LOCKE BURT
PRESIDENT, SECURITY FIRST INSURANCE, ORMOND BEACH
Burt started his career as a loan officer in a commercial bank in Chicago. He obtained a law degree at night, entered the reinsurance business in 1974, sold part of a reinsurance operation in 1990 and served as a Florida state senator for 12 years. After the storms of 2004 and 2005, he decided to start Security First Insurance, an underwriting manager for property reinsurance risks for Swiss Re, Markel and others. The company — the largest employer in Ormond Beach — began with 14,000 customers and five employees and has grown to employ 435 people serving 300,000 customers.
| EDUCATION | Northwestern University (BS, MBA), Loyola (JD) |
| CIVIC CONTRIBUTION | Purchasing backpacks for underprivileged, low-income children in our county schools. We also support Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and many other charities in Volusia and Flagler counties. |
| SOMETHING SURPRISING | My wife and I were fixed up on a blind date by both her parents and mine when she was 17 and I was 19, and we have now been married 49 years. |
| FLORIDA ISSUE | Protecting our infrastructure and homes from rising waters |