Interview: Sean Malott

Sean Malott

President & CEO Central Florida Development Council, Inc.

What improvement opportunities is the council eyeing?

One opportunity for improvement is our local manufacturing hub, which we would like to see more of. Several manufacturers were forced to tackle challenges within their supply chain. Some of the products and materials they need come from other markets that became inaccessible overnight. Thinking about where the supply chain is located, where you get your products from, we were working on messaging that made businesses think about the proportion of the inputs they can get locally and those they have to get from abroad. Our messaging centered on preparing the supply chain of the future, and we believe that means more manufacturing coming to the United States. Some of it will come to Florida, much of it to other locations. Knowing that certain industries have done really well in this time and to have some of those within your community is important. It recognizes that having headquarters and major operations locally is definitely a benefit. We would like to see more of that.

What unique opportunities does Polk County offer companies looking to relocate?

Right before COVID, we were working on a new initiative called the Central Florida Innovation District. It’s an area that encompasses Florida Polytechnic University, right along Interstate 4. The Department of Transportation is building SunTrax, an autonomous vehicles research and testing facility down the street from Florida Polytechnic University. We designated this area as the Innovation District, tying these two large anchor institutions and attracting major state investments to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars to increase awareness about new developments. Since we started that initiative and marketed that effort, we’ve had several developers come into the market that are in due diligence and looking to take out large tracts of land in that area. It offers definite possibilities as transportation infrastructure comes into play.

Cuban cigars were made in Tampa for many years, earning Tampa the nickname “Cigar City”.

( ) percentage points below the national average. Even at the height of the unemployment crisis in April 2020, the region’s rate remained below the national average at 13.9%. In May 2020, the region regained more than 38,000 jobs after the initial unemployment shock, which was a faster rate than any other region in Florida. Pinellas County recorded the lowest unemployment rate for the month at 4%, followed by Pasco and Hillsborough, both at 4.2% and Hernando at 4.9%. The average weekly wages in Hillsborough County are the highest at $1,133, although that is still slightly lower than the national average of $1,173. Pinellas County follows with an average weekly wage of $1,011, then Pasco with $835 and Hernando with $767.

As expected, the majority of job losses in the region have been in the hospitality and leisure fields, which recorded 136,600 jobs in February, 16.9% down on the

year. In financial services, job growth in February was 1.8% compared with the same month in 2020, while professional and business services expanded 0.9% and construction grew 0.5%. For these reasons, the employment market in the Tampa Bay area remains tight and employers still encounter difficulties in recruiting and retaining quality personnel. While some employers report a lack of applicants, others list issues such as a lack of experience, high salary expectations or a lack of hard or soft skills.

Certain other challenges persist in the Tampa Bay workforce, which are being addressed by the Tampa Bay Works program. The program intends to address four key areas to create a more effective job market for employers and employees: fragmentation, employer engagement, career awareness and cross-industry needs. The organization has launched sector-based employer collaboratives, promoted business leadership and involvement and has begun measuring the outcomes to gather demonstrable results of the program.

Other agencies like the University Area Community Development Corporation are also working to expand training and certifications, especially for those whose livelihoods were decimated by the pandemic. “If you’re unemployed you can’t put a roof over your head or feed your family,” said Sarah Combs, CEO of the University Area CDC. She added that outreach to local institutions has been essential. “We have to ensure our residents stay employed. Through our certification program, we are able to train, certify and get residents employed within the community to ensure they are able to keep their house and have their kids continue in the same school and make sure food abounds. We used the anchor institutions that surround us, reaching out to them and ( )