Supporting local businesses isn’t something I became interested in because I became President of the Bluffs Business Association. It’s something I’ve believed in throughout my career.
I’ve spent decades working with business owners, entrepreneurs, restaurants, professional organizations, nonprofits, and community leaders throughout Pinellas County and the Tampa Bay area. Those experiences have shown me how closely connected our businesses and our communities really are.
When a local business succeeds, the impact reaches far beyond the business owner. It creates jobs. It supports families. It sponsors youth programs. It contributes to nonprofits. It participates in community events. And very often, it’s the local business owner who steps forward when somebody in the community needs help.
That’s one of the reasons serving as President of the Bluffs Business Association means so much to me.
The Bluffs Business Association has served the local business community since 2003.
Today, the BBA works with businesses throughout Belleair, Belleair Bluffs, Largo, Seminole, Clearwater, and the Gulf Beaches.
Its mission is built around three principles that I strongly believe in: Leadership. Education. Networking.
The organization creates opportunities for business owners to meet one another, learn from one another, develop relationships, increase their visibility, participate in community events, and become more involved in the communities where they do business.
But the BBA isn’t simply about exchanging business cards. The larger goal is building relationships between businesses, residents, nonprofits, community organizations, and local leadership. That’s where I believe a business association can make a real difference.
Events give businesses an opportunity to meet customers and one another in a completely different environment.
The BBA organizes and participates in networking meetings, ribbon cuttings, mixers, educational programs, community celebrations, and major events.
One of the best-known is the Bluffs Wine Walk, which brings businesses, residents, and visitors together throughout Belleair Bluffs.
Events like the Wine Walk aren’t successful because of one person. They require businesses, sponsors, volunteers, community partners, local government, law enforcement and public safety, board members, event coordinators, and residents who show up and support the businesses.
That’s exactly the kind of collaboration I want the BBA to continue building.
I’ve built businesses here. I’ve raised my family here. I’ve developed friendships here. I’ve watched businesses open, grow, struggle, recover, and sometimes reinvent themselves entirely.
That’s why the phrase Love Local means more to me than simply shopping at a locally owned store.
It means understanding that these businesses are part of the community: the restaurant owner sponsoring a local event, the business owner donating to a nonprofit, the company providing services for a school, the entrepreneur volunteering their time, and the local professionals who show up at meetings, ribbon cuttings, fundraisers, community celebrations, and charitable events.
A strong local business community doesn’t happen automatically. People have to participate in it.
The BBA’s mission is to empower businesses through leadership, education, and networking. Those aren’t just words on a website. They provide a framework for what we’re trying to accomplish.
Leadership: Give business owners opportunities to participate, lead, serve, and become more visible in their communities.
Education: Connect members with information, professionals, organizations, and resources that can help them make better business decisions.
Networking: Create opportunities for genuine relationships to develop between businesses, community leaders, organizations, and potential customers.
I believe the strongest networking happens when people stop thinking about what they can get from the room and start thinking about what they can contribute to it.
As President, my job isn’t to make the Bluffs Business Association about Larry Bell. My responsibility is to help create an organization that provides real value to its members and the community.
That means working with our Board of Directors, committees, members, community partners, municipalities, chambers of commerce, nonprofits, and local businesses.
Some of that work happens publicly at events and ribbon cuttings. A lot of it happens behind the scenes: planning, meetings, building partnerships, improving communications, updating technology, working on membership, creating events, reviewing governance, connecting people, and finding resources.
The question I keep coming back to is simple: How can the BBA provide more value to the businesses and communities we serve?
One of the things I appreciate most about the BBA is its commitment to community organizations and nonprofits.
The association supports local community partners throughout the year, including monthly nonprofit contributions and larger contributions associated with major BBA events.
A business association should help businesses succeed. But I also believe successful businesses have an opportunity to help strengthen the communities that support them. Those two goals belong together.
Over the years, Belltech has had the opportunity to work with businesses and organizations throughout Florida and beyond.
Our work has included relationships with brands and organizations such as:
Some relationships have lasted for many years.
That matters to me more than simply counting projects.
Although the name comes from the Bluffs area, today’s BBA serves a broader coastal business community, including:
Each community has its own identity. But the businesses and people who live and work throughout these areas interact every day. Our customers don’t stop at municipal boundaries. Neither should our relationships.
I may serve as President, but an organization like the BBA doesn’t operate because of one person.
It takes an engaged Board of Directors, committee leaders, members, volunteers, sponsors, community partners, municipal leaders, and businesses willing to participate.
I’m fortunate to work alongside people who care about this community and are willing to give their time to make it stronger.
Leadership isn’t doing everything yourself. It’s helping good people work together toward something worthwhile.
Growth matters. Membership matters. Events matter. But numbers alone don’t tell me whether an organization is succeeding.
I want BBA members to be able to answer a more important question: Is being part of this organization helping my business and helping me become more connected to my community?
If the answer is yes, we’re doing something right.
My goal is to continue building an organization that businesses want to participate in because they see genuine value in the relationships, resources, education, visibility, leadership opportunities, and community involvement it provides. That requires continually listening to our members and being willing to improve.
No local organization operates in a vacuum.
One of my priorities has been strengthening relationships between the BBA and other organizations serving our business community. That includes municipalities, chambers of commerce, nonprofits, civic organizations, and community leaders.
The BBA works closely with organizations including the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce, giving members access to broader regional resources and connections in addition to their local BBA membership.
I believe those partnerships make organizations stronger. We don’t need to duplicate what another organization already does well. We should look for ways to work together.fw
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