The group formed when Kerkering Barberio & Co recruiter Camille Norman approached the Gulf Coast CEO Forum for ideas to keep bright, young intern talent in the area, rather than losing them to full-time jobs in bigger cities. The team at the CEO Forum embraced the idea as an extension of BIG: Bright Ideas on the Gulf Coast.

“With BIG, our mission is to interact with students on Gulf Coast and connect them with companies here, and vice versa,” says Mary Darby Guidroz, administrative director of the CEO Forum. “With BIG, we thought this would fit nicely with our mission and Gulf Coast Millennials in Motion.”

The Millennials in Motion group includes several companies headquartered in the Sarasota-Manatee area, such as Boar’s Head, Bealls, Tervis, IMG, Florida State Theatre, Asolo, Kerkering Barberio & Co and S-One.

“The idea with the rooftop tailgate was not necessarily professional development, but a chance for the interns to get together for an event that was supported by their organization,” Guidroz says. “We were really pleased to have as many people as we had — it was nice to see exactly what we hoped for come to fruition.”

About 55 interns from those eight companies attended the event, which featured barbecue from Choo Choo’s Catering and entertainment by Bradenton-native singer-songwriter Matt Walden.

“It was really cool to meet so many young people and learn how they got to Sarasota,” says S-One intern Matt Block, an accounting major from the University of Texas. “It was different than how you would think of Sarasota — but young people definitely have a presence here. It changed my opinion of it — there was a mix of young people like myself, who are just starting college, and people just starting their careers and settling in here permanently.”

The next intern mixer is scheduled for July 12 at IMG for a lunch and learn, tour and a bit of athletic competition. Companies interested in Gulf Coast Millennials in Motion can email BIG@gulfcoastceoforum.com.

“In efforts to highlight our region as a hot spot for young, educated talent, we’re hosting the first of three summer intern mixers,” says Angie Gruss-Lane, S-One’s Chief Cultural Officer. “Our companies all share a similar issue in losing bright, young talent to more exciting cities, so we want to show them what our region has to offer.”

The event takes place Wednesday, June 21, 3:30 to 6 p.m. on S-One’s fourth floor rooftop patio. Interns from companies such as Boar’s Head, Bealls, Tervis, IMG, FST, Asolo, Kerkering Barberio & Co and S-One have been invited to learn about these companies and meet other local interns.

“We are excited to bring these interns together, allowing them to network and see different companies in our area with real career opportunities,” Gruss-Lane says.

“As an Inc. 5000 honoree, S-One Holdings now shares a pedigree with Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, GoPro, Timberland, Clif Bar, Patagonia, Oracle, and other notable alumni,” Inc. Media President and Editor in Chief Eric Schurenberg announced. “You are in good company — which is exactly where you belong.”

S-One’s growth over the past three years, as it expanded from one Florida-based company to five companies with worldwide reach, played a role in S-One’s ranking on the Inc. 5000 list, as well as several other state-wide honors. In these recent years, S-One has become the worldwide business partner for the development, production, distribution and sales of HP Large Format Printing Materials, as well as the global licensee for KODAK Wide-Format Inkjet Media.

“I’m incredibly proud that our little company and wonderful crew made the Inc. 5000 list,” says Art Lambert, President, CEO and co-founder of S-One, who started the company in 1994 with his partner, Ron Simkins, Chairman of the Board for S-One. “We owe a huge thanks to our loyal customers, trusted partners and dedicated team.”

S-One ranked among the top 10 Sarasota-Bradenton business to make the Inc. 5000 list, and the only company in that regional group in the Business Products & Services industry, and the only company among those 10 with more than $100 million in revenue.

ABOUT S-ONE HOLDINGS CORPORATION: S-One is a global holding company headquartered in Sarasota, Fla., that oversees a number of subsidiary companies: ABAQA, Avatrex, Brand Management Group, LexJet and Utopia Digital Technologies. Through its subsidiary companies, S-One is the exclusive distributor of Tara Materials’ Fredrix line of wide-format inkjet canvas, holds the exclusive trademark licensing agreement for KODAK Wide-Format Inkjet Media and KODAK PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Media, and is the exclusive business partner for HP Large Format Printing Media.

Earlier this year, LexJet summer interns set out to find non-profit organizations and small businesses that might benefit from wide-format graphics. They met with seven local groups who were happy to receive graphics support and the printing of a variety of items, such as banners, door graphics, posters, canvas wraps and even T-shirts, to help boost and promote their brands.

“We’re extremely grateful,” says Lynn Rasys, director of communications and development at Cat Depot, an organization devoted to rescuing homeless cats, offering low-cost veterinary services, finding new homes and providing community education.

LexJet provided Cat Depot door and floor graphics, window clings, banners and posters promoting the group’s services and upcoming events. “Everything that was created was amazing and high quality. We’re honored that we were selected as one of the organizations.”

Other groups that have been featured on the LexJet blog thus far include POP Yachts, an online boat broker in Sarasota County, which received an elevator door graphic, canvas wraps and a portable banner stand. Bit of Hope Ranch, which rescues horses and offers trail rides in Englewood, Fla., received new hanging and standing banners.Matt Walden, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter from Bradenton, Fla., was set with posters promoting his first original single, banners and custom T-shirts printed on the new Epson SureColor F2000 direct-to-garment printer.

“We had some old banners from the early 2000s that were just white with green letters, so I thought a nice, new little banner would be cool,” says Suzanne Park, who heads up Bit of Hope Ranch. “But I had no idea the length they were going to go through to make them so personal. They’re amazing.”

Additional projects will soon be featured at Coffee Carrousel, a diner on Main Street, Sarasota; Williams Parker, Attorneys at Law; and Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium.

“This #brandUP project was a great opportunity for our interns to take a real-life marketing campaign and run it as their own business,” says Terry Lynn Belzer, marketing lead at LexJet. “Like any advertising agency, they had to uncover the needs of their ‘clients’ and find and deliver creative solutions. Plus, it fits with the LexJet character of being involved in the community at a grass-roots level. And we all had fun doing it.”

Stay tuned to the LexJet blog at blog.lexjet.com to see the next round of #brandUP projects.