Sink overflows with enthusiasm about what's next

Alex Sink is back on the campaign trail.

Only this time, the former state chief financial officer and onetime gubernatorial candidate isn't running for office. Now she's pushing an organization called the Florida Next Foundation.

The foundation is so new, says Sink, it doesn't even have a logo yet. The mission at the nonprofit, Sink told a crowd at a recent Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce event, is to build diversity in the economy through helping small businesses and entrepreneurs statewide.

More specifically, Sink, founder and chairwoman of the foundation, wants to use her statewide clout to draw in donors. She seeks to use those funds to help small businesses grow, and help employers retain young talent.

“We're a think tank and do tank,” says Sink, who ran Bank of America's Florida division before public service. “But I'm a doer.”

Sink summed up the purpose of the foundation by posing a hypothetical question to the crowd: Would people like to see one out-of-state company hire 500 people, jobs that would be at the whim of the parent business? Or would it be better to see 500 Florida small businesses hire one more employee?

The crowd oohed at the latter, which is what Sink says she wants the foundation to pursue.