Chamber CONNECTion | Anniversary Edition!

OCTOBER - ANNIVERSARY EDITION

OUR CHAMBER CELEBRATES 97 YEARS THIS WEEK!

Birthdays are more than just a momentary pause in the calendar to celebrate – they are a grand opportunity to gather people together to recognize a significant milestone or achievement.

And do we love to celebrate at our Chamber!

From our various awards programs to Small Business Saturday to convening each month to honor our newest members, we love a reason to revel in our members’ glory.

This week, as we take a moment to honor our own 97th anniversary, we hope you will take time to join us in person, or send a congratulatory note on social media or just jump for joy.

When we were founded nearly a century ago by George E. Merrick, he had a vision of a business building organization that would be not only of ser vice to our members, but to our community, as well.

Today, we honor that legacy and work collaborative ly with partners, stakeholders and each of you so that we can continue the good work of our founder.

This week, there will be many activities, culminating with a Birthday Blitz on Friday, 10/14 at 10:14 AM.

All of our members are invited to then “walkabout” our downtown Friday morning as we stop in and say hello to current and prospective members.

If you are interested in joining us on Friday, please email us at info@coralgableschamber.org to reserve your spot!

And speaking of awards programs, don’t forget to nom inate a great business in one of our 13 categories for this year’s Diamond Awards, presented by SouthState Bank.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Chamber Birthday Blitz Page 1

Note From Chairman Thad Adams Page 2

Note From Mark A. Trowbridge Page 3

City Beautiful Magazine Page 4

Upcoming Events Page 5

'22 -'23 Board + New Members Page 6

October Calendar Page 7

Sponsor Recognition Page 8

OUR CHAIR

I am so excited for the privilege to serve as this year’s Chair of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. For the past 17 years, I have been engaged with this amazing organization in many ways and in many positions. As a result, I am convinced there is no better entity that serves and supports our business community in South Florida and beyond. As Mark Trowbridge says, “We punch above our weight!” Yes we do.

So, I selected All In as this year’s theme that I borrowed from the Chairman & CEO of my company, Allen Morris, as it happens to be the title of his new book. When we began putting together my theme and initiatives for the year, I kept coming back to all the different ways that we engage with our members and commit to a greater good. There are the obvious ones – our events and networking activities and committee meetings. Then, there are the subtle ways, working behind the scenes with our stakeholders and partners as we advocate for your success. In essence, the work we do and the success we desire requires everyone to be ALL IN

So here is a summary of my priorities for this year:

First, we all desire to see our economy in full recovery mode and focused on each of our businesses – your story, your success, your needs.

THAD ADAMS

CHAIR OF THE BOARD MANAGING PARTNER

THE ALLEN MORRIS COMPANY

Our Chamber strives to be a best practice leader – but we are only as strong as our membership and its participation. In this moment of survive and thrive, we must maximize our recovery and future growth by doing business with one another. I propose a local business survey where we best understand your story, your needs, your formula for success. As a member of the City’s Economic Development Board, we are completing an economic study and finalizing our strategic plan so there is no better time to coalesce around common goals that put you –our businesses – front and center. This will not only help you grow, but it will inform us as to the best ways to recruit and retain companies that will elevate our entire business community and produce material financial, educational, health care, public safety and cultural benefits to the residents of Coral Gables.

REAL ESTATE

As a long-tenured real estate professional – and with the generous support of my team at the Allen Morris Company – we will endeavor to elevate the role of our realtor and broker community in the Gables. We will bring back our Broker Reception – in partnership with the City – and focus on ways we sell Coral Gables in a more targeted and tactical manner. We are convening a Real Estate Committee – led by Sara Hernandez of First Citizens Bank and my Chair-Elect - to work with strategic partners locally and around the state to educate, inform and raise the profile of our industry. It is an essential part of who we are – taking us back to our earliest days and George Merrick himself.

STRATEGIC PLAN

At our Annual Conference , you heard from Convergent Non-Profit Solutions, the team who has been working with our Board, Committee Chairs and members on a new strategic plan for our Chamber for the past 6 months. As with any plan, it requires tremendous input and deliberate outcomes. Your voice has been essential – and it will continue to be as we raise the profile of our Chamber yet again in the greater South Florida community. We have taken great strides these past two years – even in the midst of a pandemic and challenging economic times – to take our rightful role as the leading Chamber in Greater Miami.

COMMUNITY OF EXCELLENCE

We are focused to become one of the first communities of excellence – a highly respected national initiative that we as a Chamber have undertaken with our partners at Doctors Hospital/Baptist Health South Florida, the City and the Coral Gables Community Foundation. Last month, the President of the United States signed a law authorizing "Community” to become the seventh category of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards. The bill authorizes communities across the United States to apply for, and receive, the highest-level of recognition for quality and performance excellence using the Baldrige Criteria. The award is presented by the President himself. This multi-year endeavor is designed to get a better understanding of our community as a whole and think how we can work together to transform Coral Gables as we take a systematic approach to community performance. There is no better time to do so as we look to recovery from a world-wide pandemic and economic uncertainty that has hit our community and local businesses especially hard.

MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN

As an outgrowth of our COE efforts, we are pleased to announce that we will be designing and launching a Chamber-wide member ship campaign this year. A homage to Chamber membership drives of the past, this very modern campaign will involve all of you as we seek to continue to grow – while helping you strengthen your businesses. My own father Larry Adams ran one of these during his tenure as a Chamber Chair with record setting fundraising results. Not only was it a fun and friendly competition, but it reminded the community of the Chamber’s role and relevance in serving as a voice for the business community at large. I hope you will embrace this opportunity with me. Over the years, we have evolved into a community of forward leaning, highly driven, laser focused business leaders. It is a calling card for the Gables and our Chamber today. Our Chamber, partners and members have the wherewithal to teach and be taught; lead and be led; charge forward and stand back; open our hearts and close the deal. This is the very definition of being ALL IN! I can’t wait to get started and hope you feel the same!

| BIRTHDAY BLITZ WEEK

Our Chamber turns 97 this week and we cannot wait to celebrate with you, our valued members and partners.

Ninety-seven is a major milestone for any human, pet, historic home, or multi-gen eration business, and while not as sexy as turning 95 or 100 – we are wedged delightfully in between.

It is also a great practice run for our Chamber’s centennial celebration which is now just a short three years away.

And celebrate we will with a week-long schedule of activities, beginning and ending with opportunities to gather and have fun.

When George E. Merrick first conceived of our Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, he was also intensely involved in founding our City of Coral Gables, helping dream up the University of Miami, and creating civic organizations for both his mother, wife and himself.

MARK A. TROWBRIDGE

& CEO

GABLES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

As our founding Chairman, we honor Merrick each year with the George E. Merrick Award of excellence, a coveted award that went to T. Gene Prescott, president of our beloved Biltmore Hotel this year. Past winners have included such community notables as Arva Moore Parks McCabe, Betsey Adams, Ambassador Charles Cobb, the late Robert Fewell, Barbara Stein and elected leaders Bill Kerdyk, Jr., Chip With ers, the late Jim Barker, and Jim Cason. All possessed the very attributes of Merrick that make our City Beautiful shine – commit to education, beautification, the arts, historic preservation, thoughtful development, public service and more.

In the decades that followed Merrick’s service to the business community, our Chamber weathered many storms, including the Great Depression and Great Recession, a land boom and subsequent bust, multiple hurricanes (including the big one of 1926 and Andrew in 1992), changing attitudes toward suburban living, the arrival of an increasingly diverse workforce, and most recently, a world-wide pandemic that nearly closed our global economy for good. Yet, through it all we survived…and thrived.

Today, your Chamber is stronger than ever and boasts the largest membership in the tri-county area, along with a cadre of programs and services that outpace our peers. Having just completed our new five-year Strategic Plan, we are keenly aware of who we are and where we are headed. We set the pace for the present and future of membership-based organizations and are proud to lead from the front.

Finally, we hope you will join us on Friday (10/14) for our annual Birthday Blitz at 10:14 AM, a walk-about conceived nearly a decade ago to visit with local businesses of all shapes and sizes in their storefronts, restaurants, and offices. What a great way to get to know our Chamber even better, as well as our leadership and membership, than to pay a personal visit and offer our support. This group of dedicated leaders have helped elevate our Chamber for the past 97 years and we could not be more grateful to them.

In closing, 97 seems to be “our number” this year, as it not only celebrates our Chamber’s anniversary, but the age of Sir Winston Churchill Trowbridge when he passed late last month. We were together for nearly 13 of his 14 years and well, no one could have asked for a more faithful and dedicated companion to go through this journey called life. I am eternally grateful to each of you for your well wishes, sweets words and beautiful flowers commemorating on his loss.

Your kind compassion and true love is why we are the Chamber we are.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Chair of the Board

Thad Adams, The Allen Morris Company Chair-Elect

Sara M. Hernandez, First Citizens Bank

First Vice Chair

Addys Kuryla, Florida Power and Light Treasurer

Audrey Otero, PNC Bank

Parliamentarian

Alina Menendez, American Airlines

Immediate Past Chairman

Ana Chaoui, Southstate Bank

Vice Chairman-Global Business Affairs

Deirdre Nero, NERO Immigration Law, P.L.

Vice Chairman-Community Affairs

Adrian Nunez, University of Miami

Vice Chairman-Business & Economic Development

Rick Alberty, Well Groomed Gentlemen

Vice Chairman-Member Affairs

Nguyen Cabanilla, ContactLink

Vice Chairman-Special Events

Lauren Dowlen, Lowell International Realty, LLC Vice Chairman-Gov’t & Legislative Affairs

Maria Garcia, Kozyak Tropin and Throckmorton Trustee Council Chair

Mitchell Mandler, SMGQ Law Chairman’s Appointee

Jose Romano, Doctors Hospital President & CEO

Mark A. Trowbridge

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Greg Barnes, Mercedes-Benz of Coral Gables Steven Bradley, Clutch Burger Giselle Breto, Best Practices Title, LLC

Melissa Castro, M.E.D. Expeditors

Amy Donner, Coral Gables Magazine

Drew Kern, Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices EWM Realty Matthias Kammerer, The Biltmore Hotel Andre Luck, Miami Marlins Jorge Martinez, Florida Blue Cristina Miller, Intermedia Touch Rosanna Molinari Weber, Pita Weber Del Prado Rene Negron, Equitable Advisors, LLC Rosella Papale, Higgs Hubb Monique Selman, Albany Homes Construction Lillian Ser, Ser & Associates, PLLC

Anabella Smith, Zyscovich Architects

Arianna Urquia, Nicklaus Childrens Hospital Cinthya Urena, City National Bank of Florida Myrna Vaca, UHealth Jessica Wilcox, J. Wilcox Consulting

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

City of Coral Gables Vice Mayor Michael Mena City of Coral Gables Belkys Perez

Business Improvement District

Ari Bittel, Terranova Corp

Coral Gables Community Foundation

Eric Grois-Dubois

Miami-Dade Beacon Council

James C. Kohnstamm

Welcome TO OUR NEWEST CHAMBER MEMBERS + RENEWALS

MEMBERS

T-Mobile

Amerihealth Home Care Agency

Arlo Wynwood Cabanas Consulting Homexperience

Ingage Biz Digital Marketing Laowai Enterprises

LUMEN Construction Services LLC

Montano-Miranda P.A. T-Mobile AMP Group Mental Health Services

Space Coast Credit Union Ruth's Chris Steak House Debowsky Design Group Location Ventures

Mayfair House Hotel & Garden

Mutual of Omaha

WE Staffing

*BOLD

*BOLD

RENEWALS

Jackson Health Foundation

Albany Homes

J. Wilcox Consulting

Stephan Baker MD

Codina Partners

Keen Battle Mead & Company

Rebeca Castellon PA

The Saade Law Firm, P.A.

Alcat Communications International LLC

The Biltmore School

Edward Jones

Ultimate Medical Center Beasley, Demos & Brown, LLC

Pena Garcia & Diz, PLLC

G Alvarez Studio, Inc.

ZOMMA Group, LLP Mutual of Omaha Advisors

JP Morgan Chase & Co. Suddath Relocation Systems

Intermedia Touch

Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired Coral Gables Community Foundation

Miami Dade CollegeEduardo J. Padron Campus

Talavera Cocina Mexicana

Integrity Wealth Advisory of Raymond James TD Bank

Shops at Merrick Park

Northwestern MutualCoral Gables

Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, P.A. VIM Wealth Management CrystalFi

BARAKAT + BOSSA

CHAMBER OFFICE CLOSED

CORAL GABLES CHAMBER’S 97th BIRTHDAY

9 AM | CONVERSATION WITH A CONSUL SERIES

Featuring Ricardo Pedraza, ProColombia - VIA ZOOM-

AM | WOMEN’S BUSINESS NETWORK LUNCHEON

13 BREWERY

AM | BUSINESS & GOV’T AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MEETING -in partnership withSMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE

NOON | RE-CONNECT LUNCHEON @MORTON’S

PM | WIND DOWN WEDNESDAY @SushiMaki

AM | WOMEN’S

NETWORK

12 PM | BUSINESS BOOK CLUB

Featuring Marshall Jon Fisher, Author of “Seventeen and Oh” Miami, 1972 - VIA ZOOM-

PM | IMPACT: A SEMINAR SERIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS @MORTON’S THE STEAKHOUSE

by Amerant Bank

8 AM | MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE MEETING

AM | CHAMBER ENGAGEMENT

CHAMBER HQ -

BLITZ CELEBRATION 10:14AM

11:30 AM | TRUSTEE & GEM INVESTORS LUNCHEON

HYATT HOTEL

AM | GOOD MORNING CORAL GABLES BREAKFAST @THE BILTMORE HOTEL

AM | BUSINESS & EDUCATION COMM. MEETING

| ARCHITECTURAL WALKING

SPONSOR RECOGNITION

WIND DOWN WEDNESDAY

GOOD MORNING CORAL GABLES

BOARD

WOMEN'S BUSINESS NETWORK LUNCHEON

SEPTEMBER

BUSINESS BOOK CLUB LUNCH & LEARN

SERIES SPONSOR PARTNER

SPONSORSHIP / INVESTOR HALL OF FAME Through December 2022

$5,000 & Above

Amerant Bank

Equitable Advisors

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty

SouthState Bank City of Coral Gables

City National Bank of Florida

Doctors Hospital, part of Baptist Health South Florida Florida Blue UHealth Florida Power & Light

$2,500 - $4,999

Home Financing Center, Inc.

NERO Immigration Law, P.L.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

IMPACT SEMINAR

SERIES SPONSOR PARTNER

RE-CONNECT LUNCHEON

SERIES SPONSORS