SHARKS RX Spring 2016 Magazine

College of Pharmacy 19 Besides their well-known uses as pain relievers and appetite stimulants, cannabinoids are being investigated for a wide variety of treatments for inflammatory disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, and cancer treatment, among others. incorporated a new business, which soon grew from 1 employee in a room to more than 500 employees working in a 215,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. In 2014, Alfonso was the winner of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s Top Minority Business Award in the Executive of the Year category. He was also a 2014 finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the manufacturing category. In 2015, Alfonso sold his vitamin production business, Nutri-Force, to the Vitamin Shoppe chain for $85 million. Announcing the deal with Alfonso’s company, Vitamin Shoppe CEO Tony Truesdale praised the Nutri-Force management team and the quality of its products, including soft-gel capsules, which had previously been considered almost impossible to produce in the high humidity of South Florida. But success is not all about hard work and making money. “If you ask me, here’s the most important thing in building a business: I never missed a single one of my daughters’ games,” said Alfonso. His daughter Megan will be taking her pharmacy board examinations in 2016, and Alfonso hopes she will go into business with him. “I would love to teach her,” he said. “She’s savvy, and she’s a negotiator.” The feeling is mutual. “Plan A has always been a family business. I’m doing some research on (cannabinoids) now,” Megan said. “I can’t wait to see what we can do together to further the field.” Michele, Alfonso’s other daughter, is a fifth-grade history teacher in Miami; but, over the years, she has also worked in her father’s business in advertising and in event planning. “He had high expectations of us, so I definitely had to fulfill that, and he taught me my work ethic,” she said. “He’s a very hard worker. When he sets his mind to something, he does it. But it’s always fun.”