Two reports released last Tuesday might seem a world apart to the casual reader. But they point to related challenges and opportunities facing our region.

One—from United Way of Florida—details the size and scope of financial hardship among households in the state. In both Sarasota and Manatee counties, more than 40 percent of households can’t consistently afford the cost of living here. The report asserts that the true picture of need has been “underestimated and obscured” by not including families who are above the federal poverty line but still unable to make ends meet. These are motivated, hard-working families who simply can’t overcome conditions that continue to lag pre-recession levels.

The other study’s subject: video games. Or, more specifically, the growth of Florida’s computer and video-gaming industry. We now rank sixth among states for jobs in electronic gaming—an industry that is high-tech, high-wage and increasingly important to other sectors that leverage the skills and possibilities of digital game art (think healthcare, education). Locally, Ringling College of Art and Design is turning out top talent for this exploding field.

So, what’s the connection? It’s not that struggling families simply need to find jobs in gaming. The relation of the studies is less direct but far more promising than that. It’s the “innovation economy.”

That’s not just a buzzword; it’s our current reality. The engines of change and growth today are talent, technology, invention, trade, creativity and quality places. It’s no longer enough for a region to compete on beaches or taxes alone. Communities recognized as innovation leaders offer assets like talented workers, lifestyle amenities, business accelerators and more. 

About 18 months ago, in a regional research scan we conducted to identify funding priorities, Gulf Coast Community Foundation asked: “Will [our region] remain dependent on the volatile tourism, real estate, and service economy of yesterday? Or will we put people back to work in jobs that provide opportunities to advance, to earn a living wage?”

We then laid out a strategy to help move our region toward an innovation-based economy. It includes building a more competitive workforce, developing regional economic clusters around industries like creativity and the digital arts, and growing our entrepreneurial ecosystem. It also acknowledges that we can’t progress toward that vision while leaving so many behind. “The impacts of the Great Recession are still reverberating,” we wrote back then. It’s clear from the United Way study that they haven’t stopped.

At Gulf Coast, we and many partners—including donors—are working full tilt to ensure our region offers :

• talented workers (STEMsmart, CareerEdge, Talent4Tomorrow);
• unique places (leveraged grantmaking in the arts; community planning for future use of Sarasota’s bayfront); and
• entrepreneurial support (BIG—Bright Ideas on the Gulf Coast).

We’re also focused on providing more opportunity for all. That starts with addressing root causes of problems like homelessness and hunger, to lift people out of poverty and support their financial-asset building.

I invite you to visit www.GulfCoastCF.org to read our regional scan, “After the Fall: The Gulf Coast’s Next Innovation Economy.” I think you’ll agree how timely it remains. You can also find our new PROACTION Magazine, which spotlights active efforts to nurture local entrepreneurs and connect bright ideas with the right resources to grow innovative businesses.

We seek to transform the Gulf Coast region into a competitive force in the global economy. A place that welcomes active retirees and young talent alike; that provides all residents with the opportunity to succeed, advance and contribute. Will we innovate, or will we retire? The Gulf Coast’s future is ours to create. 

SRQ Daily Columnist Teri A Hansen is president and CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation

This is the first year in forever that I’ve missed the veteran’s parade. No matter what I would always scramble my day to get there to stand on a corner alone as I could make myself in a crowd and cheer and wave and then cry as my guys, my Vietnam generation's rag tag mix of boys grown to men overly thin or pot-bellied in beards and jeans, the occasional dress shirt and slacks, walking or riding Harleys, came into view carrying our flag and with it that other flag, the black one with white letters-MIA. Public attendance at the parade has grown over the years. It wasn’t always so popular, at least in Sarasota, but lately as it has become more clear we are a country fated to endless war and as more veterans are daily being created, I suspect many of us-we’ve all lost someone-need the parade. We need to stand together waving tiny flags made in China and for a short while be reminded that no matter what cause sent them to fight, they went believing it was for the good, and we must always honor that.

I was 25 years old walking down Cumberland Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee with one of the architect boys, Bill Finney. It was early evening April 1975. We were talking about I can’t remember what, maybe Corbu or Louis Kahn, or well, it doesn’t matter now though it did so much then. I am certain however the topic was not John Wayne when the words came into my head whole in one piece and stayed there patiently waiting until I could find a scrap of paper and, crouching on the steps of the old Roman Room, write them down.

how i have loved you john wayne

in innocence

how strange to find you now

the boogie man

how many sweet boys

have wished

watching you in baby brave wonder

to be close enough quick enough

to whistle the smoke off the end of your glimmering six shooter 

i have seen the figures

i know them like a poem

the bullets blank

no one died

ever

but

how were they to know that

as they flung themselves in cinematic suicide across the evening news

death

far away from us

death

maybe far away from them

but

all those sweet dead boys

dead

in another country

a country where john wayne had never been

Is it possible that words and ideas just float around out there haphazardly bumping around looking for a way in and on that night the hole in my head was the one available large enough open to receiving them?  I don’t know and I am not a poet, but through all the years I’ve kept that poem in my head and in my heart I’ve never stopped missing those boys. 

Words and tears and thank yous are not enough but they are all we have. See you next year. 

SRQ Daily Columnist Diana Hamilton, after living 35 years in Sarasota, labels herself a pragmatic optimist with radical humorist tendencies and a new found resistance to ice cream.

Jobs matter. With voting results in, Florida voters made it clear they want to keep Florida moving in the right direction with a private-sector jobs agenda, and so do we.

When it comes to securing Florida’s future, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Fighting for free enterprise and focusing on policies that support jobs and strong families is the Florida Chamber’s mission. Beyond the legislative battles in Tallahassee or Washington, pro-jobs policies need champions, and that is why we engage in elections.

As I said before the mid-term elections, we estimated about half of the electorate wouldn’t turn out to vote. We knew this would be one of the most expensive election cycles in the country, and traditional television advertising would need bolstering by strategic digital and social media efforts to Get out the Vote.

The Florida Chamber’s strategy was to engage early in targeted campaigns, create an employer to employee GOTV program and coordinate with local chambers of commerce and businesses across Florida in support of free enterprise candidates. We also partnered with former Gov. Jeb Bush and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and others to strengthen our message opposing issues bad for Florida’s quality of life.

Overall, we engaged in 95 races and invested more than $7 million to help elect Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, 71 members to the Florida House of Representatives and 13 members to the Florida Senate.

The Florida Chamber’s involvement in backing candidates that support free enterprise was widely covered by national and Florida media. Plus, voter education efforts by the Florida Chamber helped defeat four trial lawyers–gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist and three primary election candidates for the Florida House.

Florida Chamber polling indicated voters don’t trust trial lawyers and believe (8-to-1) that trial lawyers care more about money than taking care of individuals. 

Mark Wilson is the president and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce

Blalock Walters, P.A. has been ranked as a 2015 “Best Law Firm” by U.S. News and Best Lawyers®.  Firms included in the 2015 “Best Law Firms” list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.  The 2015 rankings are based on the highest number of participating firms and highest number of client ballots on record. To be eligible for a ranking, a firm must have a lawyer listed in The Best Lawyers in America, which recognizes the top 4 percent of practicing attorneys in the US. Blalock Walters has two lawyers listed in The Best Lawyers in America - Clifford L. Walters, III and Robert G. Blalock. Over 17,000 attorneys provided almost 600,000 law firm assessments, and almost 7,500 clients provided more than 40,000 evaluations. 

Blalock Walters, P.A.

Goodwill Manasota recently received a grant from SunTrust to assist in expanding and exporting financial literacy training for local low- and moderate-income workers.  Goodwill is partnering with SunTrust to update and enhance three classes on basic financial literacy, including budgeting and debt reduction, while providing tools and resources to make sound financial decisions. Coursework will be developed by Goodwill Manasota and SunTrust, piloted through presentations to employees at local businesses. The pilot program will require pre-registration and will be conducted on-site during lunch breaks; post-workshop evaluations and interviews will be conducted following the conclusion of the pilot program. Additionally, the program will be translated into Spanish and, once the curriculum is complete, Goodwill Manasota will partner with Goodwill Ambassadors – community members who are committed to supporting Goodwill’s mission – to make coursework available to employers throughout Goodwill’s four-county service area. 

Goodwill Manasota

The holidays are a time for family and friends to gather around the table and share a special meal surrounded by joy, love and laughter. For too many, the celebration is silenced by hunger. With your help, All Faiths Food Bank (AFFB) will bring the joy of the holidays back to families in need in our community. This year, AFFB will distribute 7,000 Thanksgiving dinners with all the trimmings and invite you to remember a family in need with a special holiday donation to All Faiths Food Bank.  

All Faith's Food Bank