September/October 1997
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r1•. .] : IC / WE Cur TI-mouGil ThE Ra T In today’s increasingly Our knowledge base covers complex business world, an extensive range of practice legal services have areas, including corporate become an important and business, commercial necessary tool — and are litigation, health care, oftentimes the difference i real estate, insurance between success and failure. matters, labor law, Our firm recognizes the importance associations, government of efficient effective and expedient and much more. service, and that’s exactly what we provide We maintain the highest through plain hard work and aggressive level of skill through an ongoing representation. pursuit of the people, technology and Whether it’s preserving and protecting expertise needed to enhance productivity your rights before the Legislature or and continue providing responsive, administrative agencies or assisting you high-quality and personal service. in the planning and implementation And our AV rating by the of new ideas and ventures, Martindale-Hubbell Law Stiles, Taylor, Grace & Smith, Directory (highest rating PA, employs the talent possible) reflects the and expertise of more highest degree than 60 attorneys and of service and professional support representation we staff that get results. provide our clients. Smss, TAYLOR, GRACE & Sim-i, PA, Arrowwvs AY CouNsEolts AT L&w Corporate and Business Law • State Legislative and Administrative Agency Representation Employment and Labor Law • Insurance and Personal Injury Defense • Workers’ Compensation TALLAHASSEE TAMPA ORLANDO FT. LAUDERDALE One Capitol Place Stafford-Stiles House 111 N. Orange Avenue Sun-Sentinel Building 108 E. Jefferson St., Suite 8 315 Plant Avenue Suite 850 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Suite 1760 Tallahassee, FL 32301 Tampa, FL 33606 Orlando, FL 32801 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301 Phone: (850) 222-2229 Phone: (813) 251-2880 Phone: (401) 843-9900 Phone: (305) 779-250S Fax: (850) 561-3642 Fax: (813) 254-9073 Fax: (407) 843-9808 Fax: (305) 779-2464 The hiring ol a lawyer is an important decision. Stiles, Taylor, Grace & Smith, PA, welcomes the opportunity to send you written information about the experience and qualifications of our firm and our attorneys. — SeptemberlOctober 1997 Volume 1, Issue 1 ON THE COVER: Wayne Huizenga, Florida’s The Magazine of Free Enterprise & Public Policy mega-entrepreneur, sets out to prove the critics columns wrong — again. ENVIRONMENT COMMON SENSE 4 by Jon I. shebe4 publisher A Greener Shade Of Brown 23 COMP WISE 6 by martha edenfield byfrank white LEGAL POLITICAL PLATFORM 8 page 28 Civil RICO: New Weapon by marian Johnson Of Choice? 28 by danielpopeo THE HUMAN SIDE 19 by kathleen “kelly” bergeron HEALTHY BUSINESS IN Box 20 Creativity Brings Business compflea’ by kristin foss, To Life 32 associate editor by scott west, m.d. PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS 46 TECHNOLOGY byJacquelyn horkan, editor page3G Taking Advantage Of The Year features 2000 Problem 36 kvJeff minder COVER STORY Wayne Huizenga: FEDERAL ISSUES Has He Got A Deal Rediscovering America’s For You! 10 Greatest Resources 41 byJacquelyn horkan, editor page4i by congressman J. c watts Jr FLORIDA BUSINESS INSIGHT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1997 3 c o in in o n s e n s e I hyjon 1. shebel, publisher ii only because it keeps the job engine running. And the best The Noble antipoverty program is, after all, employment. Maximizing profits also results in Pursuit Of Profit better products at cheaper prices. For instance, today’s steel-belted radial • lasts much longer than a tire ho can forget (and who wants to remember) the recession of purchased in 1930. With inflation factored in, on a cost-per-mile- when • 1991 the professionally sympathetic sobbed over the driven W • basis, the tires on your car tragedy of corporate downsizing? According to what passes for today aclually cost less than the tires your parents or grandparents conventional wisdom, companies were ruthlessly laying off employees put on their cars • 60 years ago. for no other reason than to maximize profits. - Those of us fortunate enough to be living in • America today lead longer, healthier lives Liberals love to accuse business leading local proponents of no • and we have more owners and executives of “just growth was none other than leisure time and disposable income than being in it for the money!’ Oddly Mr. Chouinnard. • those in the generations that enough, these accusations seem to Patagonia has now revised its no- preceded us. This happy situation is strike a chord with some of those growth goal to one of slow growth. due in some small part to owners and executives. Considering the company’s recent government. Most of the progress, however, flows from the I recently read a story about Yvon past, this is a smart management Chouinnard, the founder and owner decision, but the company cannot innovations and risks taken by the — of Patagonia Inc., an outdoor acknowledge it as such because - wealthy those who seek to clothing company. His company’s the owner and his employees are maximize profits. So let those who Fall 1991 catalog began with the self-professed haters of business. • hate themselves for self-indictment, “Everything we Mt Chouinnard once told a group making a profit go on hating — make pollutes.” Mr. Chouinnard of marketing consultants themselves as long as they go on • that he then promised that his company considers business people making profits. The rest of us will would address the “problem” by greaseballs. continue enjoying profit as the slowing, and gradually terminating, Mt Chouinnard’s denial that he is measure of what works best and as the growth of his company. a businessman the means to do more. • calls to mind the At the time, Patagonia actually alcoholic who can’t face up to his - had no choice but to slow its drinking problem. He is -t growth. Shockingly poor business emblematic of what management had produced years of you might call the unplanned and unregulated growth • post-modern that had turned the company into entrepreneur, the an overfed behemoth. In-house anti-business business product lines competed with each person. These often well- other and cannibalized company to-do individuals profits. In July of 1991, the company • seem to despise had to cut loose 20 percent of its the prosperity of work force. Unfortunately, these • others and employees found themselves facing denigrate profit a tight recessionary job market seeking as greed. made tighter by the no-growth This is foolishness. philosophy of Ventura, Calif., Maximizing home to Patagonia. One of the profits is a noble end 4 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1997 FLORIDA BUSINESS INSIGHT _____________________________________ (bylines) PUBLISHER kathleen “kelly” bergeron is senior vice president—human Jon L. Shebel resources for Associated Industries of Florida. She has more than 20 years of experience in designing and implementing effective EXECUTIVE EDITOR ‘7I systems to maximize production, monitoring quality assurance Peter j. Breslin programs, developing comprehensive budget plans, and establishing — departmental goals. She holds a master’s degree in counseling EDITOR psychology from Nova Southeastern University. Jacquelyn 1-lorkan martha eden field practices administrative law, with an ASSOCIATE EDITOR emphasis on environmental law, with the firm of Pennington, Kristin Foss Moore, Wilkinson & Dunbar, PA, in Tallahassee. During her 23 years in private practice, Edenfield has served as legal and MANAGING EDITOR! governmental counsel for agricultural trade groups, industrial CREATIVE DIRECTOR associations, medical doctors, and local governments. She received Dwight vt. Sumners undergraduate and law degrees from Florida State University. GRAPHIC DESIGNERS marian o1znson is senior vice president—political operations Pat Cross with AssoEiated Industries of Florida and manages the Florida Gregory Vowell Business United research organization, AIF’s political arm. Her extensive political experience spans more than 30 years, having served on numerous presidential campaigns at the national level, as well as many state Senate and state House campaigns. Her expertise ADVERTISING REP ranges from candidate recruitment to campaign management. Omni Communications Phone: (850) 222-9291 Jeff ninder is vice president of Image API, Inc., in Tallahassee. Fax: (850) 224-6532 Minder has worked as a consultant in the design and implementation E-mail: [email protected] of computer systems for six years. He holds degrees in computer . science and mathematics. EDITORIAL OFFICES daniel popeo is chairman and general counsel for the 516 North Adams Street Washington Legal Foundation, which he founded 20 years ago. He has served on the White House legal staff, worked in the Box 784 P.O. Attorney General’s Office at the Department of Justice, and Tallahassee, FL 32302-0784 practiced as a federal trial attorney with the Department of the Phone: (850) 224-7173 Interior. He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown Fax: (850) 224-6532 University as well as his JD from the university’s law center E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://aif.com Jon 1. shebel is president and CEO of Associated Industries of Florida and affiliated corporations. He has worked for more than 26 years as a lobbyist for AIF and directs all legislative efforts based Florida Business Insight is published on the board of directors’ positions. Shebel graduated from The bimonthly by Associated Industries of Citadel and attended Stetson University College of Law. florida Service Corporation to inform readers about issues pertinent to florida’s congressman s.c. watts Jr. (R-Oklahoma) has been an active business community. proponent of faniily values and cultural renewal since his election Comments and opinions expressed in to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994. His Community this magazine represent the personal Renewal Project represents the culmination of more than eight years views of the individuals to whom they are worth of vision for fiscally challenged communities. He received a BA attributed and/or the person identified as in journalism from the University of Oklahoma.