Hall of Fame Event Honors Regional Business Leaders

On Tuesday night, October 11, 2022, Nova Southeastern University’s H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship held hits 33rd annual Entrepreneur and Business Hall of Fame event to celebrate the accomplishments of three exceptional leaders: Joe McDonnell, CEO/chairman of Great Innovations LLC; Mario Murgado, president & CEO of Murgado Automotive Group; and William M. Murphy, president of Douglas Management & Realty, Inc.

This year, the event returned to the Rick Case Arena on NSU’s campus for an induction dinner event, co-chaired by past Hall of Fame inductees James Donnelly, founder and CEO of The Castle Group; Keith Koenig, co-founder and CEO of City Furniture; and Alan Levan, chairman of BBX Capital.

For years, Joe McDonnell’s product inventions have not only saved thousands of Americans lives, they have also made many Americans literally – and figuratively – breathe easier. They also have helped many shop safer, and made homes shine and look new again. The founder of Great Innovations, iShopSecure, and For Life Products, this entrepreneur has spent his life creating products, and building brands including carbon monoxide detectors, an online identity authentication platform, and most recently manufacturing and marketing humidifiers, fans, and air purifiers in addition to many other consumer products. McDonnell has taken his many inventions to TV shopping networks, where he began promoting his Rejuvenate® cleaning and restoration product line which he launched in 1999 and remains very popular today at all the major home centers and hardware stores throughout the world.

Mario Murgado embodies the American Dream, arriving in the U.S. just short of his 4th birthday in 1966, during the Cuban freedom flights. Raised in Chicago with Midwest values that have served him throughout his life, in 1978 his family moved to Miami where his passion and love of cars guided him to work at Braman Imports. There more than 20 years, Murgado worked his way up from salesman to president and CEO, before starting his own dealership. Today with 41 years’ experience in automotive retailing, Murgado serves as owner, president and CEO of Murgado Automotive Group, one of the most successful auto-dealership groups in South Florida. Murgado generates over $1.2 billion in annual revenues and employs over 730 people in Florida, Illinois, and New Jersey, representing brands including Alfa Romeo, Audi, Bentley, Buick, Cadillac, Ferrari, GMC, Honda, Infiniti, Maserati, Mazda and Volkswagen.

William M. Murphy built his career in the building industry. A licensed real estate broker in Florida and New York, Murphy is president of Douglas Management & Realty, Inc., a full-service real estate investment company he founded in 1990. Throughout his career in South Florida, Murphy has owned, operated and/or developed in excess of 3 million square feet of office, retail and industrial property, as well as 7,500 multifamily units. His investment and development projects in Fort Lauderdale include the Capital Bank Center, a 200,000 square foot office project; the 550 Building, a 100,000 square foot office project; Executive Court at Jacaranda and Executive Court at Cypress Creek, 90,000 and 60,000 square foot office projects respectively, among other signature South Florida developments.

The event featured a special presentation from past Hall of Fame inductee Armando Codina, executive chairman of Codina Partners, as well as a tribute to H. Wayne Huizenga. NSU President and CEO George L. Hanbury II and Dean Andrew Rosman also spoke at the event. Presenting sponsors for the 2022 Entrepreneur and Business Hall of Fame Induction were Great Innovations, LLC, and The Bergeron Family of Companies.

Posted 10/13/22