Please join us tomorrow, Wednesday, May 4 from 4:00pm - 6:00pm at Busey Bank (5246 Red Cedar Drive, Suite 101, Fort Myers, FL 33907) for May's Women in Business event. We will be hosting a mentorship program showcasing several mentoring opportunities in the Greater Fort Myers area.
Participating programs and respective representatives include:
The event’s nonprofit spotlight is Our Mother’s Home (representative: Alicia Miller), a nonprofit organization that provides teen moms in foster care a safe and nurturing environment to stay with their children, learn life skills and finish their education. The transitional residence provides a unique service to empower young mothers in the foster care and human trafficking systems to break the cycle for themselves and their children.
The cost to attend Women In Business is $10 for Chamber members, $20 for future members.
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Attendees of Leadership NEXT represent a variety of businesses and industries throughout Southwest Florida. Sessions offer opportunities to develop new knowledge and skills, establish working relationships with colleagues and engage in valuable programs and discussions to further enhance their careers.
And May's event is one you don't want to miss! This month, we will highlight: Storm Season: What you Need to Know to Protect You and Your Property.
This event will feature a guest panel of experts representing roofing, insurance, law and disaster services. Attendees will also receive materials to prepare for the 2022 storm season.
Learn more about how to prepare yourself and your property on Tuesday, May 10 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm at The Library Pizza & Pub (9909 Gulf Coast Main Street, Fort Myers, Florida 33913)
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Participating programs and respective representatives include:
The cost to attend Leadership NEXT is $10 for Chamber members, $20 for non-members.
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BUSINESS BEFORE BREAKFAST |
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This event is for our early-risers!
Join us Thursday, May 12 from 7:30am - 8:30am and enjoy light refreshments while networking at our monthly Business Before Breakfast event.
This month's host is Jason's Deli, 16451 Corporate Commerce Way Fort Myers FL 33913.
There is no cost to attend. We kindly ask you to register to help us with attendee counts for breakfast. Be sure to bring plenty of business cards!
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Do you want to learn more about Health & Wellness services in the area, but don’t know where to start?
Then join us Thursday, May 19 from 11:30am - 1:15pm as business professionals will have the opportunity to learn more about Health and Wellness organizations that are members of the Chamber during our May Luncheon! The event is in a similar structure to our Non-Profit expo we held last month.
The cost to attend our Luncheon is $25 for Chamber Members and $35 for Future Members.
Please keep in mind that refunds and credits are only given to cancellations made 72 hours prior to the event.
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Meet your fellow Chamber members Thursday, May 26 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm at Blue Moon Pizza (7381 College Parkway, Fort Myers, FL 33907) for a night of casual networking.
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Admission includes one free drink & light appetizers.
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We will soon be launching our initiative to help us, help our local businesses and community: The 144 Envelope Adventure! Keep an eye out in our May 24th Newsletter to start participating!
Choose from 144 envelopes and win prizes. Each envelope is numbered from $1 to $144, and the dollar amount determines the number of entries in the drawing. For example, for $6 you get 6 chances, for $49 you get 49 chances, etc.
*We are looking for prize donations to help aid in our effort and to help us to continue to support our local businesses and community.*
The drawing for all prizes will be during our Chamber Awards and Board Installation in June. You do not need to be present to win.
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Now that we've gotten your attention, we are mixing things up during our Chamber Awards and Board Installation in June. (More details on this event to come!)
Presenting our first Annual Dessert Dash! We will explain the game as we get closer to our event, but if you or anyone else you know thinks they can hold their own on Cake Wars or The American Baking Competition, then please consider donating one of your tasty treats!
We are currently looking for 20 desserts to display and bid on during our event.
We are happy to coordinate times and locations for drop off and/or pick up.
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FUTUREMAKERS COALITION'S WORKFORCE EMPLOYER SURVEY |
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The 2020-21 COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges to Southwest Florida’s employers. As we leave the pandemic behind us in 2022, new challenges continue to emerge.
Despite historic low unemployment rates in Florida and across the USA, many workers still have not returned to the workforce and employers are having problems finding and hiring qualified employees. Inflation, including the costs to rent or own housing, has nearly wiped out any of the gains in average hourly wages.
This 2022 Workforce Employer Survey attempts to better understand the recruiting, hiring, and training approaches and challenges your organization must overcome to find qualified employees after the COVID-19 pandemic. The data gathered in the Survey will be reported in an aggregate (unidentifiable) format and the specific information about your organization will not be published.
Note: the Survey uses the term “organization” in the broadest sense, for example not-for-profit groups, for-profit businesses (from small businesses to larger corporations), educational institutions, health systems, etc. – any organization that seeks to hire qualified employees.
Click here to take the survey!
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LEE COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS OFFER WORKFORCE AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS |
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The Lee County Economic Development Office, in collaboration with community partners, offers Workforce Training and Certification programs and a Small Business Technical Assistance Program to assist people, businesses and organizations in response to COVID-19.
The Workforce Training & Certification Program will offer micro and rapid credentialing programs in response to the education and skills deficiency for disproportionately affected communities exacerbated by COVID-19. Tuition assistance and scholarships paid through $3 million in ARPA funds will be available for in-demand programs in areas such as health care, real estate/construction and technology offered by:
The Small Business Technical Assistance Program will be funded by $475,000 paid to local partners offering technical assistance to small businesses and nonprofits such as business mentoring, organizational development, capital access planning and more.
Partners for the assistance program include:
For a full list of programs and services offered, as well as contact information for community partners, visit www.leegov.com/ARPA.
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WHITE SANDS TREATMENT CENTER |
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White Sands has detox and residential locations in Fort Myers and Tampa and has 18 outpatient locations in Florida.
White Sands was founded in 2014 with the overarching philosophy to raise industry standards of quality of treatment, comfortability of patients, and increased rates of long-term sobriety.
Recognizing national relapse rates were abysmal and treatment protocols have remained stagnant for many years, White Sands’ founders, CEO Garry Jonas and COO Joseph Ducey, had a vision to create a treatment program that stood well above its competitors and that treated patients as individuals while also providing many of the comforts of their home environments.
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White Sands hired accomplished Clinical Director, Dr. Lyndsay Henry, as the centerpiece for a strong clinical team.
Newsweek rated White Sands as the best addiction treatment center in Florida for the second year in a row!
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The mission of Valerie’s House is to help children and families work through the loss of a loved one together and go on to live fulfilling lives. Our vision is that No Child Will Grieve Alone.
With locations in Fort Myers, Naples, Charlotte County, and Pensacola, Valerie’s House is a special place where children connect with one another and learn the tools to heal after they have experienced the death of someone they love.
At Valerie's House, children know others their age, and they learn that loss doesn't have to limit their dreams. In addition to our dedicated staff, many of our volunteers have lived this journey and are here to help you and your children find hope.
If you are interested in Volunteering, Volunteer training will be held at the Valerie’s House in Ft. Myers located at 1762 Fowler Street, Ft. Myers, FL 33901 on May 21st and May 22nd.
For the link to sign up for the free training, click here.
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The Chamber would like to welcome back our members who renewed recently! We kindly thank you and appreciate your trust in us. We are looking forward to an exciting year!
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