Arnold receives Governor's Award

Lee Arnold Jr., the CEO of commercial real estate brokerage firm Colliers International Tampa Bay, Central & Southwest Florida, has received the Governor's Business Leader Award for 2016.

The award, from the nonprofit and nonpartisan Florida Council of 100 and Gov. Rick Scott, recognizes business leaders who are “meaningfully involved in the enrichment of the local business community.”

Arnold has been a member of the Florida Council of 100, which works to promote economic growth statewide and to enhance the “economic well-being” of its citizens, for the past 22 years.

In addition to founding the region's Colliers affiliate in 1974, Arnold today also is executive chairman of Colliers International Florida and the lead investor of Florida Funders, a group that provides capital to emerging early-stage companies in the state.

Bob Ward, the Florida Council of 100's president and CEO, says Arnold is “highly committed to serving and bettering the community.”

Past recipients include Publix Super Markets Inc.'s Barney Barnett and real estate developer Sembler Cos. chairman Mel Sembler. The award has been presented for the past 15 years.