• Williams Parker, Sarasota’s largest and oldest law firm, has signed a lease for a new office in Lakewood Ranch, one of the nation’s premier master-planned communities.

Part of the Waterside Place mixed-use development, the new, expanded office will enable the firm’s lawyers and professionals to better serve the needs of clients in Lakewood Ranch, along the rapidly developing Interstate 75 business corridor and further east.

Williams Parker’s new office will be at 7500 Island Cove Terrace in Waterside Place. The move is expected to occur in the spring of 2023, followed shortly thereafter by moving the firm’s downtown office, at 200 S. Orange Ave., to The Plaza at Five Points.

• Home Watch of Sarasota has earned accreditation from the National Home Watch Association for the fifth year.

The NHWA was formed in 2009 to establish and maintain the highest industry standards for home watch and absentee homeowner services in the United States and Canada.

Christine Brown, owner of Home Watch of Sarasota, has lived in Sarasota for more than 20 years. She is a licensed interior designer.

She acquired Home Watch of Sarasota in 2018.

• The Central West Coast Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association was recognized for excellence in public relations during FPRA’s 83rd annual conference in Orlando.

The honors received by the organization included Chapter of the Year, as well as chapter awards for membership and diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives. Several individual board members were recognized for their achievements.

CWC-FPRA was also recognized at the state level for its special emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) over the past year. CWC-FPRA president Melanie Reda is the chapter’s first openly LGBTQ+ president and the chapter worked hard to provide more racially diverse speakers and attract more diverse board members.

As the largest chapter in the state, with nearly 120 members, CWC-FPRA was recognized with the Membership Award for its high renewal rate, multi-faceted retention efforts and numerous networking opportunities to keep members engaged with the chapter and one another.

Board members who received recognition at the ceremony: Erin Hoffer graduated from LeadershipFPRA Class VI and Hunter Carpenter, a Joe Curley Rising Leader Class Member, was a LeadershipFPRA Scholarship Winner.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Williams Parker law firm signs lease for Waterside Place office