Interview: Denise Sanderson

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.

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

top exports are fertilizers and steel and iron scrap, while the port records gravel, cement and sulfur among its largest imports. The port’s recent capital improvements programs include expansion of its container terminal, a new 130,000-square-foot refrigerated warehouse complex and attracting new dry bulk and commodities capacity. Florida’s leading export markets are Brazil at $13.76 billion, Switzerland at $5.01 billion and Venezuela at $4.53 billion.

Looking ahead The Tampa Bay region is well on the road to recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. With mass vaccination programs on the rise and rapid testing widely available, it seems that normality will resume soon. “As COVID eases, normality will resume in Florida, and this is already coming around,” Dean Maratea, CEO of the Greater Palm Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce, told Invest:. “Restaurants are able to operate more profitably again. In terms of office-based businesses, those that can do hybrid services will probably do so but there is no real desire to go fully remote. The DOT is working on more street parking so the incoming businesses will have the ability to capture more traffic.” The real question is how long will it take for Tampa Bay’s many travel and leisure businesses to return to normalcy and when will the true impact of the pandemic be revealed?

One thing is certain: the authorities have planned well throughout the crisis to continue to diversify the economy and continue to plan for a resurgence in travel activity. With initiatives such as the Back to Business Hillsborough Toolkit, the Rapid Response Recovery Program, The TPAReady Toolkit and business continuity plans, the region has been able to ride out the worst of the pandemic with lower-than-average unemployment rates and a growing population. Already, there are signals of a ramp up with Tampa International Airport reporting a pickup in passenger numbers to more than 1.4 million in March, with April looking even stronger.

With this strong momentum behind the region, having the right building blocks in place will set the stage for the continued economic development of the Tampa Bay area.

Professional

Services:

From accounting to financial advisory to legal, the professional services sector had a busy year in 2020 and early 2021 as individuals and businesses found themselves scrambling to make sense of new and ever-changing rules and protocols related to the pandemic. Accountants and lawyers were among the leaders helping sort through the stimulus puzzle while also needing to adapt themselves.