Lakewood Ranch is the second fastest growing master-planned community and top selling multi-generational community in the U.S., with 2,574 new homes in 2021 alone. To be a part of a community, however, is one thing, to feel a sense of belonging is another. Brittany Lamont, the new President and CEO of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, is working to cultivate a sense of belonging in the community.

Brittany Lamont, the new President and CEO of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, is working to cultivate that sense of belonging amongst the burgeoning business community - and by extent, the residents of Lakewood Ranch. Soon to be a mother of three, Brittany is a native of the area and has accumulated a wealth of experience in the business world - from her humble beginnings as an intern with the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce to her role today with the LWRBA. Brittany sat down with SRQ Magazine to discuss how her background informs her new role and the challenges businesses face in an exploding community like Lakewood Ranch.

SRQ: How did your time spent at the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce prepare you for this role? 

Brittany Lamont: I always tell people that I was raised by the business community here in the Sarasota Manatee area. I started as an intern back in 2010, progressing from Communications Manager to Director of Communications Events to Vice President, and eventually, after 11 years, to the role I am in today as President and CEO of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance. I’ve done pretty much every job within a membership organization. The Sarasota Chamber has over 1,100 members, so I was able to gain an understanding of what chambers of commerce do, how membership works, how events work, and how you provide a strong ROI to your members.

On the customer service end of it, I got to lead some really great projects - I restructured their membership, moved them to tiered membership, restructured events, and got to work on some public policy and political campaigns as well. I always say that each chairman of the board  leaves their legacy with you. You get to learn different things from them. I’ve worked under people like Rick Piccolo from the airport who were geniuses in public policy and community development. I served under people with a communications background like Lisl Liang at SRQ Magazine and with a Human Resources background with Lisa Krouse.

What does your role as President and CEO of Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance entail?  Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance is for all intents and purposes, very similar to a chamber of commerce. It’s a business membership organization in Lakewood Ranch, which is the fastest growing master planned community in the United States. As President and CEO of the LWRBA, I get to represent that growth. We represent both Sarasota and Manatee counties. We are meeting with our local officials and keeping our pulse on the issues that are affecting businesses here in the region. What kind of advocacy is needed? What referendums are happening?  In short, my job involves a lot of listening. It’s critical that as an organization, we make sure  that we’re representing the collective voices of 600 plus businesses. When I came into this role, I met top to bottom with all of our annual sponsors and investors. I met with former members, current members, and prospective members, all to understand what our value proposition and our niche is out here in Lakewood Ranch. As the leader of a small but mighty team of five, I’m working on how to maximize our resources. We have a very strong volunteer base  and great volunteer leadership. In light of that, I’m looking to create a strategic plan. We turn 20 years old in 2025. So who do we want to be in 2025? That means we’re examining aspects of  membership structure, ROI for our investors, our members, our sponsors, and strong programming in the region.

With Lakewood Ranch being such a rapidly growing community, what challenges do businesses face in this post-pandemic climate?  Not just here in Lakewood Ranch but everywhere, businesses are facing serious workforce struggles. There is a huge need for workforce of all levels, not only just in hospitality and manufacturing but also in professional services. Everybody’s looking for talented workforce recruitment and retainment. We’ve also got our eye on affordable housing, which has a big impact on the workforce. So as you’re looking to recruit people from outside of the market here into the Lakewood Ranch region, companies are having to figure out how  they’re going to be able to compete nationally. It was one thing when pre-pandemic, you might just compete with firms in the region for workforce.  From a membership based standpoint, our companies have seen phenomenal growth in some really great years. Because of that strain on the workforce however, they have to be a little bit more strategic in how they’re participating with things outside of their office - from joining groups to engaging with nonprofits, chambers of commerce, or EDCs. We have to make sure that the offerings we have are going to be something that’s going to be worth coming out of the office for two hours and listening to.

Does that growth bring a lot of headwinds from infrastructure pressures like you talked about? For the community at large, yes. There’s definitely growth projects and infrastructural work to be done. For us as an organization, that growth makes us ask ourselves, how do we welcome all these new businesses? How do we stay relevant to them, but still create the intimate experiences and connections that this organization has been built upon?I hear from new members all the time that, “I joined Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, and I got professional and personal connections. I was new to the area. I didn’t know anybody. And I joined a committee or I went to events and I have made some great business contracts, but I’ve also made some really great friends.”

How does the LWRBA engage the community outside of the office? Events are a big part of it. We also have eight committees. We have really strong committee participation where people are able to get a little bit deeper dive into the Alliance. They’re able to volunteer in capacities in which they have interest. If their interest lies in public policy, maybe it’s our government affairs committee. If you’re a big people person, maybe it’s our membership committee or events committee. We’re constantly working on additional ways in which people can participate and create even closer connections together. 

What are Lakewood Ranch’s growth industries now? The growth industries of Lakewood Ranch mimic what you see in Sarasota and Manatee. Something I didn’t know as much when I came out here that I’ve learned is a lot of people live in Lakewood Ranch, but they’re still connected to their firms in the Northeast or consultants or maybe not the brick and mortar that you expect.  There are still a ton of brick and mortar businesses here..but you’re also getting some business professionals that were working elsewhere and then decided to come to live in Lakewood Ranch. From a business organization standpoint, we’re working on ways to provide businesses that are not brick and mortar with a sense of community and belonging. Doing so is critical, especially from a membership standpoint, as Lakewood Ranch continues to grow exponentially.

What kinds of residents and businesses does Lakewood Ranch attract? Lakewood Ranch attracts professionals and moreover, family professionals. I was talking to somebody today who had grown up in Bradenton, moved to Boston for 10 years, and returned to Lakewood Ranch with his family.  I hear that story all the time.  It’s also a very active community, blossoming with different ways to engage the family. It’s funny, I was informed today that Waterside has the largest cornhole league in the country.

What are some of the pressures that the LWRBA faces as you continue to grow and ensure a high quality of life?  We sit in between the Manatee County and Sarasota County Chamber of Commerce, which are both great at what they do. Back in the day when the recession was there, we all competed for money. Now we compete for time. Lakewood Ranch, in general, as we continue to grow, will face the same struggles that other growing communities do: roads, transportation, traffic flow, and the building of schools and other infrastructure.

How does the LWRBA plan to adapt to and counteract those pressures?  That’s a community wide conversation, right? No single-handed membership organization is going to be able to solve some of those problems. However, in this region we all band together. In Sarasota county, we’re all part of a group called COBA: Coalition of Business Associations. That’s where the chambers, the EDCs, Gulf Coast Builders Exchange, Argus, BIA, all get together to talk about these large community issues and speak on behalf of the business community collectively. In Manatee County, we’ve started collaborating with Manatee Business Associations, a similar group with similar objectives to COBA. The greater impact that we have, the greater our reach becomes - we can then connect to our government officials, our elected leaders and let them know that we’re not just one singular group, but a collective representation of a large portion of the population.

Could you tell me about the role that Lakewood Ranch plays in our region? Lakewood Ranch is a huge tax base for the region, especially Manatee County, which is what the majority of the Lakewood Ranch area sits in. It’s expanding a lot more into Sarasota County with areas like Waterside. Because this area of the region is growing so fast, it’s become all the more important to have a voice in the business community. It’s why the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance was formed: because the folks in this area wanted to have a voice. 

So then, how important is a program like your Young Leaders Alliance for a burgeoning community like Lakewood Ranch?  For all business organizations, fostering that next generation of leaders is critical to long-term success. One day these members of the Young Leaders Alliance will be the ones running the company. Sometimes they already are.As you’re trying to retain talent in the region, introducing your young leaders to a group like the Alliance where they do make community connections and give them a voice in this region, hopefully makes them less likely to take a job in a different community.  I hope that I can help be a representation of that. I’m 33 years old, and about to be a mother of three. I think it’s really important that our generation does have a voice in the community and that they feel like they are good community partners. And I think our YLA gives them an outlet for that. We introduce them to nonprofits. We give them professional development opportunities. We give them networking communities to build their networking base here. 

What do you think the key actions are to position Lakewood Ranch and the businesses of Lakewood Ranch in the next 5-10 years?  I think as the community continues to grow, we will want to support those businesses to truly make sure they have a voice in what are the issues that they’re facing. We have a really strong post-secondary education system here with the colleges and the universities, so how can we continue to encourage young professionals to want to stay in the area and become leaders within the business community? In terms of recruitment, bringing people to Florida is not a problem, right? They’re coming in flocks. So, as people come into the area, how can we make sure we have the infrastructure to support them, too? I hope that we are a platform for connections, for growth, for support. I think we are really great at bringing people together, so that’s where this organization can continue to thrive.