Face Off: 29 corporate moves highlight Tampa Bay’s accelerating growth

Key points:

• • Tampa Bay and Sarasota are seeing strong population growth, business relocations, and rising tech employment.
• • Investments in AI, research, and education are strengthening the region’s innovation ecosystem.
• • Leaders say the main challenge is managing growth, including affordability, infrastructure, and workforce needs.

March 2026 — Tampa Bay’s economic base has expanded rapidly in recent years, emerging as one of the fastest-growing large metro regions in the Southeastern United States. 

The Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater area now tops 5.2 million residents, with population growth outpacing national averages and projections pointing to continued expansion through 2030 — led by migration, business relocation, and job creation. In 2025, the region ranked among the leading Florida metros for private-sector job gains, with notable growth in health care, education, manufacturing, and information services. Meanwhile, Sarasota–Manatee has seen population rise by more than 14% in the past five years, alongside a sharp rise in tech employment and average wages and continued in-migration of young professionals.

Across the region, more than 29 corporate relocations or expansions were announced over the past year alone, including Geico’s announcement last March of a 190,000-square-foot three-building Tampa campus tied to 1,000 new jobs. To the south, Sarasota County has added 38,000 jobs and nearly $10 billion in GDP growth over the past decade, while ranking among the nation’s fastest-growing metros and top destinations for young professional in-migration.

As affordability, infrastructure, and workforce alignment dominate metro conversations nationwide, the region’s economic development leaders argue that Tampa Bay’s challenges are more about keeping up with growth. Craig Richard, president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council, and Erin Silk, president and CEO of the Sarasota County EDC, discussed with Invest: Tampa Bay on how they are translating growth into long-term competitive advantage.

What has defined the region’s economic momentum over the past year?

Craig Richard

In spite of all the national uncertainty, we’ve had a really good year. We saw more than 29 companies announce either relocations or expansions in the Tampa area. That level of activity has generated a tremendous amount of interest from the private sector and reinforced the narrative that Tampa is a growth market.

We had some significant announcements, like GEICO committing to employ about 1,000 people in our market and leasing roughly 190,000 square feet of office space in Westshore. That’s a major lease in today’s national office environment.

Tampa is an outlier in the national economy. We are one of the few metros with single-digit office vacancy in downtown, and our job growth and GDP are still moving in the right direction. We’re bucking a lot of the national macro trends.

Erin Silk

We have positive momentum in Sarasota, with an influx of new residents, including experienced founders and entrepreneurs from places like Silicon Valley. People are drawn to our quality of life, excellent schools, and higher education.

In the past 10 years, Sarasota County has created 6,500 new businesses, 38,000 new jobs, and added almost $10 billion in GDP growth.

We’ve more than doubled the number of tech companies in the Sarasota-Manatee region, and average tech wages have risen from around $60,000 in 2020 to between $120,000 and $130,000.

How are you aligning innovation and talent to strengthen long-term competitiveness?

Richard: The whole idea behind our catalyst initiatives is to identify trends where Tampa can truly compete and where we have a clear competitive advantage. AI, digital infrastructure, and other advanced technologies are great examples.

The University of South Florida recently opened the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing. When a nationally recognized university makes that kind of investment, it sends a strong signal that this region is serious about producing talent in the sectors that will matter for the long term.

When you combine an existing track record of successful companies with educational institutions that are investing in aligned programs, it gives us a powerful foothold.

Our education partners are not on the sidelines — they are at the table with us.

Silk: Our ocean economy initiative aims to make our region the Silicon Valley of the blue economy.

Mote’s research, including coral restoration, red tide mitigation, antibiotic resistance, and cancer cell research, is licensable, and we’re working to attract companies to commercialize it locally.

Sarasota lacks territorial barriers; people are open to collaboration, creating a vibrant environment for innovation and partnership.

What challenges must be addressed to sustain inclusive, resilient growth?

Richard: In many ways, our challenges look like those of other major metros: affordability, skills gaps, and infrastructure — both transportation and digital.

When you peel back the layers, these are growth challenges. I’ve told our leadership and anyone who will listen that I would rather have growth challenges than challenges related to decline.

Our ability to bounce back quickly showed the market that Tampa is ready for these kinds of shocks. Downtown was up and running within days — in some cases within 24 hours.

Our top priority is executing our strategic plan. This organization is known as a results-oriented organization. We get things done.

Silk: The outlook for Sarasota County is very strong and progressing rapidly, which is truly exciting.

Our mission is to elevate Sarasota’s brand to major hubs like Silicon Valley and New York City, where people seek the lifestyle we offer.

Businesses from other regions often note Sarasota’s unique level of cooperation… We want them to mingle, share ideas, launch projects, and invest in one another.

Want more? Read the Invest: Tampa Bay report.