BUSINESS PEOPLE: JMX Brands names manager of new Eco Friendly Digs
Internet retailer JMX Brands has promoted Seth Carter to Eco Friendly Digs manager.
The Indiana University East alum will be responsible for overseeing and developing the Sarasota-based company’s newest e-commerce store at http://ecofriendlydigs.com.
In alignment with JMX Brands’ commitment to sustainability, Eco Friendly Digs carries home furnishings and décor that are environmentally friendly. Under Carter’s leadership, the company plans to become the leading online retailer of sustainable home products, as it is the leading online retailer of Amish furniture at https://www.dutchcrafters.com.
Carter joined JMX Brands in July 2020 as a product category manager and was promoted to Eco Friendly Digs manager in May 2021. Since then, he has been working with new vendors to develop sustainable products and optimizing the website to create an excellent shopping experience for customers.
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Grace Fellowship Church of Bradenton welcomes new pastor Alan Quinones.
Quinones is an expository preacher and graduate of The Master’s Seminary, led by John MacArthur, in Los Angeles, California.
Sunday worship service is held at Grace Fellowship Church, 902 Manatee Ave E., second floor, at 10:45 a.m. All are welcome.
For more info, go to https://www.gracebradenton.org.
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Lisa J. Howard, CEO of Sarasota’s Lighthouse Vision Loss Education Center, has been elected chair of the Florida Agencies Serving the Blind.
Lighthouse is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that educates and empowers those affected by vision loss in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, DeSoto and Highlands counties.
The mission of the FASB is to serve as the organizational support empowering private agencies serving Floridians with blindness and visual impairment. FASB helps agencies in Florida provide state-of-the-art professional vision rehabilitation services to enhance the quality of individual and community life.
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Ross Johnston, manager of visitor engagement at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, was recently named 2021 Young Professional of the Year by the Sarasota Young Professionals Group, a program of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce.
This award, presented by Kerkering, Barberio & Co., recognizes individuals 40 and younger in Sarasota who have demonstrated outstanding leadership personally, professionally and in the community.
Johnston joined YPG in 2018. He joined the YPG Council in 2019 and is currently the membership chair.
He was presented the award at the 2021 Annual YP Summit.
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Michael W. Cuffage, past president and CEO at CAN Community Health, has returned to the organization as a board member.
During Cuffage's tenure, he established the Federal 340B Drug Discount Program. In addition, he created business models that allowed CAN to grow sixtyfold and continue its growth after his retirement.
Cuffage has over 21 years of parliamentary procedure experience and has served with distinction on various boards and committees.
Now retired, he had successful careers in the finance/accounting, information systems, medical, nonprofit and sales industries. He held positions including chief financial officer, chief operations officer, general and technical sales manager and network and software systems engineer.
CAN is a health care nonprofit organization based in Sarasota.
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The Venice Symphony has named David Joyner, vice chair of its board of trustees, as board chair.
Joyner replaces Debbi Benedict, who is moving to Michigan. Board member Bob Hite will assume the role of vice chair.
After years of working in the finance and public accounting industry as a certified public accountant, Joyner joined his father’s State Farm agency, ultimately founding Joyner Family Insurance.
He also serves on the boards of the Venice Art Center, the Venice Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Futures.
Joyner is a graduate of Venice High School and attended Wake Forest University.
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Managing partner Morgan R. Bentley, Jennifer L. Grosso and Amanda R. Kison, all of Bentley Law, have been named to Florida Trend magazine’s prestigious Legal Elite list.
Lawyers on the list are chosen by their peers, who are invited to name attorneys whom they hold in the highest regard or whom they would recommend to others. Legal Elite lawyers are considered among the top 2% of lawyers practicing in Florida.
Bentley was recently named one of the top 100 attorneys in Florida by Super Lawyers and is board certified in business litigation by the Florida Bar.
He has been named to the Legal Elite list numerous times. Bentley concentrates his practice on litigation involving business and real estate disputes.
Grosso has made the Legal Elite list the past two years, after being recognized as a Legal Elite Up and Comer in 2019. She has also been named a Florida Super Lawyer.
Grosso concentrates her practice on estate and trust disputes, medical negligence defense and general business disputes.
Kison is board certified in business litigation by the Florida Bar and has been named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers.
She concentrates her practice on commercial litigation involving business and real estate disputes, handling both trials and civil proceedings.
Bentley Law is in Sarasota.
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Attorney Corinna Coser has joined Bentley Law, in Sarasota. She concentrates her practice on commercial litigation involving business and real estate disputes.
Coser previously worked as a litigation associate, where she focused primarily on commercial and health care litigation.
She is active in the Sarasota County Bar Association, as well as the Sarasota-Manatee Committee of the Fred G. Minnis Sr. Bar Association, created to foster and support the visibility of marginalized attorneys in the community.
A George Washington University Law School graduate, Coser was president of the Law Association for Women and the Student Health Law Association. She was a student attorney for the Health Rights Law Clinic, assisting Medicaid beneficiaries in appealing unfavorable coverage determinations.
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Atlas Insurance, of Sarasota, has added Mandy Franklin to its team as a commercial producer.
Franklin has more than 20 years of experience managing risks in the aviation, hospitality and education sectors, offering an abundant knowledge base to the agency’s manufacturing and hospitality divisions.
Originally from Texas, Franklin moved to Sarasota 15 years ago and is an active volunteer with nonprofit organizations in the community.
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Dr. Marc Bernstein is a new partner at Florida Digestive Health Specialists in Sarasota, one of the largest gastroenterology networks in the state.
Born and raised in Sarasota, Bernstein returned to his hometown in 2019 to join Florida Digestive Health Specialists and be closer to family.
In addition to his busy clinic schedule, Bernstein performs GI procedures at a community medical clinic at no cost to patients and has a special interest in colorectal cancer screening, gastrointestinal reflux disease and pancreaticobiliary diseases.
Florida Digestive Health Specialists, a limited liability partnership, was founded in Sarasota in 2011. Over the past decade, the company has grown to more than 350 employees, including 80 providers, at clinic locations throughout the state.
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Attorneys Christa L. Folkers, Tommy E. Gregory and Susan Barrett Hecker have been elected partners of the Williams Parker law firm, in Sarasota.
A board-certified real estate specialist, Folkers has been practicing law for 17 years, primarily with Williams Parker. She works on all aspects of real estate development and transactional matters, with particular emphasis on commercial and residential real estate development.
Folkers holds an AV Preeminent rating, the highest ranking by Martindale-Hubbell.
She earned a JD from Stetson University College of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Florida.
She will work from the firm’s Lakewood Ranch and downtown Sarasota offices.
Gregory is a litigation attorney with more than 20 years of experience leading legal teams and advising clients, commanders and senior leaders in high-profile, high-pressure situations.
He specializes in enforcement of contract rights and payment claims, commercial civil litigation and complex, multiparty litigation.
Gregory graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with Military Distinction. Now a retired lieutenant colonel, he served in the Air Force for 20 years, including 14 years as an Air Force attorney.
He earned a JD from the University of Texas School of Law.
Gregory was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2018 and currently represents District 73, covering portions of Manatee and Sarasota counties.
Hecker is a trusts and estates attorney. She focuses on helping families develop personalized, tax-efficient estate plans using current estate planning methodologies.
She has developed a niche practice representing foreign clients with respect to their U.S. estate and gift tax planning. She handles estate administrations, including administrations for foreign clients with U.S. interests.
Hecker joined Williams Parker in 1993, immediately after receiving her LLM in taxation from the University of Florida. She holds a JD from Stetson University College of Law and a bachelor’s from Florida State University.
Hecker also holds an AV Preeminent rating.