Both Florida Trend's Floridian of the Year, Rod Petrey, and the organization he heads, the Collins Center for Public Policy, are obscure names for most Floridians. He has run the think tank since 1992, after former Gov. LeRoy Collins, for whom the center is named, called to plead with him to head it. Collins, terminally ill at the time, told Petrey, "You're my friend. You've got to do something to make this work." Over the years, Petrey has defined the center's mission as becoming a "think tank with muddy boots." In addition to producing data and reports, it organizes and actively manages programs dealing with issues that the state can't or won't address in a timely way. During his tenure, Petrey and the center have taken on — usually quietly — long-running Florida issues like sustainability, health and criminal justice. What makes Petrey our Floridian of the Year in 2010 is his and the center's muddy boots on two of the year's most difficult issues for Florida: Oil drilling and the wave of foreclosures that has inundated Florida's courts. Read more about Petrey and Florida Trend's other Newsmakers of the Year.

Rick Scott Worried Over Pension Fund

Days before taking office as Florida's governor, Rick Scott said he's worried that the state's public pension fund, which posted a $16.7 billion shortfall last year, is in even worse shape than the public has been told.

Controversial Study Says Fertilizer Bans Are Harmful

University of Florida researcher George Hochmuth is sick of defending his research, which is at the heart of a simmering battle over how much fertilizer people can put on their lawns during the rainy summer months. "I think it's unfair and unprofessional to be charging good scientists who have their heart in the right place," says Hochmuth, an environmental science professor. "The science is almost being held hostage." Hochmuth and a team of seven researchers at UF's Institute for Food and Agricultural Studies have been lambasted by environmentalist groups and other scientists for their study that suggests banning fertilizers in the rainy season does more harm than good in the effort to keep pollutants out of waterways. Titled "Unintended Consequences Associated with Certain Urban Fertilizer Ordinance," the study was published in March 2009 amid virulent debate at the Capitol -- and at the request of industry lobbyists. Though critics have been loud in their indictment of the study, which the institute acknowledges was funded by the fertilizer industry, it has been used at government meetings statewide to slow regulation. Now Sarasota County, which in 2007 enacted the first strict fertilizer ordinance in Florida, has taken aim at the IFAS study. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

Hello? Anybody Out There? Firm Sends Missives to Space

For Jim Lewis, the president of video and web production firm company Communications Concepts in Cape Canaveral, sending a virtual person into space is more than just a business venture.

SRI/Surgical Express Tops List of Best 2010 Tampa Bay Stocks

Tampa medical supplies company SRI/Surgical Express has been ailing for years. But it just sent an uplifting year-end message to investors: We're back. Fresh off of posting its first quarterly profit in five years, SRI Surgical's stock closed the year up a more-than-healthy 132 percent, making it the best-performing Tampa Bay area stock for 2010. Close on its heels: Tampa chemical trucking company Quality Distribution, which ended up 127 percent. "We've been working on our recovery about three years now," SRI Surgical chief executive Gerald Woodard said. "We've been very methodically executing our (turnaround) strategy and believe it's begun to pay some benefits ... especially over the course of the last nine months." For public companies based in the bay area, the past two years have been a tough act to follow. 2008 was the year of the plunge with all but one major local stock dropping in value, and 2009 was the year of the giant rebound, with more than a third of bay area stock prices doubling. This past year was a bit more restrained, but still most local stocks wound up in better shape. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Builders Name Award after Joyal [Florida Today]
After more than three decades in the home building business, there isn't much in the industry Paul Joyal hasn't seen. And there are few accolades from the Florida Home Builders Association and other groups that the 73-year-old Joyal, president of Melbourne-based Joyal Construction, hasn't received, from Builder of the Year to Hall of Fame inductee. But this year the association came up with a new honor for Joyal: naming its Pinnacle Award after him. The Pinnacle Award goes to a homebuilder that focuses on doing business with other association members, from purchasing to subcontracting. FLORIDA TODAY spoke with Joyal recently about the distinction as well as his thoughts on the current housing situation and when a turnaround might take hold.

› Pet Site Builds on Winning Formula [Miami Herald]
Be flexible and quick to adapt. Be numbers-oriented and unafraid to stare them in the face. Trust your employees and let them take chances without punishment. Oh, and must love dogs -- and cats. These are among the core values at PetPlace.com , the South Florida start-up that now ranks among the Top 10 pet websites by Nielsen Net Ratings. It draws 1.5 million unique visitors monthly with its 15,000 articles written by vets and professionals, photos and videos, and pet-tested products available through its sister company, PetProductAdvisor.com. The company's corporate culture may seem like an odd mix of hard-nosed accounting and warm fuzzies. But it has been the winning formula that president and owner Diego Saenz credits with the company's success -- along with the "most talented people I could hire,'' some of whom telecommute from Argentina and Ohio.

› Wellington Polo Club Hopes Tournaments Outshine Struggles [Palm Beach Post]
The International Polo Club Palm Beach, widely regarded as the ritzy epicenter of Wellington's polo community, started its eighth and largest season Sunday while finishing some major upgrades to the club. Eleven teams are committed to take to the fields in the club's highest rank 26-goal tournaments, compared with nine teams last year and eight teams the year before. A few more might sign on within the month, said International Polo manager Jimmy Newman. "If you want to see good polo, you're at the right place," Newman said. The club hosts the three most elite polo tournaments in the nation: the Piaget Gold Cup; the C.V. Whitney Cup; and the U.S. Open Polo Championship - which is on par with the U.S. Open in tennis or golf.

› Judges Studying Home Suits [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Foreclosure cases used to be a small and simple part of serving as a civil judge. Not anymore. The Great Recession has made the flood of foreclosure cases hitting the Florida courts a focus of the job and cranked up the pressure. Media scrutiny is high. Allegations of faked paperwork are common, and the amount of paperwork is overwhelming. Foreclosure defense has become more sophisticated and quickly evolving. Starting Monday, three of the most experienced circuit judges will begin handling civil cases, but first they have a reading list: lengthy analysis of the latest foreclosure law and arguments, and guides written by judges who have been in the foreclosure mess for years. "It's hard to step into that role," said 12th Circuit Chief Judge Lee Haworth, who made the judicial assignments for this year. "I'm hoping we can get them briefed so they don't get a pie in the face."

› Core Industries Led the Way in 2010 [Miami Herald]
South Florida's unemployment rate is still sky high, and foreclosures continue to pummel the housing market, but when it comes to local stocks, 2010 was a great year to be in business. The share prices of South Florida's publicly traded businesses were mostly on the rise throughout the year, with 33 out of 42 stocks reviewed by The Miami Herald seeing increases in 2010. While fewer stocks saw their share prices double this year compared to 2009, annual returns averaged about 30 percent for reviewed companies, compared to 13 percent for the S&P 500. Companies pulled from the Miami Herald stock index for review had to meet four criteria: They had to be based in the tri-county area, have a capitalization of $1 million or more and a year-end share price of at least $2. Restaurants, retailers and cruise lines were among the best performing stocks, while insurance companies, a casino and a healthcare staffing agency were among the year's bottom dwellers.

› A Tough Leader Quietly Helps Thousands Recover Their Identities [Orlando Sentinel]
Michael Dippy remembers not too long ago when he was just the messenger. You know, the one that people wanted to shoot. It would happen while he was volunteering at Project Homeless Connect — one-day, one-stop events that corralled crucial social services under one tent. Scores of people would wait hours to get identification cards only to walk away empty-handed. "My job was to say, 'Come back next year' — thinking that was uplifting," Dippy recalls. "But you'd see the devastation in their faces." No valid ID means no job. No real housing. No government or military benefits. For the displaced, nothing's more valuable than a name. Without proof of identity, they're worse than homeless. They're nobody. Dippy had seen enough. He pressed his case with a coalition of Orlando churches that was considering a proposal to give homeless people $10 to get an ID. Handing out money's the easy part. What homeless people really needed, he insisted, was help navigating the maze of bureaucracy. "It was me opening my big, fat mouth," he says. But that big mouth led to the creation of IDignity, which has given new urgency to beating a simple but under-appreciated problem for the homeless — identity. Dippy coined the name and is now the full-time executive director and organizer of monthly events designed to restore identification.
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› Rossi Park Revitalization Displacing the Hungry Homeless [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Scores of homeless people rely on the free meals provided by church groups at Rossi Park in Bradenton. But they may have to venture somewhere else for a hot, fresh breakfast now that nearby residents are complaining about sanitation issues and the city is moving forward with plans to revitalize the waterfront park. The churches, the city and homeless advocates are teaming up to find other suitable venues to continue offering the meals. "Their goal is the same as our goal, which is to help these people and get them out of homelessness," said Adell Erozer, executive director of the One Stop Center for the homeless. "We're trying to work together to see how we can best address the problem so the efforts of the people using their time, energy and money can be more effective."

› Slideshow: Jacksonville 2010 Economic Indicators [Florida Times-Union]
Economically speaking, 2010 was not a good year, but it wasn't as bad as 2009. In a collection of more than 30 charts, The Florida Times-Union and Jacksonville.com take a look at 2010 and the years before in unemployment, home sales and other important areas. The trends provide a detailed look back and ahead into the new year and beyond.
» Related: Make 2011 a Year for Downtown Jacksonville

› Front-Row Parking Offered to Green-Minded Orlando Drivers [Orlando Sentinel]
For anyone who has ever circled a crowded parking lot, a new kind of preferred-parking space is getting between them and the front door. As though owners of hybrid vehicles aren't imperious enough with their 50-plus miles to the gallon, green-construction proponents are now reserving front-row parking spaces for such drivers at a growing number of buildings. The University of Central Florida's new arena added four spaces for hybrids and car poolers this month. The new Amway Center's Geico Garage has 46 spaces set aside for hybrids and 36 reserved for car poolers. Orlando Utilities Commission and Orlando City Hall have at least one prime space designated for electric cars that need charging and plan on adding 300 more charging stations and parking spaces within an hour's drive of downtown by 2012. Prior to the emergence of preferential parking for alternative-fuel vehicles, special parking privileges had been reserved for handicapped drivers with doctor-prescribed decals on their vehicles. But unlike the handicap spaces, spots for hybrids and car poolers generally lack any kind of enforcement, raising questions about whether they'll be taken seriously.

› Ed Smith Renovations Near Completion [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Now, Ed Smith Stadium is a cacophony of scaffolding, cement, Pink Panther-brand drywall, dirt and hard-hatted workers. In just a little over six weeks, however, the stadium will be done with time to spare for the Baltimore Orioles' first spring training game against the Tampa Bay Rays on March 1. About 260 workers are working 10 hours a day, six days a week to finish the $24 million project, a much-anticipated spot for baseball fans to get close to the players. So far, they have logged 170,000 man-hours, according to Mark McCaskey, a construction manager. Amenities will include nearly triple the amount of concession and beer stands, almost 100 additional toilets and urinals, and, most importantly for Sarasota, shaded awnings. "It's just a delightful view of a game that most fans don't get to see," said Kevin G. Greene, the executive vice president of International Facilities Group, a contractor on the project. "That's the idea behind spring training, is building up the fan base."

› Overcoming Adversity: Staying Afloat in a Sink-or-Swim Economy [Miami Herald]
Just a few months after buying a yacht business, George Jousma sensed rough waters ahead. Not one potential buyer had walked into his Fort Lauderdale showroom. Unless he did something drastic, Jousma knew his business would bust. In Miami, Violette Sproul was confronting a similar dearth of customers as a political campaign fundraiser. “Over and over I was told there was no money to spend on hiring me,” Sproul recalls. Even worse, her husband learned his pay would be slashed. Both Jousma and Sproul knew they needed to think differently. During the dismal economy, many business owners and entrepreneurs have faced adversity, some for the first time in their careers. Customers who once provided a revenue stream pulled back. Personal financial holdings plunged, and credit became nearly impossible to obtain. The unforeseen barriers to business success brought panic to some and bankruptcy to others. Still, creative business people have found ways to master adversity by jumping into new fields, changing business directions, seizing opportunities they hadn’t realized existed or honing in on a more targeted markets. By dealing with adversity effectively, both people and organizations became stronger, better and more resilient.

› Gov.-elect Rick Scott Eyes 'Game-Changing' Education Overhaul [Orlando Sentinel]
Gov.-elect Rick Scott wants Florida parents in the driver's seat when it comes to their children's education, and he's considering a number of ways to put them there despite questions and criticism from school leaders. Scott's plans might include allowing parents to choose which schools their kids attend, regardless of attendance zones or county lines. Parents might be able to use state tax money to send their kids to private school or to cover home-schooling expenses — or, perhaps, to tuck the money away for college. Parents also could be given direct power to make major changes at poorly performing schools. A "trigger" option would allow parents to design a fix when a majority agree that change is needed. That might include replacing the school's administration, converting to a charter school and other options. These ideas are among a long menu of potential reforms that Scott's education transition team calls "game-changing proposals." Others include merit pay for teachers, more online learning and a new state funding plan based on what students learn rather than how much time they spend in school.

› In Restaurants and Hotels, Hopes for a Better Season [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
The economy is somewhat healthier, the plague of the Gulf oil gusher gone and cold weather here likely will be short-lived, but Southwest Florida tourism is not expected to rebound significantly in 2011. While regional occupancy rates are likely to edge upward slightly this winter, experts say industry trends, heightened competition and continued economic fears will result in a flat visitor season that begins officially this month. Still, many industry participants and observers contend that the 2011 season will somewhat surpass the previous two anemic years, when a dour economy and cold, wet weather combined with Icelandic volcanoes to stunt regional travel. "I'm not anticipating a record-breaking season, but we're hopeful that it will be better," said Michael Welly, general manager of the 410-acre Longboat Key Club.