Business & Economy

Business leaders share expertise at Studer 2017 Summer Lecture Series

As part of Dr. Robert Perkins and Quint Studer's “Innovation within the Organization” summer course, the UWF Center for Entrepreneurship, College of Business and Studer recently joined forces to present an expert panel of entrepreneurial-minded guest speakers in the College of Business. The panel included members from Ellipse Analytics, Juggernaut Capital Partners and Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems (IRIS), who shared their personal stories of success and failure as well as how to navigate entrepreneurship.

As part of Dr. Robert Perkins and Quint Studer’s “Innovation within the Organization” summer course, the UWF Center for Entrepreneurship, College of Business and Studer recently joined forces to present an expert panel of entrepreneurial-minded guest speakers in the College of Business. The panel included members from Ellipse Analytics, Juggernaut Capital Partners and Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems (IRIS), who shared their personal stories of success and failure as well as how to navigate entrepreneurship.

Several students said they were impressed by what they learned from the presentation.

“In addition to being very informational, the class was also very inspirational,” said Renan Serafim, MBA student and graduate assistant at the Center for Entrepreneurship. “Through their testimonials, the guest speakers demonstrated the perseverance and grit necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur.”

The panelists included:

Kevin Hicks, CEO of Ellipse Analytics, who holds a 25-year track record of growing and monetizing companies, including co-founding Baroness Wines, the largest independent wine distributor in Colorado, building an analytical chemistry lab in Denver that would later become Ellipse Analytics and helping found Healthgrades, a physician, hospital and healthcare provider rating system that became the website used by 30 percent of all people making doctor’s appointments in America today.

Chuck Dieveney, managing director of Juggernaut Capital Partners, a private equity firm that has over $700 million of assets under management with capital commitments from a broad range of US- and international-based Limited Partners. Prior to joining JCP in 2005, Dieveney served as general partner/COO at JMI Equity, principal at Allie Capital Corporation and general partner/CFO at ABS Capital.

Jason Crawford, CEO of IRIS in Pensacola, earned an MBA from UWF and has cultivated over 15 years of experience in management and leadership. As a healthcare leader, Crawford has been responsible for the growth and performance of seven specialty physician practices. Prior to healthcare, Crawford served as a consultant and business development director of the regional CPA firm O’Sullivan Creel.

Todd Borgerson, partner and chief marketing officer of Ellipse Analytics, who has a combination of marketing and brand management experience grown over the course of 24 years. Before joining Ellipse Analytics, he served as senior brand manager at Proctor & Gamble and as senior marketing director in Retail Digital Innovation at Luxottica Retail

More panels are expected, including Justin Beck, CEO of Beck Partners, Katie Garrett, founder of Old Hickory Whiskey Bar, Scott Zepp, co-founder of World of Beer, and James Hosman, VP of sales with Florida First Capital Finance Corporation. The media is invited to attend. Community members can register for the lecture series by visiting the UWF Continuing Education webpage or by calling the UWF Student Support Center at 850.473.7468. Cost for the lecture series is $199.95.