Market Opportunity

Sarasota-Bradenton area decision makers usually head north, to Tampa, for high-level networking among fellow corner office occupants.

But the networking opportunities have begun to come to them.

Two groups in particular have led the charge: The Association for Corporate Growth and the Gulf Coast CEO Forum. ACG Tampa Bay expanded to Sarasota-Bradenton late last year, while the CEO Forum is an independent group modeled after the CEO Council of Tampa Bay. Matt Walsh, editor and publisher of the Business Review, helped launch the CEO Forum and is currently the group's president.

ACG Tampa Bay Chairman John Connery says a handful of Sarasota-Bradenton professionals have attended ACG events in Tampa over the past few years, which got him thinking about expansion. And last year he met with the chairman of ACG San Francisco, who told him about that group's success in hosting meetings in Oakland.

“We are moving full steam on this,” Connery says. “We think it's a viable opportunity.”

There are 14,000 members ACG members worldwide, spread through 56 chapters. The organization was founded in 1954. The focus is to provide networking programs and business opportunities for middle-market growth companies. Members are mostly a mix of attorneys, accountants, potential investors, commercial investment bankers and entrepreneurs. Executives and professionals with private equity firms are also members.

The Tampa Bay chapter, formed in 1998, has been one of the fastest growing ACG chapters. The membership count has grown from 126 in July 2007 to 225 in 2012.

About 70 people attended ACG Tampa Bay's first Sarasota-Bradenton meeting, held at the Sarasota Yacht Club late last year. A second meeting was held in January. “We want to be a more significant player” in supporting companies in the region grow, says Connery.

 The Gulf Coast CEO Forum also wants to play a significant role in helping local companies grow. The forum, unlike the ACG expansion, is independent of the CEO Council. But the strategy is the same: to have a group where CEOs can share information comfortably, and give and receive advice, without feeling like they are being sold something.

The CEO Forum does that through monthly meetings and roundtable discussions, says executive director Lynn Weddington, who was hired in November. The forum was formed in June and now has 65 members. Says Weddington: “We want the leaders who want to be better CEOs.”

MORE INFORMATION:
The next Sarasota-Bradenton meeting for the Association for Corporate Growth-Tampa Bay chapter is scheduled for 5:30-8 p.m., March 7, at the Sarasota Yacht Club.
The topic is “Today's Lending — the Rules Have Changed.”
The annual membership fee for the Association for Corporate Growth is $335. Visit http://www.acg.org/tampabay for more information.
The Gulf Coast CEO Forum, meanwhile, meets once a month, also at the Sarasota Yacht Club. The forum seeks members with companies that have at least $1.5 million in annual sales and 10 employees. Email [email protected] for more information.