It Works Global moves to Manatee

HERITAGE HARBOUR — There’s not much Heritage Harbour resident Mark Pentecost loves more than heading to the greenway, breathing in the fresh air and hearing his club send a golf ball whirling through the air.

But it seems, Pentecost and his wife, Cindy, now are swinging harder than they ever imagined.

Just more than three months after purchasing the Arthur Hills-designed Stoneybrook Golf Club, the Pentecosts are again making headlines, relocating the corporate headquarters of their direct sales company, It Works Global, from Grand Rapids, Mich., to the East County.

“There are just a few times in life you get to swing for the fences,” Mark Pentecost said. “We’re getting to do that now.”

The couple was slated to sign a lease on a 16,000-square-foot office space located just a few miles from their home this week, after The East County Observer went to press.

“Our business is about lifestyle,” Mark Pentecost said, noting It Works offers unique beauty and wellness products through independent distributors. “We were looking for an area where we could enjoy the journey. It had been a dream of mine to (own) a golf course.”

Despite looking all over Florida, the Pentecosts kept returning to the Sarasota/Bradenton area for a place to live and golf. They had continued looking elsewhere in the country for a new location for their corporate headquarters until the Manatee Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Council recently offered a package of incentives the Pentecosts could not pass up — refunds and grants totaling about $800,000. As a requirement, the company must provide an annual wage that is at least 15% higher than the county’s average.

The deal went public Jan. 4.

“It’s crazy how this all has come together,” Cindy Pentecost said.

Although the company’s executive team and many of its existing employees will be relocating to the area, the majority of positions will be open for hire, including posts in accounting, finance, customer services, marketing and others. Company sales have increased 400% from three years ago, and the Pentecosts expect the trend to continue, resulting in more than 90 jobs over the next three years as they develop a call center and shipping operations in Manatee County.

The couple believes the new location for It Works’ headquarters, combined with its new golf venture, will be the perfect mix for business and the community.

“We work hard, but we play hard too,” Mark Pentecost said. “I love this area. It’s vibrant. It’s fresh. Both will enhance the other.

“I look for things that will set us apart from other companies,” he said. “I think this will set us apart.”

The Pentecosts see their golf course as another amenity they can offer It Works distributors when they visit the company’s headquarters. For example, business trips easily can turn into family vacations with the business’s proximity to airports, beaches and the other Florida-specific amenities, Mark Pentecost said. Additionally, training for distributors or other special events can be held at the facility, including the “Dash to the Destination” promotion the company already is offering there Feb. 17-20 for select It Works distributors.

The Pentecosts are working to get renovations to the Stoneybrook Golf Club — fresh paint and carpet, new furniture, and even the addition of a nearly 4,000-square-foot outdoor patio area, completed by the end of February as well.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].