EXECUTIVE: Kagan is a consultant to manufacturing industries and executive director of the Southwest Regional Manufacturers Association. He leads a volunteer board of directors engaged in supporting small to medium-size manufacturers in particular, but also assists large manufacturers if needed. “If you are having trouble making your product, maybe not meeting the lead time, you have quality issues, we can come in and help you,” Kagan says. The association can also assist in front office areas such as accounting, taxes and human resources. “Our goal is to have our members call us and say, ‘I need fill in the blank’ and we say, ‘Yes, we have somebody in our association who can help you with that.’”
DIVERSION: Kung fu, san soo discipline. Kagan, 56, is an eighth-degree kung fu master — the equivalent of an eighth-degree black belt — having taken up the martial art while in college at California State University, Long Beach. He brought kung fu to Southwest Florida in 1998, teaching for three decades before closing his studio. He still teaches privately.