Florida Polytechnic University welcomed its first students in fall 2014, just two years after its creation. First to open: The Innovation, Science and Technology Building.
Photo: Alex McKnight
All Children’s Hospital Johns Hopkins Medicine in St. Petersburg is among the top 50 in three medical specialties on U.S. News & World Report’s 2014-15 "Best Children’s Hospitals."
St. Petersburg-based Plasma-Therm manufactures etching equipment used to make semiconductor chips for cellphones, Wii controllers and other devices.
Tech Data Corporation: Tampa Bay’s largest public company by revenues, will expand its Clearwater headquarters with construction of a 45,000-sq.-ft. office facility.
IRISS, a maker of infrared windows for industrial equipment, left the United Kingdom in 2013 to establish its 33,000-sq.-ft. global headquarters in Bradenton
The Bishop Planetarium, inside the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, is wowing visitors with a new $500,000 projection system.
Amazon expects to begin processing orders from its newly constructed fulfillment centers in Ruskin and Lakeland by Christmas 2014.
With 95 patents in 2013, the University of South Florida ranks among the top 15 public and private universities worldwide in generating new inventions.
Photo: University of South Florida
Sarasota’s Nathan Benderson Park will host the 2017
World Rowing Championships, marking the first time in 20 years that a U.S. site has been selected to host this annual event.
Photo: Lisa Worthy/Sarasota Crew
Headquartered in St. Petersburg, Raymond James Financial is Florida’s largest home-grown financial services firm.
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Business Florida 2015 - The Regions
Tampa Bay
Bradenton, Clearwater, Lakeland, North Port, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Tampa
There’s plenty to love about Tampa Bay. This eight-county region with four seaports handling 43 million tons of cargo annually and three international airports serving a combined total of 19.1 million passengers each year was the 9th fastest-growing economy among the 100 largest metros nationwide in 2013, according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Tampa Bay is home to busy MacDill Air Force Base, as well as six Fortune 1000 companies. Its labor pool of nearly 2 million workers is supported by 20 not-for-profit public and private colleges and universities, including three campuses of the acclaimed University of South Florida and the state’s newest public university — Florida Polytechnic — which opened this fall in Lakeland.
In addition to these business assets, Tampa Bay boasts a superb quality of life: daily sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico; world-class venues for recreation, professional sports, shopping and culture; and a healthy mix of vibrant urban areas and wide open spaces. Who wouldn’t want to work and live here?
WHO LIVES HERE
Still growing
Tampa Bay’s population — 4.37 million in 2013 — has grown by 14% since the year 2004, and at the present average rate of 50,000 new residents per year, it will reach 4.6 million by 2018.
Young, diverse, educated
Looking to access the talents and buying power of millennials and multiculturals? More than 20% of Tampa Bay residents are age 18-34, and 16% are Hispanic. The labor pool is well educated too — 34% of Tampa Bay’s population has a college degree.
Small-business friendly
Tampa ranks No. 12 on Biz2Credit.com’s 2014 list of “25 Best Small Business Cities in America,” based on a weighted average that includes annual revenue, age of business, cash flow, debt-to-income ratio and other financial data. And for its affordability, collaborative assets and availability of funding, Tampa snagged the No. 2 spot among NerdWallet’s “10 Best Cities for Young Entrepreneurs”; New York City and Silicon Valley didn’t even make the cut.
