Today we’d like to introduce you to Robyn Benge.
Hi Robyn, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I was born and raised in Davenport and Winter Haven, Fl. I am a true Florida Native. My children, grandchildren, and family still live there. I went to Polk State College in Winter Haven and obtained my nursing degree. I practiced nursing for almost 30 years in central Florida, specializing in Emergency/Critical Care until I went into managing and directing at different hospitals. I met my husband Tony Benge in 2011, and we moved shortly after that to Winter Park, where he was living. I retired from nursing about four years ago to come work with Tony at our Real Estate Development Company Benge Development Corporation. I had previous real estate development experience before I went into nursing so it made an easy transition to help him at the office. It has been quite nice to spend days helping him and really witnessing how talented he is at what he does.
One of my passions besides my family is helping others so as we move into new communities, we look to see how we can help those in need. We don’t just build and leave!!! We invest our time and learn what programs the communities have and how we can help to make them better. In Apopka, I selected the Shop with a Cop program which pairs disadvantaged children with police officers to shop for Christmas, and Cops and Bobbers which pairs police officers with kids to take them fishing. Each year we have been involved, we have been able to double the number of kids that get to be a part of these wonderful programs. We also support the Central Florida Metro Swat Team with a party each year. We have been the main sponsors for the Black and White Gala that supports base Camp for Children with Cancer Foundation for the past three years. This organization helps children with cancer, and it has been such an amazing event to be a part of!!! We also have gathered food for the Second Harvest Food Bank and reached out to our business contacts, who are always willing to help and make this drive a success!
One of the reasons I love working at Benge Development is I take our two beautiful English Bulldogs, Delila and Samson to the office each day. We have named them our heads of Parks and Recreations for our developments, and they take their jobs very seriously. I have three children Amanda, Tyson, Bryan, daughter in law Brittany and step daughter Anna. I have been very blessed to have four grandchildren Evan, Bryson, Laney Kate, and Knox and they are my world.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Development means progress and growth which are characteristics that are not always welcome, especially with the incredibly high migration to the state of Florida post-Covid. The political environment always presents challenges to a project as most people do not realize that a major real estate project may take three to five years of planning, design, and permitting before anyone sees any real progress. This becomes more challenging with lockdowns, pandemics, global supply chain disruptions, and hyperinflation of raw materials. All of the hurdles have to be met prior to receiving the final approvals which means in many cases you will have devoted years of time; a large financial investment and you may still have the project denied at the very end. These are the challenges that keep us up at night and make for interesting days.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I get to handle the philanthropic side of the business which is very rewarding. Nothing is more impactful than getting to see the difference in the effort, capital, and emotional commitment made in the groups we are able to help support. These groups can vary from single mothers in need of economic assistance to children celebrating Christmas – whatever cause the community needs; we will try our best to bring help to those areas of need,
During the Covid craziness, we also found another group in need – the Central Florida Swat Team. These brave men and women risk their own safety to ensure we have a protective force to deal with the worst of the worst scenarios, such as the Pulse Nightclub massacre; we were able to assist their training by donating homes that are set to be demolished so they could do live training in the homes that better simulates the real-world dangers and skills they need to master to perform their duty. There was also a crisis of appreciation – the political environment had become somewhat challenging with the defunding of the police movement in full effect and these men and women were caught in the middle feeling lost. We were able to host an appreciation gala for the members during the pandemic and helped bring all the groups together.
We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
That I spent 27 years as a critical care nurse and that training gets used almost daily – always helpful. When I got Covid, the community was afraid of me, and after I spent time on the news and promoting convalescent plasma, I became a go-to for many people that needed information on how to deal with it. I also was a spokesperson for Bell’s Palsy after experiencing it myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bengedevelopment.com
