2023: The year to Rise & Shine

On Wednesday, January 25, the St. Pete community showed up to Rise & Shine with the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce as we revealed a new morning format for our 124th Annual Meeting Presented by the Tampa Bay Rays & Rowdies.

A SOLD-OUT crowd filled the Center for Health Equity, where members, non-members, Chamber partners, and community leaders gathered over coffee and lite bites to discuss 2022 wins, and the opportunities we see for 2023.

The morning started at 7:30 am with a new "Chair's Reception" where guests heard from Mayor Ken Welch, The Center for Health Equity's Executive Director, Marcus Brooks, and outgoing Chamber Chairwoman, Dr. Sandra Braham (President and CEO of Gulfcoast Jewish Family & Community Services).

Dr. Braham also suprised attendees by welcoming all to the coffee-house vibe with a beautiful song, as Rays mascot, Raymond, danced beside her.

The rest of the morning included time for networking and several panels with a total of 16 volunteer leaders who helped highlight the Chamber's 2023 Programs of Work in the areas of Leadership Development, Business Growth, and programming inlcuding a panel of current and past Leadership St. Pete (LSP) and St. Pete Young Professionals (SPYP) chairs.

The formal panels, and impromptu "coffee meetups" were moderated by Chamber President & CEO, Chris Steinocher, who would casually spot leaders in the crowd to highlight several City and County-wide initiatives including Grow Smarter, the Innovation District, the Skyway Marina District and Deuces Live.

Incoming Chair, Jason Jensen (President & CEO of Wannemacher Jensen), adjourned the meeting by encouraging members to personally engage with the Chamber by taking a line from our mission statement so that we can continue to  “…be the preeminent leader of business to ensure economic growth and vitality of OUR community.”

As the cherry on top to a great morning, the support of our amazing sponsors and food/beverage vendors ensured we hit the Annual Meeting fundraising goal needed to power our work for 2023.

THANK YOU to all of the sponsors listed below! We couldn't have asked for a better Annual Meeting, and it's all because of you.

A special thank you to our food & beverage sponsors for helping fuel and caffeinate such great dialogue, and to our host, the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg for offering the perfect space for such conversations.

NEXT ANNUAL MEETING
The St. Pete Chamber's next Annual Meeting will take place in early 2024. Date TBA. Interested in sponsoring Annual Meeting or another event?
Let us know! 

PHOTOGRAPHY
Photos from the 2023 Annual Meeting can be found on the St. Pete Chamber's Flickr page. When sharing, please credit Ryan McGibbany, Tampa Bay Photographer.

For other media requests, please contact Bianca Soler.