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Financial Review

Financial industry professionals in Southwest Florida share tips to improve company financial operations.

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IONAL TRADE SUMMIT

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rs and Salute to Entrepreneu solo practitioners

Startups, of the economy visionaries fuel Southwest Florida.

Brady Photos by Christine trade to the Southof international offices. about the importance Buqueras talks Lee County Economic Development Director Carlos the first-ever stop at Port Manatee Executive during the Port’s west Florida market

Estate Commercial Real 8-page pullout

South American

A comprehensive a quarterly Southsection that is Real Eswest Florida Commercial

Fort businesses visit

Myers

Special to SWFBT

tate market overview.

IN THE NEWS

to Dave Gammon elevated Charlotte EDO director

in the wake of Charlotte County, joinLucienne Pears former director Partners at Babcock ing Kitson and former Business Ranch, elevated and interim Recruitment Supervisor to executive director Dave Gammon Economic Developdirector of the ment Office. face in reGammon is a familiar he development as gional economic three years with his has proven in EDO. County Charlotte continue leading He is excited to like developments several existing page 19

Florida to communities in second one of four host as part of the Lee County was from seven countries welcome companiesTrade Summit.

Manatee, annual International International Trade Hub at Port Fort Lauseries visited Organized by The one day Business opportunity ota and Tampa for the 2019 Global Bradenton/Saras derdale, Fort Myers,to 29.

26 Office, Southwest each from Aug. ReEconomic Development and the Southwest The Lee County Chamber of Commerce the event, which Florida Hispanic Association co-hosted gional Manufacturers Gulf Railway.

Chile, Colombia, was sponsored Seminole from Argentina, other locales International companies Spain, Peru and Mexico, goods, artisanal apparel, El Salvador, Guatemala, food, coffee, fruits, cooking systems featured wine, snack and state-of-the-art to merchandise companies Lee County industryof founded as part summit showcases during the summit. Trade Hub at Port Manatee, and An expo-style from seven nations markets in Florida and business leaders visiting Summit.

The International International Trade advice as a vital link between provides expert See page 6 the second annual in 2014, serves world. The hub TRADE throughout the

ENEURS h SALUTE TO ENTREPR poised for growt and Business Intermediary Proess Advisors experi- a CertifiedMergers & Acquisitions transaction Edison Busin the IBBA ap- Certified designations from ence totaling partner and

GAMMON See

Privacy & Cyber Security d Forum announce

& Cyber SeA special Privacy held on Friwill be at curity Forum 9 a.m. to noon day, Nov. 8, fromNews Community the Naples Daily room.

Companies will William C. Huff and insponsor the informational for the community. teractive forum forum is for atThe goal of the clearer undera tendees to gain keep their famito standing of how businesses private. lies, wealth and FORUM See page

18

in fi$170 fessional a Eric Gall, managing with a concentration proximately for Edison Avenue, won and an MBAthe University of Michigan. broker of record brokerage and lower million. Gall transactions and nance from leading business Gall in business the 2018, 2016 and acquisitions Niehaus, Bro- Assisting middle market mergers Pfeffer, Steven 2014 Business significant changes No. 1 are Michael and Phillip Reda. firm, is announcing kers of Florida Edward Valaitis Business Adto operations.

Top Dollar Producer to rebrand itself Pfeffer joins Edison of business The firm has decided over 20 years Award for Southwest Advisors” to better out visors with experience, including 12 as “Edison Business service offerings, Florida, beating busi- transactionbusiness brokerage franchise communicate addedbusiness appraisals, Gall a over 90 other He is years as Southwest Florida. Pfeffer is a including certified appraisals and certiness brokers. owner in Certified certified equipment Business Brokers Board Certified Intermediary, International an and also page 6 strategies.

See fied exit EDISON Chairman’s Circle mergers and acquisiBrokerage and led by Association Award winner. Eric holds continue to be tions efforts will 20 years of business Deal Maker Gall. He has over OPENING

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Hoffmann Family buys Hertz Arena, Everblades

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

The Hoffmann Family of Companies has entered into an agreement to purchase the Florida Everblades and the Hertz Arena.

Plans are underway for a complete renovation of the 8,284-seat, multipurpose arena. The improvements will include enhanced skyboxes, food services and installation of a state-ofthe-art scoreboard.

Hertz Arena, which opened in 1998 as Everblades Arena, hosts a variety of events including concerts, Cirque du Soleil, Disney on Ice, boxing and trade shows. The venue offers

Focus on Manufacturing

Area companies are building a better future — one made right here in Southwest Florida.

25 suites, two additional ice rinks, a private club and a pub, Breakaway Sports Pub. The arena is also home to the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles club hockey team of the American Collegiate Hockey Association.

“We are optimistic that all of the 330 employees will remain with the Hoffmann Family of Companies,” said Craig Brush, Florida Everblades President and General Manager, who signed a five-year contract and has a commitment from all his senior staff to remain in place.

“We are thrilled to be acquired by

A specially focused monthly section exploring the SWFL commercial real estate marketplace.

IN THE NEWS

Fort Myers sixth Business Summit slated for Sept. 20

Holly Bell addresses citrus growers about the 25,000-plus uses for industrial hemp, which can now be grown legally in Florida

Cannabis chief promises rich stash for hemp growers Special to SWFBT Submitted By: Jacob Ogles, Editor

SUMMIT See page 7

When other states started authorizing farmers to grow hemp, it didn’t take long to realize there was no place to sell it. Because no structures had been put in place for processing and manufacturing plants, state officials found themselves rushing a regulatory structure through so farmers could offload their first harvests.

Holly Bell, Florida’s first Director of Cannabis, plans to learn from that mistake. She said the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will make sure all parts of the burgeoning hemp industry can move forward as soon as new rules unroll later this fall.

“When our farmers are ready for a cash flow, we want to encourage them to get going,” she said.

Applications being accepted for the 25th Blue Chip Award The 25th Annual Southwest Florida Blue Chip Community Business Award application deadline is fast approaching. The Blue Chip Community Business Award recognizes successful, small businesses in Lee, Collier or Charlotte County that have overcome adversity to achieve success. Applications must be submitted by Wednesday, Sept. 4.

The independent judges select the honoree after all the applications AWARD See page 19

Bell spoke in August at the Citrus Expo and Vegetable and Specialty Crop Expo, where growers from around the region gathered to hear her discuss this new and just recently legal product to diversify their inventory.

Just a few years ago, there were no legal reasons to grow cannabis in Florida. Now, medical marijuana dispensaries pop up in more shopping centers each week. Soon, farmers will grow non-narcotic hemp crops.

With the 2018 federal farm bill allowing hemp to grow, a budding industry will soon emerge in Florida. The Legislature this year authorized a pilot program for growing hemp in the Sunshine State, and state officials are nearly done weeding through a stack of public suggestions.

GrowFL announced this year’s 50 Florida Companies to Watch honorees, including three from Southwest Florida. Companies to Watch is a statewide competition that identifies companies expected to see significant growth over the next several years.

The GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch awards program—now in its ninth year—honors 50 select second-stage companies from throughout Florida for developing valuable products and services, creating quality jobs, enriching communities, and broadening new industries throughout Florida. Chosen from 500 growing second-stage nominations from throughout, Florida, the 50 companies named as the 2019 Florida Companies to Watch honorees generated nearly $1 billion in revenue and added over 900 jobs between 2015 and 2018. Together, the honorees project a 35 percent increase in revenue and 37 percent increase in job growth in 2019 compared to 2018.

“These stand-out companies are all led by entrepreneurs, and have demonstrated their capacity and intent to grow,” said Dr. Tom O’Neal, GrowFL executive director. “They also all have critical intellectual property or a niche position that gives them a competitive edge in their markets,” he said.

Local honorees include: Cottrell Title & Escrow, Collier County; Mettauer Environmental, Lee County; and VeraData, Lee County .

“This list recognizes second-stage Florida companies with passionate leaders who are making a difference in growing and diversifying our economy,” said Jennifer Barrows, GrowFL Chairman of the GrowFL Advisory Board and Business Development Executive with WithumSmith+Brown, PC. Second-stage companies are those

HEMP See page 5

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The Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce has announced an exciting line-up for its 2019 Business Summit, set for Sept. 20. The summit, now in its sixth year, will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa in Fort Myers.

This year’s keynote address is “Communicate Your Way to Success,” by entrepreneur, business coach and international speaker Jason Evers. Evers has traveled to more than 20 countries on five continents

such a prestigious company. Our partnership with the Hertz Corporation and now this new ownership ensures that Hertz Arena will maintain our strong community presence and continue to be the number one choice for entertainment in Southwest Florida.”

The team and the arena were previously owned by Peter Karmanos, founder of Compuware Corporation and prior majority owner of the Carolina Hurricanes in the National Hockey League.

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IN THE NEWS Collier names Pelican as ‘Business of the Wire Month’

During the July ty Commission 9 Collier CounWire was named meeting, Pelican ty ‘Business of the Collier Counthe Month’ and recognized by was the a manufacturing Board for being County for over leader in Collier 40 years.

Pelican Wire President Ted Bill, who received the are truly honored award, said “We Collier County to be named the Month’ for July.‘Business of the Since moving AWARD See page

Gov. DeSantis announces job growth grants

4

Gov. Ron DeSantis the Florida Departmentannounced of Economic Opportunity Florida are acceptingand Enterprise economic development project proposals for the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund. $40 million is available to fund training and public job projects that support infrastructure growth and employment in Florida.

“We know

the frastructure projects importance inand workforce training has on economic development,” said DeSantis.

“The Florida Job Growth Grant Fund will help Florida communities ensure they GRANTS See page

12

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Dr. Sandra Kauanui (left) and Noemi Ailynee Ramirez, Y. Perez (right) Jessica Sales, with - TIF Shark Daisy Montanez, Tank winners

Alondra Estrada Swap & Shop teamNeika Exulus, Young entrep reneurs share ideas, earn award s

Special to SWFBT Submitted By: Noemi Y. Perez Southwest Florida tion’s business-theme students in The Immokalee Foundad summer camp entrepreneurial recently shared ideas their Tank event modeled and garnered awards during a Shark The four-week after the popular TV show. was a partnership Business Management Pathway Coast University’sbetween the foundation and Floridacamp Gulf developed businessInstitute for Entrepreneursh ip. among them: finding plans that solved problems Students common clothes on a budget; centric finances; handling ñera; and findinggetting better sleep; planning studenta quincearestaurants suitable stricted diets. for people with reStudent teams gave presentations about ences, startup costs, their target audiprojected profits, marketing other aspects of entrepreneurial plans and Dr. Sandra Kauanui, enterprises at iTECH mokalee. Judges FGCU Director spoke during the for of Entrepreneurs Smart Companies the presentations were: Brian in Imevent. hip, Rist, The Smart Companies executive chairman; Sofia Blanno, gram allows shoppers to arrange tor of corporate intern; and Matthew Turner, Hertz The through social an app, then physically to buy, sell or swap items direcFirst place awards responsibility. central location exchange those in Immokalee. items at a Shop team of Neika of $500 each went to the MentorUs, Daisy Montanez Exulus, Jessica Sales, Alondra Swap & smart financial an app that encourages students and Ailynee Ramirez.

Estrada, decisions, earned interested in dressing Aimed at students for team members second place of to make fashionably on $250 each Alex Soriano, a budget, the pro- ie Etienne, Azael Simon-Quirino Je’an Espinoza, Myrlandand Simson Devesaint.

Fort Myers Mayor

Special to SWFBT Submitted By: Karen P. Moore,

launches Divers ity Committee

SHARK See page

more inclusive city.

Publisher Student Hailey Countryman asked her employer, Sanibel Captiva “It is never too the Mayor if he munity Bank, Comlate to give up had to FGCU’s College on diversity whom a team of advisors Education. your prejudices.” of Henry David Thoreau for guidance. Since he could rely on said, “We In a recent interview she can’t really say question was no, the answer to that ing to be representative we are tryat that moment Fort Myers Mayor derson felt Henof our city’s derson has known Randy Hen- a team. inspired to create just such residents and community if we don’t have diversity Ndiang’ui wanted Florida Gulf Coast University on the to make She sure the Mayor explained the council itself.” was prepared ter Ndiang’ui for professor Dr. Pe- road ahead committee drew about 10 years and asked him, for the its 18 members was a guest speaker and from the commu“Are in his class, “In- really able to handle the truth?” you nity, representing troduction to Diversity,” diversity project moved The ethnicity, forward. in Novemgender and sexualin race, ber. Henderson Beth Countryman, asked students Hailey’s moth- tity. “We can’t be a committee idenhe could do to what er, became make Fort Myers up of old white made involved with men and think the project, going a which led to we are a $25,000 donation to be in charge of diversity.” from DIVERSITY See page 11 Payment Plans Available • Discounted Merchandise Parking Options Discount • Presale • Private Parties & Exclusive Gifts on Hertz Arena Concerts & Family Shows Buy Any 19/20 & Get A $20 Membership Pack FORD’S GIFT & ‘BLADES TOTE CARD BAG Valid on any NEW

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From left to right, CBIA’s 2021 Board of Directors includes JP Coleman, Dominick Amico, Jennifer Evans, Cali Clardy, Robyn Bonaquist, Chris McEachern, Matt Sellick, Norm Gentry, Drew Kowalczyk, TJ Thornberry, Nick Radick, Mike Bone, Kevin Deardorff, Tatiana Gust, Kevin Rea, Marc Huling.

Kowalczyk named Builder of the Year

The Collier Building Industry Association named its Associate and Builder of the Year, honored its 2021 Board of Directors and volunteers, and inducted its 2022 Board of Directors during the annual Holiday Happenings event held Dec. 16 at The Club at Olde Cypress.

The organization paid tribute to CBIA Immediate Past President John Williams, vice president of RWA, posthumously honored as Associate of the Year.

“Our entire organization extends our continued thoughts and prayers to the Williams family during their time of loss,” said CBIA Executive Director Amelia Vasquez. “John was a consummate professional who contributed greatly to his profession and to our community, and we are forever grateful for his steadfast support.” (See more on Williams, Page 6) Stock Development’s Drew Kowalczyk was named

Builder of the Year for his exceptional leadership presiding over CBIA throughout 2021.

CBIA recognized its 2021 Board of Directors Executive Committee, including: President Kowalczyk of Stock Development; Immediate Past President Williams of RWA; Past Vice President Leroy Christiansen of Baldwin, Krystyn, Sherman Partners; President-elect Matt Sellick of Kowalczyk Stock Development; Vice President Norm Gentry of BUILD; Secretary Ryan Benson of A. Vernon Allen Builder; and Treasurer Kevin Deardorff of Waldrop Engineering.

CBIA See page 19

How does sports tourism play into the SWFL economy?

Special to SWFBT Submitted By: Karen P. Moore, Publisher

“Lee County is home to 150 sports events per year that most residents don’t attend,” Lee County Director of Sports Tourism Jeff Mielke stated. These events including both indoor (i.e. hockey, basketball) and outdoor (i.e. baseball) activities. Since sports tourism efforts by the county are 100% hotel-bed-tax-funded, the goal of the department used to be to

fill hotel rooms, he shared, and now it’s about promoting Lee County’s quality of life and branding the region.

The sports tourism “season” runs generally April through December, with most of it coming in the fall. So, he pointed out, these numbers do not include spring training, as most residents tend to assume.

In 2019, sports tourism brought $49 million in direct spending to the county, Mielke indicated, its biggest revenue

number ever. “It’s important to note that for every sports event in Florida, we are competing against 27 other sports commissions—including the larger population markets of Miami, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville and Orlando.

“We have more baseball events in Lee County than any other county in Florida, save Palm Beach County. Baseball is huge!” He continued, “As for future growth opportunities for sports tourism SPORTS See page 19

IN THE NEWS U-Haul ranks Fort Myers market sixth in nation in growth

The Fort Myers-North Fort Myers market is the No. 6 growth city in America based on U-Haul truck moves throughout 2021, according to transactional data compiled for

the annual U-Haul Growth Index.

People coming to Fort MyersNorth Fort Myers in one-way UHaul trucks rose 36% year-overyear, while departures rose 34% from 2020 as overall moving activity spiked.

GROWTH See page 4

Nominations for distinguished entrepreneur awards are open

The Florida Small Business Development Center at Florida Gulf Coast University will host its 10th Annual Distinguished Entrepreneur of SWFL Awards and Ceremony event on Tues-

day, May 3, from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Bonita Bay Club.

The Florida SBDC at FGCU is currently accepting nominations for the awards and there are several sponsorship opportunities available. Nominations are open through Feb. 18 and are AWARDS See page 4

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Preserving tax rates, preventing waste on TaxWatch agenda

Special to SWFBT Submitted by Jacob Ogles, Editor

As lawmakers arrived in Tallahassee for the 2022 Legislative Session, business leaders also came to town for Florida TaxWatch’s Annual State of the Taxpayer Dinner. From addressing supply bottlenecks to preserving corporate tax rates, organization leaders said they would press the Florida Legislature to preserve Florida’s business climate.

Former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux gave the keynote address of the evening, stating Florida has become a magnet for business because of its tax climate and the fact it hasn’t imposed significant regulations, including during the pandemic.

“Keep freedom first. Keep taxes low,” LeMieux said. “Make sure spending is meaningful and important, and make sure all Floridians have a ladder up so they can achieve their dreams. If we do that, there’s no stopping us.”

Other speakers issued more specific policy requests of the Legislature. Dominic Calabro, TaxWatch President and CEO, said the Legislature must maintain a sense of fiscal discipline, especially as $8.8 billion in federal dollars arrive in Florida as part of an economy recovery package. The funding needs to be spent strategically on one-time expense projects that will have lasting impacts in the state, like improving rural broadband and airport access. Both of those could prove critical in Hendry and Glades counties, with AirGlades preparing to step up cargo flights and more businesses expressing interest in

“To preserve this momentum in 2022, Florida TaxWatch is hopeful the Legislature will concentrate on specific measures that our research has proven will benefit communities, businesses and the state economy overall.”

— Dominic Calabro, TaxWatch President and CEO operating in the area if the right communications infrastructure is in place.

The organization will continue spotlighting wasteful spending, including any member projects using federal dollars that don’t deliver benefits for a significant portion of the state. LeMieux said the annual “Turkey List” published by the group will make sure such provincial spending gets called out. “Every lawmaker says ‘Please don’t put me on that turkey list,’” he said. “We are very unpopular one day of the year, but that’s because we are holding government accountable.”

Calabro said lawmakers need to make critical spending decisions big and small.

“To preserve this momentum in 2022, Florida TaxWatch is hopeful the Legislature will concentrate on specific measures that our research has proven will benefit communities, businesses and the state economy overall,” he said. “We are proud to present these taxpayer priorities today and look forward to providing additional information and evidence-based recommendations, as appropriate, in the days ahead.”

One priority for the organization is addressing a “glitch” in business taxes. A drafting error in the

For more business news, visit www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that resulted in a 39-year depreciation schedule for improvements to the interior of commercial buildings, instead of the intended 15 years, Calabro said. The Legislature can address this problem and should also reverse elimination of “like-kind” exchange provisions, he said.

“Not only do these provisions raise barriers to business investments, but they also increase costs and require burdensome adjustments to how companies keep assets on their books, at times well beyond the period where the investment has been taken out of service.”

As federal tax cuts passed under President Donald Trump expire, Florida could see a 5.5% jump in its corporate tax rate of 5.5%, something that would deliver a $1 billion tax increase this year. That’s something Calabro said can be remedied by the state Legislature to avoid sending the wrong message to corporations that came to Florida in the past year.

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FEBRUARY 2022

FINANCIAL REVIEW

FPRA to host annual PR University seminar

Eight ideas to make filing your tax return easier

By Scott. T. Nelson Guest Columnist Consider these suggestions for helping to make tax season smooth sailing this year for your small business: 1. Make your estimated tax payments. Tuesday, Jan. 18 is the due date to make your 4th quarter payment for the 2021 tax year. Now is also the time to create an initial estimate for first quarter 2022 tax payments. The due date for this payment is Monday, April 18.

2. Reconcile your bank accounts. Preparing an accurate tax return starts with accurate books. Reconciling your bank accounts is the first step in this process. Consider it the cornerstone on which you build your financials and your tax return. Up-to-date cash accounts will also give you confidence that you’re not over-reporting (or under-reporting!) income on your tax return.

3. Organize those nasty credit card statements. If you use credit cards for your business, develop an expense report for these expenditures, if you have not already done so. The report should recap the credit card bill and place the transactions in the correct expense accounts.

Attach actual copies of the expenses in the credit card statement. You will need this to support any sales tax paid in case of an audit. Use this exercise to show you are only including business-related expenses by reimbursing your business for any personal use of the card.

4. Reconcile accounts payable. One of the first tax deadlines for many businesses is issuing 1099 forms to vendors and contractors at the end of January. Get your accounts payable and cash disbursements up-to-date so you have an accurate account of which vendors you paid. ®

www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com

5. Get your information reporting in order. Now identify anyone you paid during the year that will need a 1099. Look for vendors that are not incorporated like consultants or those in the gig economy and don’t forget your attorneys. You will need names, addresses, identification numbers (like Social Security numbers) and amounts billed. Send out W-9s as soon as possible to request missing information.

6. File employee-related tax forms. If you have employees, file all necessary W-2 and W-3 forms, along with the applicable federal and state payroll returns (Forms 940 and 941). Do this as soon as possible in January to allow time to identify any potential problems.

7. Compile a list of major purchases. Prepare a list of any purchases you made during 2021 that resulted in your business receiving an invoice for $2,500 or more.

Once the list is compiled, find detailed invoices that support the purchase and create a fixed asset file. This spending will be needed to determine if you wish to depreciate the purchase over time, take advantage of bonus depreciation, or expense the purchase using code section 179. Your choices create a great tax planning tool.

8. Review the impact of COVID-19. There are a number of federal and state initiatives that will need to be considered when filing your 2021 tax return. If you received payroll credits for employee retention or have a Paycheck Protection Program loan that needs to be accounted for this year, be prepared with the details. It will be important to correctly account for these funds.

Should you need help, please reach out for assistance.

Scott T. Nelson is a CPA based in Estero. Contact (239) 829-5979 or scott@nelsonas.com.

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The Southwest Florida Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association will host its annual PR University seminar titled “Mission: Liftoff – PR Strategies to Ignite Your Brand” on Friday, Feb. 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers.

Open to the public, this fullday event showcases industryleading professionals in business, education, healthcare, media and more sharing their best practices, takeaways and case studies on how to take your brand to the next level through effective storytelling, earned media, award-winning campaigns and other real-world tools that can be used daily.

Ideal for seasoned and young professionals as well as business owners who communicate with internal and external audiences, PR University offers valuable education, professional development and networking opportunities with other Southwest Florida professionals.

Register at www.fpraswfl.org/ events/pr-university-pr-strategiesto-ignite-your-brand/.

The registration deadline is Feb. 20, and seating is limited.

Keep up with the latest business news, events and more!

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Arriving customers accounted for 51.6% of all one-way U-Haul traffic in Fort Myers-North Fort Myers during 2021 to make it a leading market for netting do-it-yourself movers.

U-Haul customers made the Kissimmee-St. Cloud market the leading growth city of 2021. RaleighDurham (in North Carolina), Palm Bay-Melbourne, North Port and Madison (in Wisconsin) round out the top five growth cities.

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Anticipating what’s next... ...is what keeps you and your business ahead of the game.

Due to recent expansion, we are now hiring for part-time newspaper delivery drivers in Bonita Springs and Naples.

Please call (239) 770-7527 for details.

Here’s what is ahead for 2022 for Southwest Florida Business Today®.

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accepted through the online application available at www.fsbdcswfl.org/ distinguished-entrepreneur-of-southwest-florida/. Tickets for the event are now on sale.

The Florida SBDC awards are held annually to recognize three Southwest Florida Small Businesses that are nominated and judged in three categories: Distinguished Entrepreneur, Distinguished Innovator and Business Advocate of the Year.

“We celebrate the business owners that took an idea, grew that idea into a business, and created a positive impact on the economy in the Southwest Florida community.” Lois Knox, FSBDC at FGCU Regional Director states.

For more information contact Marketing Coordinator, Amanda Simat at asimat@fgcu.edu.

Don’t forget to post your in-person and virtual events on our B2B events calendar at www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com/ calendar

FEBRUARY 2022

Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

Page 5

Instead of censorship, misinformation should die on vine

Until recently, businesses didn’t have to worry about the ethics of whether or not to censor customer or employee expression. Of course, the 1st Amendment to the Constitution, in the Bill of Rights, guarantees Americans freedom of speech.

That guarantee is arguably the most important element of the American experiment, which has created the most sought-out country on earth.

Only government is limited by the amendment regarding censored speech, though, so businesses are free to censor it, if they choose. For most organizations, controlling speech won’t be a factor, other than through their social media. For social media companies, the issue is central to their business. Twitter, Facebook and other social media organizations have decided that they will flag or delete content they deem inaccurate. For example, in 2020, many users had their posts deleted if they claimed that the coronavirus was laboratory-made because the media consensus said that it wasn’t.

That consensus then changed, though.

Being ethical in life and in business means pursuing truth. We should not make individual or organizational decisions with misinformation. But here’s the paradox. The truth-determining process is messy. In order to arrive at truth, we must allow information that will later be found not to be true to be tested in scientific laboratories and in the marketplace of ideas. Let me illustrate using examples personally related to my family and me during my

lifetime.

Each of the following we now know is not the best information, even though they represented scientific and media consensus at the time. However, if Facebook existed then, posts contradicting the following examples may have been deleted. Take salt tablets after exercising because sweating overly reduces salt levels in the body, take vitamin

BY ERIC E supplements to avoid prostate DENT cancer, eliminate fat from your Guest Columnist diet to lose weight, eat frequent small meals, bottle-feed babies, nurse on a schedule, stay out of the sun to avoid skin cancer, eat margarine which is much healthier than butter, don’t eat eggs or shrimp because they contain massive levels of cholesterol, and eat pretzels and Snackwell cookies because they are fat free.

For a few years of my life, I ate primarily salad (with a no-fat salad dressing), bagels, pretzels, tuna and pasta thinking that since I was taking in almost no fat, that I would lose weight. Of course, we now know the opposite happened. However, if I were able to post 20 years ago “Make sure you get enough sun today to get natural vitamin D to prevent skin cancer,” there’s a good chance a social media company would have deleted that post.

For more business news, visit www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com Even though you disagree, even vehemently, with some information, if you are correct, your information will be accepted more readily when the opposite information is thoroughly tested in the marketplace of ideas and found wanting. Every one of my health examples above is in the arena of a physical science, which you would think would be more quickly resolved than social science ideas. However, at the turn of the 20th century, it was conventional wisdom among all of the leading physicists that the universe never had a moment of creation because it has always existed. Social science ideas – such as the economic question of whether the United States can perpetually run a massive budget deficit – may take more than a century to resolve.

Rather than silencing it, misinformation needs to be allowed to die on the vine as rational people increasingly abandon it. That’s the ethical way to convert people from inaccurate to accurate beliefs.

Dr. Eric B. Dent is the Uncommon Friends Endowed Chair Professor of Ethics at Florida Gulf Coast University. He is also a consultant to organizations and a speaker to national audiences. Contact (239) 590-7162 or edent@fgcu.edu.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

One Source Business Capital closes SBA Loan for residential care facility One Source Business Capital (One Source) closed a $990,000 SBA 7(a) loan for a residential care facility in Connecticut.

The client attempted to secure a loan from several banks that could not provide funding for this type of property or business, so they referred the

client to One Source.

After meeting with One Source, the client secured the funds needed to complete the purchase with a 10% down payment and 25-year term.

“We are passionate about helping our clients secure the necessary funds to fulfill their goals and

business needs,” said David Marcantonio, president and founder of One Source Business Capital. “Our relationships with the traditional banking industry, the nation’s top private lenders, and non-bank lenders provide us with the opportunities to assist our clients in achieving their dreams.”

Page 6

Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

FEBRUARY 2022

Shadow of a giant: The biggest man in the room SPECIAL FEATURE Submitted By: Karen P. Moore, Publisher I grew up in a family with four men, all measuring over 6 feet. So when I got caught up in a crowd, all I had to do was look up, and there was one of those gentle giants towering above the other heads, whom I could simply zero in on and use as my “guide.”

So it was with John Williams. We’d known each other a few years since his company, RWA Engineering, became a SWFBT client. But just one year ago, as I was chatting with someone before a luncheon meeting, I suddenly sensed a big presence beside me. I looked up and there he was, 6-foot-6-inches or so, with this big smile, kinda shuffling his feet Jimmy Stewart-style, and he said, “So where’re we sitting?”

As he described it, he became my “wing man,” at business events: we usually “worked the room” separately, but he always kept an eye on me. Sometimes he brought me a beverage, and sometimes, if I’d left my (adult) beverage on a table somewhere, he’d lift my glass high in the air and move it across the room.

Of course, I couldn’t miss him. He was letting me know it was time for me to switch beverages without a word passing between us. What a hoot.

John quickly became a “guide” for me—on both business and personal levels. He told me straight out, “I want to help you grow your business.” Once again with that big smile, he would always (loudly) introduce me to people: “This is my favorite newspaper publisher, Karen Moore!” (I think I am the ONLY newspaper publisher he actually knew...)

To my deep sorrow, he passed away suddenly this past Nov. 30. I quickly realized the loss resonated deeply within the business community, especially in Collier County, where he lived, raised his family and where RWA first opened its doors 25 years ago.

Once I began reaching out, I realized how little I knew about him—mainly because he was never one to talk about himself. I decided I wanted to do something I rarely do—write a story about his contributions to the local business community. I shared with each person I spoke with that I wanted to focus on the business, not the personal, side of John’s life.

I quickly discovered that because of how John was “built,” it was impossible to separate the two.

Serving RWA Chris Wright expressed deep gratitude. “I was blessed that John was in my life for over 40 years, that we worked side-by-side at RWA for 21 years, and that he was a business partner like no other for the last 15 years.” He continued, “John was an invaluable member of RWA as a loyal and important business partner, a caring boss and a dedicated coworker.”

He continued, “I recently found an email from

John Williams, RWA, Inc. December 11, 1959 - November 30, 2021

“John was a passionate leader, had a calming and larger-than-life personality and will forever remain a memorable part of the legacy here at CBIA.”

Building Industry Association for many years: after serving on its Board of Directors since 2015, in 2020 he became the first non-builder President in the organization’s 38-year history. A pretty amazing accomplishment that speaks volumes about his standing within this 450-member organization.

At a recent CBIA event where John was posthumously honored, Erin Otterback of AlliKriste Custom Cabinetry stated, “During his presidency, John led the Association’s transition through the retirement of our long-time Executive Officer and provided exceptional leadership in welcoming Amelia Vasquez as our new Executive Officer.”

She continued, “As our first non-builder President, this accomplishment would have been a phenomenal legacy. Still, his leadership did not end there. As COVID-19 erupted, John guided the organization in adapting new ways to reach members. He led the changes with a calm and unified approach, enabling the organization to remain true to its members despite COVID. “Because John loved golf, CBIA will honor his memory by naming a student scholarship after him with donations received through our 2022 spring golf tournament proceeds. We look forward to working with his long-time friend, Bob Radunz, general manager and chief operating officer at the Quarry Golf Course in Naples, on this project.”

Serving others before self Bob recalled, “I’ve known John since 1999 when he moved to our neighborhood with his family. I was working for a development company and gave John’s company, RWA, all of our engineering work.” He continued, “John was my go-to guy and I — Drew Kowalczyk, would just stop by his house and say, ‘John, I don’t CBIA Immediate Past President get this: you’re the engineering guy—explain it to me.’ He was available to me 24-7. And you know John that was an exercise we all completed after a what? He was exactly the same with all his clients. company retreat in 2009. It was a set of personal His care factor was high—he was always more concerned about everybody else.” declarations. Here are some of John’s: Bob revealed, “The night before John passed, I ‘Who am I? A bold visionary who creates a legwas there at the hospital all night. His son, JT, was acy there: I felt compelled to tell him just what kind of What I’m up to in the game: **Force the core values to stand the test of time man his father was. ‘I know you know how great regardless of changes in our internal structure or and loving your Dad was. But,’ I added, ‘you need to know how he was in the business world too. Proleadership **Be instrumental in providing workplace op- fessionally, your Dad was the highest integrity guy, portunities for those who desire to fulfill the profes- caring and concerned, ALWAYS the most respected man in the room. His personal core values bled right sional goals they set for themselves **Be a highly recognized market leader in South- into his professional core values. And, JT, everyone will tell you the same thing.’” west Florida.’”

So, I discovered, the John Williams I knew was Chris concluded: “I consider this email to be a gift and a treasure and is exactly as I choose to re- the John Williams everyone knew—it wasn’t just me he made feel important, he did that with everyone he member John... in his own words in his own way.” met, personally and professionally. What an amazServing the Collier Building Industry Association ing gift.

WILLIAMS See page 19 John was an integral member of the Collier

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FEBRUARY 2022

Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

Page 7

Employers adjust with evolving employee attitudes

By Hanan Nemeth Guest Columnist

The hospitality industry was one of the hardest hit by the virtual shutdown of lodgings, resorts, restaurants and bars as the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the U.S. Today, it’s still one of the hardest hit, but now, by a dearth of workers to support the recovery.

All employers feel the pain of an unprecedented labor market. Job creation is huge nationally, leisure and hospitality alone added 164,000 jobs in October.

It’s been running apace in Southwest Florida, where in August, Fort Myers and Naples areas each added 2,100 leisure and hospitality jobs. But many jobs are going unfilled, whatever the sector.

The reasons are varied. Retirements have accelerated. Many are changing career paths. Changing values among younger workers about work, lifestyles and work/life balance and flexibility have a role. And continuing fear of COVID amidst new waves of contagion is another.

Employers are having mixed returns with their recruitment efforts.

Higher pay, bonuses and incentives like college tuition reimbursements are no guarantee against getting ghosted—not just on interviews but with no-shows on hires’ designated first day on the job.

Compounding the problem is the potential loss of current employees during “The Great Resignation,” as record numbers of Americans are quitting their jobs.

The solution may take a strategic repositioning of the employee value proposition and approach to total rewards to ensure that employers are delivering what their current and future workers really want.

also reflect what’s important to its people in order to solidify their stake in contributing to its success—and theirs, as well—over time The EVP needs to be treated as a living, breathing thing that needs to be regularly refined and adjusted in order to be relevant to the times. It’s not something that’s “owned” exclusively by HR or senior management. There’s a collective stake in it. That means employees themselves should be involved in driving the EVP’s evolution. Employee resource groups can lend important insights to ensure its relevance—and will also heighten engagement.

Further, it’s not merely a statement just to be trotted out to support employee recruiting efforts. Employee retention is as pressing an issue as recruitment. The precepts must consistently be in front of, upheld and communicated with all employee audiences—infused into the fabric of the organization. The EVP’s effectiveness must be regularly evaluated and measured.

What matters to employees today Appealing to employees in 2021 requires a deeper understanding of the nuances that influence how they live and work and how their expectations of employers are colored as a result. Traditional benefits like health plans and paid vacations alone may not sufficiently meet them.

Today, according to Gartner, 80% of employees want to be seen as people, not just workers, and want their employers to accordingly support their whole lives, not just their work lives. That argues for a shift in how employee value propositions should be repositioned and upheld.

A more human-centric value proposition must express an organization’s ecosystem of recognition, rewards and values. But “support” is also paramount as the employer increasingly must provide a bridge between an exceptional work experience and what’s ultimately an exceptional life experience.

The employer as a life/work ‘interventionist’ A rethinking of the EVP is only part of the challenge as organizations struggle with changing workforce dynamics. The “support” aspect of the EVP ecosystem also needs to re-examined to ensure it reflects the increasingly holistic view today’s employees have of their work and personal lives.

That puts emphasis on benefits beyond the traditional—like medical and life insurance—to those more aligned with stops on their life journeys like a child’s birth or adoption, loss of loved ones or job status change. To support the worker’s “whole” life requires the employer, through HR, must take on more of an interventionist role. It must become the first stop when solutions are needed for significant work and life events.

The employer thus can truly meet its people where they are at, and in real time, with benefits they couldn’t necessarily access easily or cost-effectively on their own. Some can simplify their lives, like home insurance or on-demand healthcare. Others can improve their lives, like mental health services or career coaching. Others underscore the value the organization places on its people, like recognition programs and helping with their skills development.

All told, this is how organizations can create positive employee experiences while ensuring the authenticity and impact of the value proposition.

These days, there is no “business as usual” in recruiting and retaining employees, and no one can predict how the disruption eventually will all play out.

But re-examining values and benefits that align with them against the changing new mindset of American workers will give employers a more solid and strategic basis for moving forward.

Rethinking the EVP The employee value system must serve the organization’s long-term interests, of course. But it must

Hanan Nemeth is vice president of human resources consulting at Hub International in Florida. Learn more at HubInternational.com.

Cape Coral small business class starts Feb. 7

Individuals who are thinking about starting their own business but need some mentoring are invited to apply to the Goodwill Southwest Florida MicroEnterprise Institute, scheduled for Feb. 7 to March 17.

The MicroEnterprise Institute is a six-week training program to help emerging entrepreneurs start new ventures and grow small businesses. Graduates complete a comprehensive training course and prepare a solid plan to guide their start-up. They work with mentors who are successful businesspeople, and hear from subject matter experts in areas of accounting, legal, marketing, insurance and funding.

A workbook used by organizations across America will assist in transforming vision into a plan for a successful business. Classes are scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. on Monday and Thursday evenings in Cape Coral. Attendance is limited.

A recent program graduate said, “This course helped me to organize and plan out the steps for creating my business. Coming in, I had no idea how to start a business that would lead to success, and now I have that.”

To apply, visit goodwillswfl. org/microenterprise, or call (239) 995-2106 ext. 2304. The session is $80; Volunteer hours can be substituted for the fee if income requirements are met.

For more information, email Sandra Plazas at sandraplazas@ goodwillswfl.org.

The Goodwill Southwest Florida MicroEnterprise Institute is administrated by the nonprofit Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida and is part of Goodwill’s mission of providing life-changing opportunities toward independence for those with disabilities and disadvantages.

For more information about Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, visit goodwillswfl.org.

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Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

FEBRUARY 2022

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Important tax changes for businesses go into effect for 2022 Every year, it’s a sure bet that there will be changes to current tax law, and this year is no different. From standard deductions to health savings accounts and tax rate schedules, here’s a checklist of tax changes to help you plan the year ahead for businesses.

Standard Mileage Rates In 2022, the rate for business miles driven is 58.5 cents per mile, up 2.5 cents from the rate for 2021.

Section 179 Expensing In 2022, the Section 179 expense deduction increases to a maximum deduction of $1,080,000 of the first $2,700,000 of qualifying equipment placed in service during the current tax year. This amount is indexed to inflation for tax years after 2018. The deduction was enhanced under the TCJA to include improvements to nonresidential qualified real property such as roofs, fire protection, alarm systems and security systems, and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. Also of note is that costs associated with the purchase of any sport utility vehicle, treated as a Section 179 expense, cannot exceed $27,000.

Bonus Depreciation Businesses are allowed to immediately deduct 100% of the cost of eligible property placed in service after Sept. 27, 2017, and before Jan. 1, 2023, after which it will be phased downward over a four-year period: 80% in 2023, 60% in 2024, 40%

in 2025, 20% in 2026, and 0% in 2027 and years beyond.

Qualified Business Income Deduction Eligible taxpayers are able to deduct up to 20% of certain business income from qualified domestic businesses, as well as certain dividends. To qualify for the deduction business income must not exceed a certain

BY W. BRADLEY dollar amount. In 2022, these COOPER threshold amounts are $170,050 Guest Columnist for single and head of household filers and $340,100 for married taxpayers filing joint returns.

Research & Development Tax Credit Starting in 2018, businesses with less than $50 million in gross receipts can use this credit to offset alternative minimum tax. Certain start-up businesses that might not have any income tax liability will be able to offset payroll taxes with the credit as well.

Work Opportunity Tax Credit Extended through 2025 (The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021), the Work Opportunity Tax Credit is available for employers who hire longterm unemployed individuals (unemployed for 27 weeks or more) and is generally equal to 40% of the first $6,000 of wages paid to a new hire.

For more business news, visit www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com Employee Health Insurance Expenses For taxable years beginning in 2022, the dollar amount of average wages is $28,700 ($27,800 in 2021). This amount is used for limiting the small employer health insurance credit and for determining who is an eligible small employer for purposes of the credit.

Business Meals and Entertainment Expenses Taxpayers who incur food and beverage expenses associated with operating a trade or business are able to deduct 100% (50% for tax years 2018-2020) of these expenses for tax years 2021 and 2022 (The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021) as long as the meal is provided by a restaurant.

Employer-provided Transportation Benefits If you provide transportation fringe benefits to your employees in 2022, the maximum monthly limitation for transportation in a commuter highway vehicle as well as any transit pass is $280.

The monthly limitation for qualified parking is $280.

While this checklist outlines important tax changes for 2022, additional changes in tax law are likely to arise during the year ahead.

W. Bradley Cooper is a CPA based in Fort Myers.

Contact (239) 275-4511 or info@wbcoopercpa.com.

The Immokalee Foundation offers career success scholarships

From ensuring literacy for elementary-aged students to providing career guidance for middle and high school students to supporting our graduates in their postsecondary programs, The Immokalee Foundation’s life-changing support and services ensures their students have the tools they need to be successful. Regardless of his or her financial situation, The Immokalee Foundation’s goal is to provide each of their students the opportunity to pursue a postsecondary education.

With the rising cost of education, many young people throughout the United States must take out loans to cover the cost of attending college. Among the nation’s graduating class of 2019, 69% of college students took out student loans, and they graduated with an average debt of $29,900.

Considering that 50% of the children in Immokalee live at or below the poverty line, The Immokalee Foundation’s mission is to provide the opportunity for a debt-free education while setting our students up for career success.

“Our goal is to make education accessible,” said Paulina Magaña, postsecondary services manager for The Immokalee Foundation. “Whether a student wants to attend a college, university or an advanced postsecondary certification program, we support them and help give them access to scholarships that

will take the financial burden off their shoulders.”

An Immokalee Foundation student can receive a scholarship in one of two ways. Through the Foundation’s partnership with Take Stock in Children, low-income, academically qualified students receive a Florida Pre-Paid Tuition scholarship with guaranteed tuition coverage for their postsecondary program of choice. The two organizations aim to collectively break the cycle of poverty for at-risk students by providing postsecondary educational opportunities.

Additionally, The Immokalee Foundation provides a number of Foundation-sponsored scholarships—made possible by the generosity of donors— to help cover tuition and other postsecondary related expenses.

“We are here to support our students throughout their entire postsecondary journey,” said Yeimi Espinoza, The Immokalee Foundation’s Take Stock in Children program manager. “Beyond covering expenses for tuition with our typical scholarships, we also provide supplemental scholarships to help cover any additional expenses that may arise throughout their program. This can include assistance on textbooks, technology, winter clothing, plane tickets, study abroad sponsorships or test preparation.”

The Foundation also helps support students

through other challenging tasks such as filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms and applying for additional scholarships outside of the Foundation and Take Stock in Children.

“We work hard to ensure that we set each student up for success by giving them the tools and resources they need,” said Noemi Y. Perez, president and CEO of The Immokalee Foundation. “Our programming staff hosts workshops after school and on weekends to help students through all the necessary steps of applying to postsecondary programs.”

With the financial support of The Immokalee Foundation behind them, The Immokalee Foundation’s students have found great success; 100% of students have a postsecondary plan for a professional career and 92% of students graduate with an advanced postsecondary certificate or degree. By giving them the opportunity to succeed without the weight of financial worry on their shoulders, The Immokalee Foundation’s students truly shine.

“The Immokalee Foundation provided me with the guidance I needed to achieve my dreams,” said Alan Cuevas Villagomez, an Immokalee Foundation graduate and third-year medical student at the University of Pittsburgh. “The Foundation’s scholarship program gave me the amazing opportunity to attend college and medical school, completely debt-free.”

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FEBRUARY 2022

Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

Page 9

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET A look at commercial real estate trends & topics in Southwest Florida

How inflation will influence the workplace Two SVN franchises

As we enter the new year with the expectation of slowing economic growth and continued high inflation, we want to take a closer look at how the current economy will influence our working habits—and how commercial property trends will change as a result.

vides top-notch amenities to employees. However, the operating costs can be prohibitive for businesses that don’t rely on prestige as a differentiator. Businesses will need to determine the importance Inflation and Spending of their image when evaluating As we know from our own personal finances, peocosts. ple tend to change their spending habits when inflaThe second potential method tion drives prices higher. We may buy fewer nameof reducing rent and utilities is brand products, eat out less frequently, and cut back to transition to a remote or hyon luxuries like vacations. To manage our expenses brid workforce—a work structure long-term, homeowners may even choose to down- BY GARY many of us are already familiar size to a smaller house. with.

Gallup notes thattrends as recently & A look atTASMAN commercial real estate Businesses are no different. Inflation forces busi- Guest Columnist as September 2021, 45% of fullnesses to also make more prudent buying decisions, time employees in the U.S. were spend less opulently and manage costs aggressively. working at least partly remotely, and more than twoFor businesses, however, there is an additional thirds of white-collar workers were working from complicating factor. Inflation and the resulting in- home at least part-time. crease in the cost of living often necessitates higher Remote and hybrid work can save companies an pay for workers. For businesses attempting to manage average of $11,000 per employee over the course of costs, this presents a significant challenge in any infla- a year, according to Global Workplace Analytics, and tionary year. Further confounding the matter in 2022 the majority of this savings is related to real estate. is our tight labor market, in which competitive pay While it’s unlikely that most employers will switch to will be vital to attracting new employees and retaining a fully remote workforce, the need for cost manageexisting ones. ment will compel many businesses to switch to a hybrid model to reduce operating costs until the inflation How workplaces will navigate inflation rate stabilizes.

With pay cuts presumably off the table, how will How are you and your business planning to manage employers contain costs while remaining competitive through inflation? If your strategy involves changes to in the marketplace? One of the most obvious cost- your workplace or other facilities, our team of comcutting measures is to reduce operating costs like rent mercial property experts at Cushman & Wakefield and utilities. This can be done in one of two ways: ei- Commercial Property Southwest Florida can help you ther by moving to a less costly facility or by reducing navigate the options available to you. the need for office space altogether.

Business owners leasing high-rent modern office Gary Tasman is the founder of Cushman & Wakespaces may need to evaluate whether a “Class A” im- field Commercial Property Southwest Florida and age is vital to their operations. An office in a Class serves as CEO/Principal broker. Contact him at A building gives clients a lasting impression and pro- (239) 470-9646.

form alliance, eye expansion in 2022

SVN Lotus changed its name to SVN Commercial Partners in conjunction with another SVN office of the same name in South Florida.

The alliance allows each office to better leverage their operational synergies and expansive scale.

The entities together have a primary market area that covers all of South and Southwest Florida with a combined four offices, located in topics in Port Southwest Florida Fort Myers, Charlotte, Sarasota and Boca Raton. The team includes about 30 people, with three managing directors, 25 advisors and support personnel.

“The rebrand of SVN Lotus to SVN Commercial Partners was a natural because of all of the synergies between the two coastal offices,” said Managing Director and National Land & Development Services Product Council Chairman Ashley Barrett Bloom. “The root of the success of SVN Lotus will remain the same in that the best interest of the client will remain the priority.”

The alliance of the two operations was planned in connection with a rebrand by SVN International, which has recently retooled its national branding. The new look better integrates the SVN brand with the evolving CRE market and the resilient SVN business strategy.

“I am excited to help lead the expansion of SVN, with its culture of collaboration, in South Florida,” said Scott Maesel, who owns offices in Chicago, Denver and Cuba, along with the operation in South Florida. “Our focus on tools, technology, and mentoring has been fundamental in attracting high quality advisors.”

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET

What’s ahead for Florida real estate in the upcoming year?

Real estate drives Florida’s economy, and as the COVID-19 pandemic continues its second year, knowing what lies ahead in 2022 is key for policymakers, residents and Realtors. Ahead of this year’s Florida Real Estate Trends summit, Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor shared his outlook for Florida’s economy and market in 2022.

A highlight of Florida Realtors 2022 Mid-Winter Business Meetings, the Real Estate Trends summit was scheduled to take place Jan. 20 at the Renaissance SeaWorld Orlando.

“Florida’s residential real estate market flourished in 2021,” O’Connor said in advance of the summit.

“We witnessed the return of the spring buying season, which we missed out on in 2020, and it brought with it record levels of home sales in the Sunshine

State. While there were some signs later in the year of the beginning of a steady transition back to our historical rates of sales and home price growth, an expected rise in mortgage rates never really materialized in 2021, leaving the market red-hot going into 2022.

“Lots of big questions about the housing market are going to be answered this year. Will the Fed’s recent policy shift finally raise mortgage rates enough to cool home price growth? Will builders be able to keep up with their renewed vigorous pace of new home construction? Will outside interest in Florida real estate remain high on the other side of the pandemic? These topics and more will be discussed at this year’s Florida Real Estate Trends.”

The event also featured Dr. Jessica Lautz, vice

president of demographic and behavioral insights at the National Association of Realtors. Lautz planned to offer insight into the “why” behind buyers’ and sellers’ decisions in 2022.

Continuing with the topic of buyer motivation, four panelists shared what attracts residents and second home buyers to the Sunshine State. Panelists scheduled included: Melanie Schmees, director of business and economic research at the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce; Deanna Armel, brokerowner of Armel Real Estate; John Boyd, principal at The Boyd Company; and Kelly Smallridge, president and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County. Jennifer Warner, Florida Realtors economist and director of economic development, was expected to moderate the discussion.

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Page 10

Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

FEBRUARY 2022

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET A look at commercial real estate trends & topics in Southwest Florida

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Real estate success needs good offense, better defense In the personal-finance book, “The Millionaire Next Door,” Thomas Stanley likens offense to income and defense to what you do with that income.

The premise is that to build wealth, you must be excellent at producing income (offense) and even better at retaining it (defense).

Clearly, it takes money to make money and some expenses are unavoidable. However, it is important to build the right strategy to protect your financial position.

We recently had two clients who were excellent practitioners able to produce high revenue.

They were great at offense; however, upon reviewing their leases, we found their defense to be lacking.

Client 1 Our client was leasing space in a multi-tenant building. Her lease was set to expire in just over 12 months, so she was considering relocating or purchasing her existing leased space.

After reviewing her lease, we noticed she was paying rent on the entire building (nearly 6,000 square feet), rather than the 4,000-square-foot space she was practicing in. She was paying for 2,000 square feet that her practice was not occupying, while the landlord was collecting double rent on the adjoining 2,000 square feet of leased space.

Consider the ramifications of this: $15 x 6,000 square feet = $90,000 (annual rent) x 10 years = $900,000 total rent versus $15 x 4,000 square

feet = $60,000 (annual rent) x 10 years = $600,000 total rent.

The difference in this scenario is $300,000 over the term. It turns out, there was no malicious conduct on the part of the landlord (just an honest mistake), but this lease was reviewed by a practice broker, an attorney and two or more doctors before it was signed.

The reality is, no matter

BY JARED how many pennies you pinch VANDERSLUIS on supplies, it’s unlikely you Guest Columnist could make up for this type of an oversight. This is an example of poor defense: not having someone there to protect your bottom line.

Client 2 The other client was nearing the expiration of his lease, so we reviewed the negotiable terms; namely tenant improvement allowance, free rent, lease rate, operating costs and escalations. The one that stood out the most was the tenant improvement allowance.

On the past lease, the landlord’s terms were at least $10 lower than what the client should have achieved. Doing the math here ($10 per square foot x 3,500 square feet = $35,000).

Another example of poor defense. One negotiable term that seems minor could cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Don’t forget to post your in-person and virtual events on our B2B events calendar at www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com/calendar The hard part about these transactions is that you want to believe you are being treated fairly.

The reality is your definition of fair is most likely very different than that of an opposing party.

The good news is buyers and tenants have every opportunity to create a good defense by seeking professional help. Oftentimes healthcare professionals will have an attorney review the legal language of a lease, but the legal side of a lease and the fair-market-value side of a lease are completely different.

In summary, a successful practice focuses on production to increase revenue while investing in resources that drive business without neglecting to protect what has been earned or could be lost.

Professional representation protects your interests and the valuable revenue you work so hard to attain. You don’t have to choose between having a good offense or better defense; you can have both.

Jared Vandersluis is a real estate agent at CARR, the nation’s leading provider of commercial real estate services for healthcare tenants and buyers.

Contact (417)693-2330 or Jared.Vandersluis@ carr.us.

Introducing ALDEA

Groundbreaking: Fall 2022 Occupancy: Spring 2024 MIDTOWN FORT MYERS’ INTIMATE URBAN LIFESTYLE EXPERIENCE Studio, One and Two Bedroom Apartments Located between Central Avenue, Market Street and Fowler Street, ALDEA is one of the first planned communities for Midtown and is expected to transform the landscape of the surrounding area.

300+ units housed within two residential buildings looking inward to multi-functional courtyard spaces.

A fitness center enables an active lifestyle and a parking garage provides a desired convenience.

A mix of studios, one and two bedrooms, several of which offer additional dens.

Randy Krise, CCIM

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Naples Liberty Group, a Seagate Development Group affiliate, has purchased Liberty Plaza from Naples Venture I, for $11.75 million.

Liberty Plaza purchased for more than $11.75 million

Naples Liberty Group, a Seagate Development Group affiliate, has purchased Liberty Plaza from Naples Venture I, for $11.75 million. David Stevens and Robert Carroll of Investment Properties Corporation represented the buyer, while Marc Zampell of Nationwide Residential & Commercial Real Estate represented the seller.

Liberty Plaza consists of three stand-alone office and retail buildings – two with two- stories and one with one-story. Located just south of Pine Ridge Road, on the west side of U.S. 41 in Naples, some of the tenants include Don Tequila Mexican Restaurant, Fox Alterations Studio and Pelagos Café.

“Liberty Plaza has stood the test of time, showcasing locally owned businesses in a prime location. We are proud to bring the knowledge and

expertise gained from the successful development and management of our Southwest Florida retail and office spaces, including the recent sale of Arbor Towne Square in Fort Myers, to our first retail plaza in Naples,” said James Nulf, Jr., Chief Operating Officer and Partner at Seagate Development Group.

Liberty Plaza includes over 50,000 square feet of rentable space, 98% of which is currently leased. SW Management & Realty, another Seagate affiliate, has been contracted to provide property management services, while Robert Carroll of IPC will maintain leasing services.

“Liberty Plaza is a strategic asset located in the heart of Naples, and IPC looks forward to representing Seagate as they realize their vision for the property moving forward,” Carroll said.

FEBRUARY 2022

Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

Page 11

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET A look at commercial real estate trends & topics in Southwest Florida

Naples Design District adds 9 new businesses since July The Naples Design District, Southwest Florida’s premier creative quarter, continues to grow with the addition of nine new businesses who moved into the neighborhood in the last six months. Located between 5th Avenue South to 7th Avenue North and the East side of U.S. 41 to Goodlette Frank Road, the Naples Design District is comprised of well-established locally owned shops, boutiques, restaurants, emerging businesses and national brands.

The new businesses that moved into the Naples Design District include: • Jennifer Deane is an awardwinning photographer and writer whose fine art photographs have been exhibited at museums as well as art shows; while her architectural photography has been featured in magazines such as Architectural Digest and Condé Nast Media publications.

• iN’Dulge is a cut and color treatment bar utilizing all cruelty free and organic hair products. It is the culmination of founder and creator, Norma Long’s experiences in various salons from Beverly Hills, Calif. to Naples.

• Muzyca Art Space is a gallery specializing in modern and contemporary art with a strong focus

For more business news, visit www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com from corporate videos to real estate video tours.

• Dr. Kyle Nevius is a chiropractor who has been treating workers compensation injuries in Southwest Florida for over 25 years. He is also a physician educator and distributor of Charlotte’s Web, the world’s largest producer of hemp and CBD oil.

• High Tide Studio & Gallery is a fine art gallery featuring Florida in Southwest Florida coastal art by local artists and a coop studio for owner, Margie White, and other invited artists.

“We are thrilled that the neighborhood continues to grow and flourish, despite the limitations caused by the recent pandemic,” said Elizabeth Kurtz, Naples Design District president and business developer of Kurtz Homes. “We want the Naples Design District to become a vibrant destination of taste and style that epitomizes our new tagline: Art, Dine, Shop, Design. With the support of our businesses, residents, City of Naples, DPZ CoDesign and the Master 41-10 that is currently in the works, we are excited about the future of our community and continuing to cement our foothold in Southwest Florida.”

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET A look at commercial real estate trends & topics

The Naples Design District, Southwest Florida’s premier creative quarter, continues to grow with the addition of nine new businesses who moved into the neighborhood in the last six months. in Latin American Art. Founded by offering a sustainable community of Jennifer Muzyca, the space focuses healing and loving environment for on promoting established modern the mind and body. and contemporary artists including • Bennet Interiors is an interior her husband, Arturo Correa. design firm created by Leilani Ben• Art Point is dedicated to the nett, who has specialized in the use coastal and tropical paintings of Ma- of color, the art of feng shui, and rina Lounis and Naples Frame Up’s custom window treatments for more most trusted and longest running than 22 years.

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The Fifth Avenue South Business Improvement District announced the grand opening of South Avenue Bar.

South Avenue Bar opens on Fifth Avenue South in Naples The Fifth Avenue South Business Improvement District announced the grand opening of South Avenue Bar, a modern bar with an extensive cocktail menu, adding to the current roster of unique, family-owned restaurants, shops, galleries and other businesses that are available along Naples’ historic main street.

South Avenue Bar was established by the owners of the adjacent L’Olivo Ristorante. The bar specializes in mixed drinks but also offers draft beer, Greek tapas and other small bites.

“We wanted to create a special place where people could come and feel comfortable hanging out with

friends and family,” said Feibi Gouda, owner of South Avenue Bar. In addition to food and beverages, South Avenue Bar also offers a variety of fine cigars and cigarettes.

The lounge is open daily from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.

“Feibi and her family have been operating their Italian restaurant on Fifth Avenue South for several years, and we are excited to see them expand their presence on the street” said Bruce Barone, Jr., executive director for the Fifth Avenue South BID. “South Avenue Bar gives our residents and their guests yet another reason to visit Fifth Avenue South.”

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Page 12

Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

FEBRUARY 2022

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET A look at commercial real estate trends & topics in Southwest Florida

Multifamily transactions strong in 2021

Seagate Development Group has completed White Cap Construction Supply’s 32,990-square-foot warehouse and 18,000-square-foot steel fabrication building on Oriole Road off Alico Road in Fort Myers.

White Cap Construction supply facility construction completed

Seagate Development Group has completed White Cap Construction Supply’s 32,990-square-foot warehouse and 18,000-square-foot steel fabrication building on Oriole Road off Alico Road in Fort Myers.

The leading, full-service development company partnered with Quattrone & Associates and PDS Architecture on the design and build of this 10-acre facility. The metal structure includes an overhead crane and steelbending machines, while the main building features warehouse space, an open-area conference room, a break room, a showroom and office spaces.

As the national building materials supplier continues to grow its team and services, this marks White Cap’s third location in Fort Myers and fifth

location in Southwest Florida. It will house dozens of team members and easily accommodate clients—due to its presence along the Alico Corridor as well as proximity to I-75 and Southwest Florida International Airport.

“The space, functionality and location of this design-build gives White Cap a competitive advantage and ample room to work with in the shortand long-term. As the Alico Corridor grows and develops, so will White Cap, and that’s an ideal situation for us and the clients we serve. We are honored to be part of White Cap’s journey and wish them much success in 2022 and beyond,” said Matt Price, CEO and partner at Seagate Development Group.

As the regional economic demand the largest increase continued to grow over the course of with a 41.2% with 2021, the apartment market followed an average monthly rental rate of $2,262 on the parallel trajectory. The year over the same pefinished off strong with several large riod. transactions occurring in the final Lastly, Sarasota quarter.

County continued Both Collier and Sarasota Counties with an increase of saw transaction volume rising in the 32.4% to $2,190 per fourth quarter by 814 units and 1,242 month. The already units respectively over the prior quarrobust development ter. Notable transactions included Vive pipeline throughout Apartments in Fort Myers selling for BY THOMAS Southwest Florida $79 million ($316,000 per unit). Addi- WEBB continues due to tionally, newly constructed downtown Guest Columnist the lack of housing Fort Myers property West End at City Walk closed in December for $81.2 availability and growing population base. million ($255,000 per unit).

Lee County over the past few years Sarasota County transacted two significant properties including The has been one of the largest growth Reserve at Venice for $93 million markets nationally and remains to be ($337,000 per unit) and The An- with 8,815 units currently in progress, son at Palmer Ranch for $85 million with an additional 2,257 units current($356,000 per unit). As rental rates ly under construction. This equates to continued to rise, we saw record a 33% increase over current market breaking pricing throughout South- rate apartment inventory in the county. west Florida. Currently in Lee County the average monthly rental rate for Thomas Webb is the director of multiapartments stands at $1,744, a growth family and senior vice president at Lee of 26.3% from the same period the & Associates. Contact (239) 230-2198 previous year. Collier County saw or twebb@lee-associates.com.

LandQwest closes $8.6M Naples land sale PSIX purchased 1.98 acres on Tamiami Trail in Naples for $8.6 million. The record-breaking ‘triangle’ acquisition is bringing international architects to design the 10-story, 126room hotel with 24 ultra high-end condominiums.

The two-year, 377,421-square-foot project called ‘The Ellington’ will feature two signature bars/restaurants, a fitness center, sculpture garden and a

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Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

Page 13

Above Board postpones luncheons due to rising COVID numbers

Out of an abundance of caution due to the rising cases of COVID-19, the Above Board Chamber of Florida has decided to postpone its January luncheons and has rescheduled them for February. The Fort Myers luncheon will now be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 10, at the Crowne Plaza Bell Tower and the Naples luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 14 at the Hilton Naples.

The topic will remain the same at both luncheons with expert panels discussing the importance of work culture in recruiting and retaining employees in 2022. Even with companies offering more incentives than ever before, it’s challenging to find employees, and even harder to retain them.

Business owners say now more than ever it’s important to find ways to get people to want to work for you and to keep them on your payroll. Bill Daubmann, CEO and founder of My Shower Door, is a sponsor and one of the event panelists. He has a long list of advice he will share at the Naples meeting.

“You have to be clever and be aware of what to look for,” he said. “You have to be aware of what else is out there, and what you can offer that they can’t get someplace else.”

and retaining employees,” Wynn stated.

Naples panelists will be: • Daubmann; • Russell Budd, owner of PBS Contractors and Wall System Contractors Naples Florida; • Gary Tasman, chief executive officer/principal broker of Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Property Southwest Florida; • Todd Lyon, administrative director of Human Resources at NCH • John R. Huttner, president and CEO of HollingerJobs.com and David J. Hollinger Associates.

Theo Etzel, Director and Partner at Conditioned Air will emcee.

Fort Myers panelists include: • Tasman; • Wynn; • Jennifer Thayer, workforce planning and development program manager of human resources at Lee Health • Williams M. Blevins, president and CEO of Gulf Coast Business Bank.

The emcee will be Joseph DeSena, private wealth advisor and managing director of Siena Wealth Advisory Group.

For the latest news on COVID-19 and its effects on SWFL businesses, visit www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com/ covid-19-tips-for-business/ Daubmann will share tips about making your company the place that people want to work by creating a fun environment, one with growth potential and one that has a positive attitude.

Michael Wynn, president of Sunshine Ace Hardware, will be a panelist and sponsor for the Fort Myers meeting. He will entice business leaders to really think about how they measure employment engagement and how to effectively communicate with their team.

He will foster discussions on how an organization can stand out and be successful in recruiting despite a sea of employment opportunities and competition. Wynn will also engage leaders to think about their expectations for wages and the workforce in the future.

“With an ever-tightening workforce environment, a purposeful culture that recognizes and respects each team member is essential to recruiting

SWFL regional economic indicators show overall improvement

Marilyn Santiago with Melanie Musik of Best Buddies.

Sunshine’s Selfie Station hits soft opening, networking event Special to SWFBT Submitted by Marilyn Santiago Happy New Year! 2022, we are ready for you. Especially when we finished 2021 with the great news of the grand reopening of Harold’s. We surely missed him, his deep conversations, great ambiance and above all, his gastronomic delicacies.

I for one was thrilled to receive his text inviting us to his soft opening and God what a delight it was. The place is now double the size, with a much-

needed full bar with no reservations needed and, of course, tons of my new world fave, lobster corndogs ay caramba! I will definitely come back for more.

We started off the new year ready to head out and network, creating great connections and have fun in the process and that’s exactly what we did at the year’s first networking event.

I found myself inside Southwestern Farms brewery, Crazy Dingo. I felt SELFIE See page 15

The latest economic indicators continued to show mixed results for the Southwest Florida economy, as some indicators improved while others declined.

All of the indicators have surpassed the one-year mark from April 2020, which represented the peak of the COVID-19 economic impact.

Thus, readers are cautioned on the year-to-year analysis and comparisons. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for the region was 4% in November 2021, down 0.1 percentage points from the prior month and 0.9 percentage points below the COVID-impacted November 2020 figure.

The region had a decline in both the number of employed and unemployed persons from October to November 2021 (down 1,832 and 1,009, respectively), resulting in the decrease in the unemployment rate.

While real estate indicators have been a bright spot for the region over the past year, they showed signs of leveling off in the latest report. Single-family home sales slipped 5% in November 2021 over November 2020, while median prices for all three counties

For more business news, visit www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com rose between 18 to 26% during the same period. Realtor Active listings for the coastal counties were also down in November 2021, falling 62% from November 2020.

Single-family building permits for the coastal counties improved by 40 percent from November 2020 to November 2021. Other indicators provided positive results for the hospitality and tourism economy: • Airport passenger activity for November 2021 increased by 24% from October 2021, following the traditional seasonal pattern. Activity was 108% above the COVIDimpacted November 2020, as well as 23% above November 2019 • October 2021 seasonally-adjusted tourist tax revenues were up 62% compared to October 2020, and 59% above the same month in 2019.

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Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

FEBRUARY 2022

Protect your privacy by sending text messages this way Sending a text message has always felt like provide encryption but constantone of the few secure things a person could do ly require an internet source to online, not to mention the convenience. Howwork at all. The issue with these ever, you may be surprised to learn the different apps is they can collect any data strengths and limitations that some forms of mesor information you provide to saging have. them.

With tax season coming up, you may want to Considering WhatsApp think twice before sending out sensitive informais owned by Meta (formerly tion through basic text. So just how protected are known as Facebook), a compayour texts? More importantly, what can you do ny notorious for sharing/collectto really feel a sense of security when sending a ing private data, you may want

BY CARRIE message? to choose a different alternative.

KERSKIE For the sake of popularity, I’ll be referring to People can also add you even if Guest Columnist messages sent from iPhones for some examples. they don’t have you as a conIn general, the oldest and least secure form of tact, which can result in spam. texting is SMS/MMS. These are the green messages that are sent/received when you have a Signal App little to no internet connection on your iPhone.

Thankfully, there is an app that allows you to What makes these so unsecured is their complete get the best of both worlds when it comes to both lack of encryption. Basically, these messages are privacy AND security. This app is free and run floating in cyberspace unprotected where anyone by a non-profit organization that wanted to create could intercept them. something solely for the purpose of secure mesiMessages, or the blue text messages you send saging. out on your iPhone, are the default system of Signal doesn’t offer any kind of affiliate procommunication on Apple devices. This method is gram, and this is not a sponsorship. We at Kerskie comparatively more secure than the basic SMS/ Group wanted to promote a program we trust ourMMS because they are using an end-to-end form selves when sending text. of messaging, meaning only the sender and reHere are some of the benefits: ceiver are involved in the text, and it’s encrypted • You can send messages to different devices if so only those people can view the message. the other person installed the Signal app on their The biggest downside to iMessage is both device. the sender and receiver must be iPhone users, • The messages on your current device are and both must have an internet connection. Oth- only accessible on that single device. If someone erwise, the message is converted into the green were to use your phone number to make a signal SMS/MMS and you lose your encryption. account on another device, they wouldn’t be able Then there are apps such as WhatsApp and to see any of your messages or current contacts.

Facebook messenger that solve the different de• Messages are encrypted. Only you and the vice problem by allowing the internet to act as receiver have access to the text. their connection, regardless of whether someone • The only private data Signal has access to is is using an iPhone or Samsung phone. your contacts. Signal uses the information to noThese apps are end-to-end like iMessage and tify you when a contact has joined Signal.

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“The one thing you want to keep in mind is to never send information that bad guys could take advantage of though SMS/MMS unless you truly have to, since this form of messaging has no form of encryption at all.”

• Signal only permits you to search for other people if they are in your contacts. This greatly reduces the risk of getting spam text messages.

Choose what works best for you The purpose of this article is to help explain what each form of messaging has to offer when it comes to your protection.

I don’t mean to scare anyone away from using iMessage, or to discourage anyone from using WhatsApp when talking to friends or family.

Those are still helpful apps that accomplish what they were designed to do.

Nevertheless, it’s important to keep in mind what happens to your sensitive information when you send it out there, and Signal can provide the reassurance you need to know your text are safe.

The one thing you want to keep in mind is to never send information that bad guys could take advantage of though SMS/MMS unless you truly have to, since this form of messaging has no form of encryption at all.

Carrie Kerskie, a nationally recognized identity theft and privacy expert located in Southwest Florida, founded the Kerskie Group in 2001, a private investigation agency dedicated to helping identity theft victims to recover effectively and efficiently. She is also the author of “Your Public Identity: Because Nothing is Private Anymore.”

Contact her at ck@kerskie.com .

FutureMakers Coalition, Hertz partner to cultivate local talent Following the 2021 Annual FutureMakers Coalition Champions Meeting, FutureMakers has announced a new partnership with Hertz. The multi-year commitment will include a $75,000 donation from Hertz over the next three years to support the Coalition’s work.

FutureMakers Coalition aims to transform Southwest Florida’s workforce by increasing the proportion of working age adults with college degrees, workforce certificates, industry certifications and other high-quality credentials to 55%. The Coalition has grown to over 140 cross-sector partner organizations and 250 FutureMak-

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ers representing business, education, government, nonprofits, philanthropy, residents and students across Glades, Hendry, Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties.

Today, 41.5% of Southwest Floridians have the education and training that employers need, leaving good jobs unfilled every year.

Hertz’s multi-year commitment will further FutureMakers Coalition’s goal of transforming Southwest Florida’s workforce by increasing the percentage of working age (25-64 years old) adults who hold post-high school credentials to 55% by 2025.

HERTZ See page 16

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FEBRUARY 2022

Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

Page 15

Entech and ITVantage complete merger New year brings new goals Entech, a managed IT services provider serving business partners in Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, Bradenton and Tampa Bay, announced it has completed its merger with ITVantage, bringing together the two leading MSPs serving the Southwest Florida market and nearly doubling the size of the company. Both companies have built strong reputations for comprehensive network and managed business IT solutions, supporting business clients of all sizes throughout the state. By joining talent and service offerings, the combined entity will now operate as Entech and support more than 17 different vertical industries; increasing the company’s reach and growth potential.

“We are thrilled to announce Entech’s merger with ITVantage. Through our years in competition, a respectful friendship formed between our owners and leadership teams. The values and cultures of our organizations overlap in many ways,” said Jake Spanberger, Entech CEO. “Both companies are truly committed to making our communities in Florida a better place to live, work and play. We realized, together, we can double down on our commitment of enabling people to do what matters for the betterment of our employees, our client business partners and the communities we serve.”

With decades of experience, the combined team, primarily comprised of senior-level IT engineers and experienced desktop technicians, will now work together to ensure that each client business partner receives the highest level of support.

Pooling both resources and talent, including ITVantage’s SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, Entech will offer a full range of managed IT services such as IT project delivery, public and private cloud services, business continuity, backup and data protection, cybersecurity, risk management and compliance and health care technologies.

Under Entech, Jake Spanberger will continue to serve as CEO and Buddy Martin remains president.

Jeremy Stakely, formerly of ITVantage, will now serve as executive vice president and chief strategy officer responsible for strategic growth initiatives and key relationships.

Entech plans to leverage the combined knowledge in vertical industries to serve as “go-to” experts in digital transformation, cloud and information security. Entech brings impressive bench strength in serving local nonprofits, education, construction and hospitality businesses, while ITVantage brings extensive experience in managing IT in healthcare, finance and insurance verticals, including a longstanding relationship with a national health care provider.

With the increased company size, Entech will take on the combined roster of small and mid-size clients of both companies and expects the busi-

SELFIE PAGE 13 transported to the Wild West. Hosted by the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce and Lee Building Association’s Women Building, the Building Connections Mixer exceeded all my expectations (the elderberry cider

“I have no doubt that the two companies are better together than apart and am excited to see our synergies as we focus on a common goal: people serving people, especially when our client partners need us the most. When we do good business, good things happen.”

— Jake Spanberger, CEO of Entech

ness to grow even faster overall thanks to the specialized expertise. Together, Entech’s leadership team expects to build upon each company’s recent growth momentum and plans to expand through acquisition in both current and adjacent markets.

The team has even set its sights on expanding to additional national enterprise accounts.

“This merger will enable us to focus more on innovation and cutting-edge security. We’ll be bringing the best products and services to our client business partners that will propel them into the future. This is truly two great companies joining forces to best serve our employees, our client business partners and the communities we serve here in Florida and beyond,” said Stakely. “The two companies complemented each other in so many ways, and we are confident that the company cultures are in alignment. When it comes down to it, we’re both passionate about our partnerships and pride ourselves on being a best-in-class managed services provider.”

To ensure a seamless transition for business partners and employees alike, members of both companies’ senior leadership teams have formed a Transitional Leadership Team to oversee the integration. Legacy clients for both companies have been notified of the merger and saw minimal disruption as primary systems and services were integrated late last year. As of December, ITVantage employees have officially joined the Entech family, including the company’s payroll and HR services.

Entech has secured a new office space that will accommodate the Fort Myers technical services, project and administrative staff and further fuel collaboration. This new office will complement the existing offices in Bradenton and Naples.

Spanberger added, “I have no doubt that the two companies are better together than apart and am excited to see our synergies as we focus on a common goal: people serving people, especially when our client partners need us the most. When we do good business, good things happen.”

had a lot to do with that). I was immediately greeted by representatives of both organizations and immediately felt right at home.

It was great also to see men part of the event. Although the majority was female professionals, there were a few gents making it a co-ed event. I’ll be back for the next one. If you want us to

The New Year is traditionally a time to declare resolutions for how we want to change and be better in the coming year—exercise more, eat healthier, lose weight, etc.

The problem with resolutions is that the intention to be better often dissolves by February.

Goals are a better way to accomplish a specific outcome or new habit. Set a few S.M.A.R.T. goals, schedule a small amount of time each day to focus on tasks to move the goal forward and monitor your progress once a week.

BY LINDA LINDQUIST Guest Columnist

Smart Goals S - Specific - what you want M - Measurable - by how much A - Achievable - it can be done R - Realistic - not an unrealistic pipe dream T - Time-based - by when it will be done

Daily Focus Time 15 minutes to one hour of focused, non-distracted time to work on the next step of your goal.

Monitor Goals Each week, review your progress—what worked, what didn’t, what you’ll do different next week, and select the next few steps to take.

Quarterly Goals Selecting three goals to focus on during the next three months makes it more likely that you can achieve the goals. Goals can be personal or business oriented.

My goals for the first quarter of 2022: During January, perfect my procedures for renewing my clients’ protection software. Next step —create monthly call lists of clients whose protection software expires each month.

By end of February, mentor 10 people who want to start a residential computer service business. Next step — find and schedule 10 students into my coaching group.

By end of March, eliminate all the many boxes of papers in my house. Next step — gather, sort, shred papers one box at a time My goals are intended to bring order, reduce stress, provide more value and generate an additional revenue stream.

Your goals will be personal to you. Happy goal setting for the New Year.

Linda Lindquist is a Certified Malware Removal Specialist. Contact her at Pccoach@live.com, call (239) 567-0104 or visit www.computerandinternethelp.com.

join you on your next events, send us a quick note and we’ll try to make it.

Hey, you never know, maybe we’ll share a few selfies together.

Marilyn Santiago is president of Sunshine Integrated Solutions, a lifestyle marketing/PR consultancy firm providing creative solutions, media strat-

egies, talent and production services in English and Spanish for advertising agencies, local and corporate clients.

She is also co-owner of CARP, which creates architectural elements from strong polyresin for the construction industry. Contact her at (239) 9390034 or Sunshineatyourservice@ gmail.com.

Page 16

Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

FEBRUARY 2022

Time is money – don’t waste my time…or yours

There are countless excellent articles, videos and seminars available about time and meeting management. This is probably the largest single source of waste in businesses today. Despite a strong lean/six sigma trend across the economy, somehow, this subject never quite gets the attention or commitment it deserves. Why not?

Elon Musk reportedly breaks his day into fiveminute segments. He even eats his lunch in five minutes, usually during a meeting. He doesn’t allow himself to get bogged down with telephone calls and e-mail. His best piece of advice, according to an interview with Mashable, “Constantly think about how you could be doing things better and question yourself.” Good advice.

If you want an eye-opening learning experience, take a small pad of paper (or a tablet) with you to work for one or two days. Log your day in 15-minute increments, briefly jotting down what you did or accomplished in each time segment. At the end of the day, review your notes. You’ll be amazed at the waste.

So how do you improve your own productivity (and therefore your effectiveness)? We could write a book or two on this subject, but here are a few simple suggestions to get started: Have a personal agenda – know what you want to accomplish each day. Write it down first thing and cross off items as you complete them. Be driven by results, but be flexible – things often change during the day, so you may need to adjust your agenda. This disciplined approach doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take time to interact with employees and co-workers – that is important, too, so make it part of your agenda. I used to enter “walk around time” on my calendar ev-

ery day, so I had time set aside to interact with employees and see for myself what was happening on the floor. Employees appreciate this, and you’ll find out a lot more about what’s going on this way. Be wary if you’re interrupting, though. If you do, withdraw gracefully, and say you’ll be back.

E-mail/text – this is one of the biggest time wasters there is, hands down. The relentless call of

BY GREG the e-mail “ding” is like the mythSTEINER ical Greek Sirens, enchantingly Guest Columnist drawing sailors to shipwreck on their rocky island. Probably 90% of emails are unimportant, yet we are drawn to reading each one as if it could be the most important message in the universe (admit it, you do this). What an enormous waste of time. Email should be your last priority in communicating. Face-to-face is best, followed by phone/video, with e-mail dead last. Email is great for transmitting data and facts, period. It is the worst choice for any emotional or nuanced message, as it is so prone to misinterpretation. Make yourself get up and walk down the hall when you need to communicate with someone, or pick up the phone. Turn off visual and sound notification of incoming e-mails. Set aside a few minutes each day to scan your inbox. Separate the important ones from the trivial, and deal with the trivial ones later.

Meetings — the answers here are also easy; unfortunately few people adhere to good practices.

Some simple rules — have an agenda with an objec-

FINANCIAL REVIEW

First Foundation completes acquisition First Foundation, a financial services company with two wholly-owned operating subsidiaries, First Foundation Advisors and First Foundation Bank, announced it has completed its acquisition, effective as of Dec. 17, of TGR Financial and its bank subsidiary, First Florida Integrity Bank, a Florida state-chartered bank with seven branch offices located throughout Southwest Florida plus a corporate office in Naples.

“I am pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of TGR Financial, Inc. and its bank subsidiary First Florida Integrity Bank,” said Scott F. Kavanaugh, CEO of First Foundation. “This acquisition positions us to serve clients from coast to coast and enhances our profile as a premier regional bank. With the addition of approximately $1.1 billion in loans and $2.2 billion in deposits along with a team of experienced bankers, this is the largest acquisition in our bank’s history. We are excited for all of the great growth potential in the state

of Florida. We have already started working with our talented new team members, and we expect a smooth integration as we begin serving our new clients. I want to thank everyone who has worked tremendously hard to get us to where we are today and set us up for success as we plan to complete the full system conversion in the second quarter of 2022.”

As part of the transaction, First Foundation also announced its Board of Directors appointed Gary L. Tice to serve as a director. Tice had previously served as the chairman of the Board of Directors of TGR Financial. In addition, Garrett Richter will assume the newly created position of market president, overseeing banking activities in Florida.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, each share of TGR Financial common stock and each share of TGR Financial preferred stock was converted into the right to receive 0.6068 of a share of First Foundation common stock.

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tive, have a time slot and don’t go over it, invite the minimal number of people to complete the objective, keep the group on task and summarize the results and actions. It’s really that simple. I used to ban cell phones from my meetings, unless an important call was expected, but that had to be disclosed before the meeting started. If a cell phone went off during the meeting, it was a $5 fine. It worked.

Water cooler wasters — don’t get bogged down in “water cooler talk.” As noted, plan time and commit to interact and communicate that is important.

But when it degrades to non-productive discussions and rumors, politely disengage and get back to your busy day.

Customer visits — if you ask for and get an hour appointment with a customer, plan a one-hour agenda with time for discussion. At the end of the hour, regardless of where you are in the agenda, politely stand up and say, “We asked for an hour, and I see our time is up, so we’ll be on our way so you can get back to your busy day.” If the customer is interested and has the time, you’ll be invited to extend your visit, so go ahead. If you’re not, pack up and depart with an offer to follow up. The customer will appreciate it and you’ll almost always get a follow up appointment.

These are just a few techniques you can use to better manage your time and increase your productivity.

Time does really translate to money, so manage yours aggressively and you’ll see impressive results.

Greg Steiner is a management consultant with Sea Breeze Associates and Atlantic Partners International. Contact glsteiner57@comcast.net.

HERTZ PAGE 14 “This funding that supports the backbone of FutureMakers’ efforts and the work that goes into aligning organizations around our goal to move regional outcomes is so vital,” said Tessa LeSage, FutureMakers Coalition Collaboratory director. “It’s very exciting to have Hertz at the table alongside us working to solve the region’s workforce challenges for the betterment of our community for years to come.”

Eric Leef, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Hertz, also touted the effort.

“We are excited about our partnership with FutureMakers Coalition because collectively, we can accomplish more together,” Leef said. “We want to collaborate with organizations that have made the commitment to address and overcome systemic barriers to access and achievement to ensure a skilled workforce for tomorrow.

“We equally want to create opportunities for underrepresented groups as part of our commitment

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to advancing our diversity and inclusion journey. We see the Coalition’s focus on equity and systems change as a shared core value that we can advance together. We also see FutureMakers Coalition’s status as a Talent Hub as important to our ability to replicate our successes in Southwest Florida in other markets where we have large operations across the U.S.” Two out of every three jobs in Florida will require a credential beyond a high school diploma by the year 2025. Regional data also illustrates the equity imperative in the FutureMakers’ work, as education and workforce achievement gaps are reinforced by policies, practices, and beliefs that perpetuate inequitable outcomes for people of color, particularly Black and Latinx.

To help underserved communities in the region prosper, the FutureMakers Coalition has put a significant focus on its untapped workforce, those adults (age 25-64) without the posthigh school credentials needed to fill in-demand jobs. More than 37,000 credentialed Southwest Floridians were added to the workforce since 2013.

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FEBRUARY 2022

Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

Page 17

Are you displaying your customer reviews on your website?

One of the most important things that you can do The same thing works across to help a potential customer is to make sure that you every type of industry, product or are displaying reviews or testimonials on your webservice. Making your reviews visisite. ble to someone reading about what You could even go a step further and create case you offer will help you to build studies, which detail a little more about the experitrust with them. ence a customer had with your business.

So how do you display your reWhen you display your reviews and testimonials views? on your website, this is something known as social There are a few options, deproof. It helps a visitor to understand that real people pending on how comfortable you are using your products or services. are with editing your website. It When someone is looking to purchase a prodmay be that you have a Care Plan uct or service, reviews are an important element for BY ANDREAS or a contract in place with your them. Think about how you shop online. How often DOLLESCHAL web designer, which would allow do you check the reviews when you purchase from a Guest Columnist them to assist you. website such as Amazon?

You should have a dedicated reSocial proof adds weight and verification to the views page where you can display your best reviews benefit statements that you make about your prod- and testimonials to your website visitors. When your ucts or services. website was created, this may even have been someLet’s say that you offer a cleaning product that thing that your web designer set up for you. you claim lasts five times longer than other leading The page should be easy to edit so that either you brands. Imagine being able to add in a testimonial or or anyone in your team can quickly add in new retwo from customers who specifically talked about views or testimonials from your customers. how long your product lasted?

You should also make sure you feature reviews

For more business news, visit www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com and testimonials on your key website pages. Every product or service page should have somewhere that reviews can be added.

Remember that when someone is looking specifically at a product or service you offer, they’re potentially making a buying decision. A positive review can give them a gentle nudge towards making a purchase from your business.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can use and display reviews on your website please reply to this email. You may also be interested in understanding how to collect more reviews from your happy customers. These are both things that we’re able to help you with.

To your success.

Andreas “Andy” Dolleschal is the president and CEO of Smargasy. Contact (239) 214-8592 or a.dolleschal@smargasy.com.

Patents pulled in SWFL for pepper pairing to oral care

Southwest Florida businesses and individuals have continued to rack up patents in agriculture, medicine and manufacturing.

Arun Sharma from Fort Myers just received a patent through Sakata Seed America relating to inbred pepper lines. He developed a plant process for crossbreeding the specific PPL 1511 line of peppers with other plants.

Arthrex in Naples developed a graft preparation station for repairing bone defects. It can be used for dimensioning a graft prior to positioning it during surgery.

Fort Myers Beach inventor Mi-

chael Patrick Moran had a patent awarded to him as an individual. He developed a nautical vessel docking and storage system for nautical structures. The system includes a cradle with support elements that include lower portions, proximate and distal side portions, and proximate and distal side abutments. The vessel-securing device has a hinge on the side and a puller for transitioning the cradle for docking or for storage.

Another individual inventor, Anthony John Guarascio, invented a pill dispenser with a failsafe for patients. The product houses medications and dispenses them to au-

thorized patients at desired times.

It will activate alarms if the proper procedure is not completed or if other undesirable events occur. A secondary dispenser serves as the failsafe so the patient can obtain a dose of the contained medication in the event of a device malfunction or patient error.

Punta Gorda-based Boyd Equipment Supply got a patent for a pressure washing system with a wand component. The method involves cleaning a surface through a first fluid path using a pump, pressure regulating valve, diversion block, and spray gun. A second surface can be cleaned

using a second fluid path that employs spray nozzles, which are configured to rotate above the second surface when the second fluid path is open.

That cleans the second surface underneath the pressure washer system through the second fluid path.

And Lubris, based in Naples, received a patent on an oral care composition. That can be used to treating or preventing diseases, and uses proteoglycan 4 as an active ingredient.

The secreted glycoprotein, which is also called lubricin and superficial zone protein, is known to protect against frictional forces, cell adhesion and protein deposition.

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Page 18

Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

FEBRUARY 2022

Is developing your own podcast right for your business?

Things are moving fast and ever-changing in our digital world. One aspect of your marketing toolbox that you may be overlooking is developing your own podcast. Podcasts are typically audio recordings that share information on topics that your target audience will find useful and entertaining. The more relevant and engaging the topic, the more likely you are to build a loyal audience and grow brand awareness.

Successful podcasts should be genuine to your voice and mission, offering your unique perspective that will develop a level of trust in you and your brand as an expert and reliable source in your industry. It should never be a sales pitch. Simply relating to your audience will have them looking to you when they are in need of your products and services.

Podcasts don’t have to be overly complicated to set up but having a solid strategy in place is key.

First, it’s important to work with your team to decide on a format for your show as well as a recording and distribution strategy. Depending on your goals and targeted audience for the podcast, you can decide the best format and technology to produce it. The most common formats are: ● Monologue: One host, one topic per podcast ● Multi-host: The most popular format, with multiple voices covering a variety of topics within each episode. ● Roundtable/Conversational: With many voices featured in this format, be careful not to let the message get lost or have your hosts/guests talking over each other.

● Storytelling: If you’re a great writer, this may be the perfect opportunity for you to flex those skills and engage listeners in an audio format - this may require more planning, talent and manpower per episode. ● Interview: Single or multihost, topics usually center around the guest.

A great example of the interview style podcast is CONRIC

BY CONNIE pr + marketing’s “SWFL Strong RAMOS-WILLIAMS Podcast,” which connects viewGuest Columnist ers and listeners with inspirational business owners and people in Southwest Florida. The agency is now airing season three in 2022 and changing things up a bit to keep things exciting and relevant. CONRIC also develops and produces other podcast formats for its clients.

The newly launched Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Property Southwest Florida podcast titled “What’s Next: Developing Southwest Florida” is hosted by CEO and Principal Broker Gary Tasman.

It will provide an insightful conversation with area experts who will let audiences know what’s coming soon to Southwest Florida’s commercial landscape.

As leading commercial property experts, Tasman and his team will feature guests and topics that highlight past, current and future development of commercial real estate in the region.

For more business news, visit www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com CONRIC also produced the “PSIII with MSD” podcast for My Shower Door. Owner Bill Daubmann takes a different approach. With Peter Simmons III as the face of the company, Daubmann is focusing on a behind-the-scenes look at a Division I athlete’s first year at a Power 5 school. This helps to promote and position My Shower Door with a new fan base by highlighting their support of young athletes and entrepreneurs. Simmons shares the experience across his social media as part of the My Shower Door sponsorship, reaching the massive University of Michigan fan base in the company’s SWFL region of service. This is a fresh approach and a great start for a company that is not in the entertainment or media industry.

Are you ready to get started with your podcast?

Don’t let fear of the unknown scare you away from trying something that could bring more success to your brand.

Connie Ramos-Williams is the president and chief marketing officer at CONRIC pr + marketing, a leading creative agency with offices in Fort Myers and Naples that specializes in branding, digital marketing, public relations, graphic design and website development. Visit conricpr.com, email info@ conricpr.com or call (239) 690-9840.

Family businesses need support system to survive, thrive Being an entrepreneur and running a family business is challenging, even in the best of times. However, balancing those innate difficulties on top of a climate of increasing volatility and uncertainty tests even the most resilient leaders. While all companies are fighting the pandemic, inflation and workforce issues, family businesses face particular issues because members of the same family are also employees and shareholders.

Through the pandemic, we have all become more acutely aware of the importance of local, familyowned businesses to our regional economy. Across Florida, less than half of all businesses that opened five years ago — 49.3% — are still around today.

Establishing a business is difficult. Staying open is demanding, laborious, stressful and sometimes exasperating.

Despite the challenges, hundreds of familyowned businesses across Southwest Florida have stood the test of time. They’ve endured recessions, housing booms and busts, natural disasters, labor shortages, inflation, changing consumer needs and other pressures.

Sunshine Ace Hardware is one of those success stories. Founded in 1958 by my grandfather, Don Wynn, the company now operates nine Sunshine Ace Hardware stores, two Crowder Bros. Ace Hardware and Crowder’s Gifts & Gadgets stores and Sunshine Commercial Paint & More.

Family-owned businesses are the lifeblood of our community. They provide jobs. They are significant

contributors to community charities and causes. For every dollar spent with a local family business, almost 70 cents stay in the community.

We need family businesses to be successful for our community to be successful. Unfortunately, there are not many resources these operators can turn to in order to receive guidance tailored to the unique issues they face.

BY MICHAEL That’s why I am excited about WYNN an upcoming opportunity for Guest Columnist family business entrepreneurs in Southwest Florida. John and Billie Resnick and myself are launching the inaugural Resnick-Wynn Family Business Conference on March 4 hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University. Titled “Family Business: Thriving in an EverChanging World,” the conference is geared toward owners of multigenerational businesses and offers insights and best practices from dynamic leaders who are running family businesses. The lineup of speakers includes: • Steve Forbes: chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media • David Hoffmann, chairman of the Hoffmann Family of Companies • Shelly Stayer, co-owner and chairwoman for Johnsonville Sausage

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• • • • •

Daily Updates Breaking Business News B2B Events Calendar Commercial Real Estate Directory Professionals who are “Going Places” ... and much more at

www.swfloridabusinesstoday.com

• Michael Wynn, president of Sunshine Ace Hardware • John Resnick, principal of The Resnick Group Forbes, the conference’s keynote speaker, notes that a family business isn’t just about the numbers or day-to-day operations — it’s personal. Blood, sweat and tears are just part of the investment.

Family businesses need to offer products and services that are in demand, and fairly priced. They need to prioritize customers and consistently demonstrate a set of core values. They need short-term and long-term visions with a succession plan for the next generation of leaders. They need a sense of family pride because their name and reputation are on the line. And, of course, they need capital and business acumen to be successful in a competitive marketplace.

Speakers at the Family Business Conference will share their ideas to help family-owned, small businesses thrive during challenging times, as well as insight into governance, succession planning, purposeful culture, conflict resolution and more.

For more information about The Resnick-Wynn Family Business Conference, please visit FGCU. edu/FamilyBusinessConference, call (239) 7454700 or email ResnickWynnFBC@FGCU.edu.

Michael Wynn is president of Sunshine Ace Hardware, a Naples-based business with locations in Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Manatee and Pinellas counties. Visit SunshineAce.com.

FEBRUARY 2022

WILLIAMS PAGE 6 At the end of 2021, as his term as the CBIA immediate past president came to a close, John was turning his attention toward expanding RWA’s presence in Lee County.

Bev Larson, a local commercial Realtor with business in both Lee and Collier Counties, knew John for many years.

She noted, “John was so good at building relationships: he was looking at how he could continue doing that to strengthen current relationships and build new ones as he worked to increase RWA’s footprint in Lee County. In fact, he had just been named to the Board of Directors for the Real Estate Investment Society.”

CBIA Immediate Past President Drew Kowalczyk, and John’s close friend, noted, “CBIA members and staff have the greatest respect for John. John was a passionate leader, had a calming and larger-than-life personality and will forever remain a memorable part of the legacy here at CBIA. John was an amazing Past President and had a positive impact on everyone with whom he worked at the CBIA. The CBIA will find a way to remember and honor John this year and for years to come.”

A special thankyou to Amelia Vasquez, CBIA; Keri Looker, RWA, and Katie Williams, one of John’s four children, whose generous and professional assistance made this piece possible.

Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

CBIA PAGE 1 Also honored were CBIA’s 2021 Board Members: Dominick Amico of Agnoli, Barber & Brundage; Robyn Bonaquist of B-Squared Advertising; Cali Clardy of Refined Builders & Construction; JP Coleman of JP Coleman Construction, Inc; Dave Dunnavant of Peninsula Engineering & Construction; Mark Huling of Roetzel & Andress; Jackie Nelson of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty; Chris McEachern of Newbury North Associates; Sean Morton of Morton & Wasmer Builders; Kevin Rea of Specialty Building Services; and SMC Chair Nick Radick of Knauf-Koenig Group.

CBIA recognized its 2021 Collier Building Industry Foundation Board of Directors: President Dave Dunnavant of Peninsula Engineering & Construction; Shannon Cellamare of Haines Air Conditioning & Refrigeration; JP Coleman of JP Coleman Construction; Secretary Robert McGinnis, SOCOTEC Consulting; and Eric Morris of BCB Homes.

SPORTS PAGE 1 here, think girls’ basketball and girls’ softball. These segments are growing rapidly and will require the same support as boys’ sports.

“Most residents don’t realize that Lee County hosted the Canadian Women’s Softball team for 60 days prior to their going to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo last year. The team ended up taking the Bronze Medal: the coaches noted that without the ‘prep session’ in Lee County, the team probably would not have done so well, because training here conditioned them for Tokyo’s warm temperatures.

“We’re also getting really good at hosting basketball events,” Mielke continued. “Most residents don’t re-

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The 2021 Committee Members were also honored.

The 2021 Committee Members include City Government Affairs Chair Christian Andrea of Architectural Land Design; Finance Chair Kevin Deardorff of Waldrop Engineering; Golf Chair Taylor Woods of California Closets; County Government Affairs Chair Tatiana Gust of Elite Consulting of SW FL/Elite Permits of Naples; Parade of Homes Chair Blanca Vasquez of VCC Contracting; Sand Dollar Chair Lynne Stambouly of Illuminated Design; and Toy Drive Chair Kaleigh Grover of Naples Illustrated.

CBIA’s 2022 Board of Directors was inducted by 2022 Florida Home Builders Association President T.J. Thornberry of Thornberry Custom Builders. The 2022 Executive Committee includes: President Matt Sellick of Stock Development; Immediate Past President Drew Kowalczyk of Stock Development; Past Vice President Leroy Christiansen of Baldwin, Krystyn, Sherman Partners; President-elect Norm Gentry of BUILD; Vice President Cali Clardy of Refined Builders & Construction; Secretary Dominick Amico of Agnoli Barber & Brundage; and Treasurer Kevin Deardorff of Waldrop Engineering. tools in our marketing toolbox,” he said.

Mielke pointed out that in 2021, the Fort Myers Tipoff was sold out while comparable basketball tournaments held around the same time in Charlotte, North Carolina and Albuquerque, New Mexico, were not, making the Tipoff Tournament the fourth-largest national college basketball event.

Mielke explained, “Maximizing the success of this tournament, and our other sporting event successes, helps Lee County attract investors and business site selectors to come to our community. From an economic standpoint, we can use sports to attract visitors, who then come back with their families to visit here, who then move here, who then ultimately move their businesses here.”

alize that The City of Palms Basketball Classic in Fort Myers is in its 48th year—one of the longest-running high school basketball tournaments in the state. In November, at the college level, we host the nationally televised Fort Myers Tipoff at Suncoast Arena during Thanksgiving week, as well as the Gulf Coast Showcase earlier in the month.”

All of this activity, he explained, is pushing tourism, sports and local economic development together. In fact, to maximize the economic impact of sports tourism, the Lee County Economic Development office recently created the Sports Tourism Task Force.

“The task force was initially created to create a buzz about the national Fort Myers-based Tipoff Basketball Tournament since it’s one of our best

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Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY ®

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