The Business Observer's Top Entrepreneur event — in pictures

The Business Observer honored six of the region's brightest business leaders at our annual Top Entrepreneur event May 9. 

The luncheon, attended by more than 230 people, was at the Grove in Lakewood Ranch. The 2024 winners included: 

• Liz Dimmitt, managing partner of Dimmitt Chevrolet, a family-run auto dealership that’s one of the largest in Florida. With experience at art galleries in New York City, Dimmitt is also CEO and co-founder of Fairgrounds St. Pete, a museum of immersive art and choose-your-own experience technology.
• Syd Kitson, chairman and CEO of Kitson & Partners, the developer of Babcock Ranch, a solar-powered master-planned community in Lee and Charlotte counties. Before real estate, Syd played in the NFL for four seasons, an offensive lineman with the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. He was named Time Magazine’s Dreamer of the Year in 2023.
• Daniel Lubner, CEO of Clive Daniel Home a Fort Myers-based luxury home furnishings and custom residential and commercial interior design firm with an 85,000-square-foot location in Naples. Other locations are in Boca Raton, Sarasota and Fort Myers. He founded Clive Daniel Home in 2011 with his father, Clive Daniel.
• Katie Pemble, CEO and co-founder of Adelphi Trust Co. in St. Petersburg — one of only 13 registered non-depository trust companies in Florida. Katie has held leadership positions in Florida banks for more than three decades. Positions include: president of Bank of America in Pinellas County and president of C1 Bank in St. Petersburg.
• Mike Quillen, president of three independent groups of restaurants and bars, with a total of 15 locations and 800 employees in Florida and North Carolina. He’s the co-founder of Gecko’s Grill & Pub, opening the first of what’s now six locations in the Sarasota-Manatee market in 1992.
• Gigi Rogers, founder of Rogers Market, a chain of upscale convenience stores in Sarasota and Manatee counties. Rogers, an interior designer in a past career, who has lived in New York City, Londo, Los Angeles, Vienna and Barcelona, also oversees Sarasota-based ATCO Inc. a wholesale fuel refinery. 

The event included videos of Dimmitt, Lubner and Rogers, and a panel discussion, moderated by Business Observer Managing Editor Mark Gordon, with Kitson, Pemble and Quillen.