Newsmakers: People in Palm Beach County business, civic groups

Feb. 19--BANKING -- Legacy Bank has announced that Jeffrey S. Wolfe has joined Legacy Bank of Florida in Boca Raton as senior vice president, senior commercial real estate lender. Wolfe's responsibilities include building and sustaining relationships with commercial banking customers in the South Florida market. Wolfe is a seasoned banking professional with more than 25 years of financial experience. Wolfe brings solid commercial real estate, business and professional lending expertise to the bank. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Nova Southeastern University. Wolfe is involved in several professional organizations, the Boy Scouts of America, Rotary Club and Broward schools.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

The Research Park at Florida Atlantic University announces its newly elected 2017 officers. Michael I. Daszkal was elected chairman, and is co-founder and managing partner of Daszkal Bolton, a boutique public accounting firm headquartered in Boca Raton. An honorary lifetime board member of The Haven, Daszkal serves as treasurer for PROPEL, an organization that supports the educational achievement and leadership development of South Palm Beach's less fortunate youth. He is both a trustee and a board member of the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce, and a trustee of the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce; a board member of the FAU College of Business, and is active in the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, the Business Development Board, and New World Angels. Daszkal was recently recognized by the South Florida Business Journal as an Ultimate CEO.

Bob Swindell was elected vice chairman, and is the president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance. Swindell and his team assist local, national, and international companies already doing business in Broward County or prospective companies considering a move. He currently serves on several executive boards including NAIOP, South Florida Technology Alliance, Career Source, and is past chairman of the Enterprise Development Corporation. In October 2005, Swindell was appointed by the Broward County Commission to serve as one of the county's representatives on the Florida Atlantic Research & Development Park Authority, and has previously served as chairman.

Dan Flynn, elected treasurer, is vice president of research and oversees administration in the Division of Research at FAU, including the Office of Sponsored Programs, Research Integrity, Research Accounting, Technology Development, Veterinary Services, Research Communications, and the FAU Research Corporation. He has published 72 research articles and is the scientific founder of Protea Biosciences, a biotech company based in West Virginia, where he has served on its board of directors for 12 years. Flynn has previously served on the editorial board and advisory committees for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Association of American Medical College, and has been an active member of NIH study sections.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Mark Young, a veteran retained search professional, has been named a director of the Boca Raton office of Stanton Chase. With more than 30 years of experience in the retained search profession, Young has conducted searches for clients throughout North America and around the world. Prior to joining Stanton Chase, Young spent seven years as a vice president at A.T. Kearney in Miami and six years heading up the Florida search practice of KPMG Peat Marwick in Miami. He was also president of National Executive Consultants, Inc., a retained executive search boutique that was based in Atlanta and focused on the financial services industry in the southeastern U.S. He also spent four years with a retained executive search firm in Montreal. Active with the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Young served on the Senior Executive Orientation Committee and was a member of the Chamber's trustees. In 2008, he was distinguished as a member of the Chairman's Circle of the Miami Chamber. He has also been active with the United Way of Broward County, the Urban League of Broward County, the Camillus House in Miami, and Take Stock in Children. Young received his Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Sir George Williams University in Montreal.

LEGAL

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, a statewide and national law firm specializing in complex litigation in areas such as defective products, managed care litigation, and consumer class actions, is pleased to announce that Poorad Razavi has joined the firm's Palm Beach Gardens office. Razavi will serve as an associate and focus his practice in products liability and personal injury matters. Razavi has repeatedly been selected as "Rising Star" by Florida Super Lawyers and a "Legal Elite Up and Comer" by Florida Trend Magazine. Before joining Cohen Milstein he was with the Clark Fountain law firm in West Palm Beach. Razavi graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in international business and business economics, and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He is admitted to practice in the California Bar, the Florida Bar, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

Ward Damon, a multi-disciplined law firm primarily serving South Florida, is expanding its practice with two new attorneys and a new service to their marital and family law practice. Sasha A. Klein focuses on private wealth services at Ward Damon and counsels affluent individuals and families in personal tax and estate planning. She advises on structuring wealth to achieve client goals including protecting against risk and minimizing income, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes. She also advises the firm's fiduciary litigators on tax, trust and estate matters. She holds various leadership roles in the Trust and Estate sections of the American Bar and the Florida Bar, is chair of the Legislation Committee for Florida Bankers, and immediate past president of the Palm Beach Tax Institute. She graduated from Leadership Palm Beach County and from the Emerging Leadership Program in the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County. Klein earned her Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University Law School and holds a postgraduate degree in tax law from the University of Florida Law School.

Labeed Choudhry is a civil litigator with a focus on commercial litigation and civil appellate work. He represents a wide gamut of businesses and corporate clients in civil cases throughout South Florida, including landlords in commercial eviction cases, professional engineers and consultants in multiparty and multimillion dollar construction litigation cases, and small business owners in various types of litigation. He also handles appeals for large institutional lenders and for litigation clients. He earned a degree in political science and a Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Florida.

Eddie Stephens is a board certified attorney in family and marital law. After starting his career as an attorney for the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office, Stephens has developed a successful family law practice focused on highly disputed divorces. Stephens has been a leader in the Boy Scouts of America for over 10 years and is also involved with Big Dog Ranch Rescue. He recently graduated from the Leadership Palm Beach County program and was elected to serve on its board of governors. Stephens earned his Juris Doctor at Stetson University College of Law.

NONPROFIT

Gunster, one of Florida's oldest and largest full-service business law firms, is pleased to announce that George S. LeMieux has joined Florida TaxWatch's board of trustees as corporate treasurer. Florida TaxWatch is a nonprofit taxpayer research institute that works with the state's business and political leaders to improve Florida. LeMieux chairs Gunster's board of directors and focuses his law practice on resolving business and governmental disputes. He advises CEOs and C-suite executives on business, law and government from a local, state and national perspective. LeMieux served as Florida's 34th U.S. Senator in the 111th Congress, where he successfully passed legislation on health care fraud, export promotion, rating agency reform, small business promotion, as well as a treaty resolution on tactical nuclear weapons. Recently, LeMieux was inducted into the Broward Education Foundation's 2016 Hall of Fame for his efforts and leadership on a debate initiative that partnered local businesses and Broward County public schools. LeMieux is the founder of the LeMieux Center for Public Policy at Palm Beach Atlantic University.

Robin Y. Bayless, vice president of marketing for TooJay's Deli, has joined the board of directors of the Palm Beach Chapter of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. FRLA is Florida's premier nonprofit hospitality industry trade association and serves more than 10,000 independent and household name members, including theme parks and attractions.

REAL ESTATE

Platinum Properties, a Keyes family company, announces that luxury real estate veteran Candace McIntosh has rejoined the company. Platinum Properties operates as one of Keyes' luxury residential real estate divisions. With nearly 15 years of experience as a licensed real estate agent, McIntosh continues to have success representing buyers and sellers in northern Palm Beach County. As a top producer, McIntosh has generated $12 million in sales since the beginning of 2015. She serves an affluent client base in Jupiter, Tequesta and Hobe Sound. McIntosh has spent most of her career with Platinum Properties. She returns to the firm after a stint at the Jupiter office of Keller Williams. In 2014, McIntosh received the President's Elite Award from Platinum Properties. She was also recognized as top producer in 2012 and 2013.

RECOGNITION

Brightway Insurance, the nation's seventh largest privately held personal lines insurance agency, named Chris Cole, owner of Brightway, The Cole Agency, as its 2016 Agency Owner of the Year. Cole opened his first Brightway store in Palm Springs in 2010 and his second location in Boynton Beach in 2014. The award recognizes the top-producing agency owner among the 134 offices in 12 states; production is measured in commissions and policies sold, and Cole's agency led in both categories. Not only did Cole earn the top award of the night, but also he received awards for selling the most home and flood policies in 2016. Furthermore, Jason Elsner from Cole's Boynton Beach office earned the $2 Million Producer Award. Elsner sold nearly $2.3 million in written premium in 2016.

Lang Realty of Boca Raton recently recognized its top agents and teams of 2016 at a special awards breakfast on Jan. 26 at BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens. Top producing Diamond Award winners included Suzanne Block, Tripta Chawla, Bruce Gaines, Ryan Greenblatt, Julie Giachetti, Lisa Hindin, Shereen Randazza and Marc Schafler. Diamond teams included Carol and Ron Falciano; Ann Smith and Elaine Perlmutter; Ken Reichle and Ira Merritt; and Brian Pearl, Vincenza Antonacci and Patricia Roseboom.

Attorney W. Trent Steele, along with Dan and Lyn Lerner and the Quantum Foundation, were honored by FoundCare at an event held on Feb. 9 at Club Collette in Palm Beach. FoundCare, a nonprofit federally qualified health center, offers pediatric and family practice care, chronic disease management, infusions, behavioral health counseling, laboratory work, X-rays and dentistry, and a pharmacy in two locations in Palm Beach County. FoundCare was established in 2002 by Steele and others, through a generous grant from the Quantum Foundation, to address the county's growing population of medically uninsured. It officially opened its doors in 2009 and by 2015, the center served nearly 9,000 children and adults, all without regard to their ability to pay. Steele has offices in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties, and provides legal services in the areas of real estate, estate planning and litigation.

To submit an announcement for Local Business People to Watch, please email a short description of the new hire, promotion or award, along with the location of the business and a high-resolution photo of the person to [email protected].

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