Agent centric

At 18, an age when most teens don't have a clue about what they want from the future, Tony Veldkamp knew both what he wanted to do and with whom he wanted to spend his life.

A year after he could vote, Veldkamp graduated from Florida State, married his college sweetheart and went into the real estate business, first as an appraiser and then as a land broker. Over time, he diversified into industrial and office properties, believing they were a natural outgrowth of the land business.

Three decades later, the Tallahassee native is still married to the same college sweetheart and is still in real estate, heading the Sarasota and Bradenton operations for commercial brokerage firm Sperry Van Ness, a Boston-based brokerage with more than 200 offices nationwide.