Writer: Joshua Andino
2 min read April 2023 — Tampa Bay is four months into 2023 and there’s a lot going on. With the region continuing to grow as an economic hub on the world stage, and as Tampa Bay remains seemingly insulated from the worst aspects of today’s volatile market, Invest: spoke to some of the leaders ensuring the region’s continued success.
How have some of your organization’s recent wins influenced priorities today?
Bill Cronin, President & CEO, Pasco EDC: A huge highlight was Moffitt Cancer Center building its new campus here, a project on which it recently broke ground. It has been several years in the making getting everything in order. That is a project that will offer 14,000 jobs over 775 acres. For our future, this means opportunities in life sciences, workforce development and the talent pipeline. Most importantly we want to make sure our existing business is aligned with our workforce training partners. There is going to be a big emphasis on workforce development. The hurricanes last year really didn’t slow down the growth of migration into Florida and we still have a huge talent pipeline.
Craig Richard, President & CEO, Tampa Bay EDC: Recently, we joined forces with TGH to create a partnership that will promote Tampa as a global destination and establish a world-class medical and research district in Tampa. This partnership will also create an area known for world-class healthcare. We’re excited about this opportunity as it will help us tell our story. Both initiatives are placemaking-related, and community members want to feel excited about the place they’re living in and the opportunities presented there. These initiatives are probably what’s keeping us busiest at the moment.
Cynthia Johnson, Director, Pinellas County Economic Development: One of the biggest accomplishments for Pinellas County Economic Development this past year was our Employment Sites Program (ESP). This is a program established by the Pinellas County Commissioners to assist in the construction and redevelopment of industrial (manufacturing and flex space) and office buildings to facilitate growth opportunities for existing businesses and attract new target industry employers. The county’s $20 million dollar investment created over 905,000 square feet of modern industrial and office space, all of which will support our target industry sectors. In September we celebrated the grand opening of a new ESP facility, the Brooker Creek South Industrial Building, in Oldsmar, FL. As the leading Economic Development agency in Pinellas County, we collaborate with the communities of Pinellas to create processes and strategies to help our collective community succeed. Another success I’m thrilled to promote is the Ad Valorem Tax Exemption incentive. My department totally revamped the program in order to create more transparency and an equitable standard in the application process and scoring criteria. We have found that using this new process adds validation, reduces uncertainty, and benefits small businesses. As a county organization, we try to be a model for our municipal partners and provide agile, supportive economic development services to help complement the work that the cities are doing.
Are supply chain and labor factors still challenges you’re navigating?
Cronin: Supply chain issues have definitely made an impact on companies, but this gives us new opportunities to look at reshoring some of those types of businesses. Over the past few years, we learned that the most important supply chain is medicine. We need to make sure that it is produced locally to avoid rising costs. As we see costs go up, we have been focusing on bringing in high wage jobs. Florida is no longer a low-cost alternative to some larger markets like New York; instead, there is now the real potential for people to get priced out of the system. If we don’t pay attention to cost, we will continue to see a bigger divide in our community. Florida is heavy in the services industry so we need to make sure there is a good pathway into higher level jobs. We all need to do what we can to try to keep costs down.
Richard: Workforce and talent availability are really what drives our success in recruiting companies and helping our local companies expand and grow. In Tampa, we’re fortunate to be one of the top in-migration destinations in the country. Though it accelerated during the pandemic, it hasn’t let up. People are migrating here from some of the markets that you cover. If there are talent gaps, the beauty of Tampa is that we can recruit the missing talent. At the end of the day, people want and cherish a good quality of life, which we offer in an affordable manner. While it may not be as affordable as it used to be, it’s still affordable compared to other major markets in the U.S. One of the benefits of being in Tampa is that we have an abundance of labor talent, and we have excellent universities within a 60-mile radius. We can develop and recruit talent, which is one of our major advantages here.
Johnson: One of the areas that Pinellas County focuses on is making sure that job growth is tied to workforce development and talent development. Our Business Development team has been focusing their recruitment efforts on helping our existing industries grow by identifying talent resources in the skill sets that businesses need today. In our department’s experience, we have found that there is a perception that there are job openings across our industries and not enough workers to fill those vacancies. Actually, we have plenty of talent in our region; and as economic development and workforce development practitioners, we need to master how to match or identify the right skill sets to match the opportunities. This is why Pinellas County has taken such an active role in convening economic development partners, and working with St. Petersburg College, the University of South Florida, other educational and training providers to discuss how we can work together to intentionally improve connecting talent to opportunity.
What’s next for both your organization and the region?
Cronin: We are focusing on talent and workforce development. We are also looking at some drone strategies. There is a real opportunity to jump into the new digital world of innovation and we are the perfect place to test that.
Richard: We are excited about heading in new directions, such as talent attraction and placemaking. However, we are also committed to making an impact in areas that have historically not received the same economic momentum as the rest of the region. We are doubling down on these initiatives, ensuring that we continue to be a good partner to those working in these areas. We are conscious of staying in our lane and focusing on employment and investment opportunities that lead to high-quality outcomes. We are thrilled about the impact that our efforts will have on these communities, as well as the new investment opportunities that we are being presented with. For example, phase two of Water Street is coming, which is exciting, and the Gas Works district and the newest piece of the Gas Works area around the harbor. Additionally, Midtown just announced another office building right in the middle of a new and exciting development there. There are some really cool things on the horizon for Tampa, and we are excited about the role we play in bringing them to fruition and marketing them to a wider audience.
Johnson: As it relates to emerging industries, we are fortunate to have sectors that are competitive and that continue to seek out our community as a destination for their venture. We have longevity with manufacturing, technology, financial and professional service industries. We are really looking toward emerging technologies in the new economy within our target industries. AI, fintech, clean tech; those are all technology industry areas that we are working on, not only in terms of what companies to help expand and recruit, but working with our education partners to make sure that we are developing the talent to meet those industry needs. When Pinellas County looks at emerging industries, we have to look at it from a holistic perspective and that means looking at it from an economic, educational and entrepreneurial lens as well. Looking toward the future, we are working toward greater opportunities to showcase that Pinellas County is not only a place to come to play but a place to stay and work as well.
For more information, visit:
