Erika Spence: Business in the Park

A springtime sip event

Have you heard? The Winter Park Sip, Shop & Stroll was recently voted the Best Periodic Event for the second consecutive year in Orlando Date Night Guide’s fifth annual Date Night Awards! The event won the coveted reader’s choice prize over other nominees including Science Night Live at the Orlando Science Center and Get Your Jazz On at The Alfond Inn, among others. Thousands of Central Florida couples have a love story that involves Park Avenue, which makes this award from Orlando’s comprehensive date night blog means so much to us at the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce.

If you haven’t attended before, the Winter Park Sip, Shop & Stroll is an opportunity to enjoy the charm of downtown Winter Park while strolling to local merchants and restaurants for wine and hors d’oeuvres. Held three times a year, Sip, Shop & Stroll events make a great night on the town or evening spent with friends. Attendees can visit long-time favorites and discover some of the newest shops and restaurants in downtown Winter Park.

The next Winter Park Sip, Shop & Stroll will be held on Thursday, March 3. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at winterpark.org or at the Winter Park Welcome Center.

Economic Update

With the arrival of March, the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce is taking a moment to reflect on the economy. While it’s easy to listen for packaged sound bites on economic news, stock market hiccups or policy changes, it is important for business executives to seek the trusted council of economists who spend their time researching long-term trends.

This year the Chamber is bringing its Economic Update and the expertise of Dr. Bill Seyfried from Rollins College to its Good Morning Winter Park program on Friday, March 11, at 7:45 a.m. This program at the Winter Park Welcome Center will provide this vital information to our members for free. Good Morning Winter Park is presented by Florida Blue, with support from Barnie’s CoffeeKitchen, Costco and Winter Park/Maitland Observer, making the program, coffee and breakfast free for business executives and the public.

Art in the park

A sure sign that spring is in the air is the return of the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. The weekend begins on Friday, March 18, at 9 a.m. with 225 nationally and internationally renowned artists displaying their talent in Central Park. This is also when people start spreading their blankets on the grass near the Central Park stage for the Friday night concert.

Parking will be at a premium for the weekend, and while many local scout troupes, sports teams and school groups will organize parking lots throughout downtown, please consider supporting Leadership Winter Park when searching for a parking space. Leadership Winter Park provides leadership development opportunities for youth and adults in our community. Monies raised during the festival will support scholarships for these programs. Members of the current class, as well as alumni, will be manning parking lots at the Winter Park Welcome Center all three days and Saturday and Sunday only at Florida Community Bank at the corner of New York and Canton avenues (enter from Canton Avenue).

During the Art Festival, be sure to visit local merchants along Park Avenue and area side streets for the Spring Sidewalk Sale. This is a terrific time to find gifts and apparel at great prices.

For updates on Chamber events and programs and other community happenings, like our Facebook page at facebook.com/winterparkchamber or follow us on Twitter at @WPChamberFL.

Erika Spence is the senior director of marketing and communications at the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce.