The Upper Keys Business & Professional Women (BPW) held its Celebration of Working Women on Oct. 15, recognizing leadership and entrepreneurship in the Upper Keys community. The organization named Lori Bailey of First State Bank as its 2025 Woman of the Year and honored Beyond the Barre Fitness as the 2025 Business of the Year. At the same event the local nonprofit distributed $3,500 in scholarships to three Monroe County women pursuing further education and vocational training.

Awards and scholarships by civic organizations play a practical role in small local economies like Monroe County’s, which rely heavily on small business activity and a skilled service workforce. Recognition from a longstanding local organization raises visibility for recipients, which can translate into increased customer trust and business growth for an employer or small business. For individuals, scholarship support helps lower barriers to education and training in sectors that supply the hospitality, retail and professional services that sustain the county’s economy.

The BPW’s dual focus — honoring a leading woman in the financial sector and highlighting a home-grown fitness business — reflects both the diversity of the local labor market and the importance of cross-sector leadership. Banks, fitness studios and similar small enterprises are often both employers and community anchors in the Upper Keys, providing steady incomes and community services while circulating dollars locally. Public recognition can therefore have measurable market implications by drawing attention to firms that create jobs and to professionals who mentor others.

The $3,500 in scholarships, awarded to three local women, underscores the organization’s role in workforce development. Even modest scholarships can have outsized impact in a high-cost region by covering certification fees, textbooks, or partial tuition that enables residents to complete credentialing or training. Those investments feed back into the local economy when recipients enter higher-paying positions, start businesses, or expand services that meet resident and visitor needs.

Local policymakers and business leaders regularly cite the need for talent retention and training support to sustain Monroe County’s long-term economic resilience. Community-based efforts like the BPW awards complement public initiatives by targeting resources and recognition to prospective workers and local employers. Such partnerships are likely to remain important as the county navigates seasonal demand, housing pressures and the ongoing need for skilled service workers.

The Celebration of Working Women is an example of a civic organization mobilizing recognition and financial support to strengthen both individual careers and the local business ecosystem. By spotlighting leaders such as Lori Bailey and enterprises like Beyond the Barre Fitness, the event reinforced the social and economic value of investing in people and local firms across Monroe County.