If you’ve lived around this area long enough, you know a certain regional reality. We can be our own worst enemy.
The provincialism. The parochialism. Up-county, down-county. County vs. city. Rural vs. urban. A largely non-native residential base with other allegiances. The Bay as another Gulf. Hell, Pinellas County was once part of Hillsborough County until it seceded.
By most contemporary criteria, Tampa Bay is not a coherent, well-integrated market with an acknowledged conventional hub and key complementary spokes. Outsiders have been known to wonder whether we are a city, a region or a body of water. Tampa Bay has identity and turf issues and no mass transit. Demographic data doesn’t tell you nearly enough.
But that multi-county population now exceeds 3 million. This region has a world class airport, a major seaport, a large media market, three professional sports teams, one of the biggest universities in the country, impressive arts venues, the statewide STEM-jobs leadership, revitalized downtowns and an utterly appealing life style that manifests itself as a tourist destination. It has Super Bowl clout as well as Bollywood cachet.
As a result, we are a market that is easy to misread from the outside. Just ask Stu Sternberg.
We are, thus, a market that, more than most, must place a premium on Tampa Bay-as-a-single-metro-region marketing and getting all the key players on the same Tampa Bay page and playing to our considerable strengths.
No organization is better positioned to carry out this challenging charge than the Tampa Bay Partnership. It encompasses eight counties and is comprised of nearly 150 public and private businesses, along with 11 regional economic development entities. Its mandate is to help recruit businesses by corporate marketing and by establishing relationships with site selection experts and to help address relevant regional challenges–from water to transportation.
Some, however, have grumbled that the TBP has been coming up short in its domestic ground game–working to unite the area’s business and political leaderships. Its role in recent transit-initiative failures has sometimes been cited as a prime example. And it hasn’t helped that for nearly a year it has been operating without a permanent CEO.
That has now changed.
In what seems like a coup for TBP, it has landed Rick Homans, who will begin early next month. He’s the former economic development director for the state of New Mexico. More to the point, he has led the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp. for the last four years. He will not have to get the lay of the land. He’s already up to speed.
By all accounts, he’s acquitted himself well and become a key player in pitching the county’s selling points to relocation prospects. Just ask Jeff Vinik. Or Bob Buckhorn. Or Pam Iorio.
TBP Chairman Brian Lamb made it clear that Homans’ skill set and local experience made him “the right person” to solidify a “one voice” approach for the region.
“This is a pivotal moment for the Tampa Bay Partnership,” underscored–and probably understated–Lamb.
Indeed, in a global marketplace with ever-increasing competition, the onus is on Tampa Bay to get its collective regional act together like never before if it wants unrealized potential fulfilled.
And nothing on the Homans’ plate will loom larger than mass transit. It’s this region’s glaring deficit, and Homans will be a critically important middleman and pitchman. After that, a role to play in keeping the Rays here, diversifying the economy and recruiting Fortune 500 companies. And more.