Commerce department official meets with area business leaders

Nearly a dozen Southwest Florida business leaders and executives took part in a virtual roundtable on the area economy late last month with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

The Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce organized the Oct. 28 event, hosted at the Fort Myers headquarters of cancer screening firm NeoGenomics. Ross led a discussion on the local economy, the challenges of doing business amid COVID-19 and ideas for revitalizing industries and communities, generating more jobs and creating a resilient economy. U.S. Department of Commerce Chief of Staff Michael Walsh, in person in Fort Myers for the event, received a tour of the NeoGenomics’ facility before the discussion.

In picture, from left to right: Lee County Economic Development Office Director John Talmage; Helen Edenfield, global director for facilities at NeoGenomics; Seagate Development Group CEO Matt Price; Lee County Commissioner Ray Sandelli; Robert Shovlin, clinical services division president at NeoGenomics; Kevin Kollker, director of operations for Scotlynn; U.S. Department of Commerce Chief of Staff Michael Walsh; Jen Whyte, co-owner of Fort Myers Brewing Co.; Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Colleen DePasquale; and Daniel Eveloff, senior vice president of Regions Bank and board president for the Horizon Foundation.