February, 2019 |
Pinellas SBE Local Conversation Update, March 1 We have listened to the voices of our citizens and local business owners and have made improvements to invigorate the Pinellas Small Business Enterprise (SBE) program based on your feedback. Join us on March 1, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. at the St. Petersburg College EpiCenter for an update of the changes we’ve made to the Pinellas SBE Program and a briefing of upcoming opportunities from Pinellas County and our partners at the City of Clearwater, City of St. Petersburg, PSTA and the Pinellas County School Board. Registration is free and required. Click here to register. iSOCRATES Announces Headquarters Relocation to St. Petersburg at Inaugural Digital First Friday iSOCRATES, the global leader in programmatic media and marketing planning and execution, announced that the company will relocate its headquarters from Connecticut to St. Petersburg and expects to create 50 new jobs over the next five years. “With our global headquarters expansion, we expect to hire 10 employees here by the end of 2019 and eventually grow our U.S. staff to a team of at least 50,” said William A. (“Bill”) Lederer, Chairman and CEO of iSOCRATES. “We believe Tampa Bay – and St. Petersburg, in particular – is the perfect environment for our growing, innovative digital company.” Click here to read more.Digital media and marketing firm to relocate HQ to St. Pete, create 50 new jobs (Tampa Bay Business Journal)Data Analytics Company Relocates To St. Petersburg, Brings Jobs (Tampa Bay Reporter)iSocrates launches meetup (St. Pete Catalyst)To celebrate this announcement, iSOCRATES is kicking off Digital First Fridays, a new Meetup series in downtown St. Petersburg. This event will bring together digerati to share, learn, discuss and network in the burgeoning data analytics, digital media and marketing, and technology professions in Pinellas County. The first of the series will be held on February 1, 2019, at Rising Tide and will feature Mayor Rick Kriseman, Pinellas County Commission Chair Karen Seel and the digital marketing heads of the Tampa Bay Rays and Tampa Bay Lightning. Click here to view event details and register. The 2019 Pinellas County Economic Profile… …is your guide to the changing demographics, industry, and economic data of our dynamic community. Highlights from the report include:Pinellas County has the lowest unemployment and largest labor force in over a decadeHeavy trucks in Pinellas increased at the fastest pace in years, 5% from 2017 to 2018St. Pete-Clearwater Intl. Airport had over 2 million passengersBed tax collections rose over 9%Overall poverty rates decreased from 13.3% to 12%The childhood poverty rate fell from 19.7% to 15.8%Pinellas County is now home to 38 craft breweriesThere are over 50,000 vacation homes in the countyPinellas County’s foreign exports grew almost $500 million from 2016 to 2017Read the full 2019 Pinellas County Economic Profile here to learn more. 2019 Business of Biotech, Feb. 22 Join Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa for this free annual conference. Business of Biotech is a signature event that attracts 400 biotech executives, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, and researchers from across the U.S., and is a unique opportunity to meet and collaborate with the innovators of our age. Click here to learn more and to register. Feb. 11 – 15 is #EconDevWeek Celebrate Florida’s Economic Development Week with us on social media by sharing posts with the hashtag #EconDevWeek from February 11 – 15. Join us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Learn more about economic development priorities in Florida at https://fedconline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/FEDC-2019-Legislative-Agenda.pdf. New in the Data Center…Pinellas Workforce Unemployment & Participation Pinellas County’s unemployment rate falls significantly below state and national measures: December data from the Department of Economic Opportunity reports Pinellas County at 3.1% unemployment, compared with Florida’s 3.3%. Low unemployment is very good news for workers and job hunters, but creates challenges for businesses looking to relocate or expand. Low unemployment does not mean no workers are available, but instead that companies may have a more difficult time finding the right employees. Learn more about Pinellas County workforce participation and unemployment patterns by reading the report here. Team Pinellas at the Synapse SummitScott Talcott, Mandi Clark, Audra Aja, Andrea Falvey, Sophia Sorolis, Teresa Brydon Thank you to our municipal economic development partners at the cities of St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park and Oldsmar for joining us at the 2019 Synapse Summit in Tampa to share ideas for building the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Florida. #TeamPinellas SPC Internship and Apprenticeship Workshops: Feb. 8, 15, 20, Mar. 1, 27Learn how your business can partner with St. Petersburg College (SPC) to host interns or apprentices. Meet representatives from SPC’s Career Services team and learn how to use the school’s platform for posting internships and jobs. Workshops will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on the following dates:February 8: St. Petersburg/Gibbs Campus, SS LobbyFebruary 15: Seminole Campus, Room UP 303February 20: Downtown Center, Community RoomMarch 1: Clearwater Campus, Room ES 104March 27, 2019 Tarpon Springs Campus, Room FA 132Click here to register.Business Recycling is Important to Pinellas Consumers Results of the 2018 Pinellas Residential Recycling Survey are now available and respondents placed a high-level of importance on businesses recycling. Eight in ten people (81%) consider it important that the businesses they frequent have recycling services. Learn more and read the entire report here. Pinellas County Solid Waste offers free waste assessments through their Cutting Waste at Work Program that can help businesses identify how to reduce, reuse and recycle their wastes. Contact sqg@pinellascounty.org for more information. Pinellas News Major government contractor L3 chooses ‘fantastic’ St. Pete for new headquarters and testing (Tampa Bay Times) Lockheed Martin partners with Veterans Florida to expand its job market (Tampa Bay Business Journal) Tampa Bay economy is proving resilient to national dynamics (Tampa Bay Business Journal) Why You Really Need to Visit St. Petersburg, Florida (Southern Living) Tech Data, Publix secure rankings among ‘World’s Most Admired Companies’ (Tampa Bay Business Journal) KnowBe4 hits sales record (St. Pete Catalyst)Gatorade inventor’s cholesterol product gets traction with St. Pete’s Go Epic Health (St. Pete Catalyst) St. Pete database company rebrands with new focus on cybersecurity (Tampa Bay Business Journal) Station House owner plans live-work apartments in downtown St. Pete (St. Pete Catalyst) What’s ahead for Tampa-St. Pete and Florida economies (St. Pete Catalyst) Development trip puts St. Pete on the radar of five Denver firms (St. Pete Catalyst) Tax incentive deals bring 1,000+ jobs to Pinellas, Hillsborough (St. Pete Catalyst) |