Groups unite for community-building in Lakewood Ranch

Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance member Kristi Hoskinson sat down at a table Feb. 27 at the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club and began making introductions. She may not have known the other guests, but that was the point of the Alliance's joint meeting with members of the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch. 

Both organizations aim to connect business professionals and provide support for each other. The Lakewood Ranch Rotary Club also is devoted to public service, raising about $100,000 annually for charity through its Suncoast Food and Wine Festival.

"This is a place for our community to connect, to get to know each other an support each other," Hoskinson said of the annual joint luncheon. "We all want to developer a stronger community in Lakewood Ranch."

Hoskinson sat by Rotary's Paul Hoenle.

Nearly 200 Alliance and Rotary members like Hoskinson enjoyed networking before lunch and hearing from keynote speaker Bill Waddill, managing director of the Sarasota Bayfront Planning Organization. The SBPO is working on plans to redevelop more than 40 acres of city of Sarasota-owned bayfront land off U.S. 41 around the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall into a public park with a performing arts center, amphitheater and educational spaces.