Kerry Baker, the Executive Director of the Key West Chamber of Commerce, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
There has been an uptick of people visiting the city of Key West.
Baker said, “I actually flew out of the airport yesterday, and there was definitely people coming in and out. So it’s certainly wonderful actually, to see so much life in our little small town during this time of the year. The modernization of the airport is great. I mean being from Key West, and growing up there, I still remember when it was open air and you could look out the little window, which was great 30, 40 years ago. But I have to say that the modernization of the airport and the hard work of Richard Strickland and the entire team at Key West International, as well as our Board of County Commissioners that have been very supportive of that project happening is definitely most appreciated. I always like to remind everyone it is not just the visitors that utilize that airport. We as locals utilize it as well. And it’s really fantastic to have so much new service and accessibility available for traveling in and out of Key West.”
The Key West Chamber of Commerce has announced the keep Key West beautiful partnership honoring pride, care and community spirit.
Baker said, “We’re very honored to honor Nikky and her team from Pacific Jewelry. They’re at 125 Duval Street. Great shop if you’ve never checked it out, but it just really stood out. It’s right around the corner from us. There is not a day that they are not outside, cleaning the windows, sweeping, just making sure the facade and just the whole entryway is very welcoming and clean. Their staff is amazing. Just really goes above and beyond customer service, even if you’re just in there looking, but really just kind of overall, just gives that total image that we want for Key West, especially our small businesses. Small businesses are the heart of our downtown community. They’re also the heart of the Chamber. I mean, we have a lot of big businesses as a member of the chamber, but we have tons of small businesses that are members of the Chamber. Those businesses represent our residents and our community, and we’re happy to do whatever we can do to bring some recognition, encourage people to take that pride into their business. It’s just a win win all the way around.”
The Chamber really helps provide resources for businesses.
Baker said, “It’s important for us to support one another. I always say this, there’s so much talent locally. There’s so many great opportunities. You may not see something on the shelf, but chances are they could probably order it for you. And how great is it that we can support local business? Local business is what supports our community. Local businesses are what support our youth leagues, nonprofits. So it’s extremely important that whenever possible, we always try to say, get out there. It’s spring break. So kids are out of school. A lot of parents take off this week. If you’re not leaving the island and you’re staying locally, there is so much to do. You can take them to many of the different cultural activities you have, everything from Mel Fishers, the Hemingway House, Harry Truman Little White House, the Key West Museum of Art and History. I enjoy going to it. There’s just so much to do. And I always encourage that people take that opportunity to get out there and enjoy our many cultural activities.”
The membership luncheon at the end of the month will hear the State of the City from the mayor.
Baker said, “Mayor Henriquez will be giving her state of the city. I know a few people have seen it, but she’s going to do some add ons on what’s going on around town and with the city and up and coming. So we’re looking forward to that. We will also be partnering with the Key West Military Affairs Committee and recognizing four outstanding service members in our local community. This award is a little different. This award is not for what they’ve done for their military career. This is what they’ve done for our local community. Many of our service members, they may only be part of the Key West Community, the Lower Keys for two or three years, but they get out there. They volunteer, they coach our children. So this is a way for military affairs to bring some attention to that, and we’re happy to open up our luncheon to do that. We will also be giving a check presentation to Mel from FIRM. He’s going to get a brief little update on the insurance rates, everything that’s going on with Citizens in Tallahassee. So we’re looking forward to that. It should be a pretty action packed meeting. If you’re still interested in making reservations, you can go to our website, or just give the office a call at 305-294-2587. I would be remiss if I also didn’t remind all of our seniors out there, regardless if you attend Key West High School, any of the charter schools, even if you’re home schooled, it is scholarship season, which means all of our scholarships locally are open. Our chamber HR 100 scholarship is available on our website. The deadline to submit your application for that, I believe, it’s Friday, March 20, so we are definitely looking forward to that, and I’m looking forward to being able to present those scholarships. One thing that I do like to tout on is we do have a foundation with the Chamber. We do believe in giving them back to our community as much as possible. We give a lot back to our local education, whether it be through teachers or students, I can tell you, combined for the ‘25, ‘26 school year, the members of the Key West Chamber of Commerce through their generosity, contributed over $140,000 in in kind and cash donations to the teachers and students of the Key West area schools. So we’re very proud of that. That is us giving back to our residents, us giving back to our community. It’s extremely important that we support everybody, and that’s what the Chamber is all about. We look to support business community wide, not one particular district, not one particular area. We want the whole island to thrive.”
Alonzo’s Oyster Bar was the site of a recent Business After Hours event.
Baker said, “It was a fantastic event. I usually do not like to miss our After Hours, but unfortunately, I was not there, but my team took the lead on that. Alonzo’s, this is a great little spot down in the seaport. We remind everyone again, another thing that you can do if you’re off for spring break is get out there and definitely patronize our local restaurants. Another thing that I wanted to say to just to touch on is the one thing that’s important to support education is not all students leave and go off to college. Some of them go out into our workforce immediately after graduating. A lot of them are already in our workforce. Unfortunately, Key West is expensive, and a lot of our students, you see, they do work, which I think is a great thing. It’s instilling some work ethic and values, and they’re learning skills before they’re starting their adult life. So it’s definitely important. The College of the Florida Keys, congratulations to them for celebrating their 60th anniversary. I do believe in that little hashtag phrase that it takes a village, and I think our village does a great job with the students in Key West.”
For more information, click here: https://www.keywestchamber.org/