USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

RE: USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

Jim Clemmons — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:07:27 GMT

Oh, and if by some miracle I can beat ShePuff on Saturday, this forum will come alive as if Ion made a triumphant return proclaiming he finally made the Top 10, V02Max and late bloomer trophy in hand. I only pray someone catches it for youtubing just in case it happens!!

RE: USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

aquageek — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:03:24 GMT

Dang it, touche! Still, head to head, Charlotte left you weeping, like gull in previous years. The numbers don't lie but your brother said you were double bagging LZR and B70 for your time and possibly hopped up on a BlueFrog and HGH cocktail, but that's just a rumor at this point. Oh, and if by some miracle I can beat ShePuff on Saturday, this forum will come alive as if Ion made a triumphant return proclaiming he finally made the Top 10, V02Max and late bloomer trophy in hand.

RE: USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

aquageek — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:47:11 GMT

Speaking of phones, our brand new U.S. Masters Swimming phone number will be 941-256-USMS (8767). Our fax will be 941-256-SWIM (7946). Each USMS staff employee will have a direct dial phone number. Rob - sounds like all is going well. Can you please confirm Jim Matysek's new number will be 941-USMS-GeekKickedMyAss. Thanks in advance.

RE: USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

Rob Butcher — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:01:22 GMT

Our contractors continue to make progress on our headquarters as you can see with the attached pictures. The plan is to finish off the new conference room dry wall this week. The blinds will be installed next week. So too is the carpet and phone system. Speaking of phones, our brand new U.S. Masters Swimming phone number will be 941-256-USMS (8767). Our fax will be 941-256-SWIM (7946). Each USMS staff employee will have a direct dial phone number. You will also be able to reach Tracy Grilli through dialing the main 256-USMS number and it can be forwarded to her. Provided all goes well and no hiccups, we will be applying for our certificate of occupancy next week. That would be terrific because as I type this, I'm sitting on the floor sharing a 10' x 12' office space with Nick Florio (our controller) and Laura Hamel (our Editor-in-Chief). A local Sarasota business was kind enough to offer us an extra room so the staff could meet daily. When we get a phone call though, we have to step outside to be courtesy to the others. Needless to say, we're all looking forward to being in the new office. Jim Matysek will be in Sarasota next week working with the phone installation company. Mark Gill and Ashley Gangloff will be in Sarasota the week of July 6th.

RE: USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

Rob Butcher — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:27:54 GMT

Thanks to all who came to the Bumpy Jones meet and stopped by the office. We appreciate your comments. You saw the same things we did which is the location is a grand slam! The Sarasota Welcome Center used to be in the Pagoda building and a few years ago relocated to a larger building that is next to our new home. The Sarasota Welcome Center located along the bay front gets more than 100,000 visitors a year with an uptick during the November to April season months. We expect to get an overflow of visitors since we are in the same foot traffic path as the Welcome Center. From a marketers perspective, this is a terrific PR and exposure opportunity for USMS. The Pagoda continues to be a work in progress as you can see by the attached photos. The conference room framing is up and next is the electrical work. We expect the phone installation in the next few weeks. We are currently searching the secondary market for office furniture to fit our needs. Once all done, the Pagoda building will have five private offices, four cubes, a front reception area, a functional conference room and a storage room that could be converted to an office if/when needed. We are hoping in July we will get our certificate of occupancy and be able to move in.

RE: USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

Former Member — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:55:16 GMT

If you are in the Sarasota area, give the national office staff a call then go see it. I was in the area last weekend and got to see the work in progress by making an appointment to see it. Many swimmers may be in Sarasota for the "Bumpy Jones" Masters meet at the Sarasota YMCA, and I think they plan to have another "visit time" schedule for a few folks. Yes, moving our professional staff from the Charlotte NC satellite office (along with our national headquarter which have been in NH for many years) to Sarasota is a big accomplishment for our Executive Director and USMS. Other staff will be moving to Sarasota, while a few others work remotely for a time. Again, if your in Sarasota, call and stop by to see our new USMS National Headquarters, Anthony Thompson, USMS BOD Breadbasket swimtotoswm@msn.com

RE: USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

Former Member — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:29:57 GMT

Thanks for that link aztimm! The "Bumpy" Jones swim meet is this weekend at the Sarasota YMCA Sharks Pool.

RE: USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

BillS — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:05:21 GMT

Wow. This move is a much bigger deal -- and commitment, from all involved -- than I first realized. Thanks for the update.

RE: USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

Rob Butcher — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:33:22 GMT

Today is day three of the renovation project on our new headquarters. To take a brief step back, in February after nearly a six month search, the board selected Sarasota as the community to establish U.S. Masters Swimming headquarters. After reviewing a number of proposals, the board selected Sarasota for the following reasons: The Sarasota task force of nearly 20-citizens included leaders from the swimming community, private sector and elected sector. This well rounded approach was impressive to the board with each group sharing the same message in a produced video of how much they wanted USMS in their community and their commitment to help grow the USMS mission The proposal guaranteed economically the annual cost would come within our budget. It is important to note USMS was not seeking a free land deal. If we did want free, we would have had to guarantee something back each year like our Nationals. This was not something we wanted to guarantee Sarasota has more than $1BB in Foundation giving within its community. This was important as we hope to tap this spirit of giving in growing our own Foundation efforts Sarasota did share facilities such as the Sarasota YMCA, Arlington Park Community pool and beaches could be made available for hosting of events Sarasota is also a warm weather destination favorable to those who might want to travel and/or visit the area With the Sarasota selection in place, I made three trips to Sarasota to begin the selection location for our headquarters. I looked at more than 30-different locations and the community lived up to its promise. In May, the board and Finance Committee approved the signing of a 10-year lease on the historic Pagoda Building. The Pagoda Building is a City owned building. The lease is public records. We are paying $1,066 a month in rent for roughly 2,000 square foot of space. As required by USMS Financial Policy, anytime you spend more than $1,000 we must go through a formal bid process. We sought bids from three contractors to renovate the Pagoda building. We sought three bids for the phone systems and we sought three bids for the signage installation. We selected Rock Solid as our General Contractor. Rock Solid presented architectural plans, a full scope of work, costs and estimated timeline to us. We received our permits from the City of Sarasota and the renovation began last week. The carpet, paint, blinds for the windows, etc. have all been selected and ordered. It is anticipated the construction will last 2-3 weeks. The T1 lines for phone and Internet are also ordered and should be installed along with the phone system installed later in June. When the renovations are complete, the Pagoda building will be able to seat 10-employees with the option to add two more as we grow. Ashley and I closed our Charlotte office last week. Ashley is moving to Auburn where she has been accepted to PHD school starting in August. Her husband Mark is continuing to train for the 2012 Olympics. Ashley will continue to stay involved on projects with USMS. Alli (my much better half), our two cats, our border collie and I moved to Sarasota last week. The Charlotte office furniture was loaded on the moving truck with our personal stuff. We are now in Sarasota full time. Nick Florio (our new Controller), Laura Hamel (our new Editor-in-Chief) and I are temporarily working out of a 10' x 14' office. We continue to service our members, clubs, LMSCs and partners from this space off our cell phones and laptops. Mark Gill is working from his home in Louisville. He will be making his first trip to Sarasota in July. Jim Matysek works from his home office in Kansas City. He and Anna Lea are hoping to move to Sarasota full time in the Fall/Winter timeframe, pending the sale of their home. We will continue to post pictures of the renovations and progress reports....

RE: USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

Ahelee Sue Osborn — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:30:09 GMT

It has been commented, and pictures added in this thread. Thanks TIM! And Todd - I also thought it was VERY cool news!

RE: USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

aztimm — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:35:27 GMT

This is very cool news. I can't believe no one has commented on this yet... I am relocating to Sarasota this Fall and will be swimming with the Sarasota YMCA Sharks Masters team. The open water swimming opportunities in that area are incredible, and there are lots of OWS races going on year-round. It has been commented, and pictures added in this thread.

RE: USMS National Office moves to Sarasota, FL

Former Member — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:37:34 GMT