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.

ECONOMIC LIFE

Life Sciences/Healthcare

• Bristol-Myers Squibb Company has opened its North America Capability Center in Tampa with the anticipation of 579 new jobs within three years.
• Medical testing services provider Quest Diagnostics opened a national operations center in Tampa to enhance customer service and support human resources activities nationwide; 350 new jobs are anticipated.
• Covidien, known for such medical advances as pulse oximetry, electrosurgery and laparascopic instrumentation, has established a medical device manufacturing facility in Riverview with plans to create 165 jobs.
• Construction is under way in Tampa on the USF Health Heart Institute, a $50-million facility combining research and cutting-edge cardiovascular care. Anticipated completion: 2015.
• 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”: cardiology and heart surgery (No. 34); orthopedics (No. 37); and cancer care (No. 48). All Children’s welcomed its inaugural class of 12 pediatric residents in July 2014.

Logistics/Distribution

• The Port of Tampa has a new name — Port Tampa Bay — and easier access thanks to the newly completed I-4/Selmon Expressway Connector. Port Manatee — Florida’s closest port to the Panama Canal — is developing an international trade hub to better assist companies with global distribution.
• Polk County solidified its position as a distribution hub with the opening of the Central Florida Intermodal Logistics Center in Winter Haven. The 318-acre terminal is expected to process up to 300,000 containers a year.

Growing companies in the sector include:

• O’Reilly Auto Parts: The operator of 90 retail auto parts stores in Florida and plans for 250 total has opened a 388,000-sq.-ft. distribution center and warehouse in Lakeland.
• PLS Logistics Services: The Pennsylvania-based logistics management and freight brokerage firm expects to create 120 new jobs with the opening of a sales office in Tampa.
• BlueGrace Logistics: Ranked No. 20 on Inc. 5000’s 2012 list of fastest-growing companies in the U.S., BlueGrace added 55 jobs at its Riverview headquarters in 2014.
• 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.

Manufacturing

• General Electric Energy Management has announced plans for a new 190,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing Center of Excellence in Clearwater. The COE, which will include the firm’s existing instrument transformer facility and a new capacitor manufacturing plant, is expected to create 250 new jobs and be operational in 2015.
• At $225 million, the expansion under way at Mosaic Company’s New Wales fertilizer plant in Mulberry is being touted by company officials as Mosaic Phosphates’ largest-ever capital project. Two new storage warehouses and infrastructure modifications to accommodate new equipment are planned.
• Sun Hydraulics Corporation has opened its third manufacturing facility in Sarasota-Manatee. The maker of high-performance hydraulic valves is one of three Florida-based companies named to Fortune magazine’s 2013 list of the world’s 100 fastest-growing companies.

Two Plant City-based firms are growing:

• Dart Container, the world’s largest manufacturer of foam cups, will spend $14 million to construct a 400,000-sq.-ft. distribution center and add 24 new jobs;
• James Hardie Building Products plans to invest $80 million on new machinery/manufacturing space and create 100 new jobs to accommodate increased demand for its fiber cement siding products.

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.

NOTABLE EMPLOYERS

Distribution

• HSN St. Petersburg
• Publix Super Markets Lakeland
• Tech Data Corporation Clearwater

Finance & Insurance

• 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
• Lincare Holdings Clearwater
• WellCare Health Plans Tampa

Hospitality/Tourism

• Bloomin’ Brands Tampa
• Busch Gardens Tampa
• LEGOLAND Winter Haven

Manufacturing

• Jabil Circuit St. Petersburg
• Mosaic FishHawk
• PGT Industries Venice
• Tropicana Products Bradenton
• Sun Hydraulics Corporation Sarasota