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Sarasota News Leader October 26, 2012 companies were looking to expand or relo- cate. [The use of incentives] gets us that seat at the table." She is proud, she adds, of the collaboration between the commission and local business groups to improve the administration of the incentives fund. Workforce development is another key con- cern, she says as illustrated by her taking the gavel during a joint meeting with the Sarasota County School Board in late August to request that County Administrator Randall Reid work with school district officials, the Bradenton organization CareerEdge and county econom- ic development staff to determine how best to address the results of a new workforce study. The report on that study showed Sarasota and Manatee firms felt the local schools needed better programs to prepare workers for ca- reers in high-tech manufacturing. Having been a member of the Board of Trust- ees of the State College of Florida, Mana- tee-Sarasota, Robinson points to the collabo- ration between the board and area hospitals to provide new programs to meet the demand for more nurses. With the workforce issue, she says the man- ufacturers "are not quite as unified and vocal as the hospitals were," but she wants to make sure they talk with school officials to to re- solve the problems they perceive — "so we can all reach towards a common goal with a common path." Robinson also takes pride in starting a coun- ty newsletter to area businesses, telling them about issues coming up on commission agen- das and reporting on board action. Page 23 "The feedback from that was incredible," she says. County staff took over the project and has continued it, she points out. "Little things like that make a big difference." Asked her response to the assertion that the recession kept the county from growing too fast or too recklessly, Robinson says, "I like the sustainable growth [perspective], which I think we're on the path for right now." She adds that the county did its best to man- age unprecedented growth during the boom years. "Now we can take a step back and look at some of those things that were good and keep them and get rid of regulations that weren't so good. There's a balance, and I think we can strike that balance." SOUTH COUNTY FACTORS Asked her proudest accomplishment since she joined the County Commission in December 2010, Robinson says, "Some of the relation- ships I've built. … I set my sights on improv- ing the county relationship with south Venice. We've done things I never would have imag- ined in water quality projects in south Venice," she adds. The relationship between county officials and the City of North Port also is strong, Robinson says. "I've invested a lot of time in those relation- ships, just showing up, being engaged." Although it's easy to think of her as running for re-election — after all, she has been chair- woman of the commission since January — Robinson is finishing up the last two years of former Commissioner Shannon Staub's unex-