YP Tony Squitieri

YP Tony Squitieri

Regional Vice President

U.S. Home Corp. - Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties

BUSINESS

Profile: Squitieri serves as regional vice president of land development for U.S. Home/Lennar Corp. The company develops master-planned communities with a focus on lifestyle. The company's communities feature such niceties as golf courses, shopping complexes and fitness centers.

The buzz words, says Squitieri, are "smart growth."

"We try to place high value on the quality of education, transportation, water quality and the environment," he says. "Environment is a big thing today so it's a big part of our business, part of our long-term vision. It is the community. We like to make sure we're a good neighbor."

Miami-based Lennar Corp., with 10,000 employees, works with different builders under a "branding" agreement. Forbes ranked it 25th among the nation's fastest growing companies, and third fastest growing in Florida. Revenue in 2002 was $7.3 billion.

Squitieri's division develops communities for its own builders and for other builders. His office, located in Sarasota at Interstate 75 and Fruitville Road, is home base for 150 employees. The company has developed about 15 communities and has 10 in the pipeline, Squitieri says.

Clients: "We cover all aspects of age. We do inter-generational communities, from starter homes to retirement and second buyer homes. The cost of homes ranges from $100,000 to $1.5 million."

Goals: "Strategically we're looking to grow in our market. We currently have about 6% of the market. We would like to grow to 20% of the market within five years. We place ourselves in a number of ways. Our main focus is to grow organically, through new communities. ¦ to develop the number of home sites within that community. Our objective is to grow that number as a whole."

Recent project: Heritage Harbour in Manatee. It's about 2,500 acres, with 4,600 homes, including single families, condos, paired villas and town homes. The commercial component is an additional million square of office, retail, a 300-room hotel, 400 apartments, 45 holes of golf with over 30,000 feet of clubhouse space and the possibility of a wet/dry marina with 400 slips and a 40-acre recreational park. It includes four baseball diamonds, two soccer fields, jogging trails and fishing piers. Only a small portion of the 4,600 homes is built. It will take another decade to complete the community.

Current challenge: "We do a number of surveys (using the) JD Power survey. We're very concerned about customer satisfaction. We always focus on improving our community lifestyles. We're making sure we're evaluating what they need and changing with the local atmosphere and what people are looking for."

Philosophy, Ambitions, Passions

Management style: "Very team oriented. I expect all employees I hire to contribute to our company. I ask them on a regular basis to be involved because great ideas can come from anywhere. We ask them to contribute to our day-to-day operations. We ask them to provide us with feedback. We have regular weekly meetings; we get together and discuss those issues."

Typical work week: "Twelve to fourteen hours a day, usually five days a week, but some weekend work either visiting a community or reading material."

On stress: "I exercise. I spend a lot of time with my family. Try to involve them in my life as much as I can."

Management mantra: "Attitude and determination are two things I preach to employees."

Books: "Most recently, I read "Sacred Hoops" by Phil Jackson. One of the quotes in the book is "The strength of the wolf is the pack and the strength of the pack is the wolf." It's geared toward team management, making sure that every person understands their role, that every person is important even if there's a superstar involved. Jackson had Michael Jordan involved."

- Hali White

Personal

Age: 31

Birthplace: Rockaway, N.J. Grew up in Cape Coral.

Birth order: Youngest of three

Parents: "Mom is in education. My father is in construction."

Family: Married to Karen, with two young children.

Education: Civil engineering, 1995, University of Rhode Island.

Just for fun: "I coach football."

First career: Squitieri played arena football for the Arizona Rattlers in 1996-1997 as a quarterback, before joining U.S. Home. "I was engaged to my (future) wife. I didn't want to be traveling regularly. And for health reasons. Along with football comes a lot of injury - dislocated hips and shoulders. I realized I still wanted to move when I got older. My childhood dream was to be a professional football player, and once I got there, I realized my goals had changed." Squitieri worked as a consultant before joining the company in 1999.