Joe Catti, one of the area’s most respected community leaders, has been named the 2009 Distinguished Citizen of the Year by the Boy Scouts of America, Southwest Florida Council. The award will be presented at a gala community event scheduled for Monday, Nov. 23, at the Hyatt Regency, Coconut Point.
The Distinguished Citizen Award recognizes individuals who have rendered outstanding service to the community, state or nation. The award has been presented each year in Southwest Florida since 1991. Former honorees include Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, Dudley Goodlette, Dr. Kenneth Walker, George Sanders, Jim Newton, Jody Hendry, T. Wayne Miller, Senator Connie Mack, Congressman Porter Goss, Dr. David Brown III, David Lucas, Gary Trippe, Steve Shimp, W. Bernard Lester, Lou and Steve Pontius and Rusty Whitley.
“Joe Catti demonstrates extraordinary integrity, character and civic-mindedness,” said Dan Dannenhauer, co-chairman of the Distinguished Citizen Committee for the Southwest Florida Council, in a prepared statement. “He is an exceptional role model for today’s Scouts and an outstanding example of the good works, values and service that the Distinguished Citizen Award is designed to honor.”
Catti, president and chief executive officer of FineMark National Bank & Trust, is extensively involved in the Lee County community. He currently serves as the United Way campaign Chairman, on the Finance Committee of the Lee Memorial Health System’s publicly elected board of directors, is an Executive and Finance Committee member of the Lee Memorial Health System Foundation, and is a member and past Chairman of the Florida Gulf Coast University Foundation. He is a member of the Executive and Finance Committee of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, as well as a member of the board of directors of the following institutions and organization: Lee County Public Education Foundation, Cypress Cove, Salvation Army, Finance Committee Chairperson of the Edison Ford Winter Estates Foundation, United Way, Abuse Counseling and Treatment, and Lee Health Care Resources. In 2005, he received the Lee County Philanthropist of the Year award in the area of fund raising.
The Distinguished Citizen’s award ceremony will bring together civic-minded individuals and business leaders from throughout the Southwest Florida community in an event that recognizes and celebrates the importance of Scouting in guiding and developing today’s youth.

Source: Southwest Florida Council Boy Scouts