Gateway Orlando District Welcomes Business Owners to Mingle in Person Again
Gateway Orlando District President Dennis Ferraro (second from right) and Executive Director Amilcar Cordova (right) present a certificate of recognition to Marie and Leighton Chin-See, owners of the Honest-1 Auto Care South Semoran franchise, which hosted Gateway Orlando District's "Conversation on the Corridor" networking event Thursday, May 27, 2021. Photo: Willie David/Florida National News.
ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN) – Business owners are recovering from quarantine fatigue too, and Gateway Orlando District gave them an opportunity to break free Thursday. The organziation hosted its first in-person post-quarantine business networking event “Conversations in the Corridor” at Honest-1 Auto Care South Semoran Thursday. State Rep. Daisy Morales (D-Orlando), whose district Gateway Orlando and Honest-1 Auto Care is in, attended and met with business owners.
The intimate after-hours event saw everyone gathered in Honest-1 Auto Care’s office–a clean, comfortable, and inviting space for a vehicle mechanic shop. So clean, everyone enjoyed sumptuous food and beverages without a second thought.
It’s a quality the franchise owners pride themselves on. Leighton and Marie Chin-See serve predominantly women clients and knew how overwhelmed (and gross) women can feel bringing their vehicles to a typical mechanic shop with grease everywhere and a bathroom unfit for human use–heaven forbid they have kids. The Chin-Sees wanted to ensure that women could feel at ease when they came to have their vehicles checked and worked on, even including a play area for customers with children.
Honest-1 Auto Care’s brand message is in its name: their mechanic shop franchise is an “honest one,” intentionally bucking the unfortunate stereotype of vehicle mechanics deceiving and overcharging women customers.
“This is the first Gateway Orlando District event we’ve hosted,” Leighton told Florida National News. His wife Marie added, “working with Gateway Orlando has been a great experience. If you haven’t yet, it’s a great investment…They’re family.”
Gateway Orlando District Executive Director Amilcar “Amil” Cordova and President Dennis Ferraro presented the Chin-Sees with a certificate of appreciation for hosting the event.
As stated on its website, Gateway Orlando is an official Market Street Organization, operating in partnership with the City of Orlando. The non-profit organization’s purpose is “to help businesses along the Semoran Corridor grow and prosper.” The Corridor boasts more than 500 businesses and 12,000 households.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News, part of the FNN News Network. | mellissa.thomas@floridanationalnews.com