Live Your Best Life Barefoot
Live Your Best Life Barefoot
EP #2: Explore Fort Myers Beach Happenings with Jacki, FMB Chamber President
ADD DESCRIPTION:
Meet Jacki Liszak, President and CEO Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce and see what's happening in Fort Myers Beach. Find out about new businesses coming or who's leaving and relocating. Also find out about the non-profits, things to do or see when visiting Fort Myers Beach.
You can also visit this website for more events.
www.fortmyersbeach.org
To learn more:
https://barefootbungalowrealty.com/
Barefoot Bungalow Realty & Property Management
9200 Bonita Beach Rd SE, Suite 100
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
(239) 350-5535
Welcome to the live your best life barefoot podcast with your host, Mary Mouritsen and Chris Mccabe of Barefoot Bungalow Realty. Good morning. Here we are again with the Barefoot Bungalow Realty and Property Management, where we survived our first episode. We did
Speaker 2:Welcome everyone. Thanks for coming back. Yeah. So here we
Speaker 3:Are with our second episode and we're having our first guests. We're so excited. I'm happy to announce that, Jacki Liszak of the Fort Myers beach chamber, she's actually the president of the chamber and she has graciously joined us today. So welcome Jacki. Welcome Jacki. Good Morning
Speaker 4:Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3:So Jacki, we're just curious, if you could tell us a little bit about what's happening on the beach. I know you're, you live there, you play there, you work there. If you could tell us what's happening.
Speaker 4:True. Wow. It's been a incredibly busy season. We in fact have had our best season on record by almost all accounts across the board, which is such a blessing after the last year and a half that we've all been through. And, uh, I'm excited to report that the season, while it has slowed, has not stopped and is going to continue strong into the summer, especially around the weekends. It's great
Speaker 2:to hear. That is good to hear. So what are you hearing
Speaker 3:On the street? What are some questions that people are asking you?
Speaker 4:Well, as the president of the chamber here on Fort Myers beach, I get a lot of questions. Most of them are great questions. We get some crazy questions once in a while, like how close to the beach do the s harks g et. So those always make things fun, but we're getting a lot of questions about, water quality right now with some red tide reports coming in and some g reen-blue algae up in Lake Okeechobee. So we're getting those questions. We're getting questions about Margaritaville and what's happening, at matter of fact, I had a whole group of ladies stopped me on the street the other day when I was showing something to a friend of mine. And so I had to give a impromptu little, u m, overview of what's happening about Margaritaville. We're getting questions about the shortage of help on the island. And my understanding is it's a national issue, but we're feeling it fairly strongly here because like I said, our season while it has slowed, has not stopped. So those are some of the things I'm getting asked. As well as, you know, trolley and tram questions. And of course you can hear the phone going, so there's more questions coming in.
Speaker 3:So tell us real quick about the Margaritaville, what is happening with Margaritaville?
Speaker 4:So, um, progress, the Pierview Hotel has now closed as of last Sunday and they are, I see them actively, u h, emptying things out of the hotel. And, u h, I do know that t here's some things for sale there. So if anyone's interested in hotel type things, you can check in with them. I see that the, u m, the Mermaid has closed as well. And, u h, that also is in the process of being kind of, u m, closed out and I'm noticing t oo movement around the site. I know the, the liquor store that's in the site w ill be moving out in the middle of this month and relocating down the beach to the Estereo Plaza area. And so this is really positive progress. S o I'm also hearing some rumblings around, you know, different folks who are going to be providing ancillary services. So I think all things are looking good. Last that I had heard was there was hope for Shovels in the Ground in July. I don't know if that's still the case yet or not, but we're definitely moving in the right direction. So I think we should expect to see definitely by fall some activity going on there.
Speaker 2:So tell us a little bit about, for those who don't know what Margaritaville is, what is Margaritaville?
Speaker 4:Yes, so Margaritaville is a new development that's being planned, has been permitted and approved for the kind of downtown district area of our island. It's our busier commercial area at the base of our SkyBridge. And it is being put together by TPI hospitality, which is an organization out of Minnesota. They own a number of hotels all over and they have partnered with the Margaritaville brand to bring this resort to fruition. I t's comprised of two things, It's on both sides of Estereo Boulevard on the beach side and on the base side. The bulk of the rooms are going to be on the ba se s ide. And then the beach side is going to be a b each club, which is really exciting because it offers activities for all of us who live around the island. Wh en w e have friends visiting, for guests who come, but it's also preserving the beach view, which was really important to a lot of the residents and the focus groups that they pulled together, when they were in the planning and process part the resort. So that's super exciting. And you know, when you have friends here, where are you going to take them? I mean, to a beach club right? Yea h. R ight. That's so exciting.
Speaker 3:And one thing I, you know, I lived on the beach for three years and, I just recently moved off the island, but of course I visited as often as possible. And one thing I love is the progress of the construction of the road condition.
Speaker 4:Oh my gosh, our roads, it's been a long road, road construction project. I have one of my homes and my business are both on Estereo Boulevard. So I suffered through it twice at two different points on the Boulevard. But I can tell you that it looks great. People are walking, people are biking, there's more foot traffic, pedestrian traffic than I've ever seen being on this beach, you know, most of my life. And it works in the heavy rain, It works. I mean the water, it's incredible when you see it run and rush down into the pavers and into the drains and it disappears. And most people don't know that basically we just had spine surgery right down the middle of the island. So we opened up the road, we put in all new water, all new sewer, all new, f i ber optics, cable, a n d gas lines. And then the biggest part of it was a drainage component. So the water actually filters through the pavers and some drainage comp onents, so that when it goes out into the storm drains to the back bay, it's it has, ha s been cleaned and that's to address what's called stormwater runoff. It's one of the things we needed to do for our flood rating as well. That's huge. And it looks great.
Speaker 3:Tell us about your journey, how you became the president of the chamber.
Speaker 4:Oh, thank you, but No, Sarah, no. Sarah was the president executive director before myself. And, uh, I had basically semi- retired come back to the beach. I've had my home here over 20 years and I don't know if I mentioned, but I was homeschooled as a kid on the beach, through the seventies, eighties, nineties from probably like November tilJanuary. So this is really, you know, it's this home. And, uh, when I came back home, there was a situation where they were going to cancel fireworks. So of course, I put my hand up and said, ah, no, I'll help her raise money for the fireworks. I'll find the money to pay for the fireworks. And so I had help rounding up a little bit of a dream team, uh, with Andrea Cariari and John Lolo, Pete's Timeout and Bud and myself, and got help from all of the different businesses and restaurants and even had residents walk out of the tops a nd hand me their last$2 to put toward the fireworks because it was that important. And we managed to save the fireworks that year. And so I guess through that process, Bud had been contemplating retirement and he asked me one day, he said, what would you think about being the president of the chamber? And I was like, oh, that's funny. What do I know about running a chamber? And he's like, no, you'd be great at it. You'd be great at it. And, and, interestingly enough, I have a degree in resort and commercial recreation. So it seemed like a natural fit. And so I said, yes, and the rest is history and here I am
Speaker 3:Five years later, you're doing a fabulous job. We love the Fort Myers Chamber.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Well, listen, it's a team effort. Okay. I couldn't do what I do if I didn't have the family and team, my team here at the chamber and friends, the ambassadors and the board members behind me and the community members and the non profits on the island. I mean, this, it takes a village. And what I do, it's easy when you love what you do, it becomes a joy. And that's exactly how I lead and again, couldn't do it without everybody supporting me. So great.
Speaker 3:Right. So I was just reading Jacki about how many closings we've had, r eal estate closings we've had on the island in the last 12 months, there was 6 51 closings. And in the prior 12 months, b e fore COVID, there was about 423. So that's about a 54% jump.
Speaker 4:Crazy, It's crazy. Isn't it? Yeah. I think the secret is out. The secret about Fort beach is out. People found us and they've heard about us and they come over that sky bridge and their breath catches in their throat and they fall in love with that view. And then they come down and they see our fun, funky, eclectic mix of buildings and people and positive vibes. And they just, they stay, we have friends that came down and spent two months just to come and stay with us in the fall. And they ended up buying a house they're living here now full time. You see that a lot. a lot of people with, being able to work from home. I think a lot of people are moving to the island. That's huge. I have another friend who's relocating from Wisconsin. She's packing her house as we speak. She just sold her house and she actually still works full time. And they've given her permission to work out of her home here.
Speaker 3:Fabulous. And there's a lot of investors going on too. You see an uptick in vacation properties
Speaker 4:Absolutely. Yep. That market is shaking around a little bit. I've actually seen some houses come out of vacation rental now and go back into private homes, which I think is interesting be cause w e saw a trend going the other way for a w h ile. So I thought that's been kind of interesting. I know a few people who have bought either duplex, triplex, quadplex and are living in one of them. Sure. And then, you know, renting the other one s ou t. So we've got a really interesting mix and we've got a lot of people coming who are in their forties, fifties, and sixties who are retired or some are retired and who are coming here with time, talent, and energy, and they want to get involved in the community. So if any of those folks are out there listening, we have amazing non profits on the island who need your help. So yeah, it doesn't have to be a full-time job, but, you know, volunteering and getting involved, it's a great way to meet people, to get to know who's who, and there's a place for everyone here to give of their time, talent, and energy, maybe some of those n onprofits. So we have the Fort Myers beach community foundation. U h, we have the Fort Myers beach women's club. We have friends o f Fort Myers beach library, friends of Matanzas Past friends of Lovers Key. We have the beach kids foundation we have, let's see, I don't want to forget anybody ca use I don't want her to any feelings. So we've got, you know, all kinds of great groups th at P TO, we had a huge fundraiser Saturday night for the beach elementary school for the PTO, Sh uckers was the host. They did a smashing job. They're helping to raise funds. It was super popular, was casino night, twenties theme. People were dressed up in all kinds of twenties outfits and they looked great. And so I know that the beach school, will be the recipient of some really great fundraising, which, you know, they weren't able to do there. Well, none of these organizations were able to do their events last year. You know, we have Fort Myers Friends t o the Arts, which also promotes arts, whether it's culinary or visual or performing on the island. So there's lots of great groups. In addition to, you know, we have just great museums on the island. We have a couple of museums on the island, some historical homes like the mountain house in N ew ton house. We have Ostego Bay Marine Science Center, wh e re there's a touch tank and you can take the kids or the big kids, a little kids, they c an p u t t h eir hands in and, you kn ow, inte ract with the different sea creatures. So there's so many things to see and do here on the island. It's limitless.
Speaker 3:And now COVID is almost behind this. I'm looking forward to the tour on the shrimp boats.
Speaker 4:Absolutely. That's done through the Ostego Bay Marine Science Center. And you can actually go out and get, I believe, it's about a two hour tour. So they give you the history of the gulf, the pink, gold gulf shrimp, and our shrimping industry on Fort Myers beach here. And in fact, we are one of the largest shrimping fleets in the Gulf coast, in case anybody's wondering, oh, and how the pink g row gold shrimp were discovered. And then they actually get you down on the docks and you c ould see the boats up close and meet some of the fishermen and women, b ecause we do have fisher women as well. And it's pretty cool to watch them come in and then you get some yummy, fresh seafood down there. We've got great, seafood houses f ound there. You can buy fresh.
Speaker 2:Where you mentioned so many fabulous things that I know our listeners are going to want to look into. Where's the best place to get more information on all of those
Speaker 4:Different information. So the Fort Myers Beach Women's Club does hold a community calendar for all of us. So you can go to their website, the Fort Myers Beach Women's Club, and on their calendar, it has events coming up. They also housed the n onprofit Alliance for our island. So they have all the information on the different n onprofits, as well as the churches are involved in that as well. We have a number of churches on the island, different flavors. And so those are also can be found on t here. On the C hamber's website at fortmyersbeach.org we have a calendar of events. We also have an information tab and you can get on our website and find out about all the different things going on. You know, for example, the Cool Honest Club right now is still has their dining books on sale,$25 for a dining book that gets you buy one, get one free dinners all over, L ee county, which is great. So you can find out stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Excellent insight. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. There's good stuff there.
Speaker 2:So one thing that you mentioned that I know all of our listeners, because I wanted to know is how close do sharks get to the beach? Oh, goodness.
Speaker 4:Well, the official answer is the Fort Myers beach is the world's safest beach, according to one of our longtime historians here on the island. And while sharks do live in the water and it is their home, we are very fortunate that we do not experience any negative interactions with them very often. So only positive interactions. That's good to know Jacki. I did have a question the other day where the north end of the island was and I to stop and think, well, turn right. Just turn right, you'll find it where they were. I don't know where they were going, but it was fun. It caused a good laugh between all of us and we got the guests where they needed to go. So p erfect. Perfect. Never a dull moment. No, not at all.
Speaker 3:So thanks so much, Jacki for joining us today. It's been fun. Yeah,
Speaker 4:My pleasure. Anytime guys, you know, like I said, I'm happy to do this. And I know a lot of information about different things on and around the island, but if I don't know the answer, I usually know who to go to, to get it or find it. The objective here for the, for the chamber is to not only represent our businesses on the island, but we're also here to serve the community, which includes our residents and our visitors. And it's also to give back, we believe strongly in giving back and being a collaborative partner. So that's pretty much what we try to do here. And we try to have some fun while doing it.
Speaker 3:So what's one upcoming event that you can rattle off your head here. That's coming up next.
Speaker 4:So chamber wise, we have our golf tournament on June the fourth. It's of course we could not have one last year. And because we are a 501 C-6, which means we're a no nprofit, that's for profit, we're a trade organization. We rely heavily on a lot of our events to help us with our funding. So this will be the first golf tournament we've had in a couple of years. It's out at Spring Run Golf Club. Everyone is welcome to come and attend their sponsorships open, come have a team. If you want to just come out and volunteer with us, that would be great too. And it's a super fun day, to get out and get onto the Links and Spring Run. If you haven't played that course or been out there it's beautiful, and they do a beautiful job with their lun ch as well. So that's coming up. And then in the summertime, I know it kind of starts to slow down a little bit, but we are going to have 4th of July fireworks. Thank you, town of Fort Myers beach and town hall, and I know people are, we're getting calls on that too. People are super excited, so that should, e nd up being a really, really nice day. Now, the word is still out. Whether the Cupcake Ladies will be doing their annual 4th of July cupcakes in Times Square. I'm hoping that they will, it's a l ong-standing tradition for us b ecause that is also our town's birthday that weekend. So hopefully we'll be having cupcakes. I know I'm not hearing about a parade. I think they're going to hold off on the parade this year, which, you know, understandably so. We're kind of tiptoeing back into this whole thing y et, but it would be nice to have Cupcake Ladies if you're out there listening,
Speaker 2:Right? Yes, absolutely. So you're a wealth of knowledge. I just love listening to all the events that you have on the island.
Speaker 4:Yeah. There's lots coming up in the fall, stay tuned, you know, watch the Beach Observer Paper. We try to push stuff out on Beach Talk Radio. We push stuff out on our website, social media and you know we tr y t o get information out as quickly as possible. So just ki nd o f k eep an eye out and we do add people to our mailing list if you ever want to be on a mailing list. So.
Speaker 2:Oh, great idea. Great.
Speaker 3:Okay. Well, we're looking forward to the next chamber event,
Speaker 4:So thank you. No, my pleasure. Thank you very much for asking me to be on your show. It's an honor and certainly was fun this morning. All right. So Mary
Speaker 2:Two in the bag. Yeah.
Speaker 3:So, what do we like to say, Mary, go ahead, go forward and live your best life, Barefoot is b rought to you by Barefoot Bungalow Re alty a n d P roperty Management.
Speaker 1:People listening to the live, your best life barefoot podcast, sponsored by Barefoot Bungalow Beach Realty. To learn more about Barefoot Bungalow Realty
:go to www.barefootbungalowrealty.com or call 2 3 9 3 5 0 5 5 3 5.