Writer: Joshua Andino
4 min read July 2023 — Despite concerns of a recession at the onset of 2023, Florida’s economic momentum seems to continue unabated, prompting optimism from local leaders for what the future holds.
Florida and its fair climate – both in business and weather have prompted it to see some of the strongest growth in the country over the last few years. The state saw 400,000 people relocate between 2021 and 2022. By the end of the year, Florida had more jobs than New York for the first time. Between 2022 and 2023, the state went on to add an additional 319,500 jobs, according to the Department of Economic Opportunity. As the year began, Tampa led the way in job growth, with 6,800 construction jobs and an additional 1,100 in information technology.
Tampa Bay leaders are naturally optimistic – backed by data and favorable economic tailwinds, the region has remained mostly insulated from the worst economic shocks that 2023 witnessed, and while Florida remains the country’s inflation hotspot, providing challenges to local employers when it comes to compensation and cost of living, many still responded affirmatively when it came to questions of expansion, hiring, and their general economic outlooks when asked as part of the Capital Analytics Business Sentiment Survey, where over 200 business leaders across the Southeast were asked about their thoughts on the economy.
READ MORE: Housing and higher inflation: South Florida’s dilemma
Overall, 62% of respondents answered that they felt the economy was in a better position than it was six months ago, while 78% of respondents expected revenues to increase moving forward. Similarly, 71% of those surveyed said they would be looking to continue hiring as well.
Invest: spoke to a number of leaders across Tampa Bay, asking where they believed the opportunities for continued growth existed and how they were managing today’s high-cost environment. Here is how some responded.
John Moore, President, Bayfront Health St Petersburg 
We’re seeing a lot of success. There’s a great deal of growth and a lot of people and companies are moving to the market. We also saw headwinds, which are related to the supply chain, but we’ve been able to successfully navigate those supply chain challenges. On the labor side as an industry, we’ve become more creative in how we provide quality care to the patient in new ways to utilize talent and what they can provide to augment areas where maybe we see challenges in hiring. At Bayfront, we’ve been very successful in hiring and retaining high-quality employees. We’ve also partnered with St. Pete College, the University of South Florida and other private institutions because we don’t have challenges just with nursing, it’s in all fields. Over the past year, however, we’ve seen a more stable environment on the labor side. The supply chain is getting better in the medical supply areas, as well. The challenges have been around specific medications. In terms of construction, we’ve had projects delayed due to labor shortages.
Damon Moorer, President & CEO, TCM Bank
We’re reading the book as it’s being written. I know we are all tired of hearing about the pandemic, but it did change everything, and we are still navigating these changes. When you look at everything from inflation, labor markets, economic uncertainty, wage pressure, Fed rate hikes, and more, you would be of the mindset that there may be a pullback or turbulence. Instead in recent years, we have experienced incredible industry performance. It’s full steam ahead because the marketplace has been so resilient; everything has popped off. At the end of the day, even though you hear economists talk about possible pullbacks, the decline in consumer confidence, labor market challenges, and rate increases, market conditions have remained positive. Therefore, we remain cautiously optimistic with a focus on continuing to drive growth while managing risk in what has been a strong overall market.
Bradley Lunz, President, The Lunz Group 
We are looking at expansion and let me explain why. The Lunz Group is a firm that has designed and completed projects in 32 states and is currently working on projects in New York, California, Texas, Georgia and Virginia. Over our years in business, we found great success in growing alongside our clients, which helped us explore new locations and markets. While we have offices spanning Central Florida, I’m toying with expanding further north as new markets expand regionally.
However, we are facing challenges, such as talent recruitment and retention. The biggest challenge is recruitment, as there is flat growth in the supply of skilled labor. This is a significant challenge, as we are competing with others in the market who are looking to acquire the same talent. Many of the competitors’ contracts are multiyear and we need to factor in the inflationary cost of labor. We must also balance our expectations of labor costs with the overall cost of the project. With an 8.2% cost of living increase, the overall cost of goods must be recalculated, which can be a significant challenge for us. However, despite these challenges, we have done an excellent job of retaining talented staff, thanks to our phenomenal benefits package.
John Bowden, Senior Vice President, Moss Construction 
There is significant construction demand in Tampa Bay, so all the CM firms are busy. As a result, resources are an issue. Labor has been an issue across the board in our industry, including for all of the ancillary entities that work with us. Interest rates are another hurdle right now in some of the submarkets of the construction industry. We are beginning to emerge from the past year’s supply chain-related issues, which will be a big help. There are still challenges but the industry has gotten much better at managing them and understanding what they look like. Overall, business is strong and resources are tight in the Tampa Bay market.
Sarah Cole, President & CEO, Glazer’s Children Museum 
We have just finished up our strategic plan, so we are looking to kick that off. This year will be absolutely bonkers for us. For the next three years, we will be home to Big John the Triceratops. He is the largest triceratops ever discovered and the first real dinosaur fossil to come to the area in recent memory. Big John is on loan to us from Sidd Pagidipati and his family, who purchased him at auction a few years ago. We have always offered great exhibits and programs, but this is entering the next level for us and the start of a new era for the organization. We are pushing the boundaries of what a children’s museum is in our market and what family learning and engagement looks like for everyone. We want Tampa to be proud to be home to one of the best children’s museums in the world.
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