SHARE:
Business Florida 2015 - The Regions
Tampa Bay
Bradenton, Clearwater, Lakeland, North Port, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Tampa
QUALITY OF LIFE
Getting in
At Tampa International Airport, rated No. 2 overall in Travel + Leisure’s 2013 “World’s Best Airports: Domestic” survey, the first leg of a modernization plan that includes a consolidated rental car facility linked to the main terminal by a 1.3-mile automated people mover is under way and new destinations/carriers continue to come on board, including nonstop flights to Panama City, Panama, via Copa Airlines and to Seattle via Alaska Air.
Getting around
As Tampa Bay — already the nation’s 19th largest metro area by population — continues to grow, forward-thinkers are seeking ways to streamline transportation throughout the region. Among options singled out for consideration: enhanced bus service and light rail. Meanwhile, work has begun on the heavily traveled Veterans Expressway to introduce express lanes and convert the entire 57-mile roadway to electronic, cashless tolling, and there is talk of creating a high-speed express ferry service across Tampa Bay linking MacDill AFB to downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Staying in place
Tampa Bay is the perfect place for a “stay-cation.” Take in a vintage movie at the historic Tampa Theatre — recognized by CNN, along with Shakespeare’s Globe Theater in London, as one of the world’s 15 most spectacular theaters — or a live performance at the newly renovated, 92-year-old Capitol Theatre in downtown Clearwater. Walk, run, skate or bike along Tampa’s Bayshore Boulevard — the world’s longest continuous sidewalk — or stroll the sands at a Gulfside beach; five in Tampa Bay were named to TripAdvisor’s 2014 list of the top 25 beaches in the U.S. And don’t forget to check out the surrealist works of Salvador Dali in St. Petersburg, an amazing miniature circus exhibit in Sarasota and the largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed structures at Florida Southern College in Lakeland.
NOTABLE ADDITIONS/EXPANSIONS
Logistics/distribution
Online mega-retailer Amazon expects to begin processing orders from its newly constructed fulfillment centers in Ruskin and Lakeland by Christmas 2014, with approximately 1,300 new jobs to start and the expectation of 3,000 total by 2016.
Finance & insurance
United Services Automobile Association (USAA), a provider of insurance and investment products/services for the military community, has broken ground on a 420,000-sq.-ft facility in Brandon with 1,215 new jobs expected; HealthPlan Services, a health insurance management company serving individuals and small businesses, plans to add 1,000 jobs by 2018 and nearly 100,000 square feet at its Tampa headquarters.
Manufacturing
Pennsylvania-based Air Products Inc., a leader in liquefied natural gas (LNG) technology and equipment, has opened a 300,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility in Palmetto to benefit from easy access to Port Manatee for its shipments overseas; 250 new jobs are anticipated.
