The Wharton Club of South Florida has named Beverly Raphael, president and chief executive officer of South Florida-based general contracting firm, RCC Associates, as their 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year.
The first South Florida woman to be so honored, Raphael joins the ranks of several prominent South Florida business leaders honored by the alumni of the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Recent recipients include Terry Stiles, Wayne Huizenga, Ed Yakabuchi, Oscar Feldenkreis and Mel Fisher.
One of Wharton’s oldest alumni clubs, The Wharton Club of South Florida provides education and networking opportunities for the 2,000 alumni that live or work in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. As America’s first business institute, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has educated leaders for business and public service since 1881. The South Florida chapter selected Raphael in recognition of her “outstanding business acumen and ethics in creating business in South Florida.”
She will be honored at an award ceremony scheduled at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, May 29th. Keynote speaker is attorney Stuart Sobel, a partner with Siegfrid, Rivera, Lerner, De La Torre and Sobel.
Raphael as President and Chief Executive Officer has taken Deerfield Beach-based RCC Associates, www.rccassociates.com, to new heights, adding several new divisions and greatly expanding the firm’s restaurant construction business. RCC, which has built more than 1500 projects in 27 states over the past 40-plus years, today is regarded as one of the nation’s premier contractors, specializing in retail, restaurants, country clubs, sport facilities spas, offices and banks.
A winner of Ernst & Young’s Florida Entrepreneur of the Year® in the Real Estate and Construction category, recipient of the Sun-Sentinel’s Excalibur Award and inducted into the Hall of Fame for the Huizenga Business School at Nova Southeastern University and Junior Achievement, Raphael continues to build her presence as one of South Florida’s top business and community leaders with the Wharton Club recognition. She and her husband, Joel Altman, reside in Boca Raton.