• After graduating from Manatee High School in Bradenton, Tris went to work for Tropicana Products in Bradenton. He started sweeping the floors at age 18 and then became an equipment operator. He was a member of the Teamsters union and served as a Steward before moving into a supervisory role. He worked his way up through the organization to various levels of increasing responsibility.  He was the first recipient of Tropicana’s annual award for management excellence, the “Big 5” award in 1989.  In 1990, he became the Director of Operations at Tropicana’s Fort Pierce plant where he worked for five years.
• At age 45, after 27 years at Tropicana he decided that he was ready for a new challenge and joined Florida’s newest citrus processing facility, Southern Gardens in Clewiston, the most efficient citrus processing facility in the world. Southern Gardens has received the Kroger Company’s highest award, “Outstanding Supplier” four times.  Southern Gardens buys oranges from about forty local citrus growers and processes the juice into 120 million gallons of not-from-concentrate orange juice each year for customers all over the United States

• Tris Chapman is a member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Citrus Processors Association where he currently serves as Treasurer. He is on the Board of Directors of Fiberstar Corporation and is Vice President of the Hendry/Glades Leadership organization. He is also Vice President of the Hendry/Glades Special Scholarship Fund. In 1999, Chapman was appointed to the Florida Citrus Commission by Governor Jeb Bush where he served two three-year terms.

 
Education

• Tris Chapman received his AA degree from Manatee Community College in 1972 and a BS degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences in 1980 from the University of South Florida. He returned to school and achieved a Master’s degree in Business Administration at USF in 1989.  Tris’ entire college career was based on a lot of hard work at night and on weekends while working full time. 

           


Community Involvement

• As a member of the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce in Fort Pierce, Florida, Tris Chapman championed a scholarship program for underprivileged children. He also introduced, through the Chamber, funding to give access for other businesses to utilize Tropicana’s drug free workplace program in St. Lucie County. Chapman worked as a loaned executive for the United Way, helped sponsor and build a community playground, was a popular speaker at Career Day, and a judge for the Tropicana speech program. He organized the Employee Community Help Organization and participated in many volunteer efforts as part of this group.
• Tris Chapman continued his support of the United Way in Hendry County by originating the payroll deduction drive at Southern Gardens which resulted in being named the best new contributor. He is an advocate for the Relay for Life in Hendry County and Southern Gardens has won a number of awards for their passionate participation. He also helped organize the Economic Development Council’s Hendry/Glades Leadership Program for which he now serves as Vice President.
• Southern Gardens was honored as one of twelve original members of the Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame at Harvard Business School in 1998.

• Chapman was named “Executive on Campus” for Florida Gulf Coast University’s Executive MBA Program in 2001 and taught a number of classes on how to implement a Balance Scorecard Program for the student executives at FGCU.

           


 Move to LaBelle

• Tris and his wife Donna appreciate the small town atmosphere in LaBelle with its friendly people, canopy oak trees and the Caloosahatchee River. Their first year in Hendry County they witnessed the state championship run by the great LaBelle High School football team of the Class of 1995.
• Donna, a farmer’s daughter who grew up on a soy bean farm in Temperance, Michigan, embraced her new home and community immediately.  Kyle and Lindsay were in elementary school when the family moved from the coast to LaBelle. Kyle won a prize their first year at the Swamp Cabbage Festival for climbing up the greased pole faster than anybody. They found a great home on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River and have been in love with our community ever since.

Sunset over the Caloosahatchee River

• As Tris approaches the end of his career in the citrus industry, for which he has been so blessed, he hopes to have the opportunity to serve the people of Hendry County and make a positive contribution to their future.