The awards, which were inaugurated in 2014, celebrate the success of leaders in the categories of chairman/chairwoman, CEO, president, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, chief information officer, chief marketing officer and top HR executive. One award is given in each of South Florida’s three counties for each of the eight categories.
This year’s honorees and their categories are:
Chairman
- Broward County – Mike Jackson, AutoNation, Inc.
- Miami-Dade County – Tony Argiz, Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra LLC
- Palm Beach County – George Lemieux, Gunster
CEO
- Broward County – Frank Sacco, Memorial Healthcare
- Miami-Dade County – Tere Blanca, Blanca Commercial Real Estate
- Palm Beach County – Michael Kaufman, Kaufman Lynn Construction
President
- Broward County – David Armstrong, Broward College
- Miami-Dade County – Michael D. Katz, Katz Barron Squitero Faust
- Palm Beach County – Rick Hayduk, Boca Raton Resort & Club
Chief Operating Officer
- Broward County – Jessica Pavlik, Berger Singerman LLP
- Miami-Dade County – Xavier Gonzalez, eMerge Americas
- Palm Beach County – Mark Smith, 3Cinteractive
Chief Financial Officer
- Broward County – Steve Wilder, City Furniture
- Miami-Dade County – Daniel Kushner, City National Bank of Florida
- Palm Beach County – Joanne Aquilina, Bethesda Health
Chief Information Officer
- Broward County – Tom West, Nova Southeastern University
- Miami-Dade County – Tery Howard, Miami Dolphins & Sun Life Stadium
- Palm Beach County – Lakshman Charanjiva, NextEra Energy
Chief Marketing Officer
- Broward County – Brian Wallace, Magic Leap
- Miami-Dade County – Maylynn Vargas-Menoud, ROIG Lawyers
- Palm Beach County – Eric Lebersfeld, Capitol Lighting
Top HR Executive
- Broward County – Tracy Wiggan, Federated National Insurance
- Miami-Dade County – Adrienne McCoy, Baptist Health South Florida
- Palm Beach County – Jo Carol Rutherford, SBA Communications
“Today, it’s all about teamwork and the Apogee Awards are unique in honoring representatives of the key positions that make up business leadership teams,” said Gary Press, Chairman and CEO of SFBW and of Lifestyle Media Group, which publishes 11 magazine titles. “Each of our honorees has outstanding business achievements and they are known for giving back to our community.”
SFBW began publication in September 2014 and reaches 117,000 senior-level business readers throughout the region.
Presenting sponsor for the Apogee Awards is the Octagon Family of Recruiting Companies, while Gold Sponsors are Quantified IT and Tripp Scott Attorneys at Law, and Silver Sponsors include BankUnited, Comcast Business and the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale.
The recipients will be honored at a gala event at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 21 at the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale. For further information regarding the Apogee Awards and to purchase tickets please visit https://apogee.sfbwmag.com/
Nominations for the Apogee Awards were open to the public and included outreach to community leaders.
