Kathy Baylis wants to buy you dinner. Well, maybe not you specifically. She is more interested in the big shots from up North. In a recent article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Baylis, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, reminded us that every cloud has a silver lining (or, more apropos in this instance, every blizzard has a warm spot). For Florida, the warm spot could be a rush of new businesses relocating here, if we handle it right.
Baylis wrote, "Among the thousands of vacationers who flock to Sarasota County every year, this special group of visitors literally holds the keys…to diversify our economy. Camouflaged in resort wear and slathered in sunscreen, they are the owners or chief executives of successful mid-sized companies in the Midwest. At some point during the construction of a sand castle on a quiet beach, or during the seventh-inning stretch at a spring baseball game, they think to themselves: 'This sure beats the heck out of a 45-minute commute behind a salt truck.'"
Baylis went on to describe a joint initiative between her organization and the Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau to promote the county as a welcome alternative to business people in the Northeast and Midwest currently suffering a severe case of cabin fever.
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