About Us
The team that keeps us going
Our team works to support business growth, increase job opportunities, and advocate for our incredible business community. Work with us to discover new business and host networking opportunities.
Board of Directors
We are proud of our chambers officers and directors. Our goal is to provide valuable demographic studies and statistics on our area, promote tourism by sharing information with visitors, and provide employment information for new residents.
President – Heidi Morris
Heidi Morris–Owner of The UPS Store® in Big Pine Key, has lived full-time in the Keys since 2017. Chair of the Community Foundation’s Lower Keys Advisory Council. President of the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce, past president of the Lower Keys Rotary Club, a Leadership Monroe graduate, founding volunteer of the Monroe Emergency Reserve Corps, an emergency shelter manager and an amateur radio operator. Graduated with a business degree from Westin College, climbed the corporate ladder at Radio Shack, and ran a successful business in Colorado for over a decade. Lives in Summerland Key with her husband and they have three children.
Vice President – Keith Hughes
Keith Hughes is the co-founder of Mile 0 Events, llc. One of the largest
and fastest growing event production companies in the Florida Keys.
Keith has been in the event production business internationally for 30+ years.
Mile 0 Events specializes in helping non-profits meet and exceed their fundraising goals
through unique specialty events. Keith previously served as the President of the Garden Valley Chamber of Commerce for 7 years prior to moving to the Florida Key.
Gary Brockway
A South New Jersey native, who is enthusiastically serving the community in his third year on the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Since 2019, has helped grow Paradise Technologies, Inc. as Vice President and owner. Gary and his wife, Brenna, have been proud Big Pine Key residents since 2016 with their Rhodesian Ridgeback pups Loki,
Neko, and Jamie. They both share an immense passion for music and Gary has been playing guitar for the past 25+ years. Other hobbies include watching or playing Disc Golf, Hockey, and Football.
Heather Skelley
I lived most of my life in Maryland and Delaware and have been visiting the Keys for vacation since 1992. I became a permanent resident in Big Pine Key in 2021 and a teacher in Key West. I discovered the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce through their After-Hours Business Socials, which I attended on behalf of other local nonprofit organizations. I feel fortunate to work with such a fantastic group of people who are dedicated to their community!
Dee Dee Vaughan Smause
Dee Dee grew up on and under the water. You could say that saltwater runs through her veins. Being raised by a marine biologist meant that almost all things revolved around the ocean, and that has continued to this day. As one of the co-founders of the Plant a Million Corals Foundation, her main role is to raise awareness and build partnerships for coral restoration. Dee Dee’s professional career started much earlier and has ranged from the local to the global level. Working with the American Red Cross as the disaster response and volunteer coordinator, she handled volunteer recruitment, training, and deployment. While at the Earth Day Network, an international environmental advocacy based in Washington, D.C., she was the Executive Assistant to the President, assisting with organizational management, campaign development, and working with the media as a content contributor and writer. As the coordinator of the Florida Keys Community College Foundation (now College of the Florida Keys), Dee Dee was the lead administrator and fundraiser for the scholarship program supporting the students and programs of the school. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, she coordinated the disaster response for the students and staff, as well as assisting in the fundraising efforts to support those in need in the school. After the hurricane response, she joined the Florida Keys Community Land Trust, raising money and awareness for the lack of affordable housing in the Florida Keys as their Development Officer. When the opportunity to start the Plant a Million Corals Foundation with her family, and actively support coral restoration around the world, she jumped at the chance to be a part of the founding team. Getting to work with practitioners, scientists, educators, supporters, and the community making coral restoration affordable, accessible, and scalable has been a dream come true! Dee Dee lives in the Florida Keys with her husband, Jason, and their rescue pup, Isabela.
Yordi Batista, Secretary
Coca Cola Beverage Services
30801 Avenue A
Big Pine Key, Florida 33043
305-281-9516
ybatista-godoy@cocacolaflorida.com
Julie Schilling, Treasurer
First State Bank of the FL Keys
30515 Overseas Hwy.
Big Pine Key, FL 33043
305-872-4778
julies@keysbank.com
Rick Carter
Conch IT & Stock Island Times
34 Kingfisher Lane
Key West, FL 33040
305-707-4024
rick.conchit@gmail.com
Darcy Wadsworth
IDA Advisors
30410 Sea Grape Terrace, Suite 4
Big Pine Key, FL 33043
darcy.wadsworth@idawealth.com
951-452-2345
John Mendoza
Home 1st Lending, LLC
27356 Cayman Drive
Ramrod Key, FL 33042
john.mendoza@home1stlending.com
305-906-2178
Heidi Morris
The UPS Store 6896
181 Key Deer Blvd.
Big Pine Key, FL 33043
store6896@theupsstore.com
305-414-8347
Check Out the Lower Keys Community Guide
Let’s Get Your Business Known
Event Sponsorship Packages Where We Can Take Your Name Places
Get your business name seen and noticed at major events and at some of the most well-known areas in the Lower Keys.
Our History
Like many parts of Florida, the original inhabitants of the Keys were the Native American Indians. Indian tribes such as the Calusa and Tequesta were living in the Keys when the Spanish discovered Florida in the 1500s. In 1513, during his discovery of Florida, Ponce de Leon named the Keys the Martires (the martyrs). Experts have speculated that this name came from the Indians, as there was an Indian village named Cuchiyaga or “martyred place” during this early time. Memoirs, dated around the middle 1500s from a ship-wrecked Spaniard who lived in the Keys amongst the Indians for 20 years, reported that there were deer, raccoons, manatees, and bears. Their diets consisted of fish, turtle, snail, lobster, manatee, and raccoon. Little is known or written about the Keys until the 1800s as the Indian tribes moved or died out, and the lack of bridges precluded any land settlement.
The Lower Keys were sparsely settled in the early to mid-1800s. Mosquitoes and lack of any particular way of making a living made it challenging to homestead this area. At the same time, Key West had a population of 18,000, making it the largest city in Florida. Some well to do Key Westers had country homes 30 miles east in the Lower Keys and all sailed by boat to their second homes. Although sparsely inhabited today, small lower Keys like No Name and Little Pine had substantial settlements. Many brave settlers survived in the Lower Keys by producing charcoal, farming, fishing, and sponging. Back in 1905, a feed sack of coal netted 10 cents.
With the fulfilled lifelong dream of Henry Flagler and the Overseas Railroad, a successful Lower Keys settlement was realized. This link with the mainland was the culmination of 7 years of complicated work. Over 500 railroad workers, as well as most of Flagler’s fortune, were claimed by this project. The train ran from its completion in 1912 until 1935 when the great Labor Day hurricane destroyed it. The railroad left many remnants of its existence in the Lower Keys. Water towers, sumps, sinkholes and sections of the railway bridges are still evident.
After the hurricane, damage to the railway was so significant that the entire railroad system was sold to the State of Florida and they built the Overseas Highway. This highway incorporated a ferry system, as well. During this time in Keys history, travel time from Key Largo to Key West could take over 7 hours for the 118-mile stretch.
The Florida Keys consist of 42 bridges and over 300 small islands, all imaginatively named. From the Saddle Bunch Keys to Duck Key to Ohio Key and even No Name Key, you’ll enjoy crossing over each bridge and seeing the Keys on both sides of US Highway 1, in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
