1st Quarter 2013 Chamber Newsmagazine

1C H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C E

T h e I s l a n d s o f

S A N I B E L C A P T I VAwww.Sanibel-Captiva.org



S A N I B E L C A P T I VA Our Mission: To Promote the Prosperity of Our Members and Preserve the Quality of Life in Our Community

Official Publication of

1159 Causeway RoadSanibel Island, Florida 33957

Phone: 239-472-1080 Fax: 239-395-0783

www.Sanibel-Captiva.OrgPRESIDENT

Ric Base

EDITOR & DESIGNBridgit Stone-Budd

LAYOUT & GRAPHICSLorraine Milano

CONTRIBUTORSMike Miller

Bridgit Stone-Budd

CHAMBER PHOTOGRAPHY,Hillgate Communications

CHAMBER STAFFRic Base, President

Steve Ehrhart, Director of OperationsBridgit Stone-Budd, Director of Marketing

Tyrone Humbles, Promotions - Chamber Tour Bus

VISITOR CENTER STAFFCandice Thompson, Visitor Center Supervisor

Bob Bechhold, Anne Liese,Allen Myers, Don Oglander,Barry Solomon, Jim Slattery

George Veillette, Lisa Williams The Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber NewsMagazine

is published quarterly by The Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce.

Circulation: 6000Online: www.Sanibel-Captiva.Org

Sanibel & Captiva IslandsChamber of Commerce

2013-2014 Board of Directors C H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C E


S A N I B E L C A P T I VA

For advertising or submissions, please contact

Bridgit @ 239-472-8255or [email protected]

For subscriptions or address changes, please contact

Steve @ 239-472-8759 or [email protected]

Mark AndersonBenchmark General Contractors16836 McGregor BlvdFort Myers, FL [email protected]

Doug BabcockTween Waters InnP.O. Box 249Captiva, FL [email protected]

Mark BlustTimbers Restaurant703 Tarpon Bay RoadSanibel, FL [email protected]

Blanaid ColleyHillgate Communications2451 Periwinkle WaySanibel, FL [email protected]

Chris DavisonIsland Inn3111 West Gulf DriveSanibel, FL [email protected]

Dru Anne DoyleTimes of the IslandsP. O. Box 1227Sanibel, FL [email protected]

Lee Ellen Harder - SecretaryBIG ARTS900 DunlopSanibel, FL [email protected]

Barb Harrington – Past ChairRLR Investments, LLC2340 Periwinkle Way, Suite KSanibel, FL [email protected]

Chris Heidrick - Chair ElectHeidrick & CompanyP.O. Box 59Sanibel, FL [email protected]

Ken KourilThe Sanctuary Golf Club2801 Wulfert RoadSanibel, FL [email protected]

Michael Miller – ChairMichael P. Miller CPA, P.L.2340 Periwinkle Way, Suite J-2Sanibel, FL [email protected]

Robert MonkMurty & Monk, P.A.1633 Periwinkle Way, Suite ASanibel, FL [email protected]

Chris PendletonEdison & Ford Winter EstatesP.O. Box 2368Fort Myers, FL [email protected]

Fran PetersIsland Vacations of Sanibel & Captiva, Inc.1101 Periwinkle Way, Suite 108Sanibel, FL [email protected]

Donna PumaPinocchio’s Original Italian Ice Cream362 Periwinkle WaySanibel, Fl 33957dmtp@aol

Jeff Shuff - TreasurerTween Waters InnP.O. Box 249Captiva, FL [email protected]

Sonja Smith SuitorCondominium Association of Sanibel, Inc.P. O. Box 1041Sanibel, FL [email protected]

Ric BasePresident1159 Causeway RoadSanibel, Florida [email protected]

Our Mission: To Promote the Prosperity of Our Members and Preserve the Quality of Life in Our Community3

C H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C E



Chamber Annual Trolley TourOne of the stops: Zebra Frozen Yogurt. Box lunches served by Bailey’s General Store.

In order to better serve their 190,000 visitors each year, the Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce put together a Trolley Tour for their Visitor Center staff and volunteers. The Trolley Tour took place on January 9 and 10 and ran throughout the islands, stopping at new businesses and businesses that have made recent changes or upgrades. The two trolleys and drivers were provided kindly by Adventures in Paradise again this year. “The objective of the Trolley Tour was to provide the people that work in our Visitor Center with the knowledge and experience of visiting many of our island businesses to learn

what they offer and how best to present them to our visitors,” said Ric Base, President of the Chamber of Commerce. Two trolleys set out to the businesses that participated which included Seaside Inn, Song of the Sea, Sanibel Inn, Holiday Inn Sanibel, Gulf Breeze Cottages, Anchor Inn & Motel, Shalimar Resort, Lily & Co., Casa Ybel Resort, The Castaways, Tropical Winds Motel & Cottages, Blue Dolphin Cottages, Beachview Cottages, Sanibel Sunset Beach Resort, Island Inn, Ocean’s Reach, Zebra Frozen Yogurt, Periwinkle Place, Congress Jewelers, Cedar Chest Fine Jewelry, and Spatini Tea Bar. Cip’s Place and Bailey’s Catering provided lunches for the group.

Cover credit: Connor Stone




C H A M B E R

P A P A R A Z Z I

Royal Shell After Hours - Catered by Bailey’s General Store

Chamber After Hours hosted by The Lighthouse Waterfront Restaurant





Our Chamber Mobile AppFollow us on facebook

2013 events will fill up fast! Claim yourLuncheon Sponsorship and/or After Hours Host now!

Chamber Schedule of Events 2013

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I am writing this article, my last as Chair of your Chamber, with great pride. Over the past year the Chamber has had some significant successes – new members, our highest member retention

rate ever, excellent media exposure for our islands and a continued close working relationship with the City of Sanibel and the Council. None of this work could be done without the skills and enthusiasm of the Chamber staff and volunteers – and of course our 600+ Chamber members.

As my term as Chair draws to a close, I thought I would share with you some of the highlights of our collective success to remind us all of what an active and successful Chamber we are.

FROMMER’S #1 FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION January 2012

Arthur Frommer, travel magnate, listed his top 10 favorite travel destinations and Sanibel Island was ranked number one in the world.

GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORD February 2012

More than 800 people showed up on Bowman’s Beach to break the Guinness World Record – all stooping for shells at the same time. The

resulting TV, newspaper and social media coverage was very impressive.

RETAIL EXPO February 5, 2012

The annual Community Fair and Retail Expo was a great success last year. Over 65 businesses and

organizations took part and the number of attendees grew from previous years. This fun

event gave the whole community an opportunity to mix and mingle with businesses and organiza-tions learning about what the islands finest busi-

nesses have to offer.

50TH ANNIVERSARY February 20, 2012

The Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce celebrated 50 years of ser-vice on February 20 at the Visitors’ Center. The chamber hosted an

evening reception for Chamber members that highlighted the “Evolution of Paradise.” The reception included food and beverages,

music that spanned the 50 year era and included guest speakers: Francis Bailey, Jr., Ralph Woodring, Dick Meunch and Mike Billheimer.

Mike’s Pic

Here





Launched NEW WEBSITE: February 22, 2012 The Chamber website currently receives over 1.5 million unique visits per year.

Enhancements and new technology upgrades allow us to reach even more visitors around the world. The new website is more user-friendly and includes better navigation, integrated social networking on the site and an easy to use online help chat feature. Chamber members’ section of the website has also been improved. Members can now register for chamber events more easily,

view the Chamber calendar and contacting other chamber members has been simplified.

MARTHA STEWART: March 2012 The Martha Stewart show featured Hannah Millman making a shell craft while she

spoke about Sanibel and the Shell Fair.

ANNUAL MEETINIG: April 17, 2012 The Annual Meeting was held at ‘Tween Waters on Captiva. More than 160 members and guests were in attendance. The Chamber

gathered to review with its members the key activities and achieve-ments over this past year. Following the ceremony, a cocktail recep-

tion was held at The Old Captiva House where members of the Cham-ber and guests mingled and had a great time while they enjoyed fine

food and cocktails.

VISITOR CENTER RANKS #1 ON TRIP ADVISOR June 2012

The Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center was ranked #1 on TripAdvisor with more than 96% of reviewers rated the Visitor Center either excellent or very good. Visitors from all

over the world have shared their reviews on TripAdvisor and have given the Visitor’s Center an overall visitor rating of Excellent.

4th of JULY: Fireworks The spectacular firework show was enjoyed by the

many hundreds of people who gathered at the Dunes Golf and Tennis club, on the causeway and in boats on the water. The fireworks show was presented this year

by the Zambelli brothers, whose long experience on Sanibel enabled them to create a show that was bigger

and better than ever.

LUMINARY: December 7 & 8 The Sanibel and Captiva Chamber of Commerce’s Luminary Festival Weekend took place December 7 and 8 throughout the islands of Sanibel and Captiva. A record number of people turned out for the event and participated in the

Luminary Trail. Trolley stops ranged from the East End to the Bailey’s Center. Captiva saw their largest Luminary crowd yet from ‘Tween Waters Inn to

Chadwick’s Square. Participants gathered at the trolley stops to enjoy refreshments from the local business and to enjoy the live entertainment that

many places offered.




P A P A R A Z Z I

Phoenix, File & Pagidipati Ribbon Cutting. Catered by The Greenhouse Grill

Island BBQ Ribbon Cutting

C H A M B E R





Welcome New Members

Justin Powell, ProprietorBlueashmedia.com

800-832-4291

ALL STAR Vacation HomesSara Moore, VP of Marketing11513 Andy Rosse Lane, Captiva

allstarvacationhomes.com239-206-2146

Acme Charter CompanyCary Myers, Captain

acmechartercompany.com239-895-8925

Noack, Mitchell & Company, CPAJanet Noack, Founder& Managing Partnernoackmitchellcpa.com

239-395-1132

Starfish Grille & Star BarChris Whitaker, Proprietor

1231 Middle Gulf Drive, Sanibelstarfishgrillesanibel.com

239-472-STAR

Milissa Sprecher,Owner/Photographer

Serving Sanibel & Captiva Islandsorganic-images.com

(239) 738-6302

Deidra Ominski, Branch Manager2408 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel

Suntrust.com(239) 472-8855

Jeremy Kane, ProprietorIn the Bailey’s Center, Sanibel

zebrafrozenyogurt.com(239) 579-0860

Sealife by CongressMary Benzrihem, Manager

Periwinkle Place, SanibelCongressjewelers.com

(239) 472-4177

Florida Advertising ServicesJohn Binder, Sales

& Distribution ManagerServing Sanibel & Captiva Islands

floridaadvertisingservices.com(239) 939-3530

Kasey Harrell, RealtorJohn Naumann & Associates

[email protected]

www.SteveAndToby.com




Jonathan Tongyai,Owner/Photographer

2340 Periwinkle Way, Sanibelislandphotographyllc.com

(239) 691-7700

Welcome New Members

Steve Harrell…Real Estate Sales & Service

Steveandtoby.com(239) 565-1277

Seacoast Cottage CompanyGeneral Contracting

Seacoastcottagecompany.com(239) 462-2679

Chandler, Mathis and ZivleyW. Perry Zivley, Attorney

Cmzlaw.net(877) 739-7744

MangroveMasters, LLCJack Boutchyard, Captain

Serving Sanibel & Captiva IslandsMangrovemasters.com

(239) 410-0890

Owen-Ames-Kimball CompanyJan-Erik Hustrulid, Business

Development Coordinator11941 Fairway Lakes Drive, Fort Myers

Owen-ames-kimball.com(239) 561-4141

J. McLaughlinPegge Ford, Manager

1616 Periwinkle Way, SanibelJmclaughlin.com(239) 579-0425

Garmager Success Coaching, Inc.Tim Garmager, PresidentSuccessandhappiness.com

(239) 410-9668

Sanibelisland.comCaptivaisland.com

Debi Knight,Marketing Director

[email protected](850) 832-0221

Rosie’s Café & GrillJoanne Fitzgerald, Partner

2330 Palm Ridge Road, Sanibel

(239) 579-0807





C H A M B E R

P A P A R A Z Z I

Chamber Open House – Catered by Bailey’s General Store.




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1st Quarter 2013 Chamber Newsmagazine

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