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Articles:
Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance tapping into a need
Published: Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011
By JAMES A. JONES JR. - jajones1@bradenton.com
LAKEWOOD RANCH -- Among the many business networking groups born during the heyday of growth in East Manatee, the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance is the one that flourished and has become the biggest and most powerful.
Not only that, it has grown and maintained its robustness during the prolonged down economy.
The Alliance, with 450 core members, and 993 group members, succeeded because it filled a need and gave voice to businesses in East Manatee, said Robin Parsons, business development director. Ambition has been a hallmark of the Alliance since it was formed in early 2005.
Founders of the Alliance set to look out for the interests of businesses at Lakewood Ranch, ensure a return on the hundreds of millions of dollars of property taxes paid into county coffers, and to tear down “the giant wall” that sometimes seems to hinder communication between Manatee and Sarasota counties, the Herald reported in 2005.
Another hallmark of the Alliance has been the strong personalities and leadership of its members, and the way they have been able to run a lean organization.
Directors brought Parsons onboard in 2007, nearly three years after volunteers called the first meeting to explore founding the Alliance.
Until recently, she was the organization’s only paid staff member. She now has an executive assistant, Amanda Vercheski.
“It was a critical point in our history to grow and continue to exist,” said founding member Craig Cerreta of Parsons’ hiring.
When Parsons joined the Alliance, it only had 150 members, and volunteers were facing burnout from the time commitment needed to keep the organization going, Cerreta said.
The Alliance has since tripled its strength. It has no problems attracting movers and shakers as monthly speakers, everyone from Alex Sink, Florida’s former chief financial officer and gubernatorial candidate, to Rex Jensen, president and chief executive officer of developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch.
Bobbi Larson, the Alliance’s chairman of the board, said the organization seeks to take its lead from its members.
It has been strongly pro-business, and unafraid to take stands on controversial issues. Most notably, the Alliance opposed Amendment 4, which would have required voter approval on all changes to comprehensive plans, and regularly endorses political candidates.
“We are doing some strategic planning for the next five years,” Larson said of the Alliance’s long view and support of economic development.
True to its founding, the Alliance has managed to give voice to Lakewood Ranch businesses -- 48 percent of its membership comes from within the boundaries of Lakewood Ranch, while bridging the county line -- 20 percent of members are from Manatee County, 31 percent are from Sarasota County, and 1 percent are from elsewhere.
In addition, while there is still a small paid staff, directors remain very involved. “Our board is very much a working board and helps to keep our costs down,” Parsons said.
For more about the Alliance, call 941-757-1664 or visit www.LWRBA.org
James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee editor, can be contacted at 941-745-7021.
New Lakewood Ranch sports complex will be economic boom for area, officials say
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2011
LAKEWOOD RANCH -- A 70-acre sports complex touted as an economic development engine for Manatee County has been named the Premier Sports Campus at Lakewood Ranch.
And it has a logo, too: a shield with soccer, lacrosse and baseball players, a few of the sports expected to be played on the sea of grass near the Lakewood Ranch Post Office.
In announcing the new name Monday, Rex Jensen, president and chief executive officer of developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, invited guests at a press conference to look from State Road 70 north to a treeline on the horizon and envision it filled with thousands of players.
That is the scope of the Premier Sports Campus, a place where families, recreation and economic development will merge, he said.
Hundreds of soccer teams are expected to participate in a series of tournaments planned at the complex, with the first one hosted by anchor tenant Clearwater Chargers on April 30.
Each player is typically accompanied by at least three family members, filling restaurants and hotels, and pumping fresh cash into the economy of Manatee and Sarasota, said Jason Puckett, sports manager for Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The economic impact of that one tourney has been forecast at $700,000.
It’s likely that one or more hotels will eventually be built in the vicinity to help accommodate the visitors, Jensen said.
“We have had many inquiries already from across the United States and Europe,” said Tim Mulqueen, director of sports.
The inquiries have come from youth sports teams, as well as professional teams, looking for a new training facility, Mulqueen said.
Among those expected to come to the complex is Tim Howard, American national team goalkeeper. Howard will start a goalkeepers’ academy at Lakewood Ranch this year, Mulqueen said. By 2012, the Howard academy will operate year-round.
“America’s future national team players are playing on youth fields across the country and the Premier Sports Campus is the perfect facility for maximizing youth development,” Howard said in a statement read at the press conference.
The Premier Sports Campus will be the largest of its kind in Florida, Mulqueen said.
Rob O’Nan of the Clearwater Chargers said Lakewood Ranch is well known to his organization, which has held a number of events over the years at the Sarasota Polo Club.
One of those events, the Puma Challenge, was worth $4.5 million to Manatee-Sarasota over a five-year period, O’Nan said.
“There is nothing else like this in the state of Florida,” O’Nan said.
The gates are wide open to a new kind of economic development with the new complex -- “the Daytona 500 in grass sports,” said Joe Pickett, Manatee County sports commissioner.
The sports complex shows how a master planned community can become a regional hub of economic development, said Craig Cerretta, a board member of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance.
Mercedes Movilla, a Lakewood Ranch architect whose 14-year-old son is a soccer player, submitted the winning name of Premier Sports Complex. She received a $1,000 prize.
Michael Muscarella of Sarasota submitted the winning logo design. He received a $2,000 cash reward.
Nearly 500 entries were submitted in the two contests, Mulqueen said.
The Clearwater Chargers have set tryouts for their soccer academy on May 4. Tryouts for a competitive league have been set for May 31. The Chargers are expected to form a recreation league for players 4-19 this fall.
Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/2011/03/22/3051602/sports-complex-gets-a-name-logo.html##ixzz1HMPOpkGw
