Ferman to Receive Ethics Award from UT Center for Ethics Oct. 17

James L. Ferman Jr., CEO and president of Ferman Motor Car Co., will receive the Tampa Bay Ethics Award from The University of Tampa Center for Ethics at a breakfast and ceremony on Friday, Oct. 17. The event begins at 7:30 a.m. in the Vaughn Center Crescent Club on the UT campus, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd.

Ferman Motor Car Co. and its 15 affiliated dealerships are headquartered in Tampa. The company, founded in 1895 by Ferman’s grandfather, W. Frederick Ferman, is ranked as one of the largest dealership groups in Florida and the U.S.

In addition to serving as vice chair of the UT Board of Trustees, Ferman’s civic and community involvement includes chairman of the Bank of Tampa and a director of TECO Energy Inc. Amongst his past service he served as chairman and campaign chairman of the United Way of Hillsborough County and director of the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay.

Ferman has received numerous civic and business awards throughout his career, including the Tampa Citizen of the Year Award from both the Civitan Club and the Rotary Club, the Florida Family Business of the Year Award from UT’s Sykes College of Business, the Distinguished Citizen Award by the Gulf Ridge Council Boy Scouts of America, and the H.L. Culbreath Profile in Leadership Award from the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

This is the 24th annual Business Ethics Breakfast put on by the Center for Ethics at UT. The center conducts many programs throughout the year that combine education and business services, and is supported by an advisory board of business and community leaders.

Former winners of the ethics award include former Florida governor Bob Martinez ’57, Freddie Solomon ’75 and John Sykes. Nominees for the award must live and work in the Tampa Bay area, and must demonstrate high ethical character in the course of their everyday lives. They must also promote and encourage ethics and integrity in the workplace or other organizations, and they must exhibit respect, trustworthiness and fairness.

Individual tickets are $25, a table of eight is $150 and a corporate sponsor table is $750. For more information or reservations, go to www.ut.edu/TampaBayEthicsAward or call (813) 257-3252.