As the board chair for the St. Johns County Chamber Foundation, what are your responsibilities?
I’m the conduit between the Chamber Board, the staff at the Chamber of Commerce and our (Foundation) board. In this role, I get to see the full spectrum of what’s going on with the Chamber and the county.
The Foundation started in 2024, and it will be a conduit to provide financial assistance to the programs that the Chamber’s undertaking. But we need to build a war chest. That’s always the challenge.
Currently we’re going after a small grant for workforce development in health care. St. Johns County is one of the fastest growing counties in Florida for health care. Over the next several years there is a need to fill 3,500 jobs. So, we’re trying to figure out: What can we do to help the health systems recruit new employees?
When we get the first grant we will focus on initiating health fairs for high schools with a focus on seniors. We want the students to bring their family units to these health fairs.
If you can get the family unit there — the mother, the father, et cetera — it opens career opportunities for the entire family. The adults in the family may decide to go back to school at one of our technical schools with a focus on health care jobs.
Tell us a little about the Foundation.
When the Foundation was established in 2024 it had three Pillars.
The first Pillar — Leadership St. Johns. The Chamber is in their 25th year of taking leaders within St. Johns businesses, exposing them to all aspects of doing business in the county. The program also exposes them to the role and function of the county public services.
The second Pillar provides emergency funds in the event of a disaster.
The third Pillar is workforce development. It ties in very closely to attainable housing. Where will the workers live when the recruitment of health care workers is successful?
The funding for the Foundation comes from donations, grants and our Denim & Diamonds Gala. The gala will be held on Sept. 10 at the Ancient City Farmstead. We hope to raise $200,000 this year.
What do you like best about your work with the Foundation?
The people.
We are becoming a major part of the Chamber, and we must bring value to the Chamber members and the community. I believe the initial workforce development focus is going to help most of our Chamber representatives.
You are affiliated with a few different nonprofits. Can you tell us a bit about them and what drew you to them?
I got involved, 10 years ago, with the local St. Jude Children’s Hospital Gala. Each April we do a major fundraising event in St. Augustine.
The St. Jude Miracle on the Bayfront Gala started 12 years ago, and they raised, I believe $60,000. After spending a year learning about St. Jude, I became co-chair of the gala and functioned in that role for two years. I am now the sponsorships chair. This past April, we raised $500,000. A lot of our success in the fight against childhood cancer goes to the White family and our sponsors. The White family donates all the meals and adult beverages for the gala. The St. Jude Miracle on the Bayfront is a fun way to help in the fight against childhood cancer.
The other advisory board I serve on is the St. Augustine Boys and Girls Club. I’ve been with them eight years. One of our major projects we are undertaking is raising funds for a new teen center. We hope to expand the current building by adding a 3,000-square-foot building attached to the club. We’ve already raised $1 million. One private donor gave us $200,000, The PGA Tour has given us $600,000, and we hope to obtain the balance of $1.3 million from state and federal sources. We anticipate breaking ground by the end of summer 2026.
People say, “What do you do in your retirement?” Well, I help raise money for three different organizations.
Tell us a bit about your professional background and what brought you to St. Johns County.
I got a master’s degree from George Washington University in hospital administration. I spent four years in the Air Force. After the Air Force I was the CEO of two hospitals: one in Alice, Texas, one in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
After those roles I moved into the corporate world. I joined a startup company — Paragon Ambulatory Surgery. We bought three surgery centers here in Jacksonville and one in Fall River, Massachusetts. The money people were in Los Angeles, and I traveled every week between Jacksonville, Massachusetts and L.A. I finally convinced the company to move me here. Doing surgery center development, all I needed was an airport. So, we moved here in ’80.
Our company was bought out in 1982. From there I joined another startup health care company buying and running rural hospitals. After that stint I went to another startup company developing specialty hospitals.
I finished my career as the SVP of NES Healthcare — we did emergency room physician staffing and management.
What do you like best about living here?
This is just a great place to live. The climate is ideal, I love the beach, and the people are fantastic. Most of them are from someplace else, so you have a lot of things in common.
What drives me now is making a difference in people’s lives and giving back to the community.
For fun I play a little golf, travel, and my hobby is Italian cooking.
