This was the free program’s first year. It was formed after Sarasota City Commissioner Willie Shaw and Argus Foundation Executive Director Christine Robinson discussed the need for more technical training in the Newtown area. They decided to focus the first training program on HVAC, because it’s a growing industry and there’s a lot of local…

Watch this great interview about the Newtown HVAC Workforce training program that Argus partnered in. City of Sarasota Commissioner Willie Shaw approached our executive director to partner with him to get this started. They approached CareerEdge Funders and partnered with the Boys and Girls Club Roy Mcbean Center and Cool Today!

Local elected officials need to convey, through action, that accountability is their “why”. Empty promises of future action some day or statements that everything is fine, conveys that their “why” is complacency, and the business community sees it.

We all knew it was a ruse. It was pretty clear from their name alone that STOP! was not about making development better, but rather creating economic uncertainty to throw up the proverbial gate after they passed through it to end economic progress in Sarasota. Translation: It was all about administrative review process and their…