Executive Forum Speakers Spring 2010

Michael Gordon
Colin Brown
David Fogarty
Edgar Otto
Fred Meltzer
Akdag Menderes
Stanley Tulin
Dona Young
Gene Miller
Tony Altmann
Mike Jones
Laurie Silvers
Larry Feldman
Don Perlyn

Michael Gordon

Michael Gordon, Co-founder of Pizza Fusion, is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University School of Business. As an undergraduate he started his first business, Vision Magazine, which was a city wide publication that raised over $80,000 in just two months. After graduating from college in 1999, Michael started a boutique candle shop called Burn. The savings he made from his magazine got invested into this next project. Starting with just 10K, Burn grossed over 1 million dollars in sales in only three years. His next business was a real estate holding company. Mr. Gordon raised over 10 million dollars of hard capital to buy and sell single-family houses. Investors earned over 12% annually for the three years they had money with Michael. With the collapse of the real estate market only months away, Michael started his best venture, Pizza Fusion, with college friend Vaughan Lazar. Knowing little about the food business, they raised over 5.3 million dollars of funds over the worst two-year period in our economic times. With his expertise and the confidence he instills in others, Michael Gordon has raised over 20 million dollars in 9 different enterprises. Michael Gordon will be on National Television on the Sundance Channel September 22, at 8:00pm, Big Ideas for a small Planet. GCVCA Tru-Life Entrepreneurial Experience Series was created to provide a forum for successful entrepreneurs to share their story of the creation and success of their entrepreneurial experience. This event promises to be inspirational for entrepreneurs and an excellent networking opportunity for angel investors, entrepreneurs and industry professionals.

Colin Brown

Colin Brown is president and chief executive officer (CEO) of JM Family Enterprises, Inc. (JM Family), a diversified automotive corporation ranked by Forbes as the 30th-largest privately held company in the United States. Its principal businesses focus on vehicle distribution and processing, financial services, finance and insurance products, retail sales, marketing and consulting, and dealer technology products and services. As president and CEO, Brown heads the strategic planning for the entire organization. He also leads JM Family’s Executive Management Team, which oversees the development and implementation of the company’s objectives and strategies for future growth.

JM Family (www.jmfamily.com) is currently ranked No. 33 by FORTUNE® asone of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, its 11th consecutive year onthe list. The company is also ranked No. 8 on Computerworld’s list of“100 Best Places to Work in IT.” Headquartered in Deerfield Beach,Fla., JM Family has major operations in Jacksonville and Margate, Fla.;Commerce and Alpharetta, Ga.; Mobile, Ala.; and St. Louis,Mo.

Brown graduated from Duke University School of Law with a jurisdoctorate and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College inWilliamstown, Mass. Raised overseas in a Foreign Service family, Brownresides in Boca Raton, Fla. He is on the Board of Advisors for DukeUniversity School of Law and is a board member of the Williams CollegeAlumni Fund.

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David Fogarty

David J. Fogarty, Director, Vice President & G/M of President of Plastic Engineering Associates, Inc and Director, President & C.E.O. of P.E.A.-Licensing, Inc of Boca Raton, FL. www.pea.cc & www.turboscrews.com
David has a B.S.C. – Accounting from Bentley University (1983), and an M.B.A. from Florida Atlantic University (1994).

David began working in the family foamed plastics manufacturing business in the mid 1970’s as a teenager. The family has been involved in thermoplastic foam manufacturing and process development for the last 50 years. They are the originators of the dominant process used for the extrusion of polystyrene and polyethylene foams world wide. David has in excess of 30 years of full time experience in the foamed polymer extrusion business and travels globally marketing, selling and servicing the food packaging and industrial insulation markets. His firm, Plastic Engineering, has some 55 world wide patents in polymeric foam processing, serving clients such as The Dow Chemical Company, General Motors, Volkswagen AG, Owens Corning Corp, Kimberly Clark Corporation, James River Paper, Sealed Air Corporation, Knauf Insulation GmbH, Kenaka Denka Petrochemicals, Japan Styrene Paper, Cargil, Honeywell, and a host of others.

For the past five years, David, his two equity partners (brothers Bill & Matt) and their small team have helped to co-develop and market a patented process technology (Turbo-Screws®) for the production of bio-degradable foamed plastics intended for cold case food packaging applications. This break through technology makes use of a new bio-plastic resin (Ingeo® Poly Lactic Acid) that is produced by Cargil’s Natureworks LLC subsidiary in Blair,Nebraska. www.natureworksllc.com

David is married to Maureen (O’Shea) and they have three children, Mary (22), Kathy (20) & James (13). In his “spare time” David is an FAA certified commercial multi engine instrument pilot and a flight instructor for airplanes, seaplanes, and instruments. He will regularly fly himself and others across North America and Canada in the conduct of the firm’s business, averaging over 450 hours in the air last year as pilot in command.

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Edgar Otto

Upon graduating Rutgers, Edgar began assisting his father in promoting auto racing events. NASCAR had just been co-founded by his father and among his other duties, he was named President of the Auto Racing Safety Council at the age of 25. Edgar also promoted Bill Haley and his Comets in one of Rock & Roll's first outdoor concerts.
Mr. Otto then purchased a New York Times newspaper distributorship and spent the next ten years growing this business, delivering more than one million newspapers annually.

He then co-founded a nursing home chain in New Jersey and was named President of Care Service, providing dietary, pharmacy and housekeeping services to nursing homes. Recognizing an unmet need to provide hot meals to patients, he founded Therma Systems Corporation. The healthcare service company provided meal delivery systems to over 1,000 hospitals. Therma Systems became the second largest company in this industry. He partnered with Mitsui Trading Company, starting a highly successful Japanese subsidiary. Among the Company's innovations was a system which allowed the heating of meals in a refrigerator.

His most recent venture, National Stem Cells, is involved in the treatment of Diabetes with Hyperbaric Oxygen and stem cells.
Mr. Otto is the father of eight children and grandfather to eleven children. He is also the father of Lancey, the world’s first commercial cloned dog. For recreation, he races a NASCAR 2006 Dodge vintage stock car on road race courses at speeds over one hundred sixty miles an hour.

He was the recipient of the 1997 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

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Fred Meltzer

Hoffman's history began more than 30 years ago in a small chocolate shop in Lake Worth, FL. Paul Hoffman Sr., the founder of Hoffman's, purchased a small candy shop so that he and his family could work in this business together. Paul combined his love of creating new products with his extensive cooking experience to begin his illustrious career making award winning confections. Word of his confectionary masterpieces spread, and soon Hoffman's built a devoted following.

The Hoffman family made a commitment to use only the finest and freshest ingredients from around the world, and these standards have never been compromised. Much care and attention goes into each and every confection. Preparation is carefully monitored, from mixing and cooking the ingredients, to measuring and cutting the pieces. Each luscious confection is hand made using time honored traditions of candy making.

In 1997, Paul Hoffman brought Fred Meltzer on board as the company’s President and CEO. Fred’s background in accounting, finance, marketing and sales proved just what the company needed. Within a short time, Fred established financial and inventory controls and implemented new sales and marketing initiatives, while also overseeing the Orthodox Union (OU) application process from beginning to kosher certification. Fred had an appreciation of OU certification and the benefit it provided to Hoffman’s.

Hoffman's product line includes over 70 varieties of confections and has garnered the attentions of many national culinary authorities. Bon Appetit magazine named Hoffman's one of America's Best Chocolate Shops, and The Wall Street Journal selected Hoffman's Easter Basket as the "best overall" in the nation in March of 2000.

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Akdag Menderes

Age 48, has served as Petmed Express, Inc. dba 1-800-PetMeds (NASDAQ: PETS)’ Chief Executive Officer since March 2001 and as a member of its Board of Directors since November, 2002, and was appointed President in August 2005. Prior to joining PetMed Express, from November 2000 until March 2001, Mr. Akdag served as Chief Executive Officer of International Cosmetics Marketing Co. d/b/a Beverly Sassoon & Co., a publicly held (PS: SASN) direct sales company distributing skin care and nutritional products. From May 1991 until August 2000, Mr. Akdag was employed by Lens Express, Inc., a direct sales company distributing replacement contact lenses, serving as its President from May 1996 until August 2000, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors from August 1992 until May 1996, and Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Directors from May 1991 until August 1992. Mr. Akdag also currently sits on the board of Medical Mobile Monitoring (Integrity Tracking LLC), a privately held company. Mr. Akdag holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a major in finance from the University of Florida.

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Stanley Tulin

Stanley B. Tulin is vice chairman emeritus and former CFO of AXA Financial, Inc., and its principle insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company. He is a former director of AXA Equitable and AllianceBernstein, L.P. Mr. Tulin joined AXA Equitable in 1996 as a senior executive vice president and CFO. In May 1997, he became an executive vice president and CFO of AXA Financial. In February 1998, he was named vice chairman and a director of AXA Equitable, while continuing to hold the duties of CFO. Additionally, prior to his retirement at the end of 2006, Mr. Tulin was responsible for AXA Group financial communication, relations with rating agencies and consolidated risk assessment. He also served on the AXA Group Executive Committee from 2000 through 2006.

Prior to joining AXA Equitable, Mr. Tulin was co-chairman of Coopers & Lybrand’s Insurance Industry Practice, with broad responsibilities for services delivered to the life insurance industry, both domestically and internationally, including audit, tax, actuarial, management and systems consulting. Before joining Coopers & Lybrand, L.L.P., Mr. Tulin was with Milliman & Robertson, Inc. for 17 years, where he developed a large actuarial and strategic planning group that addressed a broad range of industry issues, particularly mergers and acquisitions. From 1983 to 1988, he served as the consulting actuary to the Rehabilitators of the Baldwin-United Corporation Life Company subsidiaries in rehabilitation.

Mr. Tulin is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries; member of the Board of Trustees of The Actuarial Foundation; board member of the American Council of Life Insurers and a frequent speaker at actuarial and insurance industry conferences. Among other community activities, Mr. Tulin is a board member and Treasurer of the Jewish Theological Seminary; member of the Board of Overseers at Brandeis University Graduate School of International Economics and Finance; and a founder of both the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the Wiesenthal Center. AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (NY, NY) is a leading financial protection company and one of the nation’s premier providers of life insurance and annuity products, as well as investment products and services through its affiliates. AXA Equitable, a subsidiary of AXA Financial, Inc., is part of the global AXA Group, a worldwide leader in financial protection strategies and wealth management.

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Dona Young

Dona D. Young is the former chairman, president and CEO of The Phoenix Companies, Inc., a company founded in Hartford in 1851. Historically, its primary business has been life insurance, annuities and asset management. Mrs. Young joined Phoenix as an attorney in 1980 after serving as a summer law intern in 1979. She served the company in a series of increasingly responsible positions in law, reinsurance, sales and marketing, and operations and assumed the leadership of the company in 2003.

Over the last 15 years, Mrs. Young has served on the boards of several public companies and currently serves on the board of Foot Locker Inc. She is also very engaged in non-profit leadership roles and is presently a trustee of Saint James School and the Goodspeed Opera House Foundation, Inc., where she chairs the investment committee. Mrs. Young is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford’s Dashaway Society Award, the Laura A. Johnson Woman of the Year by Hartford College for Woman, the Human Relations Award of the National Conference of Community and Justice, and the 2008 Community Service Award from the United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut. In June 2001, Mrs. Young received the Outstanding Alumni Award from Drew University and in October 2002 she received the University of Connecticut School of Law’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Mrs. Young holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from Drew University and a law degree from the University of Connecticut.

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Dr. Eugene Miller

Dr. Eugene Miller has served as vice president of McGraw Hill, Inc. and senior vice president of the New York Stock Exchange. He was also senior vice president of CNA Financial Corporation, vice chairman and CFO of USG Corporation and CEO of the Ideon Group. Dr. Miller has served as director of as many as 12 companies and continues to serve on several boards.

Dr. Miller has written hundreds of magazine articles and was a syndicated columnist for Newsday Syndicate in New York. He is the creator and current editor of Barron’s Guide to Graduate Business Schools, which is now in its 15th edition. Dr. Miller was appointed to the FAU business faculty in 1991. In addition to his appointment at FAU, Dr. Miller taught at the University of Houston and was a professor at the graduate schools of business at New York University and Fordham University. Additionally, he started the business and management department at Northwestern University, and he has served as an executive-in-residence at the University of Toronto, University of Wyoming and University of Illinois. Dr. Miller has five degrees, including an honorary doctorate from Bethany College in West Virginia, where he has been a trustee for 46 years.

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Tony Altmann

Mr. Altmann is Founder and President of LAAD Group. He is the former Division President for Wholesale Markets at FPL Group (NYSE), where he reorganized and combined several diverse groups, recruiting a new management team and building an innovative entrepreneurial culture for FPL. He achieved top industry results and grew his division from $600 million to $3 billion, increasing profits to over $100 million annually. His division handled all power sales and fuel purchases for a 20,000MW generating portfolio in 14 states. He has lead successful turnarounds and revitalization efforts as an experienced executive and entrepreneur. Tony is a well-respected agent of change and growth and has helped numerous businesses reach the 'next level'. Mr. Altmann develops high performance organizations and teams in fast-changing environments. He was former President of Allegheny & Western (NASDAQ) an integrated natural gas company (grown from $5-$350 million, and recognized as a Top 15 Fastest Growing Company by INC. Magazine).

Mr. Altmann is a member of YPO and serves on the Board of several private companies as well as being a Board Member of "The Haven" a group home for foster children in South Florida. Tony earned his BA degree from the Boston College and his MBA degree, in Finance, from Columbia University.

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Mike Jones

Mike Jones is president and chief executive officer of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County, Inc., a position he has held since September 2001. Mr. Jones' background spans law, government and public affairs. As an attorney in private practice, he represented cities and towns as well as agencies of local government, including a countywide public school system and a public housing authority. He was the first full-time attorney for the City of Wilmington, North Carolina. For eighteen years, he was a corporate public affairs executive responsible for state and federal governmental relations for Carolina Power & Light Company, an electric utility serving the two Carolinas. During his tenure, CP&L purchased North Carolina Natural Gas Company and Florida Power Corp. and changed its name to Progress Energy.

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Laurie Silvers

Laurie has practiced law in South Florida for over 10 years before starting her career as a media entrepreneur. She is an owner of: Home Town Cable Plus, a telecommunications system providing tv, Internet, phone and alarm monitoring services in the City of Port St. Lucie; Treasure and Space Coast Broadcasting which operates five radio stations in Florida’s Treasure Coast; and co-founder and President of Hollywood Media Corp. since its inception in January 1993. Ms. Silvers was the co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel, of which she served as Chief Executive Officer from January 1988 to March 1992 and Co-Vice Chairman from March 1992 to March 1994. Ms. Silvers is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami; 2010 Chair of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County; a Member of the Board of Directors of the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, and a Member of the Board of Directors of WPBT Channel 2, the public broadcasting station for Miami. Ms. Silvers is a Volunteer Mentor with the “Women of Tomorrow” program which mentors at-risk high school girls. Ms. Silvers is married to Mitchell Rubenstein and has three children.

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Don Perlyn

Don Perlyn joined the Nathan's family of brands when the company he helped found, Miami Subs, merged with Nathan's Famous, Inc. in 1999. He joined Miami Subs Corporation and served as President in May 1989. In addition to being an attorney, he is 38-year veteran of the restaurant industry with extensive experience in restaurant development, marketing, operations and franchising.

His primary responsabilities in the Nathan's organization are that of corporate and franchise growth, and brand development for all of the companies concepts. In particular he has been responsible for the growth and development of the company's wholesale division, known as the Branded Product Program. Today, through this program Nathan's Hot Dogs are sold at over 15,000 foodservice locations.

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Larry Feldman

When you want to build a successful franchise operation, put one of the country’s leading success stories at the helm – Lawrence Feldman. Mr. Feldman brings with him over thirty distinguished years of franchise experience as Chief Executive Officer of Subway Development Corporation based in McLean, Virginia. In addition, Mr. Feldman was co-creator of Hair Color Xperts, a franchise created to develop specialized cut and color salons throughout the country. Currently, Mr. Feldman also serves as the CEO of Strategic Franchise Solutions a sought after specialized consulting firm designed to assist entrepreneurs in bringing their business dreams to the marketplace.

A lawyer by training, his fast-track government career included Legislative Counsel to Congressman Stewart McKinney of Connecticut, Minority Counsel for the US House of Representatives, Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on economic Stabilization and Assistant General Counsel to the Full Banking and Currency Committee of the US House of Representatives in Washington. He then followed with a bold entrepreneurial move by opening his first Subway location in the Capital Hill area, as an absentee investment. He them added franchise development contracts for Washington, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. It all culminated for Mr. Feldman in the creation of Subway Development Corporation of Washington, listed today as one of the country’s leading franchise operations, by Entrepreneur Magazine. This year Mr. Feldman will be celebrating over 31 years in the Subway franchise business as well as approaching the opening of the 1100th franchise restaurant in his development territory.

A 1999 Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” nominee, Mr. Feldman continues to receive awards for his business and philanthropic endeavors, the most recent of which are the winner of the Washington Business Journal 2009 Philanthropy Award for Small Business and the 2009 Smart CEO Magazine Award for Excellence in Philanthropy.

In addition to serving on the Board of Directors of several businesses, educational, civic and philanthropic organizations, Mr. Feldman is also a lecturer and advisor to entrepreneur’s and start-up companies in the US and abroad.