For more than three decades, Steve Queior served at the helm of a chamber of commerce. But after so many years at the top of an organization, he started noticing a number of executives redefining themselves to shape communities in a more focused way. He saw Laurey Stryker, the former chancellor of University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, become a coordinator for this area’s newly formed college consortium. He learned of Allen Carlson, who after spending 20 years in management at Sun Hydraulics retired and then immediately took a job as director of a University of Florida extension campus. “What I saw was people using their background and experience, but in new and interesting ways,” he said. 

And so on Tuesday, Queior announced that this year would be his last as president and CEO for the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, a post he has held for 13 years. Queior said he now looks forward to a life of flexibility—and of focus. Raised by a professor and a school teacher, Queior in recent years has developed a passion for educational attainment and workforce development, and this time next year he may be a consultant regarding such matters or may serve in a key capacity for a nonprofit with those goals in its mission statement. That work would dovetail with some of the greatest accomplishments of the Sarasota Chamber during Queior’s time at the helm, notably efforts in Sarasota Tomorrow and the Talent4Tomorrow initiatives.

The Chamber right now has a transition team exploring how a national search for Queior’s successor will be conducted. Queior has offered his services to the chamber through 2016 to ensure a smooth transition.

Queior early in his career worked as a professor, a college coach and other business roles, but ultimately reached the main stage of his career in chambers. He would eventually lead a chamber in Indiana’s South Bend region for 13 years before coming to Florida in 1996 to lead the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce. Then in 2003, he was lured to the Sarasota Chamber by the vibrant but mid-sized community and the opportunity to diversify and grow an economy in a region very different from dense Broward County.

As for the future of the Sarasota Chamber, Queior hopes the organization seeks out an individual who can process large amounts of information, and also somebody known for collaboration. “There is a definite value in being able to connect with a whole variety of people from the business sector and not-for-profit spheres,” he said. “Chambers are a crossroads for different sectors of the community. It takes flexibility with a CEO to be comfortable with people in academia, media and everybody else in the world.” 

After the Sarasota County Commission voted against offering an incentives package to one of the nation’s largest roofing companies, consultants working with the firm say they will look elsewhere to relocate corporate headquarters. “It’s a no-brainer,” said Rob Sitterly, a principal with Merit Advisors. “They are not going to be located in Sarasota.” Sitterly said the company felt spurned both by the local development community and by county commissioners, who voted 4-1 against offering incentives.

Commissioners were considering contributing $216,000 toward a $1.08-million Qualified Targeted Industry tax refund incentive offered by the state, as well as another $504,000 economic development incentive grant to assist in relocation expenses. But as soon as news of negotiations went public, local contractors rallied in opposition. The Gulf Coast Builders Exchange and local companies like Sutter Roofing argued incentives should not be offered when so many roofers are already headquartered in the region.

The firm offered to commit that it would not recruit from local companies or compete with area firms for projects. But Sarasota County Commissioner Paul Caragiulo, who voted against the incentives package, said there ultimately was no good way to enforce those provisions. “There were just too many questions,” he said, “and not too many answers.”

While the company was not looking at other Florida locations, Sitterly said immediately after the deal was rejected, offers from other locales came in. “We have received calls from multiple Florida communities that are aggressive and want to participate in economic development,” he said. “Sarasota’s loss will be someone else’s gain.” 

Art Center Sarasota embarks on new digital frontier with the show #postdigital. A three-room exhibition, the intersection between technology and art comes to a head with interactive multimedia work from 28 local artists, designers from the Faulhaber Fab Lab and students and faculty members from Ringling College of Art and Design, New College of Florida, Pine View School and IMG Academy.

Art Center Sarasota Director Lisa Berger and Exhibition Curator Dustin Juengel wanted to showcase how high-tech innovations like 3D printers and laser cutters impact the art world. A visual artist in his own right, Juengel used his connections to the local art scene to track down artists working in non-traditional digital mediums. He also enlisted the Faulhaber Fab Lab, which contributed pieces to the exhibition that blur the line between science and art. Lending a hand, Best Buy, Microsoft and Apple provided the devices necessary to display the art. Thus #postdigital became a reality.

Venturing into the digital realm is a first for Art Center Sarasota. “We’re used to hanging up paintings, and now we’re hanging up iPads and [using] drones,” said Berger. Though most of the works in the exhibition are purely digital, a few pieces integrate technology to transcend their more traditional form. For example, Cassia Kite, a local visual artist and educator at IMG Academy, turns her paintings into readable QR codes using the Aurasma app. Hold a mobile device in front of the painting—the app “targets” the piece and plays a video.

“You can’t draw a distinct line,” says Juengel of the division between art and technology. “Every piece in the exhibition here seems to share something: a certain passion for making. A certain playfulness. The different technologies are just materials.”

#postdigital at Art Center Sarasota, May 19–June 25 

Photo: Cassia Kite demonstrates how her painting interacts with a tablet device using the Aurasma app.

Art Center Sarasota, 707 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-365-2032

Forget Chipotle: Holmes Beach’s Tortilla Bay puts a healthy, summer-worthy spin on a Mexican classic with the Sunshine Salad. Dewy lettuce, cucumbers, black olives and pico de gallo mingle with cheese and chargrilled chicken, steak or barbacoa braised pork. Opt for the Southwestern vinaigrette and—for a truly delicious experience—add mini dollops of sour cream and homemade guacamole on top. The best part? All this deliciousness is served in an delectable, edible flaky fried tortilla bowl—whether you break it into chips or save it until the end is your choice.  

Tortilla Bay Southwest Grille, 5318 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach, 941-778-3663

Colwell Banker Residential Real Estate's top individual sales associate, Roger Pettingell, achieves $42.786 million total sales volume in record time. Just over four months into the year, Pettingell has already exceeded the $40-million mark in year-to-date sales volume, reaching 57% of his total 2015 sales. He has qualified for Legends Society, an award given to Florida sales associates who reach the highest level of sales production. 

Coldwell Banker Homes

In an effort to help prospective parents find hospitals that deliver quality affordable maternity care, Manatee Memorial Hospital announced that Florida Blue has designated it as one of the first hospitals to receive the Blue Distinction Center+ for Maternity Care designation, a new designation under the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association's Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. CEO, Manatee Healthcare System, Kevin DiLallo says, "Our family birthplace staff is dedicated to giving quality care to all new moms and our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is ready to help with babies that need extra care." Nearly four million babies are born in the US annually, making childbirth the most common cause of hospitalization. The new Blue Distinction Centers+ for Maternity Care program evaluates hospitals on several quality measures, including the percentage of newborns that fall into the category of early elective delivery, an ongoing concern in the medical community. 

Florida Blue Program

Governor Rick Scott announced that he has re-appointed Sarasota real estate attorney Nancy Cason to the Twelfth Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission. Cason will serve for a three-year term ending July 1, 2019. This will be her second term on the commission. 

SMRL Attorneys

Solar contractor Brilliant Harvest Founder and President Bill Johnson has earned a certification as a solar PV (photovoltaic) installer from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners. The highest certification that can be earned in the solar energy industry, this puts Johnson in an elite group. The NABCEP certification is becoming a prerequisite qualification for certain solar projects. 

Brilliant Harvest

If the mystery company, presumably a contractor, is not going to “compete for roofing labor... or with local companies for projects”—then why are they moving here?

Moreover, how exactly will they produce an “estimated $194-million direct economic impact over the next five years… and a indirect impact for local businesses of $181 million—not to mention an ongoing combined direct and indirect impact of $100 million every year going forward.”

Jack Wagner, Sarasota, responding to the article “Proposed Incentives Plan for Corporate Headquarters Relocation Creates Dissension” in the May 24 edition of SRQ Daily. 

As the school year winds down, our May 2016 issue gets up to speed on three Gulf Coast schools that experiment with innovative, experiential learning environments: Goldie Feldman Academy, Visible Men Academy and State College of Florida Collegiate School. In Models in Learning we explore how these schools are pushing the next generation to develop real-world skills. Goldie Feldman Academy takes one such hands-on approach—third and fourth grade students work in conjunction with NASA to cultivate tomatoes that would survive in space. “The goal is to find what would be the best to grow on Mars,” says fourth grader Carolyn Caesar.  

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