Big Book of Business 2024

BIG BOOK

OF BUSINESS 2024

AUGUST 2023 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER

1

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Know It Information is currency in the latest issue of the Big Book of Business.

sales and starts; the vacancy rates over a five-year period in multiple commercial real estate sectors; and hotel occupancy information.

n Lists include the largest private and publicly traded companies in the region; the top 50 contractors; the largest credit unions; and the 15 largest Florida Department of Transportation projects on the west coast of Florida.

MARK GORDON MANAGING EDITOR

I

t’s been more than 20 years since then U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld uttered what’s now a rather infamous phrase — “unknown unknowns” — about information, or lack thereof, in global hot spots.

Consider this publication, the Business Observer’s annual Big Book of Business, a known known.

This publication is 80 pages of what we believe is vital information to help make you better at business. This is the fourth iteration of the Big Book of Business. The debut was in summer 2020, when, like many other organizations, we did something different to represent and reflect the times. Prior to the Big Book, the annual Business Observer summer publication, going back more than a decade, was the Top 500: the largest 500 companies by annual revenue in the nine counties of our coverage area.

Nothing against the Top 500, but the Big Book of Business is a much more dynamic look at the demographics, economic opportunities, who is winning, who isn’t and more on the west coast of Florida.

The 2024 edition includes: n Data on employment rates in key sectors; trends in housing

n Seven stories on changemakers: business leaders in the region facilitating and shepherding significant change within their organization or the community. This is the Business Observer’s version of most powerful or influential people lists — with a twist.

These stories are designed to detail what influential people do with their influence. Like a tech executive in Tampa, Raechel Canipe, who launched what’s now a thriving statewide networking group for other women in tech. Or Kris Chana, a senior living and care entrepreneur who, utilizing a slew of social media channels, has made it his mission to help others enter his field.

The 2024 Big Book of Business also has some new elements, including: n A unique snapshot of household income in each of the nine counties in the Business Observer’s coverage area through data from the United Way called ALICE households (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed households). n A map of job hot spots in different regions, based on a report from the Florida Council

AUGUST 2024 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS THE DATA Jobs.................................... 8 New business, bankruptcies..10 Commercial real estate......... 12 Housing............................. 14 Hotels....................................15 Airports, seaports................ 16 Banking............................. 17 ALICE................................ 18 Florida TaxWatch forecast..... 22 Council of 100.................... 28 THE LISTS Largest public companies..... 30 Top 40 private companies..... 34 Medical professions............. 43 Doc stamps........................ 43 Hurricane damage............... 44 EV charging stations............ 44 FDOT projects.................... 46 Banks................................ 48 SBA lenders, credit unions.... 50 Patents.............................. 51 Top employers by county...... 52 Top 50 contractors.............. 53 Largest buildings................. 56 THE CHANGE MAKERS Reinhold Schmieding........... 60 Raechel Canipe.................. 62 Tra Williams........................ 64 Jacki Liszak........................ 66 Kris Chana......................... 68 Naomi Boyer....................... 70 Dan Dobrowolski................. 72 of 100, a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of Florida business leaders who advise the state’s governor. n Lists that track today’s trends, such as EV charging stations; job growth in medical professions; and a deep dive into the costs of hurricane damage over the past five years.

This publication is filled with hundreds of other data points to help you make better, and betterinformed decisions — where you know what’s going on. We also always welcome suggestions on how we can do better next. Email me at MGordon@ BusinessObserverFL.com.

Publisher and President

Emily Walsh, EWalsh@YourObserver.com Executive Editor and COO

Kat Wingert | KWingert@BusinessObserverFL.com Managing Editor

Mark Gordon | MGordon@BusinessObserverFL.com Deputy Managing Editor

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Elizabeth King | EKing@BusinessObserverFL.com Tampa Bay Writer

Laura Lyon | LLyon@BusinessObserverFL.com Editorial Design / Jess Eng, Nicole Thompson Associate Publishers /

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Director of Creative Services /

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POSTAL INFORMATION The Business Observer (ISSN#2325-8195) is published weekly on Fridays by the Gulf Coast Review Inc./DBA Business Observer, 1970 Main Street, Floor 3, Sarasota, FL 34236; Periodicals Postage Paid at Sarasota, FL, and at additional mailing offices. The Business Observer is circulated in Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota counties.

POSTMASTER: Please send changes of address to the Business Observer, 1970 Main Street, Floor 3, Sarasota, FL 34236.

Special Section Published August 2024

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COVER PHOTO The cover image of the Bayfront shopping and dining district in downtown Naples was taken by Stefania Pifferi.

BUSINESS OBSERVER

7

JOBS

CONTINUED CLAIMS*

T

T HE DATA

5/1/20: 1,062,593

1,000,000

he jobs picture continues to remain a positive spot in the region. So much so, the further away the pandemicmarred year of 2020 gets, the more that year resembles an outlier, rather than a new normal.

One example: From May 2018 to March 2020, Florida processed an average of about 38,000 continuing claims for unemployment insurance. In April 2020, that number surpassed 375,000 (not a typo), and in May, it cleared 1 million (also not a typo). But in February 2022, that

figure was back under 40,000, and has averaged about 37,000 since then.

The pandemic also caused a spike in the unemployment rate and a drop in jobs in Florida’s leisure and hospitality industry.

But those blips have since normalized as well.

Construction employment dropped slightly for a few months in early 2020, but quickly recovered and has continued on ever since, frequently posting new highs as new jobs data is released.

800,000

600,000

400,000

200,000 5/1/24: 34,949 6/1/18

6/1/19

6/1/20

6/1/21

6/1/22

6/1/23

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE 15% KEY Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Punta Gorda Cape Coral-Fort Myers Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island

12%

9%

6%

3%

June 1, 2018

Dec. 1, 2018

June 1, 2019

Dec. 1, 2019

June 1, 2020

Dec. 1, 2020

June 1, 2021

Dec. 1, 2021

June 1, 2022

Dec. 1, 2022

June 1, 2023

Dec. 1, 2023

CONSTRUCTION JOBS

LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY JOBS

100

200

80

May 1, 2024

150

60 100 40 50

20 6/1/18

6/1/19

6/1/20

6/1/21

6/1/22

6/1/23

5/1/24

6/1/18

6/1/19

6/1/20

6/1/21

6/1/22

6/1/23

6/1/24

*Continued claims, also referred to as insured unemployment, is the number of people who have already filed an initial claim and who have experienced a week of unemployment and then filed a continued claim to claim benefits for that week of unemployment. Continued claims data are based on the week of unemployment, not the week when the initial claim was filed.

8

BUSINESS OBSERVER

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BUSINESS CREATION T HE DATA

B

y one measure, entrepreneurship in Florida is strong and getting stronger. Floridians created nearly 563,000 new domestic LLCs in 2023, an increase of more than 5% from the prior year.

That’s nearly 25 new businesses per 1,000 residents, up from about 24 in 2021 and 2022.

Correlation does not imply causation, but LLC creation increased when the pandemic started and has only continued to grow. Back in 2015, fewer than 215,000 new LLCs were created, or about 11 per 1,000 residents.

— Alex Walsh

LLCS

DOMESTIC FOR PROFITS

600,000

562,716

500,000

120,000

24.9

25

100,000

400,000

LLCS CREATED PER CAPITA

87,210

20

80,000 15

300,000

60,000

200,000

40,000

100,000

20,000

10

2015

’17

’19

’21

5

2018 ’19 ’20 ’21 ’22 ’23

’23

2015

’17

’19

’21

’23

Source: Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations

BANKRUPTCIES KEY Chapter 7 Business

10

Chapter 11 Business

Chapter 7 Personal

Chapter 11 Personal

Chapter 13 Personal

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Total Business Cases: 1,073 Total Personal Cases: 25,120

Total Business Cases: 882 Total Personal Cases: 19,956

Total Business Cases: 713 Total Personal Cases: 13,278

Total Business Cases: 719 Total Personal Cases: 13,204

Total Business Cases: 873 Total Personal Cases: 15,532

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

T

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A

C

E

F

O

R

S

P

A

C

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COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE VACANT OFFICE SQUARE FEET

T HE DATA

10,000,000

VACANT INDUSTRIAL SQUARE FEET KEY

47.3%

2018 2023

8,000,000

KEY

39.9%

2018 2023

7,000,000 8,000,000 6,000,000

13.6%

5,000,000

6,000,000

4,000,000 4,000,000

22.4%

3,000,000

13.1% 99.2%

166.2%

2,000,000

35.0%

2,000,000 35.1%

Hillsborough Pinellas

Pasco

52.4%

15.4% 28.3%

15.3% Polk

62.8%

581.6%

47.3%

Manatee Sarasota Charlotte

Lee

Collier

Hillsborough Pinellas Pasco

Polk

Manatee Sarasota Charlotte

25.3% Lee

Collier

VACANT MULTIFAMILY SQUARE FEET

VACANT RETAIL SQUARE FEET 4,000,000 3,500,000

55.4%

1,000,000

KEY 2018 2023

41.6% 33.4%

15,000

KEY 2018 2023

23.1%

12,000

53.5%

3,000,000 2,500,000

9,000

44.3%

25.0%

2,000,000

11.8%

25.5%

6,000

1,500,000

99.9%

22.0%

51.8%

56.8% 65.8%

1,000,000

79.3%

3,000

60.6%

500,000

Hillsborough Pinellas

99.3% 18.1%

159.6%

Pasco

Polk Manatee Sarasota Charlotte

Lee

Collier

Hillsborough Pinellas

Pasco

Polk

Manatee Sarasota Charlotte

Lee

Collier

Source: CoStar

12

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

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HOUSING T HE DATA

F

ollowing a major surge in housing prices in the region during the pandemic, a key question for many was simple: Did prices peak?

Another year’s worth of data provides a clear answer: Yes, prices have peaked.

In the Naples metro area, for example, the median price for an active home listing was just under $800,000 in May 2024, roughly the same as in February and March of 2022.

In nearby Cape Coral, the May 2024 median list price was around $462,000 — actually down slightly from February 2022, according to data from Realtor.com.

Inventories of homes for sale have likewise recovered to pre-pandemic levels. In the Tampa metro area, there were about 15,000 active listings as of May 2024, roughly in line with spring 2019 — and up substantially from a low of about 3,000 in spring 2022.

Permit data suggests inventories will continue to increase. More than 3,000 permits were issued for new residential construction in the Tampa market in April 2024, the highest number in the past six years. In other markets, permitting hasn’t changed much, suggesting steady activity in homebuilding.

—Alex Walsh

PERMITS ISSUED 3,000

Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Punta Gorda Cape Coral-Fort Myers Naples-ImmokaleeMarco Island

2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500

6/1/18

12/1/18

6/1/19

12/1/19

6/1/20

12/1/20

6/1/21

12/1/21

6/1/22

12/1/22

6/1/23

12/1/23

MEDIAN LISTING PRICE $900,000

$700,000

$500,000

$300,000

$100,000 6/1/18

12/1/18

6/1/19

12/1/19

6/1/20

12/1/20

6/1/21

12/1/21

6/1/22

12/1/22

6/1/23

12/1/23

12/1/21

6/1/22

12/1/22

6/1/23

12/1/23

INVENTORY 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 6/1/18

14

BUSINESS OBSERVER

12/1/18

6/1/19

12/1/19

6/1/20

12/1/20

6/1/21

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

HOTELS AVERAGE DAILY RATE

$300

Highest: $303.98

$250

COURTESY

THE DATA

KEY 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

$350

$200

Collier County has the highest average rate in the region. $150

Lowest: $86.97

$100

$50 STEFANIA PIFFERI

The Sunseeker Resort in Charlotte County has 785 rooms.

Collier

Sarasota

Pinellas

Manatee

Lee

Hillsborough Charlotte

Polk

Pasco

OCCUPANCY RATE 2019

2020

Hillsborough

2021

2022 2023

Lee Sarasota

COURTESY

Pinellas

The Epicurean Hotel in Tampa recently expanded.

Manatee Charlotte Lowest: 45.80%

Collier Pasco

Highest: 73.70%

Polk STEFANIA PIFFERI

The Sunseeker Resort opened in December 2023.

AUGUST 2024 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

100%

BUSINESS OBSERVER

15

AIRPORTS MARKET SHARE Delta, 19.71%

T HE DATA

Southwest Florida International

Southwest, 14.69% American, 12.63%

Tampa International

Southwest, 25.04%

Punta Gorda Airport

Allegiant, 99.4%

Sun Country, 0.6%

St. Pete-Clearwater International

Allegiant, 95%

Sun Country, <5%

Sarasota-Bradenton International

Southwest, 27.54%

Top airline

2nd

3rd

Others

10%

DEPLANINGS

Delta, 16.76%

Delta, 19%

20%

2022 2023

Southwest Florida International

American, 15.87%

30%

Allegiant, 18.46%

40%

50%

*Tampa International

St. PeteClearwater International

Southwest Florida International

2.65%

Tampa International

1.92%

SarasotaBradenton International

12.48% 2 mil.

4 mil.

6 mil.

8 mil.

90%

Punta Gorda Airport

100%

1.28%

Tampa International 11.24%

*Tampa International doesn't record passenger deplaning data, which is data that reflects the number of passengers disembarking from an aircraft.

Instead the numbers above are recorded as inbound passengers, which reflect the number of passengers who arrived in Tampa each year.

3.05%

80%

FREIGHT

11.14%

Punta Gorda Airport

70%

PASSENGERS Southwest Florida International

2.23%

60%

32.42% 100 mil.

300 mil.

500 mil.

3.02% Punta Gorda, St. Pete-Clearwater and SarasotaBradenton don’t handle freight cargo.

St. PeteClearwater International

2%

SarasotaBradenton International

12.34%

10 mil. 12 million

5 mil.

10 mil.

15 mil.

20 mil. 25 million

Source: Individual airports

SEAPORTS CARGO TONS

TEUs 1.68%

35,000,000

250,000 21.54%

30,000,000

5.49%

168.78%

800,000

150,000

20,000,000

1,200,000 1,000,000

200,000

25,000,000

600,000

15,000,000

100,000

0.12%

10,000,000

400,000

50,000

5,000,000 SeaPort Manatee Source: Individual ports

16

CRUISE PASSENGERS

BUSINESS OBSERVER

Port Tampa Bay

200,000 SeaPort Manatee

Port Tampa Bay

N/A N/A SeaPort Manatee

Port Tampa Bay

TEUs are 20-foot equivalent units

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

BANKING F

that figure was 66%, up from 63% a year prior.

At the same time, net interest margin and returns on assets decreased, with the median margin down 32 basis points to 3.35% and ROA down 25 basis points to 0.72%.

While assets are up statewide, each of Florida’s largest banking markets saw slight decreases in assets.

Tampa and Sarasota were each down 6% in 2023 from a year earlier.

—Alex Walsh

TOTAL ASSETS

(MILLIONS) 300,000

$293,947

NET INTEREST MARGIN

RETURN ON ASSETS

NET LOANS TO ASSETS

4.0

1.0

70

(MEDIAN %)

(MEDIAN %)

3.35%

(MEDIAN %)

3.5

250

60 0.8

3.0 200

50

2.5

0.6

40

2.0

150

30

0.4

1.5 100

5.16%

50 5.27%

Miami-Fort LauderdalePompano Beach

20

1.0

DEPOSITS (MILLIONS) 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000

6.3%

4.88%

TampaJacksonville OrlandoSt. PetersburgKissimmeeClearwater Sanford

66%

0.72%

THE DATA

lorida banks are lending more, in line with increased assets.

But returns are slowing.

Florida banks had just less than $294 billion in assets as of the first quarter of 2024, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., up about $7 billion from last year.

To see whether lending is growing with assets, the FDIC reports the median ratio of net loans to assets from across all Florida banks. In the first quarter,

0.2 10

0.5

5.7% 2022 ’23 Q1 Q4 Q1 ’23 ’23 ’24

North PortSarasotaBradenton

2022 ’23 Q1 Q4 Q1 ’23 ’23 ’24

2022 ’23 Q1 Q4 Q1 ’23 ’23 ’24

2022 ’23 Q1 Q4 Q1 ’23 ’23 ’24

Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

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BUSINESS OBSERVER

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99.4% ON TIME

17

ALICE, BY COUNTY T HE DATA

W

hile the War on Poverty dates back 60 years, it wasn’t until the past decade or so communities nationwide started to analyze a more specific lower-income demographic: people and families who live paycheck to paycheck.

Whether in a recession, a boom or even a pandemic, this group is an important facet of a community’s economic makeup. One big reason for that is many times they hold jobs that impact the entire economy, such as restaurant server, child care worker or entry-level construction worker.

Another factor is these families often face financial ruin with one major emergency — which further strains a community’s resources.

The United Way has been analyzing this demographic for 15 years, including giving it an acronym: ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed).

These are families or individuals, according to a United Way Florida

report, who “are working, but due to child care costs, transportation challenges, high costs of living and so much more are living paycheck to paycheck.”

The first ALICE analysis came out in 2009, when the United Way of Northern New Jersey launched a pilot project called United for ALICE in Morris County. That project went statewide in 2012, and a few years later, several other states, including Florida, began to study ALICE data.

“To achieve lasting change, we must first understand the population of families that are working hard but falling short in each of our communities and across Florida,” states the 2023 United Way of Florida ALICE report.

A sampling of ALICE data in the Business Observer’s coverage area is on this page and pages 19-22.

For more ALICE reports and maps of the state and counties, go to UWOF.org/AliceR. — Mark Gordon

POLK COUNTY 2022 POINT-IN-TIME-DATA Population: 787,404

Number of Households: 291,994

Median Household Income: $62,051 (state average: $69,303) Labor Force Participation Rate: 58% (state average: 60%) ALICE Households: 33% (state average 33%) Households in Poverty: 15% (state average: 13%)

HOUSEHOLDS 120,000 KEY

ALICE

Poverty

100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

PASCO COUNTY

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

2022 POINT-IN-TIME-DATA

2022 POINT-IN-TIME-DATA Number of Households: 240,785

Population: 608,794

2019

2021

2022

Number of Households: 582,824

Population: 1,513,300

Median Household Income: $65,999 (state average: $69,303)

Median Household Income: $74,308 (state average: $69,303)

Labor Force Participation Rate: 58% (state average: 60%)

Labor Force Participation Rate: 66% (state average: 60%)

ALICE Households: 37% (state average 33%)

ALICE Households: 31% (state average 33%)

Households in Poverty: 11% (state average: 13%)

Households in Poverty: 13% (state average: 13%)

HOUSEHOLDS

HOUSEHOLDS

120,000

200,000

100,000

160,000

80,000

120,000

60,000 80,000

40,000

40,000

20,000 2010

18

2012

BUSINESS OBSERVER

2014

2016

2018

2019

2021

2022

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2019

2021

2022

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

ALICE, BY COUNTY PINELLAS COUNTY

MANATEE COUNTY

2022 POINT-IN-TIME-DATA

2022 POINT-IN-TIME-DATA

Population: 961,739

Number of Households: 425,255

Number of Households: 176,772

Population: 429,125

Median Household Income: $72,108 (state average: $69,303)

Labor Force Participation Rate: 58% (state average: 60%)

Labor Force Participation Rate: 54% (state average: 60%)

ALICE Households: 34% (state average 33%)

ALICE Households: 34% (state average 33%)

Households in Poverty: 13% (state average: 13%)

Households in Poverty: 10% (state average: 13%)

HOUSEHOLDS

HOUSEHOLDS

160,000

70,000

140,000

60,000

120,000

50,000

100,000 80,000

KEY

ALICE

THE DATA

Median Household Income: $66,472 (state average: $69,303)

40,000

Poverty

30,000

60,000 40,000

20,000

20,000

10,000 2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2019

2021

2022

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2019

2021

2022

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T HE DATA

ALICE, BY COUNTY SARASOTA COUNTY

CHARLOTTE COUNTY

2022 POINT-IN-TIME-DATA

2022 POINT-IN-TIME-DATA

Population: 462,286

Number of Households: 90,457

Population: 202,661

Number of Households: 215,125

Median Household Income: $78,341 (state average: $69,303)

Median Household Income: $64,860 (state average: $69,303)

Labor Force Participation Rate: 49% (state average: 60%)

Labor Force Participation Rate: 43% (state average: 60%)

ALICE Households: 32% (state average 33%)

ALICE Households: 35% (state average 33%)

Households in Poverty: 9% (state average: 13%)

Households in Poverty: 10% (state average: 13%)

HOUSEHOLDS

HOUSEHOLDS

70,000

35,000

60,000

30,000

50,000

25,000

40,000 30,000

KEY

ALICE

20,000

Poverty

15,000

20,000

10,000

10,000

5,000 2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2019

2021

2022

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2019

2021

2022

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BUSINESS OBSERVER

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T HE DATA

ALICE, BY COUNTY LEE COUNTY

COLLIER COUNTY

2022 POINT-IN-TIME-DATA

2022 POINT-IN-TIME-DATA

Population: 822,453

Number of Households: 166,206

Population: 397,994

Number of Households: 339,269

Median Household Income: $71,072 (state average: $69,303)

Median Household Income: $80,815 (state average: $69,303)

Labor Force Participation Rate: 53% (state average: 60%)

Labor Force Participation Rate: 51% (state average: 60%)

ALICE Households: 32% (state average 33%)

ALICE Households: 32% (state average 33%)

Households in Poverty: 11% (state average: 13%)

Households in Poverty: 10% (state average: 13%)

HOUSEHOLDS

HOUSEHOLDS

120,000 100,000

KEY

ALICE

60,000

Poverty

50,000

80,000

40,000

60,000

30,000

40,000

20,000

20,000

10,000 2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2019

2021

2022

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2019

2021

2022

TAXWATCH FORECAST T

he leaders at Florida TaxWatch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog and taxpayer research institute, set out to answer one key question when it debuted a new quarterly economic forecast series in June 2024: Is the Sunshine State’s economic growth sustainable?

By most metrics — such as employment, GDP and population growth, the answer is no, or at least, not really. But a slowdown in economic forecast terms is all relative.

The report states that a drop in most metrics from 2024 to 2026 will morph into “a return to more characteristic growth rates” in the next two years. A deeper look at the data is on pages 23-26 —Mark Gordon 22

BUSINESS OBSERVER

2023

2024

2025

2026

2027

2028

Florida’s economic growth (GDP)

4.6%

2.1%

1.6%

1.6%

1.9%

1.9%

Thousands of new jobs

323.0

166.4

130.0

108.0

118.4

130.3

Income growth

5.0%

4.6%

6.2%

5.8%

5.4%

4.8%

New residents per day

884

868

857

847

836

820

Millions of tourists

137.6

140.4

142.9

147.2

152.8

158.5

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

TAXWATCH FORECAST 185,000

4.5% 3.8%

3.8%

3.5% 3.0%

3.0%

165,000 158,513 2.0%

155,000

152,779 1.8%

2.5% 2.0%

147,174

1.5%

142,879

145,000

1.0%

140,370 137,621

0.5%

135,000

THE DATA

THOUSANDS OF VISTIORS

175,000

4.0%

PERCENT VISITOR GROWTH

The number of visitors to Florida is projected to increase steadily through 2028.

0.0% -0.2%

125,000 Source: REC Group

2023

2024

2025

2026

2027

2028

-0.5%

­

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AUGUST 2024 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER

23

24,141

24,100

880 23,868

868

860

857

23,700

847

23,500

23,585

840 836

820 820

800

23,300 23,293

780

23,100 760 22,994

22,900

740

22,700

720

22,686

22,500 Source: REC Group

900

884

23,900

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE

Florida’s population continues to increase, but at a slower rate.

700 2023

2024

2025

2026

2027

2028

NEW RESIDENTS MOVING TO FLORIDA PER DAY

T HE DATA

TAXWATCH FORECAST

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4.5% 10,450

EMPLOYMENT (IN THOUSANDS)

As employment increases, unemployment is projected to increase until 2026 and then begin to level off.

4.3%

4.3%

10,405 4.2%

10,350

4.0%

4.0% 10,250

10,274 3.7%

10,150

10,156

3.5%

10,050 10,048

9,950 9,918

3.0%

9,850 9,750 9,650 Source: REC Group

9,752

2.5% 2023

10.0%

26

BUSINESS OBSERVER

2025

2026

2027

2028

KEY Florida GDP Florida Real GDP Personal Income Per Capita

9.8%

8.0% 6.2%

6.0% 5.0%

5.8% 5.4%

5.8%

4.8%

4.0%

4.6%

2.0%

Source: REC Group

2024

12.0%

PERCENTAGE GROWTH RATE

Florida’s personal income and overall economy will continue to grow, but at lower rates.

2.8%

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

T HE DATA

TAXWATCH FORECAST

4.1%

4.6% 4.0%

4.1%

1.6%

1.6%

2025

2026

2.1%

2023

2024

4.1%

1.9%

2027

1.9%

2028

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

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COUNCIL OF 100 T HE DATA

T

he Florida Council of 100, a group of statewide business leaders who “convene, research and execute on the state’s biggest challenges,” released a new report in June: Bounced Sunshine: Advancing Florida’s World Class Economy for the Next Generation.

The report breaks down sectors across the state where the jobs are now (best bets) and where the jobs will be (emerging clusters.)

The report was done in partnership with consulting giant McKinsey & Co. —Mark Gordon

FLORIDA’S REGIONAL BEST BETS AND EMERGING CLUSTERS

Investing in regional economic expertise to create higher-wage jobs and sustain growth.

NORTHWEST ■ Aerospace and defense ■ Business services ■ Distribution and logistics ■ IT and tech (emerging) ■ Manufacturing (emerging)

CENTRAL & CENTRAL EAST ■ Aerospace and defense ■ Business services ■ Semiconductor manufacturing (emerging) ■ IT and tech (emerging)

NORTHEAST ■ Business services ■ Distribution and e-commerce ■ Finance and insurance ■ Manufacturing (focus on advanced) ■ Aerospace, defense (emerging) ■ Health services + biopharma and MedTech (emerging)

SOUTHEAST ■ Distribution & e-commerce ■ Finance and insurance ■ IT and tech ■ Aviation, aerospace (emerging) ■ Health Services + biopharma and MedTech (emerging)

RURAL

■ Distribution and logistics

■ Manufacturing (including aerospace/defense) ■ Agri-business (emerging)

Note: In addition to manufacturing and advanced manufacturing being specifically designated as Best Bets or Emerging clusters in some regions, manufacturing and advanced manufacturing sub-sectors have been embedded in associated clusters (e.g., aircraft engine and engine parts manufacturing in the aerospace and defense cluster).

CENTRAL WEST

■ Employment landscape: 2.7 million jobs

Southwest Florida’s pristine natural beauty inspires a growing clean-tech economy, complemented by ongoing investments in life sciences expertise.

■ Largest City: Tampa

■ Population: 1.5 million residents

BEST BETS ■ Distribution/Logistics & e-commerce ■ Distribution and e-commerce: GDP ($14.6 billion); Direct Jobs (64,800); Economic Multiplier (3.0); High productivity; 2022 Venture Capital ($155.4 million) ■ Transportation and Logistics: GDP ($5.1 billion); Direct Jobs (47,400); Economic Multiplier (2.6); 2022 Venture Capital ($65 million) ■ Finance and Insurance: GDP ($31 billion); Direct Jobs (114,400); Economic Multiplier (3.0); High geographic concentration; Positive growth during recessions; 2022 Venture Capital ($103.5 million) ■ Health Services + Biopharma and MedTech ■ Health Services: GDP ($21.5 billion); Direct Jobs (237,800); Economic Multiplier (2.3); High geographic concentration; 2022 Venture Capital ($106.9 million) ■ Biopharma and MedTech: GDP ($1.9 billion); Direct Jobs (8,600); Economic Multiplier (2.6); High geographic concentration; Positive growth during recessions; 2022 Venture Capital ($164.3 million)

■ Employment landscape: 800,000 jobs

BEST BETS ■ Distribution & e-commerce: GDP ($3.1 billion); Direct Jobs (10,200); Economic Multiplier (3.0); High productivity ■ Health Services + MedTech ■ Health Services: GDP ($6.9 billion); Direct Jobs (71,000); Economic Multiplier (2.3); High geographic concentration; High productivity; 2022 Venture Capital ($32.2 million) ■ MedTech: GDP ($439.4 million); Direct Jobs (2,400); Economic Multiplier (2.6); High geographic concentration; Positive growth during recessions; 2022 Venture Capital ($32.2 million)

EMERGING CLUSTERS ■ IT and Tech (including cybersecurity): GDP ($6.1 billion); Direct Jobs (13,000); Economic Multiplier (3.0); High productivity; 2022 Venture Capital ($245.5 million)

EMERGING CLUSTERS ■ CleanTech: GDP ($496.8 million); Direct Jobs (3,700); Economic Multiplier (2.6); 2022 Venture Capital ($12.5 million)

FOUNDATIONS ■ Hospitality and tourism: GDP ($11 billion); Direct Jobs (210,100)

FOUNDATIONS ■ Transportation and Logistics: GDP ($1.9 billion); Direct Jobs (11,400)

■ Population: 4.3 million residents ■ GDP: $234.1 billion

■ Average per capita income: $62,000

28

SOUTHWEST

BUSINESS OBSERVER

■ GDP: $70 billion

■ Average per capita income: $79,000 ■ Largest city: Fort Myers

FLORIDA LAGS PEERS IN TERMS OF HIGHPAYING JOBS

Employment in high-paying occupations (2022) 25% 20 15 12%

10 5

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BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

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PUBLIC COMPANIES Industry

Line of Business

1

TD Synnex (SNX) 16202 Bay Vista Drive, Clearwater 33760 510-656-3333; TDSynnex.com

$57,654,568,000 Patrick Zammit, CEO (Rich Hume $62,343,810,000 CEO through Sept. 1, 2024) -8.13%

Technology

leading distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem

2

Jabil Inc. (JBL) 10800 Roosevelt Blvd. N., St. Petersburg 33716 727-577-9749; Jabil.com

$34,702,000,000 Mark T. Mondello, Executive $33,478,000,000 Chairman of the Board of Directors 3.53%

Manufacturing

global manufacturing, engineering and supply chain solutions provider

3

The Mosaic Co. (MOS) 101 E Kennedy Blvd. #2500, Tampa 33602 800-918-8270; MosaicCo.com

$13,696,100,000 Bruce M. Bodine Jr., CEO, $19,125,200,000 President and Director -39.64%

Agriculture

concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrient mining

4

Crown Holdings Inc. 14025 Riveredge Drive, Suite 300, Tampa 33637 215-698-5100; CrownCork.com

$12,010,000,000 Timothy Donahue, $12,943,000,000 President and CEO -7.77%

Manufacturing

packaging for consumer goods and industrial products

5

Raymond James Financial Inc. (RJF) 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg 33716 727-567-1000; RaymondJames.com

$11,619,000,000 $11,003,000,000 Paul C. Reilly, Chairman and CEO 5.30%

Banking/ Finance/ Investment

wealth management

6

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (HTZ) 8501 Williams Road, Estero 33928 239-301-7000; Hertz.com

$9,371,000,000 $8,685,000,000 Gil West, CEO 7.32%

Business/ Consumer Services

leases vehicles and equipment

7

Roper Technologies Inc. (ROP) 6496 University Parkway, Sarasota 34240 941-556-2601; RoperTech.com

$6,177,800,000 $5,371,800,000 L. Neil Hunn, President and CEO 13.05%

Technology

software and engineered products and solutions

8

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. (BLMN) 2202 N. Westshore Blvd., Suite 500, Tampa 33607 813-282-1225; BloominBrands.com

$4,671,470,000 $4,416,508,000 David Deno, CEO 5.46%

Hospitality/ Restaurant

casual dining restaurant chain owner

9

Herc Holdings (HRI) 27500 Riverview Center Blvd., Suite 100, Bonita Springs 34134 239-301-1000; HercRentals.com

$3,282,000,000 Lawrence H. Silber, $2,740,000,000 President, CEO and Director 16.51%

Business/ Consumer Services

equipment rental supplier

10

SouthState Bank (SSB) 1101 First St. S., Winter Haven 33880 863-293-4710; SouthStateBank.com

$2,261,950,000 $1,735,213,000 John C. Corbett, CEO and Director 23.29%

Banking/ Finance/ Investment

loans and other financial services

11

MarineMax Inc. (HZO) 2600 McCormick Drive, Clearwater 33759 727-531-1700; MarineMax.com

$2,063,257,000 William Brett McGill, $2,308,098,000 CEO, President and Director -11.87%

Retailers

boat retailer

12

Primo Water Corp. (PRMW) 1150 Assembly Drive, Suite 800, Tampa 33607 813-544-8515; Cott.com

$1,771,800,000 $1,693,200,000 Robbert Rietbroek, CEO 4.44%

Manufacturing

beverage products, packages and distribution

13

Kforce Inc. (KFRC) 1150 Assembly Drive, Suite 500, Tampa 33607 813-552-5000; KForce.com

$1,531,756,000 Joseph J. Liberatore, $1,710,765,000 President, CEO and Director -11.69%

Business/ Consumer Services

professional staffing and solutions firm providing strategic partnership in technology and finance and accounting services

14

ConMed Corp. (CNMD) 11311 Concept Blvd., Largo 33773 727-392-6464; ConMed.com

$1,244,744,000 Curt Hartman, Chairman, $1,045,472,000 President and CEO 16.01%

Technology, Health Care

medical technology company that designs and sells surgical devices and patient monitoring products

15

The Baldwin Group (formerly BRP Group Inc.) (BRP) 4211 W. Boy Scout Blvd., Tampa 33607 866-279-0698; BaldwinRiskPartners.com

$1,218,555,000 $980,720,000 Trevor Baldwin, CEO 19.52%

Other

private risk management, personal insurance, Medicare, family office, commercial risk management, employee benefits, asset & income protection

16

Lazydays (LAZY) 4042 Park Oaks Blvd., Suite 350, Tampa 33601 813-246-4999; Lazydays.com

$1,082,747,000 $1,326,961,000 John North, CEO and Director -22.56%

Retailers

RV sales, service, parts, accessories financing and insurance and RV campground

17

First Watch (FWRG) 8725 Pendery Place, Suite 201, Bradenton 34201 941-907-9800; FirstWatch.com

$877,092,000 Christopher A. Tomasso, President, $719,181,000 Chief Executive Officer and Director 18.00%

Hospitality/ Restaurant

daytime cafe, serving breakfast and brunch

18

Helios Technologies (HLIO) 7456 16th St. E., Sarasota 34243 941-362-1200; SunHydraulics.com

$835,600,000 $885,400,000 Sean Bagan, CEO -5.96%

Manufacturing

designer and manufacturer of hydraulic-cartridge valve

19

HCI Group Inc. (HCI) 3802 Coconut Palm Drive, Tampa 33619 813- 849-9500; HCIGroup.com

$765,512,000 $724,716,000 Paresh Patel, CEO and Chairman 5.33%

Business/ Consumer Services

InsurTech company with operations in insurance, software development and real estate

20

Heritage Insurance Holdings Inc. (HRTG) 1401 N. Westshore Blvd., Tampa 33607 727-362-7200; HeritagePCI.com

$735,499,000 $662,460,000 Ernesto Garateix, CEO 9.93%

Banking/ Finance/ Investment

provides home, condominium, rental and commercial residential insurance

THE LISTS

Company

30

2023 Revenue 2022 Revenue Growth Top Executive

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

LOGISTICS EXPERTISE ENSURES SUCCESS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

By Paul A. Nolletti

Enter CONRI Services, a venerable industry titan boasting an impressive 75-year legacy. With roots firmly planted in the Northeast, CONRI has carved a niche as a premier third-party logistics (3PL) provider, also specializing in drayage and trucking. This expertise allows CONRI to deliver tailor-made transportation solutions, precisely calibrated to meet the dynamic needs of its clientele.

In a strategic maneuver to fortify its market presence and better serve its clientele, CONRI recently unveiled a cutting-edge 47,000 square foot warehouse in Palmetto, Florida. This state-of-the-art facility, complementing CONRI’s existing strongholds in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, represents a significant expansion into the Southeast region and allows the company to deliver to 80% of the country within a critical 2-day shipping window.

“

CONRI Services is my go to partner for all crossdock, transload and 3PL warehouse needs. I have used their facilities in PA, NJ and now FL. They are a full service 3PL warehouse provider. Great team of supply chain professionals that I plan on using again in the future!

- Kyle Goodman,

Cross Dock America Founder

”

CONRI Services represents the pinnacle of business logistics expertise, offering unparalleled East Coast coverage and tailored solutions. With the addition of a state-of-the-art warehouse in Palmetto, Florida, CONRI reaffirms its commitment to innovation and client satisfaction. Leveraging over 75 years of experience, CONRI remains the trusted partner of choice for businesses seeking seamless distribution solutions tailored to their unique needs.

CONRI Services, Inc. | can be reached at (941) 667-2021 or at conriservices.com

419148-1

In the ever-evolving realm of business logistics, achieving seamless coverage and efficiency is paramount. Businesses, driven by the demands of an increasingly interconnected market, require comprehensive East Coast coverage to swiftly reach their clientele. This entails the ability to deliver goods to the most customers within a tight two-day shipping timeframe, coupled with access to key seaports east of the Mississippi. Such capabilities not only streamline distribution but also bolster competitiveness and customer satisfaction.

Yet, CONRI’s prowess extends beyond mere transportation. The company offers an array of services including short and long-term warehouse storage, pick & pack order fulfillment, e-commerce fulfillment, and kitting & assembly. These services, designed with versatility in mind, cater to a diverse spectrum of business requirements, ensuring maximum flexibility in inventory management and supply chain optimization.

THE LISTS

TOP PUBLIC COMPANIES Company

2023 Revenue 2022 Revenue Growth Top Executive

21

Pacira Biosciences Inc. 5401 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa 33609 813-553-6680; Pacira.com

22

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS Industry

Line of Business

$675,978,000 $666,823,000 Frank Lee, Director and CEO 1.35%

Health Care

pharmaceutical company that provides nonopioid pain management and regenerative health solutions

NeoGenomics Inc. (NEO) 9490 NeoGenomics Way, Fort Myers 33912 239-768-0600; NeoGenomics.com

$591,643,000 Christopher M. Smith, $509,728,000 Director and CEO 13.85%

Health Care

cancer genetic testing laboratory

23

Superior Group of Cos. (SGC) 200 Central Ave., Suite 2000, St. Petersburg 33701 727-397-9611; SuperiorUniformGroup.com

$543,302,000 $578,831,000 Michael Benstock, CEO -6.54%

Manufacturing

designs, manufactures and sells uniforms and apparel

24

Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. (OSG) 302 Knights Run Ave., Tampa 33602 813-209-0600; OSG.com

$451,871,000 Samuel H. Norton, $466,800,000 President and CEO -3.30%

Other

energy transportation services company, delivering crude oil and petroleum products worldwide

25

Digital Media Solutions, Inc. (DMS) 4800 140th Ave. N., Suite 101, Clearwater 33762 877-236-8632; DigitalMediaSolutions.com

$334,900,000 $391,148,000 Joe Marinucci, CEO and Director -16.80%

Technology

adtech company leveraging innovative, performance-driven brand and marketplace solutions to connect consumers and advertisers

26

American Coastal Insurance Corp.

800 Second Ave. S., St. Petersburg 33701 727-633-0851; AmCoastal.com

$286,543,000 $269,791,000 R. Daniel Peed, CEO 5.85%

Business/ Consumer Services

insurance company that underwrites commercial and personal property and casualty policies

27

Beasley Media Group Inc. (BBGI) 3033 Riviera Drive, Suite 200, Naples 34103 239-263-5000; BBGI.com

$247,100,000 $256,400,000 Caroline Beasley, CEO and Director -3.76%

Entertainment/ Media/Publishing

radio broadcasting group

28

Sila Realty Trust Inc. 1001 Water St., Tampa 33602 813-287-0101; SilaRealtyTrust.com

$189,065,000 $179,986,000 Michael Seton, CEO 4.80%

Real Estate Investment Trust

real estate investment trust that invests in healthcare properties

29

BayFirst National Bank (BAFN) 700 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, 33701 727-440-6848; FirstHomeBank.com

$118,270,000 $70,050,000 Thomas G. Zernick, CEO 40.77%

Banking/ Finance/ Investment

Loans and other financial services

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BUSINESS OBSERVER

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BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

TOP PUBLIC COMPANIES 2023 Revenue 2022 Revenue Growth Top Executive

Company

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS Industry

Line of Business

Innovative Food Holdings (IVFH) 9696 Bonita Beach Road, Suite 208, Bonita Springs 34135 239-596-0204; IVFH.com

$72,218,996 $78,904,175 Bill Bennett, CEO and Director -9.26%

Distributor/ Wholesalers

wholesaler and retailer of perishables and specialty food products

31

Apyx Medical Corp. (APYX) 5115 Ulmerton Road, Clearwater 33760 727-384-2323; APYXMedical.com

$52,349,000 Charles D. Goodwin, $44,510,000 CEO and Director 14.97%

Technology, Health Care

Helium plasma technology

32

Alico (ALCO) 10070 Daniels Interstate Court, Suite 200, Fort Myers 33913 239-226-2000; ALICOInc.com

$39,846,000 John E. Kiernan, Director, $91,947,000 President and CEO -130.76%

Agriculture

land management, agriculture, mining and development

33

Cryo-Cell International Inc. (CCEL) 700 Brooker Creek Road, Suite 1800, Oldsmar 34677 813-749-2100; Cryo-Cell.com

$31,343,695 David Portnoy, $30,336,749 Chairman and Co-CEO 3.21%

Health Care

stem cell blood bank and related research

34

LM Funding America (LMFA) 1200 Platt St., Suite 1000, Tampa 33602 813-222-8996; LMFunding.com

$12,984,090 Bruce M. Rodgers, $1,733,951 Chairman and CEO 86.65%

Banking/ Finance/ Investment

technology-based specialty finance company offering unique funding solutions to community associations

35

Naples Soap Co. (NASO) 14601 Jetport Loop, #180, Fort Myers 33913 239-325-8263; NaplesSoap.com

$12,350,000 $11,100,000 Deanna Wallin, founder and CEO 10.12%

Retailers

producer of more than 300 bath, body and personal care products sold at the company's 11 Florida retail locations

36

OriginClear (OCLN) 13575 58th St. N., Suite 200, Clearwater 33760 727-440-4603; OriginClear.com

$6,708,178 T. Riggs Eckelberry, CEO, Chairman $10,376,573 of the Board of Directors, Secretary, -54.69% Treasurer, and President

Other

self-reliant water revolution, connecting investors with water projects, commercializes modular, prefabricated, filter-free advanced systems for sanitation

37

Procyon Corp. (PCYN) 164 Douglas Road, Oldsmar 34677 727-447-2998; ProcyonCorp.com

$4,686,659 Justice W. Anderson, $4,842,433 Director and CEO -3.32%

Health Care

manufactures and markets skin and wound care supplies

38

Invo Bioscience (INVO) 5582 Broadcast Court, Sarasota 34240 978-878-9505; InvoBioscience.com

$3,020,575 $822,196 Steve Shum, CEO 72.78%

Health Care

medical device company focused on creating simplified, lower cost treatments for patients diagnosed with infertility

NOTE: Tampa-based Masonite International Corp., Venice-based PGT Innovations and Fort Myers-based Chico’s FAS were acquired in 2024.

THE LISTS

30

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BUSINESS OBSERVER

33

TOP PRIVATE COMPANIES Company

Staff

Year Founded

First Name

Industry

Line of Business

1930

Kevin Murphy CEO

Retailers

retail grocery

6,526

2005

Brett Morgan CEO

Retailers

automotive sales and service

3,027,321,173 2,790,000,000 8.51%

367

1981

Frank Crum Founder and CEO

Other

professional employer organization (PEO) that offers human resources services, including payroll, employee benefits and HR consulting

Bealls Inc. 1806 38th Ave. E., Bradenton 34208 941-744-4309; BeallsFlorida.com

1,931,000,000 1,874,000,000 3.04%

15,650

1915

Robert Matthews Beall III, CEO

Retailers

retail apparel, home goods and gifts

5

Manhattan Construction Group 3705-1 Westview Drive, Naples 34104 239-435-3827; ManhattanConstructionGroup.com

1,784,535,360 1,480,000,000 20.58%

1,488

1896

Larry Rooney President

Contractors

construction management, general building, design-build, preconstruction, concrete, road and bridge, specialty construction

6

Gettel Automotive Inc. 5959 E. State Road 64, Bradenton 34208 941-417-5003; Gettel.com

1,575,598,126 1,462,000,000 7.77%

1,168

1998

James Gettel President

Retailers

automotive dealer

7

Power Design Inc. 11600 Ninth St. N., St. Petersburg 33716 727-210-0492; PowerDesignInc.us

1,200,000,000 925,000,000 29.73%

2,700

1989

Mitch Permuy CEO

Contractors

electrical contractor

8

Ferman Automotive Group 1306 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa 33606 813-251-2765; Ferman.com

1,160,365,000 1,141,000,000 1.70%

1,267

1895

James Ferman President

Retailers

automobile and motorcycle dealerships

9

Automated Petroleum & Energy Co. Inc. 1201 Oakfield Drive, Brandon 33511 813-681-4279; AutomatedPetroleum.com

1,145,905,408 1,294,000,000 -11.44%

51

1981

Bill McKnight President

Retailers

petroleum distributor

10

Gulfeagle Supply Inc. 2900 E. Seventh Ave., Tampa 33605 813-636-9808; GulfeagleSupply.com

1,100,000,000 1,148,000,000 -4.18%

1,200

1973

Brad Resch President

Distributor/ Wholesalers

distributor of roofing and building material products

Rank

THE LISTS

2023 Revenue 2022 Revenue Change

1

Publix Super Markets Inc. 3300 Publix Corporate Parkway, Lakeland 33802 863-688-7407; Publix.com

$57,100,000,000 54,500,000,000 4.77%

240,000

2

Morgan Automotive Group 3031 N. Rocky Point Drive, Suite 770, Tampa 33607 813-434-1982; MorganAutoGroup.com

8,157,372,418 7,034,000,000 15.97%

3

FrankCrum 100 S. Missouri Ave. Clearwater 33756 727-799-1229; FrankCrum.com

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BUSINESS OBSERVER

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BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

TOP PRIVATE COMPANIES Rank

Company

2023 Revenue 2022 Revenue Change

11

FCCI Insurance Group 6300 University Parkway, Sarasota 34240 941-907-3224; FCCI-Group.com

1,100,000,000 937,000,000 17.40%

870

12

Neal Communities of Southwest Florida LLC 5800 Lakewood Ranch Blvd. N., Lakewood Ranch 34240 941-328-1111; NealCommunities.com

905,000,000 612,890,000 47.66%

13

BlueGrace Logistics LLC 2846 S. Falkenburg Road, Riverview 33578 800-697-4477; MyBlueGrace.com

14

Year Founded

Industry

Line of Business

1959

Business/ Consumer Services

property and casualty insurance

330

1970

Patrick Neal Executive Chairman

Homebuilders

land developer and homebuilder

831,000,000 894,310,000 -7.08%

635

2009

Bobby Harris Founder and CEO

Other

third-party logistics (3PL) provider

Sunz Holdings LLC 1301 Sixth Ave. W., Bradenton 34205 941-306-3077; SunzInsurance.com

714,400,000 686,500,000 4.06%

400

2013

Steven Herrig CEO

Business/ Consumer Services

workers' compensation insurance

15

Homes by WestBay 4065 Crescent Park Drive, Riverview 33578 813-938-1250; HomesByWestBay.com

700,442,903 594,150,000 17.89%

233

2009

Willy Nunn President

Real Estate/ Mortgage Brokers

new home builder

16

HIT Promotional Products Inc. 7150 Bryan Dairy Road, Largo 33777 727-541-5561; HITPromo.net

684,617,095 607,930,000 12.61%

3,849

1981

C.J. Schmidt President and CEO

Business/ Consumer Services

promotional products wholesale supplier

17

Scotlynn USA Division 9597 Gulf Research Lane, Fort Myers 33912 239-210-3000; Scotlynn.com

587,646,932 718,290,000 -18.19%

372

2010

Ryan Carter, President Scotlynn USA

Other

logistics

18

Stock Development 2639 Professional Circle, Suite 101, Naples 34119 239-292-2721; StockDevelopment.com

530,000,000 718,520,000 -26.24%

434

2001

Brian Stock CEO

Homebuilders

developer and homebuilder

19

Ripa & Associates LLC 1409 Tech Blvd., Suite 1, Tampa 33619 813-623-6777; RipaTampa.com

493,000,000 413,000,000 19.37%

835

1998

Chris LaFace President and CEO

Contractors

civil and utility construction services in central Florida

20

Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. 11941 Fairway Lakes Drive, Fort Myers 33913 239-561-4141; Owen-Ames-Kimball.com

436,000,000 398,000,000 9.55%

49

1891

Matthew Zwack President

Contractors

construction management, general contracting and design-build

THE LISTS

First Name Christina "Cina" Welch, President and CEO

423378-1

Staff

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS

AUGUST 2024 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER

35

2023 Revenue 2022 Revenue Change

Staff

Year Founded

430,000,000 395,900,000 8.61%

195

Ajax Building Corp.

425 Commercial Court, Suite J, Venice 34292 813-792-3900; JaxBuilding.com

397,900,000 384,640,000 3.45%

23

J.H. Williams Oil Co. Inc. 423 S. Hyde Park Ave., Tampa 33606 813-228-7776; JHWOil.com

24

Rank

Company

21

DeAngelis Diamond 6635 Willow Park Drive, Naples 34109 239-594-1994; DeAngelisDiamond.com

22

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS First Name

Industry

Line of Business

1996

John DeAngelis President

Contractors

construction management

220

1958

William Byrne President

Contractors

construction management

356,561,000 398,380,000 -10.50%

13

1945

J. Hulon Williams III President

Retailers

petroleum management

RNR Tire Express (SPF Management Co. LLC dba RNR Tire Express) 13922 Monroes Business Park, Tampa 33635 813-977-9800; RNRTires.com

331,252,281 270,180,000 22.60%

1,500

2000

Larry Sutton Founder

Retailers

tire dealer franchisor

25

Florida Medical Clinic PA 38135 Market Square, Zephyrhills 33542 813-780-8440; FloridaMedicalClinic.com

320,000,000 329,900,000 -3.00%

1,965

1993

Joe Delatorre CEO

Health Care

multispecialty physician group

26

Gold Coast Eagle Distributing 7051 Wireless Court, Sarasota 34240 941-650-3139; GCEagle.com

285,000,000 227,000,000 25.55%

400

1996

John Saputo Owner

Distributor/ Wholesalers

beer distribution

27

Brooks and Freund LLC 5661 Independence Circle, Suite 1, Fort Myers 33912 239-939-5251; BrooksAndFreund.com

240,000,000 226,000,000 6.19%

61

2000

Richard Freund Manager

Contractors

general contractor and construction management

28

Premier Sotheby’s International Realty 4001 Tamiami Trail, Suite 350, Naples 34103 239-262-4242; PremierSothebysRealty.com

218,000,000 238,350,000 -8.54%

134

1983

Budge Huskey President and CEO

Real Estate/ Mortgage Brokers

real estate brokerage

29

Amscot Financial Inc. 600 N. Westshore Blvd., Suite 1200, Tampa 33609 813-637-6205; Amscot.com

215,682,000 204,230,000 5.61%

1,500

1989

Ian MacKechnie CEO

Banking/ Finance/ Investment

financial services

30

Sun State International Trucks LLC 6020 E. Adamo Drive, Tampa 33619 813-621-1331; SunStateIntl.com

203,000,000 201,000,000 1.00%

210

1982

Oscar Horton Chairman and CEO

Business/ Consumer Services

commercial transportation equipment sales, service, parts

420590-1

THE LISTS

TOP PRIVATE COMPANIES

36

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

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THE LISTS

TOP PRIVATE COMPANIES 2023 Revenue 2022 Revenue Change

Staff

Year Founded

195,000,000 225,000,000 -13.33%

96

Creative Contractors Inc. 620 Drew St., Clearwater 33755 727-461-5522; CreativeContractors.com

194,000,000 144,000,000 34.72%

33

S-One Holdings Corp.

1605 Main St., Suite 300, Sarasota 34236 800-453-9538; SOne.com

34

Rank

Company

31

Hawkins Construction Inc. 1430 L&R Industrial Blvd., Tarpon Springs 34689 727-938-9719; HawkinsNet.com

32

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS First Name

Industry

Line of Business

1975

Miguel Leyva President

Contractors

commercial construction

87

1974

Alan Bomstein CEO

Contractors

commercial construction

190,000,000 190,350,000 -0.18%

207

1994

Ron Simkins President and CEO

Manufacturing

provides materials, equipment, technical support in the printing industry

B&I Contractors Inc. 2701 Prince St., Fort Myers 33916 239-332-4646; BAndIFlorida.com

188,000,000 168,000,000 11.90%

750

1960

Gary Griffin President

Contractors

mechanical, plumbing and electrical contractors and service provider

35

FineMark National Bank & Trust 8695 College Parkway, Fort Myers 33919 877-461-5901; FineMarkBank.com

$176,470,000 $126,038,000 40.01%

260

2007

Joseph R. Catti Chairman, CEO

Banking/ Finance/ Investment

financial services

36

Crowther Roofing and Sheet Metal 2543 Rockfill Road, Fort Myers 33916 239-337-1300; Crowther.net

$176,439,206 $105,481,066 67.27%

700

1974

Lee S. Crowther CEO

Contractors

roofing, sheet metal, light-gauge metal trusses, lightweight insulating concrete, and HVAC

37

Connor & Gaskins Unlimited 1998 Trade Center Way, Suite 2, Naples 34109 239-260-5068; CGUnlimited.com

173,000,000 168,620,000 2.60%

89

2010

Barry Connor CEO

Contractors

developer and general contractor

38

Willis A. Smith Construction 5001 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., Sarasota 34240 941-366-3116; WillisSmith.com

143,081,312 137,960,670 3.71%

81

1972

David Sessions CEO

Contractors

construction management

39

NDC Construction Co. 1001 Third Ave. W., Bradenton 34205 941-747-1062; NDCConstruction.com

142,000,000 137,000,000 3.65%

58

1997

Ronald Allen President, Principal

Construction

commercial, multifamily, academic and hospitality construction

40

The Bank of Tampa 601 Bayshore Blvd., Suite 100, Tampa 33606 813-872-1200; BankOfTampa.com

$138,438,000 $111,403,000 24.27%

284

1973

T. Corey Neil President, CEO

Banking/ Finance/ Investment

financial services Source: Individual companies

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BUSINESS OBSERVER

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MEDICAL PROFESSIONS Medical professionals Physician assistants (PA) Advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) Licensed practical nurse (LPN) Dentists Registered nurse (RN) MDs Certified nursing assistant (CNA)

FY ’21-’22 10,439 39,474 59,411 13,113 313,937 57,354 140,497

FY ’22-’23 11,504 43,063 63,103 13,887 326,416 59,144 142,448

LICENSED STATEWIDE

Change 10.2% 9.09% 6.21% 5.9% 3.98% 3.12% 1.39%

Source: Florida Department of Health

DOC STAMPS County Pasco Charlotte Polk Manatee Sarasota Collier Lee Statewide Hillsborough Pinellas

2018-2019 $33,546,938 $16,437,947 $38,708,843 $38,575,436 $50,190,666 $71,626,005 $77,362,792 $1,714,821,832 114,929,926 88,372,574

2019-2020 $36,744,859 $16,361,587 $41,899,886 $39,095,157 $54,475,773 $73,122,674.80 $75,408,549 $1,679,140,145 $106,542,267 $79,046,614

2020-2021 $53,385,732 $28,855,814 $56,414,253 $61,832,031 $89,316,410 $134,547,634 $130,075,299 $2,459,518,034 $132,527,389 $111,150,581

Doc stamps are excise taxes imposed on certain documents executed, delivered or recorded in Florida. Ranked in order of five-year growth rate.

2021-2022 $73,877,020 $39,023,422 $86,239,332 $83,637,027 $103,947,882 $152,849,145 $168,509,979 $3,366,124,874 $189,117,734 $137,591,691

2022-2023 $66,814,359 $30,772,254 $70,925,141 $69,518,464 $83,479,586 $115,175,032 $123,808,031 $2,471,318,512 $135,292,653 $102,206,490

THE LISTS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Courtesy Tampa General Hospital

5-year Growth 66.29% 60.70% 58.77% 57.25% 49.80% 46.60% 46.17% 36.14% 16.27% 14.51%

Source: Florida Department of Revenue

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43

THE LISTS

HURRICANE DAMAGE

Photo by Stefania Pifferi

HURRICANE IDALIA (2023)

HURRICANE IAN (2022)

HURRICANE NICOLE (2022)

County 1 Pinellas 2 Hillsborough 3 Pasco 4 Sarasota 5 Charlotte 6 Manatee 7 Lee Total estimated statewide

County 1 Lee 2 Charlotte 3 Sarasota 4 Collier 5 Polk 6 Hillsborough 7 Manatee 8 Pinellas Total estimated statewide

County 1 Hillsborough 2 Pinellas 3 Polk 4 Pasco 5 Lee Total estimated statewide

Claims 1,975 1,534 1,340 514 481 443 407 $309,530,946

Claims 272,299 104,755 78,537 46,767 27,835 17,704 13,977 4,907 $21,386,266,489

Claims 919 890 870 585 481 $253,086,983

Source: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation

EV CHARGING STATIONS Florida has 3,465 charging stations with 10,082 charging ports.* City Bradenton Brandon Cape Coral Clearwater Dunedin Englewood

Charging stations 65 19 10 123 19 6

City Estero Fort Myers Lakeland Lakewood Ranch Naples New Port Richey

Charging stations 44 154 52 8 188 19

City North Port Palmetto Pinellas Park Plant City Port Charlotte Port Richey

Charging stations are compatible with all electric vehicles, including Teslas with adapters. The number of charging stations includes Tesla chargers.

44

BUSINESS OBSERVER

Charging stations 4 6 16 43 21 16

City St. Pete Beach St. Pete Sanibel Sarasota Tampa Venice

Charging stations 6 17 8 211 535 61

*Source: U.S. Department of Energy Source: ChargeHub

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

Member FDIC

Bryan Boudreaux

Senior Vice President, Manatee Market Director

Amy Stumbo

Service Assistant Manager, Lakewood Ranch Office

What is a relationship?

THE BANK OF TAMPA I RELATIONSHIP BANKING DEFINED

941.248.1830 thebankoftampa.com

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At The Bank of Tampa, we take pride in developing deep, personal relationships. For 40 years, The Bank of Tampa has grown to $3 billion in assets with 13 offices between Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Manatee counties. While we are uniquely positioned to be the largest community bank serving the greater Tampa Bay area, one thing that never waivers is our commitment and dedication to our clients and community.

TOP 10 FDOT PROJECTS T

he Florida Department of Transportation is driving more than $4.2 billion in spending across 43 major projects in the region.

A significant portion of that is being spent in the Tampa Bay area on a new bridge and a new tollway. The 5.8-mile Howard Frankland Bridge connecting Tampa and St. Petersburg will cost $871.3 million to build,

THE LISTS

County

1

PINELLAS

2

PINELLAS

3

POLK

according to FDOT’s website.

(That’s up slightly from last year, when the contract value was listed at $866.5 million.) The Gateway Expressway system in Pinellas, meanwhile, is now expected to cost $598.9 million, also up slightly from last year.

Across all projects with a contract value of at least $20 million, Pinellas and Hillsborough are benefiting from $1.75 billion and

$837 million in spend, respectively. In Polk County, there are currently eight FDOT projects worth at least $20 million underway, totaling $645 million in contract value.

A look at the top 10 projects in the region reveals one other nugget: Six of the projects are at least two years away from completion.

— Alex Walsh

TOTAL BY COUNTY County

Project value

County

PINELLAS

$1,757,664,252.66

COLLIER

$161,917,487.65

HILLSBOROUGH

$837,063,920.20

SARASOTA

$118,138,643.58

POLK

$644,791,409.59

LEE

$101,701,328.36

PASCO

$364,676,359.55

CHARLOTTE

$24,353,930.43

MANATEE

$242,942,262.31

GRAND TOTAL

Current Contract Amount Description/Location Interstate 275 and Howard Frankland Bridge replacement $871,296,454 and add lanes from State Road 687 to Howard Frankland Gateway Expressway and I-275 from south of Gandy $598,896,323 Boulevard to Fourth Street North $257,949,601

Central Polk Parkway; State Road 570 to State Road 35 State Road 55/U.S. 19 from State Road 580 to north of County Road 95 I-275/State Road 93 to downtown Tampa Interchange and I-275/I-4 U.S. 98/State Road 35/State Road 700 from Polk County Line to U.S. 301

Work mix Bridge replace and add lanes New road construction

Vendor name Archer Western/ Traylor Bros.

Archer Western/ Demoya

Project value

$4,253,249,594.33

Start Date

Est. Complete Date

April 2020

August 2025

August 2017

N/A (Original listed as 2023)

New road construction

Prince Contracting

March 2023

March 2029

Add lanes, reconstruct

Johnson Bros.

Corp.

April 2023

June 2028

Interchange , add lanes

Lane Construction Corp.

Sept. 2022

Add lanes and reconstruction

Prince Contracting

August 2023

4

PINELLAS

$241,982,824

5

HILLSBOROUGH

$226,216,459

6

PASCO

$146,259,335

7

MANATEE

$145,182,183

I-75 and U.S. 301

Interchange , add lanes

Ajax/Leware

March 2021

May 2025

Add lanes, reconstruct

Prince/Ajax

July 2023

June 2027

December 2026 November 2027

8

POLK

$123,219,335

State Road 35 from north of West Socrum Loop Road to south of County Road 54

9

COLLIER

$98,520,749

I-75 and State Road 95

Interchange improvement

The De Moya Group Inc.

Sept. 2022

April 2026

$93,158,586

I-75 south of CSX railroad stop and Broadway Avenue to I-4 exit ramp

Interchange , add lanes

Prince/Ajax

August 2021

November 2024

10

HILLSBOROUGH

Source: Florida Department of Transportation

SARASOTA’S PREMIER FINANCIAL PLANNING & SERVICES GROUP Steve Griffin, CFP® Principal/Founder

Kelly Goldstein Partner

Specializing in Business Planning, Retirement, Investments, and Estate Planning for More Than 20 Years CONTACT:

306 N Rhodes Ave, Suite 110 Sarasota, FL 34237

Steve Griffin and Kelly Goldstein are Registered Representatives offering securities through NYLIFE Securities LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC, a Licensed Insurance Agency. 306 N Rhodes Ave Suite 110, Sarasota, FL 34237. Steve Griffin and Kelly Goldstein are Financial Advisers offering investment advisory services through Eagle Strategies LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser. Full Spectrum Financial Group is not owned or operated by NYLIFE Securities LLC. Neither Full Spectrum Financial Group or its agents, nor NYLIFE Securities and its affiliates offer legal, tax or accounting advice. Read more about the list and the ranking methodology here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rjshook/2024/07/10/methodology-americas-top-financial-security-professionals-2024/

46

BUSINESS OBSERVER

428912-1

office: 941.866.6570 info@fullspectrumfinancialgroup.com fullspectrumfinancialgroup.com

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

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BY A DEVELOPER TO A BUYER OR LESSEE. ALL RENDERINGS AND PLANS ARE PROPOSED CONCEPTS SHOWN ONLY FOR MARKETING PURPOSES AND ARE BASED ON THE DEVELOPER’S CURRENT PRELIMINARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN. DEVELOPER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY, REVISE OR WITHDRAW THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT PLAN IN DEVELOPER’S SOLE DISCRETION WITHOUT NOTICE. NOTHING HEREIN OR IN ANY OTHER COMMUNICATION SHALL BE DEEMED TO OBLIGATE THE DEVELOPER, OR ANY AFFILIATE 20 YEARS OF DEVELOPER, TO CONSTRUCT THE PROJECT OR OFFER ANY OF THE PROJECT FOR SALE, AND NOTHING HEREIN SHALL BE DEEMED A GUARANTY OF ANY KIND. THIS IS NOT AN OFFER TO SALE OR SOLICITATION OF OFFERS TO BUY. 428435-1

Bank

CEO Name

2023 revenue

2022 revenue

Growth

1

SouthState Bank, National Association 1101 First St. S., Winter Haven 33880 800-277-2175; SouthStateBank.com

John C. Corbett, CEO and Director

$2,261,950,000

$1,735,213,000

30.36%

2

Raymond James Bank, National Association 710 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg 33716 727-567-8000; RaymondJamesBank.com

Steve Raney, CEO

$2,204,891,000

$1,313,687,000

67.84%

3

FineMark National Bank & Trust 8695 College Parkway, Fort Myers 33919 877-461-5901; FineMarkBank.com

Joseph R. Catti, Chairman and CEO

$176,470,000

$126,038,000

40.01%

4

The Bank of Tampa 601 Bayshore Blvd., Suite 100, Tampa 33606 813-872-1200; BankOfTampa.com

T. Corey Neil, President and CEO

$138,438,000

$111,403,000

24.27%

5

BayFirst National Bank 700 Central Ave, St. Petersburg 33701 727-440-6848; FirstHomeBank.com

Thomas G. Zernick, CEO

$118,270,000

$70,050,000

68.84%

6

TCM Bank, National Association 3501 E. Frontage Road, Tampa 33607 800-242-4770; ICBABanCard.org

Damon Moorer, President and CEO

$78,719,000

$61,911,000

27.15%

7

Citizens Bank and Trust 2 East Wall Street, Frostproof 33843 863-635-2244; Citizens-Bank.com

Greg Littleton, President and CEO

$57,121,000

$46,974,000

21.60%

8

Sanibel Captiva Community Bank 2406 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel 33957 239-472-6100; SanCapBank.com

Kyle DeCicco, President and CEO

$51,269,000

$34,121,000

50.26%

9

Bank of Central Florida 5015 South Florida Ave., Lakeland 33813 863-701-2685; BankOfCentralFlorida.com

Paul J. Noris, Chairman and CEO

$47,878,000

$33,502,000

42.91%

10

Members Trust Co. 14055 Riveredge Drive, Suite 525, Tampa 33637 888-727-9191; MembersTrust.com

Kenneth E. Lako, President and CEO

$30,678,000

$29,052,000

5.60%

415143-1

THE LISTS

LARGEST BANKS

48

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

LARGEST BANKS Bank

CEO Name

11

Flagship Bank 29750 U.S. Highway19 N., Clearwater 33761 727-451-2020; FlagshipBank.com

12

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS 2022 revenue

Growth

David Key, President and CEO

$30,511,000

$20,346,000

49.96%

Climate First Bank 182 37th Ave. N., St. Petersburg 33704 727-335-0500; ClimateFirstBank.com

Ken LaRoe, CEO, Chairman and Founder

$24,806,000

$8,606,000

188.24%

13

Edison National Bank 13000 S. Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers 33907 239-466-1800; EdisonNationalBank.com

Geoffrey W. Roepstorff, CEO

$22,056,000

$13,541,000

62.88%

14

Central Bank 20701 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa 33647 813-929-4477; CentralBankFL.com

John Thompson, President and CEO

$16,710,000

$12,807,000

30.48%

15

First National Bank of Pasco 13315 U.S. Highway 301 S., Dade City. 33525 352-521-0141; FNBPasco.com

James Esry, President, CEO and Director

$15,419,000

$12,593,000

22.44%

16

Gulfside Bank 333 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota 34236 941-303-4200; GulfSideBank.com

Dennis B. Murphy, Jr., President and CEO

$13,817,000

$9,360,000

47.62%

17

Waterfall Bank 500 Mclennan St., Clearwater 33756 727-472-3599; WaterFallBank.com

Kevin Darmody, President and CEO

$8,486,000

$3,241,000

161.83%

18

Century Bank of Florida 716 W. Fletcher Ave., Tampa 33612 813-961-3300; CenturyBK.com

Jose Vivero, Chairman and CEO

$5,751,000

$4,451,000

29.21%

19

Gulf Coast Business Bank 12205 Metro Parkway, Fort Myers 33966 239-345-2265; GCBBSWFL.com

William Blevins, President and CEO

$4,182,000

$726,000

476.03%

NOTE: Charlotte State Bank & Trust and Englewood Bank & Trust are now part of Wauchula-based Crews Bank.

THE LISTS

2023 revenue

Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT IS A PEOPLE BUSINESS. We are an experienced, full-service commercial property management company offering expert in-house services, including personalized financial reporting, budget forecasting, lease administration, maintenance, risk management, and emergency response. By treating tenants, landlords, and investors as partners, we tailor strategies for long-term success across retail, office, industrial, and medical properties, ensuring our approach is effective for both single-entity owners and diversified portfolios.

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1614 Colonial Boulevard, #101, Fort Myers, FL 33907 AUGUST 2024 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER

428733-1

239.275.4922 | LQCRE.com

49

SBA LENDERS N

ew York-based Newtek Bank Small Business Finance Inc. remains the most prolific lender for Small Business Administration-supported projects in Florida, according to SBA data through July 5. Newtek approved 358 deals

through that point in 2024 worth a total of $178 million, or slightly less than $500,000 per project. Delaware-based TD Bank had the highest volume by number of loans with 531 projects, but the average project value was much smaller than

THE LISTS

TOP 10 NATIONWIDE SBA LENDERS IN FLORIDA (TOTAL LOANS) 1

Lender Name, state TD Bank, National Association (Delaware)

2

FISCAL 2024 Newtek’s, at about $125,000. Among banks based in Florida, the most active SBA lender is St. Petersburg-based BayFirst National Bank, which handled 307 projects with $60 million in total value, or an average of nearly $195,000 per project.

TOP 10 NATIONWIDE SBA LENDERS IN FLORIDA (TOTAL LOAN VOLUME) Lender Name, State

Total amount approved

Total loans approved 531

1

Newtek Small Business Finance Inc. (New York)

$177,520,500

Newtek Small Business Finance Inc. (New York)

358

2

Live Oak Banking Company (North Carolina)

$130,097,200

3

Readycap Lending LLC (New Jersey)

334

3

First Internet Bank of Indiana (Indiana)

$95,499,500

4

BayFirst National Bank (St. Petersburg)

307

4

Bank of America, National Association (North Carolina)

$81,383,500

5

JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association (Ohio)

212

5

Readycap Lending LLC (New Jersey)

$66,937,700

TD Bank, National Association (Delaware)

$66,186,100 $59,723,900

6

Bank of America, National Association (North Carolina)

188

6

7

The Huntington National Bank (Ohio)

167

7

BayFirst National Bank (St. Petersburg)

8

SouthState Bank, National Association (Winter Haven)

125

8

The Huntington National Bank (Ohio)

$56,507,700

9

Live Oak Banking Company (North Carolina)

90

9

SouthState Bank, NA (Winter Haven)

$47,838,400

10

First Internet Bank of Indiana (Indiana)

61

10

JP Morgan Chase Bank, National Association (Ohio)

TOP 10 FLORIDA-BASED SBA LENDERS IN FLORIDA (TOTAL LOANS) 1

Lender Name, headquarters BayFirst National Bank

2

SouthState Bank, National Association

$46,561,800

TOP 10 FLORIDA-BASED SBA LENDERS IN FLORIDA (TOTAL LOAN VOLUME) Lender name, headquarters

Total amount approved

Total loans approved 307

1

BayFirst National Bank

125

2

SouthState Bank, National Association

$47,838,400

Paradise Bank

$42,658,000

$59,723,900

3

City National Bank of Florida

28

3

4

Paradise Bank

24

4

City National Bank of Florida

$17,940,000

5

The Bank of Tampa

22

5

DFCU Financial

$17,456,800

6

iTHINK Financial

21

6

iTHINK Financial

$17,239,000

7

BankUnited, National Association

17

7

Ocean Bank

$15,754,900

8

DFCU Financial

15

8

Amerant Bank, National Association

$13,119,400

9

Ocean Bank

9

9

BankUnited, National Association

$13,057,000

10

Amerant Bank, National Association

7

10

The Bank of Tampa

CREDIT UNIONS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Credit Union Suncoast Credit Union MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Grow Financial Federal Credit Union GTE Financial Achieva Credit Union Publix Employees Federal Credit Union USF Federal Credit Union Florida Central Credit Union Trax Credit Union Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union

Headquarters Tampa Lakeland Tampa Tampa Dunedin Lakeland Temple Terrace Tampa Tampa Tampa

2023 Assets $17,406,484,218 $7,523,425,887 $3,519,826,355 $2,965,261,113 $2,815,477,380 $1,444,392,971 $1,120,498,758 $595,019,059 $474,202,655 $434,295,002

Note: For period ended December 2023

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Credit Union Suncoast Credit Union MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Grow Financial Federal Credit Union GTE Financial Achieva Credit Union Publix Employees Federal Credit Union USF Federal Credit Union Florida Central Credit Union Trax Credit Union Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union

Note: For period ended December 2023

BUSINESS OBSERVER

$12,360,500 Source: Small Business Administration

2022 Assets $16,217,374,489 $6,612,347,990 $3,490,308,325 $2,885,582,748 $2,666,717,333 $1,390,546,569 $1,125,229,789 $591,722,445 $483,121,062 $407,365,730

Change 7.33% 13.78% 0.85% 2.76% 5.58% 3.87% -0.42% 0.56% -1.85% 6.61%

Source: National Credit Union Association

Headquarters Tampa Lakeland Tampa Tampa Dunedin Lakeland Temple Terrace Tampa Tampa Tampa

2023 members 1,191,728 460,195 266,360 234,483 194,630 112,718 73,225 48,404 44,985 35,154

2022 members 1,105,101 460,243 255,412 231,992 179,227 108,867 73,085 50,268 43,583 34,252

Change 7.84% -0.01% 4.29% 1.07% 8.59% 3.54% 0.19% -3.71% 3.22% 2.63%

Source: National Credit Union Association

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

PATENTS, FLORIDA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Based

Magic Leap Inc Carrier Corp.

Citrix Systems University of Florida Research Foundation University of South Florida Florida International University Board of Trustees Immersion Corp.

Sensormatic Electronics University of Central Florida Research Foundation Arthrex

Plantation Palm Beach Fort Lauderdale Gainesville Tampa Miami Cassadaga Boca Raton Orlando Naples

Company/Institution

Patents issued 2023

Magic Leap Inc Carrier Corp.

University of Florida Research Foundation Citrix Systems University of South Florida Strong Force Texas Portfolio 2018 LLC University of Central Florida Research Foundation The Florida International University Board of Trustees Arthrex Sensormatic Electronics

337 273 145 135 89 62 56 55 54 52

Patents issued 2019-2023

Total patents held

1,366 1,140 1,140 703 520 297 287 273 270 258

1,539 3,676 2,363 2,020 1,785 450 1,141 819 940 713

Total patents held

Headquarters

1,539 3,676 2,202 2,363 1,785 85 940 450 713 819

Plantation Palm Beach Gainesville Fort Lauderdale Tampa Fort Lauderdale Orlando Miami Naples Boca Raton

THE LISTS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Company/Institution

428804-1

Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office

AUGUST 2024 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER

51

TOP EMPLOYERS BY COUNTY CHARLOTTE COUNTY

THE LISTS

Employer

COLLIER COUNTY

Employer

Employees

Employees

1

Charlotte County School Board

2,250

1

Collier County Public Schools

6,927

1

MacDill Air Force Base

31,000

2

Charlotte County Government

1,422

2

NCH Healthcare System

4,247

2

Baycare Health System

29,402

3

Shore Point Health

1,319

3

Collier County government

4,905

3

Publix

27,000

4

Sunseeker Resort

1,300

4

Arthex

3,973

4

Hillsborough County School District

23,750

5

Publix

1,219

5

Publix

3,457

5

HCA West Florida Division

17,000

6

Millennium Physician Group

1,128

6

JW Marriott

1,130

6

University of South Florida

14,980

7

Fawcett Memorial Hospital

930

7

Ritz-Carlton

1,100

7

AdventHealth West Florida Division

12,000

8

Charlotte County Sheriff's Office

733

8

Seminole Casino

900

8

Hillsborough County Government

11,073

9

Walmart

625

9

City of Naples

514

9

Citigroup

10,000

10 Cheney Bros.

550

10 US Postal Service

Source: Charlotte County Clerk of the Circuit Court & County Comptroller

LEE COUNTY

Note: County lists top nine employers Source: Collier County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller

MANATEE COUNTY Employer

8,272

Source: Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller

PASCO COUNTY Employees

Employer

Employees

Employer

Employees

1

Lee Health

13,558

1

Manatee County School Board

6,864

1

Pasco County School District

10,681

2

Lee County School District

10,927

2

Manatee Healthcare System*

2,500

2

Pasco County Government

3,560

3

Lee County Government

9,377

3

Manatee County Government

2,288

3

HCA Healthcare (five locations)

3,280

4

Publix

5,199

4

Publix

2,224

4

State of Florida

1,736

5

Chico's FAS Inc.

3,903

5

Bealls Inc

1,857

5

Advent Health Wesley Chapel

1,500

6

Herc Rentals

2,400

6

Blake Medical Center

1,500

6

Florida Medical Clinic (22 locations)

1,319

7

Amazon

2,220

7

Manatee County Sheriff's Department

1,213

7

Pasco County Sheriff

1,144

8

Gartner Inc.

1,844

8

Tropicana Products

1,000

8

Federal Government

1,013

9

Florida Gulf Coast University

1,778

9

IMG Academies

800

9

Saint Leo University

805

1,509

10 State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota

710

10 Pall Aeropower Corp.

600

10 Walmart

Source: Lee County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller

PINELLAS COUNTY Employer

Source: Pasco County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller

*Previously reported as Manatee Memorial Hospital. Includes Manatee Memorial Hospital and Lakewood Ranch Medical Center as of fiscal year 2022.

Source: Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller

POLK COUNTY Employer

Employees

SARASOTA COUNTY Employees

Employer

Employees

1

BayCare (includes subsidies)

14,300

1

Publix (including corporate office)

15,361

1

Sarasota Memorial Hospital

9,785

2

Pinellas County School Board

11,800

2

Polk County School Board

13,459

2

School Board of Sarasota County

5,917

3

Publix

7,500

3

Lakeland Regional Medical Center

6,942

3

Publix

4,611

4

Pinellas County Government

6,000

4

Walmart

5,523

4

Sarasota County Government

3,692

5

U.S. Department of Veterans Administration

4,900

5

Amazon

5,500

5

PGT Innovations (acquired by Miter Brands)

2,416

6

Walmart

4,800

6

Polk County Government

4,938

6

Walmart

1,883

7

Raymond James Financial

3,800

7

Geico

3,800

7

City of North Port

896

8

City of St. Petersburg

3,800

8

BayCare

2,614

8

City of Sarasota

865

9

John Hopkins All Children's Hospital

3,600

9

City of Lakeland

2,000

9

Target

585

3,500

10 AdventHealth

1,797

10 Lowe's Home Centers

10 HCA Florida Healthcare

Source: Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller

52

Employer

Employees

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

BUSINESS OBSERVER

Source: Polk County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller

555

Source: Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court & County Comptroller

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

TOP 50 CONTRACTORS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Top Executives Larry Rooney, President; Mike Miller, Vice President Mitch Permuy, Chairman and CEO; Joe Micallef, COO Chris LaFace, CEO & President; Frank Ripa, Owner Matthew Zwack, President; Abel Natali, Director of Preconstruction David Diamond, CEO and Co-Founder; John DeAngelis, President and Co-Founder

2023 Revenue

2022 Revenue

Change

$1,784,535,360

$1,480,296,195

20.55%

$1,200,000,000

$987,000,000

21.58%

$493,000,000

$413,000,000

19.37%

$436,000,000

$398,000,000

9.55%

$430,000,000

$395,900,000

8.61%

Bill Byrne, CEO; Jay Smith, President

$397,900,000

$384,600,000

3.46%

Richard Freund, Manager; Joseph McClaran, Director of Project Management Miguel Leyva, President; Todd Mullins, Senior Vice President

$240,000,000

$226,000,000

6.19%

$195,000,000

$225,000,000

-13.33%

Alan Bomstein, CEO; Josh Bomstein, President

$194,000,000

$144,000,000

34.72%

Gary Griffin, CEO; Jason Grabowski, President and COO Lee Scott Crowther, CEO; Kevin Callans, President Barry Connor, Founder and CEO; Craig Gaskins, Founder and COO David E. Sessions, Chairman; John LaCivita, President/CEO Ronald J. Allen, Principal and President; Adam Phillips, Vice President of Construction Michael Cannon, Chairman and CEO; Erik Santiago, President Andrew Park, Managing Partner; Forrest Eleazer, Managing Partner

$188,000,000

$168,000,000

11.90%

$176,439,206

$105,481,066

67.27%

$173,000,000

$168,620,000

2.60%

$143,081,312

$137,960,670

3.71%

$142,000,000

$137,000,000

3.65%

$135,233,022

$120,793,911

11.95%

$121,520,000

$110,640,000

9.83%

THE LISTS

8

Company, Headquarters Manhattan Construction Group Naples Power Design Inc. St. Petersburg RIPA & Associates Tampa Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. Fort Myers DeAngelis Diamond Naples Ajax Building Co. Oldsmar Brooks & Freund LLC Fort Myers Hawkins Construction Inc. Tarpon Springs Creative Contractors Clearwater B&I Contractors Inc. Fort Myers Crowther Roofing and Sheet Metal of FL Fort Myers Connor & Gaskins Unlimited Naples Willis Smith Construction Inc. Sarasota NDC Construction Co. Bradenton KHS&S Contractors Tampa Park & Eleazer Construction LLC Clearwater

Atlas Insurance Personal Service.

National Network. Local Presence.

We understand the specific needs of our community and offer responsive, friendly service through our licensed professionals, guiding you through the insurance selection process with a variety of solutions to protect your assets and allow you to focus on what matters most.

AUGUST 2024 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

Industries We Serve

The Atlas Difference

• Churches, Nonprofits, Schools • Commercial Property Owners • Community Associations • Construction • Manufacturing • Personal Insurance • Private Client Insurance • Restaurants & Hospitality • Wholesalers & Distributors

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We take the time to understand your unique needs and leverage our industry knowledge to find solutions to address your insurance coverage requirements.

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BUSINESS OBSERVER

428291-1

Why Choose Atlas

53

TOP CONTRACTORS 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

THE LISTS

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

Company, Headquarters Summit Design + Build Tampa Stevens Construction Inc. Fort Myers APG Contractors and Engineers Clearwater Wright Construction Group, Inc. Fort Myers ENVIROSTRUCT Bonita Springs iConstructors LLC Tampa McIntyre Elwell & Strammer General Contractors Inc. Sarasota Bay To Bay Properties Safety Harbor Sutter Roofing Sarasota TDS Construction Inc. Bradenton CFS Roofing Services LLC Fort Myers Florida Asphalt & Concrete Tampa Woodruff & Sons Inc. Bradenton TLC Diversified Palmetto Burgess Civil Tampa R.E. Crawford Construction LLC Sarasota Westfall Roofing Tampa

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS Top Executives Adam Miller, President; Glenn Miles, Vice President of Project Management Mark Stevens, President; Dan Adams, Partner and Executive Vice President South Florida Michael Henley, President; Christopher Johnson, Executive Vice President

2023 Revenue

2022 Revenue

Change

$120,000,000

$54,371,900

120.70%

$114,359,726

$125,563,091

-8.92%

$113,436,000

$93,880,000

20.83%

Fred Edman, President; Mitch Bueltel, CFO

$106,000,000

$103,000,000

2.91%

Neil Simon, President; Stephen McKenna, Jr., Vice President Michael Montecalvo, Co-President; Kevin Murphy, Co-President Mark T. Freeman, President; Ryan McIntyre, Vice President Joe Faw, Managing Member; Kate Rogers, COO; Jerome Ciliento, Managing Member Doug Sutter, President; Brad Sutter, Executive Vice President Christina Scherer Bock, CEO; Terri Scherer, President

$105,000,000

$76,000,000

38.16%

$92,000,000

$80,000,000

15.00%

$90,700,000

$90,800,000

-0.11%

$90,000,000

$80,000,000

12.50%

$82,780,000

$49,350,000

67.74%

$74,700,000

$82,500,000

-9.45%

David Crowther, Founder and President

$74,318,000

$38,000,000

95.57%

Chris LaFace, CEO & President

$71,000,000

$51,000,000

39.22%

Donald Woodruff, President; Bruce Woodruff, Vice President; Linda Wakeman, Secretary/Treasurer

$71,000,000

$63,500,000

11.81%

Dalas Lamberson, President

$68,300,000

$48,000,000

42.29%

Ben Burgess, Owner

$58,000,000

$44,000,000

31.82%

Jeff Smith, President; Utahna Smith, Vice President

$54,000,000

$41,000,000

31.71%

Ryan Westfall, Founder; Kirk Westfall, President

$47,513,228

$31,970,863

48.61%

BIG JUST RELEASED!

2024

BOOK OF BUSINESS

The Business Observer’s Big Book of Business is filled with even more valuable information in 2024, including: THE DATA Economic information to help business owners keep up with changing trends in our region and forecast what’s next.

THE LISTS Rankings of the top companies and organizations by industry, size, influence and more.

THE CHANGE MAKERS Profiles of the people who are changing and shaping the business landscape in your area.

Visit BusinessObserverFL.com/big-book-of-business 54

BUSINESS OBSERVER

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TOP CONTRACTORS 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Top Executives Kevin Hicks, CEO and Member; Ed Hicks, COO and Member Bill Daubmann, President and Founder; Keith Daubmann, VP of Sales and Customer Acquisition Chuck Adair, CEO; Luke Hammack, Director of Business Development

2023 Revenue

2022 Revenue

Change

$44,900,000

$49,600,000

-9.48%

$39,683,980

$34,810,777

14.00%

$35,000,000

$15,000,000

133.33%

Ethan Adams, CEO; Maria Adams, Vice President

$33,900,000

$28,800,000

17.71%

Walter Crawford, President/CEO

$32,000,000

$45,000,000

-28.89%

Delvis (Del) Diaz, CEO

$31,725,000

$26,560,000

19.45%

Craig Lamberson, CEO; Doug Littrell, President

$31,200,000

$27,500,000

13.45%

Joe Gonzalez, CEO; Frank Fistner, President

$30,500,000

$27,010,000

12.92%

Mark Williams, President, Matt Allen, Vice President

$30,000,000

$18,000,000

66.67%

Jason Swift, President; Jon Swift, CEO

$30,000,000

$39,000,000

-23.08%

David Fouche, Executive VP and Co-Owner; Jess Fronckowiak, President and Founder Thomas Bradley, President; Todd Bradley, Vice President Michael Baltzer, President; Clint Riley, Vice President

$25,960,000

$30,430,000

-14.69%

$24,950,000

$20,500,000

21.71%

$24,583,142

$12,188,682

101.69%

Dale Desjardins Jr., CEO; Adam Rankin, President

$23,236,733

$19,098,721

21.67%

Timothy Walker, Jr., President; Matt Melanson, Vice President Brian Ellis, Vice President; Trey Aria, Director of Field Operations

$22,829,516

$21,141,407

7.98%

$22,000,000

$22,000,000

0.00%

Jon Krawczyk, Owner

$21,300,000

$24,500,000

-13.06%

THE LISTS

42

Company, Headquarters Gator Grading & Paving LLC Palmetto MY Shower Door / D3 Glass Fort Myers Wallace Construction Group St. Petersburg Adams Group North Port Heatherwood Construction Co. Bonita Springs Diaz Fritz Group General Contractors Temple Terrace J. O. DeLotto and Sons Inc. Tampa ArtisTree Landscape Maintenance & Design Venice Mark Williams Construction Co. Sarasota Jon F. Swift Construction Sarasota J2 Solutions Inc. Venice Masonry Builders Inc. Tampa Magnum Builders of Sarasota Inc. Sarasota Absolute Aluminum Inc. Venice Case Contracting Co. Plant City Stellar Development Sarasota Superior Pools of Southwest Florida Port Charlotte

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS

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55

LARGEST BUILDINGS INDUSTRIAL PROPERTIES PROPERTY NAME Charlotte County Cheney Bros. food distribution

THE LISTS

Florida Gulf Coast 75 Logistics Center (two properties) Collier County Uline Naples Community Hospital Business Cernter (formerly Naples Daily News) Arthrex Manufacturing Inc.

PROPERTY ADDRESS

SQ. FT.

1 Cheney Way 9450 Piper Road, Punta Gorda 9301 Piper Road, Punta Gorda

414,550 378,000 250,000

3841 City Gate S., Naples

937,000

1100 Immokalee Road, Naples

186,503

6875 Arthrex Commerce Drive, Ave Maria

185,000

Hillsborough County Coca-Cola Distribution Ace Hardware Distribution Center City Furniture Mixed-Use Amazon Distribution Center Lee County Highland Commerce Center Building 3 Raymond Building Supply Manatee County Tropicana United Natural Food Bealls Palmetto Corporate Center Pasco County Target Distribution Nestle Waters North America North Pasco Corporate Center- Building 1 North Pasco Corporate Center- Building 2 Pinellas County Valpak Honeywell International Young-Rainey STAR Center Polk County Rooms To Go Distribution Center Saddle Creek Corporation Building 1, Central Florida Integrated Logistics Park Walmart Distribution Center Sarasota County Florida Tri-Temp Logistics Publix warehouse PGT Manufacturing & Distribution (Miter Brands acquired PGT in 2024.)

U.S. 301 and Lee Roy Selmon, Tampa 791 County Line Road, Plant City 3205 S. Frontage Road, Plant City 3350 Laurel Ridge Ave., Ruskin 16500 Oriole Road, Fort Myers 6165 Tri County Commerce Way, Fort Myers 7751 Bayshore Road, North Fort Myers 1001 13th Ave. E., Bradenton 1500 University Parkway, Sarasota 2100 47th Terrace E., Bradenton 800 Feld Way, Palmetto

BUSINESS OBSERVER

Fifth Third Center, 999 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Naples

1,199,997 1,017,693 481,933 404,049 305,242 1,262,788 1,000,000 596,543 575,000 1,383,296 581,485

1 Valpak Ave. N., St. Petersburg 13350 U.S. Highway 19 N., Clearwater 7887 Bryan Dairy Road, Largo

847,552

1475 Airport Road, Lakeland 3002-3130 Saddle Creek Road, Lakeland 4051 Logistics Parkway, Winter Haven 4900 N Ridge Trail, Davenport 6100-6284 McIntosh Road, Sarasota 6123 Sawyer Road, Sarasota 1070 Technology Drive, North Venice

Courtesy image

1,204,632

I-75 & Pasco Road, San Antonio 4330 20th St., Zephyrhills 14640 Softwind Lane, Spring Hill 14640 Softwind Lane, Spring Hill

NOTE: The Coca-Cola plant in Hillsborough; United Natural Foods in Manatee; and the Target distribution center in Pasco are under construction.

56

1,213,587

500,000 440,000

794,293 645,000 1,750,000 1,346,139 1,216,800 1,125,150 926,516 383,611 363,000 SOURCE: CoStar

OFFICE PROPERTIES PROPERTY NAME Charlotte County Charlotte County Justice Center Sun Loft Center Military History Museum Collier County Fifth Third Center The Arthrex Event and Administration Building Arthrex Hillsborough County Netpark office center Bank of America Plaza Tampa City Center Lee County Hertz State of Florida Building Skyplex Manatee County Manatee County Judicial Center USPS Tropicana Pasco County Sunset Crossings The Edison Suncoast Oldcastle Coastal Pinellas County Nielsen Media Research Building C/D Bayside Center — Building II First Central Tower Polk County Publix headquarters State Farm Regional Office GEICO Sarasota County Sarasota City Center - North Tower Courthouse Centre Wells Fargo Advisors Building

PROPERTY ADDRESS

SQ FT

350 E. Marion Ave., Punta Gorda 201 W. Marion Ave., Punta Gorda 900 W. Marion Ave., Punta Gorda

207,980 79,058 50,426

999 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Naples 1250 Creekside Parkway, Naples 1370 Creekside Blvd., Naples

363,194 300,000 212,464

5701 E. Hillsborough Ave., Tampa 101 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa 201 N. Franklin St., Tampa

947,176 786,419 757,425

8501 S. Williams Trail, Estero 2295 Victoria Ave., Fort Myers 13800-13820 Paul J Doherty Parkway, Fort Myers

295,000 256,114 247,686

1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton 850 Tallevast Road, Sarasota 850 13th Ave E., Bradenton

350,690 249,242 181,320

16400 State Road 54, Odessa 1785 Northpointe Parkway, Lutz 3749 Copeland Drive, Zephyrhills

164,377 77,499 68,855

501 Brooker Creek Blvd., Oldsmar 17757 U.S. Highway 19 N., Clearwater 360 Central Ave., St. Petersburg

475,000 423,212 405,049

3300 Publix Corporation Parkway, Lakeland 7401 Cypress Gardens Blvd., Winter Haven 3535 W. Pipkin Road, Lakeland

518,028 490,000 296,264

1819 Main St., Sarasota 1990 Main St., Sarasota 1605 Main St., Sarasota

464,211 303,808 217,790

NOTE: The Tropicana buIlding in Bradenton is next to the E.R. Beall Center, a 149,000-square-foot administrative building for Bealls.

SOURCE: CoStar

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Reinhold Schmieding FOUNDER, ARTHREX

of its impact, adding to the tax base.

“He’s brought a lot of people to Collier County. That’s been a big boon.”

Yet, even with those figures, comments and many other accolades, Schmieding rarely speaks in a public setting about Arthrex. He’s turned down multiple interview requests from the Business Observer for more than 15 years, including in 2008, when he was named a Top Entrepreneur in the publication.

Schmieding has rejected other interview requests, too. That includes Forbes, of which Schmieding is on the magazine’s 400 richest people list, with an estimated net worth of $7.2 billion in 2024. When he debuted on the list in 2013, a Forbes writer, in a profile story, wrote “Schmieding agreed to sit down with Forbes in Munich for what apparently would be his first-ever interview with a national publication.” The magazine says Schmieding canceled the day before, instead answering questions over email.

Naples medical device manufacturer founder Reinhold Schmieding moved Arthrex from Germany to Naples more than 30 years ago — a patriotic homecoming. “As a first-generation American born and educated in Michigan, I grew up watching the importance of auto manufacturing in Detroit and the economic prosperity and job security it created for the community,” Schmieding says in an August 2020 video posted on the company’s website. “I learned that manufacturing changes the lives of so many people.”

Some insight into Schmieding’s mindset and what makes Arthrex so successful came from an April 2021 interview posted on YouTube.

He had just received the Edison Achievement Award, which honors excellence in new product development and innovation and is named for Thomas Edison. The interviewer was PBS national science correspon-

428815-1

THE CHANGE-MAKERS

R

einhold Schmieding could easily be a braggart.

The Naples entrepreneur has a lot to boast about, much of it attributable to Arthrex, a medical manufacturer focusing on sports medicine and less invasive surgery products through the motto of “helping surgeons treat their patients better.”

Schmieding, born in Michigan and the son of German immigrants to America, founded Arthrex in 1981 in Munich, Germany, and moved it to Naples a decade later. When he pulled into Naples in the summer of 1991, the assets of Arthrex were locked inside a van and U-Haul trailer he was driving.

Some 35 years later, the company’s success has changed the lives of thousands of people — both employees and patients. Its economic impact on Collier County is also singularly unique. Not only is it the

largest private employer, it also has a hotel and conference center on its sprawling state-of-the-art campus, where hundreds of doctors and medical professionals come every year for courses and training seminars.

That second facet has led to a niche in medical tourism, where some of those medical professionals check out Naples, shop, eat and even find a place to buy and move to town.

Some of the standout Arthrex statistics include: n 3,793 employees in Collier County (6,000-plus worldwide) n $3 billion in annual revenue n 1,200 patents and pending patents n More than 14,000 products n At least 14 million people have had benefited from Arthrex innovations “Reinhold has made an incalculable impact on Collier County,” says Collier County Commissioner Burt Saunders. He adds that the medical tourism side of Arthrex is a key part

BE THE CHANGE

60

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

Reinhold Schmieding says little publicly about the company he founded, Arthrex. His silence belies the company’s resounding, generational success.

to Walt Disney World, the company posted on Facebook.

Those life-changing experiences and the life-changing experiences for patients continue to motivate Schmieding. In the 2021 interview with O’Brien, Schmieding, then 66, says as long as he’s healthy and has “the ability to create and make a difference (in) people’s lives, help patients around the world, help surgeons, help our employees and do good … I will continue to do that.”

Schmieding reflected a bit, too, talking about the startup days on his “little white table” in his apartment in the Olympic Village in Munich. He had no outside financing in a foreign country in a market of high-end surgical instruments that didn’t exist, he told O’Brien.

“When you follow up passion like that and you have nothing, you’re sacrificing everything,” he says.

“All you want to do is survive and hopefully, you can take care of your family someday. That was my only dream.”

— MARK GORDON

THE CHANGE-MAKERS

dent Miles O’Brien — who had his left arm above the elbow amputated in 2015 after an accident on the job.

Asked how the company is able to keep up the pace of 1,000 new products a year, Schmieding says Arthrex has “a lot of creative people” and it gives them the “resources and the autonomy to make decisions.”

Schmieding also corrects O’Brien, saying the company introduced 2,000 new products in 2020. “Our minimum expectation is 1,000 new products a year,” Schmieding says.

On the company’s financial success, Schmieding tells O’Brien “economic gain was something I was never really interested in. You know, that’s my one piece of advice for those who are developing a product or starting a company: Follow a passion; do things for the right rea-

son … if you do it for economic gain, you probably won’t be successful.”

Several times in the O’Brien interview, Schmieding credits the Arthrex employees for the company’s success, saying “really, I’m just one of the team players.”

Saunders says that’s not a trite false-modesty statement, either.

Saunders says he’s gotten to know Schmieding through Collier County meetings and Arthrex initiatives, such as affordable housing projects or the redevelopment of the Golden Gate golf course. “Reinhold really cares about his employees’ wellbeing,” Saunders says. “He has set a standard of corporate culture unmatched in Collier County.”

One nugget to back that up is a company perk called “Trip of a Lifetime.” According to a company blog post, for every five years of employment with Arthrex, employees are eligible for a company-paid Trip of a Lifetime to recognize their dedication. The company posts stories about some of the trips on social media. One employee, under the position “Infrastructure Analyst II,” recently took his wife and four kids

COURTESY IMAGE

REINHOLD SCHMIEDING founded Arthrex in 1981.

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61

Raechel Canipe THE CHANGE-MAKERS

WOMEN IN TECH AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, REVSTAR

RAECHEL CANIPE holds two C-suite level posts in technology.

MARK WEMPLE

N

ot many people can say they maintain two C-suite roles at the same time. As if being the chief marketing officer at software firm Revstar wasn’t enough to fill her days, Raechel Canipe is also founder and CEO of Women in Tech and Entrepreneurship – a cohort that started as a happy hour in Tampa in 2022 and has since grown into 3,000 members in six chapters statewide.

“We’re incredibly motivated and 62

BUSINESS OBSERVER

interested,” Canipe says of women in the technology field. Her own experiences with harassment, in addition to those of women she’s met in her career, inspired her decision to launch Women in Tech.

“In realizing that I wasn’t alone in the experience, I came to the understanding that we needed to do something, but there needed to be a stronger community. In particular, in the tech and tech entrepreneurship space,” Canipe says.

BE THE CHANGE

Canipe was born in North Carolina and grew up in Central Florida with her single mother and a closeknit extended family that cared for her while mom went back to school — twice — and worked multiple jobs. Canipe cites her mom as her first example of “grit, tenacity, and resilience,” traits that would serve her well as she obtained her degree in psychology and sociology from the University of South Florida and entered the workforce.

Jobs at Dex Imaging, Quiet Professionals Inc., Project Afghan Relief Fund and Synapse Florida positioned her for her current role at RevStar, a software development company focused on cloud-native technology.

“I jokingly and lovingly call myself a chaos monster,” she laughs when asked about how she handles change and being a changemaker.

“So my thing that I’ve been working on (regarding) change management has been slowing down enough to bring more people along for the ride, to give them a chance to share the really incredible insights that they also have that might shift my thinking or approach and to give them enough information and time to process that information to trust in the change that I’m leading.”

Canipe spent a lot of time conceptualizing and doing preliminary research by asking around the female tech community about what everyone would want in a group crafted to support them. The launch got off to a shaky start — the first happy hour was rained out — but pointed questions of “when are we going to start this?” became a signal of things to come.

“One of the biggest challenges that we have had from the very beginning is the ability to scale to meet the demand. Demand for our resources and community has far outpaced the financial resources that (we) have to support that,” Canipe says, “Thank God we have an

Raechel Canipe is on a mission to unite women in a maledominated industry, providing resources and community — for free — along the way.

incredible team of volunteer managers who have stepped up to help ensure these things are still possible. And I have an incredibly flexible arrangement with my employer that allows me to give a significant amount of time to this organization while still having the income to financially support me and my organization out of my day wages.”

Canipe has bootstrapped the entire endeavor with help from volunteers and sponsors. She is singularly focused on keeping the interests of the members first, ensuring as few barriers to entry as possible. “We are not interested in passing along the cost to members because those costs are one of the key barriers that are preventing diversity in the first place,” she says.

A Slack workspace serves as the primary communication platform for the group. Women from Tampa, St. Pete, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville and, most recently, a USF chapter, are able to post jobs, grants and event happenings for free. Any in-person event hosted by WTE is free of cost as well.

The connections forged in these spaces continue to inspire Canipe.

“My belief is that as the organization continues to mature, as those relationships among our members have time to grow and evolve and new opportunities begin to arise for them, that the impact will just be exponential. I’m most excited about what the impact will be in the long run.”

Women in WTE have found new jobs through group postings amid a slew of layoffs in the tech sector; a few banded together to create a tech summer camp for K-12 students in Fort Lauderdale; and an

See CANIPE page 74

Raechel Canipe is helping women find their way in technology — one Slack post at a time.

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

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THE CHANGE-MAKERS

Entrepreneur tackles two big gaps in trucking: finding parking spots and finding drivers.

TRA WILLIAMS worked in several industries before he acquired a truck driving training school.

Tra Williams FLEETFORCE AND PARKPRO

G

etting a commercial driver’s license, or CDL, is the “golden ticket” for some families in Florida, according to Tra Williams, owner of truck driver training company FleetForce.

Bradenton-based FleetForce is on track to train nearly 3,000 drivers this year through a monthlong course on college campuses statewide. It is a program that can “change the trajectory of a family,” Williams says.

“There isn’t another trade in America where you can go from minimum wage to $80,000 a year in four weeks,” Williams adds. “It does not exist. It is CDL. That is it.”

Williams, 50, sees his company as filling a need at both the national and local level, and the company 64

BUSINESS OBSERVER

plans to grow beyond Florida in the next year.

Over the next decade, the trucking industr y w ill need to hire roughly 1.2 million new drivers to keep pace with retirements and growing demand, according to the American Trucking Associations. Those drivers are needed to do everything from hauling cargo to transporting people.

“The commercial driver’s license makes you a professional driver,” Williams says. “People use the term trucker loosely, but make no mistake about it, these guys are experts

BE THE CHANGE Tra Williams is helping change the trajectory for families across Florida by offering a four-week training program for CDL drivers.

MARK WEMPLE

in their field. You’ve got to move a $2 million excavator that’s three lanes wide? You call a CDL driver ... Everything from the trash being picked up beside your roads to the school bus that picks up your kids and takes them to school is driven by a CDL driver.”

Williams — he does not have a CDL himself — views his role as something of a connector. In 2020, he bought what he described as a sleepy truck driving school in Winter Haven with seven to 10 students a month.

“I saw the saliency and the need and the pent-up demand for drivers,” Williams says. He also knew federal legislation was taking effect in 2022 that would require training programs of CDL drivers.

Dr aw i ng on ex per ience he gained from working in franchises earlier in his life, Williams grew the business. FleetForce is now at 10 college campuses around the state. It is “not a school,” Williams says. It provides a service on cam-

puses, where the schools certify the drivers.

In Florida, there is a need for 15,000 to 16,000 CDL drivers alone.

In Texas — where FleetForce will be launching in 2025 — there are about 72,000 CDL jobs that need to be filled, he says.

The plan is to grow FleetForce to a “half-dozen or so” states, according to Williams.

“There’s such a demand for what we do, we could go to 10 states in six months if we wanted to. But we really think of this as a marathon and not a sprint,” Williams says.

“So we’re being really methodical about where we go and who we work with. I like to move fast as an entrepreneur, but I don’t want to get out over my skis.”

Williams has had the drive to forge his own path his entire life.

Growing up in an area where there were “no readily available jobs,” he says he learned to create his own.

He hails from Blackshear, Georgia, a town of a little over 3,500 people about 80 miles northwest of Jacksonville. His family had a roadside stand selling vegetables and painted ceramics when he was a child.

As a teenager, he mowed grass and painted fences to earn money.

In his early 20s, he started a business as a personal trainer in Nashville, where he offered his services to hotels off Music Row. Among his clients were record executives staying in hotels.

“I had more clients than I did hours in the day and figured out that I could farm those to other personal trainers,” Williams recalls. “The hotel would pay me, I’d keep my cut and pay (the trainers).

That was like my very first job.”

He had always been passionate about health and fitness. In fact, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in pre-medicine from the University of Georgia. At the time, he thought he would go into managing hospitals, to have the great-

See WILLIAMS page 74

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

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THE CHANGE-MAKERS

Jacki Liszak balances many needs and wants in her role as her town’s chief business cheerleader.

JACKI LISZAK has lived in Fort Myers Beach most of her life.

Jacki Liszak FORT MYERS BEACH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

O

ver her eight years as president of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce, Jacki Liszak has endured one challenge after another. Hurricane Irma in 2017. Major red tide outbreaks. The pandemic. And, of course, 2022’s Hurricane Ian, which completely devastated the town on Estero Island.

Her job for almost a decade has been one part business booster, one part tourism promoter and one part community cheerleader.

It’s required perseverance, adaptability and a desire to keep advocating for the barrier island Liszak calls home. Even after her own residence and the boutique hotel she owned suffered major damage from Ian. “You just do it,” says Liszak, 58.

“You wake up every day and you look forward.”

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She’s doing just that in her position as head of the chamber, which is playing a crucial role in the recover y and reinvention of Fort Myers Beach. One major focus is maintaining the off beat, funky spirit the town was known for as it rebuilds — and changes significantly — for the long term.

“It’s a big topic right now, especially with all the projects that are coming forward, because we have some pretty big-sized projects that are approaching us and are going through the process right now,” she says. “How do we embrace the new builds and the requirements that we have to have, but how do we also put back that funky feeling, that cute eclectic thing that we are, while still following the rules for the future to give our children and their children a community to call home down the road?

STEFANIA PIFFERI

“I live on the island, and I’ve lived here most of my life,” she continues. “My friends and neighbors, we’re not going down without a fight. We’re very much wanting and requesting the developers to build in our style, not their style.”

Recovery is taking a lot longer than Liszak and everyone else on Estero Island would like. But she’s also pleased by how far Fort Myers Beach has come since Ian, as well as the sense of community togetherness she’s seen since the storm.

“We’re still continuing to pull together and support each other,” she says. “The community spirit is incredible. And the human spirit and resilience is so powerful and so motivating.”

Changes and reinvention were

BE THE CHANGE As president of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce, Jacki Liszak is helping the community recover from Hurricane Ian and look toward the future while also preserving its fun and quirky past.

already taking place in Fort Myers Beach before Ian swept through.

Mother Nature helped accelerate that.

“The silver lining is that there were a lot of structures on the island that had lived their lifespan, frankly,” says Liszak. “The storm just kind of kicked it all into high gear by removing a lot of those and giving folks no options.”

She’s one of them. The small boutique hotel she owned, The Sea Gypsy Inn, is no more. “In retrospect, that building was toward the end of its lifespan, and I was going to have to make some hard decisions in the next few years about it,” she says. “Well, guess what?

Those choices were taken off the plate.”

As work continues in Fort Myers Beach, balancing the needs of the community with the needs and wants of developers behind much of the rebuilding will remain a challenge.

“Construction is expensive, and these people have spent tens of millions of dollars on property,” says Liszak. “It’s about helping them find a way to build a large project that will sustain the revenue stream that they need, yet also making it so that the community isn’t overrun by overdevelopment.

“We do want nice things on the island, and we do want a community that welcomes visitors and that supports our children and their children into the future,” she adds. “But we don’t want to be just a tourist town. We want to be a place where people can move to and live and thrive.”

For that to happen, she knows the town can’t do it on its own.

“I’m a big believer in reaching across the bridge to our partners in the county,” she says. “Because as much as this is our beach and we live here, it’s all of their beach as well. (My role) has taught me diplomacy and the need for teamwork

See LISZACK page 74

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2024

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THE CHANGE-MAKERS

Not yet 40, Kris Chana has already been in the senior living industry for nearly 15 years.

He has a lot more to offer.

KRIS CHANA worked in insurance and financial planning before getting into senior living.

Kris Chana ACTIVAGE

Y

ou ng t went y-somet h i ng newlyweds Kris and Chelsea Chana made something of an unusual home choice after their 2011 honeymoon to Staniel Cay in the Bahamas.

Upon returning to Florida, the Orlando natives moved to Port Charlotte, where they got into the senior living industry. They got so into it that, after buying, gutting and renovating what was a shuttered 12-bed assisted living home, a $450,000 project, they actually moved into the facility themselves. Chelsea was 21 and a new University of Florida grad.

Kris, also a UF grad, who walked away from a career in insurance and financial planning — too boring, he says — was 23. “Chelsea learned how to crochet, I learned how to cook and together we made 68

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it work,” Kris Chana says.

That lasted some three years — which, looking back, Chana, now 36, says was both a grind and a great learning experience. That’s because a decade later, while the couple no longer lives in the assisted living home, which they renamed Chelsea Place Retirement and Assisted Living, Kris Chana remains heavily invested in changing the industry. Not just in capital — of which he’s spent, borrowed and mortgaged millions of dollars on multiple entities. But in leading a seismic change in the way people think about, and businesses operate and deliver, senior care offerings.

He does that through adult day care. The concept is to provide care and companionship during the day for older adults who require some assistance or supervision, but not at the level of, say, a skilled nurs-

LORI SAX

ing home. This can accomplish two important things: provide the adult a place to go for meals, socialization, some health care services and more, while the primary caretaker, usually the spouse or partner, and almost always an unsung hero, gets a respite for the day or a few hours.

By doing that, adult day care, says Chana, solves a big problem by providing “another option outside of staying at home care and going into a facility. I’m adult day care’s No. 1 fan.”

Chana has put some muscle behind the fandom.

One part of that stems from ActivAge, his entry into adult day care.

The company recently opened a Sarasota location, on Bee Ridge Road, to complement its first location, in Port Charlotte. (That loca-

BE THE CHANGE Kris Chana is on a mission to make adult day care a key option for the senior living industry — in Florida and nationwide.

tion was the assisted living facility the couple ran; it’s since been renamed ActivAge at Chelsea Place.)

With a mission to help seniors live their best life and a vision “to change the world by helping seniors find joy, happiness and a renewed sense of purpose,” ActivAge is built around a tropical theme and a relaxing and chill vibe. Half of the 16,000-square-foot Sarasota building is dedicated to the adult day care side, while another portion is for offices and the company’s content studio, where Chana and his team use proprietary software to create the day’s activities. Those activities include live music, exercise, nutritious meals and more, at, says Chana, half the cost of other services, such as in-home care and assisted living.

Including the $2.8 million building purchase, the Sarasota ActivAge is a $5.7 million project. It took about two years to get from building purchase to a mid-July grand opening.

While the energetic and excitable Chana loves talking about ActivAge, his why for adult day care goes deeper. On the business model side, he’s invested time and resources into building a franchise division for the business. He projects having five franchisees by 2025, 10 by 2026 and 100 in 10 to 15 years. (He says most franchisees will open three locations, as the business model is volume-dependent, so easy access is a key.)

That’s one way he seeks to grow the industry.

Chana also has another angle from which he promotes and grows the industry, which is in growthmode but a bit fragmented. There are some 31,300 adult day care businesses in the U.S. as of 2023, according to research firm IBISWorld, up 3.6% from 2022. The sector had $7.4 billion in revenue in 2023, an increase of 6.4% from 2022, IBISWorld reports. The industry is expected to reach $7.5 billion in 2024,

See CHANA page 74

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THE CHANGE-MAKERS

ince the beginning of her career, Naomi Boyer has wanted to help people who struggle, and do it through education.

After multiple career stops, the Polk County education executive is now doing that by helping swaths of people advance in their careers, and life, through earning what’s become a hot commodity in higher education: microcredentials.

Boyer started out as a special education teacher, working with children who had severe emotional issues and learning disabilities. Her undergraduate and master’s degrees are in special education from the University of Florida. “I’ve been passionate about learning and education, particularly those who face more hurdles and barriers in the learning process,” Boyer says.

But when she started a family, she shifted to focus on her two daughters, so she took a step back from

being the leader in a classroom. She instead went back to school herself.

“Women can do it all … the constraints are I can’t do it all at once,” says Boyer, now 57. “You have to determine what’s important individually. My most important thing at that point in my life was raising my children and making sure that they had a good foundation before I went back into the world of work. I was able to couple my home time with them with continuing education.”

She got her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of South Florida in 2001, focusing on interdisciplinary education and organizational change. Her dissertation was “Building Online Learning: System Insights into Group Learning in an International Online Environment.”

That paved the way for what she calls a “winding journey” in higher education leadership. It also paved the way for Boyer to foster change within her industry.

BE THE CHANGE Naomi Boyer went from a special educator to earning a Ph.D. and becoming a higher education administrator. Now she works for an organization that seeks to link people and institutions with opportunities through microcredentials.

She did that first for a decade, from 2002 to 2011, at the USF Lakeland/ Polytechnic campus, where she was an assistant vice president. She helped develop online programs, faculty-staff development, youthbased programs, robotics education and international initiatives.

Next, she spent another decade, from 2011 to 2022, at Polk State College, where she worked in a variety of administrative roles, ultimately serving as the vice president of strategic initiatives and innovation and chief information officer. She took on more change-based leadership tasks there, working on the school’s aerospace and elementary education programs, among others. She says her career was never “on a chartered

path and all of it (was) just raising my hand when someone said, ‘Hey, can anyone do this?’”

Boyer says she initially thought change happened from within universities. But as time went on she felt like she was pushing a boulder and could only take it so far. While at Polk State, she says an organization called Education Design Lab facilitated some of the work groups with which she was involved.

“When the opportunity opened up to join the lab, and that was over five years ago, it was like, ‘Oh my God, I can facilitate scalable change at a higher, broader level, without some of the bureaucratic constraints,’ and so it was a tremendous opportunity for me,” Boyer says.

When she first joined the lab, her role was to help roll out a catalog of “digital microcredentials,” she says.

A microcredential can be a soft skill like critical thinking or oral communication. Education Design Lab released microcredentials in 2020 that it can award itself or give to colleges, universities and employers to award to showcase a person’s skills. People can then put the mi-

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Naomi Boyer is focused on how to change the way the world looks at skills.

NAOMI BOYER of Polk County has worked in education for more than 25 years.

started in a very classroom, handson approach,” Boyer says. “I am a very square peg that doesn’t fit well in round holes. My passion is really

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about education transformation and facilitating change, again for those who need it the most.”

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THE CHANGE-MAKERS

crocredentials on their resumes, LinkedIn profiles or Facebook pages, Boyer says.

Since joining the lab, Boyer’s role has expanded, and she is now the senior vice president of digital transformation for the Washington, D.C.-based organization. Her current focus? Skills.

“In my work now, the conversation that’s going on is a global one with regard to the advent of skills,” Boyer says. “How can we get talent into the job roles that employers need but also open up the door for those who need opportunity but may have been constrained by the lack of credentials?”

Boyer says she has a team of data coaches and a data collaborative working on helping employers and colleges develop tools that will help them use microcredentials, such as incorporating them into employee

recruiting or the student admissions processes. She also has software that will match microcredentials and skills associated with them to job listings for job seekers. For example, a waitress may have a skill of active listening that could correlate to a customer service job.

“It’s really about elevating people into the job opportunities based upon what they know and can do,” Boyer says.

A great deal of focus is on what she calls the “new majority” learners, for whom the pathway to college is not the most accessible.

While she has global connections and partners, Boyer also thinks local first. “My biggest hope is that the work that we’re doing as the nation and the international community, I want to bring it back here. I want to bring it to Polk County, I want to bring it to Florida and I want to make sure that we have robust opportunities in skill visibility, and it’s really about transforming individuals’ lives and economic vitality at the same time,” Boyer says.

“I never thought I would be doing the work I’m doing today because I

Dan Dobrowolski CEO, ESCAPE HOMES

THE CHANGE-MAKERS

A

s housing costs continue at a level making it difficult — if not impossible — for many Floridians to afford buying a house, there is a small community in Hillsborough County where you can buy one for less than $100,000.

No, that’s not a misprint. In late July, the community had a house listed for $95,000. But the key word in that first sentence is small.

The house is in Escape Tampa Bay Village, a community of tiny homes on the east side of the county on a rural stretch of land.

It is the brainchild of developer Dan Dobrowolski, 65, who began building small homes in Wisconsin about 25 years ago. Dobrowolski has also become an affordable housing advocate of sorts, arguing tiny houses are a good alternative governments need to embrace to address, or deliver positive change, to the housing affordability issue.

The reason for that is these tiny homes provide residents with the benefits — their own space, modern design, environmental protections — usually not available in more traditional affordable housing properties. Or, as Dobrowolski says, “There’s no reason affordable housing has to be as ugly as it is. When you think affordable housing, a lot of people think Section 8, they think concrete block bunkers. (The politicians) think it’s better. We reject that.

We think that affordable housing should be beautiful.”

Dobrowolski was raised in Chicago and spent years in Florida after his family moved to Sarasota in the mid-1970s. He graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in meteorology and worked at WFLA -TV in Tampa for a bit before heading back to the Midwest.

The history of Escape Tampa Bay Village starts in Canoe Bay, Wisconsin. Dobrowolski bought property there in the early 1990s and began

BE THE CHANGE

building small cottages, mostly fewer than 600 square feet.

He calls Canoe Bay “an unusual, let’s call it a resort.”

One of the things that’s unusual about it is the distinctive architecture, Dobrowolski says. “We got a lot of notoriety for it. The design of the buildings, the style of the buildings, etc. People were always fascinated.”

“So, we came up with the idea to make the buildings portable. People could literally buy the architecture.

That’s what started it. We started building them on wheels and it just kept evolving.”

The company then moved into development, believing it could set the course of what a neighborhood in the 21st century should look like.

And that neighborhood is Escape Tampa Bay Village. The community sits on a one-acre parcel at 11008 U.S. Highway 301 in Thonotosassa.

He paid $400,000 for the property, a former mobile home park.

A tiny home is, as the name im-

Dan Dobrowolski believes communities must consider tiny homes when looking for solutions to the affordable housing crisis.

plies, small — usually no more than several hundred square feet. But, as Escape Tampa Bay Village says on its website, the homes are designed to feel open and spacious with large, wide windows, full kitchens, large bathrooms and bedrooms. The units, the website says, come with washer and dryer units, LED lights and storage.

The idea is to create a place with all the benefits individuals want when they look for a house in a neighborhood.

Of course, many, if not all, the amenities are available in apartments. But what makes a tiny home community different is the absence of communal living space and the individuality that comes with having a standalone space.

And that’s what bothers Dobrowolski about communities in des-

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Dan Dobrowolski believes small houses provide homeowners what they need and are more humane than traditional apartment blocks.

COURTESY IMAGE

perate need of affordable options for residents not considering tiny houses as an option. “They don’t think you can have whole neighborhoods of this on a very small property that has fairly high density,” he says.

“But people want to have space.

I like green. I like to be able to walk

outside and have room, and I don’t want to go into a hallway with dozens of other people walking out and I’m in a concrete bunker. To me, that’s fairly inhumane. Why not give people the option of owning a house, and cheap?”

Dobrowolski has spoken to offi-

cials in various communities about the tiny home option. But he says he has faced nothing but resistance from people who are reluctant to change what they are doing.

In comparison, Escape Tampa Bay Village has fit 13 buildings onto 8/10ths of an acre. Of those build-

THE CHANGE-MAKERS

DAN DOBROWOLSKI, CEO of Escape Homes, is the developer behind the tiny home community Escape Tampa Bay Village.

ings, 10 are homes and the others are common buildings.

The vast majority of the acreage is green space and lawns. He says you could put 15 buildings into the space and still not be crowded.

That’s done by having all the homes face forward, which both maximizes space and creates that neighborhood or subdivision feel.

As for who lives there, it’s a cross section of America, Dobrowolski says. There is a man with two small children, recent college graduates, retirees and professionals.

“They’re efficient. They’re green.

You got plenty of space. It’s your own house. You’ve got a park; you’ve got a front yard; you’ve got beautiful landscaping,” he says.

“It’s a great alternative. The only barrier is that the cities don’t endorse it.”

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THE CHANGE-MAKERS

CANIPE from 62 angel investor began posting educational content to help founders hone in on their pitches for their best chance at getting funding.

“I am really proud of the way the community has rallied together to create change,” she says.

Sharing her vision for the future, Canipe says: “I believe that this means that within the next five to 10 years, we’ll be able to serve women all throughout the Southeast with the very long term goal of

LISZACK from 66 and the need for collaboration …

Those relationships that you build are what support you and sustain you through times like this.”

Things on the north end of Estero Island are moving along, with more than 50 bars and restaurants open, watersports and boat tour operations up and running and a proposed redevelopment plan for the Times Square area. Spots like Margaritaville Beach Resort Fort Myers Beach are bringing visitors to the island.

CHANA from 68 with a compound annual growth rate of 2.1% over the past five years.

Chana’s role in unifying the industry, and recruiting new entrepreneurs for both ActivAge and the field, is aided by harnessing the power of social media. He debuted a YouTube channel in 2019 dedicated to adult day care, where he promotes the industry and posts videos on frequently asked questions about getting into the business.

Through mid-July, he had posted more than 700 videos, with some 6,300 subscriptions and 409,000 views. Chana is also active on Facebook and LinkedIn, where he says the ongoing goal is to promote the industry as a viable alternative to other models in senior care — not 74

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being able to serve women all over the world.”

Another WTE chapter is forming in Melbourne, where Canipe’s mother currently lives. Other chapters are in the works as well.

“What really excites me is that we’re just getting started,” Canipe says, “And we’re already seeing the transformative power of the community we’re building and the joy that it brings to our members and the impact that it has on them.”

— LAURA LYON

“Do we have what we had before the storm? No, not yet,” says Liszak. “But every week that goes by, more and more t hings are opening and more homes are being completed.”

Liszak can easily envision the bright future of Fort Myers Beach down the road. “It’s so cute!” she says, picturing what it will look like. “We’re going to have worldclass amenities for people to come, stay, visit, fall in love with the town, buy property and move here. We have a special island here; it’s really unique.”

— BETH LUBERECKI

just a call for franchisees.

Chana has taken the mission to more platforms. He hosted a podcast, The CAREpreneur Show, from 2019-2022 and runs a monthly webinar on adult day care topics.

Everything he does is free, save an Adult Day Care Mastermind group, because he wants that one to be a more exclusive offering.

Chana says many people he speaks with over the platforms want to open or invest in adult day care but are intimidated by the startup process. So he talks them through that while also going into his mission and his why. “Maybe I’ll inspire people to open up a mom and pop adult care center, or maybe they will get into ActivAge,” he says.

“It doesn’t matter, as long as we can grow the adult day care industry.”

— MARK GORDON

WILLIAMS from 64 est impact on the largest number of people. However, “after completing undergraduate school … I was so incredibly burned out that I lost my momentum,” Williams says.

In 2021, Sunbury Press published his book “Boss Brain: Unlock Your Entrepreneurial Instincts” to help people get out of their own way and start their own businesses as he had done.

“I don’t know if I’m a thriving entrepreneur because I’m a terrible employee or vice versa,” Williams says. “But from a very, very young age, I wanted to carve my own path.”

During his ca reer, he’s a lso worked in commercial real estate, which he says gave him knowledge that led to his latest venture: an app called ParkPro. It aims to put empty parking lots to good use.

According to Williams, there is an overage of places to park across the country but legions of truck drivers with nowhere to park their vehicles during the 10 hours a day they are federally mandated to be off the road.

“We are not short on space. What we are short on is connectivity be-

tween those who have space and those who need space,” says Williams. His plan is for places like convention centers that do not need parking lots overnight to be able to connect with truck drivers looking for someplace to rest through an app that works like Uber or Airbnb, he says. The ParkPro app is currently in pilot mode.

“In a lot of ways, the ParkPro and FleetForce model are very similar, where we are trying to connect those who need a product or service with those who have a product or service, and we like that because it requires agility, it requires the willingness to be disruptive in the industry and it requires that you be a little fearless because it’s a twoway marketplace,” says Williams.

In both ventures, “I just kind of fell into it,” Williams says. “But you know, that’s been true for just about ever y company that I’ve founded or entered or been part of. In retrospect, it was never really part of my plan, but I think that part of the definition of being an entrepreneur is being open to opportunities when they present themselves and not feeling the rigidity that comes with sticking to some clearly quantified plan.”

— ELIZABETH KING

LORI SAX

KRIS CHANA with TONY SAVAGE, chef at ActivAge in Sarasota, where the adult day care offers nutritious meals.

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