It wasn’t your basic letter to the editor. It had establishment data and rhetoric with a hint of edge to it.
The one in last Tuesday’s Tampa Bay Times celebrated the size, diversity and collective synergy of the Tampa Bay region. Not just the county hubs of Hillsborough and Pinellas, but also Pasco and Polk. And not just those four, but also Citrus, Hernando, Manatee and Sarasota.
The letter contained impressive quantifiers regarding population (4.3 million or 22 percent of the state’s total), square mileage (6,505) and percentage of Florida’s legislative delegation (one-quarter). It referenced international airports in Sarasota-Bradenton, St. Petersburg and Tampa, as well as state-designated seaports in Citrus, Manatee, St. Petersburg and Tampa. It also mentioned 80 institutions of higher learning, hundreds of health care organizations and thousands of businesses across the spectrum of industry.
Its agenda, however, was unsubtly noted in the buried lead at the end.
“We strongly encourage media to report, comment and celebrate the entire region. In the end, we are all Tampa Bay and deserve nothing less.” It was signed: Stuart L. Rogel, president, CEO, Tampa Bay Partnership, Tampa.
So, Stu, as the Partnership prez, were you wanting to send a message, if not a heat-seeking epistle, to the media about doing a better job of covering Tampa Bay as a region?
“Our duty is to remind folks what the region–one with diversity and multiple assets and covering eight counties–actually is and why it’s connected,” says Rogel. “We see the media, no ill intention, missing out on a tremendous amount of opportunities. For instance, in 2017 Bradenton will host the World Rowing Championships. That’s 40,000 people coming in. That doesn’t, for example, get picked up as it should.
“From my perspective, we have two very large counties and two large cities,” notes Rogel. “But 50 percent of the population is outside Hillsborough and Pinellas. Baseball, football and hockey rely on this 8-county marketplace. TIA has 30-40 percent (of its passengers) from outside Hillsborough and Pinellas.
“Sure, Tampa is the center of the marketplace,” acknowledges Rogel, “the bulk of significant jobs and infrastructure. But at the end of the day we are interconnected and interdependent. Sixty percent of those commuting to work cross a county line. Whether it’s for work, pleasure or education, we’re on the move.”
Ultimately, says Rogel, “region” as just a “term.”
“We see a marketplace made up of communities,” he underscores. “Eight counties. We need to appreciate as well as applaud our successes throughout.”