Interview: Karl Kaliebe

More recently, public infrastructure developer Plenary Americas US Holdings Inc has been looking to partner with local city officials for its most ambitious transportation project yet: a 8.25-mile, $70 million streetcar line connecting Tampa International Airport, Downtown and Ybor City. It’s called the CrossTampa Transit Connector.

Port-side, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, FDOT, Tampa Electric Co. and global fertilizer company Mosaic Co. banded together via a public-private partnership agreement to develop a $60 million widening and extension of the Big Bend Channel.

Technology Tampa Bay is a top tech market in the United States and technology is the cornerstone for improving user Karl Kaliebe

Executive Director World Trade Center Tampa Bay

What are some of the intricacies of translating operations online for small businesses?

There has been massive progress in videoconferencing technology. I am working with a startup called Flipsetter, which came out of an incubator at the University of Florida. This is a social, digital media tool that does not require cellular data, so the entrepreneur is getting more and more demand for testing the platform and serving the underserved. The people who have been able to cope well are those with more resources and more education. The people caught in the lower socio-economic base are the ones that took the brunt of lockdowns.

How will workforce efforts evolve?

I think it will be a mixed bag depending on what industry we are talking about. Some are still demanding skilled employees but some are still cutting back. Whenever there is uncertainty in business, that keeps people from pulling the trigger on capital investment.

What are some of the changes in tariffs expected under the Biden administration?

A lot of the rhetoric was around the traditional items in international trade. I think both the Democrats and Republicans will continue the shake-up in the supply chain that showed we need some resilience in some sectors. This is not isolated to the United States. Japan just announced a significant investment to overhaul its own supply chain and to break down some of its dependence on China. China is taking the brunt of this event.

What are your near-term priorities?

We have a pretty limited outreach program, so we want to continue building our brand awareness. Miami has a much bigger footprint internationally. The World Trade Center was much more important before the internet but since the world has this increased connectivity, our role is to create value for our customers, both local and international. I deal with a lot of startups and a lot of them are starting to ramp up activity now.

Pre-pandemic, more than $160 million worth of goods flew through Florida’s airports annually

experience and transportation options across the area. To that end, HyperloopTT, a concept proposed by billionaire Elon Musk that envisions capsules moving through magnetic tubes at hypersonic speeds, has stepped up to pitch its very own bullet train via a Tampa-St. Pete tunnel.

Looking to further promote the novel concept of micromobility, the city of Tampa has enlisted the services of four of the country’s most prominent micromobility companies: HOPR, BIRD, LIME and SPIN. The objective? Ready a fleet of bicycles and e-scooters for use in Tampa’s Downtown and adjacent neighborhoods.

Logistics Tampa Bay’s bubbling demographics make it a boon for the logistics industry. Pre-pandemic, more than $160 million worth of goods flew through Florida’s airports on a yearly basis. While passenger flights took a massive dive throughout 2020, Lakeland Linder International Airport generated $1.5 billion of economic impact in 2020 alone, a dramatic surge compared to $575 million one year prior. It also doubled its workforce year-onyear, counting 3,200 employees in 2020. The airport has Amazon Air as one of its tenants, which invested $100 million last year to establish its largest air cargo hub in the Southeast, which translated into 1,100 additional jobs. The airport’s success is even causing a pilot and mechanic shortage due to the overwhelming demand for their services.

Tampa International Airport’s cargo operations remained steady throughout 2020 due to the busy activity of FedEx and UPS, fed by the Amazon effect. President Joe Biden’s “buy America” campaign to jolt local economies is poised to inject new life into the area’s already thriving logistics industry.

Global trade Acting as a gateway to Latin America and armed with a busy airport and a highly active port, it comes as no surprise that wholesale trade in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area was quick to recover its employment figures. After a significant dip from 55,800 professionals in March 2020 to less than 53,500 people in April 2020, the stress caused by COVID-19 on the value chain required more manpower, meaning that by January 2021 the industry was already near March 2020 levels in January 2021 with 55,000 employees.

The silver lining from the pandemic is that companies have all hands on deck looking to strengthen their supply chains: diversified points of supply closer to home after China’s lockdown dealt a massive blow to critical merchandise supply around the world, whether that ( )