Ernie Barnett
Ernie Barnett is the Executive Director of The Florida Land Council, which consists of 19 principal members who own more than 3 million acres of land throughout Florida. The Council was formed in 1985 to protecting the asset value of members’ landholdings. The Council proactively engages regulatory and resource management agencies to help formulate public policies that allow its members to continue their stewardship of their lands. Barnett is also the Director of Water and Land Advisors, Inc., an environmental consulting firm specializing in Florida water supply, water quality and environmental issues.
Barnett has more than 30 years of water resources management experience and public service, during which he contributed to several landmark environmental laws. He had a lead role in the successful passage by the Florida Legislature of the Lake Okeechobee Protection Act; the Everglades Restoration Investment Act, which has provided more than $1 billion for Everglades restoration; and the Everglades Improvement and Management Act. He also helped secure approval of the Water Resource Development Act of 2000, in which Congress authorized the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.
In 2013, he led the South Florida Water Management District as Interim Executive Director. Barnett has a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida and Masters of Science in Biology and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Resource Management and Planning, both from the University of West Florida.
Steve Bousquet
Steve Bousquet is the Tampa Bay Times’ Tallahassee bureau chief. He joined the Times in 2001 after 17 years at the Miami Herald, where he held a variety of positions including Tallahassee bureau chief, and he previously was a reporter at TV stations in Miami and Providence, R.I. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Rhode Island and a master’s in history from Florida State University.
Bousquet was a contributor to two editions of The Almanac of Florida Politics and to The Miami Herald Report: Democracy Held Hostage, an account of the 2000 presidential recount in Florida. You can reach him on Twitter @SteveBousquet
Jim Boxold
Jim Boxold joined the Florida Department of Transportation as Chief of Staff in July, 2013. Jim brings almost twenty years of government policy and management experience to the agency. He started his career in Washington, D.C. working for U.S. Representative Porter Goss (FL-14), ultimately serving as the Congressman’s Legislative Director. In 2001, he came to Tallahassee to join the Governor’s staff and subsequently worked for the Commissioner of Agriculture before joining FDOT.
A Florida native, Jim holds a B.A. in Political Science from The George Washington University.
Richard J. Budell
Richard Budell is the Director of the Office of Agricultural Water Policy. In his current position, he oversees statewide programs promoting implementation of agricultural Best Management Practices addressing water quality and conservation. His office is also responsible for assessing future water needs for agriculture as part of developing Regional Water Supply Plans. Budell recently completed work on a National Academy of Sciences Committee evaluating the nutrient reduction strategies being employed in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. He joined the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in 1985 after earning his MS degree in 1984 from Florida State University.
Rick Dantzler
A third-generation Floridian, Rick Dantzler is an attorney and Supreme Court certified mediator in Civil, Family and Appellate Court. He recently accepted a presidential appointment to become the State Executive Director of the Farm Service Agency within the United States Department of Agriculture.
In 1982, at the age of 26, Dantzler was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. He was re-elected three times without opposition and served there until 1990 when he was elected to the Florida Senate. In 1998, Dantzler resigned from the Senate to run for the office of Governor of Florida, ultimately becoming the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor.
Dantzler grew up in Winter Haven, Florida, and received his K-12 education in the Polk County Public School system, and his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Florida. He is an avid outdoorsman and has written three books. His first, Under the Panther Moon, has been widely acclaimed in numerous circles.
Lauren Y. Detzel
Ms. Detzel is a shareholder and chair of Dean Mead’s Estate and Succession Planning Department. She is Board Certified in Wills, Trusts and Estates by The Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization. Ms. Detzel specializes in techniques to reduce or avoid paying estate tax such as family limited partnerships, grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), sales to intentionally defective trusts, charitable trusts, lifetime gifts and generation skipping trusts. Much of her practice involves planning for the succession of closely held or multi-generational family businesses.
Ms. Detzel also handles many contested tax matters in the transfer tax area, ranging from audits of returns and administrative appeals within the IRS to Tax Court and Federal District Court litigation.
Erin Ehnle
An Illinois-based photographer, designer and Creative Communicator. After opening a portrait photography business during high school, she expanded into agricultural photography in college and started advocating for agriculture on social media. Her Facebook page, Keeping it Real: Through the Lens of a Farm Girl, now has more than 27,000 followers. Since graduating from the University of Illinois in May, Erin has turned her work into a full-time career. She specializes in creating custom artwork for families, farms and businesses to use for purposes varying from wall dÈcor to social media content. More information can be found on her website at www.erinehnle.com or at facebook.com/lens.of.a.farm.girl.
Dykes Everett
As President of Dykes Everett & Company, Dykes Everett has served as a principal in urban and rural land development and investments. Acting as principal or advisor, Dykes has planned, structured, and negotiated more than $2 billion in land acquisition, land development, agribusiness development, and conservation and water resource projects over the last ten years.
Prior to forming Dykes Everett & Company in 2006, Everett practiced law for 22 years with the law firm of Winderweedle, Haines, Ward, & Woodman, P.A. in Winter Park, Florida. During that time he represented developers, large landowners, and ranchers in the planning, permitting, and development of their real estate holdings.
In addition, he has served as general counsel or special counsel to the governing boards of St. Johns River Water Management District, South Florida Water Management District, Tampa Bay Water, and Orange County. Everett grew up in Brevard County and was very active in the family agricultural businesses. He and his wife, Lisa, continue in agribusiness, having owned and operated ranches and groves in Orange, Brevard, and Volusia Counties.
Click here for more information.
Joseph Gekoski
Joseph Gekoski is President and CEO of Advantexe Learning Solutions, an award-winning global consulting firm that specializes in simulation-centric talent development engagements in the areas of business acumen, business leadership, and strategic business selling. Before founding Advantexe, Gekoski was a co-founder of Strategic Management Group, Inc. (SMG) and served as President and Chief Operating Officer prior to the sale of the company in 2000. Gekoski is an expert in the use of computer-based business simulations, and has designed and delivered simulation-centric learning engagements for thousands of participants around the globe throughout his career.
Outside of his work at Advantexe, Gekoski is as adjunct professor at Villanova University, where he teaches Strategic Management and Marketing in the MBA program using the MARKSTRAT business simulation. Gekoski is co-author of Financial Learning Systems, an introductory financial self-study text, and was a contributing editor to the Handbook of Business Strategy, 2nd edition. His recent research has focused on Customer Centricity, and he is the author of the Customer Centric Organization Assessment Survey.
Gekoski holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University.
Amanda C. Gufford
Amanda C. Gufford is Manager of Consulting Services at McGladrey LLP. She provides risk advisory and consulting services to a variety of clients, focusing primarily on the consumer products, food and beverage, and supply chain sectors. Gufford has more than 15 years of experience, including 11 years leading domestic and international compliance and internal audit functions for two Fortune 500 companies in the restaurant and distribution industries.
In her current role, Gufford provides services related to business strategy, risk advisory, process engineering, internal audit activities, business integrations, and international operations and FCPA activities. She provides value-added services by utilizing techniques such as Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen when performing risk assessments, time and motion studies, and process mapping initiatives. Gufford earned her Master and Bachelor of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi.
Michael Minton
Michael Minton is the Chair of Dean Mead’s Agribusiness Industry Team. He represents family businesses with an emphasis on generationally-owned agricultural businesses. He assists with their organizational structure, federal income, estate and gift tax planning and business succession planning. He offers his clients extensive experience focusing on tax issues related to agri-business, as well as water resource issues and new innovative uses of land for value added propositions.
Minton has more than 30 years of experience in Florida agribusiness and interaction with agencies that regulate the utilization and optimization of their assets and business opportunities. Minton is a past Vice-Chair of the Governing Board of South Florida Water Management District (1997-2001). Currently, Minton is Chair of the Board of Trustees for the University of Florida Law Center Association, Inc. and Vice Chair of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation, Inc. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Florida Partnership, the University of Florida Foundation, Florida Tax Watch and the Florida Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the Solutions Committee of the Central Florida Water Initiative and has stayed involved in water related issues across the State of Florida.
Clif Parks
Clif Parks is President of AgriLogic Consulting, LLC, a dynamic and innovative supplier of risk analysis products and services to the agricultural, financial and insurance industries. A diversified agricultural consulting firm, AgriLogic Consulting has provided services in policy development, strategic planning, finance, information technology and management for private and public sector entities. Parks has extensive experience in crop insurance program development, expert review, and operation for both the federal and private crop insurance programs. This has included the developed an array of actuarial, econometric, time series, and invasive species models for many applications.
Parks obtained both of his degrees from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor’s degree from the Agriculture Engineering Department and a Master’s degree from the Agricultural Economics Department. His experience working in the United States House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, the Center for North American Studies and his family’s diversified farming operation has provided valuable experience for accessing and quantifying risk in the agriculture industry.
Robert Porter PH.D.
Bob Porter is Executive Academic Director of the UCF Executive Development Center, as well as a Lecturer/Scholar in the College of Business Administration at the University of Central Florida. He completed his PhD in the Collegeís Management Department, concentrating on his research and teaching interests, Entrepreneurship and Strategy.
Prior to joining academia, Prof. Porter participated in General Electricís Two-Year Manufacturing Management Program ó highly-competitive training for engineers, preparing them for senior management. He was also an Automation Engineer at GE, a Manager of Manufacturing/ Automation for NCR Power Systems and in New Product Development and Hardware and Software R&D for AT&T.
Prof. Porter held dual roles as Chief Technology and Marketing Officer for Boundless Technologies, a NASDAQ startup he helped found, with mergers and acquisitions in Florida, Texas and New York. He founded and directed an independent management consulting firm that specialized in startups and turnarounds. And he was a member of the organizing team that founded and then successfully sold a community bank ó where he also sat on the Board of Directors and served as Chief Operating Officer.
Ananth Prasad
As Secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Ananth Prasad is responsible for managing the $9-billion agency which oversees infrastructure projects that are vital to Governor Scott’s vision for Florida, including port dredging, highway expansion and maintenance projects. Prior to this appointment, Prasad served as the Assistant Secretary for Engineering and Operations for the agency. Prasad rejoined FDOT in July 2010 after a two-year stint as a vice president of a national transportation infrastructure firm.
Prasad has a total of 23 years of experience in the transportation industry, including 21 years with FDOT where he previously held the positions of the Chief Engineer and Director of Construction. He was responsible for implementing various innovative contracting techniques, including public-private partnerships.
Engineering News-Record recently named Prasad as one of the Top 25 Newsmakers for 2013 and recognized FDOT as the Southeast Owner of the Year. Prasad earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from a Regional Engineering College in India and a master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Florida.
Dr. Edmond J. Seifried
Over the years, Dr. Ed Seifried has touched the hearts and minds of almost every director and CEO of community banks across the nation. While recognized for his keynote speeches, Dr. Ed is a valued educator for community bank directors, CEOs, senior management, and up and coming community bankers.
Carrying on his tenure as Professor Emeritus of Economics and Business at Lafayette College, Dr. Ed has led the educational programs as Dean for the West Virginia Banking School and the Virginia School of Banking. He has been on the faculty of many banking schools, including Stonier and the Graduate School of Banking at LSU.
Most recently, Dr. Ed is the Executive Director of the Sheshunoff Affiliation Program. This highly acclaimed program provides high performance education and idea exchanges for community bank CEOs, Lenders, and Technology/Operations Officers.
Having served as a community bank director, Dr. Ed believes that one has to experience the dynamics of being a community bank director to fully understand their needs to create the bank’s strategic plan, assess risk, set risk parameters, monitor risk, and to be thoroughly educated.
Hans G. Tanzler III
Hans G. Tanzler III was named Executive Director on Oct. 11, 2011, after serving as the director of the St. Johns River Water Management District’s Office of General Counsel.
Tanzler received law degrees from the University of Florida and has been a member of the Florida Bar for more than 30 years. He is also a certified public accountant and has worked as an assistant U.S. attorney, an Internal Revenue Service attorney, an attorney in private practice, and a senior corporate business executive.
Tanzler has been active for more than 20 years with volunteer and community activities, currently serving on the boards of the University of Florida Foundation and The Conservation Trust of Florida, and having previously served as chairman of the Jacksonville Zoological Society and commissioner for the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Former Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Tanzler in April 2008 to the District’s Governing Board, which he served on until becoming director of the Office of General Counsel in July 2011. While on the Board, Tanzler served as vice chairman and treasurer.
Clay Worden, CPA
Clay Worden is managing partner of the Orlando office of McGladrey LLP. He has served clients in the agribusiness industry, providing accounting and consulting services to growers, ranchers, manufacturers, packers, distributors and cooperatives. Worden has assisted clients with audit and accounting, acquisitions, due diligence, bank financing, succession planning, equity transaction, corporate governance, litigation support, organizational governance projects, benchmarking and value-added operational improvement opportunities.
Some of the specific commodities Worden has experience with include citrus, cattle, row crops, grain, milk, nurseries, tree farms, sugar cane, tobacco and aquaculture. His hands-on experience runs deep with packers, processors, bottlers, value add manufacturing and distributors. He is also actively involved with regional and nation agriculture organizations that assist in monitoring, establishing and educating on legislative, tax and accounting matters impacting agriculture families and entities.
David Zierden
David Zierden is the state climatologist at the Florida Climate Center, the leading authority on climate variability in Florida, particularly as related to ENSO. The Climate Center is involved with the Southeast Climate Consortium, one of the Regional Integrated Science and Assessment (RISA) teams funded by NOAA’s Office of Global Programs.
Through this involvement, the Florida Climate Center helps to conduct research into downscaled and localized climate forecasts and their application to the sectors of agriculture, forestry and water resources. One example is a method of forecasting wildfire threat based on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) that the Florida Climate Center developed. The experimental forecast expresses wildfire threat in probabilistic terms and is used by the Florida Division of Forestry for planning management strategies and allocation of resources.