Pat Magruder finished second in the race for honorary mayor, but won the top award as Minority & Woman-Owned Business of the Year.
By JAY CRIDLIN
Published October 10, 2003
Pat Magruder came up short in her bid to become Brandon's honorary mayor. But she has laid claim to another local prize.
Magruder, owner of Magruder Nationwide Insurance in Brandon, received the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce's Minority & Woman-Owned Business of the Year award in a ceremony Oct. 2 at Crosstown Community Church.
"I'm thrilled to death that I won," she said. "I can't tell you what a great honor this is."
Magruder, 57, has been a Nationwide agent since 1989, and opened her own insurance firm in Brandon in 1992.
She says the fact that she's a female business owner has benefitted her career.
"It's been more of a positive for me," she said. "It's amazing how many people would rather deal with a woman. But then on the other hand, there's a lot of people that don't think women are up to speed and competent enough."
Magruder finished second in this year's race for honorary mayor of Brandon, raising nearly $19,000 for the Brandon Outreach Clinic, the Hillsborough Education Foundation and several YMCA outreach programs. She was part of the largest fundraising effort in the race's 40-plus-year history.
She is a board member of the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Seffner Area Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Brandon YMCA and the Leadership Brandon Alumni Association.
The other finalists for the award were Kathleen "Taffy" Coleman, owner and manager of Bloomingdale Travel; and Dahlia Fernandez, owner of La Septima Cafe.
"There were three really great finalists," Magruder said. "To be chosen out of those three, I feel really honored."
Judging the contest were members of the Service Corps of Retired Executives Association, a group of local business men and women.
This year's award was the first in what will be an annual presentation. Last year, the chamber presented Michael Gomez of Express Personnel Inc. with its Minority of the Year award.
Magruder and Fernandez also are nominated, in separate categories, for the chamber's Small Business of the Year awards, to be announced Thursday.
