A new location means more than one more place to pick up Nancy’s Bar-B-Q. Opening a stand-alone building at Lorraine Corners to house the new restaurant site means a new smoker also burns there.

Up until now, the storefront location at Main Street Lakewood Ranch has served food shuttled all the way from Downtown Sarasota. “That’s obviously not ideal. It’s a lot of heavy lifting, literally and figuratively,” says owner Nancy Krohgold.

Now, the new Nancy’s locale serves as a central point for the growing company. Grown from a traveling roadside barbeque business to a three-location restaurant and catering company, the Nancy’s brand popularity and recognition has traveled like the smell of North Carolina dry rub through the air.

The new Nancy’s location will feel familiar to those who know the original downtown location well. The spot has also become where Krohngold now keeps an office.

As for the Nancy’s on Main Street Lakewood Ranch, Krohngold expects soon to announce an evolution to the store. A small venue with seating for under 50, she anticipates it serving more of a to-go crowd in the future, selling warm sides that can be made on site.

Meanwhile, Krohngold keeps finding a larger audience interested in simple yet flavorful foods.

“I’m not curing cancer or solving any great societal or economic woes,” she says. “But everybody’s got to eat three meals a day. Barbeque is accessible food. Meat eaters enjoy it from the get-go, and I think we offer enough vegetarian and other options to satisfy.” 

Ronnie King has been named the interim principal at Lincoln Memorial Academy. King served as principal at Lincoln Middle School from 2012 to 2014, prior to the school’s transition to a charter school. He has also served in Manatee County as an assistant principal at Harllee Middle School (2014-2017) and as principal at Oneco Elementary (2017-2019). Prior to joining the Manatee District in 2012, King was an assistant principal at Buchanan Middle School in Hillsborough County.

The School Board of Manatee County voted to take control of Lincoln Memorial Academy this past Tuesday to help address financial and governance concerns raised by the District, the Florida Department of Education and Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. 

Lincoln Memorial Academy

Expanding its global presence, Sarasota-based Cruise Car Inc. has won a contract to supply Disney Hong Kong with its custom-built, low-speed vehicles. The contract, which was approved this week by the Hong Kong Transportation Department, is the first time the company has sold directly to Disney. Past Cruise Car contracts have been through Disney’s vendors.

Golf-cart type low-speed vehicles are currently capped in Hong Kong at about 500 units, which required the need for the Hong Kong DOT to approve a license to bring in additional vehicles. Cruise Car worked closely with Disney Hong Kong’s management team and Hong Kong authorities to obtain this approval. After meeting in Sarasota with the Hong Kong-based engineering team, a formal purchase order was issued with a multi-year opportunity for Cruise Car to ultimately replace a 60-vehicle fleet.

Cruise Cars are currently in use at over 1,000 flagship properties worldwide. 

Cruise Car Inc.

William Mehserle, CFP of Pinkerton Harkins & Mehserle Private Wealth has been named for the second year in a row to the Forbes “Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors List.” According to Forbes, the list of 1,000 advisors, who were born in 1980 or later, includes “young talented advisors who represent the future of the wealth management industry.” At 31 years old, Mehserle is a Certified Financial Planner certificate holder and is one of two partners at Pinkerton, Harkins and Mehserle Private Wealth.

Working with SHOOK Research, the list received nearly 24,000 nominations. SHOOK then culled the nomination list to approximately 5,800 and vetted those advisors based on interviews, industry experience, compliance records, revenue produced and assets under management to determine the top 1,000. 

Pinkerton Harkins & Mehserle

Nicholas "Nick" Cabrera has joined RE/MAX Platinum Realty as a realtor in the Downtown Sarasota office. Previously with Century 21, he specializes in Manatee and Sarasota county properties, and is fluent in Spanish and English. Before obtaining his real estate license, he worked in wholesale cell phone sales and construction. RE/MAX Platinum Realty offers full-service residential real estate solutions in Sarasota and Manatee counties in Florida, specializing in luxury and waterfront properties. 

RE/MAX Platinum Realty