Invest: Tampa Bay 2021

Page 36

Denise Sanderson Director Clearwater Economic Development and Housing

How are you attracting corporate interest while balancing that with community interests? We’re not facing the pressures of some of the other communities in the area. As a built-out community, we’re not seeing population growth like some of our neighboring communities in the region. However, we are competing regionally. One of the challenges is in making sure that we are viewed as much more than tourism and I think that our residents forget that as well. Regarding corporate interest, we must be good at talking about our talent pipeline and what our strengths are as a city. We’re not going to land an Amazon 2.0 or become a logistics hub but we’re terrifically well suited for the IT industry, finance, insurance and manufacturing. And as we’ve focused more on the development opportunities, people are beginning to see there is a lot of pressure within the Tampa market. People have come to realize that Clearwater is not far from Tampa or from the Tampa airport, and that we have a great quality of life. Which features make Clearwater unique from other areas in the region? Tourism has been our bread and butter forever. We consistently rank as a best beach and were named No. 1 in the United States for two years in a row by TripAdvisor. But aside from that, one of the things that makes us unique is that we have a certified unicorn company. The business had just four employees in 2012 and now it has approximately 1,000, with 800 located Downtown. As a leader in cybersecurity, others in that sector now reside here as well. Success breeds success and the potential for startups like these here and in Tampa Bay means there is potential for us to continue to help these kinds of businesses to expand. Beyond IT-related businesses, some of the biggest financial companies in the world have a large presence in this region and we’re home to Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine. We offer a variety of employment opportunities ranging from entry-level to professional and highly-technical across a broad spectrum of industries. 34

| Invest: Tampa Bay 2021 | ECONOMY

Tampa has been home to famous authors, including Jack Kerouac and Stephen King.

Global factors Tampa is an international city, due to its rich history of Latin American and European immigration. There are almost 500 foreign-owned companies from 40 countries operating in the Tampa Bay area according to the Tampa Bay EDC. International companies find the area appealing for a number of reasons, including its strong international air connectivity, a world-class port – the largest in the state – a huge consumer base, a favorable tax climate and world-class talent. Breaking it down, there are over 50 German-owned companies in Tampa Bay, including BASF, Daimler, Reebok and Siemens. The region is also home to 11 Italian companies, including GTECH in Polk County, SGM Magnetics in Sarasota and Pro Tech Monitoring in Hillsborough. Essex Group and LG are two South Korean companies that have set up business in the region and Bimbo, Cemex and Ewell are just some of the eight Mexican companies with operations here. Tampa Bay also carries out significant trade with companies all around the world. The Port of Tampa’s


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Market voices: Tampa Bay hotels

3min
pages 176-177

Interview: Joe Collier, President

3min
pages 178-180

Perspectives: Growth outlook

2min
page 174

Interview: Steve Hayes

2min
page 175

Interview: Benjamin Tran

9min
pages 171-173

Interview: Jackie Mangar

7min
pages 168-170

Interview: Santiago Corrada

2min
page 167

Eye on the future: Tampa Bay

2min
page 166

Interview: Frank Ghannadian

3min
page 159

Interview: Angela Falconetti

4min
pages 160-161

Perspective: Lessons learned

2min
page 156

Perspective: Teacher burnout

2min
page 157

Roundtable: The future of

5min
pages 154-155

Perspective: Growth strategy

3min
page 153

Interview: Anne Kerr, President

5min
pages 150-152

Interview: Shane Donaldson

5min
pages 144-147

Interview: Steven Currall

2min
page 149

Altered landscape: Education in

1min
page 148

Interview: Nathan Walcker

5min
pages 141-143

Interview: Al Hernandez, Public

5min
pages 139-140

Perspectives: Innovation

5min
pages 137-138

Interview: John Couris

2min
page 136

Interview: Ravi Chari

3min
page 134

Interview: Dr. Patrick Hwu

2min
page 133

Perspectives: Wealth

8min
pages 127-131

Interview: Sean Simpson

2min
page 126

Interview: Brooke Mirenda

5min
pages 122-124

Market voices: Banking outlook

2min
page 125

Market voices: Financial

4min
pages 120-121

Interview: Bill Habermeyer

6min
pages 116-118

Interview: Paul Anderson

7min
pages 105-109

Interview: Rita Lowman

2min
page 119

Interview: Jim Daly, Regional

2min
page 111

Roundtable: Community banks

6min
pages 114-115

Interview: Karl Kaliebe

4min
pages 103-104

Interview: Damon Moorer

4min
pages 112-113

Financial magnet: Strong

1min
page 110

Interview: Brad Miller, CEO

2min
page 98

Interview: Thomas Jewsbury

9min
pages 99-102

Interview: Joe Lopano, CEO

2min
page 97

Interview: Tyler Kovarik, Vice

8min
pages 90-93

Interview: T. J. Szelistowski

2min
pages 94-95

Conundrum: Mass transit

1min
page 96

Interview: Fred Lay, President

2min
page 89

Roundtable: Powering the

5min
pages 86-88

Interview: Mark Metheny

3min
pages 84-85

Interview: James Fox,President

3min
page 82

Roundtable: An atypical year

9min
pages 78-81

Perspectives: Outlook

2min
page 77

Interview: Brian Diehl, Regional

3min
pages 75-76

Keeping up: Residential and

2min
page 74

Roundtable: Commercial real

9min
pages 70-73

Interview: Brian Andrus, Broker

2min
page 69

Market voices: Developing for

7min
pages 66-68

Interview: Bowen Arnold

10min
pages 63-65

Interview: John Carey

6min
pages 60-62

Resilient: Tampa Bay’s live, work

2min
page 58

Interview: Andrew Wright, CEO

2min
page 59

Market voices: Adapting

5min
pages 54-55

Interview: V. Raymond Ferrara

4min
pages 56-57

Interview: Natalie King, Vice

4min
pages 52-53

Interview: Joel Stevens, Senior

2min
page 49

Roundtable: Legal landscape

6min
pages 50-51

Perspectives: Professional

2min
page 48

Interview: David Simmons

3min
page 44

Interview: Hala Sandridge

2min
page 41

Market voices: Legal focus

8min
pages 45-47

Pivotal role: The region’s

2min
page 40

Interview: Greg Kadet

4min
pages 42-43

Interview: Denise Sanderson

5min
pages 36-39

Market voices: Economic

3min
pages 34-35

Roundtable: County officials

5min
pages 32-33

Interview: Jerome Ryans

2min
page 31

Interview: Sean Malott

3min
pages 24-25

Market voices: City growth

6min
pages 28-30

Interview: Carole Post

4min
pages 15-16

Roundtable: Future of the Bay

5min
pages 22-23

Interview: J. P. DuBuque

2min
page 17

Interview: Chuck Sykes

5min
pages 26-27

Interview: Ana Cruz, Managing

7min
pages 18-21

Diverse landscape: Tourism

2min
page 14
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