For the March 2021 edition of SRQ Magazine, we interviewed two Lakewood Ranch Leaders: Scott Zelniker, Senior Vice President - Wealth Management of UBS Financial Services and Andy Guz, CEO of Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. Below is an excerpt published in the In Conversation marketing feature in which Scott shares his insight with SRQ readers on what is ahead for our local economy.

THE LAST GREAT RECESSION IN OUR ECONOMY’S RECOVERY WAS NOT A FAST PROCESS. DO YOU THINK THAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR THAT AGAIN OR DO YOU THINK IT’S GOING TO BE DIFFERENT?

We’re going through a technology revolution right now. It started, give or take, in 1980. So it’s about 40 years on, and the rate of change has accelerated beyond anybody’s dreams. The past nine months especially. A company like Zoom that might’ve taken five, 10 years to become relevant and instead they became relevant overnight. Jobs are going to change. And it’s true that some people are going to get left behind. So the key is going to be education. We have to reeducate and re-train people for these new roles because the digital economy is here. The new technology economy is here to stay. It’s actually big for the corporate bottom line. Remember, the market has no conscience, right? So as companies lay off employees and they get more digital and more efficient, then when their business comes back, more of that dollar goes to the bottom line. I’m expecting a pretty darn strong economy, and it’s going to be up to the individuals to get themselves retrained and use their abilities to get on board for that train. While I don’t want to use the words “the worst is behind us,” I see the light at the end of the tunnel and the tunnel doesn’t look quite as long as it used to. I’m proud to be part of this Lakewood Ranch community. I love it. I get excited by it. I see the growth that is happening here. I have friends up North say, “Oh, are you going down to Florida to retire?” And I say, “quite the contrary, I’m running harder than ever.”

This is an excerpt from the In Conversation with Lakewood Ranch Leaders published in the March 2021 edition of SRQ Magazine. Click here to see the full article. 

View the Feature Here