Connect with us

Thrive

Inside Pinellas’ 2022 economic report

Veronica Brezina

Published

on

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood (pictured in the left center), St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch (pictured in the center) and others toss dirt at the groundbreaking of the Tampa Bay Innovation Center In February 2022. Photo by Veronica Brezina.

The rise of a tech incubator and creation of a new economic incentive program are key initiatives boosting the local economy, according to Pinellas County Economic Development’s 2022 annual report

This year, the county’s robust manufacturing base and tech sector thrived while the metro area reached new record-breaking low unemployment rates. 

In total, the county’s economic development department saw over $52 million in capital investment and 1,530 jobs created or retained. The county department also reported it logged 52 visits to businesses in attempting to recruit them and had 538 promising business engagements.

Businesses and retention 

The economic development report, unveiled this week, specifically highlights two transformative projects that took shape in 2022: The groundbreaking of the new Tampa Bay Innovation Center, which ARK’s research arm will anchor; and the completion of the first industrial manufacturing building financially supported by the new Employment Sites Program. The newly formed ESP was designed to designate $80 million to assist in the construction and redevelopment of industrial and office buildings. 

A rendering of the Tampa Bay Innovation Center at 4th Street South and 11th Avenue South. Image provided.

The TBIC is a 45,000-square-foot center currently under construction on donated city land at the southwest corner of 4th Street South and 11th Avenue. Pinellas County is spearheading the project after it was awarded a Federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant to construct a business incubator. When it opens in 2023, it will have 30,000 square feet on the first floor for incubator companies. The ARK Foundation will have an office on the third floor with TBIC. The programming at TBIC will be tailored to businesses within the information technology, analytics, health care, life and marine sciences, and advanced manufacturing sectors.

A rendering of Brooker Creek South industrial manufacturing building. Image: PCED.

The second highlighted project, Brooker Creek South, is the first industrial manufacturing building supported in part by the ESP. The $15 million industrial facility at 500 Brooker Creek Blvd. in Oldsmar has 130,000 square feet of space that can accommodate three companies. The project, developed by Harrod Properties Inc., received $908,500 in funding from Pinellas County via the ESP. The local funding commitment will help secure the employers at the site for at least 20 years. 

Harrod Properties, which celebrated the ribbon-cutting for the facility in September, said Brooker Creek South is estimated to create more than 300 direct jobs and 500 ancillary spinoff jobs.

The county also listed other companies it helped recruit through efforts by its business development team, including DeliverHealth, a global provider of technology-enabled solutions for the health care sector, and international tech company AnyDesk. Both companies opened offices in Clearwater. 

RELATED: Catalyze 2023: Cynthia Johnson, Pinellas County Economic Development

Supplier diversity 

Within the report, the office of small business and supplier diversity reported $28.37 million was awarded in Small Business Enterprise (SBE) contracts, and over $9.7 million in federal and state contracts were awarded to these businesses. 

The office wrote it initiated a plan to promote economic development activities in unincorporated Pinellas County. It also worked with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to host an all-day Hispanic business conference in observance of Hispanic Heritage Month. Additionally, the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) hosted an event to educate the local business community about the U.S. Navy’s research and development programs.

The full 2022 economic development report can be found here. 

Continue Reading
1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Avatar

    jon taylor

    November 16, 2023at2:08 pm

    The link to the 2022 economic report connects to an “error not found page”
    Please send me a copy of this report for my client.

    Thank you

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

By posting a comment, I have read, understand and agree to the Posting Guidelines.

The St. Pete Catalyst

The Catalyst honors its name by aggregating & curating the sparks that propel the St Pete engine.  It is a modern news platform, powered by community sourced content and augmented with directed coverage.  Bring your news, your perspective and your spark to the St Pete Catalyst and take your seat at the table.

Email us: spark@stpetecatalyst.com

Subscribe for Free

Share with friend

Enter the details of the person you want to share this article with.