Big Book of Business 2023

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS 2023

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

NUMBERS DON’T LIE

The third annual Big Book of Business has even more data, information and statistics — all designed to help executives and entrepreneurs make better decisions.

MARK GORDON MANAGING EDITOR

T

he world (and the internet) is full of lines and quotes that, in some way, are designed to caution people about using, or overusing, statistics.

There’s the famous one from Mark Twain, who attributed it to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” Or this gem, from college football coach Woody Hayes: “Statistics always remind me of a fellow who drowned in a river where the average depth was only three feet.”

The message, of course, is numbers, figures and data can be used to prove or show a variety of theories and trends. Yet statistics, data and the like are essential for anyone in business to get a grip on the barrage of challenges, threats and opportunities coming at organizations. The key: Use the information wisely.

It’s with that backdrop — to help make you wiser in business — the Business Observer presents its third annual Big Book of Business. This is a 76-page book of valuable data, from beermakers and builders to bankers and balloons. That last one can be bought at Publix, the region’s largest company; see P. 26.

For well over a decade the Business Observer published the Top 500 — the largest companies in the region,

ranked by revenue. But in our postCovid shift we decided to go high, wide and deep. That line is also taken from this book, in the change maker profile of Lilah Taha-Rippett on P. 62. A senior vice president of supply chain for Manatee County-based restaurant company First Watch, Taha-Rippett often tells her team and colleagues to “go high, go wide and go deep” when interacting with vendors and suppliers.

This issue goes deeper and wider than the Top 500, we believe. Like in the past, there’s plenty of essential data. And plenty of lists. There’s also nine stories on what we call change makers. These are notable people facilitating significant change in their organizations, industry or both. The list ranges from Bealls CEO Matt Beall to St. Petersburg College President Tonja Williams.

Picking out some data as a taste of what’s to come in this book reveals something else about statistics: even with confirmation bias, when you use data to prove something you already believed, it’s good to be open to being surprised. Some examples: n Collier County isn’t just a wealthy county in the region — it’s the wealthiest in the state by one measure, with a per capita county personal income of $117,980, according to Florida TaxWatch. But when broken down by ZIP codes, Hillsborough County has the three wealthiest spots in the region, based on median annual income. n The Sunshine State’s growth boom is having an outsized impact on the west coast of Florida. While the six counties in Florida with more than 1 million people are mostly well known, including Hillsborough, the three largest counties under 1 million are all

AUGUST 2023 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS THE DATA Jobs....................................... 6 Population............................... 8 Banking.................................. 8 Commercial real estate.............10 Airports, seaports....................12 Business formation..................13 Housing.................................14 Residential real estate..............15 County comparisons................16 THE LISTS Zip codes by income................20 Largest public companies.........21 Top 50 private companies.........26 Banks....................................32 SBA lenders...........................34 Credit unions..........................36 Top employers by county..........41 FDOT projects........................42 Doc stamps............................44 Patents..................................44 Colleges................................46 Breweries...............................47 Top 50 contractors..................48 Florida 2030..........................50 THE CHANGE MAKERS Tonjua Williams........................54 Matt Beall...............................56 Marie Grasmeier......................58 Brian Auld..............................60 Lilah Taha-Rippet.....................62 Marc Devisse..........................64 Devaney Iglesias......................66 Stuart Haniff...........................68 Ken LaRoe.............................70 in this region: Pinellas, Lee and Polk. n Large credit unions in Florida continue to grow rapidly. While bankers, who lament that the nonprofit financial services entities don’t pay federal taxes might not be surprised, the growth is certainly notable. Membership at three of the largest credit unions in the region increased 10% from 2021 to 2022, and one, Grown Financial Credit Union, grew 15.42%.

There are hundreds more data points and statistics throughout this book. We hope this issue helps you make better decisions, be better informed and be better at business.

As always, we welcome comments and suggestions on how we can be better in 2024. Please 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 Commercial Real Estate Editor

Louis Llovio | LLlovio@BusinessObserverFL.com Tampa Bay Editor

Jim Stinson | JStinson@BusinessObserverFL.com Sarasota-Manatee Writer

Amanda Postma | APostma@BusinessObserverFL.com Editorial Design / Jess Eng, Nicole Thompson Associate Publishers /

Kathleen O’Hara | KOHara@BusinessObserverFL.com; Diane Schaefer | DSchaefer@BusinessObserverFL.com Director of Legal Advertising /

Kristen Boothroyd KBoothroyd@BusinessObserverFL.com

Director of Creative Services /

Caleb Stanton | CStanton@YourObserver.com Chief Financial Officer /

Laura Strickland |LStrickland@YourObserver.com Director of Distribution and Subscriptions Sales /

Diana Ewing | DEwing@BusinessObserverFL.com POSTAL INFORMATION The Business Observer (ISSN#1539-9184) is published weekly on Fridays by the Gulf Coast Review Inc., 1970 Main St., Sarasota, FL 34236; 941362-4848. Periodicals postage paid at Sarasota, FL, and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Please send changes of address to The Business Observer, P.O. Box 3169, Sarasota, FL 34230.

Special Section Published August 2023

To subscribe: Call 877-231-8834, or visit BusinessObserverFL.com.

SPECIAL THANKS Business Observer photographers Mark Wemple and Stefania Pifferi took the images seen in this book, at locations spread from Tampa to Naples.

BUSINESS OBSERVER

5

JOBS

CONTINUED CLAIMS*

T

he jobs numbers look good for Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Employment in the construction industry is up about 6% over the last year, with about 190,000 jobs supported across the Gulf Coast’s major metro areas. And leisure and hospitality employment is — finally — back above pre-pandemic levels, if only slightly, with 298,200 jobs today against an estimated 293,300 at the start of 2020.

The unemployment rate is either at or below 3% for each metro area, and continued claims of unemployment insurance are back to normal, between 35,000 and 40,000 claims per week, after peaking at more than 1 million claims per week in May 2020.

—Alex Walsh

T HE DATA

5/1/20: 1,062,593

1,000,000

800,000

600,000

400,000

200,000 5/1/23: 37,656 5/1/18

5/1/19

5/1/20

5/1/21

5/1/22

5/1/23

Nov. 1, 2022

May 1, 2023

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%

May 1, 2018

Nov. 1, 2018

May 1, 2019

Nov. 1, 2019

May 1, 2020

Nov. 1, 2020

May 1, 2021

Nov. 1, 2021

May 1, 2022

CONSTRUCTION JOBS

LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY JOBS

100

200

80

150

60 100 40 50

20 5/1/18

1/1/19

1/1/20

1/1/21

1/1/22

1/1/23

5/1/18

1/1/19

1/1/20

1/1/21

1/1/22

1/1/23

*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.

6

BUSINESS OBSERVER

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POPULATION TOTAL COUNTY POPULATION

POPULATION OF LARGEST CITIES IN REGION 1,520,529

T HE DATA

Hillsborough Pinellas

972,852

Lee

802,178

Polk

770,019

Pasco

452,378

Manatee

421,768

Collier

390,912

Charlotte

4. Lakeland: 120,279

7. Largo: 84,286

13. Winter Haven: 55,311

592,669

Sarasota

5. Clearwater: 119,208

12. Pinellas Park: 55,092

1. Tampa: 401,512

2. St. Petersburg: 264,220

9. Bradenton: 56,957 10. Sarasota: 56,494

8. North Port: 81,823 6. Fort Myers: 96,755

196,742

Florida Total: 22,276,132

3. Cape Coral: 208,053

Source: Florida Legislature, Office of Economic and Demographic Research

Source: Florida TaxWatch, Florida’s 70 largest cities; Florida Legislature, Office of Economic and Demographic Research

11. Bonita Springs: 55,502

BANKING K

ey indicators for Florida’s banking industry improved in the first quarter of 2023 relative to the end of last year.

Total assets increased by 1% to $287 billion. The median net inter-

est margin among Florida-based banks improved nearly 50 basis points to 3.67%. The median return on assets improved by 4 basis points to 0.97%, and the median ratio of net loans to assets improved

to 63.22%, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.

The FDIC’s quarterly profile for Florida also includes deposit data for each of the state’s largest metro areas. It shows that the total amount

of deposits held by banks in Miami ($352 billion) is about 170% larger than the amount in Tampa ($131 billion), and more than 10 times the amount in Sarasota ($32 billion).

—Alex Walsh

TOTAL ASSETS

NET INTEREST MARGIN (MEDIAN %)

RETURN ON ASSETS

NET LOANS TO ASSETS

4.0

1.0

80

(MILLIONS) $300,000

$286,996

3.67

$250,000

(MEDIAN %)

(MEDIAN %)

0.97

70

0.8

3.0 $200,000

50

0.6 2.0

$150,000

40 0.4

$100,000

63.22

60

1.0

30 20

0.2

$50,000

10 2021

2022

Q1 2023

2021

2022

Q1 2023

2021

2022

Q1 2023

2021

2022

Q1 2023

Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Note: The FDIC report didn’t include specific data for the Fort Myers and Naples markets.

8

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

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COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE AVAILABLE OFFICE SQUARE FEET

AVAILABLE INDUSTRIAL SQUARE FEET

T HE DATA

12,000,000

KEY 2017 2022

8,000,000

KEY 2017 2022

7,000,000

10,000,000

6,000,000 8,000,000 5,000,000 6,000,000

4,000,000 3,000,000

4,000,000

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

Hillsborough Pinellas

Pasco

Polk

Manatee Sarasota Charlotte

Lee

Collier

Pasco

Polk

Manatee Sarasota Charlotte Lee

Collier

AVAILABLE MULTIFAMILY SQUARE FEET

AVAILABLE RETAIL SQUARE FEET 4,000,000

Hillsborough Pinellas

KEY 2017 2022

12,000

KEY 2017 2022

3,500,000 10,000 3,000,000 8,000

2,500,000 2,000,000

6,000

1,500,000 4,000 1,000,000 2,000

500,000

Hillsborough Pinellas

Pasco

Polk

Manatee Sarasota Charlotte Lee

Collier

Hillsborough Pinellas

Pasco

Polk

Manatee Sarasota Charlotte

Lee

Collier

Source: CoStar

10

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

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Florida SouthWestern State College, an equal access institution, prohibits discrimination in its employment, programs and activities based on race, sex, gender identity, age, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, pregnancy, sexual orientation, marital status, genetic information or veteran status. Questions pertaining to educational equity, equal access or equal opportunity should be addressed to the College’s Title IX Coordinator/Equity Officer: Angela Snyder; Room A-106-A; 8099 College Parkway SW, Fort Myers, FL 33919; (239) 489-9051; equity@fsw.edu. FSW online anonymous reporting www.fsw.edu/report. Inquiries/complaints can be filed with the Title IX Coordinator/Equity Officer online, in person, via mail, via email, or with the US Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, Atlanta Office: 61 Forsyth St. SW Suite 19T70, Atlanta, GA 30303-8927.

AIRPORTS T HE DATA

DEPLANINGS

2021 2022

Southwest Florida International

0.04%

*Tampa International

PASSENGERS

FREIGHT

Southwest Florida International

Southwest Florida International

0.21%

Tampa International

Tampa International 18.81%

Punta Gorda Airport

St. PeteClearwater International

*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.

17.48%

20.52%

SarasotaBradenton International

21.50% 2 mil.

4 mil.

6 mil.

8 mil.

7.62%

4.31%

18.84% 100 200 300 400 mil. mil. mil. million

Punta Gorda Airport

17.6% Punta Gorda, St.Pete-Clearwater and SarasotaBradenton don’t handle freight cargo.

St. PeteClearwater International

20.12%

SarasotaBradenton International

21.62% 20 million

Source: Individual Airports

Port Tampa Bay’s volume of TEUs. The big difference in 2022 for Port Tampa Bay was the resumption of cruising, which had taken a pause in 2021 due to the pandemic.

Overall, the port saw over 418,000 cruise passengers last year.

10 million

5 mil.

10 mil.

15 mil.

SEAPORTS P

ort activity in the region picked up, even the slightest bit, last year in terms of

cargo.

SeaPort Manatee posted a 5%

increase of cargo tons, but the most impressive feat for the port was 20-foot equivalent units, with a 30% increase over 2021.

SeaPort Manatee almost matched

CARGO TONS

TEUs 3.12%

35,000,000

CRUISE PASSENGERS 500,000

200,000 30.55%

1.71%

30,000,000

400,000

150,000

25,000,000

300,000

20,000,000

100,000

15,000,000

200,000

5.54%

10,000,000

50,000

100,000

500,0000 SeaPort Manatee Source: Individual ports

12

— Amanda Postma

BUSINESS OBSERVER

Port Tampa Bay

SeaPort Manatee TEUS are 20-foot equivalent units

Port Tampa Bay

N/A N/A SeaPort Manatee

0 Port Tampa Bay

NOTE: Cruises were shut down fiscal 2021 due to pandemic

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

BUSINESS CREATION F

DOMESTIC LIMITED LIABILITY COS.

LLCS CREATED PER CAPITA

600,000

25

24.0

533,137

500,000

THE DATA

lorida’s entrepreneurs created hundreds of thousands of new businesses in 2022, continuing a trend from the previous year.

From 2015 to 2019, those entrepreneurs created about a dozen new businesses per thousand Florida residents, according to data provided by the Florida Division of Corporations. But in 2020, that number went up to 18.5 new domestic LLCs per thousand residents.

In each of the past two years, entrepreneurs across Florida have created roughly 24 new LLCs for every thousand people living in the state.

20

400,000 15

300,000 10

200,000 5

100,000

— Louis Llovio 2015 ’16

’17

’18

’19

’20

’21

’22

2015 ’16

’17

’18

’19

’20

’21

’22

Source: Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations

BANKRUPTCIES KEY Chapter 7 Business

Chapter 11 Business

Chapter 7 Personal

Chapter 11 Personal

Chapter 13 Personal

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Total Business Cases: 941 Total Personal Cases: 23,371

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

AUGUST 2023 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER

13

HOUSING T HE DATA

H

ave Gulf Coast home prices hit a short-term peak?

At the very least, price growth appears to have slowed from the blistering pace seen starting in 2021 and going into 2022.

Across Gulf Coast metros in June, median list prices were lower than a year ago — with one exception, the Naples-ImmokaleeMarco Island area, where the recent median was up a whopping 11% compared with last year.

Unsurprisingly, this slowing of price gains is occurring in concert with increases in inventory.

Across the Gulf Coast’s major metro areas, more than 23,000 homes were listed for sale in June 2023, up 50% from last year (about 15,000 listings) and 160% from two years ago (about 9,000).

The increase in inventory is likely being driven by existing homeowners thinking more about selling, because the number of permits being issued for new construction hasn’t changed much in recent years.

—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

6/1/21

12/1/21

6/1/22

12/1/22

6/1/23

6/1/21

12/1/21

6/1/22

12/1/22

6/1/23

MEDIAN HOME PRICE INDEX 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000 200,000

6/1/18

12/1/18

6/1/19

12/1/19

6/1/20

12/1/20

INVENTORY 20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

6/1/18

14

BUSINESS OBSERVER

12/1/18

6/1/19

12/1/19

6/1/20

12/1/20

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE CONDOS/CO-OPS, TOWNHOMES AND SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES 2023 Median price, %Change (April ’22-April ’23) KEY

28.50%

St. Petersburg

0.46%

Condos/Co-Ops Townhomes Single-family homes

0.10%

Clearwater 0.00%

Bradenton

Clearwater

20.20% 0.02%

Bradenton

Sarasota 0.20% 9.13%

Sarasota

8.90% 17.90%

Naples

19.30%

$200,000

St. Petersburg

10.90% 33.90% 1.90%

23.10% 35.10% 14.30%

Fort Myers

Tampa

$400,000

$600,000

17.00% $800,000

9.00% 60.00%

18.10%

14.70% 25.00% 18.90% 6.3%

19.70% 11.90%

28.60% 0.00% 28.10%

KEY Condos/Co-Ops Townhomes Single-family homes

51.40% 0.00% 14.30%

Fort Myers

34.40% 44.80%

Naples

16.70%

T HE DATA

20.60% 7.10% 3.40%

Tampa

2023 Sales, %Change (April ’22-April ’23)

29.60%

16.10% 26.30% 100

200

300

400

500

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FE DER AL CREDI T U N IO N ®

15

COUNTY COMPARISONS PER CAPITA TOTAL PROPERTY TAX LEVIES (FISCAL YEAR 2022-2023)

$3,528.12

T HE DATA

Collier Sarasota

$2,532.63

GROWTH IN TOTAL PROPERTY TAX LEVIES (FISCAL YEAR 2012-2013 TO FY 2022-2023)

117%

Manatee Hillsborough

104.2% 104.5%

Pinellas

$2,194.28

Pasco

Lee

$2,171.34

Polk

Charlotte

$2,126.30

Charlotte

97.6%

Collier

96.4%

Sarasota

94.1%

Manatee

$2,015.01

Hillsborough

$1,746.10

Pasco

$1,165.98

Polk

$1,110.99

Statewide: $2,013.47

Source: Florida TaxWatch, Florida Department of Revenue

PER CAPITA COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL BUILDING PERMIT FEES (FISCAL YEAR 2020-21)

101.5%

Lee

81.3%

Pinellas

80.7%

Note: Reflects growth when statewide property tax levies began rising again following five straight years of decline. TaxWatch reports. Source: Florida TaxWatch, Florida Department of Revenue

PER CAPITA COUNTY PERSONAL INCOME $117,984

Collier

$103.34

Collier

Sarasota Sarasota

Pinellas

$65,936

$54.94

Polk

$38.46

Lee

$62,885

Lee

$35.12

Manatee

$59,152

Manatee

$34.55

Hillsborough

$58,152

Pasco Hillsborough

$30.40 $25.58 $23.57

Statewide: $44.61

Charlotte

$51,677

Pasco

$50,479

Polk Note: These fees are regulatory fees imposed by both cities and counties, TaxWatch reports. The fees should not exceed the regulated activity’s cost and are generally required to be applied solely to the regulated activity’s cost for which the fee is imposed. Source: Florida TaxWatch, Florida Department of Revenue

16

$78,815

$68.13

Charlotte

Pinellas

BUSINESS OBSERVER

Statewide: 85.6%

$43,556

Statewide: $62,270

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Board of Economic Analysis, Florida TaxWatch

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

GOVERNMENT DATA COUNTY GOVERNMENT REVENUE

BY SOURCE

Intergov.

Revenue 16.1%

Intergov.

Revenue 9.1%

Permits, Fees, Special Assessments 5.8% Other Sources 32.1%

Permits, Fees, Special Assessments 6.2%

T HE DATA

Other Sources 10.2%

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT REVENUE

BY SOURCE

Property Taxes 13.1%

Charges for Services 31.7% Property Taxes 26.6%

Other Taxes 7.9% Charges for Services 31.7%

Other Taxes 9.7%

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BUSINESS OBSERVER

17

GOVERNMENT DATA T HE DATA

COUNTY GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES BY SOURCE Culture & Recreation 4.0%

Human Services: 0.9% Economic Environment: 3.0%

Other 5.8% Human Services 10.3%

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES BY SOURCE

Transportation: 6.3%

Culture & Recreation 6.7%

General Government 21.6%

General Government 28.4%

Economic Environment 4.0% Transportation 12.5%

Physical Environment 11.6%

Public Safety & Courts 29.9%

Other 2.8%

Physical Environment 27.7%

Public Safety & Courts 24.3%

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Source: Florida TaxWatch: 2023 How Counties Compare. Figures may not equal 100% due to rounding

18

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

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Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota.

State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota does not discriminate on the b asis of sex, pregnancy, race, religion, age, national origin/ethnicity, color, marital status, disability, genetic information or sexual orientation in any of its educational programs, services and activities, including admission and employment.

Direct inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies to: Equity Officer, 941-752-5599, 5840 26th St. W., Bradenton, FL 34207

TOP & BOTTOM ZIP CODES PASCO

Top median income 34638: $104,038 34637: $104,004 33543: $93,289 Top median income 34690: $39,235 34668: $39,682 34691: $39,891

POLK

Top median income 33813: $89,774 33812: $87,885 33811: $75,483 Lowest median income 33858: $22,117 33856: $24,538 33849: $28,810

THE LISTS

PINELLAS

Top median income 33786: $106,250 34688: $103,997 33715: $96,250 Lowest median income 33714: $41,239 33763: $45,589 33709: $46,290

HILLSBOROUGH Top median income 34211: $111,952 34201: $106,014 34202: $104,907 Lowest median income 33834: $41,981 34207: $42,846 34215: $45,125

A

look at the top and bottom ZIP codes in the region based on median income reveal multiple findings — some expected, while others more surprising.

A mild surprise? The top three ZIP codes are all in Hillsborough County. No. 1, with a $139,158 median income, is 33629. That includes most of South Tampa, Palma Ceia West, Bayshore Gardens and Sunset Park.

No. 2 in Hillsborough is Odessa and No. 3 is Lutz.

That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of other sixfigure median incomes in the region. To wit, there are at least 20. The ZIP closest to the Hillsborough big three is 34228. That one, Longboat Key, is No. 1 in Sarasota

20

Top median income 33629: $139,158 33556: $128,333 33548: $123,060 Lowest median income 33605: $28,219 33612: $38,023 33613: $38,085

MANATEE

BUSINESS OBSERVER

SARASOTA

Top median income 34228: $121,797 34242: $116,033 34240: $110,143 Lowest median income 34234: $46,772 34224; $49,637 34287: $52,641

County and No. 4 in the region, at $121,797. The only counties in the region without any ZIP codes that have median incomes over $100,000 are Charlotte and Polk counties.

The ZIP with the lowest median income in the region, $22,117 in Polk County, is 33858. That’s Loughman, a town south of Celebration and closer to Orlando than it is to Lakeland. Data is from the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Gap Map. (flchamber.com/floridagapmap/)

CHARLOTTE

Top median income 33946: $90,625 33954: $73,098 33955: $69,461 Lowest median income 33952: $48,992 33982: $50,654 33980: $54,011

LEE

Top median income 33921: $120,208 34134; $111,258 33957: $103,413 Lowest median income 33916: $39,477 33936: $41,634 33901: $43,565

COLLIER

Top median income 34108: $106,290 34103: $104,309 34102: $101,944 Lowest median income 34142: $45,870 34104: $58,333 34116: $62,366

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

PUBLIC COMPANIES 1

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

2022 Revenue 2021 Revenue Change Top Executive

Industry

Line of Business

$62,343,810,000 $31,614,169,000 Rich Hume, CEO 97.20%

Technology

leading distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem

$33,478,000,000 $29,285,000,000 Mark T. Mondello, CEO 14.32%

Manufacturing

global manufacturing, engineering and supply chain solutions provider

3

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

$19,125,200,000 Joc O’Rourke, CEO, $12,357,400,000 President and Director 54.77%

Agriculture

concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrient mining

4

Raymond James Financial Inc. (RJF) 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716 407-451-3827; RaymondJames.com

$11,003,000,000 Paul C. Reilly, Chairman and $9,760,000,000 CEO 12.74%

Banking/finance/ investment

wealth management

5

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

$8,685,000,000 $7,336,000,000 Stephen M. Scherr, CEO 18.39%

Business/consumer services

leases vehicles and equipment

6

Roper Technologies Inc. (ROP) 6901 Professional Parkway, Suite 200, Sarasota, FL 34240 941-556-2601; RoperTech.com

$5,371,800,000 L. Neil Hunn, President and $4,833,800,000 CEO 11.13%

Technology

software and engineered products and solutions

7

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

$4,416,508,000 $4,122,385,000 David Deno, CEO 7.13%

Hospitality/restaurant

casual dining restaurant chain owner

8

Masonite International Corp. (DOOR) 1242 E. Fifth Ave., Tampa, FL 33605 813-877-2726; Masonite.com

$2,891,687,000 Howard C. Heckes, $2,596,920,000 President, CEO and Director 11.35%

Manufacturing

door manufacturer

9

Primo Water Corp. (PRMW) 1150 Assembly Drive, Suite 800, Tampa, FL 33607 813-313-1732; Cott.com

$2,215,100,000 $2,073,300,000 Thomas Harrington, CEO 6.84%

Manufacturing

beverage products, packages and distribution

404154-1

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

THE LISTS

2

AUGUST 2023 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER

21

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS

Company

2022 Revenue 2021 Revenue Change Top Executive

Industry

Line of Business

10

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

$2,738,800,000 Lawrence H. Silber, $2,073,100,000 President, CEO and Director 32.11%

Business/consumer services

equipment rental supplier

11

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

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

Retailers

boat retailer

12

Chico’s FAS Inc. (CHS) 11215 Metro Parkway, Fort Myers, FL 33966 239-277-6200; Chicos.com

$2,142,020,000 Molly Langenstein, CEO, $1,809,927,000 President and Director 18.35%

Retailers

specialty women’s clothing, accessories and gifts retailer

13

SouthState Bank (SSB) 1101 First St. S., Winter Haven, FL 33880 800-277-2175; SouthStateBank.com

$1,735,213,000 John C. Corbett, $1,468,758,000 CEO and Director 18.14%

Banking/finance/ investment

Loans and other financial services

14

Kforce Inc. (KFRC) 1150 Assembly Drive, Suite 500, Tampa, FL 33607 877-453-6723; KForce.com

$1,710,765,000 Joseph J. Liberatore, $1,579,922,000 President and CEO 8.28%

Business/consumer services

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

15

Lazydays (LAZY) 6130 Lazy Days Blvd., Seffner, FL 33584 813-246-4999; Lazydays.com

$1,326,961,000 John North, CEO $1,235,048,000 and Director 7.44%

Retailers

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

16

PGT Innovations (PGTO) 1070 Technology Drive, North Venice, FL 34275 941-480-1600; PGTInnovations.com

$1,491,954,000 Jeff Jackson, $1,161,464,000 President and CEO 28.45%

Manufacturing

manufactures and supplies premium windows and doors

17

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

Manufacturing

designer and manufacturer of hydraulic-cartridge valve

$885,400,000 Josef Matosevic, President, $869,200,000 CEO and Director 1.86%

407246-1

THE LISTS

TOP PUBLIC COMPANIES

22

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

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THE LISTS

TOP PUBLIC COMPANIES

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS

Company

2022 Revenue 2021 Revenue Change Top Executive

Industry

Line of Business

18

UPC Insurance (UIHC) 800 Second Ave. S., St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-895-7737; UPCInsurance.com

$455,422,000 R. Daniel Peed, $634,527,000 Chairman and CEO -28.23%

Banking/finance/ investment

property and casualty insurance

19

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

$662,460,000 $631,561,000 Ernesto Garateix, CEO 4.89%

Banking/finance/ investment

provides home, condominium, rental and commercial residential insurance

20

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

$719,181,000 Christopher A. Tomasso, $592,343,000 President, Chief Executive 21.41% Officer and Director

Hospitality/restaurant

daytime cafe serving breakfast and brunch

21

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

$724,716,000 Paresh Patel, $577,044,000 CEO and Chairman 25.59%

Business/consumer services

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

22

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

$980,720,000 $567,290,000 Trevor Baldwin, CEO 72.88%

Other

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

23

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

$578,831,000 $536,986,000 Michael Benstock, CEO 7.79%

Manufacturing

designs, manufactures and sells uniforms and apparel

24

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

$509,728,000 Christopher M. Smith, $484,329,000 Director and CEO 5.24%

Health care

cancer genetic testing laboratory

25

Digital Media Solutions, Inc. (DMS) 4800 140th Ave. N., Suite 101, Clearwater, FL 33762 727-287-0426; DigitalMediaSolutions.com

$391,148,000 Joe Marinucci, President, $427,935,000 CEO and Director -8.60%

Technology

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

26

Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. (OSG) 302 Knights Run Ave., Suite 1200, Tampa, FL 33602 813-209-0600; OSG.com

$466,800,000 Samuel H. Norton, $359,062,000 President and CEO 30.01%

Other

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

27

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

$256,400,000 Caroline Beasley, $241,426,308 CEO and Director 6.20%

Entertainment/ media/publishing

radio broadcasting group

28

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

$91,947,000 John E. Kiernan, $108,564,000 President and CEO -15.31%

Agriculture

land management, agriculture, mining and development

29

Innovative Food Holdings (IVFH) 28411 Race Track Road, Bonita Springs, FL 34135 239-596-0204; IVFH.com

$80,102,964 Bill Bennett, $62,212,148 CEO and Director 28.76%

Distributor/ wholesalers

wholesaler and retailer of perishables and specialty food products

30

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

$70,050,000 $165,096,000 Anthony N. Leo, CEO -57.57%

Banking/finance/ investment

Loans and other financial services

31

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

$44,510,000 Charles Goodwin, $48,517,000 CEO and Director -8.26%

Technology, health care

Helium plasma technology

32

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

$30,336,749 David Portnoy, $28,884,902 Chairman and Co-CEO 5.03%

Health care

stem cell blood bank and related research

33

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

$11,100,000 Deanna Wallin, founder and $10,884,000 CEO 1.98%

Retailers

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

34

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

T. Riggs Eckelberry, CEO, $10,376,573 Chairman of the Board $4,143,744 of Directors, Secretary, 150.42% Treasurer, and President

Other

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

35

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

$4,842,433 Justice W. Anderson, $4,719,672 Director and CEO 2.60%

Health care

manufactures and markets skin and wound care supplies

36

LM Funding America (LMFA) 1200 Platt St., Suite 100 Tampa, FL 33602 813-222-8996; LMFunding.com

$1,700,000 Bruce M. Rodgers, $900,000 Chairman, CEO and 88.89% President

Banking/finance/ investment

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

37

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

$822,196 $4,160,116 Steve Shum, CEO -80.24%

Health care

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

Four public companies were acquired in 2022: Nicholas Financial; Welbilt; Intertape Polymer Group; and KnowBe4.

24

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

Member FDIC

Amy Stumbo

Service Assistant Manager, Lakewood Ranch Office

Bryan Boudreaux

Senior Vice President, Manatee Market Director

What is a relationship?

THE BANK OF TAMPA I RELATIONSHIP BANKING DEFINED

941.248.1830 thebankoftampa.com

397719-1

At The Bank of Tampa, we take pride in developing deep, personal relationships. Over 39 years, The Bank of Tampa has grown to $3.2 billion in assets with 13 offices between Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Manatee counties, with a loan production office in Pasco County. 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.

THE LISTS

TOP PRIVATE COMPANIES Rank

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

26

Company Publix Super Markets Inc. 3300 Publix Corporate Parkway, Lakeland, FL 33802 863-688-7407; Publix.com Morgan Automotive Group 3031 N. Rocky Point Drive, Suite 770 Tampa, FL 33607 813-434-1982; MorganAutoGroup.com FrankCrum 100 S. Missouri Ave., Clearwater, FL 33756 727-799-1229; FrankCrum.com Bealls Inc. 1806 38th Ave. E., Bradenton, FL 34208 941-744-4309; BeallsFlorida.com Manhattan Construction Group 3705-1 Westview Drive, Naples, FL 34104 239-435-3827; ManhattanConstructionGroup.com Gettel Automotive Inc. 5959 E. State Road 64, Bradenton, FL 34208 941-417-5003; Gettel.com Automated Petroleum & Energy Co. Inc. 1201 Oakfield Drive, Brandon, FL 33511 813-681-4279; AutomatedPetroleum.com Gulfeagle Supply Inc. 2900 E. Seventh Ave., Tampa, FL 33605 813-636-9808; GulfeagleSupply.com Ferman Automotive Group 1306 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL 33606 813-251-2765; Ferman.com FCCI Insurance Group 6300 University Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34240 941-907-3224; FCCI-Group.com Power Design Inc. 11600 Ninth St. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33716 727-210-0492; PowerDesignInc.us BlueGrace Logistics LLC 2846 S. Falkenburg Road, Riverview, FL 33578 800-697-4477; MyBlueGrace.com Dental Care Alliance 6240 Lake Osprey Drive, Sarasota, FL 34240 941-955-3150; DentalCareAlliance.com PSCU 560 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716 844-367-7728; PSCU.com Stock Development 2639 Professional Circle, Suite 101, Naples, FL 34119 239-292-2721; StockDevelopment.com Scotlynn USA Division 15671 San Carlos Blvd., Fort Myers, FL 33908 239-210-3000; Scotlynn.com Sunz Holdings LLC 1301 Sixth Ave. W., Bradenton, FL 34205 941-306-3077; SunzInsurance.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER

2022 Revenue 2021 Revenue Change 54,500,000,000 48,000,000,000 13.54% 7,034,000,000 5,410,000,000 30.02% 2,790,000,000 2,504,000,000 11.42% 1,874,000,000 1,650,000,000 13.58% 1,480,000,000 1,150,000,000 28.70% 1,462,000,000 1,386,000,000 5.48% 1,294,000,000 1,084,000,000 19.37% 1,148,000,000 817,000,000 40.51% 1,141,000,000 1,102,000,000 3.54% 937,000,000 1,000,000,000 -6.30% 925,000,000 880,000,000 5.11% 894,310,000 749,000,000 19.40% 790,000,000 700,000,000 12.86% 753,600,000 649,800,000 15.97% 718,520,000 736,050,000 -2.38% 718,290,000 630,910,000 13.85% 686,500,000 555,100,000 23.67%

Staff

Year Founded

Top Executive

Industry

Line of Business

240,000

1930

Todd Jones, CEO

Retailers

retail grocery

5,677

2005

Brett Morgan, CEO

Retailers

automotive sales and service

450

1981

Frank Crum, Founder and CEO

Other

professional employer organization offering human resources services, including payroll, benefits and workers’ compensation insurance

15,955

1915

Robert Matthews Beall III, CEO

Retailers

retail apparel, home goods and gifts

1,488

1896

Larry Rooney, president

Contractors

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

1,168

1998

James Gettel, president

Retailers

automotive dealer

49

1981

Bill McKnight, president

Retailers

petroleum distributor

1,200

1973

Brad Resch, president

Distributor/ Wholesalers

distributor of roofing and building material products

1,260

1895

James Ferman, president

Retailers

automobile and motorcycle dealerships

828

1959

Christina “Cina” Welch, president and CEO

Business/ Consumer Services

property and casualty insurance

2,700

1989

Frank Musolino, CEO

Contractors

electrical contractor

586

2009

Bobby Harris, Founder and CEO

Other

third-party logistics (3PL) provider

5,295

1991

Jerry Rhodes, CEO

Health Care

dental support organization with more than 300 affiliated dental practices in 20 states

3,400

1977

Charles “Chuck” Fagan III, president and CEO

Banking/ Finance/ Investment

credit union service organization

421

2001

Brian Stock, CEO

Homebuilders

developer and homebuilder

385

2010

Ryan Carter, President

Other

logistics

402

2013

Steven Herrig, CEO

Business/ Consumer Services

workers’ compensation insurance

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

“LMCU’s great to work with. They really know the local market and provide financing to accommodate our terms and schedule so we can get moving on our development projects.”

– Matt Price, CEO Seagate Development Group

Our commercial loans pave the way to success.

Seagate Development Group and

Our experienced, local lenders are ready

Earth Tech Enterprises used financing

to help finance your next project.

from LMCU to purchase a 502-acre mine in

Call Greg Barr at (239) 437-7038 to get started.

Fort Myers which provides fill materials and

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aggregate for projects in Southwest Florida.

TOP PRIVATE COMPANIES Rank

18 19 20

THE LISTS

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Company Neal Communities of Southwest Florida LLC 5800 Lakewood Ranch Blvd. N., Lakewood Ranch, FL 34240 941-328-1111; NealCommunities.com HIT Promotional Products Inc. 7150 Bryan Dairy Road, Largo, FL 33777 727-541-5561; HITPromo.net Homes by WestBay 4065 Crescent Park Drive, Riverview, FL 33578 813-938-1250; HomesByWestBay.com Ripa & Associates LLC 1409 Tech Blvd., Suite 1, Tampa, FL 33619 813-623-6777; RipaTampa.com J.H. Williams Oil Co. Inc. 423 S. Hyde Park Ave., Tampa, FL 33606 813-228-7776; JHWOil.com Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. 11941 Fairway Lakes Drive, Fort Myers, FL 33913 239-561-4141; Owen-Ames-Kimball.com DeAngelis Diamond 6635 Willow Park Drive, Naples, FL 34109 239-594-1994; DeAngelisDiamond.com Ajax Building Corp.

425 Commercial Court, Suite J, Venice, FL 34292 813-792-3900; AjaxBuilding.com OMS Group Inc. 26 Lake Wire Drive, Lakeland, FL 33815 863-688-1751; OMSGroup.com Florida Medical Clinic PA 38135 Market Square, Zephyrhills, FL 33542 813-780-8440; FloridaMedicalClinic.com Tibbetts Lumber Co. LLC 3300 Fairfield Ave. S., St. Petersburg, FL 33712 727-322-1403; TibbettsLumber.com

2022 Revenue 2021 Revenue Change 612,890,000 528,290,000 16.01% 607,930,000 433,780,000 40.15% 594,150,000 391,000,000 51.96% 413,000,000 365,000,000 13.15% 398,380,000 291,320,000 36.75% 398,000,000 319,000,000 24.76% 385,000,000 365,000,000 5.48% 384,640,000 217,180,000 77.11% 336,680,000 308,300,000 9.21% 329,900,000 315,460,000 4.58% 311,000,000 243,000,000 27.98%

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS

Staff

Year Founded

Top Executive

Industry

Line of Business

282

1970

Patrick Neal, Executive chairman

Homebuilders

land developer and homebuilder

3,735

1981

C.J. Schmidt, president and CEO

Business/ Consumer Services

promotional products wholesale supplier

202

2009

Willy Nunn, president

Homebuilders

new home builder

835

1998

Chris LaFace, president and CEO

Contractors

civil and utility construction services in central Florida

14

1945

J. Hulon Williams III, president

Retailers

petroleum management

49

1891

Matthew Zwack, president

Contractors

construction management, general contracting and design-build

195

1996

John DeAngelis president

Contractors

construction management

220

1958

William Byrne, president

Contractors

construction management

30

1997

Jeffrey Miles, president

Business/ Consumer Services

insurance, payroll, human resources and staffing services

1,965

1993

Joe Delatorre, CEO

Health Care

multispecialty physician group

462

2009

Russ Hallenbeck, CEO

Retailers

lumber and building materials

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BUSINESS OBSERVER

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TOP PRIVATE COMPANIES Rank

29 30 31

THE LISTS

32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

Company McNichols Co. 2502 N. Rocky Point Drive, Suite 750, Tampa, FL 33607 813-282-3828; McNichols.com RNR Tire Express (SPF Management Co. LLC dba RNR Tire Express) 13922 Monroes Business Park, Tampa 33635 813-977-9800; RNRTires.com College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving 4411 W. Tampa Bay Blvd., Tampa, FL 33614 813-523-9003; CollegeHUNKSHaulingJunk.com Pepin Distributing Co. 4121 N. 50th St., Tampa, FL 33610 813-626-6176; PepinDistributing.com Brooks and Freund LLC 5661 Independence Circle, Suite 1, Fort Myers, FL 33912 239-939-5251; BrooksAndFreund.com Premier Sotheby’s International Realty 4001 Tamiami Trail, Suite 350, Naples, FL 34103 239-262-4242; PremierSothebysRealty.com Gold Coast Eagle Distributing 7051 Wireless Court, Sarasota, FL 34240 941-650-3139; GCEagle.com Hawkins Construction Inc. 1430 L&R Industrial Blvd., Tarpon Springs, FL 34689 727-938-9719; HawkinsNet.com Amscot Financial Inc. 600 N. Westshore Blvd., Suite 1200, Tampa, FL 33609 813-637-6205; Amscot.com Sun State International Trucks LLC 6020 E. Adamo Drive, Tampa, FL 33619 813-621-1331; SunStateIntl.com S-One Holdings Corp.

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

2022 Revenue 2021 Revenue Change 305,000,000 275,000,000 10.91% 270,180,000 243,800,000 10.82% 259,590,000 215,720,000 20.34% 256,000,000 233,000,000 9.87% 245,000,000 218,000,000 12.39% 238,350,000 293,980,000 -18.92% 227,000,000 222,000,000 2.25% 225,000,000 163,000,000 38.04% 204,230,000 177,950,000 14.77% 201,000,000 160,800,000 25.00% 190,350,000 176,800,000 7.66%

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS

Staff

Year Founded

Top Executive

Industry

320

1952

Eugene McNichols, CEO

Distributor/ Wholesalers

Line of Business metal service centers supplying and fabricating perforated and expanded metal, wire mesh and gratings products

1,200

2000

Larry Sutton, founder and CEO

Retailers

tire dealer franchisor

236

2005

Nick Friedman, president

Business/ Consumer Services

franchisor of moving and junk removal services

379

1967

Greg McLeod, President

Distributor/ Wholesalers

beer and beverage distributor

61

2000

Richard Freund, manager

Contractors

general contractor and construction management

134

1983

Budge Huskey, president and CEO

Real Estate

real estate brokerage

340

1996

John Saputo, president and owner

Distributor/ Wholesalers

beer distribution

96

1975

John McCaugherty, president

Contractors

commercial construction

1,700

1989

Ian MacKechnie, CEO

210

1982

Oscar Horton, Chairman and CEO

Banking/ Finance/ Investment Business/ Consumer Services

199

1994

Ron Simkins, president and CEO

Manufacturing

BIG

financial services commercial transportation equipment sales, service, parts provides materials, equipment, technical support in the printing industry

HOT OFF THE PRESS

The Business Observer’s Big Book of Business is filled with even more valuable information in 2023, including:

2023

THE DATA Economic information to help business owners keep up with changing trends in our region and forecast what’s next.

BOOK OF BUSINESS

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 30

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BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

TOP PRIVATE COMPANIES Rank

40 41 42 43

45 46 47 48 49 50

CELEBRATING

30 YEARS

Staff

Year Founded

750

Top Executive

Industry

Line of Business

1960

Gary Griffin, president

Contractors

mechanical, plumbing and electrical contractors and service provider

89

2010

Barry Connor, CEO

Contractors

developer and general contractor

87

1974

Alan Bomstein, CEO

Contractors

commercial construction

81

1972

David Sessions, CEO

Contractors

construction management

67

2003

Mark Stevens, President

Contractors

construction management, construction development

260

2007

Joseph R. Catti, Chairman, CEO

Banking/ Finance/ Investment

financial services

285

1984

Michael Cannon, CEO/chairman

Construction

Interior/exterior construction, themed construction, specialty finishes, rockwork, lean construction, design-assist, BIM and prefabrication.

284

1973

T. Corey Neil, President, CEO

Banking/ Finance/ Investment

financial services

71

2010

Andrew Park and Forrest Eleazer, managing partners

Contractors

commercial construction

128

1976

Michael Saunders, CEO/founder

Real Estate

residential and commercial sales

700

1974

Lee S. Crowther, CEO

Contractors

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

THE LISTS

44

Company B&I Contractors Inc. 2701 Prince St., Fort Myers, FL 33916 239-332-4646; BAndIFlorida.com Connor & Gaskins Unlimited 1998 Trade Center Way, Suite 2, Naples, FL 34109 239-260-5068; CGUnlimited.com Creative Contractors Inc. 620 Drew St., Clearwater, FL 33755 727-461-5522; CreativeContractors.com Willis A. Smith Construction 5001 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34240 941-366-3116; WillisSmith.com Stevens Construction 14541 Hope Center Loop, Suite 200, Fort Myers, FL 33912 239-936-9006; StevensBuilds.com FineMark National Bank & Trust 8695 College Parkway, Fort Myers, FL 33919 877-461-5901; FineMarkBank.com KHS&S Contractors 5422 Bay Center Drive, Suite 200, Tampa, FL 33609 813-628-9330; KHSS.com The Bank of Tampa 601 Bayshore Blvd., Suite 100, Tampa, FL 33606 813-872-1200; BankOfTampa.com Park & Eleazer Construction LLC 2363 Gulf to Bay Blvd., Clearwater, FL 33765 727-216-6591; ParkEleazer.com Michael Saunders & Co. 100 S. Washington Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34236 941-953-7900; MichaelSaunders.com Crowther Roofing and Sheet Metal 2543 Rockfill Road, Fort Myers, FL 33916 239-337-1300; Crowther.net

2022 Revenue 2021 Revenue Change 168,620,000 166,580,000 1.22% 162,030,000 147,000,000 10.22% 144,000,000 155,000,000 -7.10% 137,900,000 95,000,000 45.16% $126,680,000 $70,880,000 78.72% $126,038,000 $108,557,000 16.10% 120,790,000 113,000,000 6.89% $111,403,000 $90,166,000 23.55% $110,640,000 $40,610,000 172.45% 109,480,000 135,310,000 -19.09% $105,000,000 $73,200,000 43.44%

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS

Thank you, builders of Southwest Florida, for 30 years of business!

• Aluminum Railings • Screen Enclosures • Aluminum Fencing • Welded Gates & Grills • Decorative Louvers & Shutters • Canopies & Trellises • Glass & Cable Railing • Carports

407677-1

info@libertyaluminum.com 239-369-3000

Licensed & Insured, #CBC042372

AUGUST 2023 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER

31

LARGEST BANKS 1 2 3 4

THE LISTS

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Bank SouthState Bank 1101 1st St. S., Winter Haven, FL 33880 800-277-2175; southstatebank.com Raymond James Bank, National Association 710 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716 727-567-8000; raymondjamesbank.com FineMark National Bank & Trust 8695 College Parkway, Fort Myers, FL 33919 877-461-5901; finemarkbank.com The Bank of Tampa 601 Bayshore Boulevard, Suite 100, Tampa, FL 33606 813-872-1200; bankoftampa.com BayFirst National Bank 700 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-440-6848; firsthomebank.com TCM Bank, National Association 3501 E. Frontage Road, Tampa, FL 33607 800-242-4770; icbabancard.org Citizens Bank and Trust 2 East Wall St., Frostproof, FL 33843 863-635-2244; citizens-bank.com Sanibel Captiva Community Bank 2406 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, FL 33957 239-472-6100; sancapbank.com Bank of Central Florida 5015 South Florida Ave., Lakeland, FL 33813 863-701-2685; bankofcentralflorida.com Members Trust Co. 14055 Riveredge Drive, Suite 525, Tampa, FL 33637 888-727-9191; memberstrust.com Charlotte State Bank & Trust 1100 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte, FL 33953 888-624-5454; charlottestatebankandtrust.com

CEO Name

2022 revenue

2021 revenue

Growth

John C. Corbett, CEO and Director

$1,735,213,000

$1,468,758,000

18.14%

Steve Raney, CEO

$1,313,687,000

$728,791,000

80.26%

Joseph R. Catti, Chairman and CEO

$126,038,000

$108,557,000

16.10%

T. Corey Neil, President and CEO

$111,403,000

$90,166,000

23.55%

Anthony N. Leo, CEO

$70,050,000

$165,096,000

-57.57%

Damon Moorer, President and CEO

$61,911,000

$51,700,000

19.75%

Greg Littleton, President and CEO

$46,974,000

$40,671,000

15.50%

Kyle DeCicco, President and CEO

$34,121,000

$30,767,000

10.90%

Paul J. Noris, Chairman and CEO

$33,502,000

$23,545,000

42.29%

Kenneth E. Lako, President and CEO

$29,052,000

$28,560,000

1.72%

Jake Crews, CEO

$25,613,000

$21,818,000

17.39%

407662-1



32

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

LARGEST BANKS 12 13 14 15 16

18 19 20 21

CEO Name

2022 revenue

2021 revenue

Growth

Robert B. McGivney, CEO and Vice Chairman

$20,346,000

$12,982,000

56.72%

Jake Crews, CEO

$17,807,000

$14,924,000

19.32%

Geoffrey W. Roepstorff, CEO

$13,541,000

$10,697,000

26.59%

John Thompson, President and CEO

$12,807,000

$13,859,000

-7.59%

James Esry, President, CEO and Director

$12,593,000

$11,378,000

10.68%

Dennis B. Murphy, Jr., President and CEO

$9,360,000

$5,737,000

63.15%

Ken LaRoe, CEO, Chairman and Founder

$8,606,000

$781,000*

1,001.92%

Jose Vivero, Chairman and CEO

$4,451,000

$4,064,000

9.52%

Kevin Darmody, President and CEO

$3,241,000

$42,000*

7,616.66%

$726,000

N/A*

N/A

Bill Blevins, President and CEO

*Climate First Bank and Waterfall Bank were founded mid-year 2021; Gulf Coast Business Bank opened in 2022.

THE LISTS

17

Bank Flagship Bank 29750 US Highway 19 N., Clearwater, FL 33761 727-451-2020; FlagshipBank.com Englewood Bank & Trust 1111 South McCall Road, Englewood, FL 34223 941-475-6771; englewoodbankandtrust.com Edison National Bank 13000 South Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers, FL 33907 239-466-1800; edisonnationalbank.com Central Bank 20701 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33647 813-929-4477; centralbankfl.com First National Bank of Pasco 13315 US Highway 301 S., Dade City, FL 33525 352-521-0141; fnbpasco.com Gulfside Bank 333 North Orange Ave., Sarasota, FL 34236 941-303-4200; gulfsidebank.com Climate First Bank 5301 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, FL 33710 727-335-0500; climatefirstbank.com Century Bank of Florida 716 West Fletcher Ave., Tampa, FL 33612 813-961-3300; centurybk.com Waterfall Bank 500 Mclennan St., Clearwater, FL 33756 727-472-3599; waterfalllbank.com Gulf Coast Business Bank 12205 Metro Parkway, Fort Myers FL 33966 239-345-2265; gcbbswfl.com

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS

Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

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396734-1

(941) 625-0623 | IntegrityEL.com BUSINESS OBSERVER

33

SBA LENDERS TOP 10 NATIONWIDE SBA LENDERS IN FLORIDA

TOP 10 NATIONWIDE SBA LENDERS IN FLORIDA

THE LISTS

TOTAL LOANS, FISCAL 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Lender Name, state TD Bank, National Association, Delaware BayFirst National Bank, St. Petersburg Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, California Newtek Small Business Finance Inc., New York Bank of America, National Association, North Carolina The Huntington National Bank, Ohio JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, New York SouthState Bank, National Association, Winter Haven Readycap Lending, LLC, New Jersey Cadence Bank, Mississippi

TOTAL LOAN VOLUME, FISCAL 2023 Total loans approved 495 217 198 180 167 165 92 84 72 68

TOP 10 FLORIDA-BASED SBA LENDERS IN FLORIDA TOTAL LOANS, FISCAL 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Lender Name, headquarters BayFirst National Bank, St. Petersburg SouthState Bank, National Association, Winter Haven Newtek Bank, National Association, Miami The Bank of Tampa, Tampa DFCU Financial CU, Tampa Bay City National Bank of Florida, Miami Paradise Bank, Boca Raton Seacoast National Bank, Stuart Cogent Bank, Orlando First Federal Bank, Lake City

Note: DFCU Credit Union’s national headquarters is in Michigan Note: Newtek Bank and Newtek Small Business Finance are subsidiaries of NewtekOne Source: U.S. Small Business Administration Data is through June 9

Total loans approved 217 84 29 26 21 21 20 19 17 15

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Lender Name, State Newtek Small Business Finance Inc., New York TD Bank, National Association, Delaware Live Oak Banking Co., North Carolina Bank of America, National Association, North Carolina BayFirst National Bank, St. Petersburg The Huntington National Bank, Ohio SouthState Bank, National Association, Winter Haven Berkshire Bank, Massachusetts The Bank of Tampa, Tampa First Internet Bank of Indiana, Indiana

Total amount approved $108,334,500 $62,327,600 $61,856,000 $58,150,500 $57,975,400 $51,128,300 $46,761,200 $31,329,000 $30,619,500 $29,350,000

TOP 10 FLORIDA-BASED SBA LENDERS IN FLORIDA TOTAL LOAN VOLUME, FISCAL 2023 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Lender name, headquarters BayFirst National Bank, St. Petersburg SouthState Bank, National Association, Winter Haven The Bank of Tampa, Tampa Fund-Ex Solutions Group LLC, Davie DFCU Financial CU, Tampa Bay Cogent Bank, Orlando U.S. Century Bank, Doral Seacoast National Bank, Stuart Fountainhead SBF LLC, Lake Mary Bank United, National Association Miami Lakes

Total amount approved $57,975,400 $46,761,200 $30,619,500 $18,717,900 $18,583,300 $18,556,000 $13,300,000 $11,316,400 $11,095,000 $9,579,200

Note: DFCU Credit Union’s national headquarters is in Michigan Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, data is through June 9

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407746-1

To learn more about our customer services and convenient locations, please visit EdisonNationalBank.com or call 239.466.1800.

34

Geoff Roepstorff, CEO and Robbie Roepstorff, President BUSINESS OBSERVER

Equal Housing Lender | Member FDIC | Bank of the Islands is an office of Edison National Bank.

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

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THE LISTS

CREDIT UNIONS Credit Union 1 Suncoast Credit Union 2 MidFlorida Credit Union 3 Grow Financial Federal Credit Union 4 GTE Financial 5 Achieva Credit Union 6 Publix Employees Federal Credit Union 7 USF Federal Credit Union 8 Florida Central Credit Union 9 Trax Credit Union 10 Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union

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

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

2021 Assets $14,874,920,814 $6,049,933,825 $3,322,595,331 $2,797,869,815 $2,485,154,200 $1,392,468,825 $1,028,668,495 $620,494,393 $460,198,538 $391,103,361

Change 9.02% 9.30% 5.05% 3.13% 7.31% -0.14% 9.39% -4.64% 4.98% 4.16%

Credit Union 1 Suncoast Credit Union 2 MidFlorida Credit Union 3 Grow Financial Federal Credit Union 4 GTE Financial 5 Achieva Credit Union 6 Publix Employees Federal Credit Union 7 USF Federal Credit Union 8 Florida Central Credit Union 9 Trax Credit Union 10 Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union

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

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

2021 members 1,003,373 421,180 221,287 229,959 161,810 105,227 68,160 51,171 42,013 32,505

Growth 10.14% 9.27% 15.42% 0.88% 10.76% 3.46% 7.23% -1.76% 3.74% 5.37%

407248-1

Source: National Credit Union Administration

36

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

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TOP EMPLOYERS BY COUNTY CHARLOTTE COUNTY Entity/company

COLLIER COUNTY Employees

Entity/company

LEE COUNTY Entity/company

Employees

Employees

Charlotte County School Board

2,250

1

Collier County Public Schools

5,704

1

Lee Health

14,028

2

Publix

1,386

2

NCH Health Care System

4,113

2

Lee County School District

11,003

3

Charlotte County

1,264

3

Arthrex

3,605

3

Publix

4,624

4

Millennium Physicians Group

1,120

4

Publix

3,100

4

Walmart

3,467

5

Shore Point Health Port Charlotte

1,050

5

Collier County Government

2,455

5

Lee County

2,696

6

Fawcett Memorial Hospital

850

6

Collier County Sheriff’s Office

1,446

6

City of Cape Coral

1,858

7

Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office

752

7

JW Marriot

1,089

7

Gartner

1,819

8

Shore Point Health Punta Gorda

600

8

Ritz-Carlton

1,100

8

Lee County Sheriff’s Office

1,564

9

Cheney Brothers

550

9

Seminole Casino

900

9

Chico’s FAS Inc.

1,532

10

Walmart

507

10

City of Naples

510

10

McDonald’s

1,522

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY Entity/company

MANATEE COUNTY Employees

Entity/company

PASCO COUNTY Employees

Entity/company

Employees

1

MacDill Air Force Base

30,844

1

Manatee County School Board

5,626

1

Pasco County School District

12,755

2

Hillsborough County School District

24,866

2

Manatee Health Care System

2,489

2

Pasco County

3,190

3

University of South Florida

15,678

3

Publix

2,381

3

HCA Healthcare

2,930

4

Hillsborough County Government

11,073

4

Manatee County Government

2,155

4

State of Florida

1,583

5

Publix

9,286

5

Bealls Inc

1,996

5

Advent Health, Dade City and Zephyrhills

1,510

6

Baycare Health System

8,556

6

Blake Medical Center

1,471

6

Pasco County Sheriff

1,381

7

Tampa General Hospital

8,207

7

Manatee County Sheriff’s Department

1,239

7

Morton Plant North Bay Hospital/Recovery Center

1,360

8

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center

7,868

8

Tropicana Products Inc.

988

8

Florida Medical Clinic

1,278

9

James A. Haley VA Hospital

5,157

9

IMG Academy

862

9

Federal government

1,245

10

City of Tampa

4,764

10

State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota

710

10

Advent Health, Wesley Chapel

PINELLAS COUNTY Entity/company

POLK COUNTY Employees

Entity/company

THE LISTS

1

966

SARASOTA COUNTY Employees

Entity/company

Employees

1

Baycare Health System

14,300

1

Publix

13,701

1

Sarasota Memorial Hospital

8,834

2

Pinellas County School Board

14,000

2

Polk County School Board

13,363

2

School Board of Sarasota County

5,937

3

Publix

7,300

3

Lakeland Regional Health

5,888

3

Publix

4,282

4

Raymond James Financial

6,000

4

Walmart

5,523

4

Sarasota County

3,630

5

Pinellas County Government

5,700

5

Amazon

5,000

5

PGT Innovations

1,992

6

Walmart

4,000

6

Polk County

4,789

6

Walmart

1,633

7

Bay Pines VA Healthcare System

3,700

7

Geico

3,700

7

City of Sarasota

811

8

City of St. Petersburg

3,500

8

City of Lakeland

2,800

8

City of North Port

777

9

All Children’s Hospital

3,300

9

BayCare

2,614

9

Helios Technologies

718

10

St. Petersburg College

2,500

10

Advent Health

2,466

10

Target

585

SOURCES: Annual and popular comprehensive financial reports from county clerk offices

AUGUST 2023 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER

41

FDOT PROJECTS Florida Department of Transportation projects costing more than $20 million.

County PINELLAS

THE LISTS

PINELLAS

Current Contract Amount Description/location Interstate 275 Howard Frankland Bridge replace and $866,456,180.74 add lanes from State Road 687 to bridge Gateway Expressway & Interstate 275 new road $595,281,194.45 construction

County COLLIER HILLSBOROUGH LEE MANATEE

Project value $161,507,885 $723,313,371 $76,129,389 $175,201,504

Project value $212,675,669 $1,727,324,855 $517,746,276 $103,607,707

County PASCO PINELLAS POLK SARASOTA GRAND TOTAL

$3,697,506,659

Vendor name

Start Date

Est. Complete Date

Archer Western/Taylor Bros.

4/1/2020

12/4/2024

New road construction

Archer Western/The de Moya Group

8/21/2017

4/10/2021

New road construction

Prince Contracting

3/13/2023

6/12/2029

Add lanes & reconstruct

Johnson Bros. Corp., a Southland Co.

4/14/2023

6/4/2028

Interchange - add lanes

Lane Construction Corp.

9/26/2022

12/2/2026

Work mix Bridge-replace and add lanes

POLK

$257,758,570.00

PINELLAS

$242,553,920.26

HILLSBOROUGH

$223,496,609.00

MANATEE

$144,954,783.66

Interstate 75 at 301 interchange

Interchange - add lanes

Ajax/Leware

3/2/2021

1/28/2025

COLLIER

$98,370,748.55

Interstate 75 interchange

Interchange improvement

The de Moya Group Inc.

9/9/2022

1/19/2026

HILLSBOROUGH

$92,976,385.58

Interstate 75 interchange, add lanes

Interchange - add lanes

PrinceAjax

8/19/2021

9/20/2024

HILLSBOROUGH

$86,763,556.68

Interstate 275 lane addition and reconstruction

Add lanes & reconstruct

Lane Construction Corp.

10/25/2021

3/6/2025

HILLSBOROUGH

$82,611,410.94

Interstate 75 add lanes

Interchange - add lanes

Skanska USA Civil Southeast Inc.

8/9/2021

9/25/2024

PASCO

$81,956,833.36

State Road 52 realignment and road construction

New road construction

Superior Construction Co., Southeast

11/12/2019

7/2/2023

POLK

$70,701,231.40

Design build Interstate at State Road 557

Interchange improvement

Skanska USA Civil Southeast Inc.

8/17/2020

7/31/2023

POLK

$61,184,726.92

Widen and resurface Polk Parkway

Add lanes & reconstruct

Ranger Construction Industries Inc.

4/19/2021

4/29/2025

SARASOTA

$55,319,739.29

Interstate 75

Interchange - add lanes

Sacyr Construction

10/15/2021

7/20/2023

LEE

$53,237,216.66

Design build Interstate 75 at Colonial

Interchange - add lanes

Ajax Paving Industries of Florida

8/17/2020

6/11/2023

PASCO

$49,815,064.84

State Road 52 add and reconstruct lanes

Add lanes & reconstruct

Western Surety Co.

8/31/2019

1/10/2023

SARASOTA

$48,287,968.04

Design build River Road to U.S. 41

Add lanes & reconstruct

The de Moya Group Inc.

8/6/2021

12/16/2024

HILLSBOROUGH

$45,544,236.85

Add lanes and rehabilitate pavement from Spruce Street to Memorial Highway

Add lanes & rehabilitate pavement

Cone & Graham Inc..

8/11/2022

10/27/2024

POLK

$45,244,552.03

Add lanes State Road 25

Interchange - add lanes

Prince Contracting

9/8/2020

4/27/2024

Western Surety Co.

11/27/2017

12/19/2020

Central Polk Parkway State Road 55, new interchanges and roadway improvements Interstate 275 add lanes downtown Tampa interchange; safety and operational improvements

PASCO

$43,034,501.48

State Road 54 lanes and rehabilitate pavement

Add lanes & rehabilitate pavement

COLLIER

$40,936,136.88

Interstate 75

Resurfacing

Asphalt Group Inc.

6/6/2022

11/16/2023

HILLSBOROUGH

$40,864,619.83

Interstate 275 miscellaneous structure, causeway

Seawall

Mastec Civil

3/27/2023

1/19/2025

HILLSBOROUGH

$38,534,960.46

Downtown Tampa signals

Arterial traffic management

Traffic Control Devices

4/30/2020

9/10/2023

PASCO

$37,869,270.00

U.S. 98/Dade City Bypass add lanes

Add lanes & reconstruct

Cone & Graham Inc.

3/8/2023

2/18/2026

HILLSBOROUGH

$35,735,835.83

Interstate 4 repaving

Resurfacing

Hubbard Construction Co.

2/23/2023

6/7/2024

POLK

$31,698,393.62

Polk Parkway Electronic toll conversion

Toll plaza

C.W. Roberts Contracting Inc.

6/7/2021

6/25/2024

MANATEE

$30,246,720.74

State Road 683

Resurfacing

Superior Asphalt Inc.

2/24/2023

5/19/2024

HILLSBOROUGH

$29,193,066.00

arterial traffic management and communication systems from Dale Mabry Highway to Interstate 275

Communication system

Highway Safety Devices Inc.

3/20/2023

1/16/2025

POLK

$28,017,401.97

Interstate 4

Bridge replacement

Mastec Civil

4/1/2021

1/3/2024

HILLSBOROUGH

$26,303,938.34

U.S. 41 from 15th Avenue to South of Bullfrog Creek

Resurfacing

Preferred Materials Inc.

11/29/2021

11/24/2023

POLK

$23,141,400.12

U.S. 27

Resurfacing

Ajax Paving Industries of Florida

10/12/2022

10/22/2024

PINELLAS

$23,033,560.39

U.S. 19, from State Road 682 to 22nd Avenue

Resurfacing

Preferred Materials Inc.

3/6/2023

1/12/2025

LEE

$22,892,172.90

U.S. 41

Resurfacing

Ajax Paving Industries of Florida

12/10/2018

4/20/2022

COLLIER

$22,200,999.71

Interstate 75

Resurfacing

Ohla USA Inc.

1/30/2023

2/12/2024

HILLSBOROUGH

$21,288,752.40

U.S. 30 and State Road 43

Resurfacing

Ajax Paving Industries of Florida

8/4/2021

11/25/2022

The Florida Department of Transportation is driving nearly $3.7 billion in spending across 35 major projects along Florida’s Gulf Coast. | As was true last year, 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 $866.5 million to build, according to the FDOT’s website, and the Gateway Expressway system in Pinellas will cost $595.3 million. While the bridge is expected to be completed at the end of 2024, the tollway is sure to miss its currently estimated completion date, which is listed on the FDOT website as April 10, 2021. | Across all projects with a contract value of at least $20 million, Pinellas and Hillsborough are benefitting from $1.7 billion and $723 million in spend, respectively. In Polk County, there are currently 7 FDOT projects worth at least $20 million underway, totaling $518 million in contract value.

42

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

405566-1

COMMERCIAL DIVISION / JAN-APR 2023

THE LISTS

DOC STAMPS BY COUNTY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

County Collier Polk Charlotte Lee Pasco Manatee Florida Hillsborough Sarasota Pinellas

2017-2018 $65,886,924 $31,796,334 $14,756,013 $71,414,773 $33,420,872 $38,553,416 $1,579,600,602 $93,019,161 $51,890,716 $70,299,205

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

2019-2020 $73,122,674.80 $41,899,885.85 $16,361,587.12 $75,408,548.60 $36,744,859.20 $39,095,157.00 $1,679,140,145 $106,542,266.60 $54,475,772.90 $79,046,613.70

2020-2021 $134,547,633.70 $56,414,253.36 $28,855,813.70 $130,075,298.50 $53,385,731.71 $61,832,031.10 $2,459,518,034 $132,527,389.05 $89,316,410.00 $111,150,581.20

2021-2022 $201,356,538.60 $86,239,332.05 $39,023,421.81 $168,509,979.10 $73,877,020.00 $83,637,026.90 $3,366,124,874 $189,117,733.68 $103,947,882.35 $137,591,691.30

5-year Growth 101.38% 92.25% 90.25% 80.94% 75.41% 73.79% 72.25% 68.12% 66.81% 64.74%

Doc stamps are excise taxes imposed on certain documents executed, delivered or recorded in Florida.

PATENTS, STATEWIDE

44

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Company/Institution Citrix System Magic Leap Carrier Corp University of Florida Research Foundation University of South Florida Faro Technologies Siemens Energy Johnson & Johnson Vision Care The Florida International University Board of Trustees University of Central Florida Research Foundation

Based Fort Lauderdale Plantation Palm Beach Gardens Gainesville Tampa Evansdale Orlando Jacksonville Miami Orlando

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Company/Institution Citrix Systems Magic Leap Inc Carrier Corp University of Florida Research Foundation University of South Florida University of Central Florida Research Foundation The Florida International University Board of Trustees Faro Technologies Strong Force IoT Portfolio 2016 Sensormatic Electronics

Headquarters Fort Lauderdale Plantation Palm Beach Gainesville Tampa Orlando Miami Evansdale Fort Lauderdale Boca Raton

BUSINESS OBSERVER

Patents issued 2017-2021 1,070 809 789 743 684 490 453 382 307 300

Total Patents held 2,263 1,205 3,414 1,878 1,694 969 1,290 821 395 878

Patents issued 2022 354 320 306 135 85 60 60 55 55 43

Total patents held 2,263 1,205 3,414 1,878 1,694 878 395 969 170 766

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THE LISTS

LARGEST COLLEGES College

City

2022-23

2021-22

Change

University of South Florida

Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee

49,766

49,867

-0.20%

Hillsborough Community College

Tampa

19,055

18,737

1.70%

Florida Gulf Coast University

Fort Myers

16,004

15,892

0.71%

St. Petersburg College

St. Petersburg

15,001

15,311

-2.03%

St. Leo University

St. Leo, Pasco County

14,194

15,372

-7.66%

University of Tampa

Tampa

10,566

10,794

-2.11%

Southeastern University

Lakeland

10,044

9,365

7.25%

Florida SouthWestern State College

Fort Myers

9,127

9,299

-1.85%

Pasco-Hernando State College

New Port Richey

6,040

6,073

-0.54%

State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota

Bradenton

6,031

5,844

3.20%

Polk State College

Winter Haven

5,175

5,474

-5.46%

Eckerd College

St. Petersburg

1,950

2,036

4.22%

Florida Polytechnic University

Lakeland

1,428

1,335

6.97%

New College of Florida

Sarasota

689

660

4.39%

Florida Southern College

Lakeland

N/A

3,386

Hodges University

Fort Myers

N/A

638

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Note: Data reflects total student enrollment in each of the past two years.

Sources: Individual colleges and universities, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and the Florida College System Enrollment Estimating Conference. Florida Southern College and Hodges University declined to provide data for 2022-23.

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BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

TOP BREWERIES City

Business Name

City

Bulk Sales

Business Name

City

Pints Sales

3 Daughters Brewing

St. Petersburg

52,323.20

Gallons

3 Daughters Brewing

St. Petersburg

$37,545.00

Calusa Brewing Co.

Sarasota

$189,384.00

Fort Myers Brewing Co.

Fort Myers

42826.75

Big Top Brewers Collective

Bradenton

$30,664.00

Fort Myers Brewing Co.

Fort Myers

$162,432.00

House Of Beer

Dunedin/Palm Harbor

$30,346.00

3 Daughters Brewing

St. Petersburg

$157,632.00

Green Bench Brewing Co.

St. Petersburg

$29,022.00

Florida Avenue Brewing

Wesley Chapel

$148,848.00

Fort Myers Brewing Co.

Fort Myers

$27,365.00

Brew Hub

Lakeland

$144,826.00

Coppertail Brewing Co.

Tampa

$25,227.00

Cigar City Brewing

Tampa

$105,672.00

Florida Avenue Brewing

Wesley Chapel

$24,475.00

Coppertail Brewing Co.

Tampa

$92,208.00

Cigar City Brewing

Tampa

$23,443.00

The Florida Brewery Beer Garden

Auburndale

$92,088.00

Tampa Bay Brewing Company

Tampa

$21,080.00

Magnanimous Brewing Company

Tampa

$80,627.00

Motorworks Brewing

Bradenton

$20,841.00

Green Bench Brewing Co.

St. Petersburg

$74,870.00

Big Storm Brewing Co.

Clearwater, Odessa, Cape Coral, and Ybor

$20,818.00

Tampa Bay Brewing Co.

Tampa

$64,572.00

Big Top Brewers Collective

Bradenton

$64,416.00

Dunedin Brewery

Dunedin

$19,312.00

Motorworks Brewing

Bradenton

$56,484.00

$19,228.00

Bone Hook Brewing Co.

Naples

$55,644.00

Corporate Ladder Brewing Co.

Palmetto

$53,458.00

Woven Water Brewing Co.

Tampa

$52,168.00

Palm City Brewing Co.

Fort Myers

$52,080.00

Big Storm Brewing Co.

Clearwater, Odessa, Cape Coral, and Ybor

$44,431.00

Arkane Aleworks Inc

Largo

$42,715.00

Hidden Springs Ale Works

Tampa

$32,840.00

Florida Avenue Brewing

Wesley Chapel

38,570.61

Cigar City Brewing

Tampa

37,258.60

Big Top Brewers Collective

Bradenton

36,702.67

Green Bench Brewing Co.

St. Petersburg

36,384.31

Coppertail Brewing Co.

Tampa

33,871.78

Calusa Brewing Co.

Sarasota

32,504.41

House Of Beer

Dunedin/Palm Harbor

30,345.54

Brew Hub

Lakeland

29,323.15

Tampa Bay Brewing Co.

Tampa

27,133.28

Motorworks Brewing

Bradenton

26,607.94

Big Storm Brewing Co.

Clearwater, Odessa, Cape Coral, and Ybor

24,983.37

Corporate Ladder Brewing Co.

Palmetto

Bone Hook Brewing Co.

Naples

21,416.71

24,568.08

Tampa Bay Brewing Co.

Tampa

19,940.43

Dunedin Brewery

Dunedin

19,822.49

Good Liquid Brewing Co.

Sarasota

19,228.17

Grand Central Brewhouse

St. Petersburg

19,131.31

3 Keys Brewing Co.

Bradenton

18,606.90

Good Liquid Brewing Co.

Sarasota

Grand Central Brewhouse

St. Petersburg

$19,131.00

3 Keys Brewing Co.

Bradenton

$18,577.00

Tampa Bay Brewing Co.

Tampa

$18,322.00

Swan Brewing

Lakeland

$17,018.00

Grove Roots Brewing

Winter Haven

$16,230.00

Bone Hook Brewing Co.

Naples

$16,182.00

Brew Hub

Lakeland

$15,701.00

THE LISTS

Business Name

Note: Data is for 2022. Source: Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation

OWEN-AMES-KIMBALL COMPANY

EXCEPTIONAL CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT BY AN EXCEPTIONAL TEAM

Fort Myers • Naples • 239-561-4141 • www.owen-ames-kimball.com • facebook.com/OwenAmesKimballCo CGC1528725

AUGUST 2023 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER

407244-1

Construction Management | General Contracting | Design-Build 47

THE LISTS

TOP CONTRACTORS

48

Company

Top Executive

2022 Revenue

2021 Revenue

1

Manhattan Construction Group, Naples

Larry Rooney, Craig Bryant, Mike Miller

$1,480,296,195

$1,157,739,040

2

Power Design (Projected for 2022), St. Petersburg

Frank Musolino, Joe Micallef, Lauren Permuy

$925,000,000

$880,000,000

3

RIPA & Associates, Tampa

Chris LaFace

$413,000,000

$365,000,000

4

O-A-K/Florida, Inc. DBA Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. , Fort Myers

Matthew Zwack, Jan Conrad, Abel Natali, John LaBarge, Frank Stanek

$398,000,000

$319,000,000

5

DeAngelis Diamond Construction, Naples

David Diamond, John DeAngelis

$385,000,000

$365,000,000

6

Ajax Building Corp., Midway

William Byrne

$384,648,898

$217,186,980

7

Brooks & Freund, LLC, Fort Myers

Richard Freund

$245,000,000

$200,000,000

8

Hawkins Construction, Inc., Tarpon Springs

Miguel Leyva, Todd Mullins, Aaron Leech, Josh Spooner

$225,000,000

$163,000,000

9

B&I Contractors Inc., Fort Myers

Gary Griffin, Jason Grabowski, Brian Kelly

$168,625,196

$166,583,104

10

Connor & Gaskins Unlimited LLC , Naples

Barry Connor, Craig Gaskins

$162,035,442

$147,000,000

11

Creative Contractors, Clearwater

Alan Bomstein, Josh Bomstein, Alan Holderith, Jerry Siminski

$144,000,000

$155,000,000

12

Willis A. Smith Construction, Inc., Sarasota

David Sessions, John LaCivita

$137,900,000

$95,000,000

13

Stevens Construction Inc., Fort Myers

Mark Stevens, Dan Adams, Terri Sobeck

$126,689,258

$70,884,938

14

KHS&S Contractors, Tampa

Michael Cannon, Erik Santiago, Jess Robinson

$120,793,911

$112,854,050

15

Park & Eleazer Construction, LLC, Clearwater

Andrew Park, Forrest Eleazer

$110,641,661

$40,612,283

16

Crowther Roofing and Sheet Metal, Fort Myers

Lee Crowther, Kevin Callans, Daniel Mazon

$105,000,000

$73,200,000

17

Wright Construction Group, Inc., Fort Myers

Fred Edman, Andy Powell, Mitch Bueltel

$103,000,000

$65,000,000

18

APG, Clearwater

Michael Henley, Christopher Johnson

$93,879,670

$89,026,144

19

McIntyre Elwell & Strammer General Contractors, Sarasota

John McIntyre, Mark Freeman, Ryan McIntyre, Josh Tomlinson, Rich Fredd, Greg Elwell, Frederick Strammer

$90,000,000

$82,000,000

20

Bay to Bay Properties, Safety Harbor

Joe Faw, Jerome Ciliento

$85,000,000

$80,000,000

21

TDS Construction Inc., Bradenton

Christina Scherer Bock, Terri Scherer

$82,500,000

$78,500,000

22

iConstructors LLC, Tampa

Michael Montecalvo, Kevin Murphy, Edward Smith, Brian Truglio, Robert Healy

$80,000,000

$87,930,769

23

Conditioned Air, Naples

Greg Johnson

$76,810,000

$58,430,000

24

Bandes Construction Company, Inc., Dunedin

Robert Bandes

$69,200,000

$67,300,000

25

Woodruff & Sons, Inc., Bradenton

Donald Woodruff Bruce Woodruff, Linda Wakeman

$67,000,000

$70,000,000

26

Summit Design + Build, LLC, Tampa

Adam Miller, Deanna Pegoraro, Victoria Auger

$58,506,296

$54,371,900

27

Florida Asphalt & Concrete, Tampa

Chris LaFace

$51,000,000

$31,000,000

28

Gator Grading & Paving LLC, Palmetto

Kevin Hicks, Ed Hicks

$49,600,000

$32,200,000

29

Sutter Roofing, Sarasota

Doug Sutter, Brad Sutter

$49,350,000

$44,700,000

30

TLC Diversified Inc., Palmetto

Dalas Lamberson

$45,000,000

$39,000,000

31

Heatherwood Construction Company, Bonita Springs

Walter Crawford IV

$45,000,000

$32,000,000

32

Burgess Civil, Tampa

Ben Burgess

$44,000,000

$41,450,000

33

R.E. Crawford Construction, LLC, Sarasota

Jeffrey Smith, Utahna

$41,000,000

$36,957,000

34

Jon F. Swift Construction, Sarasota

Jason Swift, Jon Swift, Ross Russo, Justin Williams

$39,000,000

$41,000,000

35

CFS Roofing Services LLC, Fort Myers

David Crowther

$38,000,000

$32,000,000

BUSINESS OBSERVER

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

TOP CONTRACTORS

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS

Company

Top Executive

2021 Revenue

36

My Shower Door/D3 Glass, Fort Myers

Bill Daubmann

$34,700,000

$25,700,000

37

The Sinclair Group, Tampa

Burk Clark, Graham Clark, Cameron Clark

$34,000,000

$27,000,000

38

Westfall Roofing, Tampa

Kirk Westfall

$32,274,179

$23,907,954

39

J2 Solutions, inc, Venice

David Fouche, Jess Fronckowiak

$30,430,000

$30,740,000

40

Adams Group, North Port

Ethan Adams

$29,000,000

$26,000,000

41

Case Contracting Company, Plant City

Timothy Walker

$28,000,000

$16,000,000

42

ArtisTree Landscape Maintenance & Design, Venice

Joseph Gonzalez, Frank Fistner

$27,015,000

$25,111,675

43

PBS Contractors, Naples

Tim Dupre, Russell Budd

$25,522,871

$18,345,036

44

Mark Williams Construction Co. Inc., Sarasota

Mark Williams, Matt Allen

$25,000,000

$18,000,000

45

Diaz Fritz Group General Contractors, Temple Terrace

Delvis (Del) Diaz, Tom Connella, Wayne Ismark

$25,000,000

$32,000,000

46

Superior Pools, Port Charlotte

Jon Krawczyk

$24,507,091

$42,805,577

47

Springer Construction, Inc., Lakeland

Jeremy Voss, Cole Springer

$23,793,000

$20,907,517

48

Stellar Development, Sarasota

Maurice Opstal, Brian Ellis, Trey Arias

$22,000,000

$22,000,000

49

Masonry Builders Inc., Tampa

Tom Bradley

$20,500,000

$20,200,000

50

Wallace Construction Group, St. Petersburg

Charles Adair, Norris Cole Jr., Thomas LoCicero

$19,030,000

$18,500,000

THE LISTS

2022 Revenue

Note: Manhattan Construction Group has a dual headquarters in Naples and Tulsa, Oklahoma,.

Source: Individual companies; Business Observer Top 50 Contractors issue, March, 2023

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AUGUST 2023 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

BUSINESS OBSERVER

49

FLORIDA 2030 Top projected increases

THE LISTS

7

The Florida Chamber Foundation, to address the state’s rapid growth, has created a blueprint for the state’s future: Florida 2030.

The two-year research program engaged business and community leaders in each of Florida’s 67 counties, say chamber officials. Some of the report’s findings are here and on P. 52 and P. 53. For more, or the full report, go to FLChamber.com/ Florida-2030.

60%

FLORIDA’S DEMOGRAPHICS ARE CHANGING

2 10

Florida’s next 3.5 million people Top number: estimated increase | Bottom number: Percent

Top projected increases 1. Miami-Dade 439,061 2. Orange 417,160 Top 5: 3. Hillsborough 381,826 51.8% 4. Broward 312,725 5. Palm Beach 281,105 6. Lee 234,321 7.

Duval 232,991 Top 10: 217,135 81% 8. Polk 9. Osceola 179,540 10. Pasco 163,709

{

Top growth rates 1. Sumter 2. Osceola 3. St. Johns 4. Walton 5. Lake 6. Flagler 7. Nassau 8. St. Lucie 9. Santa Rosa 10. Lee

3 44.3% 44.2% 43.1% 42.2% 35.9% 35.6% 33.0% 30.4% 30.3% 29.9%

54.30%

9

5

6

DEMOGRAPHICS OF FLORIDA AND THE MOST IMPOVERISHED COMMUNITIES 52.60%

8

4 1

47.50% 45%

30%

26.40%

17.90%

15.50%

15%

0%

50

BUSINESS OBSERVER

White

Hispanic/Latino

Black

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

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FLORIDA 2030 NEVADA TENNESSEE SOUTH CAROLINA

BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS Total income of residents:

It takes SIX states to equal Florida

Florida’s bottom five legal climate in action HOMEOWNERS’ CLAIMS

HOMEOWNERS’ LAWSUITS

NORTH CAROLINA 3.5 TIMES NO. 2 TEXAS Figures in billions; most recent IRS statistics of income

ARIZONA

n 3.6% GDP is spent on Florida’s bottom-five legal climate

TheFloridaScorecard.org

TEXAS

Florida annual rent increase highest in nation Annual rent increase

Source: Rent.com, December 2020

THE LISTS

n Florida families now pay $5,065 each year due to Florida’s bottom-five legal climate

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FLORIDA 2030

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Florida voter registraton as of Dec. 31, 2022

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Florida voter registration as of Dec. 31, 2021 Rep

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THE LISTS

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TONJUA WILLIAMS grew up in St. Petersburg and today is the president of St. Petersburg College.

THE CHANGE-MAKERS

As a young woman, St. Petersburg native Tonjua Williams got an opportunity and has turned it into a career and a calling.

COURTESY

Tonjua Williams PRESIDENT, ST. PETERSBURG COLLEGE

N

o one may be more surprised to learn that Tonjua Williams i s t he pre sident of St .

Petersburg College than her former high school teachers.

That may sound disparaging.

But it’s not. In fact, it’s something W i l l i a m s op e n l y e m br a c e s , something that, in a way, she wears as a badge of honor.

T he reason for t h is is t hat Williams’ poor academic record turned out to be a stepping stone that put her on a path to leading St. Petersburg College.

The college, which offers classes at 12 campuses and centers, has a total enrollment of 39,540 students, according to its 2020/2021 factbook.

Of those, some 15,000 were full-time equivalent students, data from the 2023 Florida College System Enrollment Estimating Conference shows. A four-year institution, it’s the sixth-largest community college in Florida and has 2,393 employees.

“My high school GPA was, I think, 2.0. It might have been less than that,” Williams says. “I was not a good high school student. Part of it 54

BUSINESS OBSERVER

was helping my mom, a single mom, so I had opportunities to work at an early age and school wasn’t really my priority.”

Williams, 59, was raised in south St. Petersburg, one of three children to a single mother.

When she graduated high school in the early 1980s, she had no plans for college.

But her mother was in church one day when someone asked if there was anybody who had a student who could go to Clearwater Christian College.

The school, which closed in 2015, was then a small nondenominational college. When the opportunity, which included a partial scholarship, presented itself, Williams’ mother, Willie Harris, jumped at the chance. Education was important to Willie, whose impressive parental track record includes a son, Arvys Harris, who works in the intelligence industry and a daughter, Lyn Harris, who is an attorney, along with Williams.

Even though she wasn’t prepared, her daughter needed to go

to college.

At the time, Williams recalls, Clearwater Christian may have had as many as 200 students and she was the first Black one. It was strict, too. Women had to wear skirts, and there were white glove inspections.

This was a different world from the south St. Pete neighborhood she grew up in, but it was what she needed right then.

Williams wound up taking 21 hours per semester to avoid having to take summer classes. She worked to help pay for school.

The experience turned out to be transformational.

She was elected Clea r water C h r i s t i a n ’s e q u i v a l e n t o f

BE THE CHANGE Tonjua Williams started work in the accounting department at what was then St. Petersburg Junior College in 1986. At the time, she aspired to become a counselor. “That was it,” she says. Now, 37 years later, she is president of the college and working to create an educational institution that helps students find opportunities and grow despite any challenges they may face.

homecoming queen and became a dor m mon itor. A nd, most importantly, she became a student.

W i l l ia ms g raduated f rom Clearwater Christian in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in humanities.

Two years later, she earned her s e c ond bac helor ’s f r om t he college, t his time in business administration. She would wind up getting a master’s degree in education from the USF in 1996 and a doctorate in higher education ad m i n ist rat ion f rom Ba r r y University in 2007.

“I just really learned a lot about me during that time. I don’t think I would have made it anywhere else because I had so much to learn about higher education study habits,” Williams says. “And there were no big parties or anything. We were constantly learning there. It was good for me.”

Williams has brought the lessons to her work and for 37 years — starting as a senior accounting clerk and then moving into recruiting, administration, the classroom and the provost’s office — she has been working to help make St. Petersburg College the kind of place Clearwater Christian was for her.

“At St. Petersburg College, we were born and developed to help people change their lives,” she says.

The college, which until 2001 was St. Petersburg Junior College, is an open-door school. Williams says that means that all a person needs to gain admission is have a high school diploma or a GED high school equivalency diploma.

“And then it’s our turn as an institution to help you through and recognize who you can be and the opportunities,” she says. “We’re designed to help you unlock those opportunities and go from poverty to prosperity. And that’s what small colleges can do because they can pay attention to their students and give them what they need to succeed.”

— LOUIS LLOVIO

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THE CHANGE-MAKERS

In looking ahead, Matt Beall looks back to the advice of his grandfather: Changing up things is essential to any strong business model.

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Matt Beall CEO, BEALLS

I

t would be easy to think a family retail business launched during World War I that goes back four generations is reluctant to change — something must be working to last that long.

But Matt Beall, the fourth-generation leader of Bradenton-based Bealls, is guided, in part, by a lesson learned from his grandfather, Egbert “E.R.” Beall. “He told me if you’re still doing what you did last year today, then you will fall behind,” Matt Beall says.

That advice drives Beall, 44, forward. His tenure as CEO started in December 2019, and since then he’s overseen a multitude of changes, both big and small. Some are tangible, like in the names of the stores.

Other tangible changes are less visible to customers, like replacing the company’s 100-strong fleet of cars with electric vehicles, which is about two-thirds complete, and ending the use of pesticides for landscaping on the corporate campus. And other changes lean more intangible and internal, like increasing training opportunities and pushing employees to be more entrepreneurial — a big task with a payroll of 15,000.

The most recent big change at Bealls, with $1.87 billion in revenue in 2022, is in store names. What was Bealls Outlet and Burkes Outlet, with more than 600 locations in 23 states, is now simply Bealls. And the 68 non-outlet stores in the Sunshine State are now under the name Bealls Florida. Those changes were announced in April, and by late June, stores that had undergone the changes were seeing a 9% increase in foot traffic, Beall says. Sales were BUSINESS OBSERVER

MARK WEMPLE

MATT BEALL joined the family run retailer in 2004 and was named CEO in 2019.

up 5% at those locations. “It was a big investment, and we feel like it’s going really well,” Beall says.

One element of the brand name change Beall displayed behind the scenes was patience. He says he’d been thinking about a change that would simplify and connect the names better for at least a decade, as he worked his way up in the company. Upon being named CEO,

BE THE CHANGE In a little less than four years as CEO of Bealls, Matt Beall has been part of some significant changes at the $1.87 billion Bradentonbased retailer. For starters, there were myriad disruptions caused by the pandemic.

Other changes run from internal to external. One thing Beall says he won’t change?

His undercover boss-like, incognito check-in on stores during his travels. He goes in in “regular clothes and a hat,” he says. “A lot of executives go through stores with an entourage. That’s not my style.”

he held a series of meetings and sessions with senior executives and others to discuss the pros and cons.

Longtime executive Tianne Doyle, named president of the company in March, was on board. But Beall says for something that significant “we needed buy-in from the executive team and others.”

The Beall name has been a constant in the company since R.M. Beall opened a small-town fiveand-dime in Bradenton in 1915 with, according to the company’s website, “one single purpose: outfitting families for less.” R.M. Beall’s son, E.R. Beall, joined the business in 1940. And the third generation, Robert “Bob” Beall II, led the company as president from 1980 through 2006. In the time between Beall II left the CEO position and Matt Beall took over in 2019, the company was led by longtime executive Steve Knopik — the only non-Beall to oversee the business.

Matt Beall, in seeking to make his own mark on the company, says it was critical to work his way up. That started in the stockroom of the Manatee Avenue Bealls store in Bradenton when he was in high school and college. “People see you are willing to do anything and they

know you are not above anyone,” says Beall, quipping that since his dad started as a janitor, he had a “step up.”

Beall had a short stint outside of Bealls after college, as an assistant buyer for Ross Stores. Then, starting in 2004 as a buyer for the outlets, Beall worked his way up in the business. His experience includes serving as a store manager and working in nearly every corporate f u nc t ion, i nclud i ng bu y i ng , planning, marketing, exclusive brands, finance, logistics and store operations.

Beall says five or 10 years ago, he put a lot of pressure on himself, given his name, spotlight and expectations. Some of that might go back to when he was a kid and teenager with his family out meeting people: They would ask the young Beall, ‘Are you going to be in the business someday?’ Beall recalls. “I would say yes, and they would say, ‘Don’t screw it up.’”

More recently, Beall says while the “legacy history of this company is extremely cool when I take the time to reflect on it,” he spends his time looking forward, not behind.

Looking way into the future, Beall has four kids, and says he won’t pressure them to join the company.

“I want them to decide on their own,” he says, adding there are 15 next-generation Bealls across the family, from three months to 22 years old, who could enter the business.

On his own future, Beall is excited about what technology can do to help Bealls become even more customer-centric. He also believes the company’s brands outside the spotlight from the department stores and outlets, specifically Home Centric and Earth Rugged Outfitters, are well-positioned to grow.

Then there are the threats inherent in running a big and complex business in a fast-changing industry. “There’s always something to think about coming around next,” he says. “It’s retail. If you’re not thinking about what could happen next, you are failing as a leader.”

— MARK GORDON BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

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Marie Grasmeier

FOUNDER, GRASMEIER BUSINESS CONSULTING

THE CHANGE-MAKERS

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a r ie Gra smeier’s pat h to a Southwest Florida international accounting and consulting firm went through three continents before landing at Fort Myers.

Since she became an American and international accountant, Grasmeier has seen change not just in her career course, but in her global client base.

“I love it when my clients are growing,” says Grasmeier, 48. “It’s amazing how some businesses start as a ‘mom-and-pop,’ and they’re growing and expanding internationally.”

It’s that last part that is tricky.

International businesses need to follow the various tax rules of the United States and the other nations, and that’s where Grasmeier comes in. Her accounting practice, Fort Myers-based Grasmeier Business Consulting, goes beyond numbers and advises international business clients on other issues, including recommending legal services.

Grasmeier herself had to get familiar with the United States as a 19-year-old student. Grasmeier was born in South Korea and adopted by a Swedish couple. Her father was an accountant, so when she headed to Florida Atlantic University as a foreign student, she decided to pick a career quite unlike that of her father: medicine. She studied pre-med for a while — but it was not quite catching.

Taking advice, with people noting accounting majors are highly sought after, she switched fields.

Her grades were great. And, as with most successful accounting majors, she was recruited even before she came into the job market, in 1999. “(Accou nt i ng majors) were heavily recruited on campus,” says Grasmeier. “I got several job offers.”

Despite her advanced degree and her familiarity with Europe, Grasmeier never entertained serious notions of becoming a tax accountant in some other part of the world. “I love this country,” says Grasmeier.

Thus, Grasmeier began working at a Southwest Florida firm that had many clients doing taxes from outside the United States. Florida was growing, and investors from Australia, Malaysia Singapore, Canada and Europe wanted in. But investment here meant taxes, and foreign investors needed help.

BUSINESS OBSERVER

MARIE GRASMEIER didn’t fret about starting an international tax accounting firm more than a decade ago.

As her book of business grew, Grasmeier began to ponder more change: maybe she would start her own business.

But was the timing right? By 2009, the nation was in a deep recession.

Grasmeier was a new mother, having given birth in 2007. It didn’t seem like a good time to start her own business. But that’s exactly

BE THE CHANGE Marie Grasmeier has lived a lifetime of change — always with a goal to better herself, and later, clients. The list for Grasmeier, born in South Korea, includes coming to America as a 19-year-old student; switching college majors from pre-med to accounting; launching an accounting business in the aftermath of the 2008 housing bust; and even running the New York City Marathon.

what she decided to do — to change when change seemed against the odds.

Looking back, Grasmeier seems surprised she wasn’t swayed by the challenges of a poor economy or the recent advent of motherhood. But Grasmeier felt she could offer clients a better service. With less overhead, she was also able to offer lower prices, and that drew new customers, even during the downturn.

From the start, Grasmeier tried to change and innovate how her accounting-focused business worked.

She declined to use paper until the final product was ready, preferring to use digital tools such as PDFs. She also began advising clients outside accounting, helping them establish U.S.-based LLCs and getting important tax ID numbers.

Even property management has drawn requests to Grasmeier, which she easily could have eschewed, even as a tiny part of consulting.

She instead embraced it, and gets

her clients the managers they need.

Much of the multiple needs come because Grasmeier’s clients do so much real estate investment in the United States (mostly Florida, she says). It brings up the needs for taxes, LLC creations and property management. It also brings up the differing priorities nations have.

Grasmeier says the United States and foreign nations will often have different tax goals and incentives.

It’s just one reason why Grasmeier has expanded her network to CPAs in other nations — to talk and consult on various issues.

One example Grasmeier gives as to incentives is the drying up of margins in Australia, given taxation and regulation. In response, she says, many Australians invest in Florida. Australians make up about 10% of her 1,500 clients.

There are lots of Canadians too, as they also find their margins shrinking back home.

Demand for Grasmeier’s services is growing. In 2023, she projects $1 million in gross revenue, which would be more than double 2021.

She has three employees, but that fluctuates given the tax season.

It’s a long way from where she started in 2009, partially on a blind dream. “I never thought of all the things that could go wrong,” says Grasmeier. “I do believe in God and believe everything happens for a reason.”

— JIM STINSON

COURTESY

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THE CHANGE-MAKERS

MARK WEMPLE

Tampa Bay Rays Co-President BRIAN AULD has led the team to become one of the most innovative in Major League baseball.

Brian Auld CO-PRESIDENT, TAMPA BAY RAYS

F

rom defen sive sh i f t s to openers, the Tampa Bay Rays are the undisputed change agents of Major League Baseball.

With a lower budget to work with than most other clubs, the Rays’ front office creativity has helped the team punch well above its weight on the field: The Rays have made the playoffs five times over the past decade, including in 2020, when they advanced to the World Series but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the 2020s, the team’s winning percentage is a stellar .589, with a cost-per-win ratio that’s one of the best in baseball.

A big part of the Rays’ brain trust is Brian Auld, an 18-year veteran of the organization. The Stanford University and Harvard Business School g raduate wa s na med co-president, along w ith Matt Silverman, nine years ago. The duo filled the void left by Andrew

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Friedman, who departed in 2014 to become president of the Dodgers.

In 2019, when the Rays bought the Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer franchise, Auld added another title to his business card: vice chairman of the Rowdies.

As opposed to many baseball “lif-

BE THE CHANGE Tampa Bay Rays Co-President Brian Auld has been with the team for nearly two decades, and in recent years he’s emerged as the face of the Major League Baseball franchise. His salesmanlike affability, however, overshadows his keen intellect and a dedication to community service that doesn’t always show up in news headlines.

ers” in similar positions for other MLB teams, Auld started his career as an elementary school teacher and administrator. He joined the Rays in 2005 at the behest of Silverman, with whom he attended high school in Texas.

“While my colleagues were just getting started in the business world, when you have to be ‘on’ every single day and you’re responsible for 25 kids, you learn about planning, you learn about how to connect with people, no matter what,” Auld said in a 2019 interview with the Business Observer. “There’s something about trying to get an idea through to a 9-year-old that makes you realize that just yelling at them for not understanding is not going to be productive, so you have to try another route.”

Communication has been a double-edged sword for Auld. He’s been the public face of the Rays over the past few years as the organization’s quest for a new stadium has grown more urgent. In late 2014, soon after his promotion to president, some business leaders accused him of arrogance and tone deafness during a St. Petersburg City Council

discussion about the future of the Tropicana Field site and whether the Rays should be free to explore other locations for a new stadium in the Tampa Bay region.

Bemetra Simmons, CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership — Auld was named chairman of the partnership in 2022 — says such occurrences could be viewed in another light: as an indicator of Auld’s high intelligence. “Brian is incredibly smart,” she says. “I think one of his biggest gifts is that he’s able to take complex things and give them back to you in an almost ‘FisherPrice’-type way, which is impressive. It almost comes across as if he’s winging it, but that’s how you know you’re doing something right, when it looks effortless.”

Auld’s combination of intelligence, vision and communication skills has served him well over the past couple of years when he essentially served as head cheerleader for the Rays’ controversial “Sister City” proposal, a plan that would’ve seen the team split its season between new open-air stadiums in St. Pete and Montreal. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred killed that potential deal, but not before Auld went on a charm offensive that convinced numerous local leaders and organizations it was the right plan for solving the Rays’ attendance woes and saving baseball in Tampa Bay. Going into the final month of the 2023 baseball season, the Rays’ situation with a new home had what seemed to be a path forward, with the massive historic Gas Plant Dis-

See AULD page 72

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THE CHANGE-MAKERS

Lilah Taha-Rippett says doing something you hate ‘could be good for you,’ and lead you to previously unseen career opportunities.

LILAH TAHA-RIPPETT has been a supply chain executive at First Watch since 2017.

MARK WEMPLE

Lilah Taha-Rippett SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF SUPPLY CHAIN, FIRST WATCH

F

irst Watch Restaurant Group executive Lilah Taha-Rippett was in desperate need of truck drivers in August 2020.

She wasn’t moving. And she also wasn’t seeking to hire anyone at that time — at least not truckers.

Instead, Taha-Rippett was trying to find some drivers hauling stuff for U.S. Foods. First Watch, one of the largest breakfast-brunchlunch chains in the country, with more than 500 locations, had just switched suppliers. And Taha-Rippett, who oversees supply chain for the east Manatee County-based company, wanted to thank the people driving that switch with First Watch gift cards and appreciation.

So Taha-Rippett, 65, drove up and down Interstate 75 to track down the drivers. “I wanted them to know that what they were doing was important,” Taha-Rippett says.

That mindset, of including everyone in the process of change 62

BUSINESS OBSERVER

and elevating the people around her in that process, is partly how Taha-Rippett has built such a successful career in supply chain management. At First Watch, where she’s been senior vice president of supply chain since 2017, Taha-Rippett, say company officials, created an efficient and proactive supply chain team amid the pandemic.

BE THE CHANGE Longtime restaurant supply chain executive Lilah TahaRippett says changing a business model, strategy or approach, no matter the industry, usually falls back to taking the time to build better relationships. She regularly tells her team at First Watch to “go high, go wide and go deep,” when working with vendors, suppliers and others.

Ta ha-Rippett is a lso k now n among the First Watch leadership team as a get-stuff-done executive.

Part of that is from growing up in Dearborn, Michigan, a firstgeneration American daughter of Lebanese parents who owned and ran a grocery store. Not only from a prove-yourself immigrant work ethic, but it’s also where TahaRippett discovered her spunk — and learned a valuable lesson in restaurant customer service.

That stems from when Taha-Rippett, frustrated with working for the family business without a salary, decided, at 16, to get a “real job,” at a McDonald’s. She and a friend both got gigs at the Golden Arches.

Early into the job, a manager told the teens they had to clean the bathrooms. The friend balked. And then quit. But Taha-Rippett stayed.

And she pressed the manager on why the newbies had to clean toilets.

The manager answered with a question of his own. “I know people are coming here for the burgers and

shakes, but why do you think they come back?”

Taha-Rippett shrugged. “‘They come back,” she says the manager responded, “‘because the bathrooms are clean.’”

That lesson has resonated with Taha-Rippett, and she now often advises colleagues, mentees and others: “Don’t say no to something you hate; it could be good for you.”

She’s also parlayed that into multiple leadership positions with several restaurant companies, a big one being Tampa-based Bloomin’ Brands, where she was vice president of supply chain from 2003 to 2014. Taha-Rippett has also held strategy, purchasing and operations positions with Uno Restaurants, Qdoba Mexican Grill and Benihana.

One of the core tasks TahaRippett took on when she joined First Watch six years ago was to make sure the food supply side of the business kept up with the rapid growth. Publicly traded First Watch, with $719.18 million in revenue in 2022, has come through on the growth side. It’s now a national leader in the breakfast-brunchlunch market, which it essentially created when it opened the first First Watch, in California, in 1983.

Part of Taha-Rippet’s strategy is to plan way ahead. In summer 2023 for instance, she and her First Watch supply chain team of seven, in conjunction with the company’s head chef, were already looking at ingredients and menu items for early 2025. The strategy also includes holding the supply chain department’s mission — “keep First Watch first in line,” she says — close by.

While supply chain anxieties constantly linger, from hurricanes to avian flu, Taha-Rippett’s true up-at-night worry is having to tell one of the 12,000-plus First Watch employees working in one of the restaurants to “86” something — industry lingo for being out of an item. “If there’s a dishwasher in one of our restaurants who doesn’t have the right cleaning chemicals (then) we are making his job harder,” Taha-Rippett says. “And I take that personally.”

— MARK GORDON

BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

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THE CHANGE-MAKERS

Tri-Town Construction, founded by MARC DEVISSE, is working on a new homes project on post-Hurricane Ian Fort Myers Beach.

Marc Devisse FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, TRI-TOWN CONSTRUCTION

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arc Devisse personifies the axiom that in business, the only constant is change.

“You have to be f lexible and adaptable,” Devisse says. “You can’t be stuck in your ways when bad stuff happens.”

The Fort Myers entrepreneur is most widely known around Southwest Florida for Tri-Town Construction, a luxury homebuilder and kitchen, bathroom and home renovation business he founded in 2006, when he was 23. But in the 17 years since then, Devisse has consistently sought avenues to do things differently. That includes opening a restaurant to diversify his revenue streams, and, more recently, launching a roofing business, Florida Roofing and Gutter, to meet a surge in postHurricane Ian demand.

It also includes making a significant investment in time and money on changing his business and personal mindset by working with, among others, self-improvement guru Tony Robbins. “If you’re in 64

BUSINESS OBSERVER

with Tony Robbins,” Devisse says, “there’s no question you are becoming a better person.”

In addition, Devisse has been part of an Apex entrepreneur group, traveling once a month to Dallas for sessions on mindset, relationships and more. “The last few years have been extremely big on selfimprovement,” says Devisse, 40.

“I’ve been working on myself and getting out of being in the business so I can work on the business.”

The desire to start and run a business goes back to when Devisse was growing up, first in Chicago and then when he was a teenager in Southwest Florida. His mom was in real estate and his dad owned a small business. He almost started a pet-sitting company when he was 12 or 13. And when he was 14, he took a job washing dishes at a Punta Gorda fish market.

That kind of hustle foreshadowed Devisse’s career. He launched TriTown, for starters, at the dawn of what became the 2008-09 housing bust and recession. Then a recent

STEFANIA PIFFERI

graduate of Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Devisse worked for local developer Rich Galvano. But that firm’s work, in houses and multifamily projects, soon dried up. “Rich said to me ‘I love you, but I can’t pay you,’” Devise says his boss and mentor told him. “‘I can’t pay you to hang out.’”

That’s when Devisse embraced t he opp or t u n it y t o c h a n ge d i rect ions, f rom work i ng for someone to working for himself.

He started with smaller jobs, as low as $1,000, working on soffits and gutters and painting a bedroom.

One night, Devisse started talking to someone sitting next to him at a bar, and the conversation resulted in a $10,000 job renovating a lanai.

Other Tri-Town projects included bu i ld i ng t h ree Ji m my Joh n’s sandw ich shops in Southwest Florida and a condo renovation in Pelican Bay, a high-end community in Collier County. The latter project turned into a long-term win for Devisse: The condo owner hosted a wine and cheese party for him after the project, and other owners in the complex, impressed with Devisse’s work, called Tri-Town for jobs. “I’m still getting calls off that party 15 years later,” Devisse says.

Devisse led Tri-Town to become a $8 million business. Then, in 2019,

Marc Devisse overcame opening a restaurant during COVID, which now serves as a confidencebooster for other ventures — and his personal life.

Devisse decided to open a restaurant. Over eight months he obtained an SBA loan and, combined with savings, invested $1 million to open the eatery, Seaside Bar & Grill in Bonita Springs. Opening night, though, turned out to be the worst possible day: March 17, 2020, when restaurants and bars across Florida were shuttered due to COVID-19.

Devisse again embraced change.

He turned to takeout orders to make some money and build a brand. They ordered produce in bulk from Sysco and then sold groceries to customers. “Every day was something different,” he says.

Devisse was soon working 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Tri-Town followed by 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Seaside. After stabilizing the restaurant and building community support, Devisse, going back to personal change, found an exit strategy: He sold the restaurant in May. Devisse has a “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” outlook on Seaside now that it’s in the rearview mirror.

“I learned a lot about how to be resilient,” he says. “If you’re able to get through that, it shows you have a lot of tenacity and a lot of creativity. I think if you could get through starting a restaurant in COVID, you can get through anything.”

— MARK GORDON

BE THE CHANGE With the experience of starting businesses on the cusp of a recession and at the onset of the pandemic — and surviving — Fort Myers construction entrepreneur Marc Devisse now wants to pay it forward.

He’s been counseling other business owners, both in and out of his field, to help them find ways to change and adapt to difficult circumstances. So far, Devisse has been doing it for free, but he hopes to build a leadership coaching business one day.

Cheers to

20

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wenty years goes by quickly when you love what you do, the people working alongside you and the community you serve. We’re celebrating two decades of delivering smart banking and lending solutions to our customers, taking care of our SanCap Bank family and supporting the community who has been so good to us.

SanCap Bank started as a small island bank chartered on Sanibel and has grown to eight locations throughout Lee County with over 110 employees. Although we’re a little bigger these days, we’re still that small island bank at heart. We pledge to remain locally owned and operated with the unwavering commitment to our customers, team members and community we’ve had since the day we opened.

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Devaney Iglesias EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MANAGER, FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT

THE CHANGE-MAKERS

O

ne of the first big changes in Devaney Iglesias’ life was the geographical and culture shock of moving from Miami, her hometown, to Huntington, West Virginia. She relocated to the Mountaineer State in 2013 to attend graduate school at Marshall University. “I moved in the middle of a blizzard in January,” adds Iglesias, who goes by Dev. But she quickly adapted to her new environment and pursued a career in sports communications.

She was on her way, too. She was sports information director for Marshall for a stint and a project manager for an Atlanta-based high school event marketing firm.

“I wanted to be an agent,” she says, adding her favorite sport is baseball, and “I was going to be the agent for the next Miguel Cabrera.”

Only the excitement soon turned to a grind, and Iglesias got burned out. “I wanted to work for a company where I could have a long career

and lay down roots,” she says.

The mom of a close friend from childhood had spent decades at Florida Power & Light. Iglesias reached out about a job there, and got one in marketing and communications, working out of the company’s Juno Beach headquarters. A subsidiary of NextEra Energy, FPL serves some 5.7 million customer accounts, or 12 million people, across Florida. NextEra and its other subsidiaries combined for nearly $21 billion in revenue in 2022.

Iglesias, 32, not only wanted to put down roots for an established business, but she also, in some ways, sought to find an environment like she had while growing up in Hialeah. That’s where her large Cuban family, with dozens of cousins, aunts and uncles, not to mention her sisters and parents and grandparents, formed a loud and loving community, with many quinceaneras and backyard get-togethers. “I had the absolute greatest

BE THE CHANGE

childhood,” she says.

A relative in her grandfather’s generation was the first to make it to the U.S. from Cuba, and he started a business out of an efficiency apartment, making baby furniture. That business grew over the years, Iglesias says, and became a go-to spot for baby furniture and clothes around town. “I grew up climbing around all the boxes and making forts in the warehouse,” she says.

Iglesias’ new work home at FPL, which she joined in 2017, is like her family in that there’s always something happening, and sometimes, to move ahead, you have to stick up for yourself. That’s how, at 29, in June 2020, she landed a big promotion: being named area manager for external affairs of FPL’s Sarasota-Manatee market, which encompasses some 640,000 commercial and residential accounts across five counties, including DeSoto, Highlands and Glades. She’s now the local face of FPL, from customer disputes to storm preparation and

Devaney Iglesias made a big change in her life in summer 2020, when she moved across Florida, from the east coast to Sarasota-Bradenton, to take on a leadership role with Florida Power & Light. The past three years have been something of a whirlwind as the energy provider strives to keep up with ever-increasing power demands as the state’s population continues to surge.

One of the biggest changes on Iglesias’ mind going forward is, not surprisingly, helping FPL provide more solar power options and opportunities. aftermath to serving on boards.

(She’s the incoming chair of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, for one example.)

Iglesias replaced Rae Dowling, who held that role at FPL for 14 years and was well known around the region as a connector and problem solver. “She’s a legend,” Iglesias says. “It was really hard to fill her shoes.”

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BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

DEVANEY IGLESIAS was named external affairs manager for the SarasotaManatee market for Florida Power & Light in June 2020.

With the pandemic in its infancy in 2020, Devaney Iglesias took on a big task: taking over a high-profile position for a retiring FPL executive.

helping the team adapt to the change in leadership, Iglesias utilizes several key principles in change management. For one, she encourages the team to think differently on problems. “Just

because someone hasn’t done something,” she says, “doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t look into it.”

She also wants to keep employees focused on FPL’s north star — to

THE CHANGE-MAKERS

MARK WEMPLE

provide reliable, cost-effective and clean power for customers. “I want our people to see the bigger picture because sometimes they get buried in the day-to-day work at FPL,” she says. “My job is to make sure we all look up every once in awhile.”

And Iglesias says she aims to lead, and learn, by example. She won’t hesitate, she says, to call people she admires, for example, in any field, and ask to pick their brains.

“I’m always interested in meeting people who are successful and are real change makers,” she says.

One element of her ca reer, more than a decade in, that hasn’t changed is the significant role her immediate and extended family plays in her life. A mom of two young children, she loves to boast about her siblings and husband, and knows whenever she sees her relatives at family gatherings, she is bound to be asked some variation of: How’s work? Have you been promoted yet? What cool things are you doing?

“Everything I am today is because of my grandparents and parents,” she says. “I want them to be proud of me.”

— MARK GORDON

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AUGUST 2023 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

Jennifer B. Compton Chair, Management Committee and Sarasota Managing Partner

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Stuart Haniff CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, HARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK

had at the senior level makes him well seasoned.

A mentor of Haniff’s offered him a position at Feeding America R iver side-Sa n Ber na rd i no, California, as chief philanthropy officer 10 years ago. Then, in 2019, he became the CEO at The Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley in Pharr, Texas.

In the first 18 months of that job, Haniff led the food bank through the pandemic, one of the worst winter freezes to hit Texas and a hurricane that hit the food bank.

Amid all that, Haniff found ways to lift up employees — a nod to his leadership style. During the fall of the pandemic, for example, pumpkin patches were closed.

Using the food banks’ farm and garden, Haniff found a way to build their own pumpkin patch, complete with hay bales.

“It was more than a pumpkin patch,” he says. “It (showed) everyone how powerful and vital they were.”

After putting together a charity event during a stint in the entertainment industry, Stuart Haniff realized how much good he could put out into the world.

While he enjoyed being a part of the entertainment industry, it didn’t satisfy his soul like the work he’s done at several food banks. Without that work, the question, he says, of “who’s going to do it?” would go unanswered.

A s one m ig ht a f t er t h r e e extremes, he needed a change of pace and took a role as vice president of ph i la nt h ropy at Feeding South Florida last year.

Still not finding the right fit, a recruiter for Harry Chapin reached out earlier this year. As he was familiar with the brand and the community, it was an easy yes.

“I was excited for the possibility of rebuilding a community after the hurricane,” he says.

Haniff says there’s a misconception about the food bank that because it’s named after well-known singer Harry Chapin that it’s well-

off and doesn’t need support. But just like other places across the region, Haniff says the food bank’s needs have skyrocketed. Last fiscal year, the food bank distributed over 35 million pounds of food.

Conversations surrounding a new facility to address demand are in the works. The current building in Fort Myers, he says, was designed as a warehouse with low ceilings, so making use out of racks is reduced.

In the meantime, the food bank is unveiling a new program in August: a mobile grocery experience called Fresh Force, which will bring the groceries to the community.

Haniff says the vehicle — a grocery store in a trailer — will have a schedule for the two to three days a week it operates.

Each stop is expected to serve 2040 families. Haniff says it took a couple hundred thousand dollars to get the program started.

Food banks haven’t always been Haniff’s career, as evidenced by his background as an entertainment publicist and event planner. But the time he spent organizing special events and galas for celebrity charities hasn’t gone to waste.

While in Southern California, where he was born and raised, one

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THE CHANGE-MAKERS

W

hen Stuart Haniff was a young boy, his father, a pediatrician who offered services to low income patients, would go to the emergency room late at night to see patients who would pay him $5.

This concept didn’t make sense to the young Haniff, who’s now in his early 50s, but the answer he received when he questioned it would stick with him. “He looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Because if I don’t, who will?’”

Haniff remembers the interaction with his father well. The newly appointed chief development officer at Harry Chapin Food Bank, a hunger-relief organization that serves Charlotte, Collier, Hendry, Glades and Lee counties, has applied that notion throughout the years since. “If we’re not here, what happens to the people who are depending on us?”

His career with food banks in general isn’t that extensive in terms of time. But the experiences he’s

BE THE CHANGE

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BusinessObserverFL.com ■ AUGUST 2023

STEFANIA PIFFERI

Stuart Haniff has been on a mission to end hunger after learning an important lesson from his father at a young age.

If he doesn’t do it, then who will?

of the first events he organized was a gala to raise money for a mobile health clinic. Haniff remembers thinking a lot of visits to that clinic — bipolar disease, HIV, teen pregnancies — were similar to

daytime soap opera storylines. He came up with the idea of hosting a Daytime Emmy Awards gala on the West Coast. Until then, those shows had always been hosted in New York.

THE CHANGE-MAKERS

STUART HANIFF says the Harry Chapin Food Bank feeds 250,000 people a month — about 3 million pounds of food.

“We created so much buzz that ABC made the decision to move the Emmys to Hollywood,” Haniff says. More than 100 soap opera stars showed up and the gala raised $250,000.

While Haniff enjoyed his time in the spotlight, he doesn’t question his decision to become involved with food banks. Being in the entertainment industry made him happy, he says, but working at food banks “moves my heart.”

It also drives his push to bring some glitz and glamour to Harry Chapin. “I would love to bring a little Hollywood to Southwest Florida,” he says.

Despite his burning passion to help the less fortunate, Haniff has some days when he doesn’t want to get out of bed. But the drive Haniff learned from his father has also been instilled in his own daughter, Hilary, who’s 23, with Haniff receiving little reminders from her like, “‘If you don’t get up in the morning, how are other people going to get up in the morning?’

And, “‘Because you came here today, someone’s able to eat.’”

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AUGUST 2023 ■ BusinessObserverFL.com

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69

THE CHANGE-MAKERS

JULIE FLETCHER PHOTOGRAPHY

KEN LAROE founded Climate First Bank in 2021.

Ken LaRoe FOUNDER AND CEO, CLIMATE FIRST BANK

C

ha nge — as i n cl i mate change — is at the core of Ken LaRoe’s latest banking venture.

Climate First Bank, the third community bank he’s founded, recently celebrated two years in business. Headquartered in St. Petersburg, it provides traditional banking services, but its lending ac-

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tivity is heavily focused on financing solar-energy installations, electric vehicle charging stations and other green-based innovations.

The bank had $332.79 million in assets through March 31, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. “It’s just like everything converged, now is the time, and it’s all paying off,” LaRoe says.

LaRoe, however, is no cynical opportunist who merely talks the talk.

Environmental sustainability and progressive values have long been part of his DNA as a businessman.

For example, the bank he founded in 2009, Mount Dora-based First Green Bank, was the first bank in the eastern United States with an environmental and social responsibility mission statement. It provided low-interest commercial loans for solar energy projects and banking services to the medical marijuana industry.

Prior to its official opening in June 2021, Climate First Bank proved there was an appetite for its model, when it raised $44 million.

Now entering the final year of its regulatory startup stage, LaRoe says the bank aspires to quickly expand its loan portfolio beyond Florida. “We’re encouraged not to lend outside of the state until we get out of de novo,” he says, “but if we’ve got a sponsor in Florida, we can do it.”

That provision has allowed Climate First Bank to finance projects generating large amounts of megawatts but also smaller ones that at first glance might not fit the bank’s mission statement. Like with a gas station and convenience store loan LaRoe didn’t think the bank would approve.

“It was quite fascinating,” he says.

“That was our first loan that went to our directors’ committee, because it was over a certain amount. It was big, like $5 million for new construction of a giant convenience store, similar to a Wawa. One of my directors was really opposed to it. Our sustainability officer was really opposed to it, saying, ‘It’s the last mile of dirty energy. It’s a convenience store. There’s nothing in there that’s good for humans.’”

L a R o e , h o w e v e r, s a w a n opportunity. The bank got the developers to agree to cover the convenience store’s roof with solar panels and install electric vehicle charging stations.

“That’s a ‘just transition,’ in quotes,” he says. “You’ve probably heard that talked about. We have to have ‘just transitions.’” For example, “We can’t just leave everybody in Appalachia without jobs because there’s no more coal.”

The loan won approval with just one director objecting, and the process makes it more likely similar future deals will be OK’d, because gas station developers and operators, LaRoe says, “know

Ken LaRoe’s mission-driven bank is zeroing in on $400 million in assets and a new headquarters. they’re not going to be pumping gas in 15 years.”

So far, LaRoe hasn’t noticed many banks in Florida following the lead of Climate First Bank, but on a national level, there’s been some traction. For example, Forbright Bank, a $ 6.4 billion Potomac, Maryland-based institution, is solely focused on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. “They’re all over it,” LaRoe says. “There’s some cool stuff going on. It’s just, unfortunately, not in Florida.”

Still, the bank’s impact hasn’t gone unnoticed. In April, for example, it added a prominent board member: Jarred Fayson, who played wide receiver for the Florida Gators during the 2006 national championship season and today is a Nature Conservancy board member in addition to serving as chairman of the Fisheries Council’s Florida chapter.

The bank has also been aggressive in the fintech space, acquiring Ecountabl, a startup that created a way to index environmental, social and governance performance for more than 10,000 companies, allowing customers to track how brands from which they buy align with their personal values. Climate First Bank already had a similar system in place called OneEthos — a wholly owned subsidiary the bank credits with helping it reach more than $200 million in assets and exceed $140 million in loans within its first 12 months in business — but

See LAROE page 72

BE THE CHANGE Climate First Bank, led by Ken LaRoe, is at the forefront of values-based financial services. His St. Petersburgbased bank opened in 2021 and quickly made a name for itself as a lender that supports solar power installations, electric vehicle infrastructure and other sustainable energy solutions.

35 Mules is the first in-house innovation hub backed by a global energy leader.

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BIG BOOK OF BUSINESS AULD from 60

THE CHANGE-MAKERS

trict redevelopment. In January, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch chose the Rays and its Houston-based development partner, Hines, to remake the 86-acre Tropicana Field site in downtown St. Pete. The estimated $4 billion project includes a proposal for a new baseball stadium, in addition to more than 5,700 multifamily units; 600 senior living units; 700 hotel units and more.

Auld has also facilitated change in other ways through his position with the Rays, particularly off the field. In 2015, he led an effort to have the Rays file an amicus brief in

LAROE from 70 jumped at the chance to merge it with an industry leader.

T he c om bi ne d O neEt ho s / Ecountabl platform hasn’t launched yet, but LaRoe anticipates it will resonate with a growing number of

Brian Auld does a lot of work that doesn’t necessarily make the sports, or news, headlines.

support of Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court case that resulted in the federal legalization of same-sex marriage, making the Rays the first MLB team to officially support the measure. Under Auld’s leadership, the Rays have also raised the organization’s minimum wage to $15 per hour and instituted paid parental leave, adoption benefits and paid volunteer time, among other benefits.

In addition to his duties with the Rays and the Tampa Bay Partnership, Auld serves on the boards of the Rays Baseball Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay and CEOs Against Cancer.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa

Bay CEO Chris Letsos says in Auld’s role on the BBBS board, the baseball executive has facilitated multiple opportunities for underprivileged children to attend Rays and Rowdies games and meet players.

“W hat you get w it h Br ia n, although he’s busy and all over the headlines, his time is intentional,” he says. “When you talk to him

ethically minded consumers. (On the flip side, Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis and the state Legislature have enacted rules that would curb ESG policies, at least in official state business.)

By the end of the year or in the first quarter of 2024, Climate First Bank will have a more prominent

location, as it’s currently building a new headquarters. It will be a certified LEED Platinum structure, at 182 37th Ave. N. in St. Pete, across from a Whole Foods grocery store also under construction. The existing building at that address has been completely gutted, LaRoe says, but renovation work has been

about our mission, you feel like it’s all that matters. He asks all the right questions. He’s passionate about kids — their future, their opportunities. He believes that every single child has the potential to be big, and he does whatever it takes to help us get there.”

L e t s o s a d d s , “I t h i n k h e understands that what he does i s big ger t ha n ba seba l l. He understands we’re all a part of this community, and we all play a part in making Tampa Bay great for everyone.”

— BRIAN HARTZ

going “painfully slow.”

“It’s coming along,” LaRoe says.

“It’s all approved and in construction, but this supply chain thing, they say it’s over, but it’s not even remotely over.”

— BRIAN HARTZ

Business leaders are facing more twists and turns than ever before. That’s why smart business leaders join Vistage Florida. Meeting once a month in small groups, members share experiences, insights, and solid intel. They grow even during times as turbulent as the pandemic. Here’s proof: Vistage CEOs grew their annual revenue on average 4.6% in 2020, while nonmembers with comparable small and midsize businesses saw revenue decrease 4.7%.* That speaks volumes. Discover new ways to succeed during uncertain times.

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* Analysis performed on Dun & Bradstreet data for U.S. companies with up to $1B in annual revenue. The comparison was made on annual revenue growth (2020 vs.2019) between Vistage member companies (sample size: 1,897) who joined the Chief Executive or Small Business programs prior to 2020 and a random sample of non-Vistage small and midsize businesses (sample size: 702).

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As we celebrate 15 years of success, I would like to pause to thank our clients, trade partners and employees for 15 great years.

WE COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU! We built the foundation of our company on the belief that we could and would service our clients to a higher level. We wanted to do what’s in the best interest of our clients first and trusted that the reward would follow. Our tag line "Building Relationships" became our brand. We are grateful for the investment of trust and confidence our clients have placed in us.

With help from our clients, trade partners and employees we have been able to build our city, build up the community for those in need and build a better tomorrow for our families.

Over the past 15 years we have grown into 9 states. We have become the largest locally owned minority General Contractor in the Tampa market but, our greatest accomplishment would be that we have put over 5 million dollars back into our community through local nonprofits.

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I am proud of our achievements and I look forward to continuing the traditions, guiding principles and methods that have proven successful.

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