Surge

Oscar J. Horton is one of the entrepreneurs profiled in this section.

Traditionally underrepresented in the pages of business publications like Florida Trend and in statewide organizations like the Florida Council of 100, a growing group of African- American entrepreneurs has established itself among the state's business leaders.

The entrepreneurs include a number who have made successful careers in the automobile business. S. Woods Enterprises, owned by Sanford L. "Sandy" Woods in the Tampa Bay area, is the top Florida auto dealership on Black Enterprise magazine's Auto Dealer 100 list and ranks third in the nation among African- American-owned dealerships. In 2005, Woods' company employed 390 and posted more than $443 million in sales of Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Toyota, Lexus, Honda and Volkswagen. The company's revenue places it among the top 55 privately owned businesses in the state. Woods owns four dealerships in Florida, including Brandon Dodge and Palm Harbor Honda, and four out of state. Another five Florida dealers made the Black Enterprise auto dealers list as well.

The top-ranked African-American owned industrial/ service business in the state, with almost $450 million in sales, is Coral Gables-based Peebles Corp., the real estate development and property management company owned by R. Donahue Peebles ["From D.C. to SoBe," February 1998, FloridaTrend.com]. Peebles, who moved from Washington, D.C., developed the Royal Palm Crowne Plaza on South Beach -- one of the largest hotels on the beach and the first African-American owned resort in the country -- and has become a major player in south Florida real estate circles.

Within this package of stories, Trend profiles several other leading African-American entrepreneurs -- and reports on a surge in business formation by African- Americans in Florida that amounts to one of the largest increases in black business ownership of any state. Click the links at right under "Also in this package" to read "Risk and Reward" and "Restructuring." There are also individual profiles on African- American entrepreneurs at right.

Tags: Florida Small Business, Around Florida, Entrepreneur