Paul Brinkmann:
New leadership begins for chambers.
The chambers of commerce for Winter Park and Orlando are starting the year with new leadership — John Davis at Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce; and Betsy Gardner Eckbert, president and CEO of Winter Park Chamber of Commerce.
Davis is the new executive VP of the Orlando chamber, a division of the Orlando Economic Partnership. He was formerly president of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida (AACCCF) since 2014.
“John Davis has a proven track record as a leader in both the public and private sector, and he will help advance the goals of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce,” said Tim Giuliani, president and CEO of the Orlando Economic Partnership.
Prior to his role at AACCCF, Davis was the external affairs director for Florida’s Department of Children and Families. He was also among the top leadership within the Republican Party of Florida and served as the Deputy Executive Director of Operations, the highest-ranking African American in the history of the state party. He was also president of JFD Consulting Group, a political consulting agency.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in political science on a full scholarship at Florida State University, where he also played football. He was an entrepreneur early in his career, founding a fitness company.
“Davis’ rich background as an entrepreneur, business executive and community leader provides a solid foundation of skills critical to connecting and building our business community so that it can grow and thrive, ultimately generating jobs and boosting our region’s economic potential,” said Angela Alban, president and CEO of Simetri, Inc., and chair of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Gardner Eckbert said she aims to reinvent the role of the chamber in the community.
The chamber has launched a new website, introduced more programming and broadened its outreach to international.
“Betsy’s knowledge of the community and experience in building an international business will be an asset to our members from day one,” said Lou Nimkoff, chairman of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, in a news release.
The release said that Gardner Eckbert was chosen from a field of more than 200 applicants from across the country. She’s a graduate of Winter Park High School and the University of Florida, and previously worked in London in sales, marketing and business consulting. Before that, she worked in Florida for Merck.
Former president/CEO Patrick Chapin resigned May 18 and became CEO for Business High Point Inc. in North Carolina.
Trooper lawsuit
A federal lawsuit accuses a Florida State trooper of beating,
Tasering and whipping an auto-repair shop manager in Melbourne for years, while on duty and in uniform.
It further accuses Trooper Cleveland “Butch” Johnson Jr. of telling the shop manager, Richard Hickman, to buy his daughter’s Girl Scout cookies, and then punching him in the arm so hard that it left a significant bruise.
The Florida Highway Patrol, named as a defendant, has already answered the lawsuit, denied most of the allegations, and said anything that did happen was not part of Johnson’s official duties. FHP declines to comment on any part of the allegations in the lawsuit, citing policy against elaborating on active litigation, said Lt. Thomas E. Pikul, assistant chief of public affairs. The agency confirmed that Johnson is still a trooper.
Johnson’s attorney, Sean Harnage, said Johnson and Hickman had been close friends at one time.
“We are confident the facts that come out will be totally different than facts in the complaint,” Harnage said, declining to discuss details of the allegations.
The suit says the physical abuse happened in 2013 through 2015 at Gatto’s Tire and Repair in Melbourne, sometimes with other state patrolmen watching. The abuse was intended to intimidate Hickman while he and his staff worked on state troopers’ vehicles, according to the suit.
“This two-and-a-half year period … is not just isolated events, but a culmination of activity intended to break Plaintiff Hickman’s spirit and exert power and control over him,” the lawsuit says, and that is the only mention of any alleged motive.
According to the complaint, Hickman was afraid he would lose the lucrative FHP account if he reported the abuse. The suit says Johnson’s actions were eventually reported to FHP by a customer at Gatto’s, and not by any of the patrolmen who saw it, but it does not say what, if any, action was taken following that.