Board of Directors

The Alliance is governed by a Board of Directors of prominent local business and community leaders.

The Board of Directors is comprised of the following members currently:

Officers & Executive Committee

Russell P. Schropp
Chair
Vice President
Attorney At Law
Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A.
Gary Griffin
Chair-Elect
President
B & I
Alan D. Reynolds
Past Chair
Regional Business Leader
Stantec
Richard Grant
Secretary
Founding Partner
Grant, Fridkin, Pearson, P.A.
Michael Wynn
Treasurer
President
Sunshine Ace Hardware
Laura Holquist
Vice President
President
LAH Group Advisors, LLC
Susan Pareigis
President & CEO
Southwest Florida Economic Development Alliance

Board Members

Roger Desjarlais
County Manager
Lee County
Dr. Robert Jones
Regional VP Economic and Community Development
Florida SouthWestern State College
Jason Korn
Managing Director
Cohen & Grigsby P.C.
John Manning
Commissioner – District 1
Lee County Board of Commissioners
Michael V. Martin, Ph.D.
President
Florida Gulf Coast University
John D. Meyer
President
Hodges University
Leo Ochs
County Manager
Collier County
Sarah Owen
President and Chief Executive Officer
SWFL Community Foundation
Fred Pezeshkan
Chairman
Summit Management Group, LLC
Christopher T. Spiro
Chief Creative Officer
Spiro & Associates
John Talmage
Director
Lee County Economic Development
Penny Taylor
Commissioner – District 4
Collier County Board of County Commissioners
Christopher Westley, Ph.D.
Director, Regional Economic Research Institute
Florida Gulf Coast University

The organization structure also includes two sub-committees reporting to the Executive Committee:

The Marketing Advisory Committee comprised of participating local EDO directors.
The Investor Advisory Committee includes cornerstone investors who wish to participate.

Susan Pareigis, Alliance President

The organization structure also includes four sub-committees reporting to the Executive Committee: