Siesta Key Village Association merges with chamber

Dec. 31 will mark the Siesta Key Village Association’s last day of operation, for the group’s board of directors voted Tuesday to dissolve the organization into the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce.

The SKVA, created in the late ’60s, has advocated for the interests of businesses in the Siesta Key Village commercial district. The group has pushed for improvement projects such as adding wayfinding signs along I-75 and installing a trolley line on Siesta Key.

When the merger is official, current SKVA members will be grandfathered as members of the chamber. In addition, $40,000 of the SKVA’s $70,000 budget will be transferred to the chamber’s general fund. The remaining $30,000 will be used for short-term village projects that have not yet been identified.

On Tuesday, none of the group’s board members was mourning the end of the association. The motion was unanimously approved, with most of those in attendance expressing a belief the merger will be beneficial for both entities.

“(We’re) enhancing both,” SKVA board member Kay Kouvatsos said. “We’re losing nothing.”

According to SKVA President and Chamber of Commerce Chairman Mark Smith, the chamber will adopt some SKVA’s procedures, such as holding public meetings.

As of now, chamber decisions are made in closed meetings. Smith said the chamber will likely add quarterly public meetings to its schedule so the community can share its concerns with the organization.

“It’s not a secret society, so let’s open it up,” Smith said.

The chamber also plans to create a special business committee with representatives from the village and the southern commercial district near the Stickney Point bridge in an effort to address Siesta’s interests as a whole. Smith anticipated the transition to a Siesta-wide operation would benefit village businesses.

“I don’t think the village needs the narrow focus as much as the broader exposure the chamber can offer,” Smith said.

However, Morton’s Siesta Market Manager Gary Wright believes there is value in having an organization focused specifically on the needs of the village.

“Competition is good,” Wright said. “I would say maybe they do need to stay apart so we get two different looks at everything. It’s always good to get a point and counterpoint.”

On the other hand, Local Bean owner Zach Peavler thinks the merger makes sense, because both organizations are focused on marketing island businesses. Peavler is interested to see if the chamber will take on the politically vocal characteristic of SKVA, which has spoken out on county issues such as food truck regulations and parking prohibitions near the public beach.

“It will be interesting to see how the chamber handles that sort of activism,” he said.

The move to disband seemed to come quickly, with no public notice of the proposal until the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting was published in late October. However, according to SKVA board member Russell Matthes,  co-owner of Daiquiri Deck, the organization began discussing the merger in 2008.

The conversation began shortly after the county passed an ordinance that dedicated funds from Siesta property taxes toward maintenance in the village. Prior to the ordinance, village upkeep accounted for a large portion of the association’s activities. 

Smith estimates maintenance costs accounted for 85% of village expenditures at that time.

After the county began managing maintenance expenses, SKVA realized how much of its efforts were solely dedicated to upkeep. The remaining activities, such as marketing and event planning, were often executed in partnership with the chamber.

“It was a real challenge and constant work to keep the village looking good,” Smith said. “That did directly help the businesses, but now we have evolved beyond that.”

With the village in a relatively stable place, Smith said coordination with the rest of the island would be beneficial for improving the overall image of Siesta Key. 

In fact, some south Siesta businesses feel efforts to bolster island businesses have focused mostly on the village.

“We have a lot of customers that have been coming back year after year, but there are still people who say, ‘Well, I didn’t know you were down here,’” said Lorene Williams, an employee of Things You Like souvenir shop.

Williams has been working at Things You Like for five years. She believes the lack of attention paid to the south Key is driven by a lack of organization.

Among south Siesta businesses, there’s some optimism the merger of SKVA and the Chamber of Commerce might bring more attention to their district. However, Crescent Club owner Julie Brown is skeptical that the merger will have a significant impact outside of the village.

“In the past, things have been geared toward the village,” Brown said. “I have never been a chamber member for that reason.”

For now, village leaders are expressing a desire to coordinate with their neighbors to the south. Matthes hopes the merger will allow events like the village Easter egg hunt to expand and include more South Siesta business owners.

“Instead of identifying a south village, a public beach and a north village, we can act as one,” Matthes said.

Brown said the merger may encourage her to enter into initial dialogue with the chamber, but she is going to wait and see.

“I think it’s a good idea — if it works,” Brown said.