®
oundtable:
Future of the Bay Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Partnership leaders discuss the challenges and changes taking place across the region.
Kelly Flannery
CEO South Tampa Chamber of Commerce
What challenges and opportunities did businesses encounter when switching to e-commerce? There is no business sector that was not impacted by the pandemic. More than 75% of businesses in Hillsborough County are small businesses, with less than 50 employees. Mom and pop restaurants, for instance, that had never offered takeout or delivery before made a quick shift, whether internally or by working with a new platform such as Uber Eats. We also saw retail stores that had not previously offered online shopping and were now competing with Amazon. For business owners to make these kinds of changes is a huge opportunity. As some businesses begin to transition back to a more traditional business model, we suggest they also continue to offer these new services, and to always be looking for ways to use new technologies. How will the chamber go about its business in the near term, considering the pandemic-induced changes? 2021 is the South Tampa Chamber’s 95th anniversary. It’s definitely a reason to celebrate even if we have to do it in a different way. From an events perspective, what we have learned in 2020 is that chambers in general tend to be eventheavy. While we are still moving forward, we plan to focus on the mission of the organization when it comes to organizing events. If it does not fit within our mission, vision and values, then we should not be focused on it. We can use that time instead to focus on our members, our community and advocating on behalf of local businesses. 20
| Invest: Tampa Bay 2021 | ECONOMY
Jason Mathis
CEO St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership
What steps are you taking to tackle infrastructure and transportation issues in a post-COVID landscape? We’ve had important developments over the last year. One was the announcement on the complete funding for SunRunner, a rapid transit bus plan from Downtown St. Petersburg to the beaches on the Gulf Coast. This project is a game changer because it will help people appreciate the benefits of mass transit, perhaps more than we have in the past. We’re hopeful that the success of SunRunner will encourage people to understand the value of transit. Smart transit and transportation options are critical for a growing urban center. Our residential population continues to boom, and that calls for a bolstered transportation infrastructure. How is your organization pushing initiatives for St. Pete to become more of a smart city? We have delegated a significant portion of those efforts to the Innovation District. If there is any place in our city where we should have smart city technology and innovation in terms of the actual physical design, it should be an innovation district. It’s a great way for us to pilot data collection from streetlights, smart traffic signals and the like. We know that is what the future holds. We are supporting the work of many of our partners to bridge the digital divide in our community with access to computers and the internet. The pandemic reinforced the need for people to have access to technology. There are lots of families in our community who lack internet access. That only exacerbates challenges that they may be facing in other aspects of their life.
