by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
How scared was Jody Beere?
“On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the scardiest?” she said.
“Ten and a half.”
The day before, she learned that she would sit down with the President of the United States in front of national television cameras and 200 or so local business leaders and talk about her boss and his San Marco company, Office Environments and Services, Inc.
“I usually sleep great,” she said. “I got four and a half hours. Tops.”
About 11 a.m. Thursday, it was all over.
“It was fun,” she said after President George W. Bush left the East Park building where Beere, OES president Zimmerman Boulos, and fellow workers Joey Gonzalez and James Thomas participated in a panel discussion with the president serving as master of ceremonies.
The White House wanted to highlight the president’s proposals to give small business a tax break and needed local small business people to testify. A list of candidates was compiled, and three companies were chosen.
“About two weeks ago, we found out that we were under consideration,” said Boulos. “People from the governor’s office visited four, five times. They looked over everything and talked to everyone. They wanted to see what a tax break really would do for us, and how convinced we were that it would help.”
Originally, the panel was going to be held at the OES office on San Marco Boulevard, but there were too many reasons working against it.
“They would have had to close down San Marco,” said Boulos, “plus worry about the bridges. He was in Mayport and that’s a long way to bring him. It would have created huge problems.”
The governor’s office also was talking to printer Joe Dagher — the Chamber’s Small Business Person of the Year — and found that he’s building a new plant in East Park, just off Beach Boulevard across from Florida Community College at Jacksonville’s South Campus. It was closer to Mayport, was easily accessible and had plenty of space — Dagher won’t move until later this year. So the forum was placed there.
The OES staff sold themselves and the four, along with janitorial supply owner Sue Butts and Dagher, were on the panel. The president sat in the middle along with the local workers, Gov. Jeb Bush and Small Business Administration administrator Hector Barreto.
The panelists arrived by 8:30 a.m. and waited with their families. Everyone had to go through security, then milled around drinking lukewarm coffee and shivering in the big, concrete-walled room.
About 10 a.m., the word came that Air Force One had landed and the president’s motorcade had left, and the panelists were moved into a back room.
“There was so much tension,” said Gonzalez. “Then, Mr. Bush walked in. It seemed that every bit of tension left. He was happy when he walked in and, all of a sudden, everyone else was happy.
“He went around and talked to each of us. He’s a regular guy.
“When we walked out on the stage, it was like . . . nothing to worry about. Just like it was us talking to a regular guy.”
The half-hour panel discussion was a straightforward pitch for Bush’s plan and the six from Jacksonville were impressive, detailing what benefits the plan would have for their companies.
For Boulos, Butts and Dagher, it meant the ability to buy more sophisticated equipment which, in turn, would increase business.
The OES employees had a consumer’s angle: because their company has a generous profit sharing plan, that would mean more money for them: Beere wants a new kitchen in her recently-purchased home, Taylor and Gonzalez want more savings for their children’s education.
Boulos also had a personal wish list: “After seeing the cars in your motorcade, Mr. President, I might take a little bit to upgrade my vehicle.”
When it ended, the four made sure the president met their families, then stood on the stage and watched as Bush worked the crowd, slowly pacing the barricade that separated the stage area from the audience.
“This really turned out to be a wonderful thing to do,” said Boulos. “We were very tense this morning. It was a challenge to get ready to do this. I can’t tell you how tense it was in that room, waiting for the President of the United States to come in.
“All that waiting and it took about 10 seconds before we all were at ease.”