Miami Lakes EDC aligns networking with chamber, approves boot‑camp swag and ad buys

The Miami Lakes Economic Development Committee voted to coordinate its upcoming networking socials with the Miami Lakes Chamber of Commerce schedule for June through September and approved several small marketing expenditures to support the town’s fall outreach. The committee approved an additional $720 for swag bags for the Sept. boot camp — bringing the event total to $820 including a prior $100 approval — and cleared a four‑issue advertising buy in the Miami Laker to cross‑promote Boot Camp registration and the Best of Miami Lakes nominations campaign.

Committee members moved to align dates and venue recommendations with the Chamber so the town’s networking events run in concert with the Chamber’s existing schedule. Venues the committee plans to recommend include Dominico’s, Pampered Chef, Cancun Grill and Anony’s as a backup; a member said they will relay the list to their contact at the Chamber and coordinate exact dates.

On swag bags, organizers said they had roughly 30 leftover items from prior years and would like to bring the total on‑hand to 80 for the boot camp; the committee agreed to purchase 50 more at a total cost of $820. The motion to spend an additional $720 (on top of the already‑approved $100) was seconded by George Alvarez and approved by the body. No detailed roll‑call vote tally was recorded in the transcript.

The committee also approved purchasing four third‑page color ads in the Miami Laker (one ad in each of four issues) for a total of $2,100 from the marketing miscellaneous budget to support cross‑promotional messaging: a July 17 ad to open registration and nominations, an Aug. 7 nomination reminder, a Sept. 4 final registration reminder (and announcement that finalists would be recognized at the boot camp), and an Oct. 16 winners announcement. Committee members debated quarter‑page versus third‑page sizing and voted in favor of the third‑page option to provide clearer space for both programs.

Committee members discussed remaining marketing balances and pending charges (including a pending Main Street Live invoice) while reconciling that these allocations leave limited but available funds in the marketing miscellaneous account. The committee’s annual allocations and longer‑term budget priorities were discussed later in the meeting but did not change as part of these votes.

Next steps: the committee will coordinate dates with the Chamber, finalize venue recommendations, submit ad artwork by the newspaper’s deadlines, and proceed with vendor procurement for swag bags.