Pictured: Ed Chiles, left; Rod Hershberger, right.

A pair of prominent Gulf Coast businessmen will serve as event co-chairs for the 2017 World Rowing Championships. The Chiles Group CEO Ed Chiles and PGT Industries co-founder Rod Hershberger will head the event, which is scheduled at Nathan Benderson Park in September 2017. 

“The opportunity for the community, particularly in bringing Sarasota and Manatee counties together for an event of this type, is just spectacular,” says Hershberger, also president of the Argus Foundation. “It is a vehicle that will bring the world’s eyes on both Sarasota and Manatee.” Hershberger, who was tapped by Sarasota County Administrator Tom Harmer, was appointed CEO of PGT in 2005 and led the firm as it went public the following year. He now serves as president of the Argus Foundation and has previously served as chairman of the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County.

Chiles, a Manatee County leader, is best known as CEO of The Chiles Group, a restaurant group including the Sandbar, Beach House and Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant and Pub. He also is the managing partner for the Pine Avenue Restoration Project in Anna Maria. His father, the late Lawton Chiles, served as Florida’s governor from 1991 until his death in 1998, and before that served as a US Senator for Florida from 1971 through 1989. “This event will showcase our world-class location and the incredible rowing facility at Nathan Benderson Park to thousands of premier athletes, sponsors and attendees,” says Chiles. “The economic development that this will provide to our area will be substantial, as will the long-term impact in reinforcing our area as a premier, international sports destination.” 

Hershberger expects logistics will be the most challenging part, but he feels the community is up to that task. Heavily involved in sporting events himself, he says the goal for the championships is to create a smooth experience for those traveling here for the event. “That’s what you appreciate when you leave an event, when you can say, ‘This seemed really easy,'" he says. “It has to come off without a hitch.”

Pictured: Ed Chiles, left; Rod Hershberger, right.