Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

A Better Place

People often ask me what my role as publisher of Florida Trend entails. I typically tell them that I am spoiled. As with most leadership roles, mine involves administrative and organizational tasks and dealing with situations that demand immediate attention. But that comes with the territory, and most of my job is a pleasure. I spend a good portion of my time traveling around our great state. Over the past few weeks alone, I’ve spent time in Fort Myers, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, St. Pete, Tampa, Tallahassee and Jacksonville. During my trips, I have the pleasure of meeting with and learning from Florida’s local, regional and statewide business executives, government officials and political leaders.

Many of my conversations involve the work these leaders do to make the state a better place. Their commitment to Florida is unwavering. In some cases, these leaders have long generational ties to Florida — but for many, Florida is a new home, one they are passionate about and are eager to showcase.

Florida is fortunate to have such strong support from its business executives/ community. Their political leanings may differ, but they don’t get in the way of their efforts to ensure Florida’s success for the future.

The desire to highlight leadership was one of reasons we created the FLORIDA 500, a special publication that profiles 500 business leaders who are shaping Florida.

The issue is organized by industry categories— real estate and construction, finance and insurance, transportation, manufacturing, nonprofits and philanthropy, education, life sciences, etc. Executives were selected purely through our editorial department’s discretion. The process was neither easy nor quick — selection was nearly a year in the making.

Our editorial team set a few rules for the issue from the beginning:

  • Elected officials were not to be included since it is the office more than the officeholder that truly matters.
  • There would be no more than three people from any one firm.
  • Longevity mattered.
  • Visibility didn’t necessarily equal influence.

We wanted to go beyond identifying easily recognized statewide figures because many leaders may not rise to statewide visibility but have plenty of clout in the regions where they live.

What our editorial team has produced is a guide to the individuals who are steering the state toward a bright future.

One strength of the publication is that you’ll get to know these 500 influentials not just as business success stories, but as people — who they admire, their personal heroes, greatest challenges, what most might not know about them, etc.

As a Florida Trend subscriber, you should have received the FLORIDA 500 in early September. If you would like to purchase additional copies as a resource for you or your staff, please contact our customer relations department at 800/829-9103 or at CustomerService@FloridaTrend.com. Or, as always, you are more than welcome to contact me directly.

— David Denor, Publisher
[ddenor@floridatrend.com]

 

See other stories from Florida Trend's October issue.

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