People to Watch: Jennifer Rominiecki

When she assumed the role of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens president and CEO in February 2015, Jennifer Rominiecki had just a few months to learn about the organization’s history as its 40th anniversary approached in August.

Now, Selby’s year-long celebration is approaching the midway point, and Rominiecki has been on the job for almost a year. In that time, she has learned to stay focused on the future while honoring the past.

“Celebrating our 40th anniversary year has been a way to engage the people who were involved at the very beginning,” Rominiecki said. “At the same time, they know that we’re at a place where we have to build the revenue streams and make Selby sustainable for the future. It’s given me the platform to think about how we move ourselves forward.”

For funding, the organization relies on its base of more than 8,000 members, funds from private donors and grants. Rominiecki has a strategy to ease that pressure for private funding for Selby, which draws 140,000 visitors annually, including approximately 37,000 for conferences, weddings and other events.

Rominiecki seeks to elevate the status of the gardens as an event venue even further.

“I really felt strongly that the catered event business here, as well as the public dining, were very big opportunities for Selby’s business development,” Rominiecki said.

Selby partnered in December with Michael’s On East, a culinary staple in Sarasota that’s a popular event venue on its own, to bring the restaurant’s caliber of food and service to the Selby House Café.

Selby averages two weddings per week annually, with the Great Room serving as the wedding and reception venue for many of them. The Great Room will receive an overhaul as part of the partnership. Plans call for an expansion  in the summer to allow for 400 guests and a 2,400-square-foot addition to the outdoor seating area. There are also plans for an awning over the outdoor area for added entertaining space.

“It’s capitalizing on the unbelievable, unparallel location we have here,” Rominiecki said. “To be downtown and on the bayfront is so special, so I think that we are taking that asset and improving it to benefit our core mission.”

But as Selby celebrates its 40th anniversary, it faces the challenge of aging infrastructure.

During her first week in February 2015, the aging mangrove walkway collapsed into the bay. 

“What’s so wonderful is that the community came together, and we raised the funds we needed and were able to complete that project pretty quickly,” Rominiecki said.

It was replaced with the new $250,000 Steinwachs Family Foundation Mangrove Walkway, opened to the public Nov. 7, although the boardwalk was just one structure in need of attention. 

Rominiecki hopes improvements will trickle down to benefit Selby’s world-renowned botanical programs and research.

“We’re the only botanical garden like this in the world,” Rominiecki said. “I think that these new initiatives are ways of us keeping that position in the world. Our collections have to keep pace. Our research has to keep pace.”