Mr. James joins Lykes Bros. after a 30+ year career in public accounting serving large agricultural family businesses throughout the southeast. In addition to being a member of the Company's Board of Directors since June of 2018, Mr. James has extensive executive and board level leadership experience across many diverse industries. Mr. James knowledge and experience with developing and running high profit growth businesses will help the fifth-generation, family-owned Lykes Bros. to develop new strategies and ventures that become market leaders. James most recently served as the President of Resource Consulting Group, an integrated wealth management firm. Prior to that, James was the Chief Operating Officer of Oakley Transport Group in Lake Wales, FL, and the Eastern Region Leader for RSM McGladrey. He currently serves on the Board of Florida's Natural where he chairs the HR & Compensation Committee, the Florida Chamber Board where he is a member of the Policy Committee and chairs the Infrastructure Subcommittee, the Florida Land Council where he serves on the Executive Committees and Treasurer, and he is a resident member of the Florida Council of 100.
Mr. Carrere brings to the Board extensive knowledge and expertise in the areas of business, finance and capital markets. Mr. Carrere currently is the General Partner of Keenan Capital Ltd., a private investment partnership, and serves as President of Carrere Land Company LLC. Previously, he served as President/CEO of Southcoast Capital Corp., an investment banking firm. Prior to co-founding Southcoast, Mr. Carrere was an investment banker with several regional investment banking firms. In addition, Mr. Carrere also serves as a director of several private companies and non-profit organizations. Mr. Carrere received a B.A. degree from Washington & Lee University and a M.B.A. from Tulane University.
Carl joined Lykes Bros. Inc. in 1998 as the controller of the Lake Hamilton packing operation. Carl was named Chief Accounting Officer of Ag operation in 2001,.and promoted to Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of Lykes Bros. Inc. in December 2003 assuming accounting responsibility for all divisions. In March 2011 he was given responsibility for all finance and account activities for Lykes Bros. Inc. and Carl was named Chief Financial Officer for Lykes Bros. Inc. in September 2012.
Prior to joining Lykes Bros. Inc. Carl spent 10 years as the accounting and special projects manager for Publix Super Markets dairy manufacturing plants located in Lakeland, Deerfield Beach, and Atlanta. There he developed and implemented process improvement and incremental cost accounting systems, benchmarking reports, and monthly financial reporting.
Carl holds a bachelor's degree in Accounting from Florida Southern College and has been a licensed CPA in Florida since 1996. Carl is an Alumnus of the Wedgworth Leadership Institute for Agricultural and Natural Resources and serves as the Treasurer of the alumni association. Carl is also a member of the Florida Institute of CFOs, a member of the Hillsborough County Farm Bureau Board and sits on the Florida Tax Advisory committee for Farm Bureau as well as a Board member of Florida Tax Watch.
Mr. Collins joined Lykes in 1991 as an Agricultural Engineer after graduating from the University of Florida. As an entry level engineer, he had the opportunity to design and build multiple large scale agricultural projects from the ground up for Lykes. These projects include citrus grove irrigation systems, farm drainage systems, potable water facilities and fertilizer plants just to name a few. Mr. Collins is a licensed Professional Engineer and has been promoted through the ranks here at Lykes over the years serving as Engineering Manager and Vice President. He currently serves as Senior Vice President responsible for all agricultural operations in Florida and Texas. He has extensive land management experience and all the regulatory and operational challenges that come with managing over one half million acres of land in two states. In 2009 Mr. Collins was appointed to the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board where he served for four years, serving as Chairman the final two years. In 2013 Mr. Collins was presented with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Florida. He also serves on the Advisory Committee for the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department at UF. He is a proud Gator as is his wife, Lisa. They have three sons Ben, Eli, and Pate. Joe's office is located on the Lykes Ranch in Brighton, FL, and is often heard saying, "I have the best view out my office window of anyone in the company."
Cari is a veteran government affairs professional and land use and environmental lawyer who joined Lykes Bros. in January, 2020 after 16 years of advising and assisting the company from private law practice. Her role is to bring her broad knowledge of Florida government and the people in it to bear on Lykes' many activities which intersect with state and regional government.
For most of her 35+ year career, Cari worked in private law firms assisting both public and private sector clients in state level lobbying and navigating the complexities of state agency regulation. Her experience also includes four years in the public sector as General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of the Florida Department of Community Affairs in Tallahassee where she played a lead role in negotiating major growth management legislation and implementing many inter-agency efforts. She has also served on the State's Environmental Regulation Commission by Governor's appointment for 15 years.
Cari has been recognized by her peers for her work in the government relations and administrative areas of practice, including being named to the prestigious Legal Elite Hall of Fame by Florida Trend magazine. She also has an "AV Preeminent" lawyer rating by Martindale-Hubbell, as generated by surveys of both her peers and judges. She is a proud double 'Nole, receiving both her undergraduate and law degrees from Florida State University.
John joined Lykes Bros. Inc. in 1998 in the credit and collections department of the former Lykes Consumer Brands Division. Various roles of increasing responsibility within Accounting & Finance have provided broad experience in all facets of corporate finance and a tight integration with operations across a diverse portfolio of businesses. This experience led to a promotion to Vice President of Business Analysis in 2018. In this role, John strives to advance the organization through an understanding of key performance drivers, delivering results through sound financial strategy and execution. He has emphasized technology and the integration of data sets to consider business predictors, creating value-added business insights in support of corporate strategy.
John holds his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida (class of '95) and a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Florida (2001). He is an alumnus of Leadership Tampa (2010) and the Wedgworth Leadership Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources (2018). Additionally, John received a professional certification in real estate finance & development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2019).
Lykes Citrus Division 
Lykes Ranch Division
Silver Lake Preserve 
