Austin Arthur
Austin Arthur
A life of entrepreneurship, community service, civic leadership, and a commitment to family and faith.
Austin Arthur is an entrepreneur, community advocate, storyteller, and nonprofit board director whose life has been guided by a commitment to family, service, and community. Together with his wife, Kellie, he is raising their three children in West Orange County while remaining active in their church and throughout the community. His career has spanned public safety, entrepreneurship, nonprofit leadership, civic engagement, media, education, and local history, reflecting a lifelong commitment to strengthening the people and institutions that help communities thrive.
The Setting
Lake Apopka, Florida
A calling in public safety.
Austin began his career in public safety in 2006, entering firefighter training and pursuing a career in emergency services.
Over the following years, he completed State of Florida Firefighter I and II training through Miami Dade College, earned an Associate in Science degree in Emergency Medical Services from Valencia College, became a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician and Florida-licensed paramedic, and went on to serve as a firefighter-paramedic before transitioning into entrepreneurship.
- Firefighter I & II
- Miami Dade College
- A.S. Emergency Medical Services
- Valencia College
- NREMT
- Nationally Registered
- Paramedic
- State of Florida
While beginning his career in emergency services, he also pursued coursework at the University of Central Florida, including:
- Legal and ethical environment of business
- Professional ethics and liability
- Law and the legal system
- Western civilization and American history
- State and local government
- International politics
Austin began his career in public safety in 2006, entering firefighter training and pursuing a career in emergency services.
Over the following years, he completed State of Florida Firefighter I and II training through Miami Dade College, earned an Associate in Science degree in Emergency Medical Services from Valencia College, became a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician and Florida-licensed paramedic, and went on to serve as a firefighter-paramedic before transitioning into entrepreneurship.
- Firefighter I & II
- Miami Dade College
- A.S. Emergency Medical Services
- Valencia College
- NREMT
- Nationally Registered
- Paramedic
- State of Florida
While beginning his career in emergency services, he also pursued coursework at the University of Central Florida, including:
- Legal and ethical environment of business
- Professional ethics and liability
- Law and the legal system
- Western civilization and American history
- State and local government
- International politics
The years of building.
By 2010, Austin had begun building his first business ventures through independent consulting and small projects, building relationships and exploring ideas that would eventually develop into larger business ventures. Among his earliest concepts was a small clothing brand inspired by the Founding Fathers and their faith, an early expression of his interests in entrepreneurship, American history, and storytelling.
Marketing Services
In 2012, Austin co-founded Stars and Stripes Marketing Services with his brother Zander, beginning what would grow into a full-service marketing and management company based in West Orange County. Today, as Co-Founder and Co-CEO alongside his brother, Zander Arthur, Austin helps lead the company across multiple service areas, including branding, digital marketing, web development, communications, strategic consulting, and business services. His work has included strategic direction, client relationships, organizational development, and helping businesses, nonprofit organizations, civic initiatives, and public figures communicate and grow.
2014 · Gymnastics USA · Winter GardenIn 2014, Austin and Zander co-founded Gymnastics USA in Winter Garden, growing the organization from a 25,000-square-foot facility into a 50,000-square-foot campus. Today, it is the largest gymnastics center in Florida history, serving nearly 2,500 active students and tens of thousands of families over the course of its growth. The business has created and supported hundreds of jobs while becoming a significant part of the children's activity industry in West Orange County.
Inside the facility
Beginning in 2015, Austin became increasingly involved in volunteerism and community service, beginning a period of civic and nonprofit engagement that would eventually grow to include leadership, governance, advisory, and volunteer roles across numerous Central Florida organizations.
MySkillChart, and the memory of a father.
2015 · MySkillChartIn 2015, Austin and his brother, Zander, officially founded MySkillChart.com, a software-as-a-service platform developed to help class-based children's activity centers digitally track student skills and progress. The idea grew from challenges they experienced while working in the gymnastics industry and a desire to modernize skill development across the class-based activity sector.
Believing they had a promising concept but lacking software development experience, they turned to their father in late 2013, David Hamilton Arthur, an early home computer enthusiast and self-taught software developer, to help bring the platform to life. Shortly after development began, he was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Having dedicated more than 30 years of service as a firefighter-paramedic, his diagnosis and passing less than a year later were a profound loss for the family. Following his passing, Austin and Zander assembled their own software development team, completed the platform using Agile and Scrum methodologies, and officially launched MySkillChart to the market in 2015. The company was later acquired by a larger industry software provider, who incorporated the tech into theirs, resulting in a successful entrepreneurial exit for the Arthur brothers.
Scenes from the work · beginning 2015
Listening, then sharing.
2020 · After ThoughtIn 2020, Austin created and hosted After Thought, a long-form video series focused on the history, community, people, and institutions of West Orange County. Through the program, he conducted in-depth conversations with elected officials, community leaders, business owners, historians, and local advocates, documenting stories and perspectives connected to the region's past and present.
2022 · West Orange on the GoIn 2022, Austin began hosting West Orange on the Go, a regional news and commentary podcast produced in partnership with the West Orange Times & Observer, West Orange County's newspaper of record for more than 120 years. Influenced by the storytelling style of legendary broadcaster Paul Harvey, the program combined local news with historical context, personal commentary, and stories about the people, organizations, and events shaping West Orange County.
The program became part of a broader period of civic engagement for Austin. By that time, he was serving and volunteering with nearly a dozen not-for-profit and community organizations while closely following local news and public policy. Through that work, he became increasingly concerned about the effectiveness of county leadership, the pace and consequences of growth, the condition of local infrastructure, and what he believed was a widening disconnect between residents and their county government. His experiences convinced him that community involvement alone was not enough and that the district needed leadership more firmly rooted in the people and institutions it served.
A campaign for Orange County.
A season measured not by a title, but by the doors knocked, the neighbors met, and the coalition that formed around a single idea: partnership rather than partisanship.
A season measured not by a title, but by the doors knocked, the neighbors met, and the coalition that formed around a single idea: partnership rather than partisanship.
In 2023, Austin filed to run for the nonpartisan office of Orange County Commissioner for District 1, challenging an incumbent commissioner in one of Florida's largest and fastest-growing county districts.
Throughout the 2024 campaign, Austin championed a vision of practical, community-centered, nonpartisan leadership grounded in fiscal responsibility, responsible growth, and pro-business principles. His platform called for slowing the pace of growth, requiring infrastructure to keep up with development, improving transportation connectivity, strengthening coordination among Orange County, its municipalities, neighboring counties, and the public school system, and making county government more responsive and effective.
Austin's campaign combined pro-business and fiscally conservative principles with a commitment to responsible and organic growth, environmental stewardship, and the preservation of the communities that made West Orange County distinctive. He maintained that economic vitality and conservation did not have to be competing interests, advocating instead for growth that respected natural resources, existing neighborhoods, community character, and the ability of public infrastructure to support it.
The campaign developed an unusually broad coalition of municipal, county, school-board, and state leaders. Austin earned the support of more than two dozen current and former elected officials with connections to West Orange County and the surrounding region. Among the elected officials serving or representing West Orange who publicly endorsed a candidate in the race, every endorsement went to Austin.
“Partnership rather than partisanship.”
Austin's campaign became one of the most contentious local races in Orange County history. Throughout the election, he and his family were subjected to an unprecedented wave of deeply personal attacks, including false accusations, fabricated claims, misleading portrayals, and coordinated efforts to damage his reputation that stood in stark contrast to his documented record. Rather than responding with personal attacks of his own, Austin publicly challenged false claims, defended his record, and continued to communicate a positive message focused on responsible growth, fiscal stewardship, public safety, and community leadership.
Despite efforts to discredit his public-safety record, Austin earned the endorsement of the statewide Florida Fraternal Order of Police, the Orange County Sheriff's Office Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 93, and the Professional Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 2117.
In the August 2024 election, conducted in a commission district serving more than a quarter of a million residents, Austin finished just two votes behind the incumbent, sending the race to a November runoff. The extraordinarily close result marked the narrowest election margin in Orange County history for a county commission seat and served as a powerful reminder that every vote truly matters.
The incumbent ultimately prevailed in the November runoff, held during a highly contested national election cycle that generated exceptionally strong partisan and special-interest turnout across the county. Following the result, Austin publicly congratulated the commissioner, encouraged unity, and affirmed that his commitment to serving the community would continue through partnership rather than partisanship.
After the election, Austin opened up in a vulnerable feature with The Local Winter Garden, reflecting on the personal toll of the campaign, the smears, and what it taught him about service, resilience, and the community that stood with him.
After the campaign, the work continued.
Following the campaign, Austin remained deeply involved in the civic and not-for-profit life of West Orange County. Rather than allowing the election to define or conclude his public service, he expanded his leadership within organizations addressing affordable housing, veterans, children and families, disabilities, education, historic preservation, and community development.
In 2025, Austin became President of West Orange Habitat for Humanity, helping guide the organization's long-term strategy, community partnerships, housing initiatives, and efforts to expand access to affordable homeownership. His involvement has included organizational growth, new partnerships, expansion initiatives, veterans-focused housing efforts, and plans to broaden Habitat's impact throughout West Orange County.
He serves as Chair of Challenge 22 to End Veteran Suicide, a nonprofit organization dedicated to veteran suicide prevention, mental health awareness, peer support, community outreach, and honoring and supporting those who have served in the United States military.
Austin also serves as Chair of the I AM Children's Museum Executive Committee, helping lead the effort to establish a permanent children's museum serving West Orange County and Central Florida. The initiative is focused on creating an interactive educational destination where children and families can learn, explore, and engage through hands-on experiences.
He serves as Vice Chair of 8 Waves Children & Family Services, an organization supporting children and families through education, mentorship, counseling, enrichment, and community-centered programs.
Austin is also Vice Chair of Lift Disability Network, which provides programs, advocacy, support, and opportunities for individuals and families impacted by disability.
His additional nonprofit leadership includes serving as Secretary/Treasurer of One Winter Garden, a civic advocacy organization dedicated to representing the interests of the Historic East Winter Garden Neighborhood by working collaboratively with the City of Winter Garden, Orange County Government, Orange County Public Schools, and other community partners. Formed during the era of segregation, East Winter Garden continues to experience many of the generational challenges created by decades of being under-resourced and pushed aside. As one of the members who does not reside within the neighborhood, Austin has served alongside residents and community leaders as a neighboring advocate, supporting efforts to preserve the community's history and identity while advancing resident-led revitalization. During his tenure, the organization has helped champion significant community initiatives, including the creation of a special district with the official title of the “Historic East Winter Garden Neighborhood” to reinvest in neighborhood improvements, protecting the community from incompatible development, and advocating for revitalization that benefits existing residents while resisting the displacement and gentrification that have transformed many historic communities.
A story preserved on film.
In partnership with One Winter Garden, Austin is the producer and writer of the feature-length documentary, They Call Us East Winter Garden: Our True Story, an extensive cinematic project dedicated to preserving the history of the Historic East Winter Garden Neighborhood. Through in-depth interviews with many of the community's original families, longtime residents, civic leaders, and historians, the film documents the neighborhood's origins during the era of segregation, its cultural heritage, its struggles and triumphs, and the enduring resilience of the people who built the community. Scheduled for release in early 2027, the documentary seeks to preserve these stories for future generations while helping ensure that one of Central Florida's most historically significant communities is remembered through the voices of those who lived its history.
As a member of the Winter Garden Rotary Club, Austin served in board leadership for two years before being appointed by the club's president as its first official Chaplain. In that role, he offers devotional reflections and prayer while encouraging Rotary's long tradition of service, fellowship, and goodwill among people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and worldviews. Rooted in his Christian faith in Jesus Christ, Austin seeks to encourage, inspire, and serve while honoring Rotary's longstanding commitment to welcoming people of every faith tradition, as well as those of no religious affiliation, in a spirit of mutual respect and Service Above Self.
He is a Board Member of the West Orange Scholarship Foundation, supporting efforts to expand educational opportunities and provide scholarships and assistance to students in the West Orange community.
Austin serves on the Roper YMCA Advisory Board, supporting the YMCA's work in youth development, healthy living, family programming, recreation, and community engagement throughout West Orange County. He also serves on the Mission Committee, which focuses on strengthening and preserving the Christian mission represented by the “C” in YMCA while supporting the organization's commitment to serving the entire community.
He also served on the first Linkmen of God Outreach Advisory Board, supporting faith-based mentorship, fellowship, service, and outreach in the community.
Austin serves as a Mentor with Crossroads Prison Ministries, corresponding with and encouraging incarcerated individuals through a faith-based mentorship program focused on personal growth, discipleship, and human connection.
Austin serves as Table Captain of the Business Table for IronMen of God, where he leads a small group of local business owners and professionals in a ministry focused on integrating Christian faith with leadership, work, and everyday life. Through regular discussions, mentorship, and fellowship, he encourages men to grow as servant leaders in their homes, workplaces, churches, and communities.
In municipal service, Austin serves as a Board Member of the City of Winter Garden Architectural Review and Historic Preservation Board. In that role, he participates in the review of matters involving architectural character and historic preservation, helping protect the distinctive built environment and historical identity of Winter Garden.
He is also a Committee Member of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce Economic and Governmental Advocacy Committee, engaging with issues involving economic development, infrastructure, public policy, governmental affairs, and the business environment throughout West Orange County.
Austin has served as a Community Advisory Board Member for The Local Winter Garden, contributing a community perspective to a publication focused on the people, organizations, businesses, and stories of the Winter Garden area.
His past leadership includes service as a Board Member of the West Orange Political Alliance and as 2024 Chair of the West Orange Boy Scout Eagle Dinner, supporting the recognition of young people who achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.
Memberships, media, and continuing study.
Beyond formal board service, Austin has maintained involvement with numerous civic and community organizations. His memberships and participation have included the West Orange Chamber of Commerce, Friends of Lake Apopka, WG100, the Bloom & Grow Garden Society, and the Florida Bicycle Association, reflecting interests ranging from business and civic leadership to environmental stewardship, community beautification, transportation, and quality-of-life issues.
Austin has also been a supporter of the Edgewood Children's Ranch for several years, including speaking with students through its PALS program and supporting the organization's work with children and families.
His community involvement has extended into media, writing, storytelling, and the preservation of local history. In addition to After Thought and West Orange on the Go, Austin has been a published writer and contributor, including work with City Lifestyle Winter Garden and other publications, writing about community development, regional history, local people, and civic issues. His interest in preserving community history has led to documentary work centered on Historic East Winter Garden. As creator of They Call Us East Winter Garden, Austin has worked to document the history, experiences, institutions, and voices of a historically significant community whose story is deeply connected to the development of Winter Garden. The project incorporates oral histories and firsthand accounts to preserve stories for future generations. Austin's professional and civic development has included coursework at the University of Central Florida in subjects including the legal and ethical environment of business, professional ethics and liability, law and the legal system, Western civilization and American history, state and local government, and international politics. He is also an alumnus of the Central Florida Political Leadership Institute, a regional leadership development program, and Leadership West Orange, a program of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce designed to deepen participants' understanding of the institutions, communities, businesses, and issues shaping the region.
Austin has also become involved in animal welfare advocacy, working with community stakeholders and the Keep Pets Alive Action Team to advance a Florida Companion Animal Lifesaving Proclamation and explore practical, community-driven strategies to increase lifesaving outcomes for shelter animals across the state. The initiative draws upon nationally recognized best practices and research, including data and policy models published by Best Friends Animal Society.
Across his professional and community work, Austin's experience encompasses entrepreneurship, organizational governance, strategic planning, communications, technology, nonprofit leadership, public-private partnerships, community development, historic preservation, and civic affairs. His board and volunteer service spans affordable housing, veteran support and suicide prevention, children and families, disability advocacy, women and families, education and scholarships, youth development, historic preservation, prison ministry, faith-based outreach, economic development, and community engagement.
Faith, family, and the first calling.
At the center of Austin's life is his faith and his family. He and his wife, Kellie, are raising their three children in Winter Garden, Florida, where they are active members of Glad Tidings Church. Together they have sought to build a Christ-centered home grounded in faith, service, generosity, and discipleship.
Austin often describes his greatest calling not as entrepreneurship, public service, or community leadership, but as being a faithful husband and father. The experience of raising a family in West Orange County has shaped his passion for strengthening local institutions, preserving the community's history and character, expanding opportunities for children and families, and helping ensure that future generations inherit an even stronger community than the one his family enjoys today.
Faith, family, and the people next door — that is the story we are still writing.
