PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

2022? My, how the time flies. Kicking off another year is undoubtedly exciting, and the future is bright for Bay County.

As most of you know, we have new Chamber Leadership each year. Garrett Anderson is at the helm as the 2022 Chairman of the Board, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have a local entrepreneur leading us through the year. But, of course, in his profession as a building contractor, affordable housing and trades education within our school district is top of mind.

You can see the Chamber’s position on those and other issues in our Legislative Agenda on our website, PanamaCity.org. Many other topics affecting the well-being of our community are also included in the document. In December, it was presented to our local and state delegation (Senator Gainer and Representatives Trumbull and Drake). One-on-one visits will take place at the beginning of the year when our Governmental Affairs Staff and subject-matter experts travel to the state capital and meet with agencies such as the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC), Department of Transportation (DOT), and Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) representatives.

Our 2022 Business Plan can also be found on the website and highlights the top five priorities for the organization for the year:

› The Marina Civic Center and the need to move forward with the rebuild.

› Quality education is of the utmost importance to the success of any community. Therefore, research is underway to determine factual data to support (or not) the need for an appointed school superintendent.

› Affordable workforce housing - this remains at a critical level for our community. State funding through Sadowski Funds and local housing trust funds must be protected. › Presently, high school students have limited opportunities to explore careers in the technical trades (i.e., construction and skilled labor). This issue ties directly to the workforce housing topic as available skilled trade individuals limit contractor resources.

› As the community’s only retail/commercial development recruitment effort, the continued partnership with NextSite will be evaluated.

These priorities were determined during the November Board of Directors Planning Session, a day-long event that took a look at our entire community from the thirty-thousand-foot view. Congressman Dunn, Bay County manager Bob Maka, Commanding Officers Col. Greg Moseley from TAFB and CMDR Keith Foster from NSA-PC, Bay Defense Alliance VP Glen McDonald, Assistant Port Director John Miller, Bay EDA President Becca Hardin, ECP Airport Director Parker McClellan, Bay County TDC Director Dan Rowe, Destination Panama City President Jennifer Vigil, and Mexico Beach TDC President Kimberley Shoaf all gave updates on their respective industries and discussed subjects of interest to the board.

Each year, this process is conducted to ensure the organization stays apprised of current issues and opportunities.

In this issue, we’re proud to bring you an in-depth story on Latitude 29 Margaritaville. This development is exciting to the future of our entire region, supplying much need housing. In addition, you’ll learn how various members of our community are working to build a better bay, including the expansions coming to Tyndall Elementary School, a new procedure being offered at Ascension Sacred Heart Bay to reduce the chance of stroke, and the improvement to radio systems used by local first responders to keep them and the community safe.

To close, I hope you’ll plan to drop by our office and see our new addition to the building. We’ve joined the downtown community in the mural project and now have a beautiful vintage postcard on the east end of the building. It makes an excellent place for a photo op, so we hope you’ll bring friends and family to take advantage of the newest backdrop in Bay County. We would like to thank Destination Panama City and the Bay Arts Alliance for making it all possible. A special thank you goes to the artist, Morgan Summers, who brought our vision to life.

We thank all of our investors for supporting this great organization and helping to build a better Bay County.

Carol A. Roberts

President/CEO

Paradisehas arrived

ON THE EMERALD COAST

LIVE THE LIFE YOU’VE DREAMED AT LATITUDE MARGARITAVILLE WATERSOUND!

Sunshine and cool breezes. Palm trees and margaritas. Welcome to Latitude Margaritaville, a 55-and-better community inspired by the legendary music and lifestyle of Jimmy Buffett, built on food, fun, music and escapism.

Escape to the place where fun and relaxation meet. Escape to island-inspired living as you grow older, but not up. Escape to Latitude Margaritaville Watersound, located on Hwy 79, less than 8 miles from the beach.

New Homes from the $200s

sales center and 13 models open daily Latitude Margaritaville Watersound (866) 594-3298

9201 Highway 79, Panama City Beach, FL 32413 Mon. - Sat. 9:00am - 5:00pm | Sun. 11:00am - 5:00pm