McCall CEO named to ‘most influential’ list

Bryan Cooksey

Bryan Cooksey, president and CEO of Jacksonville, Fla.-based McCall Service, was chosen for Florida Trend’s third edition of the Florida 500.

This special highlight features the 500 most influential executives in different economic sectors throughout the Sunshine State, and is the result of an intensive, year-long research initiative by the editors of Florida Trend. Cooksey was chosen for the retail/wholesale sector on the list.

According to Florida Trends’ profile on Cooksey:

Four generations of Cookseys now work at McCall Service, which has roots in Florida going back to the 1820s. The family farmed Jefferson County until the 1950s, when J. Bryan Cooksey Jr. attended the University of Florida and went to work for McCall…

Bryan [whose formal name is J. Bryan Cooksey III] shares ownership of the firm with his brothers: John, the firm’s COO, and David, CFO. The brothers took over the firm from their father in 2003. In recent years, the firm has acquired a number of other pest control firms, including companies in New Port Richey and St. Petersburg.

Bryan graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with a degree in nuclear engineering, and served as an officer in the U.S. Army in California before returning to Jacksonville in 1988.

The company was founded in Jacksonville as McCall Coal Co. in 1928 by brothers Sidney and John McCall. The Cooksey family became involved with the company in the mid-1960s, and by the late 1990s gained ownership. In addition to pest control, McCall Service offers lawn care and petroleum distribution throughout Florida and Georgia from its seven service centers.