Daniel Samess, CEO of the Greater Marathon Chamber of Commerce, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about the organization.
The Marathon Chamber of Commerce helps businesses flourish.
Samess said, “That’s our mission. That’s our goal, regardless of who comes out victorious in in any election, whether at the national level or the local level. I think now’s a time to continue to work together, because half the nation is celebrating, the other half is maybe mourning or not so happy. So I think it’s on all of us to take the high road, do the right thing, continue to work together, not gloat, not brag, but just say, okay, let’s help each other out. Because at the end of the day, just like any chamber and like ours, we want our businesses, we want our residents to thrive, to do well, regardless of red, blue, green, white, yellow, whatever, we want you to thrive and do well and prosper, and so that that’s why we exist and we love working with our local officials, and, of course, helping our local businesses to do that. So glad we’re past last week for sure, so we could move on with our lives and continue to do the good work that we do.”
Marathon has a thriving business community.
Samess said, “I’m really proud of our city of Marathon. I have a lot of pride with Monroe County, of course, and what they’ve been doing and I’ve been to a number of the workshops, meetings regarding the ROGO, BPAS situation. I know kind of like the election it’s a controversial topic. Lot of locals and folks are just saying no more. I look at it and have to with my position at both ends with the Chamber, we think about property owners, especially our commercial property owners, we have to worry about the liability that comes with takings cases. I spoke at the county workshop last week, and part of what I said was, I just can’t hedge or rely on somebody saying, well, my buddy, whose buddy’s an attorney, said takings cases, the liability really isn’t what it’s being purported to be. It’s really not going to be that bad. Well, that’s a multi billion dollar bet and hedge you’re making there, my friends. So I would want to err on the side of caution, being conservative there, since we’re looking out for taxpayers. I would love for my property taxes to not double and triple to fund those lawsuits when they do come and they will. There’s already case law in the, I think, district court right now in Florida regarding such, and it’s not looking good, as far as from the government end, meaning we’ll probably lose a lot of those. So it’s tough and people just talk and look, I have a lot of great friends that are attorneys and they’re amazing people and great practitioners. But we have to think about the liability and the risk here. But at the same time, we can manage the growth. I talk a lot with George Garrett, our city manager, and with county commissioners, and I think everybody seems to be on the same page. Whatever units we may get, ROGO building rights, they want to be spread out at a minimum 20 years. I’m hearing upwards to 50, some people that I talked to. So I feel like we’ll probably fit in the middle there, maybe in the 25 to 40 year range. So if that’s the case, that’s literally about 10 building rights per year for the city of Marathon. That’s it. And so that allows us to manage the growth. It allows us to maintain and get funding for infrastructure improvements as we see that growth and we need better capacity for treatment of waste, water, roads, things like that, so it can be managed. But I understand it’s controversial. I understand traffic. I think people notice now we’ve fallen back into a traditional seasonality. We had a real off season, which isn’t great for local businesses. A lot of them are really struggling, as far as making payroll and just keeping doors open without shutting down for a few months. So we’re back to that, and that’s normal, but if you weren’t here before 2020 it’s not normal. So now we’re back to that seasonality and the numbers show that. Snowbirds are trickling back in, which is great. We love our snowbirds. They give so much back to the community.”
Could hovercrafts be in the future to help with transportation?
Samess said, “I see it as the next thing, the next form of transport, next major form of transportation, in addition to driving, of course, and commercial flights. The technology is pretty much there. There’s a number of companies building these. It’s Electric Vertical Landing Takeoff, and they charge almost like a Tesla would charge. So they don’t need a ton of infrastructure. A lot of them now will have about a safety range per FAA of about 100 nautical miles, and they’ll fly at a speed of about 110 to 140 miles an hour, depending on different ones, different power. So pretty neat. I think maybe in the next 10 years, you’ll see ones that hold 20, 30 people. It can go longer distances, just like electric cars are getting better. But right now it’s like anywhere from four to 10 people, depending on the size of the craft. I’m working with a gentleman, actually, who just put an order in for 20 of them out of Miami. So we’re just going to start basic conversations on feasibilities, maybe into Marathon as a way for locals to get to the mainland for appointments, shopping, whatever, connecting to a major airport, visitors could come down and utilize it, staff, maybe eventually, is my long term idea to bring staff down in a more efficient way than just slow diesel burning busses. There’s little things that they’re trying to do to improve traffic now, but this for me is maybe a longer term solution, kind of the next thing around the bend.”
Could residents own one?
Samess said, “We’re not there with the Jetsons where they’re parked in your driveway now. There are some, actually, right now for sale that you could buy, and they’re two seaters, and I think they start at around $100,000, but they’re out there. They’re just experimental aircraft, but there are a few publicly traded companies and others that are almost all the way through the FAA, getting certified through FAA. So the one I’m talking about, it will be that, and it’s not commercial, meaning there’s no TSA security. Think of it like a private jet, one of those. But in this case, this type of electric, vertical landing, take off plane. It’d be scheduled, from here to there, there to here at these times and at this cost. I mean, is it going to cost more than, of course, taking a bus or maybe even a cab to Miami? Probably. It’s probably similar to a black Uber, whatever they call that, that you would maybe take up to the airport if you wanted a private car? Probably about the same there, so, but I equate it to remember when plasma TVs first came out, they were $4,000 or $5,000 for like a 30 inch and those friends you knew that were pretty wealthy, well to do, had one, and the rest of us just, kind of gawked at it. And now you can get a 60 inch for $150 on Amazon, delivered tomorrow, if you want. So I think as the tech gets better, costs will come down. Of course, like a lot of new things we see and public/private is great because the private industry is better at bringing costs down, and they’re better at pivoting and moving quicker than government, no offense to my government friends, but big government is just slower and more expensive. So I always could appreciate a good public/private partnership that creates a win, win for not just for taxpayers, but for the for residents and the communities.”
In addition to getting into the new technology coming out, the Chamber also has monthly events that bring people together.
Samess said, “We definitely do our and love our typical monthly events that just bring our members together to exchange ideas, to catch up, to get advice, or to just have a glass of wine with their friends. I think that’s just humans wanting to connect and be social with each other, and in our case, the Chamber, we have our business after hours tomorrow night, actually, at Sunset Grille. It’s just such a beautiful setting. The owner there, and his team always just really roll it out for us and we’ll have libations and food, and obviously we’re going to get a great sunset, and the weather’s been so much nicer in the evenings lately, with the breeze and cooling down. So that’s tomorrow, at 5:30 for our members, or interested members that want to come as a guest, just call us up at the Chamber at 305-743-5417, or just show up and just introduce yourself, and we’ll give you a name tag and have a good time and check us out. We’re excited about that. We actually have our luncheon on the 19th at the Marathon Ale House and yours truly is going to speak along with my new board chair, Sarah Mathis, we’re going to be pitching a new fun event we got going on December 14, on a Saturday called Seven Mile SantaCon. We’re excited about it. We think it involves everything people would really enjoy. It involves a poker run, a free cocktail at each stop and you finish on Pigeon Key Island, and they have a big winter fest that weekend, so the whole Island’s going to be lit up. They’re going to have snow machines, music, bars, food and so our event will kind of end into their event. So it’s going to just be great. Their event, too, is very family, kid friendly. Ours is a little more for adults, but the kids can tag along if you want, because you’re just stopping at a couple local bars, having a drink or two if you want, or a bite, and picking up a poker card. We’ll have prizes for best dressed. So if you want to dress festive or ugly sweaters, we’ll do a worst dress one too.”
For more information, click here: https://floridakeysmarathon.com/