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Economic development agencies tend to make the news — for good or bad — based on money being spent to woo companies and jobs to a region.
The Bonita Springs Estero Economic Development Council is trying a different approach.
The EDC, part of the Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce, is putting together an event that looks to retain current employees, not merely bring in new ones. “We do a great job of recruiting people to the area,” says EDC Executive Director Tiffany Esposito, “but keeping people here tends to be a challenge.”
That theory is a tipping point in a 2016 survey from Lee Health. The report, according to the EDC, “found part of our area's workforce attrition rate comes from people who move here and don't get engaged with the community.”
Esposito and her team met with human resources executives from several major employers in the area after that survey, including Naples-based medical device manufacturer Arthrex; Fort Myers women's retailer Chico's FAS; IT consulting firm Gartner; Estero-based Hertz; Lee and Collier high schools; and all three major area hospitals. One of the major results of those conversations, an unusual summit of all the top employers in the Lee-Collier area, is the Great Big Community Involvement Fair.
The event is a showcase of the area's sports clubs, cultural groups and volunteer organizations — all groups that can help people who are new to the area get involved. It's scheduled for 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 26 at the Southwest Florida Performing Arts Center/Teatro Ristorante in Bonita Springs. Organizations scheduled to have a table at the event include the American Red Cross; Blue Zones Project Southwest Florida; the Young Professionals of Fort Myers, Estero, Cape Coral; and the Harry Chapin Food Bank.
“This isn't a supplier and vendor event,” says Esposito, a Business Observer 40 under 40 winner last year. “We want people to come out of this with some good ways of being engaged in the area.”
Beyond the event, Esposito says a big plus is the EDC now has new communication lines with top employers in the area. She says there are more meetings planned with the big companies, so the employee retention situation can remain top of mind. Says Esposito: “This is a huge economic development issue.”
For more information on the event, call 239-333-2332 or email [email protected].
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