Alltrust promotes exec to CEO

PALM HARBOR — Lakeland attorney Sozon Vatikiotis has been named CEO of Alltrust Insurance, one of the fastest-growing employee benefits consulting firms on the Gulf Coast.

Vatikiotis (pronounced Vatee-key-otis) takes over day-to-day leadership of the firm from Joe Part, a founding partner, and Part's wife, Karen Brayboy, who had been CEO. Part and Brayboy, who founded Alltrust in 1994, will remain with the firm in a mentorship role. Their son, Brandon Brayboy, is a shareholder at Alltrust who works in finance and accounting.

In addition to Palm Harbor, Alltrust has offices in Lakeland, Sarasota-Bradenton and Tallahassee, with plans to expand soon to Orlando. Vatikiotis, who practiced commercial defense litigation law for five years, opened Alltrust's Lakeland office in 2011. He grew the firm's central Florida unit quickly, says Part. A major client Vatikiotis brought to the firm, for example, was Mulberry-based Badcock Furniture.