Deborah Butler, President

Deborah Butler was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida. The daughter of founding developer S. Clark Butler, Deborah joined her father in business in the early 1980s. From marketing and leasing to design, finance and development, Deborah has performed nearly every role in the organization. In addition to developing and managing several large multifamily residential projects in the city, together they developed the one million square feet of retail known as Butler Plaza. After her father’s passing in 2008, Deborah continued the vision for expansion–relocating the big box stores off the premium Archer Road frontage and building out the back of the 267-acre property into Butler North, now a successfully leased power center with its own main thoroughfare. This move made way for the development of 350 thousand square feet of the regions first open-air retail and mixed-use project—Butler Town Center. Deborah holds a Bachelor of Arts from Emory University in History, a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Florida, and her MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. She has also spent significant time traveling and studying in Europe. She is an active community leader and member of numerous organizations and causes, and currently serves as Board Member of UF’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, past two-term President UF’s Phillips Center for Performing Arts-among many others.

Terence O'Connell, Chief Financial Officer

Terence O’Connell joined Butler Enterprises in 2025 as their Chief Financial Officer. Terence was most recently the founder and CEO of Acorn Delivery, a tech startup developing a last mile delivery solution for grocery e-commerce. Prior to Acorn, Terence spent seven years as Vice President of Investments at CCM Group, a family office based in Washington, DC where he managed real estate investments and developments across the Southeast United States including several major retail projects in Florida. Prior to CCM, Terence spent five years as Associate Director at MetLife Real Estate Investors in Washington, DC where he was involved in over $2 billion of real estate transactions. He began his career at Deloitte where he worked in the external audit and financial advisory practices. Terence is a CFA Charterholder and holds an inactive CPA license. Terence holds a Master of Accounting from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina.  

Ashley Bryant, Vice President of Marketing

Ashley joined Butler Enterprises in 2022 as Director of Marketing. A Gainesville native, Ashley is currently the Vice President of Marketing at Butler Enterprises. Ashley is a graduate of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. Over the last 20-plus years, Ashley has worked in for-profit and nonprofit organizations in various roles such as marketing, communications, business development, and public relations. Ashley’s experience here in Alachua County, includes creating marketing strategies, building strategic partnerships, orchestrating community collaborations, managing advertising campaigns, driving business development, implementing social media, and overseeing digital marketing. Formerly as Chief of Staff to the President, she served as a liaison, senior administrator, and a significant resource for employee policy development and implementation, administration, and professional development.

Elizabeth Knoke, Director of Lease Administration

Elizabeth joined Butler Enterprises in 2024 as the Director of Lease Administration. Elizabeth was most recently the Director of Commercial Property Management of Bear Property Management in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where she managed a portfolio consisting of 1.6 million square feet of office, retail, medical and industrial buildings in seven states for thirteen years. Prior to Bear, Elizabeth was a Closer for Knight Barry Title Group, where she was a liaison for real estate purchase and refinance transactions. Elizabeth began her career for another division of the Bear Real Estate Group, Bear Realty, in various roles including accounting and real estate sales. Elizabeth holds active Real Estate Broker licenses in Wisconsin & Illinois. Elizabeth received her Associates Degree in Accounting from Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.