School district works to increase number of small business vendors

By MEGHAN BRADBURY news@breezenewspapers com

The School District of Lee Count working to increase small business pa ticipation in district contracts

T h e S m a l l B u s i n e s s E n t e r p r i s e Policy was adopted at the end of 2021 to create the Small Business Enterprise Program

B u s i n e s s S e r v i c e s E x e c u t i v e Director Susan Malay said the program was established to increase com petition with local small business o major construction contracts; create j and foster economic growth

A partnership was established wit Gulf Coast University to set the thresholds to define small, establish a certification process and share standards, and gather feedback The district worked with the Regional Economic Research Institute to establish a threshold for the number of employees in a small business and the Small Business Development Center to establish a threshold in the annual revenue of a small business

She said with a threshold of 20 employees as the size factor of measuring small businesses, they would hit 93 percent of the businesses in Lee County that are under 20 employees

As far as the revenue threshold, the cap for measuring small business revenue would be $10 million for the most recent three years with recertification every three small business would also have to be business for at least two years

“Our partners at FGCU have agreed o administer the certification process They are currently doing this assisting by looking at books, taxes and looking at business plans,” Malay s a i d “ P a r t o f o u r r e g i s t r a t i o n process of vendors closely aligns with FGCU ”

B o a r d M e m b e r J a d a L a n g f o r dleming shared concerns about conining a small business to 20 employspecially in the past year with many s hiring more people to get the work done post hurricane

“I support this small business ideal. It was the backbone of what our country was built on,” she said

Board Member Melisa Giovannelli agreed that the Small Business Enterprise Program is going to be a healthy opportunity and healthy competition

“I am hoping more local,” she said about the businesses “I am all about feeding our local economy ”

The district will continue community engagement regarding the program, as well as continue its partnership with FGCU for the vendor certification process In addition, the next steps include identifying and soliciting prime contracts for small business bidding and establishing mandatory small business subcontracting goals for certain large projects

Legion hosts holiday celebration, fundraiser

American Legion Post 123 on Sanibel hosted a Fourth of July holiday celebration with over 300 attendees The event featured food, drinks and fun, plus raised funds for rebuilding efforts.

“We are overwhelmed by the response we received from our neighbors and friends,” Commander John Hird said “This event would not have been possible without their help and donations We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for honoring our service and sacrifice.”

The legion also announced that its tiki bar will reopen in late July after undergoing renovations

For more information, visit “American Legion Post 123 Sanibel Florida” on Facebook

American Legion Post 123 is at 4249 Sanibel-Captiva Road, Sanibel

SANIBEL-CAPTIVA KIWANIS CLUB

Sanibel-Captiva Kiwanis Club President-elect Jeff Blackman and Bill Boswell.

Kiwanis member receives award

The Sanibel-Captiva Kiwanis Club reported that Kiwanian William Boswell was recently awarded the Legion of Honor from Kiwanis International. He has been a member of the island club for 40 years

SANIBEL-CAPTIVA KIWANIS CLUB

Florida Department of Transportation project manager and lead engineer Kati Chapman Sherrard and Sanibel-Captiva Kiwanis Club President Joel Goodman

Kiwanis holds meeting with speaker

The Sanibel-Captiva Kiwanis Club w e l c o m e d F l o r i d a D e p a r t m e n t o f T r a n s p o r t a t i o n p r o j e c t m a n a g e r a n d lead engineer Kati Chapman Sherrard as its guest speaker at its recent meeting Her team was responsible for temporarily restoring the Sanibel Causeway after it was damaged during Hurricane Ian Sherrard shared her experience and challenges of leading the emergency repair project S he als o prais ed the cooperation and support of local, state and federal authorities, businesses and residents for helping to expedite the process The club is holding meetings o n T u e s d a y s a t 8 a m a t T h e Community House, at 2173 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel For more information, visit www sanibelkiwanis org u

PRESERVING PARADISE

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