Michele Guest has been director of business development for Consul-Tech Enterprises, Inc. for three years.
WHAT DOES SHE DO?
“I go out and secure new work for the company, try to open new markets and identify new potential clients. I work in both the public and private sector, so I look for teaming opportunities where we can team with other firms to pursue work together.”
WHAT IS CONSUL-TECH ENTERPRISES?
Consul-Tech Enterprises, Inc. is the parent company. They own Consul-Tech Surveying & Mapping, Inc., Consul-Tech Development Services, Inc. Consul-Tech Transportation Inc., Consul-Tech Management Services, Inc. and Consul-Tech Engineering, Inc. Guest represents all those companies statewide. The firm operating in Jacksonville is Consul-Tech Engineering, Inc. and offers civil engineering, survey and environmental services. “Our private sector land development group does civil engineering and surveying for private sector. We do multi-family projects, high-end resort work, retail and large multi-use projects where there is a combination of residential and commercial.”
RESIDES
Orlando, but she travels to Jacksonville to work at least two days a week.
BEFORE
CONSUL-TECH?
She did business development for another civil engineering firm, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, which is headquartered in Boston. “My first opportunity to do business development was in the legal community. I was managing one of the largest law firms in Orlando and another law firm approached me to do marketing and business development. We represented major manufacturing companies and we did product liability defense. A lot of the business development, we’d call ‘sleuth marketing’ because it was background research. We would research trends in law suits and then try to figure out how to approach those manufacturers. I was then approached by an architectural firm to do business development and I thought that was a little more pro-active, so I decided to try that.”
HOW HAS HER PAST EXPERIENCE HELPED HER TODAY?
“I have really combined a lot of the skills I learned at the law firm doing the background research about how to develop relationships and how to identify potential projects or clients and then factor that into a little different form of marketing which is more pro-active in the design industry, so it’s been really interesting.”
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOUR JOB?
“The variety and meeting new people is really interesting.”
AREA SHE WORKS
“I’m everywhere. Most of my travels are from Jacksonville and Orlando to Bonita Springs, Ft. Myers and West Palm Beach.”
WHAT KIND OF PROJECTS IS THE COMPANY WORKING ON HERE?
Multi-family, retail and a lot with the Better Jacksonville Plan. “We are working on the baseball stadium, the arena and the new library. We are hoping to develop more multi-family projects.”
BIRTHPLACE
West Point, N.Y., but she was an Army brat and moved every three years.
FAMILY
She has been married to Jim for 27 years. They have two children, Erin, 23. and Katie, 21.
ASSOCIATIONS
She belongs to CREW and American Society of Highway Engineers and attends Society for Marketing Professional Services and National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.
CREW INVOLVEMENT?
Guest is a board member and the chair of membership for CREW. Her goal at this time is retention of membership. “The challenge this year is to continue to grow and to make sure we are meeting the expectations of our members. We are doing surveys and working closely with the program committee to make sure that people are getting out of it what they expect to.”
NETWORKING WITH CREW?
“Right now I am working with a multi-family developer in Orlando who is looking for sites in Jacksonville, so I am working with CREW brokers to help find property for him.” She has also worked with architects that are members of CREW on several different projects.
WHAT DOES SHE LIKE TO DO WHEN NOT WORKING?
She works with a youth group, International Order of the Rainbow for Girls. “Most of my free time is spent with teenage girls. Officially, we are supposed to meet twice a month, but we have activities almost every weekend.” Outside of that, she just tries to spend time with her husband.
FAVORITES
Her favorite author is Sandra Brown. “I like all of her books.” When dining out in Jacksonville, she enjoys bb’s. She doesn’t have a favorite movie, but she enjoys romantic comedies. When watching television, she enjoys “CSI.” Because she spent most of her youth in Europe, that is her favorite place to visit.
— by Michele Newbern Gillis