| Pinellas Receives $7.5 Million to Build State-of-the-Art Business Incubator in St. Petersburg”This investment by the EDA, along with support from Pinellas County and our partners at the City of St. Petersburg, will help launch the next generation of entrepreneurs in our community,” shared Commissioner Karen Seel, Chair of the 2019 Pinellas Board of County Commissioners. “We’re grateful for this wonderful opportunity.” “In Pinellas, over 95% of our businesses are entrepreneurs and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees,” said County Administrator Barry Burton. “This commitment by Pinellas County extends our support of local small businesses and entrepreneurship to further economic growth and job creation in our community.” Read more at https://conta.cc/2SQeq6V.Region wins $7.5M grant for high-tech business incubator(Business Observer)St. Petersburg innovation incubator wins $7.5 million federal grant (Tampa Bay Times) Pinellas officials hope local businesses will lend a hand for new St. Pete incubator(St. Pete Catalyst)Tampa Bay Innovation Center near downtown St. Pete lands $7.5M federal grant (Tampa Bay Business Journal) Five Pinellas Companies Named GrowFL Florida Companies to WatchThe following Pinellas-based companies have been selected as 2019 GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch Honorees: BioDerm, Inc. (Largo)McCormick Stevenson (Clearwater)Mother Kombucha (St. Petersburg)OnMed (Clearwater)WestCMR, LLC. (Clearwater)”These Pinellas companies are among only 50 selected out of 500 nominees across Florida. We congratulate them on being acknowledged as among the best high-growth enterprises in the state,” said Mike Meidel, Director of Pinellas County Economic Development. The 50 honorees are all second-stage companies that are expected to see significant growth over the next several years. The 9th Annual Florida Companies to Watch awards celebration will take place on November 14 at Hard Rock Live, Universal City Walk, Orlando, FL. Learn more at https://www.growfl.com/flctw19/about-flctw/. EFI Snapshot: High-Tech & ManufacturingOn July 25, Enterprise Florida (EFI) held its first EFI Snapshot in Pinellas County, highlighting the high-tech and manufacturing industries. EFI presenters provided information on EFI tools and programs to assist Florida businesses. Pinellas community and business leaders spoke about local efforts to encourage economic development in these sectors, as well as how EFI assistance has resulted in local success stories. Our many thanks go to Enterprise Florida, Port Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg College, S.S. White Technologies, CareerSource Pinellas, Power Design, and Infinium Medical for making this event possible! Find more photos from the event in our Facebook album. Enterprise Florida highlights high-tech and manufacturing industries(Tampa Bay Newspapers)Enterprise Florida wants Tampa Bay businesses to get reacquainted (Tampa Bay Business Journal) Pinellas County’s Labor Force tops 500,000! As of June 2019, Pinellas County’s labor force topped half a million workers; 501,036 citizens are either employed or seeking work in Pinellas. The St. Petersburg-Clearwater-Tampa MSA had the highest annual job growth compared to all the metro areas in the state in financial activities (+3,600 jobs) in June 2019, and the third highest annual job growth compared to all the metro areas in the state in professional and business services (+7,200 jobs) and education and health services (+5,700 jobs) in June 2019. Read the full release here: http://lmsresources.labormarketinfo.com/library/releases/arearelease_region14.pdfand visit our Data Center for more insights. A-B-C Packaging Machine Welcomes Three AmSkills Apprentices Pinellas County Commissioner Kathleen Peters joined Mike Meidel, Director of Pinellas County Economic Development, and the AmSkills Manufacturing Training & Apprenticeship team at A-B-C Packaging Machine Corporation in Tarpon Springs, as Michael Reichert, A-B-C’s Vice President of Production, welcomed the three new apprentices to the company. Congrats to Trevor, Ronal and Manuel, and a huge thanks to A-B-C and its leadership team for creating these opportunities. Learn more about how AmSkills can help your manufacturing business grow with apprenticeship at: www.amskills.org/manufacturers. New in the Data Center…Updated Demographic and Business Summaries Get the details you need to market your business effectively! Visit www.pced.org/page/DemoBusiness to view updated Demographic and Business Summaries for 26 Pinellas County communities and the Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater MSA.Pinellas Manufacturers – get involved on MFG Day 2019! Oct. 4. Join manufacturers from across the country who are hosting students and educators at their manufacturing facilities. Manufacturing Day is officially October 4th but you can plan an event or tour anytime during the month of October. Host a student tour at your manufacturing facility, sponsor student T-shirts for their tours, or donate to Manufacturing Month events. Learn more at https://www.bama-fl.org/event-3480016?CalendarViewType=1&SelectedDate=10%2F11%2F2019. Attn: Hospitality & Customer Service Employers – Aug. 14 Career Fair CareerSource Pinellas will host a Hospitality & Customer Service Career Fair on Aug. 14. The event will bring together local employers and job candidates to fill over 30 positions. Participating employers can expect to meet with an average of 19 potential, qualified job candidates. Please click here for more information on the event, including registration. USF St. Petersburg Part-Time Opportunity Fair: Sept. 11, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Pinellas employers: are you looking to fill part-time, full-time, or internship positions? Meet USF St. Petersburg students and alumni at the university’s largest recruitment event of the fall semester. Click here to learn more and register to participate. Waste No Food Tampa Bay Waste No Food is a web-based and mobile marketplace allowing excess food to be donated from the food service industry to qualified charities that work with the needy. Farms, restaurants, cafeterias, hotels, and grocery stores post excess food in real time. Local charities can see what is available near them and claim the food online or on the app, then arrange transportation and food handling with the donor. It requires no advance planning other than downloading and signing up for the app, which is free for all to use. Visit http://networktoendhunger.org/education/wastenofood/ for details. Pinellas News Tampa Bay ranks No. 29 among top areas for tech talent (Tampa Bay Times)St. Pete company may invest $3.5M+ for new project, create 161 jobs (Tampa Bay Business Journal)Clearwater investment firm could be first to take advantage of OZ funds in Tampa Bay area (Tampa Bay Business Journal) Oldsmar officials advance Town Center project (Tampa Bay Times) Dynasty’s move makes St. Pete ‘center of gravity’ for financial services (St. Pete Catalyst) Tampa Bay is a highly ranked metro for profitable businesses (Tampa Bay Business Journal) L3’s move to downtown St. Pete tops tech office space deals (St. Pete Catalyst) Healthy, creative vibe at The Ring attracts entrepreneurs to downtown Clearwater (83 Degrees Media) Three Bay area credit unions land on Forbes’ best in Florida list (Tampa Bay Business Journal) St. Pete growth strategy company acquires consulting firm (Tampa Bay Business Journal) Tampa Bay’s 50 fastest-growing companies (Tampa Bay Business Journal) St. Pete entrepreneur tackles the $100B gov-tech industry (St. Pete Catalyst) Clearwater medical device maker added to Russell trade markets (Tampa Bay Business Journal) Largo looking to open door for more hotels (Tampa Bay Newspapers) |