Right fit

Alltrust Insurance founder Joe Part says in 2012 he would get a call at least every other month from a larger company interested in buying his health care benefits consulting firm.

Three years later, the company's new CEO, Sozon Vatikiotis says the phone hasn't stopped ringing. The calls have even increased to every week, but the company, says Vatikiotis, is not interested in being acquired. “We're one of the last privately held regional benefits companies that do what we do,” says Vatikiotis, named CEO in March 2014. “The value of our company and the appeal is through the roof.”

With offices in Palm Harbor, Lakeland, Sarasota and Tallahassee, Alltrust has continued to see a surge of growth, even through the transition to new leadership. The company has added four employees this year, and is close to hiring another three. Vatikiotis, 34, expects Alltrust to open one or two more offices on the east coast of Florida in the next two years, and expand to a regional office outside the state in 2018. Possible states include Georgia, Louisiana or South Carolina.