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Business Florida 2016 - The Regions
Tampa Bay
NOTABLE ADDITIONS/EXPANSIONS
Corporate headquarters Feld Entertainment, which moved its global production headquarters to Ellenton from Virginia in 2013, is now relocating its Motor Sports Division from Illinois and adding 200 jobs. Feld produces many well-known live entertainment brands, including Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Disney on Ice, and Feld Motor Sports.
Technology Cognizant, an IT company based in Teaneck, N.J., plans to add more than 400 new jobs and invest approximately $5.7 million in its Tampa operations over the next four years.
Logistics/distribution Walmart plans to construct a $200-million distribution center — two buildings, each about 1 million square feet — in eastern Polk County. A late 2016 opening and at least 400 new jobs are anticipated. Nearby, FedEx is building a 300,000-sq.-ft. distribution center with 38 new jobs expected.
QUALITY OF LIFE
Happy and healthy The website 247wallst.com has dubbed the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton MSA “happiest city in America,” based on its strong showing on the 2014 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton ranked No. 1 on the Index, which studied the nation’s 100 largest metro areas on five essential elements of well-being: physical, social, financial, community and purpose.
Flying high For the second consecutive year, Tampa International Airport ranked No. 2 overall on Travel + Leisure’s “World’s Best Airports: Domestic” survey of readers. The airport, which served 17.6 million passengers in 2014, is currently undergoing a $934-million renovation and continues to add new airlines and destinations. Lufthansa begins non-stop service to Frankfurt in September 2015.
Educational excellence Two Tampa Bay high schools earned gold medals in U.S. News & World Report’s “2015 Best High Schools” rankings: Pine View School in Osprey and Henry B. Plant High School in Tampa. Meanwhile, three Tampa Bay counties — Hernando, Pasco and Pinellas — have launched the Tampa Bay Advanced Manufacturing Skills Initiative, an apprenticeship program patterned after one in Germany that combines classroom education with on-the-job training to ensure a ready supply of skilled workers for manufacturing jobs.
Plenty to see and do Bask in the sun on a Gulf Coast beach; five in this region were named among “Florida’s 10 Best Beaches” by readers of USA Today. Browse the collection of fine art, antiques and circus memorabilia at The Ringling in Sarasota, ranked among TripAdvisor’s “Top 25 U.S. Museums.” Peruse urban spaces where up-and-coming artists live and work at Bradenton’s Village of the Arts and St. Pete’s Warehouse Arts District. Walk/run/bike across Old Tampa Bay on a newly completed 12-mile trail alongside the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Or just go shopping: Sarasota’s University Town Center Mall, one of only two enclosed malls to open nationwide in 2014, offers 880,000-sq.-ft. of “shop-‘til-you-drop” entertainment.
Downtown Resurgence
Tampa Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik plans to remake 40 acres in the downtown waterfront district known as “Channelside” with 1.1 million square feet of office space, 660,000 square feet of residential space, 575,000 square feet of hotel/meeting space and 250,000 square feet of retail. Incorporating the existing Marriott Waterside Hotel and Amalie Arena, where the Lightning play, the new development will add a 400-room hotel connected to the Tampa Convention Center; the University of South Florida’s Morsani College of Medicine; and the USF Heart Health Institute. An investment fund controlled by Microsoft founder Bill Gates is helping to finance the plan.
St. Petersburg Downtown living is “in” again as towering residential complexes with names like Bliss, The Salvador and One St. Petersburg take shape alongside upscale restaurants, hotels, galleries and revitalized shopping venues. On the horizon: a new family-friendly structure to replace the city’s aging pier.
Sarasota Nearly 1,000 apartments, 1,500 condos and townhomes and 1,300 hotel rooms, as well as new offices and retail space, are planned in an uban core that measures only one square mile.
Clearwater The renovated historic Capitol Theatre draws 64,475 visitors annually.
NOTABLE EMPLOYERS
Distribution
- Home Shopping Network| St. Petersburg
- Publix Super Markets| Lakeland
- Tech Data Corporation | Clearwater
Finance & Insurance
- Citigroup | Tampa
- JPMorgan Chase | Tampa
- Progressive Insurance | Tampa
- Raymond James Financial | St. Petersburg
- United Services Automobile Association (USAA) | Tampa
Healthcare
- BayCare Health System | Clearwater
- HCA West Florida | Tampa
- Moffit Cancer Center | Tampa
- WellCare Health Plans | Tampa
Hospitality/Tourism
- Bloomin’ Brands | Tampa
- Busch Gardens | Tampa
- Legoland | Winter Haven
Manufacturing
- Jabil Circuit | St. Petersburg
- The Mosaic Company | FishHawk
- PGT Industries | Venice
- Tropicana Products | Bradenton
- Sun Hydraulics Corporation | Sarasota
Business Beat - Week of May 3rd
