Here’s the recipient of chamber’s 5th-annual Bob Bartz award for outstanding leadership
Mac Carraway served as chairman of the board of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce in 2009, when any kind of leadership position proved twice as difficult as during normal times.
The Great Recession was a time when individual 401K retirement plans took a pounding, an estimated 3.8 million homeowners faced bank foreclosure, and more than 200,000 small businesses nationwide permanently closed their doors.
“It wasn’t all that great,” Carraway, 67, said of what — until the COVID-19 pandemic — had been an economic decline without parallel since the Great Depression. “It was a challenging time for the Chamber of Commerce and its members.”
One of the major drivers in helping the local business community persevere through those dark days was Bob Bartz, the long-time president of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce.
“Bob provided a lot of encouragement to buy local and support our business community. Bob was instrumental in doing everything possible to support local businesses. That was just one example of Bob’s relentless efforts to look after the business membership,” Carraway said.
Bartz died in 2017 at age 65, but his legacy is remembered each year with the Chamber’s award for outstanding leadership. This year, the fifth-annual award goes to Carraway.
Chamber officials describe Carraway as a generous, humble leader with a steadfast commitment to efforts that enhance Manatee County’s economy and quality of life.
Carraway received word of the leadership honor from Jacki Dezelski, president and CEO of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce.
“When Jacki called me, I was very surprised. I was surprised because I don’t think of myself in those terms. We have some magnificent leaders, top-of-the-line people in this community. It is very humbling to be associated with those kind of people,” Carraway said.
Previous recipients of the award include Cliff Walters, principal partner with the Blalock Walters law firm, Ron Allen, president of NDC Construction Co., NDC Development Co., and NDC Realty, Bob Turner, past publisher of the Bradenton Herald, and Amanda and John Horne, owners of the Anna Maria Oyster Bar restaurants.
“I am truly honored to have been selected as the fifth-annual Robert P. Bartz Award honoree. Bob was an incredibly special person who inspired me with his friendship, by his relentlessly hopeful outlook, and by his belief in doing the right thing, no matter what,” Carraway said.
“Bob’s love for the Chamber and for this community was uplifting — in the very best sense of that word — and I try to honor his legacy and pass that on whenever I can,” Carraway said.
Two decades in Manatee County
Carraway was born in North Carolina, but grew up in Fort Pierce, and, from the age of 9, in Tallahassee. After graduating from Florida State University in 1977, he got his first job as a CPA with Arthur Anderson accounting company in Orlando.
It was through another CPA at Arthur Anderson, Byron Shinn, that Carraway came to Manatee County in 1992 as chief financial officer for Pacific Tomato Company.
Later, he served a decade with developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, initially as vice president of agriculture, and later as president of SMR Farms.
Six years ago, Carraway launched Carraway Consulting, offering expertise on financial management and analysis, agribusiness, land use and natural resources and strategic resources.
Phill Baker, chairman of the board of directors for the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, has worked closely with Carraway for everal years.
“He is very concerned and involved with our community. He takes an interest in the smallest of individuals and the largest of companies,” Baker said. “His humility is his greatest attribute. He is a great leader, but he is very humble. He is not afraid to tackle very difficult challenges.”
Carraway is also known for his striking wildlife photography, a lifelong passion.
“My dad had a print shop and gave me some of his darkroom equipment. I learned to process black and white film in whatever spare room we had for a makeshift darkroom,” Carraway said.
Carraway didn’t immediately make the jump into digital photography.
“I was a film snob for a while,” he said.
But at the urging of his wife, Phyllis, he gave digital photography a try, and found it to be a “game changer.”
He now shares his photos, notably of local birds, on his Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as his web site, https://www.maccarrawayphotography.com/. He recently published a 78-page tabletop book, “The Birds of Robinson Preserve,” which can be ordered on his website.
The fifth-annual Robert P. Bartz Award for Outstanding Leadership will be presented at the Manatee Chamber’s 59th annual dinner on Jan. 27 at the Bradenton Area Convention Center, 1 Haben Blvd., Palmetto. Activities begin at 5 p.m. with the dinner and program following at 6:30 p.m.
For more information or for reservations to the dinner, visit https://www.manateechamber.com/.
This story was originally published December 28, 2021 at 11:25 AM.
