Long before Central Florida’s explosive growth transformed orange groves and quiet lake towns into one of the fastest-growing regions in the state, the Grizzard family was already helping shape the landscape.

It started with Beverly Grizzard, who began buying land and developing property in Lake County during the mid-century. Then came Tom, who founded the real estate company in 1968 out of a converted airplane hangar overlooking Lake Griffin, building the business around relationships, trust and local knowledge rather than transactions alone.

Today, Tom’s son, Gus, leads the company after taking ownership in 2007 during one of the worst housing downturns in American history. Under his leadership, the brokerage expanded from a single office into a regional presence across Central Florida. But for Gus, growth was never supposed to come at the expense of the values he learned from his father.

“Even as the market, technology and population have changed dramatically over the decades, ‘your word is your bond’ remains one of the company’s guiding principles,” he says.

Gus spent nearly 18 months sitting beside his father learning the business, leadership, and how to build relationships and create long-term value for clients and employees alike. Those lessons continue shaping the company today.

A graduate of Leesburg High, Gus says he has watched the area grow exponentially in his lifetime.

“There is always a trade-off,” he says. “While development brought economic opportunity and more things to do, it also changed the character of many once-sleepy communities.”

ERA Grizzard has expanded to six locations throughout the region since Gus took the helm.

In many ways, the story of ERA Grizzard mirrors the evolution of Central Florida itself: adapting to rapid growth while trying to preserve relationships, trust and sense of community that built the company.

What began in a converted airplane hangar has grown into one of the region’s top-producing brokerages while remaining grounded in the same family values passed down through generations.