Realize Bradenton wins Manatee Small Business of the Year in non-profit category

If you spend time in downtown Bradenton, you have seen the impact made by the non-profit organization Realize Bradenton.

From the Bradenton Riverwalk to the Village of the Arts, from the annual Bradenton Blues Festival to the popular Farmers’ Market events, Realize Bradenton has made an impact in the look and vitality of downtown.

In honor of that impact, Realize Bradenton has been recognized as the Manatee Small Business of the Year for 2016 in the non-profit category.

Director Johnette Isham has led a staff of five full-time employees plus hundreds of volunteers as they have worked hard to meet their goals. Among those goals is to build a positive reputation of Bradenton locally as well as nationally and, when possible, internationally.

“Seriously, all the non-profits who were nominated ... deserve this award,” Isham said after accepting the award in Friday’s ceremony at IMG Academy Golf Club. “We make the quality of life better for your employees and clients. So, give someone from a non-profit a hug today.”

Realize Bradenton’s focus has been on arts, culture, heritage, sports and food and the belief that bringing people together through those points of interest can help build Bradenton’s reputation as a great place to live, work, play and stay.

The revitalized Bradenton Riverwalk was one of the first signature projects for Realize Bradenton, as it helped in a planning process that brought students, skateboarders and artists together with elected officials, residents and business owners to create something that everyone could be proud of.

Skateboarders are ever present at the skate park, the playground has been a big hit with children, and the riverwalk itself is a great place for a walk or run in the morning or after work.

And that leads to one of Realize Bradenton’s biggest accomplishments – getting people into open spaces in downtown.

There’s been no better example of that than through the annual Bradenton Blues Festival, which has been sold out each of the past four years, and the Farmers’ Market, which saw an 18 percent increase in attendance for the 2015-16 series. According to Realize Bradenton, there is already an increase of 10 vendors for the upcoming 2016-17 season.

Realize Bradenton has accomplished so much since its inception in 2010, and everyone is feeling an impact from that success. According to Realize Bradenton, more than 100,000 people were attracted to downtown to buy from local restaurants, shops and galleries. The economic impact exceeded $3 million and boosted the bottom line of the 300 vendors, farmers, artisan food producers, musicians, artists and small businesses.

Now the focus is on the future and making sure that success continues for years to come. The PopUps for a Purpose program brings Millennials together from diverse professional backgrounds. In fact, right now you can see pictures of 23 local Millennials who represent the future of Manatee County, in windows throughout downtown.

With 12,000 unique visitors each month on the Realize Bradenton website and a social media reach of nearly 50,000 a month, the word is out on all that downtown Bradenton has to offer.

This story was originally published August 12, 2016 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Realize Bradenton wins Manatee Small Business of the Year in non-profit category."