Matt Price, Board Chair 2020-2021
Regions Bank Vice President/Commercial Banking Relationship Manager
Price was born and raised in Albany, Georgia, and graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2001. Currently, he is vice president of Commercial Banking for Regions Bank. He was hired by Regions in 2006, and has built a successful career in banking for the past 18 years. Price recently served as chair for the Division’s Ambassador program, and was also recognized as Ambassador of the Year in 2017. He has been married to his wife Paige for 16 years, has an ninth-grader at Ponte Vedra High School, and you can regularly find the entire family on a local tennis court.
Gloria Dongara, Immediate Past Chair 2019-2020
AAA-The Auto Club Group
Dongara is the Financial Services agent at the Auto Club Group in Ponte Vedra Beach and St. Augustine. She specializes in life insurance, banking, indexed annuities and fixed annuities. Prior to AAA, she had 23-plus years of experience in corporate America, specifically heading the Global Corporate Markets Anti-Money Laundering area as well as Client Services and Cash Management. She has lived in Ponte Vedra for more than 28 years and served as an Ambassador on the St. John’s County Chamber for three years and has been
on the board of directors for three years. Dongara is now the incoming chair of the St. Johns County the Board of Directors, Ponte Vedra Division.
Pamela Bomba, CPA, Vice Chair
Tax Principal, Pivot CPAs
Bomba is a tax partner with Pivot CPAs, where she began her career in 2005 after receiving her B.A. in Business Administration and Masters of Accountancy from the University of North Florida. She has always lived in Northeast Florida and now calls Palm Valley home. While she has a strong background in all areas of taxation, Bomba primarily specializes in consulting and compliance for large, multi-state corporations, partnerships, and their owners. She has extensive experience with different tax sectors including local, state and federal taxation and financial accounting. Bomba is a member of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. In the community, she serves on the finance committee of The Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra Beach. Pamela is a mentor with the Jacksonville Women’s Business Center and is a member of the Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance. She also actively volunteers with Junior Achievement.
Christine Swanbeck
General Manager, Ruth’s Chris Steak House-PVB
Swanbeck is the general manager at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Ponte Vedra Beach, where she works day in and day out to improve every guest’s experience through a high standard of service and high quality food. Swanbeck believes that building relationships is the foundation for any successful business. However, it is especially important for the hospitality industry. Swanbeck’s professional journey began when she studied for four years at Florida State University, earning degrees in Hospitality and Business, while being the captain of the women’s cross country and track team.
Jen Hendrich
Community Outreach manager, THE PLAYERS Championship/PGA TOUR
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Hendrich holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications. She has worked for the PGA TOUR for more than seven years and is currently the Community Outreach manager for THE PLAYERS Championship, where she helps grow community awareness of the tournament through marketing, PR and charitable efforts. Prior to her job at the TOUR, Hendrich worked as an account coordinator at Burdette Ketchum, a full-service marketing firm in Jacksonville. For the past 11 years, she has served on the board of the Jacksonville Chapter of the UT Alumni Association, a group created for people who are interested in the distinguished record and future progress of The University of Tennessee. She is also currently on the board of the Ponte Vedra Division of the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, where she helps the chamber increase membership and deliver continuous value-added service to its current members. Hendrich has been a resident of Northeast Florida for 10 years. She and her English bulldog, Banks, live in Jacksonville.
Kathleen Floryan
Broker Associate, exp Realty
Floryan has been successfully selling properties and helping people buy homes as a consistent “Top Producer” year after year. She works full time in real estate. Through the toughest real estate markets since 2006, Floryan lists and sells residential real estate within all of the communities, in all price ranges throughout the St Johns County and Beaches area. Homes listed with her have an average day on market of less than 45 days. Floryan’s passion is specializing in luxury homes in Ponte Vedra Beach that include oceanfront, golf-course homes and condos, gated and non-gated neighborhoods and other waterfront such as marsh front, Intracoastal or riverfront properties. She also sells in the newest community west of Ponte Vedra Beach called Nocatee. She is a certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist, a certified short sale specialist, a certified residential resort and 2nd Home Specialist, certified Nocatee Realtor, certified Doctors Agent and Certified Express Offers Agent.Floryan is proud to be a broker associate currently with eXp Realty.
Susan Griffin
Publisher, Ponte Vedra Recorder
Griffin is publisher of the Ponte Vedra Recorder, the community paper of record serving Ponte Vedra and the Beaches since 1969 and now Nocatee. She also serves as publisher of the bi-monthly First Coast Register magazine. She has been with the Recorder for 20-plus years, joining the paper as an advertising account executive and becoming sales manager before being named publisher. Prior to joining the Recorder, Griffin owned travel agencies in Florida and Georgia. She is returning to the board of directors for the Ponte Vedra Beach Division; she previously served on the board as a director and as chairman. She has been actively involved with the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce since 1997. She also serves on the board of directors of the Overlook V Office condominiums and is on the board of directors for the Florida Media Association.
C.W. Cook
General Manager and COO, Sawgrass Country Club
Cook started his adult work career serving in the U.S. Air Force in the military club division. With this initial grounding, he left the military and furthered his education by graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from Florida International University, and a master’s degree in Hospitality Administration from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Along the way, Cook has spent over 25 years managing at some of the finest private clubs in the country with the last number of years of that service being the GM/COO of Sawgrass Country Club. Cook is a member of the prestigious Club Managers Association of America Honor Society, holds the coveted Certified Club Manager (CCM) and Certified Chief Executive (CCE) designations and is one of only 23 Master Club Managers (MCM) worldwide.
Suzan Lupton
Branch Vice President, VyStar Credit Union – PVB Branch
Lupton was born and raised in Uganda. After high school, she received a full government scholarship to law school. A year into her law degree, she also received a full volleyball scholarship to South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, She left Uganda for the U.S. in 2002 to play volleyball and pursue a degree in criminal justice with the intent of enrolling in an American law school to complete her degree. This however changed after working as a legal intern while in college. After graduation, she moved to Jacksonville in 2006 where she worked briefly as a collection’s agent, insurance adjustor and finally landed at VyStar Credit Union in 2007. She became the branch vice president for VyStar’s location in Ponte Vedra in 2016 and has served in that capacity since. Her primary focus is to serve the financial needs of VyStar’s members and bring credit union services to more people through education and guidance on how to leverage products and services to either make money or save money. She also obtained her master’s in Business Administration from Florida International University in 2015. Outside of work, Lupton enjoys time with friends and family, traveling, working out and most recently joined a group called “Happy Feet,” which promotes healthy living by encouraging an active lifestyle. Participants encourage and challenge each other to keep moving.
Peter verDorn
Sales Manager, TPC Sawgrass
VerDorn is the sales manager at TPC Sawgrass, assisting companies and groups of all sizes to host meetings, events, private dinners and golf. His focus is to be actively involved in the community and bring awareness to the clubhouse, showcasing everything TPC Sawgrass has to offer. VerDorn, his wife, Erin, and 2-year-old daughter, Penny, recently moved to Ponte Vedra from New Jersey to be closer to family and enjoy a new lifestyle. He has an extensive background in golf and hospitality, with more than 11 years of experience both in the public and private sector. He specializes in business development and believes that relationships are the key to success in any industry. VerDorn and his family are extremely happy to call Ponte Vedra home and he looks forward to continually helping people in the community.
Felicia Cox
Vice President, Iberia Bank
Cox has more than 35 years of retail banking experience in North Florida. She started her career in banking with Barnett Bank, while attending high school in a school work program. She became part of the Iberia Bank team five years ago with the acquisition of Florida Bank. Currently, Cox is the retail group manager for the North Florida market. She joined Florida Bank 13 years ago in 2007. Cox is a native of the North Florida market, and actively serves as a volunteer in the community where she grew up. She is a past two-term chairman of the St Johns Chamber of Commerce, Ponte Vedra Division. Cox has a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Edward Waters College in Jacksonville.
