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Manatee Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Sharon Hillstrom hopes a tweak to her organization's moniker will give it more influence to accomplish one of its biggest quests of 2013: To boost the area's employment rate.
Gone from the name will be Manatee. In its place will be Bradenton Area. The changes, including a new website for the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corp., will take place in the first quarter of next year. Atlas Advertising, a Denver-based branding and advertising firm with a specialty in economic development, worked with the EDC on the project. The goal, says Hillstrom, is increased awareness.
“We didn't go into this thinking we were going to change our name,” Hillstrom tells Coffee Talk. “We went into this thinking of what will provide us the greatest visibility in the community.”
Yet a name change, no matter how small, can be an agonizing decision. Hillstrom says EDC board members and officials embraced the change, especially when considering many prominent organizations, like the Pittsburgh Pirates, IMG Academy and Tropicana, identify with being from Bradenton, not Manatee County.
The EDC will still take on many of the same tasks, with a focus on recruiting new jobs to the area and helping current local companies grow. In that regard Hillstrom hopes the name change will be subtle, yet significant enough to leave lasting impact. “There is a lot of positive energy and enthusiasm going on in Bradenton right now,” Hillstrom says. “When you have something like this, you want to keep it going.”
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