Hello,

Excited to let you know members of your Greater Naples Chamber board of directors and staff are in the last stages of finalizing a five-year strategic plan!

While official news will be forthcoming once the overall plan is approved, I want to let you know the important public policy topics our members are most concerned about will still be the primary focus of the Chamber’s government relations division and public policy committee.

Please keep an eye out for Advocacy Watch: Election Cycle Edition which you will receive via email in the coming weeks. It’s being created as a valuable resource regarding the 2024 federal, state, county, and hyperlocal election cycles.

In the meantime, please read the updates below regarding a few of our public policy topics and, as always, contact me directly with questions, concerns and/or ideas you may have.

With respect,

~d

Donna Jannine

Director, Government Relations

Greater Naples Chamber 

O: 239.298.7929 l M: 631.334.1019

E: donna@napleschamber.org

www.NaplesChamber.org

The Collier County Approved Affordable Housing Map and detailed legend of approved affordable housing commitments is updated as of August 2023.

The map indicates where each of the 94 current projects, previously approved by the Collier County Board of Commissioners (BCC), are located.  

During the fall of 2023, the following four new workforce housing projects will be presented Surtax Committee, who will evaluate the proposals to ensure they qualify for surtax money and from there they move to the BCC at a meeting yet to be announced:

• Residences at Seminole Crossing, Immokalee 
• Casa Juan Diego, Immokalee
• St. Agnes Place, Naples
• Ekos at Golden Gate, Naples

The projects were recently reviewed and approved to move forward by the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC)

State: Everglades Foundation (EF) Road to Restoration tour will continue over the next 18 months as leaders meet with anglers, business owners, realtors, fishing guides, scientists, chambers of commerce, healthcare officials, and environmental organizations from South Florida's coastal communities. 

Greater Naples Chamber recently joined a roundtable discussion as EF Chief Executive Officer Erik Eikenberg reaffirmed the foundation’s support for the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir (EEA) and sending clean water south to the Everglades and Florida Bay. They discussed next steps in the funding and construction of the Reservoir and the importance of the new Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM) in sending water south. 

County:  Collier County Manager Amy Patterson and Collier County Growth Management Department Head Jamie French will be joining attendees of the Greater Naples Chamber Wake Up Naples event on Sept 13, 2023, to discuss the status of the sales tax surcharge, the attainable housing policy and land acquisition.  Join the discussion by registering here. 

Collier County has a number of advisory board vacancies of which may match your skills and/or interest in being an active member for the betterment of our communities. You can learn more by reviewing the Advisory Board Vacancies website.  

The Chamber strongly supports everyone's right to share their opinion and concern regarding any public policy issue. At a previous public meeting, Collier County Board of Commissioners Chairperson Rick LoCastro provided noteworthy advice regarding best practices for residents and business owners to consider using when contacting elected officials. Please take a moment to listen to the message by following this link and begin at time stamp 1:26:09.

Elected officials contact page