2026 Power Connection Lunch - 10.7.26 Acapulco Tropical Supermarket
In the span between Sarasota and Bradenton, the most meaningful connections are often made over lunch: in a room where business owners, nonprofit leaders, creatives, and civic-minded neighbors exchang
By Edit Sarasota Staff
In the span between Sarasota and Bradenton, the most meaningful connections are often made over lunch: in a room where business owners, nonprofit leaders, creatives, and civic-minded neighbors exchange introductions that can become collaborations. The 2026 Power Connection Lunch arrives in that spirit, offering a midday gathering built around conversation, community, and the simple social usefulness of sharing a table.
Hosted by the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, the event reflects the increasingly interwoven character of the Sarasota-Manatee region. Professional networks no longer stop at the county line, and gatherings such as this provide a valuable occasion to meet the people shaping the area’s economy and cultural life—from established institutions to emerging enterprises. For Sarasota attendees, the short trip north opens a window onto Bradenton’s business community while strengthening the relationships that bind the two cities together.
This edition’s culinary partner is Acapulco Tropical Supermarket, a familiar name to shoppers seeking the flavors and ingredients of Mexico and Latin America. As caterer, the supermarket brings more than a meal to the occasion: it offers an edible expression of the region’s varied communities and the small-business energy that gives local life its character. Food has a particular talent for making professional gatherings feel less transactional, turning an introduction into a conversation with room to continue.
The setting is equally practical and civic-minded. The Manatee Chamber’s Bradenton office sits in the city’s downtown core, a fitting home for an event centered on exchange and connection. A lunch here can be approached as a focused networking opportunity, a chance to learn more about the people and organizations working across the region, or simply a welcome change of pace from the usual workday routine.
The 2026 Power Connection Lunch will take place Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at the Manatee Chamber’s Bradenton office, 222 10th St. W., Bradenton. Catered by Acapulco Tropical Supermarket, the gathering offers Sarasota-area professionals and community members an easy reason to cross the bridge, pull up a chair, and take part in the ongoing conversation about where the region is headed.