In celebration of the annual Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week in the Tampa Bay Area, the MED Committee presented its 2010 Minority Business Advocacy Award to Thomas Huggins III, President of Ariel Business Group (ABG). He was recognized for his ongoing support and contributions to minority and small business development in the Tampa Bay area.

Project: Baggage Claim East Expansion and Bag Device Replacement
Design/Build Firm: Mathews Division of Hardin Construction.

Thomas Huggins gets high marks from everyone with whom the Maddux Business Report spoke. Huggins, 45, is a past chairman of the Tampa Urban League and current chairman of the Hillsborough Community College Board of Directors, having been appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush in 1999. Very active in Republican politics, Huggins moved to Tampa more than two decades ago from Charleston.

"He's just a real easygoing guy," says Mary Hall, legal affairs director for the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority, another Ariel client. "And he's got a good team. In all this time, I've never seen him not have a suggestion or a solution."