Kerry Baker, executive director of the Key West Chamber of Commerce, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
The Chamber has a number of different events coming up, including a general membership meeting on April 23.
Baker said, “We do have our general membership meeting coming up on April the 23rd. We’re looking forward to having our County Mayor Jim Scholl, as well as our new County Administrator, Christine Harley, coming in and giving us an update on just kind of what’s been going on in Monroe County. It gives our business community an opportunity to hear firsthand. We also have an opportunity to ask questions, which is really the nice thing about having speakers come in, that it provides not only informative programs, but it gives our members an opportunity to ask questions that they may not typically have a form to do that with. I’m looking forward to May. In May, we have tentatively scheduled Representative Jim Mooney and Senator Rodriguez to come in and give us a legislative update. There is a lot going on in Tallahassee, if you haven’t been following all the various bills, some of them could have an impact on the Florida Keys. So we’re monitoring those closely and making sure that we’re staying involved with what’s going on on that level. I do think it’s really important to always have them come in and give us a legislative update, so they can kind of talk about some of the decisions that happen in Tallahassee, maybe give an explanation, information on funding. When we went to Florida Keys Days, I can pretty much tell you a tight budget year with the message that was being delivered by all. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that we’re able to secure the funding that we need for the Florida Keys on a variety of different projects.”
The Chamber has a Government and Legislative Affairs Committee.
Baker said, “We have a lot of our board members on there, as well as key various positions within the community. I can tell you, this month, we’re actually doing a Zoom call with Lisa Tennison, who’s going to give us a really good update on how the county fared in Tallahassee this year for not only funding, but just projects that they’re looking for support on. So it really is a good opportunity to stay informed, because that’s the key to everything, is staying informed. We try to monitor everything, pass on that information to the business community. Sometimes things that are happening, the language is at a level that maybe the average person doesn’t understand. So we try to simplify that. It can be really complex, and you’re trying to navigate through it to make sure that we’re understanding the issues and interpret it the way that it is intended to be interpreted.”
The 19th annual Tiger in the Woods Golf Tournament will be held on April 27.
Baker said, “We have a sold out tournament, so we are looking forward to that. I do like to say I think we put on a really nice event. All the players enjoy it. It’s a great opportunity. Our volunteers have fun. Our board comes out. We are still looking for a few volunteers. You can call the office at 305-294-2587, but it is a great opportunity to get in front of a pretty captive audience. The guys and girls come out, they play. We are looking still for some raffle items. We have a new twist to our putting contest this year. So it really is a great opportunity. All the money that we raise from our golf tournament is what we’re able to put back into the various community programs that we do at the chamber. We did just give another donation to FIRM. We’ve committed to $15,000 over the next three years, $5,000 a year, to help them with their mission. We honor and do a lot with our teachers. We do a holiday decorating contest. We support various things that go on in the community and that’s how we’re able to do that, is through the money that we raise at our golf tournament.”
The Chamber works hard to represent the business community.
Baker said, “We always live with a motto at the Chamber – it takes two, the Chamber and you. It’s a team effort. We look to hear from the business community. We all need to come together, work together, listen to one another. But I think our networking opportunities really afford especially smaller businesses an opportunity to network and meet other business professionals. We encourage member to member business and just keeping your businesses locally whenever possible, to patronize one another and support one another, because there is a lot of talent in the Florida Keys, a lot of talent in Key West, anything from graphic designers, every professional type service that you can need. You can get all those partnerships locally, which I think is fantastic and the Chamber certainly offers an opportunity for small businesses to network and interact with one another, which is extremely important. Our small businesses really are the heart of our community, and it’s important for us to patronize them. They patronize us, and are the ones that are supporting a variety of our different, not only youth activities, all of our nonprofits. So I do think that that’s important. We always certainly try to encourage us to remember to support local businesses.”
Baker attends city commission meetings, as well.
She said, “It is important because sometimes decisions happen that directly affect the business community, but the business community may not very well have a vote in that decision. So it is important for us to stay on top of what’s going on. We have a great working relationship with the city. I do have to give thanks to Brian and the entire team at the city. We’ve really appreciated all the public workshops that they’re doing. There’s a lot of informative sessions. If you don’t want to go in person, you can tune in on Zoom, but it really is a way for you to see the staff side, but they also allow public comment, and you’re able to be a little educated on the decisions and the topics that are going before the commission, and be able to have an input. Your voice is important, and that’s what we always say, that regardless of what side you are on an issue, speaking up and letting them know how you feel is important, and sometimes, that helps them with the decisions that they have to make.”
Transparency and communication is something that is important to the city.
Baker said, “There has been a lot of community public workshops. I know most of the commissioners, as well as the mayor, have been holding either district specific meetings. The mayor did a town hall meeting, which was great. We went to that. I believe Commissioner Lee has his for his district on Monday. So I’ll go sit in on that. We sat in on a meeting with the housing authority where they just gave an update on their new project that they’re building over at Poinciana, which will definitely be an added benefit. It is a project that will be looking to bring in workforce housing for the moderate income, not the low level, but that next level, which is extremely important, because what we’re hearing from our members is a lot of the affordable housing projects that are coming online are not necessarily workforce housing, which means that the income limits are lower, and unfortunately, our workforce is not qualifying for those. So it’s a collaborative effort. It’s a joint effort. We all have to work together, and I think it’s important, and we do appreciate when they’re reaching out to the business community for feedback on what the challenges are, what are your employees’ needs, and what are you hearing? Because then we’re able to work together to try to come to some sort of resolution, or some sort of advancement, to where we can hopefully bring some more projects online that will bring some more workforce housing in play.”
Baker is a lifelong resident of Key West and the Florida Keys.
She said, “We have a wonderful board. I always like to give them thanks. We have a volunteer board. It’s a lot of work, a lot of meetings and a lot of time. They’re all dedicated, and we certainly appreciate that, because we do have a working board. I have a staff of three full time employees. We produce a lot with the Chamber, but we have a lot of support from our board as well, as well as our committee members. A lot of our members serve on our various committees. They volunteer, and we wouldn’t be able to accomplish everything that we accomplish without that support as well.”