New Peterbooke Store Opens In Northern St. Johns County

 Congratulations to my fellow Bolles graduate, Julie Reston and her husband Jared for opening the newest Peterbrooke Chocolate store in northern St. Johns County. Also a big thanks to Ed Randall and Aaron Kleist of Central Bank for helping the couple with an SBA loan after they were put through the hoops with 3 other banks. Julie is president of PFG Chocolate (named after her 3 sons) and had wanted to start her own business. The store has all of the high quality chocolate products Peterbrooke is known for, plus offering custom gifts for individuals and corporations. They even have gelato in the store. The Restons recently had their grand opening in the Silverleaf Shopping Plaza, located in a large new residential development in northern St. Johns County. The Silverleaf Peterbrooke is the 27^th franchise store to open. Julie has always wanted a family business in her local community where friends and neighbors could enjoy their products and services. Located at 70 Silver Forest Drive, they can be contacted at 904-342-2457 or silverleaf@peterbrooke.com. In this “Lunch with Les” photo taken at the grand opening (from left to right) is Les Loggins, Julie Reston, Jared Reston and COO of Peterbrooke Corporate, Jeff Smith.

Bee Friends Farm Is Leading The Beekeeping Industry In North Florida

 There is a lot of “buzz” around the Beekeeping business in North Florida, and the premier experts in the industry are Michael and Christie Leach, owners of Bee Friends Farm. At the Rotary Club of South Jacksonville, Michael talked, not only about his business operation, but also the need of maintaining healthy bee hives in our community and all over the world. Michael, who rents out his bees to farmers in California and Michigan, says that using bees for pollination will increase crop yields by at least 30%. Bee Friends Farm, which began in 2013, is involved in every aspect of beekeeping. In addition to commercial pollination (where they manage over 600 bee colonies), the company has a retail store at 1118 Edgewood Avenue South, offering bee-related gifts (various flavors of honey, beeswax candles, even honey recipes), beekeeping equipment, tours and beekeeping courses on their farm. In this “Lunch with Les” photo, Michael and Christie are shown here with a live bee box display they brought in for their Rotary presentation. For anything involving the bee industry and for honey oriented gifts, stop by the Edgewood store; visit BeeFriendsFarm.com; or email Michael@beefriendsfarm.com.

Jacksonville Business Community Loses Woman Business Pioneer Anne Renfroe

 I wanted to note the passing of one of the top women business pioneers in Jacksonville – Anne Renfroe. Anne was the owner of J.C. Renfroe & Sons, a manufacturer and marketer of industrial lifting products. She took over the business with very little knowledge of manufacturing when her husband, Charles, died. The business was not doing well but she identified and brought in top talent, expanded the product line and built the company into one of the top two clamp companies in the world. I had the honor to help her redirect the approach of her advertising, which resulted in changing the way industrial competitors and related companies advertise. She entered an almost totally dominated male industry and became so popular she was elected president of the national association, Associated Wire Rope Fabricators (AWRF). As one of my favorite advertising clients, I knew her as a very strong woman, who could bring out the best in people, and doing it with respect and total class. She was proud when the nation called on her company to provide products to move the Liberty Bell twice, build the St. Louis Gateway Arch and recover the Spaceship Challenger wreckage from the Atlantic Ocean. The Jacksonville business community and Downtown Rotary will miss this classy lady, Anne Renfroe, who was a business and civic inspiration to men and women alike.

Michael Hotaling Promoted To Managing Partner For Moody Williams Appraisal Group

 I want to congratulate my Rotary buddy Michael Hotaling for his promotion to managing partner of the Moody Williams Appraisal Group, based in Jacksonville. Knowing Michael as I do, he brings organization, attention to detail, creative approaches and people management skills to his job. While the company offers appraisal work involving commercial, residential, industrial, multifamily, and special use properties, including over 100 auto dealership evaluations, his firm is unique in that they offer full litigation support, including legal testimony supported by their analytical data for estate work, bankruptcies, eminent domain, divorce cases and cases involving damages to real estate. They can provide solutions to appraisal problems people don’t even realize they have, including tax appeals and appraisals for flood and property insurance. According to Michael, no two properties are the same and require different investigation and analysis to determine their value. He has plenty of appraisal experience, as a MAI Designated Member of the Appraisal Institute and holding licenses in Florida and Georgia. He has also provided testimony before various courts and governmental regulatory agencies. Michael can be contacted at Mhotaling@moodywilliams.com or visit the company’s website at www.moodywilliams.com. Michael is on the right in this “Lunch with Les” photo.

Central Bank Expands Into Atlanta Market

 Congratulations to Central Bank for their expansion into the North Atlanta Market with a new branch in Suwanee, Georgia. Central Bank, a community bank headquartered in Tampa, Florida, has branches in Winter Park and St. Augustine. John Thompson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Central Bank, who is also from Jacksonville, told me that his board studied the Suwanee area and found it to be a great candidate for a community bank. His bank started in North Tampa in 2007 as a community bank and they have continued that strategy throughout Florida with great success. With so many banks focused totally on expansion, many are leaving the customers behind when it comes to service. John’s strategy is to identify a specific area in need of community banking and then make sure his bank is a fit for the community. Central Bank Vice President Darryl Workman will serve as Branch Manager and Sagar Patel will be the Atlanta/Georgia Market President. As with each Central Bank branch, the Suwanee bank will offer personal banking services for both individual accounts and for local small businesses. Central Bank is a Member of FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender. For more information, visit CentralBankFL.com.

Langton Consulting Of Jacksonville Is Largest Grant Writing Firm in Florida

 At Robert Harris’ popular San Marco holiday party in December, I ran into Mike Langton who I haven’t seen in years. Lunching at what used to be the old Beach Road Chicken Dinner restaurant, I caught up with Mike, a former Florida State Legislator (1985-92). I was delighted to hear that over the years Mike has enjoyed success in the field of grant writing. His firm, Langton Consulting, is the oldest and largest grant writing firm in Florida. Just in the past 10 years, his firm has generated over one half billion dollars in grants for clients, who are mainly city and county governments. Plus, he just obtained a $51 million grant for a critical semiconductor plant for Osceola County. He also has obtained government grants for major corporations. While grant writing comprises most his business time, he also invests in real estate developments around the state, focusing on mix-use property in downtown locations. Mike and I became friends in the Jacksonville Jaycees, which was a tremendous civic and leadership organization at the time. Many of the city’s successful government and business leaders have come from that group. Mike was serving in Mayor Tanzler’s administration at the time, writing grants. Mike can be contacted at LangtonConsulting.com. Mike is on the right in this “Lunch with Les” photo.