April 20, 2023 - As the calendar moves closer to May 4th local business owners Dave and Diane Crowthers are filled with anticipation! Exactly two weeks from tonight, the newly minted Chamber members will experience their first Military Appreciation event. Their payroll and human capital management company joined the Chamber in August and this event holds extra special meaning to them.
Prior to starting L2, David’s 20-year career at Home Depot gave him the opportunity to work on countless Team Depot military appreciation campaigns here in Tampa Bay. Wife Diane was in the U.S. Navy and comes from a long line of military veterans. “I’d say my love for the military has grown during my adult career. For Diane, it’s in her DNA. She was born and raised with love for the military,” explains Dave, who is L2’s CEO. Wife Diane is the CFO.
The Crowthers aren’t passively waiting for the May 4 Chamber event with active-duty service members to show their appreciation. The night before the big Nourish the Service event at MacDill Air Force Base, the couple helped save the day! Some 400 families of active-duty service members would be there in less than 24 hours for the event organized by Blue Star Families’ Tampa Chapter.
“During our conversation, we found out they only had a couple of carts, ‘buggies’ and things from in and around the base for the service members to use during the event,” recalled Dave. Standing next to him, Diane’s response was instinctual. She turned to Dave and said “You know people. You have resources. Use them!” That’s exactly what Dave did. Reaching out to his former colleagues at Home Depot, Dave convinced the store location nearest the base to help too. The local Home Depot provided shopping carts and even the rental truck to get all the carts over to MacDill!
“Within the hour, we had a yes! Suzy’s husband went up there, got the van. The assistant manager of the store helped load the shopping carts onto the truck,” said Dave, referring to the husband of Suzy Malloy, the Tampa Chapter Director of Blue Star Families. “It was a feel-good moment for us to be able to help. Then to see the impact it made on the other end was great,” said Dave.
A great impact indeed! When families finally arrived at hangar 4 there were close to $250,000 in food and children’s items waiting for them! The food included fresh produce and fresh fruit, turkeys and snacks, as well as air purifiers, Disney books, and toys. Another Chamber Member, Simon Bollin, had secured 400 pounds of fresh strawberries and 400 gallons of milk from local farmers. Bollin is a longtime member of the Chamber’s Military Advisory Committee and serves as the Agribusiness Development Manager at Hillsborough County Extension Services.
“Due to the generosity of the local community, there was a plethora of items, but not enough carts to help families get the items to their vehicles,” explained Malloy. “It was the generosity of chamber members, like the Crowthers and Bollin, that made the experience so special for families, start to finish.”
When it was all said and done on March 24th and Malloy reported back to the Chamber’s Outreach Committee volunteers she wrote – in all capital letters – “BRAVO ZULU! That’s Navy lingo for a job well done!” It’s fuel for Chamber members passionate about community service.
“Joining the Tampa Bay Chamber and the Ybor City Chamber has opened our eyes to more of the business community’s needs as well as the needs of the community at large,” said Dave, who is part of the Chamber’s Community Outreach Committee and Workforce Development Committee.
In business in the Tampa Bay region for 12 years, L2 specializes in payroll, benefit management, human resources, workers’ comp, 401k solutions and more for local companies. It prides itself on customer service.
“When we become the vendor, we engage with that business like we’re part of that company. We become the back office, so they can do what they do best,” explained Dave. “We’ve found a way to create customized solutions to let a CFO, CEO and anyone with all those titles run their company. They don’t have to worry about the back-office solutions. We take the burden of payroll, HR, 401K – all those things that can bog down an owner or an operator, so they can focus on the front office and grow their business.”
On May 4th, the Crowthers plan to show their appreciation for the military again – excited to speak to service members attending the Chamber’s Military Appreciation event at The Florida Aquarium. “Those service members and the families that support them are the ones that provide the freedoms we enjoy, so being able to thank them, let them know they’re appreciated, and that we’re here to help if they need anything are all things I want to tell them.”