<PAGE>

                                                                    Exhibit 31.1

I, David G. Powers, certify, that:

1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-QSB of United
         Community Bankshares of Florida, Inc.

2        Based on my knowledge, the quarterly report does not contain any untrue
         statement of material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
         to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
         such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
         covered by this quarterly report.

3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
         information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
         material respects the financial condition, results of operations and
         cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
         this quarterly report;

4.       The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
         establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
         defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
         control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
         13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and we have:

         a.       designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                  such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                  our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                  to the registrant, including our consolidated subsidiaries, is
                  made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
                  during the period in which this quarterly report is being
                  prepared.

         b.       designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
                  caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
                  designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable
                  assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and
                  the preparation of financial statements for external purposes
                  in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

         c.       evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                  controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                  conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                  and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
                  report based on such evaluation; and

         d.       disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                  internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
                  the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has
                  materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
                  affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
                  reporting.

5.       The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
         on our most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the
         audit committee or registrant's board of directors (or persons
         performing the equivalent function):

         a.       all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of the
                  internal controls over financial reporting which are
                  reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrants ability
                  to record, process, summarize and report financial
                  information; and

         b.       any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                  or other employees who have a significant role in the
                  registrant's internal controls over financial reporting.

Date: November 6, 2003         By: /s/ David G. Powers
                                   ---------------------------------------------
                                           David G. Powers
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer

                                       16