Isabelle Renault, President and CEO
St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce

Dear Historic City News editor:

The St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce is celebrating National Small Business Week from May 5 until May 11 and will be recognizing the many significant contributions that small business owners and their employees make in our community.  Please join us by making a commitment to “shop small”.

by Scott Powers
Special to HISTORIC CITY NEWS

Vacation rental home platform Airbnb is driving down the lodging prices and revenues for traditional hotels, a new national study led by a Florida State University professor finds.

Legislative efforts to pre-empt local regulations statewide of vacation rental homes may have died again this year on Wednesday as the Senate bill seeking to do so was temporarily postponed in a committee that is not scheduled to meet again.

The Northeast Florida Regional Airport’s total statewide economic impact is estimated to exceed $1.4 billion. That figure was determined by a recently released 2019 update to the Florida Statewide Aviation Economic Impact Study received by Historic City News today.

Jason Barrett, CEO, Flagler Health+, will provide the keynote speech with a focus on changing health care at the Chamber Economic Development Breakfast on Friday, April 26 at 8:00 a.m. at Shell Hall inside the World Golf Hall of Fame at the World Golf Village.

In a summary of orders issued February 13 – March 27, 2019 obtained by Historic City News this week, The Florida Bar, the state’s guardian for the integrity of the legal profession, announces that the Florida Supreme Court in recent court orders disciplined 21 attorneys – disbarring one, revoking the licenses of nine, one of whom was from St Augustine, suspending nine and publicly reprimanding two. Disciplinary revocation is tantamount to disbarment.

Isabelle (Rodriguez) Renault, President / CEO informed Historic City News local reporters that Compass Bank will sponsor the Chamber of Commerce Historic St. Augustine Area Council meeting on April 12, 2019, when the scheduled speakers will be City of St. Augustine Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline and Chief of Police Barry Fox.

In order to assist businesses in downtown St Augustine, their customers, and employees, the City of St Augustine reported to Historic City News that they have obtained funding to operate this year’s free park and ride shuttle beginning at 8:00 a.m. starting on Saturday March 9th.