In Memoriam: Kathy Baylis 1948-2015

Venice businessman C.J. Fishman, a gregarious and sociable entrepreneur, had many memorable encounters with his close friend Kathy Baylis, a leader in Sarasota County economic development for 20 years.

Fishman, president of Fishman and Associates, a commercial kitchen firm, recalls one time when several fellow Venice powerbrokers met with Baylis at the old Smitty's Restaurant. The group was there to chat about improving the business climate in Venice with Baylis, then president of the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce.

The four men ordered drinks. An Absolut on the rocks, a Rum and Coke. Baylis, always in control, ordered a ginger ale. That prompted some laughter, and some friendly ribbing. So Baylis switched her order to a Whiskey and 7 Up. “We weren't going to sit and drink with her if she had a ginger ale,” Fishman recalls with a chuckle.

The founding president and CEO of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, Baylis died Sunday after a lengthy battle with cancer. She was 67 years old.

Multiple business leaders and officials have similar memories of Baylis: A serious, dedicated and tireless worker when it came to anything Sarasota County, in addition to someone who loved life, and loved being around people. Her work accomplishments are diverse, from helping small businesses to some of the county's biggest, like Venice-based drinkware maker Tervis.

“Not everything was easy with the EDC,” says Fishman, a two-time chairman of the EDC board during Baylis' tenure. “But she was never afraid to tackle a challenge.”

Adds Fishman: “She made our community a better place than she found it. We lost someone very special.”

Baylis moved to the Sarasota area from the Midwest in the 1970s. A devoted golfer, she managed the Plantation Golf & Country Club of Venice. In 1995 she was named assistant director of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce's Committee of 100. When the EDC formed its own private-public partnership in 2004, Baylis was named the first president and CEO. Baylis ran the EDC until June 2011.
She left for health reasons.