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The top executive of a Fort Myers-based transportation and logistics firm has been named the “Small Business Person of the Year” for 2020 in Florida by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Ryan D. Carter, 37, executive vice president and co-founder of Scotlynn USA Division Inc., was honored by the agency earlier this week during a virtual presentation to coincide with National Small Business Week.
“I am very honored and humbled to be recognized as the Small Business Person of the Year winner for the state of Florida,” Carter says in a statement. “We have an incredible amount of highly qualified and very successful small business owners, so to be this year’s recipient is really something special.”
Carter co-founded Scotlynn USA in 2010 in Fort Myers and today it ranks as one of the nation’s fastest-growing logistics firms specializing in the shipment of perishable foods and other refrigerated goods. Scotlynn expects to hire 140 new employees in Fort Myers within the next three years.
In all, Scotlynn USA — a division of an Ontario, Canada-based company — currently operates four offices, including in Tampa and Indianapolis, and has roughly 275 employees.
The company’s growth has also prompted it to develop a new North American corporate headquarters, at 9597 Gulf Research Lane, in Fort Myers. The three-story building, which will contain 60,000 square feet upon completion next year, is being constructed and directed by Seagate Development Group.
The $11 million project is expected to include a fitness center, basketball court, indoor and outdoor recreational space for staff.
Carter, a graduate of the University of Kentucky with a degree in economics, was honored last year as the 2019 SBDC Entrepreneur of the Year for the five-county region comprising Southwest Florida.
He has indicated he hopes Scotlynn USA will become a “world-class leader in freight transportation.”
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