For this Lake Nona family, the American Dream is built on the belief that as long as you work hard, you will achieve your dreams.
Frank Rudzik fled his native Czechoslovakia clutching a pair of suitcases, his wife, and two young sons. He was just 29 and had $800 in his pocket. He knew only a few English words but managed to transform his American dream into a successful family-run business servicing the Lake Nona area.
The patriarch of the family is now president of ACS Fire & Security Company, and his sons, Roman and Martin, are his partners. The company has grown to provide security to thousands of businesses in Central Florida. “I only knew how to say hello and goodbye in English, but that didn’t stop me from building my American dream because I wasn’t afraid to work hard and take risk,” Rudzik said. “I had already put everything on the line to come here; I had nothing to lose.”
People like the Rudzik family are the face of entrepreneurship in America today. U.S. Census data and U.S. Department of Labor data show that the most entrepreneurial people in the United States weren’t born here. Further, the Kauffman Foundation’s annual Index of Startup Activity shows that immigrants were almost twice as likely as native-born Americans to start new businesses in the U.S. in 2016. Almost 30% of all new entrepreneurs were immigrants despite accounting for only 13 percent of the population. And there’s more. A separate report from the Partnership for a New American Economy found that in 2016, 40.2% of Fortune 500 firms had “at least one founder who either immigrated to the United States or was the child of immigrants”.
The Lake Nona area is brimming with businesses launched by non-natives. From popular eateries like Pig Floyd‘s Urban Barbakoa and 407 Café to dry cleaning, dentists, CPAs and carpet cleaning services, one need not look very hard to find plenty of good examples.
The Rudziks’ road to success was paved with plenty of difficulties, but they didn’t give up. To escape the religious and political persecution in their homeland, they packed for what was supposed to be a long camping trip and fled to Hungary, then Yugoslavia, Italy and finally Austria, where the United States granted them political asylum. They landed in New York in 1981 and then moved to Cleveland, Ohio. The family spent nearly four years there before visiting friends in Orlando and deciding that was their next move. “We came for one week and immediately fell in love,” said Frank, who was hired in 1985 to work on computers (the same type he worked on in Czechoslovakia) at Orlando International Airport. Frank was promoted to supervisor of the electronics shop at the airport while also working a second part-time job as a maintenance manager at an apartment complex. He worked two jobs for nine years to help pay for his sons’ college educations.
Frank retired from the airport in 2001 and started ACS Fire & Security the same month. Its first contract was to build the communications system for new runways at the airport. During the past 15 years, ACS has grown to include fire and burglar alarms, security and fire alarm monitoring, access control systems and video surveillance. “I always dreamed of working with my sons, and now we are partners,” said Frank, 63, president and technical expert at ACS. Martin, 38, is vice president, and Roman, 41, is the chief financial officer. “You carry all those childhood memories,” Roman said. “We started working very early. From age six, I was always in a work environment, and watching my parents work so hard developed a strong work ethic for me and my brother.”
Working together also has built strong family bonds. Roman said he moved to Lake Nona to live close to Martin and his wife and their two children. Roman was attracted to the new community because of the young professionals and their energy. He said the small town was the perfect fit for their business because they can give one-on-one attention to their customers.
The brothers said they hope their children will learn the same work ethic, love for their community and entrepreneurial spirit their parents passed down to them. “We’re very proud of how well we get along as family and as business partners,” said Martin. “We hope our kids value the journey that brought us to Lake Nona and Central Florida and emulate those principles to be successful right here at home.”