TEAM Punta Gorda – Who Are We?

Founded in November, 2004 with the goal of rebuilding Punta Gorda after Hurricane Charley, TEAM Punta Gorda quickly became a grassroots volunteer organization of more than 1,800 citizens, 350 financial contributors, and 200 active volunteers.  The first step taken by TEAM was to hire world-renowned urban planner Jaime Correa to work with the citizens of Punta Gorda to develop the Citizens' Master Plan 2005.

Once the Master Plan was completed and gifted to Punta Gorda and Charlotte County governments, TEAM Punta Gorda began the process of seeing that the plan was implemented in Greater Punta Gorda area. A major emphasis is to build a close working relationship with City and County governments to provide volunteer citizen assistance and support in rebuilding our community.

The following is a partial list of the many volunteer leaders involved in this effort to rebuild and revitalize greater Punta Gorda as a unique, environmentally attractive, and economically viable waterfront community.
 

TEAM Punta Gorda Board of Directors
	Roger Peterson – President of the Board of Directors After 35 years with Target Corp., Roger retired in 2001 and, with his wife, Christina, moved to Punta Gorda. During his career, he held a variety of positions in distribution, including General Manager and Director of Planning and Engineering. As Director, he was responsible for strategic planning, locations, and construction of Distribution Centers and material handling, design, and installation. While based in Georgia, Roger was a board member of the YMCA, Educations Foundations, and the Chamber of Commerce. He was previously a member of TEAM Punta Gorda, serving on its Operations Committee.
	Tom Kerr – Vice-President.  Dr. Kerr currently serves as President/CEO of Campus Group International Education Services, Inc. He has held various positions in academia, including Associate Vice President of University partnerships at Fairleigh Dickinson University (NJ), Dean of the College of Evening and Professional Studies at Drexel University (PA), Associate Provost for Academic Services at Rowan University (NJ), as well as professional positions at Boston University and Northeastern University (MA). He is also a charter member of the National Academic Advising Association and served as its president from 1993-1995. Dr. Kerr holds degrees in industrial engineering and earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education from Boston College.
	Rex Koch – Treasurer of the Board of Directors. Rex is a CPA with a practice in Punta Gorda for 15 years. Originally from Pennsylvania, he also serves on the Charlotte County Homeless Coalition.
	Anna Callwood – Director. Anna has owned and operated a business service corporation for 14 years and has over 20 years of progressive administrative and computer experience. Through this business she offers management and support services to small and major corporations as well as city and state agencies
	Jill McCrory - Director. Attended the University of Florida, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree, with high honors, in 1997; a Juris Doctor, with honors, in 2001, and a Master of Laws in Taxation in 2003. Mrs. McCrory was admitted to The Florida Bar in 2002 and became associated with the Farr Law Firm in 2003. She concentrates her practice in general Florida and federal tax law, including income tax, corporate tax, partnership tax, deferred compensation tax, tax exempt organizations, estate and gift tax (both national and international), estate planning, wills, trusts, probate, 1031 like-kind exchanges, and real estate.
	Marilyn Thomas – Director.  Marilyn's professional background includes working in radio news, talk and public affairs.  She holds a master's degree in communication.  Marilyn also serves on TEAM's Public Education and Media Relations team."
	Bill Hughes - Director, South County Projects. Bill and his wife Mary Ann moved from New Jersey to Punta Gorda October, 2001. Prior to moving to Punta Gorda, Bill held senior marketing positions with several of the world's largest container steamship companies. During his career, he and his family were posted to Barcelona, Spain; Tehran, Iran; Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and The Hague, The Netherlands. He has also been involved in the Burnt Store Isles Association as Director of Planning and President.  Bill also serves as head of TEAM's Advisory Council and serves as government liaison to the Punta Gorda City Council..
	Dee Papa - Director, Dee and her husband, John, moved to Punta Gorda in 2004 from Alexandria, VA. Her professional background encompasses human resources administration and management, with emphasis on management services, organizational planning, strategic planning, and conflict resolution. Dee has been an active volunteer with TEAM Punta Gorda prior to joining the Board. She also volunteers her time as Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Trinity College, Washington, DC.
	George Guttschalk -Director During his career George was involved in the launch of five new major manufacturing facilities including site selection, design, construction and the first year of operation. Continued management experience was the acceptance on two occasions of the position of President for companies, one international, who were intent on restructuring to a profit position. He and his wife Judy have resided in Punta Gorda for eleven years. Community involvement includes Burnt Store Isles Association, Burnt Store Isles Boat Club, The Punta Gorda Boaters Alliance. George is a current member of the Punta Gorda Waterfront Development Advisory Committee.  He received a Bachelor of Science Degree from Bowling Green University (Ohio) with a split major of Industrial Management and Marking.
	Claire Phelen- Director Claire and her late husband Councilman David Phelen moved to Punta Gorda from Limerick, Pennsylvania in 1998. Claire retired after thirty-six years with GlaxoSmithKline in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. She held the position of Research Investigator in Biopharmaceutical R&D. Her local community involvement has been in the Burnt Store Isles Association as Social Director, Historian, and photographer for Burnt Stores Isles Boat Club. Claire is a current Chairperson on the Charlotte County Alligator Creek Waterways committee, filling this position held by her late husband, member of the City Beautification Committee and Treasurer of the Charlotte County Republican Club. She attends the City Council, South County Coalition and Punta Gorda’s Boaters Alliance meetings, as her interest is to see the fulfillment of David’s vision for the growth of the City. She is a graduate of Hahnemann Medical College with a degree in Allied Health with minors in Virology and Microbiology.
	Roger Kress - President ex-officio - Board of Directors .  Roger, a draftsman, owns a small business in downtown Punta Gorda, Design Corp. of SW Florida, which provides building design and blueprint services to builders. He also owns a downtown Punta Gorda copy center and is a youth minister in his church.
TEAM Punta Gorda Operations Committee
	Nancy Prafke - CEO.  Nancy's career in telecommunications at AT&T, Lucent Technologies and Avaya included positions in sales, marketing, training, proposal management, global business management and planning and leading professional services teams outside of the United States.  She is also a graduate of Bowling Green State University and holds a MS from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Colorado State University.  Nancy has resided in Punta Gorda for two years.
	Tracey Thornton - Public Policy.  She earned a BA in English, from Howard University and a law degree from Rutgers University. Tracey served as President Bill Clinton's senior lobbyist for the U.S. Senate for 7 years after working in senior staff-level positions in both Houses of the U.S. Congress. She was an Executive Vice President for an asset management firm in Dallas, TX before setting up her own public relations and government affairs consulting firm Farragut Consulting, LLC.
	Frank Mazur –Frank Mazur - Leader - Community and Economic Development Task Force Frank retired from IBM in 1992 and is currently Vice President of Hamilton, Inc. a real estate holding company.  Past and present public service includes: Chittenden County  Transportation Authority, board of directors and chair for 20 years; Chittenden County Transit Technical Committee and chair for 14 years; Winooski Housing Authority and vice chair; Winooski Model Cities Committee; Vermont Automobile Enthusiasts and President; Chittenden County Boy Scout board of directors; United Way loaned executive; Red Cross board of directors; and Punta Gorda Isle Association board of directors. Member of the Vermont House of Representatives 1995-2004 and elected freshman caucus vice chair. He was appointed House Appropriations vice chair 2000-2002 and House Transportation chair 2002-2004.  He is a graduate of St. John’s Prep., Danvers, Massachusetts,
	Georgette Sibbio – Volunteer Coordinator. Georgette has extensive experience in business administration and customer service for organizations ranging from small companies to large corporations. She recently moved from Arizona to Punta Gorda in 2006 with her husband Tom. While in Arizona, she worked as an executive administrative assistant to the Vice President of Operations for Per-Se’ Technologies. Her background also includes positions with Bank One, Hanes Hosiery and Hewlett Packard.
	Cate Peterson - Affordable Housing.  Cate has an undergraduate degree from Ohio State University and a Master's Degree and Math Certificate from Kent State University.  She taught high school for 10 years and held administrative positions for 12 years at Kent State University including Director of Student Services for the Geauga Regional Campus.  Among her volunteer experiences, Cate worked for the Akron Habitat for Humanity for 5 years.
	Betsy Taylor – Executive Secretary. Betsy retired as Litigation Secretary of a large California law firm five years ago and has been active in civic affairs ever since.
	Nancy Johnson – Grants & Non-Profit Resources Nancy has 35 years of experience in non-profit management and youth services. She is the founding director and recently retired executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Network of Youth & Family Services. Nancy chairs federal grant review panels for several departments of the US Health & Human Resources Department. Over the past 26 years, she has written 173 grants which have been funded for $33 million. Nancy’s training and consulting specialties include group facilitation, strategic planning, building community collaboration, grant writing, accessing public funding, board development and non-profit management. She and husband Steve moved to Punta Gorda in 2004.
	Bill Welsch - Government Relations - County Commission.   Before moving to Punta Gorda in 2003, Bill worked as a management consultant assisting his corporate clients to clarify their mission and values so they could achieve the results to which they were committed. Bill’s background in working with teams of people to support them in accomplishing goals has suited him well in his job as Executive Assistant for TEAM Punta Gorda where he works with the Operations Committee to see that the Citizens’ Master Plan is implemented.
	Gini-Hoban-Pender - Office Coordinator.  Gini moved to Punta Gorda in 2002 after retiring as owner and manager of a physical therapy practice in New Jersey.  She has a BS in Physical Therapy and is now switching her “rehab” focus from the individual to the City of Punta Gorda.

 TEAM Punta Gorda Advisory Council

Bill Hughes
Committee Chair

Becky Bovell
Director, Charlotte County Visitors Bureau
ex officio member

Kathleen Dailey
City of Punta Gorda Assistant City Manager
ex officio member

George Guttschalk
Boaters Alliance

Robert Hebert
Charlotte County Government
ex officio member

Melissa Hughes
Charlotte County Young Professionals

Yolanda Marion
Trabue Woods
Citizen member

Julie Mathis
Executive Director, Charlotte County Chamber of Commerce

Nancy McClary
Board of Realtors

Dennis Murphy
City of Punta Gorda Growth Management Director
ex officio member

Patti Pieron
General Manager, Fisherman’s Village

Jerry Presseller
President, Downtown Merchants Association

Dan Root
Director, Economic Development Office

Larry Sandles
Punta Gorda Building Board

John Shattuck
Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association

Ron Thomas
Executive Director, Enterprise Punta Gorda

John Wright
President, Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce

Ed Zapke
President, South County Coalition
 

While these are the key leaders of TEAM Punta Gorda, the people who really make this grassroots effort work are those hundreds of volunteers who work hard to ensure that-

Together Everyone Achieves More.