Posts by jsaunders

Member of the Month: Joisse Cordeiro Joisse Cordeiro  is the Founder and CEO of Advanced AC, a fully licensed and insured, woman-owned HVAC company serving the entire South Florida region. With over 17 years of experience in the air conditioning and construction industry, she has built a reputation for delivering high-quality, cost-effective solutions for projects…

Seacoast Bank Deepens its Commitment to Broward County with New Full-Service Branch in Fort Lauderdale Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ: SBCF), one of the largest Florida-based community banks, has further strengthened its footprint in South Florida with the opening of a new full-service branch in Fort Lauderdale. This expansion reinforces Seacoast’s commitment to providing…

Van Horn Law Group to Host Free Professional Development Day In response to the challenging job market across South Florida, Van Horn Law Group, one of the region’s leading bankruptcy law firms, is proud to announce a Free Professional Development Day on September 13th, 2025, open to the public. This community-focused event is designed to…

Eye On Channel’s “Journeys Within” wins Telly Award Eye On Channel proudly announces the release of “The Journeys Within,” a compelling new episode in their acclaimed docu-series, featuring Dr. Stephen Loyd—recipient of the 46th Annual Telly Award selected from over 13,000 entries submitted by top video and television creators worldwide… This unified production shines a spotlight on the urgent…

July’s Member of the Month: Damon Ricks Damon joined the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) in 2023. He had recently started a new business with two engineering partners as consulting Engineers and Planners for Land Development projects, forming Scheffer Mote and Ricks.  Damon and his partners Alex Scheffer, P.E. and Keith Mote have…

Employers Must Not Only Document, But Also Preserve Documents of Employee Poor Performance HR professionals are well aware of the need to contemporaneously document employee performance problems and of the related mantra, “if it is not documented, it never occurred.” Just as important, however, is the need to preserve that documentation once HR is on…

Florida Legislations would be Greatly Enhanced Non-Compete Enforcement We are watching the progress of Florida HB 1219 (the CHOICE ACT) which, if signed by the Governor, would guarantee that a properly worded non-compete agreement would be enforced, regardless of the employer’s actual need for such protection. The new legislation would be applicable to employees earning…

Report from Stephen Tilbrook, Akerman LLP, Chair, Council of Economic Advisors The Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce hosted the quarterly meeting of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) on May 14, 2025. This gathering brought together C-suite executives from 25 leading corporate and business institutions in South Florida, alongside executives from the Miami Branch…

Business and Government Leaders Study Boston Over 100 business leaders, elected officials and staff visited Boston last week to study that city in a variety of strategic areas related to our economy. Art, culture and entertainment, technology, affordable housing, resilience, commercial real estate, education, talent, workforce, healthcare, small business, sports and recreation, and transportation were…

Building Momentum: Resilient Broward Sparks Regional Collaboration on Climate and Resilience On February 26th the Economic Resilience Council of the Greater Fort Lauderdale of Commerce hosted the Resilient Broward event at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Huizinga Pavilion. The event was a powerful example of collaboration and commitment to addressing the complex challenges…