Central Bank Makes Cover Story In Florida Banking Magazine

Congratulations to Central Bank for making the cover story of this month’s Florida Banking magazine. The Tampa headquartered community bank, with branches in St. Augustine, Winter Park and Suwanee, Georgia, was described as a thriving Minority Deposit Institution (MDI), providing banking services and loans for underserved communities. The article describes that the bank was founded by Raj Patel, Chairman of the Board, along with his brother Nilesh Patel, Executive Vice President, to serve the large Asian Indian population in the Tampa Bay area. At that time, there were no banks in Florida serving that community. Due to its efforts to reach out to various diverse communities, the bank has expanded its branches around Florida, and more recently to Georgia with over $300 million in assets to date. President and CEO John Thompson, a graduate of The Bolles School in Jacksonville, believes the bank’s success will continue into the future because his bank is growth and change oriented and they continue to invest in technology to meet customer expectations. Plus, they want to continue to emphasize their local roots and customer service. The executive team pictured on the cover of Florida Banking magazine includes (from left to right) David Edgar, Chief Financial Officer, Raj Patel, Founder and Chairman, John Thompson, President/CEO, and Nilesh Patel, Founder and Executive Vice President.

Director of U.S. Commercial Service Jorge Arce Is Great Resource For North Florida Businesses Wanting To Export

 I recently had lunch with a great gentleman I have done business with throughout the years when my marketing agency was doing international work. He is Jorge Arce, Director, U.S. Commercial Service (U.S. Department of Commerce) located in Jacksonville. For businesses in North Florida, Jorge is a terrific resource and he doesn’t cost your business a dime. If you’re interested in expanding your international business; diversifying your market; establishing a world class rated product or service; or competing or defending your business on the world stage, then Jorge can get you export ready. He reminded me that 96% of small businesses in the U.S. don’t export their products or services, missing a great opportunity. He said that of the 4% who do export, 70% of those businesses have less than 50 employees. So you don’t have to be large or just a manufacturer of products to benefit. Jorge says exporting helps avoids downtime during a fluctuation in the U.S. market and downtime for seasonal products. Part of Jorge’s success is that he works with 75 U.S. embassies throughout the world in addition to working with JAXPORT and the Chamber’s JAXUSA Partnership. He made a big difference in my company, an advertising agency, expanding our scope of work. You can contact him at 904-477-9485 or Jorge.Arce@trade.gov. He is on the right in this “Lunch with Les” photo.

Dirty Dough Cookie Franchise Opens First Store In North Florida Market

 Congratulations to Caleb and Jalen Hutchinson and Stu Music for opening the first Dirty Dough Cookie franchise in the North Florida market. Known for its two featured products – decadent, baked-inside-out cookies and Dirty sodas and shakes, customized with various exotic flavors, the franchise is expanding from the west to the east coast markets. Stu, a Jacksonville native, is experienced in food franchise as an owner of Firehouse Subs in Colorado. The Hutchinsons, who have experience in business marketing and restaurant management, moved from Arizona to open and run the North Florida store. Open only for 4 weeks, their favorite product, chocolate chip cookies, are selling out by 1 pm. Plus, the store has quickly become the late night place for deserts and treats. And the store is set up to offer cookies as corporate gifts. Ed Randall, the Northeast Florida Market SBA/USDA Lender for Central Bank was able to arrange the SBA loan that made the investment possible. Dirty Dough Cookies is located at 90 Durbin Pavilion Drive (off Racetrack Road) and is open 7 days a week. Dirty Dough Cookies is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturdays. They can be contacted at stjohns@dirtydoughfl.com or call 702-556-2804. In this photo, Les is joined by (from left to right) Caleb and Jalen Hutchinson and Stu Music.

Eddie Daivid Creates New Jacksonville Automotive Empire

 Look out Northeast Florida, there is a Jacksonville entrepreneur who is rapidly expanding his automotive empire. Eddie David, an eight year veteran in the automotive industry, took a break and traveled around the world for a year. Then he came back to Jacksonville and hit the automotive industry hard by bringing together several businesses that serve customers’ various automotive needs. His most recent acquisition was a 39 year-old, well respected body shop, he named San Marco Paint and Body. With help from broker Julie Brigman of Transworld Business Advisors and Ed Randall, Central Bank’s Northeast Florida Market SBA/USDA Lender, Eddie acquired the business and property in a two and a half month closing time. In just a few months, Eddie has doubled the number of cars serviced per month than the previous owners. In addition to body and paint work for individuals, commercial fleet companies and insurance carriers, he also performs complete auto restorations. But the body shop is only part of Eddie’s automotive business. He also owns a used car lot and the Arlington Goodyear Tire and Service Center. There’s no telling how far this young businessman is going to expand. The shop is located at 3463 St. Augustine Road, Jacksonville (904-398-1127; SanMarcoPaintBody.com). Eddie is on the right in this “Lunch with Les” photo. 

Ryan Maloney Joins Construction Litigation At Shutts & Bowen Law Firm

Congratulations to my Rotary buddy Ryan Maloney for joining the Jacksonville office of the Shutts & Bowen law firm as a partner. Ryan, who has been an attorney for over 20 years, will serve as a member of the firm’s Construction Litigation Practice Group. Ryan is a Florida Bar Certified Construction Law practitioner. Ryan tells me that he joined Shutts & Bowen because the firm has a large construction practice, represents construction clients throughout Florida and has more resources for handling construction work. The firm is headquartered in Miami with 8 offices throughout the state, including Jacksonville. In addition to construction work, Ryan will also represent businesses and individuals in business and contract disputes, governmental bid protests and real estate disputes. Knowing Ryan as I do, he takes on challenges with a very careful and strategic approach. Plus, he cares about people and our community, having served in Southside Rotary for 11 years. If you need to contact Ryan, you can reach him at 904-899-9954 or at rmaloney@shutts.com. Ryan is pictured on the left in this “Lunch with Les” photo.

 

Mary Fisher of Mary Fisher Design Retires

 Mary Fisher, one of my most favorite people in the advertising industry, is announcing her retirement as of April 1. With over 45 years in the business, Mary has worked for many of the top companies in Jacksonville and enjoyed working on a variety of fun and unusual projects. She just completed the sale of her company, the Fisher Agency, to her partner Erin Gordon. When I first met Mary, she was working for Lee Printing in 1979. She went on to head up design for several magazines, including Jacksonville Monthly and Jacksonville Magazine. She then founded her own agency, Mary Fisher Design (now Fisher Agency), for about 35 successful years. In addition to being very well liked by her advertising peers and competitors, she is also respected in the community, speaking before groups such as entrepreneurs at the University of North Florida and the Women’s Business Owners. In her appearances before these groups, she offered insights to starting and running a company with her most important messages being “always have an exit strategy when you start a business” and “be as prepared as possible for emergencies or unseen events.” While Mary will continue mentoring individuals and nonprofits, she is still on call to help Erin and the agency with any clients’ needs. Mary is pictured in this “Lunch with Les” photo at the Athenian Owl restaurant.

Strasser Brothers Purchase Lillian's Sports Bar

 Congratulations to Taylor, Ryan and Cliff Strasser for their recent purchase of Lillian’s Sports Bar & Grill. The three brothers grew up in the Ortega area always wanting to own the sports bar. The previous owners retired at the end of the year and the brothers were able to obtain it in January. Their friend, Aaron Kleist, and his lending partner, Ed Randall, both with Central Bank, helped them with an SBA loan, something they couldn’t get as a non-franchised restaurant from the larger banks. The three brothers have extensive experience in the food service business, each having their own Five Star Pizza franchise. With the three brothers now partners in the sports bar, they will be working together to maintain Lillian’s long proven reputation and to ensure the sports bar keeps running as usual, including using the food recipes from the previous owners. They will continue with full lunch and dinner entries, along with offering promotional events and live bands in their several dining rooms. Lilian’s is located at 5393 Roosevelt Boulevard (#6), just north of Jax Naval Air Station. Their dining rooms are available for parties and groups and can be reserved by calling (904) 388-4220 or visiting lillianssportsgrill.com. This “Lunch with Les” photo features the brothers (from left to right) Taylor, Cliff and Ryan with Les.

Stellar Growth Strategies Offer Outsourced VP Of Sales For North Florida Market

 Many small businesses in the North Florida market need help to push their company to that next level, but they don’t know what resources are available to help them achieve their sales goals. When it comes to creating a sales strategy, customizing a sales acceleration process, developing a hiring process, and implementing a CRM system or even more, that’s when you need to contact my friend Jen Cart. As owner of Stellar Growth Strategies and an Outsourced VP of Sales, Jen evaluates your business and can function as a sales architect (creating a sales framework), sales builder (performing the work for the company) or both the architect and builder. She is experienced in providing fractional help for any type of business that sells products or services for companies ranging from $2 – 100 million in sales. She offers a free Sales Agility Assessment prior to presenting a proposal so the business owner or president will know the scope of work needed and costs. If you could use a source to increase your sales, regardless of the number of sales people you have, I recommend Jen for her personalized, roll-up-your-sleeves method of sales guidance. Contact her at (904) 477-1229 or jcart@salesxceleration.com. Jen is pictured here in my “Lunch with Les” photo.