www.Sanibel-Captiva.org
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Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce 2013-2014 Board of Directors Mark Anderson Benchmark General Contractors 16836 McGregor Blvd Fort Myers, FL 33908 manderson@benchmark-gc.com
Ken Kouril The Sanctuary Golf Club 2801 Wulfert Road Sanibel, FL 33957 kkouril@sanctuarygc.net
Doug Babcock Tween Waters Inn P.O. Box 249 Captiva, FL 33924 dougbabcock22@gmail.com
Michael Miller – Chair Michael P. Miller CPA, P.L. 2340 Periwinkle Way, Suite J-2 Sanibel, FL 33957 mikemiller@sancapcpa.com
Mark Blust Timbers Restaurant 703 Tarpon Bay Road Sanibel, FL 33957 mblust@prawnbroker.com
Robert Monk Murty & Monk, P.A. 1633 Periwinkle Way, Suite A Sanibel, FL 33957 rmonk@murtymonk.com
Blanaid Colley Hillgate Communications 2451 Periwinkle Way Sanibel, FL 33957 Blanaid@hillgate.biz
Chris Pendleton Edison & Ford Winter Estates P.O. Box 2368 Fort Myers, FL 33902 cpendleton@efwefla.org
Chris Davison Island Inn 3111 West Gulf Drive Sanibel, FL 33957 chrisd@islandinnsanibel.com
Fran Peters Island Vacations of Sanibel & Captiva, Inc. 1101 Periwinkle Way, Suite 108 Sanibel, FL 33957 fran@sanibelislandvacations.com
Dru Anne Doyle Times of the Islands P. O. Box 1227 Sanibel, FL 33957 dru@toti.com
Donna Puma Pinocchio’s Original Italian Ice Cream 362 Periwinkle Way Sanibel, Fl 33957 dmtp@aol
Lee Ellen Harder - Secretary BIG ARTS 900 Dunlop Sanibel, FL 33957 lharder@bigarts.org
Jeff Shuff - Treasurer Tween Waters Inn P.O. Box 249 Captiva, FL 33924 jshuff@tween-waters.com
Barb Harrington – Past Chair RLR Investments, LLC 2340 Periwinkle Way, Suite K Sanibel, FL 33957 barb.harrington@RLRLLC.com
Sonja Smith Suitor Condominium Association of Sanibel, Inc. P. O. Box 1041 Sanibel, FL 33957 suitors@earthlink.net
Chris Heidrick - Chair Elect Heidrick & Company P.O. Box 59 Sanibel, FL 33957 chris@sanibelinsurance.com
Ric Base President 1159 Causeway Road Sanibel, Florida 33957 ric@sanibel-captiva.org
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Official Publication of The Islands of
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CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
1159 Causeway Road Sanibel Island, Florida 33957 Phone: 239-472-1080 Fax: 239-395-0783
www.Sanibel-Captiva.Org PRESIDENT Ric Base
EDITOR & DESIGN Bridgit Stone-Budd
LAYOUT & GRAPHICS Lorraine Milano
CONTRIBUTORS Mike Miller Bridgit Stone-Budd
CHAMBER PHOTOGRAPHY, Hillgate Communications
CHAMBER STAFF Ric Base, President Steve Ehrhart, Director of Operations Bridgit Stone-Budd, Director of Marketing Tyrone Humbles, Promotions - Chamber Tour Bus VISITOR CENTER STAFF Candice Thompson, Visitor Center Supervisor Bob Bechhold, Anne Liese, Allen Myers, Don Oglander, Barry Solomon, Jim Slattery George Veillette, Lisa Williams The Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber NewsMagazine is published quarterly by The Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce. Circulation: 6000 Online: www.Sanibel-Captiva.Org
For advertising or submissions, please contact Bridgit @ 239-472-8255 or Services@Sanibel-Captiva.Org For subscriptions or address changes, please contact Steve @ 239-472-8759 or Support@Sanibel-Captiva.Org
Our Mission: To Promote the Prosperity of Our Members and Preserve the Quality of Life in Our Community
Chamber Annual Trolley Tour One of the stops: Zebra Frozen Yogurt. Box lunches served by Bailey’s General Store.
In order to better serve their 190,000 visitors each year, the Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce put together a Trolley Tour for their Visitor Center staff and volunteers. The Trolley Tour took place on January 9 and 10 and ran throughout the islands, stopping at new businesses and businesses that have made recent changes or upgrades. The two trolleys and drivers were provided kindly by Adventures in Paradise again this year. “The objective of the Trolley Tour was to provide the people that work in our Visitor Center with the knowledge and experience of visiting many of our island businesses to learn
what they offer and how best to present them to our visitors,” said Ric Base, President of the Chamber of Commerce. Two trolleys set out to the businesses that participated which included Seaside Inn, Song of the Sea, Sanibel Inn, Holiday Inn Sanibel, Gulf Breeze Cottages, Anchor Inn & Motel, Shalimar Resort, Lily & Co., Casa Ybel Resort, The Castaways, Tropical Winds Motel & Cottages, Blue Dolphin Cottages, Beachview Cottages, Sanibel Sunset Beach Resort, Island Inn, Ocean’s Reach, Zebra Frozen Yogurt, Periwinkle Place, Congress Jewelers, Cedar Chest Fine Jewelry, and Spatini Tea Bar. Cip’s Place and Bailey’s Catering provided lunches for the group.
Cover credit: Connor Stone www.Sanibel-Captiva.org
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C H A M B E R Royal Shell After Hours - Catered by Bailey’s General Store
Chamber After Hours hosted by The Lighthouse Waterfront Restaurant
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Our Mission: To Promote the Prosperity of Our Members and Preserve the Quality of Life in Our Community
Chamber Schedule of Events 2013
2013 events will fill up fast! Claim your Luncheon Sponsorship and/or After Hours Host now!
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I am writing this article, my last as Chair of your Chamber, with great pride. Over the past year the Chamber has had some significant successes – new members, our highest member retention rate ever, excellent media exposure for our islands and a continued close working relationship with the City of Sanibel and the Council. None of this work could be done without the skills and enthusiasm of the Chamber staff and volunteers – and of course our 600+ Chamber members. As my term as Chair draws to a close, I thought I would share with you some of the highlights of our collective success to remind us all of what an active and successful Chamber we are.
Mike’s Pic Here
FROMMER’S #1 FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION January 2012
Arthur Frommer, travel magnate, listed his top 10 favorite travel destinations and Sanibel Island was ranked number one in the world.
GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORD February 2012
More than 800 people showed up on Bowman’s Beach to break the Guinness World Record – all stooping for shells at the same time. The resulting TV, newspaper and social media coverage was very impressive.
RETAIL EXPO February 5, 2012
The annual Community Fair and Retail Expo was a great success last year. Over 65 businesses and organizations took part and the number of attendees grew from previous years. This fun event gave the whole community an opportunity to mix and mingle with businesses and organizations learning about what the islands finest businesses have to offer.
50TH ANNIVERSARY February 20, 2012
The Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce celebrated 50 years of service on February 20 at the Visitors’ Center. The chamber hosted an evening reception for Chamber members that highlighted the “Evolution of Paradise.” The reception included food and beverages, music that spanned the 50 year era and included guest speakers: Francis Bailey, Jr., Ralph Woodring, Dick Meunch and Mike Billheimer.
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Our Mission: To Promote the Prosperity of Our Members and Preserve the Quality of Life in Our Community
Launched NEW WEBSITE: February 22, 2012
The Chamber website currently receives over 1.5 million unique visits per year. Enhancements and new technology upgrades allow us to reach even more visitors around the world. The new website is more user-friendly and includes better navigation, integrated social networking on the site and an easy to use online help chat feature. Chamber members’ section of the website has also been improved. Members can now register for chamber events more easily, view the Chamber calendar and contacting other chamber members has been simplified.
MARTHA STEWART: March 2012
The Martha Stewart show featured Hannah Millman making a shell craft while she spoke about Sanibel and the Shell Fair.
ANNUAL MEETINIG: April 17, 2012
The Annual Meeting was held at ‘Tween Waters on Captiva. More than 160 members and guests were in attendance. The Chamber gathered to review with its members the key activities and achievements over this past year. Following the ceremony, a cocktail reception was held at The Old Captiva House where members of the Chamber and guests mingled and had a great time while they enjoyed fine food and cocktails.
VISITOR CENTER RANKS #1 ON TRIP ADVISOR June 2012
The Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center was ranked #1 on TripAdvisor with more than 96% of reviewers rated the Visitor Center either excellent or very good. Visitors from all over the world have shared their reviews on TripAdvisor and have given the Visitor’s Center an overall visitor rating of Excellent.
4th of JULY: Fireworks
The spectacular firework show was enjoyed by the many hundreds of people who gathered at the Dunes Golf and Tennis club, on the causeway and in boats on the water. The fireworks show was presented this year by the Zambelli brothers, whose long experience on Sanibel enabled them to create a show that was bigger and better than ever.
LUMINARY: December 7 & 8
The Sanibel and Captiva Chamber of Commerce’s Luminary Festival Weekend took place December 7 and 8 throughout the islands of Sanibel and Captiva. A record number of people turned out for the event and participated in the Luminary Trail. Trolley stops ranged from the East End to the Bailey’s Center. Captiva saw their largest Luminary crowd yet from ‘Tween Waters Inn to Chadwick’s Square. Participants gathered at the trolley stops to enjoy refreshments from the local business and to enjoy the live entertainment that many places offered.
www.Sanibel-Captiva.org
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C H A M B E R Phoenix, File & Pagidipati Ribbon Cutting. Catered by The Greenhouse Grill
Island BBQ Ribbon Cutting
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Our Mission: To Promote the Prosperity of Our Members and Preserve the Quality of Life in Our Community
Welcome New Members
Justin Powell, Proprietor Blueashmedia.com 800-832-4291
ALL STAR Vacation Homes Sara Moore, VP of Marketing 11513 Andy Rosse Lane, Captiva allstarvacationhomes.com 239-206-2146
Acme Charter Company Cary Myers, Captain acmechartercompany.com 239-895-8925
Noack, Mitchell & Company, CPA Janet Noack, Founder & Managing Partner noackmitchellcpa.com 239-395-1132
Milissa Sprecher, Owner/Photographer Serving Sanibel & Captiva Islands organic-images.com (239) 738-6302
Starfish Grille & Star Bar Chris Whitaker, Proprietor 1231 Middle Gulf Drive, Sanibel starfishgrillesanibel.com 239-472-STAR
Jeremy Kane, Proprietor In the Bailey’s Center, Sanibel zebrafrozenyogurt.com (239) 579-0860
Sealife by Congress Mary Benzrihem, Manager Periwinkle Place, Sanibel Congressjewelers.com (239) 472-4177
Deidra Ominski, Branch Manager 2408 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel Suntrust.com (239) 472-8855
www.Sanibel-Captiva.org
Kasey Harrell, Realtor John Naumann & Associates kc.harrell@mac.com 239-850-7602 www.SteveAndToby.com
Florida Advertising Services John Binder, Sales & Distribution Manager Serving Sanibel & Captiva Islands floridaadvertisingservices.com (239) 939-3530 The Islands of
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Welcome New Members
Steve Harrell… Real Estate Sales & Service Steveandtoby.com (239) 565-1277
Seacoast Cottage Company General Contracting Seacoastcottagecompany.com (239) 462-2679
Chandler, Mathis and Zivley W. Perry Zivley, Attorney Cmzlaw.net (877) 739-7744
Jonathan Tongyai, Owner/Photographer 2340 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel islandphotographyllc.com (239) 691-7700
Garmager Success Coaching, Inc. Tim Garmager, President Successandhappiness.com (239) 410-9668
J. McLaughlin Pegge Ford, Manager 1616 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel Jmclaughlin.com (239) 579-0425
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MangroveMasters, LLC Jack Boutchyard, Captain Serving Sanibel & Captiva Islands Mangrovemasters.com (239) 410-0890
Rosie’s Café & Grill Joanne Fitzgerald, Partner 2330 Palm Ridge Road, Sanibel (239) 579-0807
Owen-Ames-Kimball Company Jan-Erik Hustrulid, Business Development Coordinator 11941 Fairway Lakes Drive, Fort Myers Owen-ames-kimball.com (239) 561-4141
Sanibelisland.com Captivaisland.com Debi Knight, Marketing Director info@sanibelisland.com (850) 832-0221
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Our Mission: To Promote the Prosperity of Our Members and Preserve the Quality of Life in Our Community
C H A M B E R Chamber Open House – Catered by Bailey’s General Store.
P A P A R A Z Z I www.Sanibel-Captiva.org
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Our Mission: To Promote the Prosperity of Our Members and Preserve the Quality of Life in Our Community