Dan Sidler, 38

It’s not just the Business Observer recognizing Dan Sidler for a standout performance.

Sidler and his colleagues at the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce were recently named the 2024 Florida Chamber of the Year, based in large part on what the organization has been able to achieve with its CareerEdge program, which Sidler runs. The program, which provides upskilling and internship opportunities to better help the local labor market meet employers’ needs, has increased participants’ earnings by $1.8 million. And the economic impact is even higher as those earnings flow back into the local economy.

Photo by Mark Wemple

For Sidler, the satisfaction goes beyond the numbers.

“On a personal level, we love supporting businesses,” Sidler explains. “But getting to meet the classes that come through those fast track programs — taking somebody who was working at Popeye’s, and now they have a license to be an auto technician, giving somebody an opportunity to advance within their careers — that is really what gets us going.”

“There’s often tears involved,” Sidler adds.

A well-known smiling face on the Sarasota-Bradenton-Lakewood Ranch business networking scene, Sidler credits his mom and mentor, Paulette Sidler, for driving him to succeed — in life and his career. For one he cites her courage in moving from the States to Switzerland, where Dan Sidler was born, then back to the States later in life, where she raised Sidler and his brother. 

Sidler also says watching and learning from his mom taught him integrity. “There’s no substitute for doing the right thing, which is really the basis for relationship building and all the success in my life,” he says. 

Sidler is seemingly at every business event in town, but he does make time for some outside work fun. One example is disc golf — Sidler's big extracurricular commitment on weekends. “I’ve been playing for a decade. Most Saturday mornings I’m out at one of the local courses,” he says.

Disc golf is a solo sport, but back in the office Sidler relies on his team to deliver for chamber members. When their organization was recognized as a finalist for the chamber award, Sidler says, “I told my team, ‘This is a reflection of all the work that we do together. There are amazing people throughout.’”

Paulette Sidler would likely agree. “Dan has always gone after what he wanted in life," she says. "And there's just no stopping him. He just keeps going for the next level and the next level.”