Upon returning to St Lucie County, with a degree from University of Florida, Tom Kindred, Jr. served as the first Executive Director of Ft. Pierce Main Street. During his tenure, he created and established Friday Fest, established the Save the Sunrise Theatre initiative and wrote the first 3 grants which lead to the theatre’s restoration and reopening and initiated the restoration of Old City Hall.

Following his years of civic duty, he spent 25 years managing private businesses in St. Lucie County, including serving 20 years as President of Sunrise Tractor & Equipment, a Ford New Holland equipment dealer. During his tenure as President of the company, he directed, coordinated, and managed sales of over $148 million.

Kindred has been an Adjunct Professor at IRSC since 2007, earning his M.B.A. in 2013. He teaches and instructs in the areas of business management and entrepreneurship. Tom was recognized as the Business Department’s Adjunct Professor of the Year for 2011 and was presented with the 2014 Impact Award from the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE). The award was given in recognition of Tom’s “Excellence in Providing Technical Assistance and Training to Entrepreneurs and Existing Businesses. Tom was recently awarded Indian River State College’s 2019 Ambassador Award for outstanding representation of IRSC throughout the Treasure Coast.

Tom currently serves the community and IRSC as the Regional Director of the Small Business Development Center at Indian River State College and the Dan K. Richardson Entrepreneurship Development Institute at Indian River State College.