Wiest, chief financial officer for Lee Memorial Health System, has spent more than 15 years in health-care administration with such organizations as NCH Health Care System, Humana Hospital-Biscayne and Lower Florida Healthcare System, and previously was managing consultant for Pricewaterhouse Coopers in the health-care regulatory group. He holds a master's degree in business administration from Florida Gulf Coast University and a bachelor's in accounting and business from Frostburg State University in Maryland. Wiest discussed the chamber and Lee Memorial's trauma crisis with Gulfshore Business.

Gulfshore Business: Why did you get involved in The Chamber of Southwest Florida?

John Wiest: It's important that we participate within our local communities. The chamber is one organization that deals with different issues that impact business. Lee Memorial Hospital is one of the largest businesses in the community. I have an interest from the hospital's point of view, but also I have a personal interest.

GB: What do you want to accomplish as chairman?

JW: I want to continue to help figure out the identity of the chamber. We need to decide who we are and then explore that question. I hope to maintain the current member list and to continue to build that base. My predecessors have done a fantastic job and the chamber has a terrific staff.

GB: What regional issues should the chamber be involved in?

JW: Any pressing issue that comes up is worth looking into. For example, this past year we looked into the transportation tax. We also held interviews with candidates running for local and state office.

GB: What's the current state of the trauma center?

JW: At this point, we have a two-pronged attack. The first is a short-term fix. We are trying different things to come up with short-term funding. During the Florida legislative session [which ended after press time], we were trying to find a solution. We had a failed attempt with the Upper Payment Limit program [a Medicaid grant vehicle with the federal government that would have given $1.5 million to Lee Memorial but met resistance from county commissioners]. We tried to go through the county to leverage some of their funds, but that didn't work. We are still pursuing other avenues through the Upper Payment program, but not through the county. If we identify funding, it will be through the state or by trying to get modification to the state plan in cooperation with the federal government. We are trying to define what public funds are available and how we can access them.

The second part of the plan is to secure long-term funding. We have formed a community task force to address this issue. I am anxious to hear what recommendations they have to secure those sources of funding.

Subs and Success

Perservance. That's the message Peter DeCarlo, co-founder of Blimpie, will bring to entrepreneurs during the Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Awards Luncheon on June 6.

The chamber's small business week, which offers dozens of workshops and events, culminates in the luncheon, which will honor its Small Business of the Year. Past recipients include Royal Scoop Ice Cream and Congress Jewelers.

DeCarlo and high-school pals Anthony Conza and Angelo Baldassare founded Blimpie in 1964 after careers in the banking, finance and the garment industries. Since they opened their first shop in Hoboken, N.J., with $2,500 they borrowed from one of DeCarlo's friends, the company has grown to 2,000 franchised outlets across the United States and in 15 countries. DeCarlo has the rights to the mid-Atlantic stores.

"It's obviously very difficult to leave the structured environment of a company and go work for yourself," DeCarlo says. "It's filled with obstacles and failures on occasion and certainly a lot of problems."

When DeCarlo meets with potential franchisees, he can sense their anxieties. "I'm sensitive to their fears. All I tell them is, 'Look, you have the benefit of a history of a system that works. You've got to make sure that you're committed to the prospect of working to execute it,'" he says.

But the benefits are tremendous, DeCarlo adds. "There really is no better lifestyle than when you're functioning on your own, making your own livelihood," he says.

Blimpie franchises come in a couple of forms: traditional storefronts and non-traditional sites in hospitals, military bases, universities and convenience stores. Some of the mature markets, DeCarlo says, are states such as New York and Georgia, where the company is now based (only Conza remains involved in the ownership) as well as the Midwest. "We haven't reached saturation level," DeCarlo says. "The sub sandwich still has a good bit of growth."