Real Estate

Britt Greene is turning St. Joe’s attention to building an inland port. [Photo:Rick Wilson/Florida Times-Union]

Formed in 1960 as a spinoff of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co., Alico (Public No. 109) is one of Florida’s leading agricultural and land management firms. The agribusiness giant dabbles in everything from cattle ranching, sugarcane and citrus to land leasing and rentals, rock and sand mining and real estate sales activities. President and CEO J.D. Alexander, the grandson of citrus baron Ben Hill Griffin Jr., is a state senator who serves in the powerful position of budget chief.

» While St. Joe Co. (Public No. 95) is no longer Florida’s largest landowner — Plum Creek holds that title — it’s a close second, still owning around 580,000 acres concentrated primarily in northwest Florida between Tallahassee and Destin. Under President and CEO Britt Greene, the company has focused most of its recent efforts on securing a new airport for the region and developing 71,000 acres it owns surrounding the airport in central Bay County.

» As president and CEO of the Lennar Corp. (Public No. 21), Stuart Miller has helped grow his father’s company into one of the largest home builders in the United States. Sales plummeted during the housing crisis, but the company moved back into land acquisition earlier than its competitors, an aggressive move that has given the company a leg up as business picks up.

» Former heavyweight WCI Communities (not ranked) emerged from bankruptcy in September. It still owns 7,966 acres in Florida, but it remains to be seen whether under CEO David Fry the Bonita Springs-based luxury builder, which liquidated a significant amount of its land holdings to shed $2 billion of debt and liabilities, can reacquire the clout that made it a powerhouse under former CEO Al Hoffman.

» Westgate Resorts (Private No. 22), the real estate development firm David Siegel started out of a small office in his garage in 1970, is today the largest privately held timeshare company in the world, with 28 resorts and 400,000 owners worldwide. Siegel’s Orlando-based empire employs more than 6,500.

» An hour north of Orlando, The Villages (Private No. 35) is the largest single-site residential real estate development in the United States with more than 38,000 homes spanning more than 26,000 acres in three adjoining counties in central Florida. The 78,000-person golf-cart community also enjoys considerable political heft, having earned a reputation as a GOP stronghold where Republican politicians often come to stump for votes. Owner and developer H. Gary Morse is a major GOP contributor.

» From his high-rise office in Fort Lauderdale, Terry Stiles, CEO of the Stiles Corp. (Private No. 142), has a grand view of the skyline he helped shape. Under his direction, the small construction company his father founded in 1951 has grown into a commercial real estate powerhouse that has partnered with everyone from H. Wayne Huizenga to the Tribune Co. on various projects. The company is responsible for more than 37 million square feet of office, industrial, retail and mixed-used residential projects throughout Florida and the Southeast.

» In 1962, William Graham and his brothers, former Washington Post publisher Phil Graham and former Sen. Bob Graham began transforming 3,000 acres of their father’s Dade County dairy farm land into a town where people could live, work and play. The Graham Cos. (Private No. 170) remains Miami Lakes’ largest landowner with holdings that include the 200-acre Don Shula’s Hotel & Golf Club, a 300-room hotel, a golf course, an Athletic Club facility, 1,500 apartments and more than two million square feet of office, retail and industrial space.

» Jorge Perez, chief executive of The Related Group (Private No. 38), has reshaped the south Florida skyline with high-profile condos from Miami Beach to West Palm Beach. Following the recent downturn, Perez has turned his attention to some less glamorous projects, including an affordable housing project in Little Havana and using a $1-billion investor fund to buy up troubled real estate. Related Group is the largest Hispanic-owned business in the nation. — Amy Keller

Banking

“We ask our folks to take active roles in the community,” says Capital City Bank Group CEO Bill Smith. [Photo: Roger Tully]

Once, executives of most big banks in Florida — like SunTrust’s Joel Wells, Southeast’s Charles Zwick, Barnett’s Charlie Rice and Allen Lastinger — occupied passionate leadership positions, fully engaged in the state’s public life. Today, amid turmoil in the industry and more rapid turnover in corner offices, the big banks’ influence tends to come from their pure heft.

Though none is based in Florida, all four members of “the League of Trillionaires,” as Miami-based banking authority Ken Thomas calls them, now are in Florida thanks to the recent additions of Wells Fargo (through its takeover of Wachovia) and JPMorgan Chase (via WaMu), joining Citi and Bank of America. Wells Fargo has 16,361 Florida employees, who last year tallied a cumulative 85,867 volunteer hours. Wells also made $9.3 million in grants, employee donations and company matching last year and $1 billion in home loans to low- and moderate-income people as well as $3.65 million in purchases from Florida-based minority- or women-owned businesses. Shelley Freeman is regional president.

» Bank of America made more than $14 million in grants and statewide sponsorships, not counting giving by Merrill Lynch and U.S. Trust. BofA was named “Corporation of the Year” from 2006 to 2008 by the Florida Minority Supplier Development Council. Mike Fields serves as state president.

» Regions’ 3,200 employees in Florida annually put in 6,000 volunteer hours for approximately 200 organizations. Brett Couch is regional president.

» BB&T employs 3,187 in Florida. Its foundation gave $155,000 over five years to five non-profits. Bill Klich is the bank’s Florida president.

» Citi employs 9,500 in Florida and gave $6.5 million last year.

» JPMorgan Chase employs 14,384 in Florida and gave approximately $2.3 million to Florida charities.

» Another standout in terms of statewide influence is Atlanta-based SunTrust. Thomas Kuntz is the bank’s Florida CEO.

» Notable among community banks is Tallahassee-based Capital City Bank Group (Public No. 84), “We have as sort of one of the mantras around here, ‘Build a good community and you’ll build a good bank.’ We ask our folks to take active roles in the community,” says Chairman and CEO Bill Smith. Indeed, all Capital City’s 1,000 employees must do 10 hours of community service, Smith says. Keep in mind that with the exception of Tallahassee and Gainesville, Capital branches are in small towns, where the local bank is a hub. Spread a minimum of 10,000 hours of service through those places and “it’s something that ought to help your community move ahead.” Smith is on the Council of 100.

» Fort Lauderdale-based BankAtlantic (Public No. 68) ranks first in Florida in customer satisfaction, according to J.D. Power and Associates, with SunTrust and Regions just behind. Jarett Levan is CEO. — Mike Vogel

Natural Resources & Agriculture

CEO Lee Thomas’ Rayonier owns almost half a million acres in Florida. [Photo: Rayonier]

Looking out over the St. Johns River from his high-rise office on North Laura Street in Jacksonville, Lee Thomas, chairman, president and CEO of Rayonier (Public No. 42), presides over a global business that encompasses around 2.4 million acres of timberland, including 425,000 acres in Florida, a major manufacturing operation and a real estate subsidiary. In addition to growing trees for pulp, the company makes cellulose and fiber products that go into everything from toothpaste to flat-screen televisions. Rayonier, which operates as a real estate investment trust, exports about 65% of its “dissolving pulp” products. Thomas, who headed the EPA from 1985-89 under President Ronald Reagan, has helped steer Rayonier in a progressive direction environmentally; the company’s mill in Fernandina Beach burns almost no fossil fuels, using its own wood waste byproducts and other biomass. Raynonier’s forests meet Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards. The company makes some of its property available to the public for hunting and other recreational uses.

A. Duda & Sons Vice President Tracy Duda Chapman served on the Environmental Regulation Commission during Jeb Bush’s tenure as governor. [Photo: Brian Smith]

» A. Duda and Sons (Private No. 61) has evolved from a celery farm in the 1920s into a multifaceted, six-state agricultural operation that produces cattle and grows crops ranging from radishes to lettuce, citrus and sod. The company, based in Oviedo, also operates processing plants that produce beverages and canned and frozen vegetables and fruit for the food service industry. Additionally, Duda has become an agricultural broker and real estate developer, creating the town of Viera on some of its land in Brevard County. Now in its fourth generation of family ownership, the company is headed by President and CEO Joseph Duda. General counsel and corporate Vice President Tracy Duda Chapman is one of the most powerful women in an operating position in Florida agriculture and served on the state’s Environmental Regulation Commission during Gov. Jeb Bush’s administration. The company has won praise for how it manages its migrant/seasonal workforce and for its willingness to address environmental issues.

» Florida Crystals (Private No. 6), the Palm Beach County sugar producer, has long been a major player on the business and political scene, both in Florida and nationally. Owned by the Fanjul family, headed by brothers Alfonso “Alfy” Fanjul and Jose “Pepe” Fanjul, the firm grows, refines, packages and distributes sugar under several brands, including an organic line. It has developed one of the largest biomass energy plants in the world, burning wood waste and leftover cane fiber to power its sugar operations and some 60,000 homes. The company is also developing an “inland port” warehousing and distribution center in partnership with the Port of Palm Beach

OUT-OF-STATE FIRMS: In 2009, Seattle-based Plum Creek passed St. Joe to become the largest landowner in Florida, owning around 600,000 acres spanning parts of 22 counties. The company’s primary focus is on growing and harvesting timber, but Plum Creek’s southern director, Todd Powell, is helping to develop an inland port east of Lake City and a 2,000-acre, 177-home development and nature preserve in Gadsden County. — Mark Howard

Hospitality

Clarence Otis, Darden Restaurants

With 1,800 restaurants, 180,000 employees and a $2.5-billion supply chain, Darden Restaurants’ influence extends all the way to Capitol Hill, where the company has advocated on issues ranging from healthcare reform to the creation of a national standard for the posting of nutritional information on menus. CEO Clarence Otis has made the company (Public No. 11) a national leader in workplace diversity. The $18-million package of tax incentives and road improvements that helped the company build its new 465,000-sq.-ft. headquarters in south Orange County is a testament to local unwillingness to lose Orange County’s only Fortune 500 company.

Liz Smith, OSI Restaurant Partners

» OSI Restaurant Partners (Private No. 10), the Tampa-based parent company of Outback Steakhouse and other restaurant chains, is a big civic player in the Tampa Bay area via its sponsorship of charity and sporting events like the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am, which has raised more than $3.4 million over six years for area charities. New CEO Elizabeth “Liz” Smith, former president of Avon Products, was named one of Fortune magazine’s “50 most powerful women in business” in 2009.

» Rosen Hotels & Resorts (Private No. 100), Florida’s largest independent hotel chain, did what many chains couldn’t afford to do during the recent recession. It spent $30 million on hotel upgrades. Founder Harris Rosen, a local business icon, dubbed it the “Rosen stimulus plan.” The unconventional hotelier and prominent Orlando philanthropist also made a splash on the national stage during last year’s healthcare reform debate for his innovative approach to providing his employees with healthcare via onsite clinics.

Forbes calls Lesa France Kennedy, CEO of International Speedway Corp., “the most powerful woman in sports.” [Photo: Kelly LaDuke]

» Brian France is behind the wheel at NASCAR (Private No. 9), but it’s older sister Lesa France Kennedy, CEO of International Speedway Corp. (Public No. 53), who grabs the spotlight. Forbes recently dubbed Kennedy the “most powerful woman in sports” for running the $750-million organization that oversees the Daytona International Speedway and other stock car racetracks across the country.

» Royal Caribbean Cruises (Public No. 13) dominated travel and tourism industry headlines last year with the christening of its new megaship, Oasis of the Seas, a 16-deck, $1.5-billion ship that is five times larger than the Titanic. The cruise giant is also an industry leader in efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. Chairman and CEO Richard Fain is a member of the Florida Council of 100, sits on the University of Miami’s board of trustees and serves on the executive committee of the United Way of Miami-Dade County.

» Rival cruise operator, Miami-based Carnival Corp. (Public No. 4), remains the world’s biggest operator of cruises, with brands ranging from mass market leader Carnival Cruise Lines to the ultra-luxury Seabourn Cruise Line. Chairman and CEO Micky Arison, who also owns the Miami Heat, is the 56th-richest man in America, according to Forbes, with a net worth of about $4.3 billion.

» Orlando-based SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (not ranked) operates 10 U.S. theme parks — including Busch Gardens and Adventure World in Tampa and SeaWorld, Discovery Cove and Aquatica in Orlando — and employs 25,000. The company, which is owned by the private equity firm Blackstone Group, is active in habitat and species conservation, animal rescue and rehabilitation.

OUT-OF-STATE FIRMS: Overseeing Walt Disney World’s 60,000 workers and a massive expansion project is President Meg Crofton, a prominent player in central Florida who chairs the board of directors of the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission and serves on the boards of Orlando Health, the Central Florida Regional Commission on Homelessness and Rollins College.

» Universal Orlando Resort, a joint venture between General Electric’s NBC Universal and Blackstone Group, attracts between 9 million and 10 million visitors every year who inject billions of dollars into Orlando’s economy. Local hotels and restaurants are hoping that the No. 2 theme park’s new Harry Potter attraction, the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” will reignite travel to Orlando. Tom Williams serves as chairman and CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts. — Amy Keller

Defense & Space

Nearly half of Harris Corp.’s 15,000 employees are engineers. Howard Lance has been CEO of the $5-billion company since 2003. [Photo: Jeffrey Camp]

The precise extent of Harris Corp.’s products (Public No. 15) is impossible to determine — some research areas at the Melbourne-based company are so sensitive they’re off-limits to even the most senior company personnel. Harris is clearly a standout, however, both among defense contractors nationwide and in the state’s high-tech business community. A major employer of top engineering graduates from UCF, UF and other state universities, Harris designs, builds and sells a variety of communications and IT equipment, ranging from military radios and satellite gear to maritime technology, air-traffic control, Census IT and public safety communications equipment. President and CEO Howard Lance, former president of NCR, has headed the company since 2003.

OUT-OF-STATE FIRMS: Big defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and DRS Technologies all have numerous facilities and business units throughout Florida. Northrop Grumman builds the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, a Navy carrier-based early warning aircraft, in St. Augustine at a plant that employs more than 800. Lockheed Martin does advanced radar research and conducts other operations in Melbourne and operates several defense-related business units in the Orlando area. In Palm Beach County, United Technologies has a number of operations, including the Sikorsky Aircraft plant. In Brevard County, United Launch Alliance and United Space Alliance — both joint ventures of Lockheed Martin and Boeing that conduct rocket launches for the government — are among the big employers of thousands of technicians and scientists whose jobs are threatened by cutbacks in the country’s space program. — Mark Howard