Business View Civil & Municipal Apr-2023

110 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 Valued partnerships with the North Port Area Chamber of Commerce, Suncoast Technical College, and CareerSource are all crucial to supporting local businesses and connecting skilled workers to jobs, grants, and apprenticeship programs. SCORE, a non-profit small business association located in nearby Port Charlotte is another valuable resource for North Port’s entrepreneurial community. Mascarenhas describes, “They have mentors there that help a lot of our businesses. Many of our businesses here in North Port are home- based, or just starting out. We refer them to SCORE frequently, and they get the assistance that they need to write a business plan or shop that business plan around for some venture capital or take it to banks to get the funding that they need to expand and to grow.” On the sustainability side, Ray reports that the city is taking the lessons it learned from Hurricane Ian to make the community more resilient to future storms. Developer Mattamy Homes have incorporated EV charging stations benderson.com NORTH PORT BUSINESS PARK North Port’s first Class-A light industrial, flex warehouse and office park. Ready for business on Toledo Blade Boulevard, just ½-mile from I-75. Phase 2 Available July 2023 For leasing inquiries, contact: Toledo Blade Blvd Mark Curran 941.359.8303 | markcurran@benderson.com