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By: MIASF Staff

Date posted: Jun 02, 2022 Thu

On Wednesday, May 18th, more than 150 MIASF members, elected officials, and business leaders in the community joined us at the Lauderdale Yacht Club for our 2022 MIASF Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon. Over a plated lunch with views of the water, guests enjoyed a program that reflected on this past year’s success, challenges, and milestones, and looked ahead to the goals and outlook of the upcoming year.

After a brief welcome from MIASF CEO/President, Phil Purcell, Shane Strum, CEO of Broward Health, one of the top 10 largest medical providers in the nation, took the stage to provide opening remarks. In his presentation, Shane shared about his role with Broward Health and leading such a prominent organization. He also shared insight into his previous roles of serving as Chief of Staff for two Florida Governors.

In one of his last duties serving as Chairman of the MIASF Board of Directors, Doug West had the privilege to announce the newly elected, and re-elected, board members for the 2022-2023 year. Julie Berry of CBRE Marina Group, Andrew Doole of Informa Markets, and Michael Kelly of Bradford Marine have all been re-elected to serve another term on the board. Katie Hagan of FHG Marine Engineering and Bill Walker of Water Taxi Fort Lauderdale have been newly elected to this position. Additionally, Graeme Lord of Fairport Yacht Support will return to the board and serve on the executive committee as Secretary/Treasurer. Doug West of Willis Custom Yachts will pass the torch of serving as Chairman to Jimmie Harrison of Frank & Jimmie’s Propeller and moved to his new position as Immediate Past Chairman. Doug concluded his time on stage by recognizing and thanking Jim Naugle (Immediate Past Chairman), Tyler Chappell, and Dean DuToit for serving on the MIASF Board as they are all stepping down from their positions.

This year, MIASF recognized three Award of Excellence recipients for their standout contributions to our industry and community. Bob Crawford, recently retired Principal and Director of Atlantic Technical College who played a pivotal role throughout the entire establishment of the Yacht Service Technician Apprenticeship Program which began back in 2019. He is also a big supporter of all apprentice programs and promoting the advantages of taking this path to a career and seeing each student succeed. Katie O’Fallon, Marine Magnet Coordinator at New River Middle School, was recognized for always going above and beyond for her students to introduce them to the marine industry and help provide them as many opportunities as possible to enhance their learning about our industry and the opportunities within it. Lastly, Roger Moore, CEO/Chairman of Nautical Ventures Marine Superstore, was surprised to receive his award as he was recognized for the strong leadership he has exemplified in growing Nautical Ventures and his long-time support and contributions to boat shows throughout South Florida.

The 2022 Golden Anchor was awarded to Jimmie Harrison, owner of Frank & Jimmie’s Propeller Shop for his lifetime of contribution to the industry and community. After working many nights after school and summer days at the shop, Jimmie inherited the business that was established by his dad and business partner in the early 90s. Frank & Jimmie’s Propeller was a founding member of MIASF and Jimmie has been actively involved in the association for all his years in the industry serving on the board since 2010, supporting MIASF events through participation and sponsorship, and implementing the ‘design, build, and race propeller challenge’ that has become a staple at the Plywood Regatta. Currently his company is in its 75th year and is a third-generation family business.

The program concluded as Phil Purcell took the stage with Brooks Smith, CEO of InComm Payments. Through an in-depth conversation to a captive audience Brooks shared his story from the time he began InComm Payments, grew the company to the status it is today, and how he has recently been coupling his personal passion for boating and fishing with investments and has acquired many local marine businesses.
MIASF would like to extend a special thank you to the table sponsors of this event: CBRE Marina Group, Frank & Jimmie’s Propeller Shop, Informa Markets, Lauderdale Marine Underwriters, and Maritime Professional Training.