by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Attorney Marty Fiorentino is hoping the number 13 proves lucky for him.
For the last two and a half years, Fiorentino offered his legal expertise for Holland & Knight, the worldwide law firm with local offices on the 40th floor of the Bank of America tower.
Today, Fiorentino is the president of Fiorentino & Associates, a three-person government affairs and business firm on the 27th floor of the Bank of America tower, 13 floors below his old haunt.
“I’ve got the same view I had before,” said Fiorentino, who is also a member of the Jacksonville Port Authority board.
A Florida native, Fiorentino graduated from Bolles, did his undergraduate work at the University of Florida and completed his law degree at Mercer University in Macon, Ga. From 1995-99, Fiorentino was vice president of government affairs and corporate communications and public affairs for CSX.
In leaving Holland & Knight and the professional safety net that such a firm provides to venture out on his own, Fiorentino is simply fulfilling a professional goal.
“I’ve always wanted to form my own business and be an entrepreneur,” said Fiorentino. “I decided it was a good time to do that.”
While he’ll have an office in Jacksonville, it will probably be easier to reach Fiorentino on his cell phone. As his own boss, Fiorentino will spend much of his time each year in Tallahassee, lobbying legislators on behalf of clients. Through his work at CSX and Holland & Knight, Fiorentino gained the experience necessary to become an authority on the intricacies of dealing with local and state governments and individual politicians.
Holland & Knight and CSX also prepared Fiorentino to be the check-writer and an effective manager.
“Being in huge corporations was a great opportunity to be involved with great management teams and businesses that like to appeal to everything from community affairs to strategic planning to political marketing,” said Fiorentino, who has hired an assistant to handle the office and Shannon Hewett, another former Holland & Knight attorney, as vice president.
Like Fiorentino, Hewett comes well-armed. In addition to her time with Holland & Knight, Hewett was the Northeast Florida regional director for former U.S. senator Connie Mack as well as an aide to City Council member Jim Overton while he was Council president from 1997-98.
Although there are plans to eventually expand the local office and establish himself in other Florida cities, Fiorentino will first concentrate on making the Jacksonville office a success. In creating Fiorentino & Associates, Fiorentino has recognized that doing business today, no matter what size, is not as simple as pulling permits, building a shop and putting up a sign. Realizing that who you know is easily as key as what you know, Fiorentino & Associates will capitalize on years of experience in which key contacts were made and still exist.
“Today’s business environment requires an integrated approach to government relations,” said Fiorentino. “We provide lobbying services for businesses and services to market their products and services through key contacts. We will do a lot of work in Tallahassee and in Jacksonville.
“They [clients] may have legislation they would like to see influenced, introduced or killed. We will establish allies to support our clients’ policies and beliefs.”