Testimonials

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Due to the diligent efforts of the TMS team and Sharon Merchant, we met with, compromised and won over the detractors. This made it much easier for the Planning and Zoning Members and the Village officials to support us. The project was approved unanimously

I've known Sharon for over 10 years, during which time we've collaborated on many projects. I got the chance to first work with her while I was serving as a Boynton Beach City Commissioner and Vice Mayor in the mid-Nineties, as she was one of our State Representatives. She always kept us well informed and stayed involved in intergovernmental issues and projects. Beyond my elected terms, as Executive Director for the local league of cities, I've had opportunity to call upon her for legislative needs and found her to always be responsive and helpful.

Sharon and I have been friends for more than twenty years. We both began our careers Legislative Aides, and were later elected to the Florida House of Representaiives where as we each served for eight years.

The Merchant Strategy (TMS) has provided business development and government relations services to LeanBreakthru since August of 2007. Ms. Merchant’s political background and extensive government knowledge have opened doors to elected officials throughout the state of Florida that are crucial to our business.

We have been very happy with the services provided by The Merchant Strategy and look forward to a long and fruitful business relationship well in to the future.

On behalf of Wawa, Inc., I would like to thank you for all of your hard work and attention to detail to make Wawa’s Palm Beach County Community Day and Broward County Community Day events a success.

Ms. Merchant and her team at Merchant Strategy proved themselves to be professional, creative, and hard-working. Throughout the process of taking the event from concept to delivery the Merchant team worked closely with the DDA staff and board of directors, maintaining an open dialogue that helped make the event a success.

CES has been very happy with the services provided by TMS and continues to include them on our Team whenever we are pursuing work that involves a Public Involvement component. Sharon and her staff are very responsive, and well qualified. I would recommend them to anyone who needs Public Involvement services.

The Merchant Strategy team is knowledgeable of the area as well as connected to the local community. I recommend them to those in need of public involvement services.

The press of recent events prevented me from personally thanking you and your team for the great effort you delivered on our behalf. Needless to say, the Commission vote was most gratifying.  Thank you…for a job well done!

The Merchant Strategy went all in with us even though we were a small client with a very unique need. Over the course of our engagement I saw that this is how The Merchant Strategy team works with every client. I can confidently assure that The Merchant Strategy team will dig in, learn what they may not know and develop specific strategies to help their clients.  I recommend The Merchant Strategy enthusiastically and without any reservation. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Roger Manning Banyan Printing

This letter intends to serve as a credit reference for The Merchant Strategy, a valued customer of Banyan Printing.  All the invoices due Banyan Printing have been paid promptly with no further need for action. Banyan Printing has found The Merchant Strategy to be a trustworthy business partner. We are happy to be associated with them. Banyan Printing has no hesitation in conducting further business transactions with The Merchant Strategy and recommending other companies to follow suit.

The Merchant Strategy has been a client of Iberia bank since December 2007 and is an exceptional client in good standing with both their checking account and loan. The Merchant Strategy has always made their loan payments in a timely manner with no late payments.

Craven Thompson & Associates worked with TMS on a City of Lake Worth Neighborhood Streets Program. TMS is easy to work with and provides excellent service. We enjoy working with them and would highly recommend them to any team needing professional public involvement service.

We worked with TMS on a Boynton Beach Stormwater and Main Improvement project. TMS provided monthly newsletters and social media updates to keep the community informed about the project.  It was a pleasure to work with TMS. The staff is extremely professional and dedicated to providing excellent service.

Tricia Ward Holloway W & W Equestrian Club, LLC

TMS created a project website and loaded all the project information including questions and answers to ensure that pictures and all current project information was readily available. They worked hard to ensure that advocates attended all the critical meetings to demonstrate community support.

Our project was passed unanimously by the Village Council. It is my pleasure to recommend TMS to any firm who may need government/community relations services.

TMS works well with our professional staff to ensure a seamless approach to informing our elected officials, residents, businesses, media and other important stakeholders. They are responsive and knowledgeable about our city and our projects. We enjoyed working with this team and would highly recommend them to other cities for public involvement or community relations.

The Merchant Strategy, Inc. (TMS) has provided excellent public involvement services to the Town of Palm Beach. TMS listened to our needs, developed a plan, and worked well with our professional staff and consulting engineers to provide project newsletters, a public meeting, and a press conference. They were easy to work with and made sure our residents were well informed. We enjoyed working with this team, and hope to do so again. I would highly recommend them to other cities or firms for public involvement or community relations.

I am writing to recommend The Merchant Strategy, Inc. (TMS) for public involvement and community relations services. I am happy to recommend TMS.

Fernando V. Gomez, P.E., PSM Vice President, Snubbs Consulting, Inc.

Sharon has successfully instilled her public service acumen into her company, TMS. I would gladly recommend TMS for other public involvement roles on other Florida Department of Transportation projects.

Coriann Salas, P.E. Project Manager, WGI

The Merchant Strategy, Inc performed Public Involvement services for a contract held by WGI with Florida Department of Transportation. Their public involvement tasks included facilitating two public meetings and preparing notification letters and flyers. They were responsive and went above expectations to help us please our client.  I would recommend them to other industry consultants for public involvement and community relations.

Ms. Merchant and The Merchant Strategy are professional, well connected, informed, qualified and most importantly, know what steps to take to obtain their client's desired outcome. I particularly appreciate their open and honest approach to working with both individuals and groups. I would recommend them to anyone needing an experienced government/community relations team.

When Sharon and The Merchant Strategy are involved things tend to run a little more smoothly and I know I have a team member I can trust to support our efforts and handle tasks with care, and without any reservations. Regardless of what the plan, they can adapt and are willing to play the role they need to play to get the job done. I would highly recommend Sharon and The Merchant Strategy.

The utility received a call yesterday from a resident in the Central Seacrest project area, Emily Isaac. She called to inform us on how pleased she was with the assistance you provided, stating that issues were resolved the same day and that others in her neighborhood felt the same way.  Also, please accept our deep appreciation and gratitude for you and your staffs assistance with responding to our customers concerns and issues.

The MS Factor with less than thirty days before the project come before the Town Commission disseminated accurate information that resulted in residents attending the Commission meeting to support the text amendment that exempted parking from the height requirements.  Much of the success of the passage of Nautilus 211 is due to Sharon Merchant and her team of experts at The MS Factor.

The M/S Factor's knowledge and experience with branding,.marketing, media relations, social media, copywriting, graphic design, event promotion, and related services is remarkable, and as a result, the visibility of the CRA increased dramatically as evidenced by all metrics. I highly recommend The M/S Factor without hesitation.

Melissa L. Nash President & CEO, ARI

Sharon and the TMS team continue to counsel and advise as we grow. Their direction is targeted and specific. This is an appreciated approach as it streamlines the activities guaranteed to maximize success and quickly identify and overcome any challenges.  I recommend The Merchant Strategy when results really matter.

Rosa Eckstein Schechter Avenir Holdings, LLC

TMS is extremely professional, responsive and dedicated to meeting client needs.  I strongly recommend TMS and am very pleased with the results of their efforts.

The commitment to detail and flexibility in the plan truly gave us a tool we could rely on in the unfortunate event that a significant crisis arose. While we are all thankful that there never was the necessity to implement any of the elements in the plan, we are confident that we were prepared to meet whatever challenges might have come our way. Thanks again for your support and we look forward to working with you again if the opportunity ever arises.

The Merchant Strategy not only met our expectations for putting all the events together, but did so in a seamless professional manner that made the whole event a pleasure for all attendees and sponsors. Our board of directors was not only happy about the results, but indicated a total willingness to get started with more events with TMS!

By creating well-organized conferences, and successful fundraisers, we were able to accomplish our goals for the meetings and set up a task force for future projects. I highly recommend Ms Sharon Merchant and The Merchant Strategy staff. It is always a pleasure to work with this firm and I look forward to future projects.

I have worked with TMS over the past year and have been impressed with their professionalism and depth of experience. Their excellent communication skills have made difficult, controversial projects run smoothly. TMS's public outreach makes residents feel like their involvement is taken seriously and that they are part of the team and their relationships with staff and commissioners have kept dialogue going smoothly.

Patrick J. Gleason, Ph.D., P.G. Vice President, Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc.

Sharon Merchant, President, and the TMS team are a pleasure to work with. Sharon and her team are highly resourceful and able to provide solutions to multiple challenges. TMS' s performance on this project has encouraged CDM to further develop a relationship with The Merchant Strategy. We look forward to working with The Merchant Strategy on many other projects.

The TMS team makes sure that our residents, business owners, executive staff and elected officials are kept well informed on a timely basis.  Their work includes organization and staffing of public meetings, groundbreakings, brochure design, database management, social media, and press releases. TMS consultants are knowledgeable, capable and I am very pleased with their services and highly recommend them to anyone needing expert public involvement services.

Rich Paul-Hus Hypower

I highly recommend Sharon Merchant for government relations and public outreach. She knows our communities well and has excellent contacts throughout Florida. Sharon efficiently maximized my time. I enjoyed the relationship and look forward to new opportunities to work together in the future. I would encourage any business owner who wished to do business with the public sector to consider Sharon Merchant for their government relation or public outreach needs.

I am pleased to recommend The Merchant Strategy (TMS), Inc. for public involvement services.  TMS is extremely responsive and provides excellent services. We enjoy working with their team and would highly recommend them to any other firm needing professional public involvement or government and community relations services.

The Merchant Strategy (TMS) has provided top notch Public Involvement services as a consultant for our client Boynton Beach Utilities. The director of Boynton Beach Utilities, Colin Groff is very pleased with the level of service. TMS has gone above and beyond to meet our needs, and we will continue to utilize their team for future projects. Mathews Consulting would highly recommend them to other companies.

If you are looking for someone to help you with public outreach, I highly recommend Sharon Merchant. She has common sense, perseverance, and a respectful assertive way with people. Importantly, she knows our community well and who to call for help.

The Merchant Strategy team had the ability to work within demanding deadlines and was committed to the tall order of work outlined in the scope of service. They put time and energy into the research for Palm Beach State so that it yielded great results and direction in our resolve for college excellence. Sharon and team were knowledgeable, conscientious, and enthusiastic about the work required, focused on what our needs were, and delivered.

A note of thanks for the great job you did assisting Rinker in a recent matter before the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners. I was very impressed with the access you had to the Commission members and the respect they placed in your judgment and legislative experience. Your ability to quickly grasp the essence of a complex issue and develop a simple and effective communication strategy that hit the target was invaluable.

During the late 1980's Sharon served as a Legislative Assistant to Representative Marian Lewis, who coincidently represented Belle Glade. Later she served in the Florida House of Representatives for eight years. During the 20 years I have known Sharon, it has always been clear that she is a natural leader. I have never seen her back down from a challenging job. Sharon is reliable, committed to public service, and very capable of working through difficult negotiations.

We are extremely pleased with our relationship with Ms. Merchant and Mr. Mathis. I give them the highest recommendation and Suffolk Construction looks forward to a continuing relationship with them.

Thank you for the extraordinary work by your firm in our opposition to a proposed development that would have adversely impacted overall quality of life both in our community and more broadly in the Village of Wellington. Further, you and the firm were a true partner and team player working in close collaboration with us and our land use attorney to ensure a cogent and highly effective execution of a clearly articulated goal and well-defined strategies.

For many years, I have worked with TMS President Sharon Merchant and her team on various government relations and public involvement projects. TMS is an invaluable asset for The Weitz Company. I highly recommend TMS to other organizations in need of Public Involvement and Government Relations services.