Down on the farm

Executive: Jack Cox, president of Halfacre Construction Co., Sarasota. Longtime local construction executive Bill Halfacre founded firm in 1970. Cox's father, the late John Cox, worked with Halfacre and bought the company in 1984. Jack Cox worked his way up in the business, starting in 1985. He has been president since 1999.

Diversion: Cows. Cox not only took over the family construction business. He also took over a cow farm his dad ran for decades. The farm, on Fruitville Road, four miles east of Interstate 75, covers about 30 acres. The elder Cox enjoyed the farming life so much he sold his house on Siesta Key to move there with his family when Jack Cox was in college. So when Jack Cox came home from school on breaks, he had the backdrop of a barn, not a beach. “It was my dad's hobby,” says Cox. “We made fun of him for it as kids.”

Times change: Now Cox has fun at the farm — something he never envisioned. The house has a tenant, and a horse breeder with Spanish horses rents the barn. Cox and his brother, Chris Cox, oversee and maintain the property. They mow the lawn, fortify the fence and tag cows, among other chores. Cox, in a way, has become his dad. Now he's the one who spends spare time at a feed store or the farm. Says Cox: “Everyone thinks I've lost my mind.”