ACCOLADES
. NCJW members, friends, and family members came to honor Laurice Fishman and Marion Goldsmith who received the highest volunteer honor given by NCJW—the Hannah G. Solomon Award—at the Oaks Country Club.
. Kudos to Bee Volk and Mimi Seitman, Event Co-Chairs, and their committee members for planning such a fitting tribute for the award recipients.
. The National Council of Jewish Women is a volunteer organization that has a network of 90,000 members and supporters nationwide. For information on NCJW, call 924-5900.
. Sarasota-based designer Arefeh Mansouri has unveiled her collection of evening and cocktail dresses to be sold in shops across the U.S. and internationally. The Arefeh Collection is a new line of luxury gowns. Arefeh has been a designer for several years, spending a majority of her career in Europe. She later moved to Canada, where she launched a casual and sportswear line for women. She recently moved to Florida to expand her markets.
For more info on where to purchase an Arefeh gown, or for more information about the collection, go to www.arefeh.com.
. Staff members Gaye Hukel and Becky Johnson of Carlson Studio Architecture recently became LEED Accredited Professionals. The LEED AP credential certifies that the building professional has demonstrated a thorough understanding of green building practices and principles and that they have the knowledge and skills to successfully steward the LEED certification process. More than half of the CSA staff now has their LEED AP credentials.
NON PROFIT NEWS
. Julie Wills, CFRE, has joined the American Red Cross Tampa Bay Region as Regional Development Director. Wills will be charged with developing corporate partnerships and major gifts in support of regional initiatives as well as staff development for the four chapters in the region.
American Red Cross Chapters in the Tampa Bay area formalized an already strong partnership with the formation of a new regional grouping of chapters back in September 2007. The grouping led by the Tampa Bay Chapter includes the Manatee County, Southwest Florida (Sarasota) and Charlotte County chapters.
Wills is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and active member of the Association of Fund Professionals.
EDUCATION NEWS
. Ringling College of Art and Design benefactors Diane and Bob Roskamp have given $1,000,000 to Ringling College of Art and Design. The contribution was given as part of the College's recently announced $70-million Pathway to Preeminence comprehensive fundraising campaign which Diane Chairs.
With this new commitment, the Roskamps' cumulative giving to the College tops $2,000,000.
Bob Roskamp has previously served on the Ringling College Board of Trustees, and Diane is a current Board member. As Chair of Ringling College's Campaign, Diane has been instrumental in overseeing the fundraising efforts, which have amounted to more than $44-million raised to date.
The Campaign is raising funds for scholarships, a new library, expanded academic programs, new campus facilities, and the transformation of the historic Sarasota High School building into the Visual Arts Education Center (VAEC) featuring the Sarasota Museum of Art (SMOA.) The Roskamp $1,000,000 gift will support the expansion of campus facilities.
The Roskamps' passion for the College goes back 12 years. As parents, they were impressed with the positive educational experience that Diane's sons Christian and Shay Sampson enjoyed at Ringling.
. The Sarasota Manatee Manufacturers Association (SAMA) honored four Manatee Technical Institute (MTI) students at SAMA’s monthly meeting last week. The students were the first in the state of Florida to earn the Manufacturers’ Skill Standards Council (MSSC) Production Technician Certification.
SAMA President Ron Van Ostenbridge congratulated the MTI grads and instructors on successfully attaining the nationally recognized MSSC certifications. SAMA Executive Director is Peter Straw
The four who earned the national credential are Jesse Joynes, a student in the Commercial Electrical program at MTI and a graduate of the University of Florida; Ismael Aldama, a graduate of MTI and USF and an employee of Tropicana; Ian Miller, a Commercial Electrical student at MTI; and Michael (Tony) Horton, a student in the Welding program at MTI.
There are eight certified testing sites in Florida. MTI became a certified test site in March 2007.
| BUSINESS NEWS
. Local Sarasotan, Deborah Maahs has launched a new website concept to save women money on their wardrobes. The web site is an online clothing swapping and recycling website that takes the fashion swap party and the consignment store to the internet. The site is geared toward women's fashionable and designer clothing in excellent condition.
Deborah hopes to create a national online community of fashion swappers and recyclers in order to help keep women's wardrobes fresh and fun while also saving them money.
For information visit www.myfashionswap.com.
. Jake's Downtown is not only committed to helping local charities but is now helping the environment by going green. Jake's Downtown offers a new line of organic, environmentally friendly fabrics called Good Karma in the downtown Sarasota location at 1463 Main St. This new line of organic clothing encourages a positive outlook on life while helping the environment. For more information, contact Andrea at Jake's Downtown at 955-5253.
APPOINTMENTS & PROMOTIONS
. SunTrust Bank has promoted Susan D. Brown, to Executive Vice President / Commercial Line of Business Manager for the Southwest Florida Region.
With offices in the Southwest Florida Region from Manatee through Collier Counties Brown, will lead a team of commercial bankers. Brown brings over 18 years of experience in credit, sales and management to her new role.
. Karen Magee and Associates, a business consulting and training firm that specializes in small business development, has been awarded a contract from the Community Entrepreneur Opportunity (CEO) program to better prepare existing and future business owners for success. “Roadmap for Business Startup” is one of four from Magee’s “Journey to Success” business training programs.
The CEO Business training program is a 12-week course of 3-hour classes each week that concludes on June 11. Students commit to attend all classes, perform out of class research and complete homework. The course is free for attendees, thanks to sponsorship by Sarasota County Economic Development Corporation. For information, call 954-0455.
. TideWell Hospice and Palliative Care has added Melynda Lee as Executive Vice President, Business Development and Community Affairs. Her duties include leading initiatives that increase community understanding, service utilization, and a positive image of TideWell throughout Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties. Lee is based in the Sarasota office, but she will be a presence throughout TideWell’s four-county service area.
Lee was publisher of the Herald-Tribune Media Group’s Manatee County bureaus from 2005 to 2007. Prior to that, she was with the Herald-Tribune and worked as a graphic designer, art director, account executive, and director of marketing in Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Jacksonville.
. C. Shannon Lundy has been hired by Gurley Dramis Lazo Law Firm, to head the communications and media relations functions for the firm. Lundy has worked in Sarasota for 10 years within the real estate and legal industries.
The law firm specializes in construction law, surety law and commercial litigation and has an affiliate office in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to serve their clients in the Caribbean Basin.
. Children First has added three to their management staff: Carol Butera-Dutton, Chief Development Officer, Leslie Lind, Finance Director; and Angie Stringer, Director of Marketing and Special Events.
Butera-Dutton, CFRE has worked matching donor needs to organizational goals in Sarasota for the past 13 years. Prior to her work with Children First, Carol served as Vice President of the YMCA Foundation of Sarasota.
Lind has worked as an Audit Manager with a local CPA firm for the past 7 years and has served as an auditor to many area non-profits organizations.
Stringer has worked in various aspects of non-profit management in Sarasota for the past 14 years. Most recently Angie served as the Director of Communication and Agency Resources for Girls Incorporated of Sarasota County.
| . Shaun P. Merriman, President and CEO of Gateway Bank of Southwest Florida (In Organization) announced the appointment of Joy M. Turner to the post of Sr. Vice President and Sr. Lender for the proposed independent community bank. Turner will oversee the commercial and consumer lending operations for the bank, in organization.
Most recently she held the post of Sr. Vice President in Risk Management for the Business Banking Group in Southwest Florida with Wachovia National Bank. Her roots with the Wachovia organization date back to 1981 when she began her commercial lending career with Southeast Bank, which was acquired by First Union National Bank.
Initially organized in 2007, Gateway Bank of Southwest Florida (In Organization) proposes to operate an independent community bank serving business and personal banking customers in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The organization expects to open the proposed bank in May at 2033 Main St., Sarasota.
The shareholders and directors of Gateway Bank of Southwest Florida (In Organization) are primarily residents of Sarasota and Manatee counties. The founding Board of Directors of the proposed banking institution include: Charles J. Bartlett - Icard, Merrill, Cullis, Timm, Furen and Ginsburg, PA; Dr. Gary K. Bockhold – Center for Sight; Dr. P.T. “Bud” Fleuchaus – Gateway Financial Holdings of Florida, Inc.; David J. Grain – Grain Capital, LLC; David K. Maholias – Gateway Financial Holdings of Florida, Inc.; Shaun P. Merriman – Gateway Bank of Southwest Florida (In Organization); Gavin W. Meshad – JWM Management, Inc.; Katherine K. Moulton – The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort; Wayne M. Ruben – Ruben-Holland Development, LLC; and David E. Sessions, Willis A. Smith Construction, Inc.
REAL ESTATE NEWS
. Barbara Zdziarski, Lakewood Ranch resident and former Information Center Community Liaison, has returned to LWR Communities, LLC as a Realtor Liaison. She will be working with Linda Higgins, who has been a Realtor Liaison with the company since July. Both are part-time positions and have offices in the Information Center on University Parkway.
The Realtor Liaisons will provide tours for brokerage offices and help their associates better show the Ranch. Linda and Barbara will also visit various offices to tell about new models, new neighborhoods, upcoming events and news from the Ranch. Zdziarski served as a Community Liaison for Lakewood Ranch from 2001-2005.
. Neal Communities has made these additions to its sales team: Toni Dragatsis, sales associate, recently joined the team at Leopard Creek and Valderrama in Country Club East at Lakewood Ranch; Jonnie Dwyer, area sales manager, heads the new Forest Creek sales team that also includes new home sales representatives Nancy L. Rowe and Kathy Solomon. In addition, Alice Hein, sales associate, recently joined the team at Wexford in the Country Club at Lakewood Ranch; Teri Schwegman, sales associate, is a new addition to the Thornhill in the Country Club at Lakewood Ranch sales team.
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