May 28, 2025 • 18 mins
What happens when a community faces repeated crises yet emerges stronger each time? In this captivating conversation with Jacki Liszak, President and CEO of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce, we discover the resilience that defines this beloved coastal destination.
For nearly a decade, Jacki has guided the Chamber through a remarkable series of challenges—red tide, Hurricane Irma, COVID-19, and most recently, Hurricane Ian. Her journey began unexpectedly when she volunteered to save a community fireworks display and was subsequently "hoodwinked" (her words, with a laugh) into taking the Chamber leadership position. That spontaneous decision launched her into advocacy work that has proven vital to Fort Myers Beach's survival and revival.
The conversation reveals Jacki's passionate commitment to water quality as the cornerstone of the island's future. "Without our clean water, we can all stop the discussion because people are not going to come here," she emphasizes, highlighting the Chamber's dedicated Water Foundation that studies, educates, and supports clean water initiatives around Estero Island. Currently, the waters around Fort Myers Beach boast exceptional clarity, appearing "Caribbean blues and greens"—a testament to ongoing environmental efforts.
Jacki dispels common misconceptions about the Chamber's role, explaining they're an independent non-profit rather than a government entity. She details how their work extends far beyond traditional business support to include tourism promotion, resident engagement, and even preventing scams targeting community members. The Chamber has become a trusted connector, linking innovative solutions (like 3D-printed seawalls that foster marine life) with decision-makers to benefit the entire ecosystem.
For visitors and locals alike, Jacki shares an insider tip: right now is an exceptional time to enjoy Fort Myers Beach, with shorter booking windows creating opportunities for great deals at resorts and vacation rentals. Whether you're seeking sunset views, dolphin sightings, or simply toes in the sand, Fort Myers Beach awaits—with the Chamber standing ready to enhance your experience.
Ready to discover what makes this community so special? Connect with the Fort Myers Beach Chamber at 239-454-7500, info@fmbchamber.com, or visit their offices to learn how you can enjoy—or even contribute to—this resilient paradise.
FMB Chamber
Jacki Liszak
(239) 454-7500
100 Lover's Lane
Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931
info@fmbchamber.com
Ft Myers Beach-Good Neighbor
To Nominate Someone to be Featured
Or
To Subscribe to the Newsletter
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
It's time to check out your neighbors on the Good
Neighbor podcast, where we bringgood vibes, great neighbors and
local businesses in SouthwestFlorida together.
Here's your host, Cabo JimSchaller.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome Good Neighbors to episode number 256
of the Good Neighbor podcast.
Today we have Good NeighborJacki Liszak from the Fort Myers
Speech Chamber.
Welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Good morning Jim.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Thank you for having me, yeah absolutely Always good
to get to know people in thecommunity and share their
stories with our listeners.
So I know Fort Myers Beach ingeneral has been through a lot
lately, but why don't youexplain a little bit about what
the Chamber is doing currently?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
So I am the President and CEO of the Fort Myers Beach
Chamber of Commerce.
I'm going on my ninth year nowin the chamber position and
every year has been interestingand engaging and eye-opening and
all of these things plus moreas I've gone along my chamber
(01:03):
journey here.
You know, of course, coming instarting with Red.
Tide and quickly morphing intoHurricane Irma.
And then we had our lovelyfriend the COVID visit us for a
couple of years, and then ourbad neighbor.
The H word that's named startedwith an I, which.
I won't say either one of themStarted with an I, which I won't
say either one of them.
(01:24):
And of course then, coming outof that and all of the
challenges that a community onthe rebuild is facing, the
Chamber has been there everystep of the way, to support the
businesses, of course, as is theChamber's mission, but also to
encourage and promote ourtourists, our guests that come,
whether they come for a day orcome for half a season, and then
(01:47):
, of course, our residents onthe island, which are critical,
and some of those visitors andguests who are seasonal.
We also call them snowbirdresidents.
So the Chamber's goal really isjust to promote the community,
protect the community, engageand educate the community and
kind of be a hub for all things.
Fort Myers Beach.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Absolutely so.
Let's back up your story alittle bit.
You've been in it for nineyears.
How did you get involved in itto start with?
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I jokingly say I was hoodwinked.
So, bud, no, sarah, if you'reout there, this is all your
fault.
If you're out there, this isall your fault.
Yeah, I had come home from mylast contract and the town was
going to cancel the fireworksand I stepped forward to help
fundraise to save those, just asa private citizen.
And through that effort I gotto meet some of our amazing
(02:38):
residents and business owners,and one of those people was Bud
Nocero, who was the then chamberpresident, and he stepped up to
try to help us save thefireworks for the beach, which
we accomplished.
We fundraised enough to get usour I think it was our 4th of
July fireworks that year thatwere in jeopardy.
And through that process,unbeknownst to me, bud was
(03:00):
looking to retire, and so he gotme at a weak moment one day and
said hey, what, what do youthink about being the chamber
president?
And I was like I don't.
What is that?
I don't know.
I never knew what that was, but,um, you know, we belong to the
chamber with, with my company,sea gypsy here, but I had never
even crossed my mind, and sowent home, talked with my family
(03:22):
about it and uh, decided to goahead and take a chance at this
kind of a completely differentbusiness line, a completely
different professional road.
So, you know, the fork in theroad opened up and I went to the
one way.
So and it's been, it's been anabsolute pleasure and a joy.
(03:42):
A few moments of heartache, butway, way overshadowed by the
amount of amazing things thathave happened in the last eight
to nine years.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Absolutely.
It's been nine years.
You must be doing somethingright, so congrats to you on
that.
Let's talk about some of thosechallenges.
Obviously, we know the obviousthings, but you've been through
a lot in nine years.
You know what kind of challengeare you facing currently.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Well, you know, one of the things that really stands
out to me, and will for therest of my life, is my education
and now my passion for cleanwater and environmental
stewardship of the waters thatsurround our island and the bay
and water everywhere really.
But I have had a crash coursein the Caloosahatchee River, the
(04:31):
Everglades, our nationalestuary that's behind us, the
Gulf waters in front of us, redtide, blue-green algae and all
kinds of things that make upwhat are our waters around the
island, and to me that is ourbiggest challenge going forward.
Yes, the rebuild is important.
Yes, you know it's going totake a while for our community
(04:53):
to come back economically andvitally and we have a lot of
growing pains with thathappening now.
But really, the cornerstone ofall of this is our water, and
without our clean water we canall stop the discussion because
people are not going to comehere.
If our water is ugly or if ourwater is unhealthy and it's
(05:14):
something I think that we'vekind of pushed to the back
burner because of these otherobviously important things do,
things that affect us on theisland here and affect our
(05:41):
stormwater runoff and what weput on our yards, things like
that.
We have to ring that bell andremind folks that this is a big
part of the reason why we allcame here.
Right, we came over that bridgeand you saw that what View that
everybody argues about andwhat's in the view.
And you saw that, what viewthat everybody argues about and
what's in the view the water.
So you know, our water has beenstellar the last gosh, I don't
(06:04):
know what six months.
We've also been very, very dry,so we don't have all that water
coming down the Caloosahatcheeand that's you know, when it's
when it's.
You know a lot of it has to bethere, the tannins, and
obviously you know some of therunoff, whatever.
But that's had a huge effect onwhy our water is really
Caribbean blues and greens rightnow.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, and kudos to you guys and everybody involved
with that as well too.
I was at the beach this weekendand, you know, for the first
time in many times going thereyears, I could actually waste
high water.
I could still see my feet inwater.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I was like this is the cleanest it's been in a long
time which you know I love youknow, and that's why we love it
here I love it too, and some ofthe factor obviously has been
that we just have not had a lotof rain, because that puts a lot
of the fresh water coming down.
But you know, there are thingsthat are happening in the
everglades, that are happeningin the uh, the kl, that are
happening in the CaloosahatcheeRiver, in our reservoirs that
(07:00):
are built and still being built,and there are things that are
happening that we need to bemindful of, legislative-wise and
otherwise, that could affectwhat happens to our water.
We also continue to do watermonitoring.
The chamber has a foundation, a501c3 arm, that is our
non-profit foundation.
(07:20):
It's called the Fort MyersBeach Chamber Water Foundation.
Its sole purpose is to study,educate and support the water,
clean water around Estero Island.
So we are going to be doing aribbon cutting on a water
monitoring station that we justhad built at the mount house.
So that's coming up on the 16thof June, so kind of one of the
(07:41):
initiatives we have going on.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I love it, you know, and still, a lot of the water is
nice now, but we need to makesure it stays nice and stays
clear and you know we're doingthe right things to protect it
in the future as well,absolutely, so it's kind of a
strange question question, butare there any maybe myths or
misconceptions surrounding whatyou do, you, the chamber, do?
(08:04):
That would maybe clear up forlisteners yeah, so there's a big
one.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Actually they think we're a part of the town of Fort
Myers Beach.
We are not.
We are not a government entity,we are a non nonprofit.
It's a 501c6 trade organization.
Typically chambers of commercesupport businesses inland, like
the Fort Myers Chamber andStereo Chamber.
They support a lot of businessactivity, business initiatives.
(08:31):
We are a little different outhere ourselves Sandcap Chamber,
Pine Island Chamber, a littlebit different because we're so
heavy tourism.
So we not only support thebusiness but we also do a lot of
tourism-related information,visitor-driven information,
visitor information as well.
As I believe strongly that thechamber also serves the
(08:51):
residents of the community.
So we engage our residentsfairly heavily.
And then we're an unusualchamber in that we're fairly
event heavy.
We do a lot of eventsthroughout the year way less
than when I first took overthrough because of lots of
reasons, but we still do quite afew events like the American
Sand Sculpting Championship.
That is the chamber's event.
(09:13):
But I think a lot of folksthink the chamber in some
counties and in some towns thechamber is tied to the
government, they are funded bythem or they are actually a part
of the government that'sregulating or ruling the town or
county.
In our case, and actually inLee County, none of the chambers
are part of any of the localgovernments.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Very nice, Important information and good to know as
well.
Do you notice anything trending?
I mean, obviously there's a lotchanging in Fort Myers Beach,
but do you notice trends?
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yeah.
So one of the interestingtrends that we're all talking
about is how quiet it is rightnow.
This reminds me of more likewhen I took over the chamber
originally maybe you know, eightyears ago, nine years ago, when
we came out of season, we wentway down like somebody turned a
faucet off, like the water juststopped, and we are very, very
(10:08):
slow If you compare us to pre,even COVID years with our
residents are, with our visitorson the island right now it's
incredibly quiet.
So I think one of the trendsthat I'm seeing is that booking
windows are much, much shorter.
When you go to book for a hotel.
It used to be people would bookout two weeks to a month to six
(10:28):
months out.
They're booking days out, weeksout, couple weeks out, that's
it.
So a lot of last minute travelwe're seeing.
We're seeing a decrease, adownward pressure on our nightly
rates on the island.
So actually, for those of youthat are within drive distance,
man, you can get some greatdeals out on the beach right now
(10:49):
if you want to come out for astaycation, and you know our
downtown is still a little busy.
You know Margaritaville keepsthings hopping down there, which
is great.
Our downtown is still a littlebusy.
You know Margaritaville keepsthings hopping down there, which
is great, but even some greatdeals going on at all of these
resorts and at the vacationrentals.
So I highly encourage ourfriends inland if you want to
get out for a weekend.
It's all summer long, it'sgoing to be a beautiful time to
(11:10):
come out and have a nicevacation.
So that's one of the trendswe're noticing Travel has
definitely changed.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Absolutely.
And who doesn't want to be atthe beach?
So local people get out thereand head to the beach while it's
quiet.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
It's quiet, which is great.
You can get into the bars andrestaurants.
There's not a line.
We've got some lovely summerspecials going on.
Everybody's doing half pricepizza on Monday night at the
Junkanoo and then they haveprime rib Saturday at Salty
Sam's at Parrot Key.
So there's all these greatspecials going on right now
absolutely head to the beach forsure, so your story.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Are you from Southwest?
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Florida originally.
So not originally I'm from Ohioeast of Cleveland, but I was
homeschooled on the island as akid through the 70s and 80s.
My folks would come down forthe winter, like November to end
of January, and so I basicallywas brought up on the island.
I'm not a true beach kidbecause I did not go to the
(12:11):
beach school, so I don't reallycount kids.
But, um, you know, I've beendown here obviously since then,
have seen all the changes.
Uh, you know, brought my, myhusband, my before he was my
husband here.
My husband, you know, walkedthe beach pregnant with both of
my boys, had toddlers on thebeach, had little boys running
(12:32):
on the beach, had youngadolescent boys running on the
beach.
And I'm proud to say that oneof my boys has come back to live
here full time and both of theboys consider this their home,
so nice.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Fair enough.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Hopefully next generation will continue to get
them to honor that tradition.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
That's it.
I'm the same way.
I came from Wisconsin.
I blame my parents for notbeing born down here, but it got
down here as quickly as I could.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
So you know, I should have probably gone to the beach
school.
I don't know why they didn'tjust toss me into school, but
you know it's a different time.
Then you just, you know, yourparents pulled you out and you
caught up when you got home.
That's kind of how it was then.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Absolutely so.
I know your job can be verydemanding, but we live in
paradise, so what do you do whenyou get a moment of time to
yourself?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yesterday I spent a glorious day on the boat.
So that's, you know, out on thewater, you know it doesn't get
any better than that.
And you know, get my toes inthe sand and look for some
seashells and you know, go lookfor dolphins and wildlife and
just kind of enjoy the sunsetand the sunrise that we have.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
They're both incredible on our island,
absolutely it's about enjoyingthe finer things in life at the
beach.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And when I go.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I start in the morning and I don't leave until
the sunset, so I'm there all day.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
I understand.
I understand Sometimes a littlebit of a sunburn too, too, if
you miss a spot or two on youwith sunscreen.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
You won't notice it until you get home, but you'll
notice it for sure, right?
So is there one thing you wishour listeners knew about the
Fort Myers Beach Chamber?
That?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
maybe they wouldn't be too aware of Gosh.
I think that you know we'rehere to help.
That's the biggest thing I wantfolks to know.
You know, if you have an issuewith something, if you can't
find something, you need helpwith something.
Uh, if we don't, if we can'thandle it or don't know the
answer right away, we certainlyknow enough people that we can
go help find the answer for you.
(14:29):
Um, you know we we do all kindsof stuff that nobody ever
understands or sees.
Um, you know we do all kinds ofstuff that nobody ever
understands or sees.
You know, even this morning wehad an email come across our
desk.
It was sent by accident, but wefound out that someone was
potentially being scammed on theisland.
So we were able to get a holdof that person, step in and help
them from not being scammed bysome fraudster.
(14:52):
So like kind of strange stufflike that happens all the time,
but we are happy to be a pointof reference.
You know someone who's trusted,who you can come to if you need
a service or you need to findsomebody.
Or a lot of times we have guestscall us who are coming in and
they've booked through maybe anAirbnb platform or something
like that, and they just want tomake sure it's a real house
(15:15):
with a that's really a rentalhouse or something.
So we'll go as far as to driveby the house or, you know, call
the owner ourselves and justmake sure that that is legit.
We do all kinds of stuff likethat.
You know, we support the townwith things that they're working
on.
We support the county withthings they're working on.
We do a lot of fam trips.
The county calls us and theyhave groups coming in and need a
(15:37):
guide to take them around.
So I'll take them around, orone of the folks on the team
here will take them around.
We provide guest packages forweddings that are coming in town
or trade groups that are comingin.
We'll put goodie bags togetherfor them and welcome them.
If we have a new homeowner we're, you know, happy to, you know,
share references and stuff likethat we just get.
(15:59):
I got called today by a companythat makes living seawalls.
So we're going to connect themup with the town and with our
environmental team and with ourthe folks that control all of
the waterway stuff here in FortMyers Beach, and connect them up
to make them aware of this newtechnology 3D printed concrete
seawalls that sea life can growon, instead of just a flat
(16:20):
surface or vinyl.
So it's a great opportunity.
As we're rebuilding Right,people need to replace their
seawalls.
These seawalls attract marinelife.
The marine life filter thewater and help to keep it clean.
It's this really great allaround win for us.
So we'll make sure that we makethose connections with the town
and pass that off to them.
(16:41):
So those kinds of things we doand I think so much of what we
do is behind the scenes folksnever and a lot of it truthfully
we don't.
You know, we do that on purpose.
We don't need to be ringing thebell all the time.
So let's make others shine,because that's what makes a
great community.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Absolutely.
Thank you for doing all you do.
You're a trusted resource foreverything Fort Myers Beach.
I love it.
How would our listeners goabout contacting you if they had
questions or want to just learnmore about the area?
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah.
So, and don't forget too, we'realways looking for volunteers
for things like sand sculptingand all of that.
Or our other nonprofit partnersthat we work closely with also
need volunteers, like the Rock,the Arches.
They just emailed me thismorning.
They may need some volunteersfor their event coming up.
So feel free to reach out tothe chamber.
You can call us 239-454-7500 oryou can email any one of us.
(17:34):
Info fmbchamber f for fort m forMyers, b for beach.
So the letters fmbchambercom.
Or you can pop by.
We're at 100 Lovers Lane in thebuilding on the third floor
here, right to where the next,where the red coconut and the
Wells Fargo used to be betweenthe two.
Or you can pop by our visitorinformation center, the Roxy.
(17:55):
That's out on time square and,by the way, we're always looking
for volunteers to help man that.
So if you have a little freetime, you want to go out and
greet guests and share the goodnews about Fort Myers beach and
all the great things that arehappening here.
We're always looking forvolunteers out there too.
Any, any of those ways.
But you know, come on by, stopin.
We'd love to see you.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Perfect, Jacki.
It's been a pleasure getting toknow you.
Thank you for being such a goodneighbor and we'll see you at
the beach.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
And thank you, cabo Jim, have a great day.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Thank you for listening to the good neighbor
podcast, bringing together goodvibes, great neighbors, local
businesses in Southwest Floridato nominate your favorite local
business to be featured on theshow.
Go to Cabo Wabo Jim.
com.
It's time to check out your neighbors on the Good
Neighbor podcast, where we bringgood vibes, great neighbors and
local businesses in SouthwestFlorida together.
Here's your host, Cabo JimSchaller.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome Good Neighbors to episode number 256
of the Good Neighbor podcast.
Today we have Good NeighborJacki Liszak from the Fort Myers
Speech Chamber.
Welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Good morning Jim.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Thank you for having me, yeah absolutely Always good
to get to know people in thecommunity and share their
stories with our listeners.
So I know Fort Myers Beach ingeneral has been through a lot
lately, but why don't youexplain a little bit about what
the Chamber is doing currently?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
So I am the President and CEO of the Fort Myers Beach
Chamber of Commerce.
I'm going on my ninth year nowin the chamber position and
every year has been interestingand engaging and eye-opening and
all of these things plus moreas I've gone along my chamber
(01:03):
journey here.
You know, of course, coming instarting with Red.
Tide and quickly morphing intoHurricane Irma.
And then we had our lovelyfriend the COVID visit us for a
couple of years, and then ourbad neighbor.
The H word that's named startedwith an I, which.
I won't say either one of themStarted with an I, which I won't
say either one of them.
(01:24):
And of course then, coming outof that and all of the
challenges that a community onthe rebuild is facing, the
Chamber has been there everystep of the way, to support the
businesses, of course, as is theChamber's mission, but also to
encourage and promote ourtourists, our guests that come,
whether they come for a day orcome for half a season, and then
(01:47):
, of course, our residents onthe island, which are critical,
and some of those visitors andguests who are seasonal.
We also call them snowbirdresidents.
So the Chamber's goal really isjust to promote the community,
protect the community, engageand educate the community and
kind of be a hub for all things.
Fort Myers Beach.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Absolutely so.
Let's back up your story alittle bit.
You've been in it for nineyears.
How did you get involved in itto start with?
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I jokingly say I was hoodwinked.
So, bud, no, sarah, if you'reout there, this is all your
fault.
If you're out there, this isall your fault.
Yeah, I had come home from mylast contract and the town was
going to cancel the fireworksand I stepped forward to help
fundraise to save those, just asa private citizen.
And through that effort I gotto meet some of our amazing
(02:38):
residents and business owners,and one of those people was Bud
Nocero, who was the then chamberpresident, and he stepped up to
try to help us save thefireworks for the beach, which
we accomplished.
We fundraised enough to get usour I think it was our 4th of
July fireworks that year thatwere in jeopardy.
And through that process,unbeknownst to me, bud was
(03:00):
looking to retire, and so he gotme at a weak moment one day and
said hey, what, what do youthink about being the chamber
president?
And I was like I don't.
What is that?
I don't know.
I never knew what that was, but,um, you know, we belong to the
chamber with, with my company,sea gypsy here, but I had never
even crossed my mind, and sowent home, talked with my family
(03:22):
about it and uh, decided to goahead and take a chance at this
kind of a completely differentbusiness line, a completely
different professional road.
So, you know, the fork in theroad opened up and I went to the
one way.
So and it's been, it's been anabsolute pleasure and a joy.
(03:42):
A few moments of heartache, butway, way overshadowed by the
amount of amazing things thathave happened in the last eight
to nine years.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Absolutely.
It's been nine years.
You must be doing somethingright, so congrats to you on
that.
Let's talk about some of thosechallenges.
Obviously, we know the obviousthings, but you've been through
a lot in nine years.
You know what kind of challengeare you facing currently.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Well, you know, one of the things that really stands
out to me, and will for therest of my life, is my education
and now my passion for cleanwater and environmental
stewardship of the waters thatsurround our island and the bay
and water everywhere really.
But I have had a crash coursein the Caloosahatchee River, the
(04:31):
Everglades, our nationalestuary that's behind us, the
Gulf waters in front of us, redtide, blue-green algae and all
kinds of things that make upwhat are our waters around the
island, and to me that is ourbiggest challenge going forward.
Yes, the rebuild is important.
Yes, you know it's going totake a while for our community
(04:53):
to come back economically andvitally and we have a lot of
growing pains with thathappening now.
But really, the cornerstone ofall of this is our water, and
without our clean water we canall stop the discussion because
people are not going to comehere.
If our water is ugly or if ourwater is unhealthy and it's
(05:14):
something I think that we'vekind of pushed to the back
burner because of these otherobviously important things do,
things that affect us on theisland here and affect our
(05:41):
stormwater runoff and what weput on our yards, things like
that.
We have to ring that bell andremind folks that this is a big
part of the reason why we allcame here.
Right, we came over that bridgeand you saw that what View that
everybody argues about andwhat's in the view.
And you saw that, what viewthat everybody argues about and
what's in the view the water.
So you know, our water has beenstellar the last gosh, I don't
(06:04):
know what six months.
We've also been very, very dry,so we don't have all that water
coming down the Caloosahatcheeand that's you know, when it's
when it's.
You know a lot of it has to bethere, the tannins, and
obviously you know some of therunoff, whatever.
But that's had a huge effect onwhy our water is really
Caribbean blues and greens rightnow.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, and kudos to you guys and everybody involved
with that as well too.
I was at the beach this weekendand, you know, for the first
time in many times going thereyears, I could actually waste
high water.
I could still see my feet inwater.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I was like this is the cleanest it's been in a long
time which you know I love youknow, and that's why we love it
here I love it too, and some ofthe factor obviously has been
that we just have not had a lotof rain, because that puts a lot
of the fresh water coming down.
But you know, there are thingsthat are happening in the
everglades, that are happeningin the uh, the kl, that are
happening in the CaloosahatcheeRiver, in our reservoirs that
(07:00):
are built and still being built,and there are things that are
happening that we need to bemindful of, legislative-wise and
otherwise, that could affectwhat happens to our water.
We also continue to do watermonitoring.
The chamber has a foundation, a501c3 arm, that is our
non-profit foundation.
(07:20):
It's called the Fort MyersBeach Chamber Water Foundation.
Its sole purpose is to study,educate and support the water,
clean water around Estero Island.
So we are going to be doing aribbon cutting on a water
monitoring station that we justhad built at the mount house.
So that's coming up on the 16thof June, so kind of one of the
(07:41):
initiatives we have going on.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I love it, you know, and still, a lot of the water is
nice now, but we need to makesure it stays nice and stays
clear and you know we're doingthe right things to protect it
in the future as well,absolutely, so it's kind of a
strange question question, butare there any maybe myths or
misconceptions surrounding whatyou do, you, the chamber, do?
(08:04):
That would maybe clear up forlisteners yeah, so there's a big
one.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Actually they think we're a part of the town of Fort
Myers Beach.
We are not.
We are not a government entity,we are a non nonprofit.
It's a 501c6 trade organization.
Typically chambers of commercesupport businesses inland, like
the Fort Myers Chamber andStereo Chamber.
They support a lot of businessactivity, business initiatives.
(08:31):
We are a little different outhere ourselves Sandcap Chamber,
Pine Island Chamber, a littlebit different because we're so
heavy tourism.
So we not only support thebusiness but we also do a lot of
tourism-related information,visitor-driven information,
visitor information as well.
As I believe strongly that thechamber also serves the
(08:51):
residents of the community.
So we engage our residentsfairly heavily.
And then we're an unusualchamber in that we're fairly
event heavy.
We do a lot of eventsthroughout the year way less
than when I first took overthrough because of lots of
reasons, but we still do quite afew events like the American
Sand Sculpting Championship.
That is the chamber's event.
(09:13):
But I think a lot of folksthink the chamber in some
counties and in some towns thechamber is tied to the
government, they are funded bythem or they are actually a part
of the government that'sregulating or ruling the town or
county.
In our case, and actually inLee County, none of the chambers
are part of any of the localgovernments.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Very nice, Important information and good to know as
well.
Do you notice anything trending?
I mean, obviously there's a lotchanging in Fort Myers Beach,
but do you notice trends?
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yeah.
So one of the interestingtrends that we're all talking
about is how quiet it is rightnow.
This reminds me of more likewhen I took over the chamber
originally maybe you know, eightyears ago, nine years ago, when
we came out of season, we wentway down like somebody turned a
faucet off, like the water juststopped, and we are very, very
(10:08):
slow If you compare us to pre,even COVID years with our
residents are, with our visitorson the island right now it's
incredibly quiet.
So I think one of the trendsthat I'm seeing is that booking
windows are much, much shorter.
When you go to book for a hotel.
It used to be people would bookout two weeks to a month to six
(10:28):
months out.
They're booking days out, weeksout, couple weeks out, that's
it.
So a lot of last minute travelwe're seeing.
We're seeing a decrease, adownward pressure on our nightly
rates on the island.
So actually, for those of youthat are within drive distance,
man, you can get some greatdeals out on the beach right now
(10:49):
if you want to come out for astaycation, and you know our
downtown is still a little busy.
You know Margaritaville keepsthings hopping down there, which
is great.
Our downtown is still a littlebusy.
You know Margaritaville keepsthings hopping down there, which
is great, but even some greatdeals going on at all of these
resorts and at the vacationrentals.
So I highly encourage ourfriends inland if you want to
get out for a weekend.
It's all summer long, it'sgoing to be a beautiful time to
(11:10):
come out and have a nicevacation.
So that's one of the trendswe're noticing Travel has
definitely changed.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Absolutely.
And who doesn't want to be atthe beach?
So local people get out thereand head to the beach while it's
quiet.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
It's quiet, which is great.
You can get into the bars andrestaurants.
There's not a line.
We've got some lovely summerspecials going on.
Everybody's doing half pricepizza on Monday night at the
Junkanoo and then they haveprime rib Saturday at Salty
Sam's at Parrot Key.
So there's all these greatspecials going on right now
absolutely head to the beach forsure, so your story.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Are you from Southwest?
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Florida originally.
So not originally I'm from Ohioeast of Cleveland, but I was
homeschooled on the island as akid through the 70s and 80s.
My folks would come down forthe winter, like November to end
of January, and so I basicallywas brought up on the island.
I'm not a true beach kidbecause I did not go to the
(12:11):
beach school, so I don't reallycount kids.
But, um, you know, I've beendown here obviously since then,
have seen all the changes.
Uh, you know, brought my, myhusband, my before he was my
husband here.
My husband, you know, walkedthe beach pregnant with both of
my boys, had toddlers on thebeach, had little boys running
(12:32):
on the beach, had youngadolescent boys running on the
beach.
And I'm proud to say that oneof my boys has come back to live
here full time and both of theboys consider this their home,
so nice.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Fair enough.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Hopefully next generation will continue to get
them to honor that tradition.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
That's it.
I'm the same way.
I came from Wisconsin.
I blame my parents for notbeing born down here, but it got
down here as quickly as I could.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
So you know, I should have probably gone to the beach
school.
I don't know why they didn'tjust toss me into school, but
you know it's a different time.
Then you just, you know, yourparents pulled you out and you
caught up when you got home.
That's kind of how it was then.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Absolutely so.
I know your job can be verydemanding, but we live in
paradise, so what do you do whenyou get a moment of time to
yourself?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yesterday I spent a glorious day on the boat.
So that's, you know, out on thewater, you know it doesn't get
any better than that.
And you know, get my toes inthe sand and look for some
seashells and you know, go lookfor dolphins and wildlife and
just kind of enjoy the sunsetand the sunrise that we have.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
They're both incredible on our island,
absolutely it's about enjoyingthe finer things in life at the
beach.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And when I go.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I start in the morning and I don't leave until
the sunset, so I'm there all day.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
I understand.
I understand Sometimes a littlebit of a sunburn too, too, if
you miss a spot or two on youwith sunscreen.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
You won't notice it until you get home, but you'll
notice it for sure, right?
So is there one thing you wishour listeners knew about the
Fort Myers Beach Chamber?
That?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
maybe they wouldn't be too aware of Gosh.
I think that you know we'rehere to help.
That's the biggest thing I wantfolks to know.
You know, if you have an issuewith something, if you can't
find something, you need helpwith something.
Uh, if we don't, if we can'thandle it or don't know the
answer right away, we certainlyknow enough people that we can
go help find the answer for you.
(14:29):
Um, you know we we do all kindsof stuff that nobody ever
understands or sees.
Um, you know we do all kinds ofstuff that nobody ever
understands or sees.
You know, even this morning wehad an email come across our
desk.
It was sent by accident, but wefound out that someone was
potentially being scammed on theisland.
So we were able to get a holdof that person, step in and help
them from not being scammed bysome fraudster.
(14:52):
So like kind of strange stufflike that happens all the time,
but we are happy to be a pointof reference.
You know someone who's trusted,who you can come to if you need
a service or you need to findsomebody.
Or a lot of times we have guestscall us who are coming in and
they've booked through maybe anAirbnb platform or something
like that, and they just want tomake sure it's a real house
(15:15):
with a that's really a rentalhouse or something.
So we'll go as far as to driveby the house or, you know, call
the owner ourselves and justmake sure that that is legit.
We do all kinds of stuff likethat.
You know, we support the townwith things that they're working
on.
We support the county withthings they're working on.
We do a lot of fam trips.
The county calls us and theyhave groups coming in and need a
(15:37):
guide to take them around.
So I'll take them around, orone of the folks on the team
here will take them around.
We provide guest packages forweddings that are coming in town
or trade groups that are comingin.
We'll put goodie bags togetherfor them and welcome them.
If we have a new homeowner we're, you know, happy to, you know,
share references and stuff likethat we just get.
(15:59):
I got called today by a companythat makes living seawalls.
So we're going to connect themup with the town and with our
environmental team and with ourthe folks that control all of
the waterway stuff here in FortMyers Beach, and connect them up
to make them aware of this newtechnology 3D printed concrete
seawalls that sea life can growon, instead of just a flat
(16:20):
surface or vinyl.
So it's a great opportunity.
As we're rebuilding Right,people need to replace their
seawalls.
These seawalls attract marinelife.
The marine life filter thewater and help to keep it clean.
It's this really great allaround win for us.
So we'll make sure that we makethose connections with the town
and pass that off to them.
(16:41):
So those kinds of things we doand I think so much of what we
do is behind the scenes folksnever and a lot of it truthfully
we don't.
You know, we do that on purpose.
We don't need to be ringing thebell all the time.
So let's make others shine,because that's what makes a
great community.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Absolutely.
Thank you for doing all you do.
You're a trusted resource foreverything Fort Myers Beach.
I love it.
How would our listeners goabout contacting you if they had
questions or want to just learnmore about the area?
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah.
So, and don't forget too, we'realways looking for volunteers
for things like sand sculptingand all of that.
Or our other nonprofit partnersthat we work closely with also
need volunteers, like the Rock,the Arches.
They just emailed me thismorning.
They may need some volunteersfor their event coming up.
So feel free to reach out tothe chamber.
You can call us 239-454-7500 oryou can email any one of us.
(17:34):
Info fmbchamber f for fort m forMyers, b for beach.
So the letters fmbchambercom.
Or you can pop by.
We're at 100 Lovers Lane in thebuilding on the third floor
here, right to where the next,where the red coconut and the
Wells Fargo used to be betweenthe two.
Or you can pop by our visitorinformation center, the Roxy.
(17:55):
That's out on time square and,by the way, we're always looking
for volunteers to help man that.
So if you have a little freetime, you want to go out and
greet guests and share the goodnews about Fort Myers beach and
all the great things that arehappening here.
We're always looking forvolunteers out there too.
Any, any of those ways.
But you know, come on by, stopin.
We'd love to see you.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Perfect, Jacki.
It's been a pleasure getting toknow you.
Thank you for being such a goodneighbor and we'll see you at
the beach.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
And thank you, cabo Jim, have a great day.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Thank you for listening to the good neighbor
podcast, bringing together goodvibes, great neighbors, local
businesses in Southwest Floridato nominate your favorite local
business to be featured on theshow.
Go to Cabo Wabo Jim.
com.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.