BY DAN HILDEBRAN
When I interviewed Col. Brad Smith about his role as chair of the North Florida Regional Chamber of Commerce over the next year, I told him that it seemed odd that the chief deputy of the sheriff’s office was chairing a community’s primary business organization.
“Has anyone else asked you about that,” I said.
“Nobody’s actually said that to me,” Smith responded, “but you’re correct. I’ve had that thought since the day the sheriff asked me to get on the board.”
Smith added that his boss, Sheriff Gordon Smith, is not only the chief law enforcement officer in Bradford County but is also a community leader. He said the sheriff’s office has an interest in the Starke, Lake Butler and Keystone Heights areas prospering and growing.
Voluntold to join
The incoming chamber chair recalled that just before the COVID-19 Pandemic hit the U.S., he was in Tallahassee with the sheriff for the first Rural County Days event.
“And at the time, there was some changeover going on in the chamber,” he said. “Some of the people that were coming off the board had sat on it for many years, and they needed some extra people.”
Smith said that Chamber President Pam Whittle asked the sheriff to join the board during a reception the night before the Rural Days event.
“The sheriff was pretty much strung out himself,” Smith recalled. “He was very active in a lot of different groups and associations. And as luck would have it, I just happened to walk up, just to mingle, and next thing I know, I’m being voluntold by the sheriff: ‘Brad wants to do it,’ and I didn’t even know what he was saying.”
The colonel said that despite being drafted into duty, he was eager to get involved.
“I saw it as something different that’s not specifically law enforcement but strengthens the community, which strengthens everybody,” he said. “The old saying, a rising tide lifts all ships. Well, we need to be a part of all facets of the community.”
Smith added that even if the boss had not strongly urged him to join the board, he would have signed up anyway.
From COVID to growth
The Bradford County native, whose family moved to Miami when he was a year old, attended his first chamber board meeting on a conference call while he was recovering from COVID.
Smith said the chamber and the business community have made significant progress during his tenure on the board.
“During the COVID years, everybody was just holding on, trying not to lose ground on anything, which is exactly what the chamber board was trying to do,” he said. “We lost several businesses, but we were trying to maintain where we were.”
Now, with both the Gainesville and Jacksonville residential areas growing toward the Lake Region and new businesses such as Zaxby’s in Starke and Keystone Heights, Five Below, T.J. Maxx, Wawa in Lake Butler and Starke, Holiday Inn Express, Waffle House, G’s Barbecue, RaceTrac, roofing manufacturer IKO north of Lawtey, and Snappy’s Car Wash either now open or planned, Smith said the business community is excited about the future.
“I was in Clay County, today, as a matter of fact, and it’s stunning the growth that we’re seeing in Clay County now because Jacksonville has moved so aggressively in that direction,” he said. “So just being a part of a group that can help guide and direct how things and businesses are coming to our community is important.”
Heart in Bradford County
Smith said his family has strong ties in Bradford County. His grandfather’s family moved here in the early 1900s and acquired large timber tracts in the Sampson Lake area.
He said that even while growing up in South Florida, he always planned to return to the Starke area.
“I visited here during the summers and during breaks,” he recalled. “So, my heart has always been in Bradford County. I always wanted to live here.”
Before earning a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Florida State in 1989, Smith talked to Bradford County Sheriff Dolph Reddish and future sheriff Bob Milner about a law enforcement career in the county.
“Dolph Reddish was the one that told me that he couldn’t pay me what I was valued at,” Smith recalled. “Kind of broke my heart when he said that, but I deeply respected the man.”
Reddish recommended Smith look two counties south, in Ocala. Smith took the advice and worked at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office for the next 16 years.
He then worked in the private sector as a home inspector for a few years until the 2008 housing crisis stifled demand for home inspections.
While he was in the private sector, Starke’s Chief of Police visited the former deputy and told him he planned to run for Bradford County Sheriff soon.
“We had some discussions,” Brad Smith recalled of his talk with Gordon Smith. “Nothing was promised or anything, but he said this was the direction he was heading in.”
When the housing market crashed and home inspection demand evaporated, Smith called the chief and asked if there were any openings in the Starke PD. The answer was yes.
“I came up and worked as a public information officer for him for a year and a half while he ran for sheriff,” Smith said, “and as soon as he won, he offered me a job to come over here as the patrol commander.”
Eleven years later, in 2020, the sheriff promoted Smith to Colonel and Chief Deputy; in that job, he oversees law enforcement operations, corrections, and media relations.
Smith said that over his 16 years with the Bradford Sheriff’s Office, he had witnessed advances in the agency’s training, professionalism, and equipment.
“The equipment we have, including patrol cars, is top of the line,” he said. “It is every bit as good, if not better, than what we were working with in Marion County, and that agency now has a budget of $100 million. When I was there, it was over $40 million.
He added that the agency’s leadership continues to scour new offerings in technology and equipment that can give deputies on the road, correctional officers, and even civilian employees an edge.
Smith said getting the small details right, even the markings on patrol cars, sends a message of professionalism.
He noted that he revamped the Bradford patrol car markings soon after the boss was first elected. He soon noticed that patrol cars in Suwannee and Putnam counties were sporting the same look.
“They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” he remarked.
Smith credited his wife, daughter, and two stepdaughters for keeping him on track and humble.
“They’re the support behind the scenes,” he said. “Without their encouragement, without their correction, I might do something or say something that I didn’t realize I said, and they’re always there to catch me and keep me going in the right direction and give me the love and support that I need.”
Chamber plays a vital role
Smith said the chamber plays a critical role in bringing new employers to the area, adding that whenever businesses scout a potential new location, they typically make stops at the chamber of commerce, the law enforcement agency, and the school district.
“For instance,” he said, “I happened to walk into the chamber building to sign some checks just a couple of weeks ago, and the general manager of the Starke Wawa store, who lives over in Green Cove, she was there with her regional director, and I think there was somebody else that’s going to be working in the stores in a management capacity. The three of them were there coordinating with Pam on their ribbon cutting ceremony.”
The incoming chair said one of his priorities for the year is developing board leadership. He noted that DLP Bank President Harry Gunsallus, student Grace Johns, Bradford County Fair Manager Dale Woodruff, and Northeast Florida Economic Development Corporation Strategic Alliances Business Partner Amber Shepherd recently joined the governing board.
“I think Bradford County and the surrounding areas are in a great spot,” he said of the area’s outlook, adding that he is excited about the Starke City Commission’s vision of an upgraded downtown. “I believe that Bradford County still has that small-town feel but has opportunities to grow in a responsible manner that other communities did not. We can learn from other people’s mistakes and other communities’ mistakes and hopefully get it right.”
