About Us
We are small business owners who saw a unique need in Florida. We decided to combine our resources and share our experience and knowledge with other business owners. Due to the fact that our respective firms have specialized expertise in accessing, understanding, administering and implementing complex government contracts and programs; we decided that it was in everyone’s best interest to offer this information to the business community-at-large. We believe that our credentials speak for themselves.
Michael Langton, President
A former member of the Florida House of Representative (1985-1992), Mike Langton has had an extensive career in Florida State and local government. While serving as a member of the Florida House he had tours of duty as Chair and Vice Chair of the Advisory Council on Intergovernmental Relations, Chair of the Oversight Committee, Chair of the Committee on Children and Youth and Deputy Majority Leader. He has been recognized for his service by numerous statewide organizations including the Florida League of Cities, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Florida Taxwatch.
His grantsmanship career began 30 years ago as a mayor’s aide in which he assisted in writing the grant and administering the City of Jacksonville’s first CDBG Entitlement Program. He also served as a Special Consultant to U.S. HUD, National Science Foundation and Stanford Research Institute. He has successfully obtained over $90 million in grant funds for Langton Associates local government clients since 1981.
Langton coordinated the City of Jacksonville’s application for federal Empowerment Zone designation. This effort involved recruiting, organizing and facilitating a 200 person partnership for preparation of a Strategic Plan. Community redevelopment activities include: preparing a paper on “Establishing a CRA in Florida” and an Action Plan for External Funds Procurement for Delray Beach CRA.
Langton’s organizing skills were called upon during the first cycle of the US Department of Transportation’s Job Access and Reverse Committee Grants, when he successfully facilitated Community Stakeholders resulting in the only grants awarded in the State of Florida, totaling nearly $3 million.
Langton has been a featured speaker to the Florida Association of Counties, the Florida League of Cities and Florida Redevelopment Association and has served on the steering committees of statewide campaigns for U.S. Senate, Governor and Cabinet officers.
Langton founded Langton Associates, a Public Affairs Consulting Firm, in 1981 and has served as company President since that time.
Lisa King, Vice President
King’s career in public affairs includes stints as a Congressional Aide for a U.S. Congressman and as a Legislative Assistant for a committee chair in the State House. She was appointed by two Florida House speakers to three committees including appointment as a member of the House Computer and Telecommunications Commission. King was also awarded a Davis Productivity Award by Florida Taxwatch, Inc. for a cost saving idea implemented by the Florida House.
King has written a successful application for Florida Communities Trust funding in every cycle since its inception. The projects she has promoted through this program range in size and are as diverse as the Florida Keys, the Jacksonville Beaches, Panama City, Volusia County, Palm Beach County, and Leon County. King has procured over $30 million through this program for Langton’s clients. Her leadership has been recognized by organizations such as the Trust for Public Land, which has used her expertise to assist them in drafting a proposed Florida Communities Trust rule through the new Florida Forever Act.
A former Chairman of two National Historic Districts, her knowledge of historic preservation issues has given her insights that have allowed her to assist clients in many successful applications for funding. Her expertise in both the Historic Preservation Grant-in-Aid and Special Category programs has been recognized by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation which has invited her to lecture on writing successful applications at their annual meeting.
King has obtained grants for community visioning, development of over 50 parks, as well as construction and renovation of civic centers, art galleries, and environmental learning centers.
Linda W. Dufresne, CPA
Dufresne & Associates, CPA, PA
Dufresne has been in the accounting profession since 1986, starting in the health care accounting and financial reporting industry. She has as part of her cache of skills, four years of auditing and municipal bond services experience with an international accounting firm serving clients in various industries including tax-exempt debt issuers, governments, not-for-profits, health care, and religious institutions. She also served approximately five years as a legal assistant with a nationally recognized municipal bond law firm.
Emphasis on the governmental, non-profit and tax-exempt debt sectors makes Dufresne uniquely qualified to provide exemplary information to many local governments, municipalities, special districts, and non-profit organizations.
As a member of the AICPA Governmental Audit Quality Center, Dufresne is required to participate in continuing education courses, updates and alerts made available through the GAQC. As a result, she is highly qualified to speak on these issues and adheres to the strict quality control principles that are mandated for independent certified public accounting professionals. Her understanding of these guidelines ensures the public’s confidence in her ability to meet or exceed the profession’s standards with respect to quality control systems.
Dufresne’s faithful execution of these policies and procedures has resulted in a peer review report confirming her firm’s excellent record of thoroughness and accuracy. She is certified to perform peer reviews that provide governmental and non-profit audits; a further testimony to the firm’s qualification to evaluate and comment on the quality control processes of other CPA firms.
Dufresne’s commitment to ethics is evidenced by the fact that she is one of relatively few professionals who are certified by the Florida Institute of CPAs as an ethics instructor. She has served as the head of Dufresne & Associates, CPA, PA, since it was established in 1993.
Kathy Sutherland Finn, PMP, Senior Financial Analyst/Project Manager
Dufresne & Associates, CPA, PA
Finn has over 13 years of small business ownership experience which has afforded her the opportunity to have an entrepreneurial spirit and think out of the box. That coupled with a financial background allows her to evaluate business decisions more thoroughly and on multiple levels.
She is certified through PMI as a Project Manager which gives her a sleeker and leaner business approach to sales, finance and management. As a participant in the City of Jacksonville Volunteer Commission on Ethics she embraces honesty and integrity in all of her business endeavors and can speak to the importance of these issues in both the public and private sectors. Her extensive involvement in the execution of large community programs and events has aided in her comprehension of the inner mechanisms of managing large, complex and multi=-faceted projects.
In 2006, Finn joined Dufresne & Associates, CPA, PA and is responsible for budget preparation, analysis of financial data, and coordinating the workflow process from a Project Management standpoint.
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