Jan E. Smith
1940 – 2026
Bradenton, Florida, from 1964. Businessman, chamber leader, and for four decades a volunteer steward of the schools and colleges of the Florida Gulf Coast. Educe continues his work.
Jan Smith arrived in Bradenton in 1964, when Manatee County was still an agricultural town about to become something else. He built a commercial real estate and investment firm, Jan Smith and Company, and spent the rest of his life putting his time into the institutions around it: the chamber of commerce at the local, state, and national level; the colleges and universities his neighbors' children would attend; and the boards where his judgment on money and risk was trusted.
The through-line was education. He chaired the board of trustees at Manatee Community College, chaired the campus board at USF Sarasota-Manatee, sat on the University of South Florida Board of Trustees by gubernatorial appointment, and in 2005 chaired the Florida Education Foundation, the direct-support organization for the Florida Department of Education. He believed, and said plainly, that education brings opportunity to anyone willing to pursue learning, and that the job of the people around a school is to keep it focused on educating.
On his appointment to the USF board he said he hoped to be "a strong advocate for the Sarasota-Manatee campus." The Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame, which inducted him, called him a civic champion. His son calls him the reason this company exists.
Education leadership
| Institution | Role |
|---|---|
| Florida Education Foundation | Chairman, 2005 |
| University of South Florida | Board of Trustees, 2005 to 2011; Academies and Campus Environment Committee; Health Sciences and Advanced Computing Committee |
| USF Sarasota-Manatee | Chairman, Campus Board |
| Manatee Community College (now State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota) | Chairman, Board of Trustees |
| State of Florida | Member, Education Governance Reorganization Transition Task Force |
Chamber of commerce and small business
| Organization | Role |
|---|---|
| United States Chamber of Commerce | Board of Directors; Public Affairs Committee; National Chamber Litigation Center |
| U.S. Small Business Administration | National Advisory Council; Graduate of the Year, 1991 |
| White House Conference on Small Business | Delegate |
| Florida Chamber of Commerce | Board of Governors; Board of Directors, Florida Chamber of Commerce Management, Inc. |
| Florida Council of 100 | Member |
| Manatee County Chamber of Commerce | Chairman of the Board, 1982; Gold Investor; Membership Development and Services Division |
| Better Business Council, Manatee Chamber | President |
Corporate and financial boards
| Organization | Role |
|---|---|
| Brown & Brown, Inc. | Director, 1997 to 2009; Chairman, Audit Committee |
| SunTrust Bank / Gulf Coast | Board of Directors |
| GTE of Florida, Inc. | Board of Directors |
| Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta | Advisory Council |
| National Flood Insurance Program | Federal Advisory Committee |
Business
| Entity | Role |
|---|---|
| Jan Smith and Company | President; founded 1978 |
| PMG Real Estate Investors, LLP | Managing Partner |
| Sandpile, LLC | Manager |
| Ramblers Rest Resort, Ltd. | Managing General Partner |
Community
| Organization | Role |
|---|---|
| Kiwanis Club of Bradenton | Member from 1964 |
| Legal Aid of Manasota | Past President |
| American Red Cross, Manatee County Chapter | Board Member |
| Manatee County Coalition on Homelessness | Board Member |
| Monroe County Airport Advisory Committee | Chairman |
| Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame | Inductee |