Boca Raton business, leaders and student honored
Boca Raton business, leaders and student honored
Boca Chamber 2012 Business Awards
SouthFloridaSunrise.com Staff report
May 17--The Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce Business Awards Luncheon was held today. The Chamber presents its annual Business Awards to entrepreneurs and business people who not only generate economic prosperity in our community, but also have a strong philanthropic involvement.
The 2012 honorees are 2012 Business of the Year: Florida Atlantic University; 2012 Business Leader of the Year: Rick Konsavage, Regional Director of Operations for Ocean Properties, Ltd. Hotels & Resorts; and 2012 Small Business Leader of the Year: Jason Doherty, Director of Sales, R2 Unified Technologies.
In addition, Rebecca Zerbo, a 7th grader at Eagles Landing Middle School student was honored at the gathering of 400 local business leaders. As a participant in the Chamber's Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!), she was selected out of her 24-student YEA! Class to compete in the national YEA! Bright Ideas Competition in Rochester this month, and won the national title. Rebecca's business, Positive Pocket, began as an anti-bullying campaign. Click here to read our complete coverage about this remarkable young entrepreneur.
The Chamber web site provides the following insights about the winners
About Florida Atlantic University: Some universities measure greatness in decades and centuries. Florida Atlantic University measures it with every student who earns a degree, every researcher who makes a discovery and every community that is transformed. At FAU's dedication ceremony in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson challenged the University's pioneers: "It is time now...for a new, adventurous, imaginative, courageous breakthrough for a new revolution in education in America." With those words, FAU opened its doors as the first public university in southeast Florida and the first in America designed for upper division students only. Since day one, FAU has pushed the bounds of higher education. Now, 50 years later, the University serves 29,000 freshmen, transfers and graduate students on seven campuses and sites. People from every walk of life find a place at FAU. Students choose from more than 170 degree programs, faculty researchers utilize more than 40 research centers and the community engages hundreds of cultural and educational events every year. Click here to read more about FAU.
About Rick: Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Rick is the second oldest of his siblings and has four sisters. Currently, his family consists of two daughters and one son, Brittany (23), Ricky (22), and Victoria (12). He has a rabbit named “Hopper”, who can maneuver a soccer ball with his nose! He is a huge supporter of the YMCA of Boynton Beach. His daughter, Victoria, is a Junior Olympic swimmer and part of the YMCA of South Palm Beach Sea dragons swim team. She loves to swim and the sport! His son Ricky is a junior pastor in Louisiana. Brittany attends Palm Beach State College and is planning to finish her degree at F.I.U. in nutrition. His daughter Victoria goes to school at Trade Winds Middle School. His roots of his family are from Lithuania. All of his grandparents are from Lithuania. He graduated Florida International University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management. He has been the Regional Director of Operations with Ocean Properties Ltd. for over 25 years and has experience in all phases of the hospitality industry. Currently, he is responsible for over 30 Hotels from St. Croix-USVI to Vero Beach, Florida. He serves on numerous advisory boards and is currently the Past Chairman of the Palm Beach County CVB and past President of the Hotel and Lodging Association. Presently on the Board of Directors of the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce, he is a board member of the BPAT for Palm Beach County hotels. His favorite sports teams are the Philadelphia Eagles and any Philadelphia team. His favorite hobbies are playing golf and collecting and tasting fine wine, and he says the latter is his specialty! He resides in Boynton Beach and loves living in Palm Beach County. He supports and contributes to many non-profit organizations, including the American Heart Association. He gives his time for kids in need and volunteers for many of the local charities and events.
About Jason: As a Partner and Director of Sales for R2 Unified Technologies, Jason Doherty has been responsible for the company’s growth from 2008 startup to 2011 multi-million dollar company recognized as the 6th fastest growing technology company in the South Florida Business Journal’s 2011 FastTech awards. R2 Unified Technologies has also been recognized in Inc. 5000, two years running, ranking #814 in the country and #29 in South Florida. Prior to venturing out as an entrepreneur, Jason spent seven years at Wachovia World Savings. During this experience, he was promoted six times, culminating with his role as Mortgage Banking Director on the West Coast of Florida, at the age of 28. He earned a number of accolades, including being named a President’s Club Member and Employee of the Year. Currently, Jason is a Trustee Member of the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce. He put his passion for leadership to work as the 2011 Chair for the Boca Chamber’s Young Business Professionals PULSE Committee and creator of PULSE’s LeadNOW program. He now serves as the Immediate Past Chair of the PULSE committee. Jason is also a member of FAU’s ITOM (IT Operations Management) Advisory Board. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Florida Atlantic University. Jason has been married to his wife, Wendy, since 2005 and together they have two children, four-year-old Cole and three-year-old Evan.