On Saturday, Dec. 14, Flagler College will hold fall commencement exercises for graduating seniors. Approximately 136 students will receive diplomas at the Flagler College Gymnasium.
The commencement speaker will be 2008 alumnus Viv Helwig, founder and president of Vested Metals International, LLC, a specialty metals and steel distribution company headquartered in St. Augustine, Fla.
Helwig’s Vested Metals was listed by Inc. Magazine at #324 for fastest-growing in the U.S. and by the Jacksonville Business Journal at #7 for fastest-growing in the Northeast Florida region. The St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce awarded Vested Metals as the “Small Business of the Year.”
2019 has been an active year for Helwig personally as well. The native Jamaican has been recognized by the St. Augustine Record as a “Forty Under 40,” he’s been named by the Jacksonville Business Journal as an “Ultimate CEO,” dubbed by Inc. Magazine as a “Man of Steel” and appointed by Flagler as one of its “50 Alumni of Distinction” during the celebration of its 50th anniversary year.
He currently serves on two boards at Flagler – the Athletics Advisory Board and the Alumni Board of Directors. Helwig is also civically engaged at the county level with both the Industrial Development Authority and the Chamber’s Public Policy Committee and at the international level with the Titanium Association.
Flagler College’s commencement begins at 9 a.m. on Dec. 14 and is not open to the public. The procession will begin around 8:50 a.m. from the statue of Henry Flagler, located at 74 King Street. Traffic will be temporarily held for no more than 10 minutes.
The college’s Public Administration program will graduate 30 seniors in a second ceremony later that day at 4 p.m. in the Flagler College Lewis Auditorium.
The Public Administration Program at Flagler College is designed specifically to meet the educational and career objectives of public sector professionals and includes courses such as management, program evaluation, public budgeting, human resources, administrative ethics, public policy and grant writing.
About Flagler College
Flagler College is a small private, independent college located in St. Augustine, Fla. The college offers 34 majors, 41 minors, and a master’s degree in Education of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Flagler College has an enrollment of about 2,500 students, as well as an offsite campus in Tallahassee, Fla. U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review regularly feature Flagler as a college that offers quality education at a relatively low cost. A Flagler education is less than half the cost of similar private colleges, and competitive with many state universities. A relatively young institution (founded in 1968), Flagler College is also noted for its historic beauty. The centerpiece of the campus is the former Hotel Ponce de Leon, a National Historic Landmark opened in 1888 by railroad pioneer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler. For more on Flagler College, visit flagler.edu.
