New sculpture adorns Brown & Brown headquarters on Beach Street

DAYTONA BEACH — A vigilant set of eyes is now watching over Beach Street from outside the gleaming 11-story headquarters of Daytona Beach-based global insurance brokerage Brown & Brown.

Unveiled to applause from roughly 100 of the company’s employees on Monday, the noble bronze 10-foot-tall cheetah sculpture standing proud on a 13-foot rock base at the corner of Beach Street and Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard is a tangible representation of the company’s longtime symbol.

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In brief remarks before the unveiling, Brown & Brown CEO J. Powell Brown offered an array of facts about the cheetah, highlighting its agility, speed, intelligence and ability to adapt to changing circumstances in an instant.

“This is a historic moment as we continue to grow in Daytona Beach,” he said, adding that the cheetah’s characteristics also defined the culture that has powered Brown & Brown’s success. “It’s fast and it moves with a sense of urgency. It’s also agile and changes directions quickly when needed.”

The cheetah’s reflection of the company’s culture also was touted by Linda Downs, who opened the company’s first Orlando office in 1980, launching a long career that culminated in her retirement five years ago as chief operating officer.

Downs recalled suggesting the cheetah become part of the company’s image early in her career, after reading an article about the animal’s formidable attributes.

“It really resonated with me,” she said. “It just took off and it fit, like it was meant to be.”

Brown & Brown leaders were involved in sculpture's creation

The new sculpture is the creation of Palm Coast artist Paul Baliker, who stood beaming in a baseball cap in the crowd of employees on Monday. Baliker said that he worked for more than a year on the piece, with plenty of helpful input from J. Hyatt Brown, the company's chairman, and his wife, Cici.

“They definitely were a big part of this, to make sure that it was perfect,” said Baliker, 67. “They are cheetah experts. I know a little bit, but nothing like them. They worked very closely with me on this.”

At one point, Baliker said, he brought an early version of the head of the piece into Brown’s office to refine a crucial aspect of the work.

“The eyes were very important to them,” Baliker said. “It was very important to them that the eyes were just right.”

On Monday, as he looked up at the cheetah standing watch, Hyatt Brown said that the result was perfect.

“Paul Baliker was able to replicate that piercing stare,” said Brown, who said he has seen cheetahs in the wild on at least half a dozen trips to Africa.

“The cheetah, for us, symbolizes that our company has always been quite agile,” he said. “When the winds of change blow, we’ve been able to change when they blow or before, and that has brought success for our teammates and our company.”

An insurance brokerage that got its start here 82 years ago as a small family business, Brown & Brown's growth was reflected in September when the company joined the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index of the nation's largest public companies.

For Daytona Beach City Commissioner Quanita May, who attended the ceremony, the cheetah represents more than Brown & Brown’s corporate culture. It also reflects positive changes on Beach Street and elsewhere in Daytona Beach, she said.

“To me, this lets us know that we’re looking toward the future,” May said. “We’re perched on a precipice of change right now. We’re so close, it’s crazy.”

On Beach Street, that change is evident in progress toward completion of the northern end of a renovated and re-imagined Riverfront Park that runs from International Speedway Boulevard to the Main Street bridge. Hyatt and Cici Brown have donated $28 million towards the restoration of the park.

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On Monday, Hyatt Brown said he anticipates that the northern section “will probably be done by March,” with the southern stretch of the park likely to be completed a few months later. That phase of work will stretch from International Speedway Boulevard down to Orange Avenue.

In her remarks, Downs marveled at the Beach Street transition from her early days with the company.

“You’ve come a long way, baby,” she said. “It’s so beautiful and inspiring.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Brown & Brown unveils cheetah sculpture at Daytona Beach headquarters