A largely pristine Sarasota Bay is worth $11.8 billion to Sarasota and Manatee counties and helps attract nearly 12.2 million trips to the region each year, according to a new study released by the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program. The study was conducted to stress the value of the natural resource in economic terms.

“The study underscores how important Sarasota Bay is to our entire region,” said Mark Alderson, SBEP director, “not just the obvious impact on local tourism and real estate value, but also the impact of recreational fishing, recreational boating, eco-tourism and the quality of life for residents who enjoy the bay year around.” 

The study looked into everything from tourism impacts to increases in real estate values. The investigation was done by Drs. Paul Hindsley, an assistant professor of Environmental Studies at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, and Ashton Morgan, associate professor of Economics at Appalachian State University in North Carolina.

Ecotourism activities appear to be a highly lucrative element of the Bay's value. The study showed many day-trio visitors were willing to spend upward of $104 per day in direct spending for snorkeling or $243.37 for SCUBA diving. Bay-related visitor spending, according to the report, creates about 21,000 jobs and $731 million in earnings.

As for real estate, the study found real estate purchasers were willing to pay a mean of $90,235 for homes located within 1,000 feet of the Bay, comparable to the mean $148,841 customers were willing to pay for homes that close to the Gulf of Mexico. For homes just a little further from the water, the impact of being near the Bay was actually greater than being close to the Gulf. Customers were willing to pay a mean $26,031 more for a home within 4,000 feet of the Bay compared to a mean of just $9,579 more for homes a similar distance from the Gulf. 

Lovable as babies can be, they can put a serious crimp on your style. But one dance instructor in town who knows what it's like to carry an infant in tow is now offering at least one personal outlet where tiny tots won't get in the way. Bethany Laney, founder of Balanced Babywearing Ballet, caters to the Baby Bjorn-adorning set with classes offered in a studio at the School of Russian Ballet in Lakewood Ranch.

What exactly is baby wearing ballet? It's basically what it sounds like. Mothers come in wearing all different kinds of carriers, usually ones made of some soft material like an Ergo or a Tula, or just wrapping a baby up on them, and doing ballet together.

This is a new business of its own. How are things structured? At the School of Russian Ballet, I teach ballet and lyrical to little ones. They were graciously willing to rent the space to me to hold the class. It's a separate business I have created and started. I go regularly to a baby-wearing group and have done some marketing through there.

As a dance instructor, have you seen demand for this type of class? There is a growing number of women in Sarasota who are baby wearing. It's on the rise in America. There is a great need for moms to have something creative and that they can do safely while wearing a baby at the same time. And there is a great demand in Sarasota as an arts community. I regularly teach with my baby on me, and especially when he was younger I didn't want to give him up to somebody else to watch. I would teach ballet and he would fall asleep on me. I had a friend who asked if we could do a baby-wearing class. I started to do some research and realized this was a real thing. It's offered in California and a couple of other places.  

Balanced Babywearing Ballet

Ringling College of Art and Design today announced that illustration graduate Jordie Bellaire of Orlando received the 2014 Eisner Award for best coloring. The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are considered the “Oscars” of the comics world, and Bellaire's coloring work is responsible for winning her and publishers Image, Dark Horse, DC, IDW, Marvel, Titan and Valiant this industry recognition. Nominees in each category are chosen by a five-member, blue-ribbon panel of judges in the spring of each year, then voted on by comic book professionals, with awards presented at the annual Comic-Con International convention held in San Diego. 

Ringling College of Art and Design

The Manatee County School Board approved entering into a community partnership with Cedar Hammock Fire Rescue to provide a training facility at the old Manatee Technical Institute on 34^th Street West. This Interlocal Agreement has been a collaboration of legal, staff and administration for both entities. Proposed training activities include: forcible entry, search and rescue, rapid intervention, emergency company operations, technical rescue and mass casualty incident. These types of trainings help first responders, as well as District staff and the community, to become more prepared in the event of an emergency. 

School District of Manatee County

Raul Elizalde, president and chief investment officer of Sarasota’s Path Financial, will travel to New York City in September to participate in National Financial Advisor Week, an outdoor event taking place in the middle of Times Square. Elizalde will help kick off the first day of the weeklong event during a "Rapid Fire" panel discussion. Elizalde will contribute his expertise on headline topics affecting everyday investors, including high-frequency trading, Federal Reserve policy, the outlook on stock prices and interest rates and how global unrest may affect savings and investments. 

Path Financial

Join SRQ | The Magazine and panelists Del D. Borgsdorf, Grants Committee Co-Chair, The Community Foundation at The Venice Golf and Country Club, Mollie Cardamone, Founder, Cardamone Consulting and Former Mayor of Sarasota, Peter Fanning, President, Main Street Connection, MSC Managing Member Digital Wi-Fi Solutions, DWS, Chris Gallagher, Hoyt Architects, and Wayne H. Poston, Mayor and Police Commissioner of the City of Bradenton, to deconstruct the why, the who, and the what now on the Elected Mayor issue. This SB2 symposium is on Thursday, September 25, 2014, from 7:30-9am at The Francis. Symposium tickets are $35/person and include breakfast buffet.   

Get Tickets