Q6: Mayor John’s Response

Small businesses are the backbone of towns like Lake Placid. What steps do you believe the town should take to support local entrepreneurs and attract new businesses?  

Small businesses are not just the backbone of Lake Placid’s economy — they are the heartbeat of our community identity. Every locally owned shop, restaurant, and service on Interlake Boulevard and Main Avenue represents a family that bet on this town. My job as mayor is to make sure that bet pays off.

Let me tell you what we are already doing — and what we are going to do more of.

First, we remove barriers. Just this past January, our Town Council unanimously approved a parking waiver for a new Cuban café opening on Interlake Boulevard. That business owner had a dream, a location, and a community ready to welcome them. The last thing we needed was a bureaucratic obstacle standing in her way. That is exactly the kind of responsive, business-friendly governance I have always championed — and will continue to champion.

Second, we invest in the environment that makes small businesses thrive. Our Community Redevelopment Agency currently has $650,000 available and actively working toward the projects that directly impact business success — improved street lighting so Interlake doesn’t look, as someone once put it, sketchy at night, road repaving, beautification of Main Avenue, and flower pot installations that make our downtown an inviting destination worth visiting and returning to. A beautiful, well-lit, walkable downtown is not just aesthetics — it is an economic development strategy.

Third, we drive traffic through tourism. The Lake Placid Mural Society is one of the most powerful small business support tools this town has — and most people don’t think of it that way. But every visitor who comes to walk our mural trail stops for lunch, shops in our stores, and fills our local restaurants. That is direct revenue flowing into the pockets of our entrepreneurs because of a cultural investment our town made years ago. I want to build on that by expanding our event calendar, deepening our partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, and marketing Lake Placid aggressively as a Florida destination worth the drive.

Fourth, we lead by example with major economic anchors. When companies like Amazon and Culver’s choose Lake Placid, it does something beyond just creating jobs — it sends a signal to every entrepreneur considering our town that this is a place where business is welcomed, supported, and positioned to succeed. Those anchors bring new rooftops, new families, and new customers through the doors of every small business on Interlake.

Fifth, we listen. Our Downtown Master Plan is not something being designed behind closed doors by consultants. It is a community-driven process that puts local business owners at the table to shape the future of their own commercial district. That is how you build a downtown vision that actually works — by including the people who live and work in it every single day.

Lake Placid is experiencing a genuine moment of momentum right now. New businesses are opening. Visitors are coming. Families are arriving. My commitment to every entrepreneur in this town — whether you have been here for thirty years or you are just signing your first lease — is that you will have a mayor who knows your name, knows your challenges, and has the experience and the relationships to fight for your success.

That is not a vision for the future. That is what we are already doing — and under my continued leadership, we are just getting started.