S3 E6 #72 "Pay to Play"

About this episode

The episode discusses building a healthier business ecosystem in Polk County and questions the 'pay to play' culture affecting small businesses.

This episode is an honest conversation about what it will take to build a healthier, more collaborative business ecosystem in Polk County — one where the goal is not just a win-win, but a win-win-win: good for the organization, good for the business, and good for the community. Dan Thumberg and Chrissanne Long dig into a difficult but important question for Polk County’s business and civic community: Are we building relationships that are truly mutually beneficial, or have too many small businesses been pulled into a “pay to play” culture where visibility, access, and opportunity come with unclear expectations and little real reciprocity?

People in this episode

Hosts: Dan Thumberg, Chrissanne Long

Topics covered

• business ecosystem
• collaboration
• mutual benefit
• community
• small business
• pay to play

Keywords

• business
• collaboration
• Polk County
• mutual benefit
• small business
• community

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Polk County

More episodes of ElevatePolk

• ElevatePolk Podcast S3 E9 #75 | "Engage with the Machine" · June 3, 2026 · 1h 7m
• S3 E8 #74 "The State of the City of Lakeland, FL" · May 28, 2026 · 1h 16m
• S3 E7 #73 "Meet Omar Arroyo" · May 21, 2026 · 57 min
• S3 E5 #71 "The Bill Comes Due" · May 6, 2026 · 1h 19m
• S3 E4 #70 "No Man's Land" · April 29, 2026 · 52 min
• S3 E3 #69 From Classroom to Commerce · April 22, 2026 · 57 min