A.G. Gancarski
In Tuesday’s State of the State address, Gov. Rick Scott will recognize five Floridians working to “make Florida first.” Two are from Jacksonville.
Dane Grey, the CEO of Elite Parking Services whom Scott honored in Jacksonville last year, will be recognized Tuesday on a much-bigger stage.
In September, Scott gave a Young Entrepreneur Award to Grey, 29-year-old owner of Elite Parking Services, whose monitoring center has 60 jobs, with plans to add 150 more.
Grey recounted having gone to a Scott campaign event in 2009 with Mayor Lenny Curry, where he was intrigued by the Governor’s “direction in policy” and commitment to “cutting bureaucracy.”
He was, in fact, so impressed that he quit his current job and went 100 percent into the company.
Grey is identified among insiders as a rising star of the Northeast Florida GOP, and some speculate it’s only a matter of time before he runs for elected office himself.
The other Jacksonville product recognized: Captain Brian McDowell, an Active Guard Reserve member of the Florida National Guard who is serving in the 3rd Battalion of the 20th Special Forces Group out of Camp Blanding. McDowell, who enlisted in 2000, has been deployed multiple times in support of operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
Also being recognized: Isaac Lidsky, David Tablada, and Rachel Zietz.
