Business & Economy

UWF College of Business and Combined Rotary Clubs of Pensacola name 2019 Ethics in Business Award recipients

The University of West Florida College of Business and the Combined Rotary Clubs of Pensacola named David Apple and Olevia McNally as this year’s recipients of the annual Ethics in Business Award during the 2019 Combined Rotary Luncheon on Monday, May 6 at New World Landing in downtown Pensacola.

Olevia McNally and David Apple, recipients of the 2019 Ethics in Business Awards, posing for a photo with rotary leaders during the seventeenth annual event held on May 6 at New World Landing in Downtown Pensacola.

The Ethics in Business Award recognizes individuals who exemplify the concept of “service above self” and work to build a positive sense of self-worth within both the business community and the broader community as a whole. Criteria for the award is based on adherence to the high ethical standards of honesty, integrity and consistency in dealing with employees, contractors and customers, while positively enhancing the economic well-being of the firm’s stakeholders and providing jobs, opportunities and profits.

Apple, founder and owner of Apple Market, a neighborhood grocery store in Pensacola, was recognized for the small business sector, or businesses with 49 or fewer employees. Apple Market is a family-run business that opened more than 20 years ago. McNally, a UWF alumna, was recognized for the large business sector, or businesses with 50 or more employees. McNally is a regional operations manager at Envision Physician Services, which is responsible for emergency departments and hospitalist services in more than 40 states.

“Over the past 17 years the Combined Rotary Clubs of Pensacola and the UWF College of Business have recognized distinguished Pensacola business leaders whose business practices and relationships with customers, employees and the community exemplify the highest standards of business ethics and conform to the Rotary principles of Serve Above Self,” said Dr. Ed Ranelli, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and dean emeritus for the college.

Apple regularly volunteers time and donates food to local schools, churches and non-profit organizations. He is one of the community’s largest employers of Waterfront Rescue Mission graduates.

“Normally I’m never at a loss for words.” Apple said. “I feel that there are so many others that are more deserving than me. It’s just a very great honor.”

McNally is a founding member of Seville Rotary Club, Chairman of Rotary Youth Leadership Awards and serves as chair of Gulf Coast Kid’s House, where she first began volunteering more than 10 years ago prior to serving in the role of fundraising chair for more than six years. She works with her company to raise awareness of human trafficking on a national scale.

“The group I joined as a recipient of the Ethics in Business award is a group I greatly respect,” McNally said. “I am honored to be included and I am honored to be selected for this year’s award.”

For more information about the Ethics in Business Award, visit uwf.edu/cob/ethics-in-business-award.

For more information about the UWF College of Business, visit uwf.edu/cob.