Awards

The Canada-Florida Chamber has partnered with the Research Park for many years, always seeking to make connections for entrepreneurs both here in South Florida, and in Canada. Dedicated to promoting and supporting commercial and cultural relations between Canada and Florida, the Chamber facilitates trade and investment between entrepreneurs and businesses in both markets, closely matching our own mission. 

The Chamber has organized and continues to organize high-impact events – such as its 2023 trade mission in September – focused on priority sectors including health tech, smart cities, banking, and insurance. That mission helped solidify Florida’s role as Canada’s second-largest source of foreign direct investment, supporting more than 54,000 jobs across the state 

The close ties between our organizations have resulted in Canadian entrepreneurs establishing offices with Global Ventures to assess and expand into the South Florida marketplace. The Canada-Florida Chamber of Commerce has been a proud advocate focusing on deepening economic integration and innovation between Canada and Florida. 

Michael Allison served as the Executive Vice President for the Human Resources at Office Depot, and after retiring Michael joined the Research Park’s governing Authority. His skills, experience and perspective made him irresistible to Burlington, which recruited him out of retirement to become its EVP and Chief Administrative Officer and yet he continued to serve on the Authority. 

Michael was a man of great vision, intellect, leadership and genuine compassion and care for people’s well-being. Shortly into his first term on the Authority, Michael was elected chairman and led the development of our current strategic plan, which has set us on a great path of success. Earlier in 2023, Michael was elected to an unprecedented third year as chairman, the only person ever elected to the chair three years in a row. Sadly, in early August of 2023, he was called home. 

Michael was a natural leader, and we were privileged to have known him and worked with him. 

Dr. Robert Colton is the co-founder and Chairman of Thema Brain Health, a new addition to the Research Park at FAU in 2023. Thema is revolutionizing how the world approaches cognitive brain health. Tremendous progress has been made in the prevention and treatment of all major diseases of aging except for Alzheimer’s Disease. While aging is inevitable, Thema Brain Health is on a mission to ensure that cognitive decline is not.

Before founding Thema, Dr. Colton founded two household names in South Florida healthcare. He co-founded and was chairman of ClearlyDerm, a dermatology company. ClearlyDerm currently has over five locations in South Florida with over 100 employees. Before that, Rob conceptualized and co-founded MDVIP, the largest concierge medicine company in the United States; he sold MDVIP to Procter and Gamble in 2009. Today MDVIP’s more than eleven hundred affiliated physicians serve more than 385,000 patients nationwide. Dr. Colton’s contribution to South Florida’s innovation and knowledge economy has already been distinguished, and his entrepreneurial energies continue with Thema.

Dr. Siri A. Terjesen is Associate Dean, Research & External Relations, founding Executive Director of the Madden Center for Value Creation, and Phil Smith Professor of Entrepreneurship at FAU, and Professor .2 at the Norwegian School of Economics (Norges Handelshøyskole: NHH) in Bergen, Norway. She is a nationally recognized expert in higher education, strategic management, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy.

Siri was nominated by the president of the United States to serve as one of 15 voting directors to the National Board for Education Sciences, which advises the U.S. Department of Education. She is a reviewer for the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 project as well as the Swedish and Norwegian governments’ higher education agencies, and is an advisor to the World Bank, Kauffman Foundation, and a variety of think tanks.

Siri’s research on entrepreneurship, corporate governance, and strategy includes over 80 published articles, 2 books, many white papers, and manuscripts with the Kauffman Foundation, World Bank, and Small Business Administration, among others. She is amongst the world’s top two percent most cited scholars and has over 13,000 citations in Google Scholar. Siri’s distinguished work has inspired several Research Park and Global Ventures companies to get further involved with Florida Atlantic University and her research has helped innovate many companies’ strategies. 

Bob was appointed to the Florida Atlantic Research and Development Authority in 2005 by the Broward County Commission; he went on to serve with distinction for eighteen years, including twice as chairman, and retiring in 2023. Bob guided the Research Park at FAU through some of its most formative years. The successful community of innovation at the Park today, is thanks to the foundation laid and direction set by Bob.

Bob is a very humble leader, someone who empowers others to achieve and grow. For Bob, that approach is indispensable to the creation of a sustainable, robust entrepreneurial ecosystem in our region. 

Bob was appointed president & CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance in 2009 where he has since led the strengthening of Broward County’s economy and become a universally respected servant leader and authority across industries.

A lifelong Broward resident, Bob Swindell has served in several business and community leadership roles, including leading the American Red Cross during and after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Since that time, he has been appointed to many statewide roles by governors Martinez, Chiles, Bush, and Scott. Some of Bob’s greatest roles are unofficial: almost every leader in Broward County, and several beyond, rely on Bob’s counsel and relationships to make business better in South Florida. 

Bob has done more for the economic development of Florida than any one individual. Bob’s work and its accomplishments are many and it is indisputable that his service is distinguished.