At the annual Manufacturers’ Summit and Global Marketplace on November 30-December 1, 2011 in Orlando, Florida, the Manufacturers Association of Florida announced the winners of this year’s competition.

A panel of twenty-four judges narrowed the competition to sixteen finalists; winners were chosen in four categories. Each company was judged on: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; workforce focus; and process management. In addition to evaluation of applications, tours of finalists’ facilities were made by the judges.

Winners of the award were Pharmaworks, Inc., Goodrich Corporation, Engineered Polymer Products, FARO Technologies and Nipro Diagnostics. Other finalists included Anheuser-Busch, InBev, Inc., BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards, Inc., Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Publix Supermarkets – Deli Kitchen, Correct Craft, Inc., Shaw Development, LLC, TimBar Packaging &Display, Entegra Roof Tile, Plasma-Therm, LLC, The Smart Companies, Inc., Florida Machine Works and Worldwide Superabrasives, LLC.

“As you can see by the list of winners and finalists, we were honored to be included amongst such great companies. To be recognized by fellow manufacturers is great,” said Rist.

“All of the finalists demonstrate a commitment to excellence in the manufacturing business, but our winners are the “best of the best” manufacturers in Florida this year. We are proud of their commitment to their business, their customers and their employees,” said Nancy Stephens, Executive Director, Manufacturers Association of Florida.

The Manufacturers Association of Florida, founded in 2005, is comprised of manufacturers and those supporting industries interested in improving the business climate for manufacturers in Florida.

Smart Companies’ goal is to put clients in charge of their home and business appliances, electronics and other devices saving energy and saving money. The company offers assistance with energy saving home-automation systems, earth-friendly solar solutions, energy efficient doors and windows, and storm-protection along with excellence in customer service. For more information, visit getsmartcompanies.com or call (239) 938-1000.

The Marine Toys for Tots foundation was started back in 1947 by Major Bill Hendricks and has grown ever since. In 1995 the Secretary of Defence approved the Toys for Tots as an official activity of the U. S. Marine Corps and an official mission of the Marine Corps Reserve. Since the inception of the Toys for Tots program, they have distributed more than 400 million toys to more that 188 million needy children. Click here for more history about the of this program.

Brian Rist stated ” We are excited to be a part of such an honorable and noble program and look forward to supporting the Marines efforts for years to come.”

Brian Rist, President of The Smart Companies said “It was a shame to see someone’s dream fail due to the construction crash a few years back and we wish him the very best in the future. We are also excited to see this project come to completion after so many years. We are proud to be a part of this project and look forward to the opening next year. The completion of Zoomers is more than just another tourist attraction, the completion also means additional jobs for locals, a boost to the local economy and a place for families to spent time together.”

The Smart Companies will be providing Hurricane Protection for the entire complex. Manufacturing of the shutters will begin in December and the installation will begin in early January.

Along with their facility tour, the students will be meeting with Parker Bradtmiller, the Technology Director of The Smart Companies. During Parker’s presentation, he will be discussing some of the technologies used to help facilitate The Smart Companies work flow process. The discussion will also cover topics such as programming languages, open source technology and virtual servers.

“It is an honor and privilege just to make it this far.” said Brian Rist, President of Storm Smart. “There are many great, great companies out there and to even be nominated for this award makes me very proud. Storm Smart’s success is a direct result of every employee’s dedication and hard work.”

Brian Rist will be attending the 8th Annual Manufacturers Summit and Marketplace at the Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport Hotel in Orlando, FL, November 30 – December 1st.

Fort Myers-based sustainability and storm-protection company The Smart Companies,® is now offering solar powered air conditioning systems announced CEO Brian Rist.

The solar air conditioning systems can help a customer to cut their energy bills from up to 40 to 60 percent using a new high-efficiency two-stage system that harnesses the sun’s energy to super heat the air conditioning system’s refrigerant to reduce the required work load of the compressor, which results in the lowering of the overall power consumption of the system.

“We actually installed the system in our offices and tested it for an extended period of time to measure the savings and ensure that we were bringing our customers a solid product that would have a short and significant return on there investment.” said Rist.

“Florida is one of the sunniest places on earth,” said Rist. “Where better to harness the energy of the sun to cool our homes?”

When Smart Companies started, the business focused mainly on the manufacturing and installation of residential and commercial storm-protection products. As clients realized that its storm protection provided additional benefits such as energy savings, the company found their clients were looking for other smart solutions to a variety of home-service needs, leading them to add numerous products and services.

Smart Companies’ goal is to put clients in charge of their home and business appliances, electronics and other devices saving energy and saving money. The company offers assistance with energy saving home-automation systems, earth-friendly solar solutions, energy efficient doors and windows, and storm-protection along with excellence in customer service. For more information, visit www.getsmartcompanies.com or call (239) 938-1000.

Here’s how it worked; each building had a collection jar and each employee was encouraged to donate the changed in their pockets. This is when we decided to have a little competition between buildings, at first it was just a “lets see who raises the most” game, however the plan quickly changed. The next “rule” was; for every penny that is in your jug, one cent would be taken away from your total (all monies still going the cause), so everyone started putting pennies in the other buildings jar. Now this went on for about a month and the buildings were always within a few dollars of each other.

Now, this past Friday is when game strategy came into play, Here is how the last 5 minutes played out: building 2 thought they would be tricky and get a box of pennies from the bank and place it in building 1′s collection jar, it was a full $25 worth of pennies. Then, not wanting to lose, President Brian Rist donated $80 worth of pocket change. Plant 2 thought they were goners after this, however with a last minute rally, Plant 2 collected an additional $45.

Now it was time to wait as all monies were counted and a winner announced. Minutes seemed like hours and hours seem like days, waiting for the announcement. And the winner is: Plant 2

Plant 2  – Raised a total of 112.05 – 15.43 (pennies) = 96.62

Plant 1 – Raised a total of 127.95 – 43.74 (pennies) = 84.21

Plant 3 – Raised a total of 52.25 – 0.65 (pennies) = 41.6

Brian Rist is quoted as saying “I am very happy with the efforts and proud of everyone for raising almost $300 for breast cancer research.”

The event will be held November 10th, 2011 from 8:00 am to 4:15 pm at the Lee County Elections Center, 13180 S Cleveland Ave

The Smart Companies along with the University of Florida’s IFAS Extension and the Lee County Pollution Prevention Program are sponsoring the third annual Sustainability Conference and Educational Exhibition.

Expand your vision of possibilities in the world of sustainable growth. Scientists, entrepreneurs and leaders from academia, industry and government will share research and development information on innovative solutions in clean energy, energy efficient, GHG emissions, financial and policy opportunities and resource management strategies that will help to mitigate the impact of climate change and help to build a green economy.

The  Exhibition, is a unique opportunity to meet the region’s investors, farmers, developers, engineers, purchasing agents and state and local government agencies. The conference and exhibits  will showcase unique products, services and programs that promote climate change solutions; through recycling, water-use efficiency, sustainable transportation, biofuels and renewable alternative energy development.

The exhibition area is open and FREE to the Public and Exhibitors.

There will also be a full day Education Conference which includes lunch for $20 per person.  You can register for the Education Conference online at https://webtrac.leegov.com/. You can also pay at the door with a check made payable to LCBOCC.

For more information contact:

Martha Avila

Sustanability Program Coordinator, UF/IFAS Extension

avilamc@leegov.com

239-533-7506

or

Jayne Coles

Environmental Specialist, Sr

239-652-6131

The event will be held November 10th, 2011

Lee County Elections Center, 13180 S Cleveland Ave

That was the implied message of the National Middle Market Summit held Oct. 6 at Ohio State University.

The summit called attention to a recent study showing that midsize firms – those with annual revenues of $10 million to $2 billion – are recession-hardy job-creators.

However, because they are so diverse – many are privately held – they’re often less-known to government business advocates, financiers and the general public.

“If we paid more attention to midsize companies, all of us would be in better shape,” said Brian Rist. He’s president of The Smart Companies in Fort Myers, whose core business is hurricane shutters, but which recently branched out into energy-saving products. The business employs 107 people and has $12 million in annual sales.

Rist says companies such as his are too big to qualify for many small-business-oriented programs – and too small to capture politicians’ attention.

On the plus side, that tends to make midsize companies “a little extra resourceful,” Rist said.

There’s strength in numbers: In 2010, Rist’s company and seven others with ties to the Southwest Regional Manufacturers Association – banded together to score a $383,000 state training grant.

“It really comes from the associations, that I learn about these training opportunities,” Rist said. “And, training is everything.”

On a national level, here are some highlights from that study of midsize companies:

- Eighty-two percent survived the recession; barely 50 percent of smaller businesses did not.

- From 2007-10, midsize companies added 2.2 million jobs. Big businesses cut 3.7 million jobs.

- Eighty percent of the midsize firms expect to grow in 2012.

- One in four big businesses was a midsize company five years ago.

The Smart Companies, Inc.

d/b/a Storm Smart

RE: Garage Screen Installation and Installers

Dear Mr. Rist:

I would like to take this opportunity to let you know how professional and courteous our installers were during out somewhat drawn out installation process. Dave and Travis did a great job installing the screens and their workmanship is unmatched. They are true artists in this trade. These two gentlemen were a pleasure to meet and deal with during our installation. Dave and Travis are true assets to your organization. I would very much appreciate if you would kindly provide them both with a copy of this correspondence.

Sincerely,

Julia