Seafarers’ House has announced that Peggy Nordeen, CEO of Starmark International, Inc. has been selected as Seafarers’ House 2018 South Florida Business Leader of the Year.
Nordeen will be honored at the 23rd Annual South Florida Business Leaders’ Luncheon hosted by Holland America Line to benefit Seafarers’ House. The luncheon will take place Wednesday, Nov. 14 aboard the ms Zuiderdam docked at Port Everglades.
Honorees for the South Florida Business Leaders Award are selected by their peers. Acknowledged leadership, entrepreneurial background, philanthropic contributions to the communities where they live and work, as well as long-term contributions to the success, diversity and breadth of the South Florida business community, are all considerations for this award.
Having established Starmark in 1978 in Chicago, the company launched its South Florida headquarters in 1998 to be close to the ocean and great fishing and boating. Her business partner and husband, Dan Estes passed away in 2011, and the company has continued to grow under Nordeen’s leadership with partners Jacqui Hartnett, President; Brett Circe, Chief Digital Officer; and Dale Baron, Vice President/Creative Director. Starmark has a Central Florida Office in Orlando and clients in the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as throughout South Florida.
Nordeen is active in the Marine Research Hub and TechGateway.org economic development initiatives. She is past chair of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance and current vice chair of the Broward Workshop. She also is involved in a number of nonprofit organizations including A Child is Missing and Boys & Girls Clubs. She’s received numerous awards and recognitions.
Nordeen joins the ranks of distinguished previous honorees including Bob Swindell, President and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance; Bob Moss, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Moss & Associates; J. David Armstrong Jr., President, Broward College; Nicki Englander Grossman, Past President Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau; Denise Johnston, Resolve Maritime Academy/RESOLVE Marine Group, Inc.; Betty Ann Rogacki, International Warehouse Services, Inc.; Lynn Shatas, Florida Power & Light; Phil Allen, Past Port Director, Port Everglades; Cliff Berry, Sr. of Cliff Berry & Associates; William J. Burke, Paradise Bank; Joseph Farrell, Jr., RESOLVE Marine Group; Robert Toney of National Maritime Services; and Joseph J. “Joe” Rubano of RPM Diesel Engine Company and Diesel Services of America.
This year’s event chair is Alexandra Anagnostis-Irons, president and founder of Total Marine Solutions.