Longboat chamber releases its list of yearly award nominees

It takes passionate people from all sectors — be it private business, nonprofit or governmental — to unite a community in a universally challenging year. For its 2025 awards, the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce aims to highlight those ties with a competition that includes more of the community than ever.

Kim Verreault, chamber president and CEO, gave a rundown of the nominees in anticipation of the Oct. 23 award ceremony at Lido Beach Resort.

This year's ceremony includes 10 main award categories. They are Tourism and Hospitality Excellence, Hall of Fame, Best Workplace, Excellence in Municipal Leadership, Non-Profit of the Year, Chamber Spirit, Lifetime Achievement, Business Resilience, Legacy Family Business and Emerging Business of the Year.

The main awards already went out for voting, and all that remains is to see who pulled off the win. Verreault said she was pleased so many members participated in the voting this year.

A few other special awards, like the Volunteer of the Year, remain under wraps as the chamber decides in-house who will receive the recognition.

There will be much to celebrate as the business community looks back on all the effort it put into rebuilding from last year's hurricanes. But Verreault said the chamber is glad to be expanding the awards beyond the small business focus in previous years.

"When you talk to people working with the town, they mention what a pleasure it is going into work every day," she said.

It wasn't an easy year to start a new business venture, especially as Longboat Key stores faced lower-than-usual tourism numbers. The chamber selected Hotwire Communications, Le Gardenia Bleu and Lo' Key Island Grille as the three nominees for Emerging Business of the Year in recognition of their efforts to grow despite the challenges.

It's not too late to secure a ticket to the awards.

The ceremony takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 23 at Lido Beach Resort with a theme of "Starry Night." Performances are set to include members of the Sarasota Opera and a string trio. The evening will also include a silent auction supporting Manatee Children's Services for the holidays.

Tickets are $100, and the dress code is cocktail attire. The resort is also offering special rates for attendees. RSVP by Oct. 17 at LongboatKeyChamber.com or 941-383-2466.