Gaekwad says DeSantis has promised him that Diwali will be celebrated at the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee next year.
Prominent entrepreneur Danny Gaekwad and former Florida Department of Transportation secretary Ananth Prasad are among three Indian Americans named by Governor-elect Ron DeSantis to his Transition Advisory Committee on the Economy.
DeSantis, who will swear in as governor in January, announced the formation of the 45-member committee on Wednesday.
The third Indian American on the committee is Kumar Allady, founder of the engineering and IT services firm Radise International.
“I am very pleased to be part of the committee,” said Gaekwad, founder & CEO of the Ocala, FL, -based NDS USA and Danny G Hospitality Management. “I thank the governor-elect for this great trust he has placed in me. I am confident that under his leadership, Florida will continue to be an economic engine of the nation.”
Gaekwad also told the American Bazaar that DeSantis has promised him that Diwali will be celebrated at the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee next year for the first time.
The Ocala resident, an influential campaign contributor and Republican fundraiser, was named to the Board of Trustees of the University of Central Florida by Gov. Rick Scott earlier this year.
He is an executive board member of Visit Florida, the official tourism marketing corporation of the state, and a member of the board of director of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, a 100-year-old trade body that promotes a business friendly climate and jobs creations in the state.
Prasad, a 22-year Florida Department of Transportation veteran, served as its secretary from April 2011 to January 2015. He is scheduled to assume charge as the president of the Florida Transportation Builders’ Association early next year.
(This post has been updated.)
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Gov. Scott appoints Danny Gaekwad to University of Central Florida Board of Trustees (February 16, 2018)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott attends ground breaking of Indian American Danny Gaekwad’s Ocala hotel (March 24, 2018)
Indian American Danny Gaekwad buys Orlando’s iconic Church Street Exchange Building (January 31, 2018)
NFIA to honor Indian American entrepreneur Danny Gaekwad, 8 others (November 12, 2018)