Advisory Board

Bill McBride

Bill McBride has extensive experience with business organizations and groups in Florida and nationally. In the year 2000 he served as Chair of the Investment Advisory Committee of the State Board of Administration which manages and oversees the State of Florida Retirement Fund. He is also a past Chair and current board member of the Florida Chamber of Commerce Foundation and a past recipient of the Chairman's Award for Most Valuable Member of the State Chamber. Mr. McBride currently serves as a Board member of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the College of Business at the University of Florida. He is a former Chair of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and a former member of the Florida Council of 100. In the year 2000, Mr. McBride was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame.

Bill McBride is currently a senior partner of the law firm of Barnett, Bolt, Kirkwood, Long & McBride, specializing in corporate and commercial law with an emphasis upon advising companies in mergers and acquisitions. He is a member of the Florida Bar and the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. He is also a member of the American Law Institute and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. For twenty-five years Mr. McBride was a lawyer in the firm of Holland & Knight. For nine years he was managing partner of Holland & Knight during the period of that firm's expansion and growth into its current configuration as an international law firm. During his tenure as managing partner, Mr. McBride supervised the merger or combination of over eighty law firms and lawyer practices into Holland & Knight. He has served in leadership capacities in numerous legal organizations.

Mr. McBride has been active in numerous statewide and national charitable and civic organizations. Among his current activities, he serves as the Regional Chair of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society Growth Initiative which recognizes those persons who contribute over $10,000 per year to the United Way of America. He is also currently a member of the Board of the Florida Holocaust Museum. He is a former Chair of the Board and Campaign Chair of the United Way of Tampa Bay. He recently joined the Board of Trustees at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg.

Mr. McBride has received the Tree of Life Award from the Jewish National Fund, the Silver Medallion Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Person of Vision Award from Prevent Blindness of Florida, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Individual Human Rights and Community Service Award, the Humanitarian and Citizen of the Year Award from the Judeo Christian Clinic of Hillsborough County, the Outstanding Citizen Award from the Hillsborough Association of Retarded Citizens, the Robert Saunders Leadership Award from the NAACP, the Human and Civil Rights Award from the Florida Education Association, the National Pro Bono Award at a ceremony at the Supreme Court of the United States and numerous other awards.

Mr. McBride served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps from 1968 to 1971, which service included a tour in Viet Nam as an Infantry Platoon Commander, Company Commander, and Combined Unit Leader. He received numerous citations and awards including the Bronze Star with combat V. He was the Honor Graduate from Army Ranger School in 1969 and the Leadership Honor Graduate from the Marine Corps Basic School in 1968.

Mr. McBride graduated from the University of Florida with a BA in English in 1967 and from the University of Florida Law School with honors in 1975, where he served as a member of the Florida Law Review. At the University of Florida, Mr. McBride was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame and selected for Who's Who in Colleges and Universities.

Mr. McBride was the 2002 Democratic nominee for Governor of the State of Florida.

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Lynn D. Evans

Lynn Evans joined Hyde Park Capital in 2003 to assist in new business development in Florida. Prior to joining Hyde Park Capital, Ms. Evans was a co-founder and President of Evaco Financial Press. She founded the company in 1988 after being employed as a Senior Vice President of Pandick Press for eleven years. In January 2002, RR Donnelley acquired Evaco. During her career in the financial printing industry, Ms. Evans worked on numerous transactions including mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, private placements, and corporate compliance materials. Ms. Evans graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiological Psychology from the University of Maryland. She attended Georgetown Law School. Ms. Evans speaks frequently to groups on financial communication issues and has written numerous articles on public offerings, SEC regulations and disclosure issues.

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Jim Foster

Jim Foster has over thirty years of experience in computer application software and services, specializing in technology, sales, marketing, and the management of computer software organizations. Mr. Foster has been in the forefront of many of the technology paradigm shifts in this industry.

Beginning his career in computer time sharing, Mr. Foster has launched multiple highly successful product lines throughout his career from mainframe to software as a service platform. He has led several highly successful technology start-ups and large divisions to high growth and profitability.

Mr. Foster was named Sage Software's Chief Technology Office for North America operations in 2000 after spending six years leading their mid-market division. While in that role, he coordinated six company acquisitions and participated in one of the largest mergers in the mid-market accounting software industry.

Prior to its acquisition by Sage Software, Mr. Foster was responsible for Product Strategy and Technology at Best Software, where he lead a team that created one of the first robust web-based applications for payroll and human resource processing. His innovative product leadership provided a platform for Best Software's initial public offering.

Before joining Best Software in 1992, Mr. Foster held several technology management positions with firms such as Dun and Bradstreet Software, Computer Science Corporation, and CompuServe.

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Dr. James P. Gills, Jr.

Dr. James P. Gills received his medical degree from Duke University Medical Center in 1959. He served his Ophthalmology residency at Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute of Johns Hopkins University from 1962 to 1965. Dr. Gills founded the St. Luke's Cataract and Laser Institute in Tarpon Springs, Florida and has performed more cataract and lens implant surgeries than any other eye surgeon in the world.

Since establishing his Florida practice in 1968, he has been firmly committed to embracing new technology and perfecting the latest cataract surgery techniques. In 1974, he became the first eye surgeon in the U.S. to dedicate his practice to cataract treatment through the use of intraocular lenses. Dr. Gills has been recognized in Florida and throughout the world for his professional accomplishments and personal commitment to helping others. He was recently recognized by the readers of Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today as one of the top 50 cataract and refractive opinion leaders.

Dr. Gills is not only known for his skills as a doctor, but his skill in business as President of a variety of companies, including the World Triathlon Corporation (Ironman). He has received the 1990 Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the State of Florida, the 2000 Florida Enterprise Medal by the Florida Merchant's Association, the 2000 Free Enterpriser of the Year Award from the Florida Council on Economic Education, The Tampa Bay Ethics Award, and an appointment to the Florida Sports Foundation Board of Directors. He is an avid athlete and has competed in 46 marathons, 30 triathlons, 5 Ironman races, 6 Double Ironmans, and 4 two hundred mile races.

In addition, Dr. Gills has published over 190 medical articles and authored or co-authored 14 books on ophthalmology. He has also written 18 books on Christian living, with over 6 million in print. Dr. Gill's philanthropic work in over 70 ministries and organizations led to him recently being awarded the Duke University 2005 Humanitarian Award and the 2002 William Carey Award for Extraordinary Leadership and Service in World Missions, presented by Trinity College.

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Hjalma E. Johnson

Mr. Johnson is President of Investment Advisors, Inc., and Triple J. Ranch Inc. He serves on the Board of Directors of Moore, Clayton LLC, a London based merchant bank and Crews Banking Corp., Wauchula, Florida.

Mr. Johnson graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering with High Honors in 1958, and is a U.S. Army Veteran, having served as a Counter-Intelligence Officer at U.S. Army Europe Headquarters, Heidelberg, Germany. He received a Juris Doctor from Birmingham School of Law in 1965 and is a member of the Alabama Bar and the Bar of the United States Supreme Court. He is a 1968 graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking, Rutgers University.

Mr. Johnson is a past President of the Florida Bankers Association and the American Bankers Association. While at the University of Florida, he was a member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honorary, Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Scholastic Fraternity and Pi Kappa Alpha Social Fraternity. He served on the University of Florida Warrington College of Business Advisory Council. He is presently President of the University of Florida Gator Boosters, Inc.

Mr. Johnson has served on the Salvation Army Service Committee and as Chairman of the Trustees of Saint Leo University, St. Leo, Florida. He was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame and was a Board member of the Fannie Mae National Advisory Council. He is involved in numerous other professional, fraternal and community organizations.

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J. Joseph Kruse

Mr. Kruse currently is Chairman of Kruse & Co., Inc as well as Topsider Building Systems in Clemmons, NC. He is also a Director of CNL Fund Management Company, an open-end mutual fund investing in global real estate securities. He serves on the Advisory Board of Process Sensors, Inc. of Milford, MA and Investec Strategies of Newport, RI, and is Chairman of Professional Facilities Management, a company that manages several private and public performing arts centers.

Mr. Kruse is a graduate of the University of Florida, Florida State University, the Harvard Graduate School of Business Advance Management Program and the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. He also serves on the Board of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Florida.

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Leslie M. Muma

Les Muma currently serves as a Director for Gold Shield Foundation and the Chairman of the USF Foundation Board, where he co-chairs the Foundation's Comprehensive Campaign. Mr. Muma is also a Director of MGIC Investment Corporation based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Mr. Muma began his extensive career in data processing with "Cooperative Education Assignments" at Southern Bell in Jacksonville, Florida and International Mineral and Chemical in Bartow, Florida while attending the University of South Florida. Upon his graduation in 1966, Mr. Muma joined IMC in their IT Department. He later held a similar position with a public school system in Central Florida before joining Price Waterhouse in Tampa, Florida as an IT consultant.

Mr. Muma then transitioned to the "bank" data processing business in 1971, joining First Federal Savings and Loan in Tampa. In 1973, he became the President and CEO of Sunshine State System, Inc., a subsidiary of First Federal that was established to provide a wide range of automation services to other financial institutions.

In 1984, Mr. Muma and his management team acquired Sunshine State Systems, then servicing some 40 financial institution clients. Within six months, Mr. Muma negotiated a merger of Sunshine Systems with a similar company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to form Fiserv, Inc. Mr. Muma held the position of President and Chief Operating Officer of Fiserv from 1984 until 1999, when he was named Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Muma retired from Fiserv in June 2006.

During those 21 years, Fiserv make the transition from a relatively small private company with two locations, 350 employees and $21 million in revenue into a publicly traded company (NASDAQ – FISV) with more than 240 locations worldwide, 23,000+ employees and revenue in excess of $4.0 billion.

Mr. Muma has served on many charitable boards including the United Way of Greater Milwaukee, United Performing Arts Fund of Milwaukee, Boy and Girls Club of Wisconsin, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Wisconsin and, Junior Achievement of Wisconsin.

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Walter L. Revell

Mr. Revell currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Revell Investments International, Inc., a diversified investment, development and management company, which he founded in 1984 in Coral Gables, Florida. In addition, he serves as a Director of The St. Joe Company, a large, diversified real estate company (NYSE-JOE); Rinker Group Limited (NYSE-RIN (ADR) (Australia)), a major producer of construction materials in several countries; Calpine Corporation (NYSE-CPN), a major producer of electric power in the United States and Canada; NCL Corporation Ltd., parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line and other brands; Edd Helms Group, an electrical, air-conditioning and data communications service company, and International Finance Bank

From 1991 to 2002, he served as Chairman and CEO of H.J. Ross Associates, Inc., consulting engineers, planners and scientists, in Coral Gables and continues as Senior Advisor to the new parent company, T.Y. Lin International, in San Francisco. From 1975 through 1983, he served as President, CEO and a Director of Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan, Inc., consulting engineers and planners, in Miami. From 1972 to 1975, he was Secretary of Transportation for the State of Florida.

Mr. Revell is a past Chairman of the Board of both the Florida Chamber of Commerce (1984) and the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce (1981-82). He has served on the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of the Florida Council of 100, where he has been a member since 1972.

Mr. Revell completed two special assignments in Florida for Governor Jeb Bush. He served as Chairman of the Florida Energy 2020 Study Commission, which conducted an 18-month study and recommended a strategic plan for meeting Florida's energy needs over the next 20 years. He also was Chairman of the Governor's Hurricane Evacuation Task Force, formed in 1999 after Hurricane Floyd threatened the east coast of Florida and caused the evacuation of more than two million Floridians.

Mr. Revell is a former Chairman of both the Capitol Center Planning Commission in Tallahassee and Florida's Columbus Hemispheric Commission and a former Vice Chairman of Florida's Public Facilities Financing Commission, all gubernatorial appointments. He also served on the Florida Fuel Allocation and Conservation Council, the Commission for Government by the People, the Historic Key West Preservation Board and the Private Sector Advisory Panel on Infrastructure Financing for the U.S. Senate Budget Committee.

He previously served as a Director of Dycom Industries, Inc., a telecommunications and electrical services company (NYSE); Sun Banks, Inc., the Florida holding company (NYSE), and Sun Bank of Miami; American Resources, Inc. and its subsidiary, American Bearing and Power Transmission, Inc., a group of agri-business and industrial supply companies; Spillis Candela & Partners, Inc., the oldest and largest architectural firm in Florida, and Health Options, a Blue Cross-Blue Shield affiliate.

Mr. Revell is a member of the Orange Bowl Committee, and he formerly served on the Board of Trustees of Miami-Dade Community College and the President's Council at Florida International University.

He was Chairman of the Miami Mega-City Management Council for Special Olympics and was a member of the Board of Directors of the community corporation which hosted Super Bowl XXIII in Miami in 1989. He also was a Director of We Will Rebuild, Inc., the community corporation established after Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida in 1992 and Chairman of its State Funding Committee.

A native of Tallahassee and a 1957 graduate of Florida State University, Mr. Revell served on the FSU Council of Advisors, the FSU Athletic Committee and the Board of the FSU Foundation. He also was Chairman of the Eminent Scholars Campaign and Chairman of the Board of the FSU Alumni Association.

Mr. Revell lives in Coral Gables and the Florida Keys with his wife, Sheila. They have three grown children.

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Joseph Ryan

Joseph Ryan is currently the Chairman and CEO of Ryan Investments LLC, a private firm with investments in the hospitality industry, the alternative energy business, and private banking. Mr. Ryan is also the Chairman and CEO of Joseph Ryan & Associates LLC, a company offering mediation, arbitration, and consulting services for companies and professional service organizations. In 2007, Mr. Ryan was a Partner in the Business Transactions Group at Venable LLP, a Washington, D.C. based law firm.

Prior to joining Venable, Mr. Ryan served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Marriott International, Inc., where he led a staff of 85 attorneys and oversaw the offices of the corporate secretary, government affairs and corporate communications.

During his 12 year tenure with Marriott, Mr. Ryan played a leadership role in all major transactions and helped to guide the company as it expanded into a global hospitality powerhouse with more than 3,000 properties under management in more than 65 countries and system-wide sales of $20 billion.

Prior to joining Marriott, Mr. Ryan practiced law for 27 years with the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles, where he became a Partner in 1976 and Managing Partner of the firm in 1993.

Mr. Ryan is a published author and a frequent keynote speaker at a variety of firms and events. He is also a recipient of a Bronze Star for Service in the Republic of South Vietnam and the 2006 Matthew J. Whitehead, II Diversity Award from the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC).

Mr. Ryan received a B.A. from the University of Washington in 1964 and a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1967. He was a member of the University of Washington 1964 Rose Bowl Team.

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John H. Sykes

John H. Sykes, Chairman Emeritus of Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated, retired as of December 31, 2004 after 27 years overseeing the international company. He was born in Charlotte, North Carolina and attended High Point College and Queens University, both North Carolina schools, as well as Rollins College in Florida. Mr. Sykes received two Honorary Doctorate degrees from the University of Tampa (Tampa, FL); one in Business Administration, the other in Humane Letters. He also received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Pikeville College in Kentucky.

Mr. Sykes founded Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated (SYKES) in Charlotte in 1977 as a small technical engineering firm with three employees. In 1993, the company relocated its headquarters to Tampa, Florida. Today, the company is a global leader in the business process outsourcing arena and provides customer contact management services to Fortune 1000 and leading global companies. SYKES is on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange (SYKE) and has more than 17,000 employees in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Africa.

Mr. Sykes also owns a horse farm, CloverLeaf Farms II, in Ocala, Florida. He purchased the farm in 1997 and has successfully built the farm into a multi-million dollar leader in the thoroughbred industry. CloverLeaf Farms II is a facility designed for breeding, development and training of horses.

As a result of his business accomplishments, Mr. Sykes has been recognized with numerous awards for his entrepreneur abilities and community involvement. Some of these include the Florida Entrepreneur of the Year; the Innovator of the Year, awarded by his industry peers; Citizen of the Year by the Tampa Police Department; and the Citizen of the Year by the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Officers. Also, Mr. Sykes was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame and was awarded the Florida Enterprise medal by the Merchants Association. He is recipient of the Humanitarian Award from the Judeo Christian Health Clinic and is a recipient of the Senior Philanthropy Award. Mr. Sykes was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Sales and Marketing organization and was named by the Florida Council on Economic Education as a Florida Free Enterpriser of the Year. He is active with the Florida Council of Economic Education and recently completed a three-year term as Chairman of this organization.

Mr. Sykes continues to be active in the Tampa Bay community. He currently is serving a two-year term as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Tampa. In recognition of his support and commitment to the University of Tampa, the University named the John H. Sykes College of Business in his honor. Mr. Sykes is a member of the United Way Million Dollar Roundtable as well as the Alexis de Tocqueville Society.

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John R. Torell III

Mr. Torell is the former President of Manufacturers Hanover Corporation and Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, in New York; and the former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of CalFed Inc. in Los Angeles. He was part of a New York group that acquired control of Fortune Bancorp, Tampa, the largest independent financial institution on the West Coast of Florida, where he was Chairman and CEO. He was also Chairman of Telesphere, Inc., an electronic distributor of financial data.

Mr. Torell is currently a Partner of Core Capital Group, a closely held private equity investment firm. He has been Chairman or President of a number of major American banking institutions and has participated in virtually all phases of the financial services industry. For the last ten years, his focus has been on private equity investments. He has also been active in selected turnaround situations.

Mr. Torell is also Chairman of the International Executive Services Corps, which is the world's leading organization providing executive volunteers to developing countries and emerging democracies. IESC's focus is to develop and strengthen the private sector of host countries in manufacturing, trade, financial and other services, tourism, as well as information and Internet technology through its Geekcorps subsidiary.

Mr. Torell is Chairman of Indecomm Global Corporation which is a business process outsourcing company with operating platforms in both the United States and India. Indecomm services the financial, healthcare and real estate industries.

He is currently a Director of Wyeth and a number of private companies. He previously served as a Trustee of Columbia University's Graduate School of Business as well as a Director of the Juilliard Foundation, the Financial Services Corporation of New York, the New York State Banker's Association, the New York State Banking Board and a number of other companies.

Mr. Torell graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in Economics and studied at New York University's Graduate School of Business and the Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management at Dartmouth.

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Jerry L. Williams

Jerry Williams has extensive experience in investment banking and the securities industry over his long and illustrious career. In 1968, after ten years in the securities industry, he founded Williams Securities Group, Inc., a regional market maker and investment bank. In 1991, Mr. Williams sold his successful business to Robert W. Baird, Inc., and there served as Senior Vice President for the subsequent eight years.

Within the securities industry, Mr. Williams has held several high-profile positions, including: Governor, and later President, of the Florida Security Dealers Association; Vice Chair of the District Committee, and later a member, of The Board and Executive Committee of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc.; and a member of the Board of Directors of the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc.

He has also been active civically, with the Tampa General Hospital Foundation, United Way of Tampa Bay, University of South Florida Foundation, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. As a member of the Capital Campaign Executive Committee for DePauw University, he participated in the largest fundraising campaign ever achieved by a liberal arts university.

From 2002 to the present, Mr. Williams has been on the Board of Directors and Chaired the Finance Committee of Gemesis Corp., a manufacturer of gem quality diamonds.

Mr. Williams holds a B.A. degree from DePauw University and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School.

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