Change through Consensus

Change through Consensus

Howard Ross is creating a legacy as chairman of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce.

By David R. Corder

Associate Editor

On a rather ordinary day about 15 years ago Howard P. Ross happened upon a conversation as he strolled to his law office. Some of the lawyers at the predecessor to Battaglia Ross Dicus & Wein PA were considering a request from the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce. The business advocacy group needed a replacement for a former firm member who also had vacated a volunteer job as chair of the chamber's Northwest Tyrone task force.

"Our law firm was asked to recommend a successor, and I volunteered," Ross, 65, recalls.

That was somewhat of an unusual gesture for Ross. The St. Petersburg attorney usually devoted most of his pro bono time to Florida Bar activities. Only on occasion did he contribute time during the first 25 years of his career to volunteer community service work. But that mindset changed that day.

"It just grew from there," he says. "From there I decided to go overboard."

Almost every year since 1990, Ross has served on the chamber's board of governors. He has become a champion of the small-business owner, with a particular concern for minority-owned small businesses. His aggressive, hands-on approach as a business advocate has won him accolades and respect from those touched by his altruism. That volunteer work culminated last year with his installation as the chamber's elected volunteer chairman. It's a job he takes seriously; changes took place during the first half of his one-year term.

With a quiet but assertive demeanor, say those who know him, Ross, a wiry man with white hair and glasses, has encouraged the board of governors to take on a greater role, perhaps, than in the recent past for the chamber's policymaking decisions.

"This year Howard's kind of brought attention or redirected the focus to paying attention to the flow of the work of the chamber through either the various councils, the officers and the executive committee," says chamber board member John E. "Jed" Wilkinson, a First State Bank executive vice president. "By doing that, he has called attention to the responsibilities of each of us as board members."

Positive impact

Since becoming chairman, for instance, Ross has encouraged the chamber's board of governors to take a more public posture on issues that affect the St. Petersburg business community. That means taking a stand on high-profile, controversial issues. Under his leadership, the board supported the renaming of Ninth Street as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street and the development of a Super Wal-Mart in the downtown area. It also meant opposing the plan by Mayor Rick Baker, a former chamber chairman, to redevelop the city's Albert Whitted Airport.

"He hasn't taken his chairmanship lightly," says Alvina Miller, the chamber's economic development coordinator and the staff member assigned to assist Ross.

Under Ross's leadership, Miller says, he has encouraged the chamber staff to improve how they interact with the various volunteer councils and the board.

"He's taken it to another level," she says. "It's basically making the councils more viable and self-sustaining so they can function and take the policy issues to the board for consideration and review. It also gives the chairs of the councils more of a reason to be involved.

"In the past, sometimes the staff was left with the responsibility," she adds.

Ross says he encouraged such interaction because that is how the chamber operated during his early years as a board member.

"I brought to the chair an organizational history, having been on the board, one way or another, almost the entire period since 1990," he says. "My goal was to bring the way the chamber functions back to what my experience was, and that was a greater involvement by the board of governors.

"I've tried to make sure nothing, other than routine day-to-day activities, is undertaken without the authorization of the board of governors," he adds. "That's what I wanted to do, and I think I've accomplished that."

Wilkinson says Ross encouraged such change through his consensus-building skills. "There is no knee-jerk reaction with Howard," he says. "He listens to all sides, gives thought to it and then forms the opinion that he states. But he's doesn't try to shove ideas down anyone's throat. I think he just wants to make sure the board is well-informed to reach a consensus opinion."

The effort to empower the board in no way diminishes the work of the chamber staff, Ross says. He adopted that goal simply as a way to improve the staff's operational efficiencies.

"It was a feeling that too much responsibility was put on the staff that belonged with the board," Ross adds.

While he considers that goal a success, Ross laments over another goal he set as incoming chairman. "I wanted to increase minority membership in the chamber, particularly Hispanic, Asian and African-American," he says. "Unfortunately, that's not been that successful."

In pursuit of that goal, however, Ross says he persuaded some members of the Asian and Hispanic business communities to serve as ex-officio members to the board of governors, in addition to one Hispanic business leader who agreed to join the board.

"I just don't know what needs to be done to make this situation better," he acknowledges. "It's a long slow process."

Strategic Decision

There was more than altruism at work when Ross made the decision 15 years ago to volunteer at the chamber. His decision also coincided with the early impact of a national recession in the financial and real estate markets. Those are two important industries for Ross, who practices real estate transaction and litigation law. He is one of those few attorneys with dual Florida Bar board certifications as a business litigator and civil trial attorney.

Depending on demand, Ross quickly adjusts his practice to take advantage of a client's needs for either transactional work or the desire to litigate. But a recession posed new problems for the legal industry in the late '80s and early '90s. It was not unusual to hear stories then about attorneys forsaking a legal career for other opportunities to make ends meet.

"During those (early) years lawyers were not marketing," Ross recalls. "Our firm also was blessed with continuing clients and reputation. People came to us without being encouraged to come to us. So the marketing motivation for giving back to the community wasn't there."

Client demand for Ross' transactional abilities far outpaces the demand on his litigation skills, he says.

"The transactional part of my practice is increasing, which is somewhat an indicator of the economy," he says. "Historically, as the economy gets better the transactional part of my practice increases; and the reverse, obviously.

"I'm seeing the good stuff rather than the negative stuff," he adds. "There's another phenomenon taking place, which I consider rewarding. I'm receiving more referrals from other lawyers than in the past. It may be the areas I practice in a lot of other lawyers don't practice in - real estate, particularly, real estate problems."

Citing concern about client confidentiality, Ross wouldn't talk about details of deals. However, he says he currently represents a buyer about to close on a $9 million acquisition in Hillsborough County. Over the years, he estimates he has handled around $100 million in real estate purchases, sales and financings for mostly individuals and small businesses.

"There was a period when we represented some of the largest condominium builders in Pinellas County," he says.

Loyalty

Come this November, Ross celebrates his 40th year as a member of Battaglia Ross or its predecessors. He attributes such longevity to his respect for friend and colleague, Anthony Battaglia, co-founding partner of one of St. Petersburg's oldest law firms and one of the community's most respected attorneys.

Ross met Battaglia through his now ex-wife, Virginia Battaglia, and Ross' first mother-in-law, Mary Koenig. The two women, who knew each other socially, formed a plan to introduce Ross to Battaglia.

"At the party, I was getting ready to ask for a job, and then Virginia spoke up and asked me if I would like to work for Tony," he recalls. "I said, 'yes,' and she suggested to Tony that he hire me. So I never got the chance to ask because she did it for me."

It was just the opportunity that Ross sought.

"That was a defining moment - the opportunity I had with this firm," he says. "Even back then it was a high-profile law firm. Prior to that point in my life, particularly coming from Chicago, I would not have had the opportunity to become part of such a prestigious law firm."

For two years, Ross worked as a law clerk prior to earning a law degree in 1964 from the Stetson University College of Law.

"(Battaglia) might not remember this, but I overheard him one day as a law clerk," Ross says. "I wasn't eavesdropping, but I happened to hear him tell someone else he couldn't do without me. As a young law clerk, that was pretty exciting."

During those early years, Ross says he worked on just about any type of case that came his way.

"When I started, lawyers did not specialize like they do today," he says. "You did whatever came across your desk, and you were happy something was coming across your desk."

Even so Ross says it became apparent early on that he had an aptitude and desire for transactional and litigation work. "Since day one, it's been a combination of litigation and transaction, and I've been protective in not giving up either," he says.

Mentor

Over the past 15 years, Ross did more than just sit on the chamber's board of governors. Around the mid-'90s, he became a member of the board of commissioners at the St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Service Inc., which administers the city's affordable housing program. Nearly 10 years later, including a term as its chairman, Ross still serves as the nonprofit agency's legal counsel.

Although he charges a fee, Ross says he discounts the cost of work he performs on the agency's behalf. That's what he did several years ago when the agency acquired 36 parcels in the city's midtown area through tax sales. He spent about three years helping the agency clean the titles so it could build new homes for low-income wage earners.

"There were numerous complications," he recalls. "It took about three years to get it all done. We had to go back and find all the parties (to the deeds) to make them a part of the appropriate lawsuit."

Then there was his work with St. Petersburg's Community Alliance, a biracial community action group formed in the late 1960s. The group promotes diversity and seeks solutions to racial problems. His participation in the alliance coincided with the chamber's efforts to increase its membership of black business owners.

"My involvement with the African-American community was sort of an evolving thing," he recalls. "I remember at one of the first chamber retreats as a board member we were selecting priorities for the year. One of the board members suggested we have a priority on increasing the African-American membership in the chamber. I volunteered for the committee."

Of all his community service work, however, Ross expresses the most satisfaction for time he gives to the chamber's Entrepreneurial Academy, a program that pairs emerging entrepreneurs with established business leaders. Since opening in 1995, the 10-week program has served 334 individuals. Ross started with the third class of the second year and has volunteered his time to the program ever since.

"Some of my enthusiasm for my work with the Entrepreneurial Academy has been because of the academy's efforts to reach out into the minority communities," Ross says. "It is a way I could help. I don't do the classic pro bono work, I do a lot of pro bono for small businesses, particularly start-up businesses."

That is an understatement, in Alvina Miller's opinion. She should know since she's the staff person in charge of the academy.

Because of his volunteer work, Miller says, the academy designated Ross as its dean, a title he relishes.

"I just adore him; he is a well-rounded individual who is so savvy and insightful," Miller says. "He is someone who we can always count on. I don't know how he does it. He'll work a full day and still participate in all of our seminars.

"Sometimes the graduates of the Entrepreneurial Academy run into legal issues," she adds. "So, often, he's had to play the role of mediator. He does a lot of free work for Entrepreneurial Academy graduates. He even is available to take their calls in the middle of the day. He's wonderful."

One of those graduates, who expressed an admiration for Ross, is Shirley Alquist, co-owner of Alquist Enterprises. She and her late-husband, Leland Sundstrom, started a part-time business in the late 1970s, distributing Amsoil, a synthetic motor oil.

After her husband's death in 2001, Alquist decided to retire from a 35-year teaching career and go into business full-time. A year later, she married John Alquist, who encouraged her to go through the Entrepreneurial Program. That's when she met Ross.

"I really admire that man," she says. "And how faithful he was all those weeks. Every Wednesday night he was there. He just had a sense of how to motivate people, to encourage them - not to put them down - to step out and to do their own thing."

That motivation apparently had a positive impact on her and the business she co-owns with her husband. Last year, the chamber recognized Alquist Enterprises as a runner-up for the Entrepreneurial Academy's Rookie of the Year Award. Just recently, the St. Petersburg small business won the 2004 award.

"Ross is a very honorable man," Alquist says. "He's unassuming, down to earth, but he's such a marvelous resource."

Howard P. Ross

Age: 65

Title: Partner

Firm: Battaglia Ross Dicus & Wein PA

Hometown: Chicago. He moved to the Tampa Bay area in 1961 to attend law school.

Personal: Married to Jennifer for 20 years. The couple has one child, Ryan, 6. He has two children from a prior marriage: Glen, 42, and Cynthia, 39. He also has two grandchildren: Nickolas, 8, and Joshua, 6 months.

Education: BA, liberal arts, 1961, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne; law degree, 1964, Stetson University College of Law.

Career: During law school, he clerked at a predecessor to Battaglia Ross and remained with the successor firms. In 1967, he became a partner.

Favorite place in the Tampa Bay area: At home with his family or at work in his office.

Favorite place to eat: Saffron's and Sapoto's restaurants in St. Petersburg.

Last book read for relaxation: "Good Night Moon," a children's book he's reading to son Ryan.