With large amounts of undeveloped land and a Major League Baseball spring training operation on the way, North Port leaders want the world to know the city wants to talk business. And with the hiring of Sarasota-based Grapevine Communications to handle an economic development marketing strategy, the message will be honed for a broader audience as soon as possible.

“This whole area is becoming a tech corridor,” says Shelby Isaacson of Grapevine Communications. Isaacson noted the city has recently seen more manufacturing companies seize on real estate opportunities while the community continues to earn awards for its business-friendly environment.

Ruth Buchanan, North Port economic development coordinator, says the city hopes through its expanded marketing efforts to get more companies from outside the area researching the benefits of doing business in the community. “We will talk about land and buildings available for businesses to use and who it makes sense to go here,” Buchanan says. In Texas for a convention where she hopes to get manufacturers to consider the Gulf Coast community, Buchanan stresses a streamlined permitting process and business-friendly City Hall should lure many a company. 

Randy Welker, business advocate in Buchanan’s office, says the community experienced positive commercial developments in recent years. “North Port has growth potential,” he says. North Port today remains the most populous city in Sarasota County and one of the largest geographically in the state. 

Isaacson says recent developments like the Atlanta Braves’ intention of moving spring training to the city should incite more commercial activity in the region; Welker also noted the arrival of baseball as a plus for any business already in the area or considering relocation. 

Grapevine intends to reach new companies through a variety of means from social media videos to targeted cards and brochures. “The city is looking to us to help with strategic marketing,” Isaacson says. “We are in the evaluation stage, figuring out what are the opportunities, what are the weaknesses and what are the strengths they are not already taking the opportunity to leverage.” 

Editor’s Note: This is part fifteen of an ongoing series documenting the flights of active-duty US Navy Pilot Ryan Rankin on his journey to fly 52 planes in 52 weeks through the year 2017.

Coming up in the world of aviation, Rankin heard stories about The Beaver—a massive and rugged amphibious aircraft known around the world as the plane to get in and out of the harshest terrain known to man. Some pilots would have an “almost religious” reaction to the name being spoken. Others would doff their hats as it flew overhead. Rankin found one at Ryan Aviation Seaplanes in Palm Coast, FL.

Properly called the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, the aircraft was introduced in 1947 from a design by a bush pilot named Punch Dickins, who gathered ideas and input from the other bush pilots of the day to create the perfect plane suited to harsh terrain. With amphibious capabilities, a powerful single engine and the ability to both take off and land with minimal “runway,” the Beaver quickly became the plane to beat in the bush. De Havilland produced the Beaver through 1967, and it was a DHC-2 that supported the explorer Sir Edmund Hillary on his expedition to the South Pole.

The plane Rankin flew may not have seen the South Pole, but it’s done its fair share of globetrotting, previously serving as a crop-sprayer in Bangladesh and then a stint in Alaska and Canada before landing in Florida.

One of the first things one notices about the Beaver, is its size. Towering over the pilots on its amphibious floats (retractable wheels fit neatly inside), Rankin reckons it's the biggest single-engine plane he’s flown yet. Not the fastest or the most powerful, but certainly the largest. It’s too tall for him to fasten his cameras to the wings without a ladder, so he has to find a new spot before takeoff.

One of Rankin’s top five anticipated aircraft when planning this yearlong aviation adventure, the Beaver does not disappoint, but exceeds expectations. “It’s just a very smooth, very stable, classy airplane to fly,” he says. Whereas other aircraft can get “squirrely” and pilot-intensive, requiring constant hands-on attention, the Beaver flew almost instinctually with the pilot. “You point it in a direction, and it’s like it wants to do what you want it to do,” he says.

It’s not a flashy plane designed for zipping around or “yanking and banking,” but it’s an important plane and the best at what it does—flying into and back out of dangerous and mountainous climes. “Oftentimes it’s the only thing that can get there safely,” says Rankin, “and people absolutely depend on it to get the job done.”

For more about the flight in Rankin's own words and a video of the flight, follow the link below. 

Pictured: Dan Nichols (left) of Ryan Aviation Seaplanes and Ryan Rankin in the cockpit of the DHC-2 Beaver. Photo courtesy of Ryan Rankin.

Ryan Flies

You already know all the amazing features of S'well bottles: cold for 24 hours, hot for 12, et cetera, et cetera. Now, your favorite drinking vessel gets an upgrade as the brand partners with photographer Gray Malin, an artist known for his extreme bird's-eye-view scapes of idyllic beaches and azure waves. His collab with S'well features bottles emblazoned with summer-centric imagery—cloudy blues and deep-sea greens swirl around neon surfers and beach loungers, creamy sands and striped umbrellas. Grab one of these limited-edition S'wells at Apricot Lane before they're gone.  

Photo courtesy of Apricot Lane.

Apricot Lane, 464 John Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, 941-960-1435.

Shhh—it’s been a well-kept secret that Madfish Grill has an exclusive menu featuring bar snacks and cocktails available only to guests seated in the bar area and patio tables. The bar menu is served from 4pm to close in the bar and happy hour offers $3 off items from 4pm to 6pm every day including food and beverage options. Madfish takes a new, elaborate spin on “bar bites,” creating the tenderloin bruschetta dish with tenderloin tips, fire-roasted peppers and frizzled onions, topped off with a crisp crostini and gorgonzola sauce. So good, you won’t be able to keep this dish a secret. 

Photo courtesy of Madfish Grill

Madfish Grill, 4059 North Cattlemen Rd., Sarasota, 941-377-3474.

Working in education, next month represents one of my favorite of the year. Hundreds of students will graduate from high school and college anticipating their next steps in life. While more people enter the workforce, employers are finding it more challenging to navigate the complexities of preparing for the next wave of employees. The Florida Chamber of Commerce estimates over 50,000 new jobs will come to the region by 2020 and as business leaders, we need to develop resources and tools to help us in the recruiting, training and retaining process. That’s why in five short weeks, CareerSource Suncoast will introduce its first annual State of Talent Conference on May 19 at University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee.

For years, employers in our region have discussed the challenges to recruit better talent, train their teams and retain quality employees but yet, a lack of resources is clearly apparent. The State of Talent Conference will tackle these complexities by bringing together some of the top speakers to address topics like developing an intern program, engaging and managing a highly effective workforce, creating an age-friendly workplace, using the power of employee wellbeing to increase performance among teams and more.

We believe this all-day conference is the beginning of an annual opportunity for human resource and operation executives to convene and discuss ways to improve performance on the Suncoast. If you’re interested in learning more about the State of Talent Conference or to register for the event, visit stateoftalent.org.  

Find out more.

Doug Neufeld has joined Erick Shumway's team as a broker-associate in the RE/MAX Alliance Group Commercial Division. He formerly had his own business, Neufeld Business Brokers. Shumway's team ranks 21st nationally among RE/MAX commercial teams. Neufeld brings 18 years of local real estate experience. A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Neufeld earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. Prior to entering the real estate field, he owned grocery stores, video stores, a pool cleaning business and gas/convenience stores for 20 years. The RE/MAX Commercial Division is located at 2000 Webber Street, Sarasota Florida 34239. 

RE/MAX Alliance Group

Naples-based Premier Sotheby’s International Realty has announced that it has been ranked number 35 on the annual REAL Trends 500 survey of the top U.S. residential brokerage companies. With approximately $3.8 billion in sales volume, Premier Sotheby’s International Realty achieved more than 5,660 closed transactions in 2016 at an average sale price of $676,000. The REAL Trends 500 is an annual research report that identifies the country’s largest and most successful residential firms as ranked by closed transaction sides and separately by closed sales volume. The report represents the standard of measuring the performance of the nation’s leading realty service firms. 

REAL Trends 500

Sarasota Memorial Hospital has received an “A” for patient safety from Leapfrog, making it one of the safest hospitals in America, according to Leapfrog’s latest hospital-safety report card. This is the second time that Sarasota Memorial has participated in Leapfrog’s national safety survey and received back-to-back A’s in the national report. Just one-third of the 2,600 hospitals participating in the voluntary survey received an A in this spring report card. The not-for-profit Leapfrog organization founded by larger employers and private healthcare purchasers has assigned the letter grades A, B, C, D and F to hospitals since 2012 to rate how well they are protecting patients from preventable medical and medication errors, injuries and infections. According to Leapfrog, about 33,000 lives could be saved annually if every hospital demonstrated the vigilance and dedication of its A-rated hospitals. 

Sarasota Memorial Hospital