Your Chamber News

Last week we welcomed Sweet Rolls to Clearwater and the Chamber!

They're located on McMullen Booth Rd and roll up some AMAZING ice cream combos and smoothies.

Thank you to Vice Mayor Dr. Cundiff for helping us welcome them!

Tourism Partners Craft Vision for the Destination

Area industry professionals gathered at the St. Petersburg College Collaborative Labs for a guided visioning session about the future of the destination. By creating mock awards for 2023 & 2030, partners were about to establish priorities and dream up what actions would help lead us towards this transformational future. A full real-time report of this meeting is available. If you are interested in receiving this report and were unable to attend, please e-mail E-mail Kristina Alspaw.

Get Your Barrier Island Re-Entry Pass

The Barrier Island Re-Entry Program was established to keep beach areas safe in the aftermath of a hurricane or tropical storm. We want only those people who own property on the beach to be able to access the area after such an incident. All Clearwater Beach residents and business owners, including Sand Key and Island Estates, need to register with the program to receive their assigned Emergency Access permits.

More details

You're Invited!

Residence Inn Clearwater Downtown will be celebrating its third anniversary under the leadership of Scarlett Hotel Group. Please join us in a celebratory open house and an evening of fun. All guests will receive a welcome bag full of exciting goodies.

Wednesday July 17,2019

5:00pm - 7:30pm

RSVP HERE

The annual Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism (GC) is the premier educational conference for the Florida tourism industry. This event brings together tourism industry professionals, advertising agencies, travel experts and state leaders to explore the latest trends and opportunities for the industry. The conference takes place September 4-6, 2019.

The Website Has Launched! Click to check it out!

Harvest time: Front-yard vegetable gardens now legal in Florida

On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 82 into law. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Rob Bradley of Fleming Island, renders “void and unenforceable” local jurisdiction over front yard gardens.

“When I learned that the bill was signed I got artichoked up. Local governments will no longer be able to squash our freedom to grow vegetables on our land,” Bradley said, continuing a tradition of puns on this subject.

Jokes aside, the bill is serious for Bradley, and Floridians. The goal is to facilitate “the development of sustainable cultivation of vegetables and fruits at all levels of production, including for personal consumption.”

Vegetable Gardens

How to make the rent? Work 108 hours a week.

Three jobs to put a roof over your head? A new national study shows how far housing prices are beyond the reach of many working Floridians. It’s an alarming snapshot of the economy that highlights the struggle for low-income families, and it underscores the need for state and local governments to do more to expand access to affordable homes.

A report by the Tampa Bay Times’ Christopher O’Donnell found a similar story in the Tampa Bay region, where the $1,133 average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is well beyond the reach of minimum wage and other low-paid workers. A person would need to earn $21.79 an hour — more than $13 above the state’s minimum wage — for that rent to be “affordable.” That figure is based on households spending no more than 30 percent of their income on rent, a threshold recommended by housing advocates to avoid families spiraling into debt.

Affordable Housing

Tampa Bay Has A Secret “Lab” To Make Your Business Succeed

Collaborative Labs designs and executes strategic-planning sessions and facilitates organizational problem solving. Our unique approach incorporates interactive technology, strength-based techniques and real-time documentation to develop an actionable plan that produces tangible results. We carefully analyze each client’s needs and goals, then synthesize our findings into a custom solution that ensures consensus, team building and accountability.

Collaborative Labs at St. Petersburg College