By: Susan Towler, Florida Blue Executive Director, CSR/Florida Blue Foundation; Chair of the Florida Chamber Foundation Board of Trustees
The Florida Chamber Foundation team is rocking and rolling in the business community spreading the word about the Florida 2030 Blueprint and its 39 goals. This month, I’m proud to share with you the following highlight picks of our Foundation team blazing the path on the road to 2030.
In the category of “why we do what we do,” the Foundation was invited to speak at the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Annual Installation of Directors and Awards Luncheon on March 4th. EVP David Gillespie represented the Foundation team by providing the keynote address to a number of local city and county officials present, including the Mayor of Hollywood, FL, Josh Levy. After the event concluded, Mayor Levy informed David that because of a Florida Chamber Foundation presentation he attended at a Broward workshop a few years ago, it “… enabled [him] to completely change the framework of an interlocal agreement stalled between [Hollywood, FL] and Broward County, resulting in a $100 million benefit to affordable housing projects in [their] low-to-moderate neighborhoods.” Mayor Levy continued by saying, “the chamber presentation was my “aha moment.” This is why we do what we do!
President & CEO Mark Wilson and the Marketing/Communications team met with Florida Trend’s new Executive Editor Vickie Chachere on March 15th to discuss our continued partnership and how we can unite to build awareness around the Florida 2030 Blueprint, the Florida Chamber Foundation’s game-changing research and our impactful Solution Summits with Florida’s leading business publication. This media partnership is invaluable as we continue work to keep the 2030 momentum alive and amplified across the state.
All to further drive the movement and unite Florida’s job creators across all industries, this month, Mark also visited with Leadership Florida to discuss Florida’s future direction as we grow to the 10th largest global economy, and University of North Florida’s Coggin College of Business to discuss economic mobility in Florida and the Florida Prosperity Project. Mark also visited with the Florida Prepaid College Foundation to share updates on the Path to Prosperity Scholarship Program, among other business leaders and organizations.
The Foundation was also invited to speak at the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council’s, Regional Economic Development Summit for the Treasure Coast Region on March 25th. The purpose of this summit was to officially kick off the Council’s update of its 5-year Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), which is modeled after the Foundation’s six pillars’ Florida 2030 Blueprint strategy. As this newsletter edition was going to press, EVP David Gillespie was preparing to present the latest economic trends for the state of Florida at the Summit, with added emphasis on specific areas of interest to the Treasure Coast counties of Indian River, Martin, St. Lucie and Palm Beach.
Keep up the great work team! The road to 2030 is looking good.