East and west are on the same team at tailgate business expo

By Ian Swaby
| 10:00 a.m. September 20, 2024

Jordan Sebastiano of Servpro tosses a football.

East County
Business

Numerous pro and college football team names were on display at the Tradeshow Tailgate Business Expo, while the businesses present spanned Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Yet everyone still found a common goal at the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance event, which was held Sept. 19 at Robarts Arena.

Jordan Sebastiano of Servpro said he enjoyed the family-like atmosphere, as different businesses mingled before the doors opened to the public.

The expo brought together more than 65 businesses and has consistently drawn 300 to 400 attendees annually, said Brittany Lamont, president and CEO of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance.

Although the expo is now in its 15th year, it featured an "East Meets West" theme until 2023, when the tailgate concept was introduced.

Lamont said after participating businesses embraced the theme last year, the business alliance were eager to bring it back for a second time.

Business owners said they were pleased with the engagement as attendees traveled the room, filling out "bingo" cards for the chance to win Southwest Airlines tickets, and to try activities and food samples.

"I think they do a good job of intertwining everybody at this one in particular, with the bingo cards and the little incentives to go intermingle with all the other owners," Sebastiano said.

"It was amazing to see it," said Cindy Garren, a teacher with Kid Potential. "We didn't expect to have as many people as we saw here, and we had a lot of activity come by our table... and we had a lot of people that were really interested in knowing what we offer."

The event brought together individuals like David Otterness of Willis Smith Construction, Joshua Day of Fifth Third Bank, Zoë Kasper of Sunshine Movers Sarasota, Anthony Ward of PCS Florida, Angelica Ferreira of Fifth Third Bank, Madeline Mangas of State College of Florida, Philip Cecil of Ameriprise Financial Services and Kristie Calandro of Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance.

Sophia Ohmart and Brooke O'Brien helped represent Jumpin' Fun Inflata Park.

Jose Suarez, kitchen manager at Anna Maria Oyster Bar in UTC, sets out ceviche samples.

Meatballs are set out for guests by Whiskey Joe's.

Lakewood Ranch's Nadiyah Aljukic, 7, scores big as she plays ring toss on Devin Andersen's hat, at the table of the Ellenton restaurant Whiskey Joe's where Alan Medeiros is also pictured. Aljukic walked away from the table with a plush gator.

Darla Latokhin of Top Dog Trainer spins the wheel for Servpro.

Maximus Latokhin, 9, performed all of the activities at the table of Kid Potential Sarasota.

Linda Jacobs, Molly Lawley and Holly Haas of Serbin Print Marketing & Publishing brought plenty of gear, including the Serbin sign on Lawley's back.

Greg Courter of Horizon Insurance, Justin Bellante of Titan Placement Group and Eric Konovalov of Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance enjoy a conversation.

Demery Hamil and his wife Jennifer Hamil, of Koastal Klean, embraced the tailgate theme.

6-month old Sunday Martin and her father Devin Martin dressed up as part of a team for DecoCrete Services.

Samantha Harris of Humane Society of Manatee County connects with Ellie Levine and Claudia Harden of Cat Depot in Sarasota.

Cindy Moore, Jenna Nelson, Vanessa Tilton and Lori Kroten represented Lodgco Hospitality.

author

Ian Swaby

Ian Swaby is the Sarasota neighbors writer for the Observer. Ian is a Florida State University graduate of Editing, Writing, and Media and previously worked in the publishing industry in the Cayman Islands.