POSITIONS TAKEN

Dr. Michael Crosby, promoted to president and CEO, Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium.

Doug Johnson, vice president of commercial lending, Insignia Bank.

Larry Berkery, vice president, commercial real estate lender, Gateway Bank.

Joel Ellzey, general manager, Saks Fifth Avenue.

Austin Boyd, commercial account executive, Boyd Insurance & Investment Services.

Gisele Pintchuck, associate executive director, Embracing Our Differences.

Mireya Eavey, president, OneBiotechnology at Osprey Biotechnics.

John McCarthy, interim director, SCOPE (Sarasota Openly Plans for Excellence).

John Reed, Sarasota County Fire Marshal.

Brian Mudd, director of technology services, USF Sarasota-Manatee.

Ken Swan, manager, Wagner Realty’s newly formed Wagner Business Brokerage.

Douglas Yoder, financial services representative, MetLife Sarasota.

Sheila Foley, executive director, Sarasota Chalk Festival.

Emmalee Legler, account supervisor, Clarke Advertising and Public Relations.

Natalie Thorburn, client relations manager, and Robert Holzler, web master and designer, Grapevine Communications.

Steve Wroczynski, director of creative strategy, and Kerry Shaw, manager of account services, Next-Mark, LLC.

Lauren Cori, public relations assistant, 360 Degrees PR & Marketing.

Anne Lehotsky, marketing manager, WCI Communities.

ACCOLADES

Kelly Caldwell of Caldwell Trust Company was elected president of The Argus Foundation. Rod Hershberger, John T. Stafford, Joel Schleicher and Todd Morton were elected to the board of directors.

Misty Servia of King Engineering has been appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to the Manatee Housing Authority.

Kirk-Pinkerton, P.A. has named attorneys F. Gant McCloud and Rebecca J. Proctor equity shareholders, and has appointed Bill Robertson CEO, Timothy Shaw CFO, and Tom Shults COO.

Leif David Olson, Linda Ross and Dr. Denise Davis-Cotton have joined the board of directors of the Perlman Music Program/ Suncoast.

All Glass and Windows, a Sarasota-based PGT Dealer, received a $10,000 prize from PGT Industries for winning PGT’s year-long sales contest by achieving the highest increase in WinGuard sales within its volume category from 2011 to 2012.

The Lee Wetherington Foundation recently surpassed the $1 million mark for grants to local nonprofits.

Donald M. Jankowski of Gateway Bank was named a member of the 2013 Raymond James Financial Service 2013 Executive Council.

Gator Air Conditioning owner Jim Pomroy was named chief instructor for Chin Motorsports, a leading provider of noncompetitive track events for sports car enthusiasts.

Clifford M. Scholz Architects and Josh Wynne Construction received Best of Houzz 2013 awards from Houzz, an online platform for residential remodeling and design.

SouthTech and CS&L CPAs received 2013 Best Places to Work awards from Tampa Bay Business Journal.

The Manatee Association of Realtors announced its 2013 officers: Deanna Atkinson, president; Sherry Richardson, president-elect; Gloria Weed, vice president; Linda Formella, secretary; and Greg Owens, treasurer.

Erin Cigich, president and manager of Clickbooth, was one of just 13 female executives to receive a Glass Ceiling Award from the Florida Diversity Council.

Scott E. Rudacille of Blalock Walters, P.A., was elected chair of the board of the Anna Maria Island Community Center.

The Sarasota Young Professionals Group announced three new board members:  Michael Calamaras, partnership chair; Natalie Roderick, events chair; and Peggy O’Connor, member at large.

 

MOVING AND OPENING

Clasico Cafe + Bar has opened at 1341 Main St. in downtown Sarasota.

Jo Ann Koontz and Marina Parkin have launched Koontz & Parkin, CPA at 1819 Main St., Suite 215, Sarasota.

Pinot Picasso, an interactive art studio, has opened at 408 Seventh St. W. in Palmetto.

Sara Boudarga has opened ONE Sarasota Realty Group at 741 S. Osprey Ave. in Sarasota.

Sunshine Restaurant Partners, d/b/a IHOP Restaurants, opened its newest IHOP at 6320 S.R. 64 E. in Bradenton.

 

Close-up: Michael and Deborah Weatherby

Pedego Sarasota

Mike and Deborah Weatherby of Pedego Sarasota won the Best of Pedego award for selling the most Pedego electric bikes in Florida in 2012—some 150 of them, at $1,995 to $2,800 a pop, depending on the battery size.

The Weatherbys (he was a historical contractor in Vermont for 42 years; she is a psychotherapist at New College of Florida) started selling the electric bikes in their hometown of Bellows Falls three years ago “because we had something up North called hills,” says Mike Weatherby. They opened their Sarasota store on South Osprey Avenue in 2011. They also service bikes and organize guided bike tours of Myakka River State Park, Rothenbach Park and the Legacy Trail.

The hybrid bikes are particularly popular with people 40 to 75, says Mike, because “you can take off pedaling, then when you get tired, you can use the motor to get home.” – Ilene Denton