Member News

Sarasota, FL (January 17, 2020) – Children First, Inc., the exclusive provider of Head Start and Early Head Start services in Sarasota County, is excited to welcome the new slate of board leadership for 2020. Lisa Giglio is the former co-owner of Freedom Boat Club, and has served as an early childhood educator and Director of Education at Sylvan Learning Center. Michael Suarez, former Executive Director of Sarasota County Emergency Services, is also a Life Member, past President, and current Treasurer of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Both have been named to the Board of Directors for 2020.

Both Mrs. Giglio and Mr. Suarez bring a great deal of governance experience, knowledge, and expertise in the field of human services to Children First. They join the rest of the board in serving as pillars of support by helping the agency continue to provide the highest quality of services to those most in need in our community.  

Michael Keebaugh, former President of Intelligence and Information Systems at The Raytheon Company, will now serve as Board Chair. Thomas W. Cail III, Realtor and co-founder of Cail Grande Group, is now Chair Emeritus. Katherine Martucci was welcomed as Vice Chair, Katrina Otchet as Secretary, and Jacqueline W. Ray as Treasurer. Keith Johnson was elected as the Human Resource Representative, and Howard Berman as the Liaison to Policy Council, a peer-elected committed comprised of parents or guardians of currently enrolled children.

For more details on Children First’s Board of Directors, please click here.

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP is pleased to announce that Partner Maria del Carmen Ramos has been invited to serve as a member of the distinguished faculty at the 2020 American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Annual Conference on Immigration Law to be held June 17-20, 2020 where she will be speaking about employer compliance and enforcement issues that have grown dramatically under the current administration. With nearly two decades of experience navigating the immigration statutes, regulations, and policy guidance, Maria is able to help employers efficiently and cost-effectively move employees where they need them, when they need them. She takes time to understand her clients’ needs and objectives at the outset, enabling her to properly counsel her clients on the immigration options available to them, whether it be a business visa (E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, H-3, L, O, P, R, and TN), investment visa (E-2, EB-5, etc.), or permanent re sidence. By carefully building her clients’ immigration cases early on, Maria sees fewer requests for evidence, which ultimately mean faster and less expensive processing for her clients.

AILA is the national association of more than 15,000 lawyers and law professors who practice and teach immigration law. AILA member lawyers represent U.S. families seeking permanent residence for close family members, as well as U.S. businesses seeking talent from the global marketplace. Twice named Tampa’s top immigration lawyer, Maria understands that immigration law is a way for employers to move human capital, including workers’ knowledge, talent, skills, experience, and training, around the world.

Aside from helping employers move workers around the world, Maria also helps employers comply with their I-9 obligations. Among other things, Maria routinely conducts compliance audits for clients to determine if they are properly verifying their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States (I-9 compliance). By conducting these audits, Maria can help employers avoid thousands of dollars in fines and penalties. 

The law firm of Icard, Merrill, Cullis, Timm, Furen, and Ginsburg, P.A., is pleased to announce that Attorneys Lindsey A. Meshberger, Anthony J. Manganiello, and Stephen D. Rees, Jr., have been named shareholders of the firm. In addition, Attorneys Natalie G. Coldiron and Jordan J. Riccardi were named members.

Meshberger concentrates her practice in the area of marital and family law. Manganiello has a diverse litigation practice with a special emphasis on personal injury and complex civil litigation. Rees’ law practice focuses on land use, zoning, municipal law, and real estate. Coldiron represents clients in the areas of real estate law, real property closings, and title insurance. Riccardi concentrates his practice in the firm’s estate planning and probate division, as well as the corporate law and real estate divisions.

As millions of people embark on their 2020 New Year’s Resolutions, Sarasota Memorial’s HealthFit renewed one of its own. The HealthFit - Powered by Sarasota Memorial announced today that it achieved re-certification as a Medical Fitness Facility by the Medical Fitness Association. HealthFit remains the certified facility in Sarasota, and one of just two in the state. The SMH facility was the first in the state to achieve the certification in late 2016. It was effective for three years. To retain the designation, facilities must pass a rigorous recertification process, including an on-site inspection of its medically supervised exercise programs and review of its outcomes. “The re-certification represents an ongoing commitment to provide the safest and most effective environment to help individuals achieve their personal health and fitness goals,” said Kayla Murphy, manager of Sarasota Memorial’s Hea lthFit center on Clark Road. “This achievement can only be achieved because of the strong commitment from our staff, quality feedback from our members, and exceptional support from leadership. We are proud to have been able to demonstrate to the surveyors the strong sense of community that we have cultivated for our members, and the high quality programming we have developed to meet our community’s needs.” Only 40 facilities nationwide have earned certification from the MFA.  

“As the incidence of chronic disease continues to rise, the need for more medically supervised outcomes and accountability-based Exercise is Medicine programs has never been more relevant in our industry than today,” said Robert Boone, FACHE, FMFA, President and CEO of the Medical Fitness Association. “It is clear that moving towards a population health prevention model of care with all its necessary components and guidelines is a herculean task. HealthFit - Powered by Sarasota Memorial has taken an important step towards filling a gap in the current care delivery model.”  

Lakewood Ranch, Florida, December 30, 2019 -Recherché Masterpiece is an annual 3 course meal

luncheon created to empower and encourage meaningful networking amongst the business owners and

C-Suite level employees in the SouthWest Florida region.

The keynote speaker for the inaugural luncheon is none other than Mark Huey, CPA, MBA, the former

CEO of the Economic Development Corporation. “Mr. Huey with his Wharton Business School education

and eight and a half years of economic leadership in the Sarasota/Manatee county area is perfect to empower

“small” businesses to think bigger.” said Alicia M. Phidd, the Chief Creative Officer and the founder of this

luncheon.

“We believe at Recherche High Cotton, Corp. that business owners should strive to take their business to the

pinnacle of success which is to become large enterprises and get into the billion dollars annual revenue

space”, she continued. “We believe that the Sarasota/Manatee area business owners can create a behemoth

like Amazon and who better to empower them to do so than a man who has lead such initiatives.” she

finished.

Ms. Phidd who created this event cemented herself into Sarasota county’s history earlier in 2019 when she

became the first general counsel of a professional team located in Sarasota by way of the United Soccer

League (USL). “When I found out in March that I made history in the Sports and Law space. I knew I had

to do more. It was the second time I was making history in the legal field in 5 years by becoming the first

female lawyer or the first Black lawyer of some industry that I entered.” Ms. Phidd said. “I was tired of

hearing that I broke a “glass ceiling” and I have decided to take a small step to eradicate that terminology.

What better way to do so than to use my title, resources and network to empower others to be like the Nike

company and just “do it”.” She continued. Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance through its members

selected Ms. Phidd as one of five finalists for the title of Networking Queen at the 2019 Sandies Awards.

“That nomination was God confirming to me that my calling is to assist others through empowerment and

networking. To whom much is given, much is expected and I hope the business community like what we

have to offer.” said Ms. Phidd.

The event is set to occur on Wednesday, January 29, 2020 and already have registrants spanning industries

across the spectrum such as C-Suite in construction, legal, commercial real estate, and tele-communications

to name a few. Tickets can be purchased online at eventbrite

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/recherche-masterpiece-2020-tickets-77719425895

About Recherche High Cotton, Corp.

Recherche High Cotton, Corp. (RHC) located in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, is an empowerment, success

and luxury concept company with its core a tshirt line division and an exclusive networking events planning

division that caters only to business owners and C-Suite executives. It boasts two signature annual

networking events open to the public, Recherché Masterpiece™ which is an empowerment 2 course meal

luncheon and Recherché PlageFête™, a networking beach party that kicks off the summer. It also hosts a

breakfast roundtable event which is held five times for the year called Recherché Thé™. RHC’s motto is

“Iron Sharpens Iron” and we are in the empowerment game.

The Harry Sudakoff Foundation has recently awarded $20,000 in support of scholarships to Children First, the exclusive provider of Head Start and Early Head Start services in Sarasota County.

The agency also received $15,000 from the Bernard & Mildred Doyle Charitable Trust, $10,000 from the Evalyn Sadlier Jones Foundation, and $750 from the India Benton Lesser Foundation for scholarships, while $1,000 from the Heron Creek Community Foundation will help to fund a variety of classes through the Families First Institute in North Port.

Scholarships ensure that children living at-risk have access to high-quality early childhood education during the first five years of their lives, a critical stage where thousands of neural connections in the brain are being formed every second. Access to early childhood care and education is also important for the success of our parents. By providing scholarships for full-day care and education, parents have the opportunity to strengthen their finances and ultimately achieve self-sufficiency.

The funding for the Families First Institute will help to strengthen our most vulnerable families by offering a variety of classes and workshops that focus on parenting strategies, career readiness, and more.

“Children First is deeply grateful to be recognized for its commitment to improving the quality of life for all in Sarasota County. The incredible support from these local foundations will empower our families by helping the children receive the early education they deserve, and their parents the resources to become self-sufficient. Investment in early childhood education improves outcomes, not just for children and families, but also for the education, health, and economic prosperity of an entire community. We could not be more appreciative for these foundations who have invested not only in our families, but in the future of this amazing community we live in,” says President & CEO Philip Tavill.

About Children First:

Founded in 1961 and ranked in the top 1% out of over 1,800 Head Starts nationwide, Children First strengthens children and families by improving the quality of their lives through a comprehensive approach to development, education, health, and well-being. At 15 sites throughout Sarasota County, Children First offers full-day preschool, infant and toddler care, and nutrition and health care assistance to children ages birth to five years old from low-income families. Through Children First, the children receive the social and cognitive skills needed to enter kindergarten and elementary school on track. For more information, call (941) 953-3877 or go to childrenfirst.net.

Bradenton/Sarasota, December 5, 2019 – Blalock Walters, P.A. is pleased to announce that the City of Bradenton has hired Blalock Walters, P.A.to serve as its legal counsel.

Scott E. Rudacille will serve as City Attorney. Scott is Board Certified in City, County and Local Government Law by the Florida Bar and holds an AV Preeminent™ Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell. He serves as counsel to a wide variety of local government entities, and he represents private clients in all aspects of the permitting and development process.

In addition to general government matters, the firm will also provide representation to the City in related matters such as litigation, real estate, land use and labor and employment.

“Selecting a law firm to represent our City was a deliberate, serious and difficult challenge,” said City of Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston. “Bill Lisch was our legal representative for 43 years and we were very happy with his work as an integral part of our team. But, retirement called out to him.”

“We know lots of legal firms and we feel very confident we have selected the right firm, Blalock Walters, P.A., and attorney Scott Rudacille as City Attorney,” Poston noted. “I have known Scott personally and professionally for years and have the utmost confidence in his legal abilities and his understanding of the workings of the City of Bradenton. At my request, he served on the Bradenton Housing Authority board of directors. We look forward to a strong working relationship that serves all the citizens of Bradenton.”

Blalock Walters, P.A. is a multi-practice, full-service business law firm built on a foundation of integrity and commitment to its clients and community. With over 25 attorneys, we serve a wide range of clients in diverse industries. Throughout its more than 90-year history, the firm has been a trusted advisor in resolving the legal needs of individuals, leading businesses and other institutions throughout Southwest Florida and beyond. Blalock Walters’ offices are located in Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida. For more information, please visit www.blalockwalters.com.

Sarasota County is committed to providing safe, cost-effective wastewater service to commercial and residential customers within our service area. We are equally dedicated to operating our wastewater system in an environmentally responsible manner.

As of Jan. 1, 2020, all regulated businesses are required to operate effective grease traps and interceptors and to pay program fees to support initiatives such as grease trap/interceptor inspections. The goal is to prevent sanitary sewer blockages and overflows that adversely impact public health and the environment.

Newly proposed or constructed, or existing facilities that will be expanded or renovated, must install, operate and maintain a grease interceptor or grease trap according to the requirements of the Florida Building Code.

Any regulated establishments operating within the county prior to Jan. 1, 2020, may maintain existing grease interceptors or grease traps if they are in efficient operating condition.

For more information regarding Sarasota County's FOG Management Program, visit www.scgov.net/FOG or call the Contact Center at 941-861-5000.

The law firm of Blalock Walters, P.A. is pleased to announce that real estate attorney Amanda C. Tullidge has become a principal of the firm.Tullidge joined Blalock Walters in 2013 and is a member of the firm’s real estate and banking practice groups. Her practice is in commercial and residential real estate law, with a focus on commercial leasing, commercial transactions, and residential real estate.Tullidge is a Licensed Realtor, a member of Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, serves on the Manatee County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division board of directors and is a member of Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance and Manatee Young Professionals.  She was named Finalist for both 2019 Sarasota Young Professional of the Year and Manatee Young Professional MVP. Active in the community, Tullidge serves as board member and grants chairperson of Lakewood Ranch Community Foundation and co-founded Cheers for Charity, a women’s giving circle comprised of over 30 young professional women who raise funds for local nonprofit organizations.

Local business and philanthropic leaders Joe and Barbara Najmy were recently awarded the John A. Clarke Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Lakewood Ranch Community Fund. The annual award was named for John Clarke, a man whose dedication to humanitarian ideals have perpetuated the high ethical, moral and professional standards that epitomize his life.  Individuals who receive the award have made outstanding, sustained and unselfish contributions to community enrichment and whose commitment and dedication exemplify the ideal of service to the community. The Najmys have been active in giving and fundraising at the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch, Easterseals of Southwest Florida, State College of Florida, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, Manatee Community Foundation, and the Lakewood Ranch Community Fund.