UF honors young alumni from Warrington
Warrington College of Business graduates Justin Jackrel, David Tarabocchia and Aaron Topol received the University of Florida’s 2017 Outstanding Young Alumni Award.
The Outstanding Young Alumni Award was established by UF’s Alumni Association to recognize alumni ages 35 or younger who have distinguished themselves in their profession and community.
David Tarabocchia – Hough Graduate School of Business Honoree
Tarabocchia (BSBA-MGT ’04, MS-DIS ’06) is a managing director in KPMG’s management consulting practice, based in Tampa and specializing in CIO advisory services. He serves as the leader of KPMG’s southeast U.S. technology infrastructure services as well as the global lead for KPMG’s IT advisory services in hospitality. David has a strong background helping technology organizations create business value, navigate business change, optimize IT investments, transform IT capabilities and deliver IT with confidence to achieve business goals.
David’s current and past clients include some of the leading entities in the media, entertainment and hospitality industries.
Q: What is the best memory from your time at Warrington?
Tarabocchia: “I really appreciated the opportunity to serve as a Graduate Assistant while I was in the MS-ISOM specialized master’s program. I had a chance to hold office hours, write and grade exams, and even guest lecture on a few topics. It was a very rewarding experience to have a taste of working in an academic environment. In one of my roles today as KPMG’s Advisory Campus Recruiting Liaison Partner for the University of Florida, I get to return to campus quite often to engage with students and faculty about career opportunities in consulting and at KPMG.”
Q: How did your time at Warrington prepare you for your current role?
Tarabocchia: “I couldn’t have asked for a better academic foundation than the education I received at Warrington. With undergraduate degrees in management and economics and a master’s degree in DIS, I obtained competencies in several important areas. The information systems coursework gave me a solid technical foundation on which to build my professional experience as well as the credibility to have an informed perspective on a wide range of client technology issues. The quantitative coursework helped refine my analytical thinking skills and provided a fantastic toolkit to approach, understand, and solve client challenges.”
Q: How meaningful was it to receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award?
Tarabocchia: “I’m more than pleased to receive any award that still considers me young! That being said, to represent the Hough Graduate School in receiving this award is both a tremendous honor and humbling experience considering the remarkable accomplishments of this year’s recipients. I couldn’t be more proud to continue my affiliation with Warrington as the College continues its ascension as one of nation’s best public business schools.”
Aaron Topol – Fisher School of Accounting Honoree
Topol (BSAc ’04, MAcc ’04) is a Partner in the International Tax Services group at Ernst & Young, a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction, and advisory services. He has been based in both New York, N.Y., where he worked with the Transaction Tax practice on cross-border acquisitions and dispositions, as well as Atlanta, Ga., where he provides tax advice to large multinational companies on their global transactions as a member of the International Tax Services group.
Topol has been awarded the Mike Baldasaro Exceptional Client Service Award, which is given annually based on client feedback, and was a distinguished instructor with BNA/Center for International Tax Education. Topol is also on the Atlanta Steering Committee for the International Fiscal Association, and in 2016 was the Americas sponsor for the Young Tax Professional of the Year competition, which was established by EY to reward and foster the next generation of tax leaders.
Recently, Topol was asked to lead EY’s United States tax desk in Asia, which will require him to move to Hong Kong in summer of 2017. Topol received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Accounting in 2004.
Q: What is the best memory from your time at Warrington?
Topol: “I became engaged to my wife Carly (BSPR ’04) during my time at Warrington, so I think I am obligated to say that is my “best” memory. Outside of that, there are a number of great memories I have from my years at Warrington. My love for coffee and early mornings developed during the many hours I spent studying for Dr. Boyles’s partnership exam, I honed my poker skills with a group of accounting grads using the Wi-Fi in Gerson Hall, debating behavior economic issues with Dr. Stuart became a weekly occurrence, and learning international tax with Dr. McGill ultimately led me to my current career.”
Q: How did your time at Warrington prepare you for your current role?
Topol: “My time at Warrington prepared me for my current role by fostering an intellectual curiosity that drives me to this day. Questions were encouraged, problem solving was awarded, reading the business press was required, and time was allotted for debating/discussing all kinds of global issues. All of these skills I use in my current role and have helped me to achieve success during my career progression.”
Q: How meaningful was it to receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award?
Topol: “It was very meaningful. There are so many qualified candidates and award recipients that it is an honor to be included with such a distinguished group of Alumni. Plus, it motivates me to continue to push myself in order to be nominated in the future for the Outstanding Alumni Award.”
Justin Jackrel – Heavener School of Business Honoree
Jackrel (BABA ’05) is the president of Bintelli, a power sports manufacturing and distribution company that specializes in electric vehicles, scooters, go karts, electric bicycles and ATVs. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Bintelli has dealerships around the country and serves notable customers from Google, Halliburton, Tanger Outlets and the United States Navy.
Bintelli has been named to the Gator100 list twice and in 2016 was named to the INC. 5000 list, ranked as the 2,807th fastest growing private company in the United States. Jackrel was previously named to the Empact 100 List, comprised of the top 100 entrepreneurs in the country under the age of 30. With this honor, Jackrel was honored at the White House and U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.
In 2016, Jackrel founded Flagship Powersports, a consulting company which aids young entrepreneurs in creating and running their own powersports dealership. Most recently, Jackrel began volunteering at a high school in Charleston, aiming to teach students important principles prior to graduating. Over the course of 15 weeks, Jackrel works with the students to open their own business – including fundraising, corporate setup, purchasing, marketing, transacting sales and liquidating the business at the end of the semester.
Q: What is the best memory from your time at Warrington?
Jackrel: “I’m going to be completely honest here… I wasn’t very involved with Warrington as a student. I know how that sounds, but I had a full-time business I was running while I was a student. One of the funniest memories I can think of was being in a Business Finance test and just hearing all of the sobbing going on throughout the exam hall, as we all realized how underprepared we were for this test! Looking back, I do wish I was more involved with campus life… there’s more to life than work! For all of you current students, get out, meet people, get involved in activities. You have the rest of your life to work but only a few years to enjoy college life – take advantage!”
Q: How did your time at Warrington prepare you for your current role?
Jackrel: “It taught me how to multi-task. I started my company while in high school so I worked full time (out of my dorm room and apartments) while attending UF full time. Between keeping my grades up, working full time on a growing business, being a member of the Florida Drum Line, and following all of our amazing sport teams, I didn’t have much free time! As I type this, I look at my computer screen and I see six Excel sheets open, Chrome with twelve tabs open, and a few other programs such as Slack, Trillian, and Windows Live Mail… all open at the same time. Multitasking at this level allows me to get a lot more work done in the same amount of time!”
Q: How meaningful was it to receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award?
Jackrel: “It was the most meaningful award I’ve ever received… and that tops being honored at the White House. To be the sole nominee from the last ten years of graduates is an amazing honor. To be honest, it’s hard to put it into words. Being honored alongside so many recent graduates who are doing such amazing things in this world was truly an honor. It’s a day I will never forget… truly an honor. Go Gators! I do want to take the time to thank Rebecca Lakkis for all of her help and support over the last few years in getting me more involved with current students at UF. Her efforts have allowed me to become more involved as an alumnus than I even was as a student! She’s an amazing asset to UF and I’m excited each time I get to work with her.”
