2009 People To Watch

Rob Campbell and Trey Lauderdale

Trey Lauderdale, 26, a technology entrepreneur from Miami, found a mentor and CEO in Sarasota’s startup guru Rob Campbell, the founder of PowerPoint and FileMaker, who’s worked with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Now 58, Campbell decided after more than a decade of quiet investment, consulting and teaching that he has “one more big lift” left in him. At first, Lauderdale wasn’t eager to leave Miami. “I told Trey I’m 58 and you’re 26, and I’m not moving,” says Campbell. The new company, called Voalte (pronounced Volt), has developed an all-in-one voice, alarm and text message system on an iPhone (and eventually on other smart phones) that can help hospitals communicate better with doctors and nurses on the floor—a vital part of care. The pilot will be tested at Sarasota Memorial Hospital this summer. Both men say Voalte could go public and become a huge multinational. “The sky’s the limit,” crows Lauderdale. So far, he adds, being in Sarasota is just fine—“There’s not much temptation for a young guy, so I stay out of trouble.”

TIM MCGONEGAL

Tim McGonegal, 51, may be just the right man at the right time. The new superintendent of the Manatee County School District, McGonegal has no classroom experience, but he was the district’s former financial director, and in this era of deep budgets cuts—he faces $50 million in cuts over the next two years—financial savvy is essential. McGonegal also has a master’s degree in educational leadership (“the same as a principal would have,” he says), and sees himself as a “servant leader.” In Manatee County the ever-positive McGonegal, who has two children in district schools, says minus the cutbacks, he’s inherited a good situation—“great teachers, great schools, student achievement is increasing.” Among his goals are the implementation of a countywide core curriculum, a rainy-day fund for increased financial self-sufficiency and a lower level of FCAT anxiety. 

CESAR GOMEZ