Spotlight On: Tom Slagle, CEO, Rasmussen College

Spotlight On: Tom Slagle, CEO, Rasmussen College

By: Max Crampton Thomas

2 min read June 2020 —With a history spanning more than 119 years, Rasmussen College is well-positioned and experienced in adjusting to unforeseen circumstances like the current pandemic the world is working to eradicate. CEO Tom Slagle spoke to Invest: Orlando about the school’s advantage as a leader in online education for over 20 years. He also spoke about the school being welcomed by the community in Orlando as one of the newest entrants into the local higher education sector. 

 

How is Rasmussen College positioned in Florida?

Rasmussen has been around since 1900. Rasmussen College acquired Webster College with campuses in Holiday and Ocala, Florida, in 2004. These campuses were merged into the Rasmussen College system in 2007. Later, the college expanded into Fort Myers, Tampa and Orlando. Overall, we have campuses in six states and a national online team serving more than 17,000 students. Healthcare education is a strength for the college, particularly licensure-required fields such as nursing. We are the largest producer of ADN (first licensure) nurses in the country and also offer a bachelor’s (BSN) and master’s in nursing (MSN) and soon a doctoral (DNP). We pride ourselves on providing affordable degrees and a student support network with individualized services. Our primary target market is the adult learner seeking to advance or change their career, more so than the traditional high-school graduate. 

 

What role does the school play in the Orlando education sector?

We are excited about our new campus in Orlando. We believe we pinpointed some real gaps in the local education market. Our healthcare portfolio is a great fit, and our offerings in business, technology and social services are also in strong demand. The opportunity to provide affordable and relevant credentials that employers are seeking from graduates is where we excel. Our goal is always to be deeply engaged in the communities in which we live and work, this is why we believe in our local campus network. Our programs offer tremendous flexibility with many fully online, but they also provide the campus-based learning environments necessary for labs and simulations. We have been welcomed by the employer community in Orlando and have developed strong relationships with the local healthcare institutions, which support our graduating students with employment opportunities. We want Orlando to become one of our larger campuses in Florida over the next three to five years.

 

How has COVID-19 impacted the college?

We have been an online leader in education for almost 20 years, so we know how to educate students in an online environment. It is not always simple to incorporate the proper content, curriculum, experience and assessment criteria on a digital platform, but fortunately, we have a lot of experience in that field. As an example, all of our nursing simulation, which typically takes place on campus or at clinical sites, was moved to an online environment, allowing no disruption to our nursing students’ educational journey or graduation. Also, we have seen that individuals displaced by the current environment want to build on their knowledge and competencies to better prepare themselves for the current and future workforce. We made the decision to support our communities by providing our eRasmussen Professional Certificates portfolio (eRasmussen.com) at no cost. We’ve had nearly 9,000-course registrants for the professional certificates so far. We have also sought ways to support our communities by donating much of our PPE to local healthcare organizations to ensure their readiness during this pandemic.

 

Which industries are driving the strongest demand for educational programs in Orlando right now?

Healthcare is probably top of the list, but we are also seeing strength in areas like technology and other business-related programs. Many applicants are looking for short-term certification to improve their options once they rejoin the workforce. Our Early Childhood Education portfolio also continues to perform well. Our model allows us to serve a segment of the population that has traditionally been underserved by other institutions. We are tremendously optimistic about the breadth of opportunities in the Orlando market.

 

What does the future hold for Rasmussen College in Florida?

With the economy potentially moving into a short-term recession, education tends to be countercyclical. As individuals are out of work, they look for ways to position themselves in a competitive market with enhanced skills to get a better job. There are also many people looking to make career changes, and we can help with that and make our local communities stronger. Our enrollment rate has continued to grow, and we believe that demand for our programs will remain strong given the unique experience Rasmussen provides our students. 

 

To learn more about our interviewee, visit: 

https://www.rasmussen.edu/

 

Spotlight On: Sandi Bargfrede, Managing Partner, ACRE Commercial Real Estate

Spotlight On: Sandi Bargfrede, Managing Partner, ACRE Commercial Real Estate

By: Max Crampton-Thomas

2 min read May 2020 — The real estate market will know a before and after COVID-19 as soon as activities resume. Sandi Bargfrede, managing partner of ACRE Commercial Real Estate, talks to Invest: about what to expect from Orlando’s market as the pandemic unfolds. 

 

How did ACRE Commercial Real Estate close 2019? 

2019 was a stellar year as not only did we see a tremendous increase in volume, but we also saw an impressive uptick in new retail concepts entering the Central Florida/Orlando market. ACRE specializes in retail third-party leasing, property management and tenant representation and we had never seen such a stronger increase in all aspects of our business than we did in 2019. In addition to strong growth in tenant representation, in the last year we also secured a significant stronghold in the Downtown and surrounding area in the mixed-use sector. 

How does your company capitalize on being an all-female commercial real estate firm? 

Women provide a different perspective on retail as we are typically the shoppers and we usually plan the family social activities. We are able to use this to our advantage as we can bring a different point of view to a project. ACRE did not set out to be an all-female firm. That said, we are all-female-owned but we are always open to hiring exceptional professionals, male or female. My business partner and I have been in this business for 20-plus years each and we have witnessed the industry evolve with more 

professional women entering the historically male-dominated field now more than ever. We believe this trend will continue and we will continue to provide the required mentorship platform for all in the business looking to thrive. 

What unique business opportunities does Orlando offer to your business and operations? 

Seventy-two million people per year visit Orlando, bolstering a strong service and hotel industry, where retail spaces are required to provide for these visitors. The retail opportunities are therefore exponential. We are seeing a significant wave of people moving here due to recent job growth figures, with close to 12 percent overall job growth in Orlando itself. With all of this growth, we are seeing a surge in new development from shopping centers to urban mixed-use communities. These new developments provide ACRE the opportunity to use our experience to work with developers before they break ground. Utilizing our extensive background in leasing, tenant representation and development allows us to create a project with not only the proper infrastructure but also the ability to create the synergistic tenant mix required for a project to be successful for the retailer and developer alike. 

What is your assessment of Orlando’s commercial real estate market? 

It is very strong as there are many vibrant areas that are growing in the Metro Orlando market, such as Hamlin, Lake Nona, Apopka, Clermont and downtown to name a few. We are seeing a housing boom in Orlando and these areas are all creating retail destinations for services and amenities along with community-driven gathering spaces for their residents and visitors. 

How has the COVID-19 outbreak altered the Central Florida real estate market? 

We do not believe it will resemble the 2008 crash, especially if we can get back to work sooner than later. It will definitely change the landscape considering the ever-changing social distancing guidelines and measures. These will certainly have a lasting effect on retail and restaurant margins. However, it will also open the door for reinvention and creativity toward preservation. 

We have always been outside-the-box thinkers. Recession-proof and Amazon-resistant have been part of our vocabulary and now we added pandemic and social distancing to the mix. We will find new ways to create tenant mixes that reflect the changes in our “new normal.” We offer consulting and advisory services to our clients and believe these services will be more valuable than ever to assist with navigating this new unknown landscape together. We have always treated our projects like they are our own and will continue to do so. 

What is your outlook for 2020-21? 

There will be a slight correction in the retail portion of the commercial real estate landscape. This will translate into greater inventory of second generation space available, which will most likely result in a reduction of rental rates until the absorption of inventory is stabilized. We do have a positive outlook as we head into 2021 and businesses start to recover. That said, it is difficult to predict as the COVID-19 effect is still unknown. All in all, we believe there is room for a fast recovery and in the end, Orlando will be stronger than before. 

 

To learn more about our interviewee, visit: 

https://www.acrefl.com/

Spotlight On: Kenneth Rosenfield, Managing Partner, Rosenfield & Company PLLC

Spotlight On: Kenneth Rosenfield, Managing Partner, Rosenfield & Company PLLC

By: Max Crampton-Thomas

2 min read May 2020 — In a crowded accounting and consulting services marketplace, it can be hard to differentiate from the masses. Kenneth Rosenfield, managing partner of Rosenfield & Company PLLC, is accomplishing this by putting a greater investment into his people and by creating a culture that is strong enough to be listed among the “Best Places to Work” for CPA firms last year. He also speaks to his firm’s adaptability as being key to navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, and while most businesses have seen a major slowdown in activity, his firm is experiencing an influx of demand as it works to process SBA loans for its clients.

 

How is the Orlando market conducive to your firm’s success? 

 Orlando’s economy has been doing really well and has been a great place to work. The workforce is plentiful and the universities here are fantastic. We are lucky to have access to the largest university  in Florida, which has been really great for recruiting to our firm. UCF has been fantastic to work with. The manufacturing industry, which is one of our core industries, has been doing really well in Orlando as well. A lot of people have the perception that Orlando is Disney World, but that is actually the third-largest industry in this region behind healthcare and manufacturing. We are big in the automotive retail industry, and Central Florida is the third-largest automotive market in the country. We have a variety of car dealerships in Orlando, including some of the largest in the country, which are all clients of ours, and is one reason our headquarters is located in Orlando. The automotive retail sector is usually the first to go into a recession and the first to come out of it. 

 

In searching for a new office space, what have you identified in regard to vacancies in the Downtown area?

 Downtown is challenged due to the consolidation of space. There are a lot of vacancies in Downtown Orlando. A lot of this is caused by banks and law firms downsizing in that area. I’m not sure what the exact cause is because everybody seems to be doing well. I believe this could be because the thought process has changed. Everyone used to want a big office, but now everyone is going more toward a collaborative workspace, which takes up a lot less space. That has created a big hole in the market and it has caused the rate per square foot to come down. So much space is now available.

 

How do you remain competitive with firms of your size and the larger national firms? 

 We compete with the big national firms for staff and clientele. We have to offer the same level and more creative types of compensation while also offering a completely different work atmosphere that those firms don’t supply. We also have to be different from all the firms our size and price competitive with the large firms. Ultimately, this leads us to making a greater investment in our people. We don’t have the “grind them up and chew them out” environment that the big firms have. We also have made the investment with the local colleges to acquire the best available interns. We have to maintain a really great intern program that allows them to do exciting things and also receive practical work experience. If you don’t provide that environment, you won’t get to participate in that talent pool. Having a great work environment leads to more productivity and ability to serve our clients better. We are really proud to have won, Best Places to Work for CPA firms last year. We also invested heavy into technology over the years, and we are much more efficient than our competitors in serving our clients. 

 

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your operations? 

 Today, we are extremely inundated with processing SBA loans for our clients. Other people had also heard about us doing this, so if they are big enough we have algorithms to figure out the best method to accomplish this. We then put together loan packages and submit them to the banks. We have already completed over 150 of them and these are big SBA loans valued at over half a million dollars, at least. Tax filings were pushed back, so we are still working on those but not as much as we are working on these SBA loans. We also do SEC work, so we have a lot of quarterly and annual filings coming up that we are still working on. Our audit team is very busy. We are going to see a lot of merger and acquisition activity in the coming months, which we are also proficient at. 

 

To learn more about our interviewee, visit: 

https://www.rosenfieldandco.com/

Spotlight On: Clay Worden, Office Managing Partner, RSM US LLP

Spotlight On: Clay Worden, Office Managing Partner, RSM US LLP

By: Max Crampton-Thomas

2 min read April 2020 — Accounting and consultancy firm RSM’s Orlando practice had little problem migrating its operation to remote after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the state. The company’s managing partner for the Central Florida city’s practice, Clay Worden, shares his views on how his company and small business will adapt and learn from the contingency.

What specific markets does your Orlando office focus on?

Hospitality and real estate are key components of the Central Florida economy, and we spend quite a bit of energy serving these sectors. Food and beverage is also an important sector for us. Agriculture is one of the key economic drivers in the state and we serve a lot of Ag-based organizations.

 

We also serve SEC clients, nonprofit organizations and manufacturing companies. Our tax practice is incredibly robust and growing. We seem to be firing on most cylinders.

 

Which area of your practice has seen the largest demand in recent years?

We are seeing a lot of demand related to digital transformation. Organizations, even before the COVID-19 situation, are looking at their systems, especially their legacy systems and saying, “Hey, is this the platform that is going to get us where we need to be?” From a technology consulting standpoint, I think that is one of the areas where we’ve had some exponential growth.

 

Another area where we continue to see organizations focusing on is the internal audit and risk advisory functions. When the economy is robust and companies are generally profitable, they want to make sure their systems, controls and policies are functioning as designed to safeguard their assets.

 

What challenges has the firm faced in dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic?

We recognize that our younger folks embrace technology and want to use technology. With that in mind, our audit practice and consulting practice has been primarily remote for the past several years. We visit clients and still have to access systems and software to be able to work, but we were pretty much prepared for the fact that we might not be at the office and prepared to work from home.

 

Our tax practice was traditionally people going to the office and to some client locations, so it was important to have the technology that provides them with access and to give them the tools they need, which included a little more bandwidth in the system to get to their tools. We started that process and were quickly able to get it to them. For us, it really hasn’t changed much. You still have access to all the data and everything we need to serve our clients.

 

One of the opportunities that we are seeing from this is that we are helping businesses access the stimulus that is being offered, making sure they qualify, follow the rules, and are taking advantage of the tax benefits that are available today. We’ve quickly mobilized people who are or are becoming experts in helping clients navigate these government programs.

 

Another area where we are seeing some changes is travel. We were to hold a firmwide leadership meeting with about 100 firm leaders going to Chicago in April. Instead, we held that meeting virtually. From my perspective it was very effective. We missed the reception and cocktail hour to talk face to face with some of our colleagues we have not connected with for a while, but in terms of disseminating information and communicating, it was very effective.

 

What is your outlook for the Orlando area in the near term?

My cup is always half full. I am confident that our firm and Orlando, Florida, and the country as a whole will come out of this stronger and more equipped than we were going in.

 

I think that certainly the pain is going to be probably worse, and longer, than most people would like. When you live in Central Florida, which is primarily built on hospitality and entertainment, I don’t know how quickly people are going to hop back on a plane and come right back.

 

I do have some serious concerns for the smaller businesses. I don’t know that the smaller businesses, like restaurants, have the capital to withstand being with limited customers for an extended period of time. Big and small,  companies are going to have to rethink how they do business in the future.

 

To learn more about our interviewee, visit: 

https://rsmus.com/

Spotlight On: Steven McCraney, President & CEO, McCraney Property Company

Spotlight On: Steven McCraney, President & CEO, McCraney Property Company

By: Yolanda Rivas

2 min read April 2020 —  The strength of the commercial real estate sector relies on the major roadways that run in and around Orlando, Steven McCraney told Invest:. He also notes that the location of Orlando is a great anchor to position his business as it provides ease of access to everywhere the company needs to be, as well as how the primary growth of his company has clearly been the warehouse and distribution space. 

How connected is the strength of the commercial real estate market to the major roadways in Orlando? 

The strength of the commercial real estate sector relies on the major roadways that run in and around Orlando. The last 50 years in Florida were all about the I-95 corridor, from Jupiter to Coral Gables. If you were to drive that route today there is not an available parcel of land on the roadway. We believe the next 50 years for Florida are going to be primarily focused on the I-4 corridor, from Tampa Bay to Lakeland to Orlando and onto Daytona Beach. While Daytona has not started to pop yet, the thing that we know is that there are two major roadways in Daytona, I-4 and I-95, which leads us to believe that it will be a good market at some point in the near future.

 

Why is Orlando the most ideal location for your operations? 

The Orlando economy continues to thrive. It’s attracting new residents, it’s generating new jobs and the increased interest is driving industrial users into the market because of the ability to distribute out of the state of Florida from the region on a one-day basis. We relocated to Orlando because the area places us right in the middle of the state. We operate throughout the Southeast and Orlando, which anchors us in the middle of everywhere that we need to be. It also provides the ability to move easily throughout the Southeast because of the region’s dynamic airport.

 

In regard to your business operations, where have you seen the most growth?

We are industrial developers. That is our mainstay and focus. This is complemented by third-party property management. As of late, the growth has clearly been the warehouse and distribution space. The total industrial space in Orlando is 123 million square feet, which breaks down into roughly 100 million square feet of warehouse distribution, 13 million square feet of manufacturing and the remainder is made up of office, flex space and distribution product. Here’s what we know: warehouse is the new retail. If a person is ordering online, whether it’s products,  clothing or food, the merchandise is likely not coming from a store, it is almost certainly coming from a warehouse. This is attributed to e-commerce growth and third-party logistics. Over the next few years, we are going to see the markets continuing to change and expand. From an industry perspective, I believe we have a trajectory that is at least 15 years long. While the product may continue to change, that product is coming from somewhere and that somewhere is a warehouse. As social distancing is ever more important and various markets are now under a “shelter in place” order, it is clear that suppliers, like Amazon, are still delivering essentials through package products to each and every home.

 

What market trends have had an effect on your business? 

We are always looking for ways to leverage technology in our business. Whether it’s roofing systems, lighting or super-flat floors, we want a logistics facility to be plug and play for a customer. The biggest challenge in recent years is rising costs. This can be broken down into the rising labor cost and the cost of materials. For example, the cost to build out a 1,500-2,000-square-foot office space within a warehouse space today can easily run around $250,000. That number exceeds $100 per square foot. At the same time, we have seen strong rent growth and because of that we have been able to keep pace. As we presently enter an economic downturn due to this pandemic, one would expect the cost of goods – both labor and material – will correct. Most of us in the industry went through the last recession and we know how debilitating it was. Moving forward, we have to be cautiously optimistic as we enter this challenging economic cycle and be mindful of our leverage, occupancy, quality of tenancy and our construction exposure.  

 

To learn more about our interviewee, visit: 

https://www.mccraneyproperty.com/

Spotlight On: Kate Saft, Partner, Greenspoon Marder

Spotlight On: Kate Saft, Partner, Greenspoon Marder

By: Max – Crampton Thomas

2 min read March 2020 — As the epicenter of the tourism and hospitality industries, Orlando affords many opportunities for businesses within those sectors and also to the service businesses outside those sectors. During her discussion with Invest:, Kate Saft, a partner with Greenspoon Marder, spoke on the opportunities the Orlando area affords her firm, the benefits of technology and how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting business as usual. 

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your firm? 

 We have seen consistent delays and pauses in our financing and real estate deals as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some clients are anxious to complete as many pending transactions as possible given the uncertainty of what is ahead.  Others are seeing deals in which they can be competitive in light of the interest rate drop. We do anticipate some logistical issues, particularly in-person closings, which is why online notarizations are helpful.

 

How does the Orlando region provide opportunity for the firm? 

Orlando is the epicenter for the tourism and hospitality industries, including, specifically, the timeshare industry. Our Orlando office focuses heavily on representing timeshare clients, hotel operators and real estate developers, and that representation has led to many legal opportunities for Greenspoon Marder. 

Within the hospitality industry there are a plethora of legal issues that arise, including real estate transactional matters, marketing matters, lending and securitization transactions, consumer litigation, employment litigation, commercial litigation, and regulatory matters under various state and federal acts, including but not limited to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Telephone  Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). 

Our firm was founded with a focus on the core practice areas of real estate litigation. We have seen demand for those practices increase, not only throughout Central Florida but across the United States. We are pleased to be able to meet the needs and demands of our clients in these areas. We are consistently looking to expand our real estate, timeshare, corporate and litigation practice areas, not only in Orlando but on a national level, as well.

 

Is there any particular legislation that you are keeping a close eye on in 2020?

We are closely monitoring two Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) petitions pending in the Supreme Court that challenge the constitutionality of the TCPA. In particular, there is a petition pending that questions whether a single call necessarily results in injury that is concrete for the purposes of Article 3 standing and a petition that questions whether the restrictions on using an automated telephone dialing system or an artificial, pre-recorded voice violate the First Amendment. We are very interested in the results of these petitions and how they will affect our hospitality clients.

 

How does new technology benefit your practice and the legal sector overall? 

Technology makes it easier for us to connect with clients and reach potential new ones. All of our employees, from partners down to staff members, have access to virtual connections to safely access our clients’ information anytime and anywhere. We hold regular meetings through video conferences, sharing our expertise, so other attorneys are aware of the practice areas within our firm. In that way, we are able to utilize the specialties of all our attorneys to assist clients who present a diversified set of legal needs.

To learn more about our interviewee, visit: 

https://www.gmlaw.com/

Spotlight On: Alan Higbee, Managing Partner, Shutts & Bowen

Spotlight On: Alan Higbee, Managing Partner, Shutts & Bowen

By: Max Crampton-Thomas

2 min read January 2020 — Expertise on the local market is a must in the legal sector, especially within the competitive landscape of the Tampa Bay region. Understanding the nature of the business community within the region and the apparent challenges are keys to a successful practice. Shutts & Bowen law firm’s Managing Partner Alan Higbee discusses the benefits of having specialized practices in the Tampa Bay area, as well as how to deal with economic cycles and not lose talent in the process.

 

 

Why is Tampa Bay a good location for a firm such as Shutts & Bowen?

 

A full service firm like ours has experience in many areas, including some areas that are not necessarily customary for this market, such as our experience in international trade and transactions, experience with large industrial companies and experience representing large and small federal government contractors. Interestingly, the demand for these specialty practices is actually pretty high in this market. Such specialties have often been sourced from larger markets in the past. In our experience, businesses in this market are generally very happy to see that these specialty resources are available here to help and that they don’t have to look to other markets such as Washington, D.C., or New York.  For areas like federal government contractors, it makes sense to have that expertise here. I believe Florida is the third-largest market for federal contracting in the country and we are sitting outside the doors of MacDill Air Force Base, which has virtually every federal agency you can name, from all the defense agencies and divisions to the IRS. 

 

How does the firm take part in the business brought to the Tampa Bay Area by new companies and startups?

 

Startup businesses in the Tampa Bay area come in many varieties, but some of the most promising are often spinoffs: people who have had very successful careers in larger businesses and have decided to go out on their own. Many of these companies have a need for legal services in areas of high specialization, such as healthcare, technology and government contracting. We also see an awful lot of companies that are relocating some kind of division or business unit, or their entire U.S. operations, to this market and, candidly, besides being a pretty sophisticated business center, this area is also a pretty nice place to live.

 

In the market for legal services, we also see an increasing need for trusted advisers. Lots of lawyers can tell you what the law is, but very few have the industry and business experience to also tell you what you probably should do and should not do. Lawyers who have seen the good, the bad and the ugly in a particular industry or business segment and can tell clients, “we’ve seen this movie before and we know how it ends,” are extremely valuable to their clients and are in greater demand than ever before. 

 

What are the top challenges for the legal profession in the area?

 

The tightness of the labor pool is difficult, there is no question about that. It is certainly a major challenge for us. The other challenge is the general expansion of the needs of the market. We are becoming more sophisticated. When I moved here in 1980, the needs of this legal community were really pretty basic. In 2019, the businesses in this market are extremely sophisticated and that means their problems and issues are also very sophisticated. I think law firms generally need to consider developing or acquiring some of the specialty areas that are not necessarily indigenous to the Tampa Bay area. Acquiring such specialists can be hard. We have to go out and convince them that they will have enough work here.

 

How would a legal firm such as Shutts & Bowen deal with a potential economic downturn?

 

Things always happen in cycles. Like any business, we have to be prepared to handle those cycles. You have to position yourself to be adaptable and flexible, to learn to change what you are doing when necessary and to be able to pick up different kinds of work in the down cycle and be able to look outside your box to keep your talent busy. The down cycles are actually the best times to hire talent, because if your platform is doing well and you are able to find talent on other platforms that are doing well personally while their current platforms are struggling, you have a unique chance to capture that talent.

 

After every down cycle there is an up cycle. If you failed to keep your talent pool, and were not able to keep the collective resources and experience that you had, you start at a huge disadvantage when the market goes back up. On the other hand, if you are able to keep your talent pool intact through a down cycle, you generally have a huge advantage when the market recovers.

 

To learn more about our interviewee, visit: 

https://shutts.com/

 

Spotlight On: Bill Schifino, Tampa Office Managing Shareholder, Gunster

Spotlight On: Bill Schifino, Tampa Office Managing Shareholder, Gunster

By: Max Crampton-Thomas

  2 min read December 2019 — A greater number of law firms in the Tampa Bay market may be a concern to some but for firms in the Tampa Bay region, these new legal-focused businesses are welcomed. Bill Schifino, the managing shareholder for Gunster’s Tampa Office, believes there is plenty of work for quality law firms throughout the region and that the collaborative environment between the various firms in Tampa Bay is a benefit to both his office’s practice and its clients. 

 

 Do you believe there is enough work to meet the increased supply of law firms in the region?

 

There is plenty of legal work in Tampa Bay for quality law firms and competent lawyers. I have been in this marketplace for 33 years, and the way law firms interact with one another has relatively remained the same. The law firms in this region play well together, and we refer work back and forth to one another because we sometimes have inherent conflicts in our cases. For example, if there is a business litigation case that involves multiple parties and the lawyer can’t represent them all, that lawyer will call other lawyers who may have been on the other side in a similar case in the past but who are capable and competent. So while I may have a case where I’ll see a credible law firm on the other side, one day they may be joining with me to help defend another group on a different case. 

 

How does Gunster’s statewide presence benefit your clients? 

 

One of Gunster’s attractions for me was the fact that I can offer my clients statewide coverage in all of the key markets. When I have a client with an issue, whether it be in Fort Lauderdale, Miami or Jacksonville, we can make sure they are covered because we have 200-plus lawyers around the state. It also helps that we have some of the best and brightest lawyers Florida has to offer. If I have a client with an issue-based question, and I do not have the talent here in Tampa to address it, I can consult someone from one of our other offices who has expertise in this area. This is how we handle all of our clients’ needs. Gunster also is a big believer in their lawyers serving their community, which is why you will see the firm extremely active in our respective markets.

 

How important is being a steward of one’s community to the success of a law firm? 

 

A law firm cannot attract the right talent without a commitment to community service, service to the profession and pro bono work. It is critically important that we as professionals give back to those less fortunate. Within the Florida Bar, a big focus is access to justice. In the criminal justice system, if you’re indigent then you are constitutionally entitled to a public defender, but what if you are someone that just really cannot afford a lawyer and are on the cusp of being below the poverty level? What happens if that person all of a sudden has a traumatic event in their life, and cannot get free legal service? We need to address how we as a profession can make certain that those people are being taken care of. The Florida Bar works extremely hard at addressing this issue, along with lawyers providing millions of dollars in pro bono hours to those in need throughout their community.

 

To learn more about our interviewee, visit: 

https://www.gunster.com/

 

Spotlight on: George Cretekos, Mayor, City of Clearwater

Writer: Max Crampton-Thomas

2 min read JULY 2019 — For the second year in a row, Tripadvisor awarded Clearwater  the distinction of having the best beach in the country. This comes as no surprise to the city’s 115,000 residents, who have long been stewards of their environment. With the population in the Tampa Bay region growing, that stewardship becomes even more important. 

Invest: Tampa Bay recently sat down with Mayor George Cretekos, who is on the verge of completing his second term. He discussed how the city is handling population growth, the challenges associated with it and how residents are at the forefront of environmental sustainability in Clearwater. 

How are Clearwater residents supporting environmentally sustainable practices? 

As I complete my second term, I appreciate how our residents and businesses have, on their own initiative, promoted sustainability and environmental stewardship.  Before there had been any talk about governments banning single-use plastics in the region, Clearwater’s businesses had started their own programs to stop using plastic straws. It is now common to find many restaurants in Clearwater that do not offer plastic straws or styrofoam to-go containers. This is a testament to how our residents are promoting sustainability and being good stewards of the environment.

How is the region handling the recent increase in population growth?

The region must have smart growth to make sure we are not only taking care of the environment, but also guaranteeing accessibility for our residents and visitors. We continually hear that we have traffic problems and at certain times of the year those problems can be exasperating. The population in this region needs to adapt to using alternatives like public transportation, which can be a better option than building more roads. We should model our transportation efforts to be like that of other major cities where reliable public transportation is an alternative.

What are the biggest challenges facing the city of Clearwater? 

Transportation and affordable housing are the two biggest concerns for the Tampa Bay area. A large percentage of the employees in Clearwater does not live in the city; if we can help provide affordable housing for these employees then the transportation problems could be eased. These individuals would not have to commute long distances into Clearwater, which in turn would help clear a significant amount of congestion on the roadways and emissions. My fellow mayors in the Tampa Bay region have realized that we may be separated by a body of water, but that doesn’t mean that our interests don’t run parallel. When one city does well then we all do well, so we should be working together to solve these issues.

To read more about our interviewee, visit: 

https://www.myclearwater.com/home

 

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