In attracting businesses to the region, economic development officials promote not just the resident population but those who are likely to be part of the job market. Almost half of Sarasota County’s population is in the prime working age range of 25 to 64, according to the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County, meaning there is a labor force of 160,491. Adding the labor pool from bordering Manatee County expands the total to about 301,311. 

Before Suzanne McCormick took her new job as president and CEO for United Way Suncoast, she was already impressed with the organization. It didn't hurt, of course, that she was living in Maine during a terrible winter when the opportunity came about. "I asked my family what they thought of Tampa," she recalls. "They said that sounded great."

Now she has arrived to run a United Way that works across four counties—Sarasota, Hillsborough, Pinellas and DeSoto—and is anxious to learn what she can about every community here. For the past two decades she has worked in the philanthropic world either for United Way or one of its partner organizations, most recently during a four-and-a-half year stint as executive director of United Way of Greater Portland. During her time in Maine, she worked with about 37 communities in the United Way jurisdiction there, many governed by independent city councils and school districts, and focused her efforts on the sharing of best practices across regions, whether working on workforce development efforts or on homeless issues.

That last bit is of note in the Sarasota area, where regional efforts on handling homelessness has been friction-filled; disagreements over site selection for a come-as-you-are shelter recently led the City of Sarasota to pull out of an effort with Sarasota County. McCormick said she hasn't closely followed the debate here, but has worked on similar efforts in Maine and had seen success with certain strategies.

"One of the things we did was to fund case management that could go through different towns and help people stay close to what is home for them, as opposed to coming to a service center for a shelter," McCormick said. "Without knowing your shelter system, I wonder if that is something that could benefit this area. It was rural case management so people didn't have to leave their hometown to go and get services." Mobile service units helped with the effort. So did a pooling of Section 8 Housing vouchers from various governments within a jurisdiction so that an agency in Portland could help someone there by finding housing subsidies for a place to stay in one of its surrounding communities.

McCormick stressed part of the mission statement for United Way Suncoast is to break the cycle of generational poverty, and she also wants to look at ways to make sure students of all income levels are getting their educational needs met. She has worked on a number of "cradle-to-career" programs and would like to bring some of the best practices from those efforts to this part of the country. But more than any particular effort, she brings with her into the new position an interest in creating synergies. "We call it collective impact, not only providing to specific programs but helping programs to work together," she said. Efforts in Maine were directed toward coordinating campaigns to boost third-grade reading and with programs to ensure students get what they need to guarantee higher education possibilities.

In her few weeks since coming to Southwest Florida, she has visited areas throughout the United Way Suncoast service area, including a visit last week to Sarasota. "I have attended one of major donor events and gotten to meet some of the families involved with United Way Suncoast," she said. "But an interesting thing, a lot of the former community leaders in Maine come and winter in Sarasota. When I was interviewing, I said a lot of your people are my people and my people are your people depending on what kind of year it is." 

A renovation at Libby's Cafe and Bar for the most part freshened up the look of the restaurant, but it also marked a significant evolution for the L-Bar, turning it into a lounge concept and a hotspot deserving credit all its own. SRQ spoke with General Manager Joe Seidensticker about the change.

What were you going for with this renovation? With the L-Bar, it's become a cool burlesque, speakeasy-style, awesome cocktail bar. It's something dedicated to making good drinks and serving a few good plates of good bar food. It's an atmosphere for all ages of clientele.

What inspired you to do this concept? We've been trying to do something like this forever and just finally had the opportunity to do it. We opened it [Thursday night] for a preview and will really open it up in the next few weeks with the whole concept. That's all part of the intrigue. It's more about whatever it turns into from here. It's kind of a hidden gem. 

Jeffrey T. Troiano of Williams Parker has been granted board certification in Wills, Trusts, and Estates by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education. Troiano handles all aspects of estate, trust and succession planning, while working with individuals and families to develop customized and tax-efficient estate plans. He counsels clients with regard to asset titling as well as beneficiary designations for retirement plans, insurance policies and annuities. Troiano also handles especially complex estate and trust administrations. 

Williams Parker

The former president of Palmetto-based Trilectron-ITW GSE Military has spun off a new business, Verde GSE, and is testing improved aircraft cooling equipment at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ). Verde President Richard “Rick” L. Hansen plans to add 14 employees over the next five years at a location in South Manatee County. The EDC also assisted Verde GSE with site selection and worked closely with Florida Power and Light to provide power assessments to ensure that the chosen location – 2,000 square feet in Manasota Industrial Park – has adequate power to support equipment testing.

Bradenton Area EDC