private donations raised for the new facility. >> Ron Sachs Communications has acquired What’s Next Marketing, a full-service social/digital media/marketing practice. The Ad Club of Boston in 2011 named What’s Next Marketing as an Emerging Interactive Business and last year it was a finalist for Forbes’ “Most Promising Companies” list. The digital division will be called What’s Next Marketing. >> Chance Partners and the Carlyle Group have broken ground on Catalyst, a mixed-use development on a 2.9-acre industrial site on West Madison Street near Florida State University.

Catalyst will have a five-story parking structure and an adjacent four-story residence building with 130 apartments with a mix of one to fourbedroom units.

Local Honors >> Beth Kirkland, CEcD, executive director of the Economic Development Council of Tallahassee/Leon County Inc., has been elected by the members of the Florida Economic Development Council to serve as the group’s 2012–13 chair.

Kirkland

>> Pennington Partners Mark K. Delegal, Peter M. Dunbar and Cynthia S. Tunnicliff are among the attorneys profiled in the 2012 Florida Super Lawyers publication. The distinction is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey and honors outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Delegal is being recognized for his practice in the area of governmental and legislative representation; Dunbar for real estate law; and Tunnicliff for administrative law. >> Nick Waller, regional vice president of Gray Television Inc. and president and general manager of WCTV (Tallahassee-Thomasville)/ WSWG (Moultrie-Albany), was recently honored with the American Advertising Federation’s prestigious Silver Medal Award in recognition of his contributions and commitment to advertising in the Tallahassee area.

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

69

SoundByteS >> Cyndy Loomis, chief executive officer of national management consulting firm ISF, has been named to the board of the North Central Division of the Children’s Home Society of Florida. Loomis’ 17-year-old son was born 12 weeks premature and received in-home services through CHS.

creative ad agency based in Santa Rosa Beach.

Lawrence, who has worked with J. Walter Thompson and Young & Rubicam, has brought together a team of experienced advertising and marketing professionals with multiple years in the industry.

Loomis

>> Althemese Barnes, founding director of the John Riley Center/Museum, recently received the Twelfth Annual APEX Distinguished Service Award from Black Meetings and Tourism Magazine for her years of service to the travel industry and contributions to the community. >> Karol Schneider, assistant vice president/ market service manager at Capital City Bank, was recently elected president of The Pilot Club of Tallahassee. Other elected officers include: Yvonne Salfinger, president-elect; Belinda Mizell, vice president; Claire Mikko, secretary; Charlotte Edenfield, treasurer; Carol Wolfe, one-year director; Carol Heiman, two-year director; and Pam Schilling, immediate past president/director. >> Eduardo Gonzalez Loumiet, managing director of Uber Operations, has passed a professional certification program for health care information and management systems professionals.

Individuals who meet eligibility criteria, and successfully complete the CPHIMS exam, are designated a Certified Professional in Health Care Information and Management Systems.

>> The Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine and Baptist Medical Group have brought neurosurgeon Brett D. Reichwage, M.D., to their team of specialists. Reichwage is dedicated to the care and treatment of delicate neural elements associated with the brain and spinal cord. His clinical interests are in minimally invasive and complex spine surgery, as well as spinal column tumors and brain tumors. >> IMSExpertServices has added Angela Henrichs as contracts assistant and Kelly Gunther as a senior recruiting consultant. Joey Amspacher and Tina Grenier have been promoted to recruiting consultant. The Pensacola company has also added four new associates — Joyce Harrington, Lynda Slatton, Monica Vandenberg and Eric Olsen — and promoted Mary Ann Diaz to a senior recruiting consultant. >> Ryan Hatler has become a shareholder in the law firm of Clark, Partington, Hart, Larry, Bond & Stackhouse. His civil litigation practice is focused on construction litigation and construction lien law and also includes land use, administrative and property rights law.

Hatler

Emerald Coast

>> Mark Hodgdon has been named the new general manager for Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.

New Beginnings

Local Happenings

>> Jorge Gonzalez has been promoted to senior vice president for development of The St. Joe Company. He is responsible for entitlements, business development and public relations/affairs for the company, with an emphasis on the Port of Port St. Joe.

>> The City of Pensacola has launched a new brand featuring the tagline “The Upside of Florida” as the foundation of its internal and external marketing efforts to tell the city’s story to investors, decision-makers and entrepreneurs that create jobs. Since 2000, the city of Pensacola has lost 3.9 percent of its residents due to strong competition for talent, business and resources from other southeastern cities.

Gonzalez

>> Susan Davis has been named president and CEO of Sacred Heart Health System.

Davis, who started out as a nurse in New York City, leads a health system that includes hospitals in Pensacola, Walton County, Panama City and Port Davis St. Joe, as well as a network of physicians stretching from Gulf Shores, Ala. to Apalachicola. >> Seaside Community Development Corporation, the developer of the New Urbanist community of Seaside, has hired Lori Leath Smith as director of public relations and marketing. >> Brian Lawrence has started blue32 advertising, a new

70

|

October – November 2012

Lawrence

|

>> Majestic Candies Company plans to bring more than 100 new jobs in the next few years to the Pensacola region with a projected capital investment of $6 million. The company primarily makes pralines and other pecan-based candy products, and targets distribution in the South. >> Blue Wahoos baseball fans will now be able to show support for their team in a whole new way. Fans of the local AA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds can now carry their team spirit with them, thanks to Pen Air Federal Credit Union’s new Blue Wahoos credit card. >> Construction has officially begun on the stateof-the-art Montecito 10, a Carmike Cinemas entertainment complex located in Grand Boulevard at Sandestin. The $10 million, 40,000 square foot

850businessmagazine.com

movie theatre will have a total of 1,800 seats and is expected to open around Spring Break 2013.

Local Honors >> Dawn Moliterno, executive director of the South Walton Tourist Development Council, has been appointed to the board of directors of VISIT FLORIDA, the state’s official tourism marketing corporation. Moliterno is one of three new members on the 31-member board, which serves as the organization’s private sector governing body. >> Scarlett Phaneuf, executive director of the Walton County Economic Development Alliance, has been elected by her colleagues from across the state to a one-year term on the Florida Economic Development Council’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee. She will serve as vice chair of membership and regional relations. >> Visit Pensacola, the tourism arm of the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, was presented with a Silver Flagler Award at the 45th Annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism. A Flagler is considered the highest award for tourism marketing in Florida. >> The United States Army has recognized Larry Orvis, bureau manager for Visit Pensacola, for his 28 years of military service by inducting him into the Transportation Corps Hall of Fame and into the Ancient Order of Saint ChristoOrvis pher. Having worked at the Visitor Information Center for nearly 14 years, Orvis is responsible for its daily operations, managing several employees, recording tourism statistical data and assisting military groups with planning their reunions in the Pensacola Bay Area. >> For the sixth year in a row, IMS ExpertServices has been named to Inc. Magazine’s annual list of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in America. Pensacola high tech firm Overgroup also made the list. >> For the ninth consecutive year, Seagar’s Prime Steaks & Seafood at Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa, the only AAA FourDiamond restaurant in Destin, has been honored with the Best of Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine. >> Brian Hooper, an attorney with Emmanuel, Sheppard & Condon, has been honored with the William Meador Award from the Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association. The award recognizes an attorney who practices law with integrity, sinHooper cerity and courtesy, and who supports the community through charitable and civil service. >> Gulf Power Company recently won 12 awards in an international competition that judges public and employee information programs. The company’s advertising, direct mail and social media programs all won awards, including the “Best of the Best” award, at the Utility Communicators

International Better Communications Competition. The international competition included 28 utilities from the U.S. and Canada and more entries than in any previous year.

Gulf Power’s “Energy Coach” campaign was a judges’ favorite, receiving six awards, including the “Best of the Best,” which honors the best single piece of advertising entered in the awards. >> Twin Cities Hospital, a 65-bed acute care facility in Niceville, was honored with an “A” Hospital Safety ScoreSM by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits. >> The creative department of Edwin Watts Golf Shops, LLC, one of the world’s largest specialty golf retailers based in Fort Walton Beach, was recognized by Graphic Design US magazine’s prestigious American Inhouse Design Awards, receiving 12 Certificates of Excellence for outstanding creative campaigns. >> The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority has earned the prestigious Gold Award in the Public Education category and the Bronze Award in the Collection Systems category in the 2012 Excellence Awards program of the Solid Waste Association of North America. The Gold Award honors the outstanding public education campaign that ECUA developed and utilized in the start-up and subsequent enhancements of its curbside recycling program. The Bronze Award recognizes ECUA’s comprehensive automated collection program, which serves 74,000 residential and 1,100 commercial customers.

A STRONG

RELIABLE LAW FIRM Founded over thirty years ago, Harrison Sale McCloy is well grounded in Northwest Florida. With lawyers practicing all areas of civil law, HSM is well equipped to meet your broad range of business needs.

HARRISON SALE MCCLOY

Appointed by Gov. Scott >> Judge Ross L. Bilbrey, of Pace, to the First Judicial Circuit Court. Bilbrey, 43, has served on the Santa Rosa County Court since 2006. Previously, he was managing partner with the Bilbrey Law Firm from 2003 to 2006 and practiced with Brant, Moore, Macdonald and Wells P.A. from 1997 to 2000. From 2000 to 2003, he was a civilian attorney with the Naval Legal Service Office of the Judge Advocate General Corps. >> Pamela E. Langham, Thomas F. Gonzalez and Lennard B. Register III to the First Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission.

Langham, 47, of Gulf Breeze, has been a sole practitioner since 2005. Previously, she was an assistant attorney at the University of West Florida from 2002 to 2003 and an assistant public defender with the Jacksonville Office of the Public Defender from 1992 to 1996.

Gonzalez, 45, of Pensacola, has been a partner with Beggs and Lane since 1999. He served in the United States Navy from 1984 to 1996.

Register, 58, of Pace, has been an Assistant United States Attorney in Pensacola since 2002. Previously, he served as an assistant state attorney for the Eighth Judicial Circuit from 1989 to 1993.

Bay New Beginnings >> Ray Crisp has been named president and chief executive officer of Bay Credit Union. He replaces Bill Medlock, who retired in June after 10 years in that position.

Crisp is a veteran of 27 years in the financial services industry, most recently a manager with First American Title. He served on the Bay Credit Union board of directors for eight years, including several as chairman. The credit union has facilities in Panama City, Callaway and Panama City Beach. >> Gulf Coast Medical Center has appointed Carlton Ulmer to the position of chief executive officer. Ulmer, who assumed the position Aug. 1, brings 16 years of health care administration experience, most recently serving for six years as CEO of Redmond Regional Medical Center in Rome, Ga.

304 MAGNOLIA AVENUE PANAMA CITY, FL 32401 (850) 769-3434 WWW.HSMCLAW.COM

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

71

Taste of the region Business luncheons. Celebratory dinners. Deal-making cocktails.

A sampling of the best fare the region has to offer.

A GUIDE TO FINE DINING IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA

Magnolia Grill FORT WALTON BEACH

TOM & PEGGY RICE, PROPRIETORS

(850) 302-0266

www.magnoliagrillfwb.com 72

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

SoundByteS >> Chris Gately has opened Workout Anytime at 12121 Panama City Beach Parkway, becoming the first military veteran within with the franchise to open a location. Workout Anytime is a 24hour, seven-day-a-week fitness concept that Gately hopes to open in several Northwest Florida locations.

Local Happenings >> Franklin R. Harrison of Panama City has been elected chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which develops the tests that are used as part of the bar examination in virtually every U.S. jurisdiction, including Florida. Harrison is a founding partner of the law firm Harrison Sale McCloy, with his practice concentrated in the areas of real estate, commercial and education law.

Harrison

>> iSirona, a downtown Panama City-based medical software development company formed in 2008, has grown from 33 to 100 employees since January 2012 and projects to grow by another 100 jobs over the next three years. The company recently relocated its headquarters to the former ITT Exelis building in downtown Panama City.

Appointed by Gov. Scott >> Zane F. Spitzer, 75, of Lynn Haven, chief deputy of the Bay County Property Appraiser’s Office, to the State Retirement Commission.

RAMBANA & RICCI, P.L.L.C Concentrating on Complex Immigration Across the NationTM

» WHO Neil St. John Rambana & Elizabeth Ricci, a husband-wife team of seasoned and award-winning immigration attorneys and legal professionals. » WHAT Investment-based immigration, complex immigration litigation, and I-9 compliance and audit negotiation. » WHERE This Florida-capital based team practices complex immigration across the nation. » HOW With decades of combined experience, thousands

of administrative and court cases, having held Congressional and regional liaison positions to USCIS, the dynamic legal duo has unparalleled experience in the region and gives personalized attention to each client.

2915 Kerry Forest Pkwy., Ste. 101, Tallahassee, FL 32309 850.224.4529 rambana.com

I-10 Local Happenings >> Atlanta-based Home Source International Inc. will establish a manufacturing and distribution facility in Marianna by the end of this year, an operation that will produce 303 jobs. The facility will be used for the production of a new Made in the USA brand — to include home textiles, furniture and lighting for the hospitality and retail industries. The project was made possible with $1.4 million from Florida’s Quick Action Closing Fund to help renovate a cityowned building complex at Marianna’s Airport and Industrial Park.

The buildings total 270,000 square feet. >> David Melvin of Melvin Engineering in Marianna was honored at the summer Florida Economic Development Conference as a Volunteer of the Year. Selected as the honoree from Northwest Florida, Melvin was nominated by Bill Stanton, director of the Jackson County Development Council, for his help in 15 recruitment projects that resulted in adding about 1,800 jobs to the local economy.

Appointed by Gov. Scott >> Greg S. Hutching, 39, of Chipley, criminal justice training center director at Washington-Holmes Technical Center, to the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission.

Forgotten Coast Local Happenings >> NAI TALCOR is expanding into the Northwest Florida real estate market. Joining the NAI team are principals Brent Faison and Patrick Jones, who will be overseeing business operations from Franklin County westward. Jones is responsible for management of the Port St. Joe and Panama City offices.

Appointed by Gov. Scott >> Thomas F. Vander Plaats, 65, of Alligator Point, owner of Accu-Trol Industries Inc., to the Alligator Point Water Resources Board.

Compiled by Linda Kleindienst

850 Business Magazine

|

October – November 2012

|

73

The Last Word

My customer wasn’t the local legislator, a U.S. senator or one of the many special interest groups that operate in Florida. It especially wasn’t other newspaper editors and reporters or public relations folks. My job was to report and write for the reader who each day plunked (at that time) 50-cents into a newspaper box or ambled out to the driveway each morning to get the latest news.

I was reminded of that recently at the annual Florida Magazine Association conference, where we heard from some of the tops in the magazine field, including Samir Husni (aka Mr. Magazine) and Rebecca Darwin, who after a successful publishing career in New York City launched the highly acclaimed Garden & Gun Magazine out of Charleston, S.C., in 2007.

Both equated success with satisfied customers.

That message was further bolstered by my experience, as a customer, at the conference hotel — Disney’s Yacht Club. When checking in, I had to hand over my driver’s license. I got the license back along with a surprise — a birthday button with my name on it to wear during my stay. And wear it I did.

Normally, Disney staff will smile and incessantly wish you “a magical day.” But the sharp-eyed staff noticed the button wherever I went and happily wished me a genuine Happy Birthday. A chef at the Swan Hotel who saw me while walking through the restaurant went back into the kitchen to make up a Happy Birthday (written in chocolate) dessert platter at dinner one evening.

74

|

October – November 2012

|

850businessmagazine.com

The next morning I was handed a chocolate cupcake with a candle at breakfast, along with a pretty decent serenade from the waiter and my husband. Disney knows its customers well — and I was a smiling fool for the three days I was there.

No matter what we do, we should never forget the people who help us stay in business, our customers. When I wrote newspaper stories for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, I often tried to envision the person reading them — a retiree in Century Village or a Fort Lauderdale young professional. What topics would they be interested in and what would be the best way to draw them in to a story? Today, when I write for 850 I think of our customers who get the magazine delivered to their offices and try to envision how they’ll react to the story ideas and words.

Many businesses in Northwest Florida have been hunkered down for the last few years, just trying to survive the bad economy. Now that the financial climate appears to be improving, this may be the perfect time for all business owners to take a deep breath and analyze their customer service.

Do you know who your customer is and what he/she expects from you? Are you delivering your goods and/or services in such a way that your customer is getting the full benefit? If you aren’t, chances are good that one of your competitors is.

I’m also happy to report that 850 was again named one of the best written magazines in Florida during the annual FMA awards.

850 has been printing since October 2008, when a portrait of former Gov. Charlie Crist graced our cover. The 2012 award marks the fourth year in a row that 850 has been selected for this honor — and we’re darned proud.

Remember that you are our customer and we appreciate your support. So, don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email or Facebook if you want to pass along some good story ideas.

LINDA KLEINDIENST, EDITOR lkleindienst@rowlandpublishing.com

photo by Kay Meyer and Scott Holstein (Award)

When I worked for a newspaper, especially covering politics and the Legislature, I always had to remind myself to concentrate on who my “real” customer was. It’s sometimes easy to lose sight of that person, especially when working hundreds of miles away from home base.

Walton Monk and Paul Watts, COO Electronet Broadband Communications

RE AL CUSTOMERS . RE AL ISSUES . RE AL SOLUTIONS .

For many years, we have used Electronet as our Internet service provider. We were hoping to improve our telephone experience, so we inquired about their business bundle. Electronet was able to bundle our voice, long distance and Internet. It enhanced our service and saved us money at the same time. We really have enjoyed having a local telecommunications company service our business needs. They have been extremely responsive to all of our needs, and we would recommend them highly to anyone looking for a more reliable communications company.

Walton Monk

3 4 1 1 C a p i t a l M e d i c a l B l v d . Ta l l a h a s s e e , F L | 2 2 2 . 0 2 2 9 | w w w. e l e c t r o n e t . n e t