Tampa Bay Ethics Award Breakfast to be Held at UT Oct. 18

A.D. “Sandy” MacKinnon, founder and CEO of MacKinnon Equipment and Services (previously called Yale Lift Trucks of Florida and Georgia), will receive the Tampa Bay Ethics Award at a breakfast and ceremony on Friday, Oct. 18, from 7:30 to 9 a.m. in the Vaughn Center Crescent Club on The University of Tampa campus. The award is presented by UT’s Center for Ethics.

MacKinnon has spent his entire career working for Yale. In 1982, he purchased the Tampa and Orlando franchise, expanding it to include dealerships in Jacksonville, FL; Tifton, GA; and Ft. Myers, FL. He has chaired a number of community organizations, including the Florida State Fair Authority, Tampa Bay & Co., Brandon Community Hospital, the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and many others.

MacKinnon has received numerous civic and business awards throughout his career, including the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year, the Alice B. Thompkins Annual Award for Exceptional Service to the Community, the Key Citizen Award recognizing outstanding dedication and service to the community and the Tampa Bay Civitan Club 2010 Citizen of the Year. He was also recognized by the Florida House of Representative for contributions to community service.

This is the 23rd 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 Gov. 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.

The price to attend the Tampa Bay Ethics Awards is $25 per person or $150 per table of eight. For information or reservations, go to www.ut.edu/TampaBayEthicsAward or call (813) 257-3782.