2026 Business Awards Breakfast

Description

Join us for our 2026 Annual Business Awards Breakfast! 

Each year we are pleased to recognize businesses and individuals who consistently demonstrate unwavering commitment to their companies and professional goals, as well as their employees and their local communities.

We will recognize the finalists and announce the winner for: 

Hospitality & Tourism Organization of the Year 

Health and Human Services of the Year

Non-Profit of the Year 

Young Professional of the Year 

Small Businessperson of the Year 

Business of the Year

We will also present the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award during this program to Mr. Jeffrey A. Stoops. 


Jeff is the Chairman of the Board of SBA Communications Corporation, a position he assumed on January 1, 2024 after serving as the CEO for 22 years. He joined the company in March 1997, initially as General Counsel but with the primary focus of moving SBA into the business of tower ownership. Mr. Stoops served as Chief Financial Officer from December 1998 to April 2000, including during SBA’s initial public offering in June 1999. He has been a member of SBA’s Board of Directors since August 1999. Prior to joining SBA, Mr. Stoops was a partner with Gunster, a Florida-based law firm, where he practiced for thirteen years in the corporate, securities and mergers & acquisitions areas.
SBA owns and operates over 46,000 wireless communications sites in 13 countries around the globe. SBA employs over 1,800 people and in 2025 generated $2.8 billion of revenue. SBA is one of Florida’s largest public companies by market capitalization and a member of the S&P 500. During Mr. Stoops 22-year tenure as CEO, SBA produced compound annualized shareholder returns of 16% and enterprise value growth of 22%. In recognition of SBA’s success, Mr. Stoops has accepted a number of awards, including Florida Atlantic University’s Business Leader of the Year, the Sun-Sentinel’s Excalibur Award and the South Florida Business Journal’s CEO of the Year Award.

Mr. Stoops is the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, West Palm Beach, Florida. He is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors (and current Board member) of The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, West Palm Beach, Florida; a past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of St. Andrew’s School, Boca Raton, Florida, and has served on a number of other boards and advisory councils of non-profit organizations over the years. He is a current member of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County.

Jeff received his Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctor degrees from Florida State University. At FSU, Jeff met Aggie, now his wife of over 40 years. They have four children – Lauren, Andrew and twins Tim and Dan, and nine grandchildren. Jeff and Aggie have lived in Palm Beach County, FL continuously since 1984.

In 2013, to better organize their charitable activities and get their four children involved, Jeff and Aggie formed the Stoops Family Foundation. Through the Foundation, Jeff, Aggie and now their four children support a variety of causes, including the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties; Els for Autism Foundation; The Lord’s Place; Feed the Hungry Pantry; Cros Ministries; Project Lift; Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies; Farmworker’s Coordinating Council; Palm Beach County Food Bank; Place of Hope; HomeSafe; Quantum House; Boca Raton Regional Hospital; the Hanley Foundation; the Kravis Center; Boca Helping Hands; Florida Atlantic University and a number of endeavors at Florida State University, including the Agnes F. Stoops Professorship and the Stoops Center Communities, Families and Children at the College of Social Work, the Jeffrey A. Stoops Professorship, Stoops Scholarships and Stoops Center for Law and Business at the College of Law, and the Seminole Boosters. Since it was formed, the Stoops Family Foundation has granted approximately $20 million to non-profit organizations, mostly to address needs in Palm Beach County.

In recognition of his business and philanthropic achievements, Mr. Stoops was named in each of 2018 - 2023 to the Florida 500, Florida Trend’s annual list of Florida’s 500 most influential businesspeople.