That was a nice CNBC shout-out scored by Tampa Bay and Tampa this week. The network’s “Power Lunch” referenced Tampa as a “value stock” well into transformation from its industrial and cigar-making roots.
While it occasionally interchanged Tampa and the 3 million-population, “torrid real estate” Tampa Bay region, “Power Lunch’s” theme was consistent. Business around here is booming, as in financial services, tourism and trade.
Raymond James, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase were specifically mentioned. Tampa’s 4.4 percent unemployment rate and diverse economy, including New York Yankees spring training and Port Tampa Bay, Florida’s largest, were singled out.
And once again, the “new urbanism” catalyst that is Jeff Vinik and his downtown development plan became a magnet for outside media. When a billionaire Fidelity Magellan Fund manager from Boston relocates to a Sunbelt city and dubs it a “value stock,” economic insiders tend to take note. Vinik knows the value of newsworthy sound bites as he recruits corporate relocatees, especially in the media-dense Northeast.
“Business is taking off,” points out Vinik, “and I think we are in the middle of a bull market here.”
Two points.
First, you can bet Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s civic sales pitch has already been updated. Second, surprising to see a Tampa-centric, business piece without a mass transit angle.