“There are currently 27 Duda family members
working for the company,” says C. Scott Miller,
VP of Sales and Community Management, who
has been with the company for 25 years. “There
are 19 fourth-generation family members in
roles ranging from the CEO/President position
to leadership roles across all major business
units, and we have eight fifth-generation family members involved in various facets of the
company, from western vegetable operations
in California to homebuilding and land development here in Viera. We also have six family
members serving on the board of directors, including a third-generation family member serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors.”
With all that The Viera Company has already
achieved, company President Todd J. Pokrywa
believes there is still a lot of room for innovation. “While today Viera currently has over
23,500 residents, 10,500 homes, three mil-
lion square feet of commercial space, and
10,000 jobs across 350 businesses, at build-out the community is projected to be home to
over 60,000 residents, up to 31,000 homes,
over seven million square feet of commercial
space, and over 25,000 jobs across 600 businesses,” says Pokrywa, who wrote his thesis on
Viera while studying urban and regional planning at the University of Waterloo.
Pokrywa has nurtured an interest in Viera since
childhood, when his family traveled from Canada
each year to vacation on Florida’s Space Coast.
“I was intrigued about the community from the
very beginning, given the long-term vision and
commitment to stewardship that the family expressed when unveiling and pursuing the vision
for Viera. From early on in the development, the
community has enhanced the quality of life for its
residents and provided an environment for businesses to be successful,” he says.
Given that he’s been with the company for a
quarter of a century, C. Scott Miller has a unique
perspective on Viera’s growth over the years.
“I suspect that the three seniors likely did not
envision that their Cocoa Ranch would transform to the major master-planned community
that is ;iera today, but ; am e;ually confident
that they would be proud of the fact that the
project has been successfully built with attention to detail and an overarching sense
of ethical stewardship,; ;iller says. ;; find it
humbling when I look back at the boldness
that the third-generation family leadership
took in electing to develop a master planned
community over an enormous parcel of land.
Viera means ‘faith’ in Slovak, the native tongue
of Andrew Duda, and the success of Viera lies
on the back of the same foundation of faith
and hard-working perseverance that the three
seniors and their father exhibited in starting
the company in the early 1900s.”
The Viera Company: A Family Affair
In ;;;;; ;lova; i;;i;rant ;ndrew ;uda and his sons produced their first cash crop of celery;an event that laid the
foundation for the esta;lish;ent of the ;uda fa;ily le;acy. ;wo decades later; those sons;the ;three seniors;;
purchased a ;;;;;;;acre tract of land in ;revard; ;;; on what would ;eco;e the ;unshine ;tate;s ;pace ;oast; with
the intent of creatin; a ;a;or cattle operation. ;oday; that tract of land is ;iera; the ;;th top;sellin; ;aster;planned
co;;unity in the ;nited ;tates. ;ith a deep;rooted co;;it;ent to environ;ental preservation; dedication
to philanthropy; a wide ran;e of education and worship opportunities; and stellar a;enities; ;iera has evolved a
;reat deal over the years. ;ut one thin; hasn;t chan;ed; It re;ains a fa;ily affair.
