banner

andelman.com

   
   

  Andelman.com 
|

  Mr. Media  
|

  Rachel 
|

  Big Black Spider 
|

 Articles 

Bob Andelman

Bio


Hotbot Search
  "By Bob Andelman"  

Northern Light Search
  "By Bob Andelman"  

Guru.com
Hiring Information
  for Bob Andelman
 

Order Books
By Bob Andelman


 ARTICLES
 Latest Work
Profiles
Retail
First Person
Murder, I Wrote
Real Estate
Tampa Bay
Meetings
Radio
Business
Sports


BOOKS
 Reviews 

The Corporate Athlete
(Hardcover)

The Corporate Athlete
(Paperback; Jan. 2001)

The Corporate Athlete
(Audiotape)

The Corporate Athlete
(Official Web Site)

The Profit Zone

Built From Scratch
(Hardcover)

Built From Scratch
(Official Web Site)

Mean Business
(Paperback)

Mean Business
(Hardcover)

Mean Business
(Audiotape)

Bankers as Brokers

Stadium For Rent
(Paperback)

Stadium For Rent
(Online)

Why Men Watch Football  

Why Men Watch Football
(Online Soon!)

Big Black Spider
With the
Orange Orange Eyes
(A Story for Kids!) 



Mr. Media Archives  
The Latest  
1998  
1997  
1996  
1995  
1994  

More Andelmans  
 Mimi  
Rachel Photos  

Write To Us!  
Bob
Mimi
Rachel

Hitometer
(Since Oct. 7, 1999)

   

97 of the
99 Best Things
About Doing Business in Tampa Bay

By Bob Andelman

 

(Originally published in Florida Business Tampa Bay, 1990)

A
The first sight of Tampa Bay most business travelers, visitors and new arrivals enjoy is the magnificent Tampa International Airport. It ranked second in the world in a 1987 poll by the International Federation of Airline Passenger Associations. (Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam was first.) What's not to like? The hub-and-spoke design makes for short walks between airline gates and baggage claim. Even the airport food is quite good. Completely remodeled in the late '80s and keeping up with increased demand though perpetual expansion, TIA is a delightful gateway to Tampa Bay.

There is more than one airport in Tampa Bay, however. St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport has a thriving charter business after years of serving commercial carriers. Private and executive airplanes also enjoy easy access to Albert Whitted Municipal Airport in St. Petersburg, Clearwater Executive Airpark, Plant City Municipal Airport, Tampa Bay Executive Airport, and Peter O. Knight Airport, Vandenberg Airport and Zephyrhills Municipal Airport.

Advertising products and services is at once easy and complicated across the bay. There are more than 200 media outlets between newspapers, magazines, radio and television. While broadcast's message stretches across the two counties, print offers a more selective sell. The daily newspapers offer neighborhood editions; weekly community papers do the same. And magazines specializing in lifestyles, homes, business, computers, music, disabled workers, parents, women and new age interests offer niche targets.

A rash of acquisitions and mergers in the late 1980s has resulted in most of Tampa Bay's fine homegrown advertising agencies gaining national affiliations. Earle Palmer Brown, Fahlgren & Swink, Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt, Young & Rubicam are all represented locally.

Abilities Inc. of Florida is an aggressive, not-for-profit Clearwater-based organization that has been a national model in providing skills training for the emotionally and physically disabled in electronics assembly. Abilities students also learn desktop publishing, computer-aided design (CAD), computer programming, and clerical skills. Clients for graduates include Critikon, E-Systems, GTE, Honeywell, IBM, and AT&T/Paradyne.

Affordable housing makes Tampa Bay attractive for new workers, professionals, and management executives alike.

Audio/video production in the Bay area offers quality commercial, corporate and technical know-how and facilities at a reasonable cost.

B
Banking
is big business in the Bay area. Two nationally recognized financially institutions - NCNB National Bank and Chase Bank of Florida - run their Florida operations from Tampa headquarters.

In downtown St. Petersburg, a revolution is underway, led by master planner Neil Elsey and his Bay Plaza Companies. A 10-year plan for rejuvenating the city's waterfront business district as an upscale retail center is well under way.

Bridging the bay, hands across the bay ... whatever you call the recent trend towards one-market thinking, its long-range implications for the Tampa Bay area can be nothing but positive for business and our general quality of life.

Beaches. Isn't that the number one reason anyone comes to Florida? Whether we actively use them for relaxation or entertainment, it's always comforting to know they're there when we need them, hot, sandy and near the cool blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico. They also contribute mightily to the local economy as millions of tourists flock here from points throughout the United States, Canada and, more recently, Europe.

There's a general list of fine restaurants under "R" but Bern's Steak House in Tampa merits individual attention. Its world-renown wine cellar and fabulous steaks make it a "must-eat" destination of most business travelers and well-to-do tourists. And it's even more deliciously wacky-tacky in its red velvet walls and sculpture than the Kapok Tree in Clearwater.

Baseball, baseball, baseball. Unless the area is wiped out by a tsunami, Tampa Bay will be the site of Major League Baseball's next expansion franchise.

Business news is easy to come by. Tampa Bay has four major monthly magazines: Florida Business, Florida Trend, The Maddux Report, and Urban Business; a quarterly, Excel; four tabloid weeklies: the Tampa Bay Business Journal, the Pinellas Review, and Monday supplements to the St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune; weekday Wall Street reports on WSUN and WFLA radio; and the "Suncoast Business Journal" on WEDU-TV.

As for business schools, the University of South Florida College of Business Administration is accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. The school offers both MBA and Ph.D. programs and is headquarters for the Center for International Business, the International Language Institute, the Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education, Small Business Development Center. The University of Tampa, which also has a distinguished business program including MBA studies, is home to the Center for Ethics.

C
The Center for Training and Business Development
in Tampa was originally formed to assist in the relocation of Citicorp Travelers Checks from New York to Tampa and in massive training of new employees. Funded by a public/private partnership, the Center has gone on to provide training for new hires at Chase Manhattan, Time Inc. and Leslie Controls, among others.

Tampa Bay encourages corporate relocation but only clean industry need apply. Leave the smokestacks at home.

Concurrency and its seven circles of infrastructure requirements - roads, water, sewer, drainage, mass transit, recreation and solid waste treatment - which must overlap and encircle any future proposed development area, may or may not belong on this list. Check back in 10 years.

A slump in the construction industry has caused a number of out-of-town builders to flee and even one or two local firms to call it quits. That's not a plus for construction, but anyone needing to build should be able to find favorable terms.

Corporate headquarters in the Bay area include: Jack Eckerd Corp., Milton Roy, Home Shopping Network, Florida Progress, Homestyle Family Buffet, Kash n' Karry, Tech Data, GTE, Raymond James and Associates, Spalding & Evenflo, Hillsborough Holdings, Jim Walter Corp., Times Publishing Co., Trader Publications, Lykes Bros., Florida Steel, Tampa Electric Co., Maas Brothers.

Corporate sponsorship opportunities abound, from sporting events such as the annual collegiate Hall of Fame Bowl football game and St. Petersburg Grand Prix to Shakespeare in the Park and Clearwater Jazz Holiday.

D
Competition between discount office supply warehouses like St. Petersburg-based Workplace and Miami-based Office Depot has enabled even small businesses to buy Fax machines, PC clones and other technology and paper goods at rock-bottom prices.

Centrally located on Florida's west coast, Tampa Bay is ideal as a distribution point for the entire state. Oil products intended for all of mid-Florida enter the state through Port of Tampa and Port Manatee.

Driving across Tampa Bay to get to work in the morning is a small pleasure - the water beginning to glisten as the sun rises. But driving across the water to get home at sunset is even better, thanks to the celestial explosion of colors as the sun sinks to the horizon. Traffic be damned - there's no better place to get stuck.

E
Economic development organizations
such as the Tampa Committee of One Hundred, Pinellas Economic Development Council, Tampa Bay Partnership, Pinellas County Industry Council play a major role in stimulating growth, attracting new companies and creating opportunities.

Tampa Bay's effective buying income of $33,436,603,000 in 1988 ranked the region 24th nationally.

Enterprise Village is a novel experiment developed by Pinellas business leaders in conjunction with the county school board to give elementary school students a real taste of America's free enterprise system. The kids spend six weeks in the classroom learning about buying, selling, check writing and balancing, wholesale and retail, payrolls and other facets of daily business. Then they put it all into practice at Enterprise Village in Largo, where local businesses such as WRBQ Radio, Florida Power, McDonalds and Eckerd Drugs have established miniature replicas of their operations.

Ethnic diversity is strong throughout the area, from the Greek community in Tarpon Springs and African-Americans in St. Petersburg's Southside and Tampa's College Hill to the Latin, Spanish and Italian influences upon Ybor City.

F
It's a great place to raise a family. Maybe even a dynasty.

Foreign trade includes sending frozen chickens and butter to the Soviet Union, citrus to Japan, building materials to the Caribbean. Pinellas County has permanent trade missions to Amsterdam, London and Germany. Trade is also encouraged and supported by the Tampa Bay International Trade Council, Super Task Force for Internationalizing the Tampa Bay Area and Pinellas County Industry Council.

Nearly 200 of the Fortune 500 companies have affiliations in the Bay area. Three of these are companies with corporate headquarters here.

The opening of the Florida Suncoast Dome (see 'B: Baseball, baseball, baseball') should continue to revolutionize the way the world sees St. Petersburg. And it will create new opportunities downtown.

G
Growth management
. It stings today, but in the long run, we'll be glad we did it.

Rand McNally's Vacation Places Rated ranks the bay area fourth nationally for golf.

H
Health care
and its ancillary industries employ tens of thousands locally and pump millions into the economy.

Higher education institutions include the University of South Florida, University of Tampa, Eckerd College, Tampa College, Hillsborough Community College, Florida College, Clearwater Christian College, and St. Petersburg Junior College.

Believe it or not, we're putting the Home Shopping Network on the list. It's weird, it's tacky, it's the cubic zirconia of broadcasting, but HSN and top gun Roy Speer have put the "Clearwater, Florida" dateline on news and feature stories around the globe, from the Wal Street Journal to TV Guide. And, more importantly, the cable channel brought Farrah Fawcett to Pinellas County. That's worth something.

Another Clearwater innovation, Hooters, might debate that it is infinitely weird and tackier than Home Shopping Network. Whatever. The wing, breast and surf music restaurants are the antithesis of formal dining for business lunches; that's why so many suit-and-tie types take out-of-town guests here.

I
There is no state income tax in Florida. Many would argue its needed to pay for infrastructure, schools and other necessities, but so far, no tax.

Which leads to impact fees for new development. They are rising, rising, rising ... but so is the population and the traffic caused by growth.

Industrial revenue bonds have been a major contributor to the attraction of new business to Pinellas County and the expansion of existing business. Originally set to sunset in October, the bond program is expected to receive a reprieve and be extended for two more years.

Average per capita personal income in Hillsborough County is $14,821; in Pinellas County, it's $19,091.

Growth in international air travel has led to expanded direct and non-stop flights from Tampa to Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt, Mexico, Bahamas and Canada.

The interstate highway system throughout Tampa Bay is one of the few joys a commuter can find. I-75 connects Tampa with Miami to the south and leads all the way north to Canada. Along the way, it intersects I-10, America's favorite east/west freeway, linking Los Angeles to Jacksonville. And, finally, there's I-4. It starts in Tampa, cuts across Orlando and runs into I-95 on Florida's east coast. I-95 connects Miami to Maine.

L
An ever-growing, abundant and affordable labor force of 1.4-million prevails in Tampa Bay, presenting skilled and unskilled, union and non-union workers. The number of engineers, for example, is projected to increase 79 percent from 8,402 in 1986 to 15,012 by the year 2000.

Luxury homes can be found in patches throughout the Bay area, from the waterfront to the edge of wilderness preserves, with prices running from a few hundred thou to multi-millions. Belleair, Snell Isle, Terra Ceia, Davis Islands, Hyde Park, and Tampa Palms are but a few of the places to invest a mint in shelter.

M
MacDill Air Force Base
means $1.6-billion to the local economy and is responsible for more than 10,000 jobs.

Magnet schools in Pinellas County - specializing in the performing arts, mathematics and science, liberal arts, and an early graduation program.

Bob Martinez, governor of the State of Florida, hails from Tampa and ... waitaminnit ... Sorry, wrong list.

Author John Naisbitt recommended Tampa as one of the 10 great cities of opportunity in his book, Megatrends.

Minority media outlets are varied and strong here. The African-American community supports two radio stations, two newspapers and a monthly business magazine. Latins have two newspapers, one television and two radio stations. There is also a Greek newspaper and radio station.

Participating in one of the Bay area's museums is both good for the soul and the pocketbook. Volunteers and contributors gain both good will and valuable contacts from being involved with the Tampa Museum of Art, Salvador Dali Museum, Great Explorations-The Hands-On Museum, Children's Museum of Tampa, Henry B. Plant Museum, Ybor City State Museum, St. Petersburg Historical Museum, Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Science and Industry.

N
Miami, Orlando and Tallahassee only have one good newspaper a piece. Tampa Bay has two, the St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune.

O
The one-penny optional sales tax approved by Pinellas County voters in 1989 should make driving there a little easier in the future.

Thanks to a building glut and more downtown towers coming on line in both Tampa and St. Petersburg, there is an office glut that has created a buyer's market.

What would Orlando be doing on this list? Well, when Tampa and St. Petersburg set aside their differences to work towards common goals, it was helpful to have someone to turn our collective antipathy towards. And we like having the Orlando attractions just 90 minutes away so when we do need a mouseketeer injection, we need not stay overnight.

P
Not everyone lives a typical life. At Paradise Lakes Resort, normal means nude. The 40-acre alternative lifestyle community in Land 'o Lakes is more than just a topless beach; it's a thriving real estate business offering 340 single family homes, mobile homes, town homes, condominiums and an RV park. Non-resident couples are invited to visit.

How about plenty of pawn shops and package stores for that business downturn that always lurks around the corner.

A wealth of over-planning has gifted Tampa Bay with three of the south's greatest performing arts centers, Ruth Eckerd Hall, the Mahaffey Theater, and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

Planned communities are all the rage. Tampa Palms may be the best-known, but Hunter's Green, Avila, Cheval, The Villages at Cypress Creek, Walden Lake, and Andalucia are growing in popularity.

Port of Tampa and Port Manatee are out of each other's league in terms of size - Manatee does just a fraction of Tampa's shipping tonnage - but the two are fiercely competitive and the business community benefits.

While the St. Petersburg Times and billionaire industrialist Bob Bass scrap for control of the newspaper publishing company, the non-profit Poynter Institute for Media Studies continues to be a beacon of integrity in the journalism world. Poynter - named for the Times' late editor - draws reporters and editors from around the world to take part in studies of the whys, wherefores and howtos of modern media.

Both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties are sprinting toward individual population counts anticipated to exceed 1-million by the end of this decade. But the Tampa Bay metropolitan statistical area, which includes Pasco and Hernando, already put us over 2-million. Tampa Bay is second only to Atlanta in population, households and effective buying income.

One of the great conveniences of living in Tampa Bay is the 24-hour Post Office at Tampa International Airport.

Some publishers do, admittedly, send their work out of town, but virtually any printing need imaginable can be handled locally, from web offset presses to glossy four-color jobs.

Private clubs aren't for everybody - heck, they aren't even just for men anymore. But membership in the Tampa Club, University Club, Presidents Club, Cherokee Club and Centre Club is still pretty exclusive.

Public relations specialists abound. John Heagney, for example, is Mr. Real Estate. And Sherry Wheatley Sacino has made a name for herself working with companies dealing in the Soviet Union, Caribbean and Third World countries. Hill & Knowlton

R
Freight and passenger rail service - including CSX and Amtrak - are still available in the Tampa Bay area.

Florida passed the "Solid Waste Management Act" in 1988 and it is finally spurring Tampa Bay's municipalities to push active recycling. The counties must achieve 30 percent recycling of all solid waste by 1994. Several businesses are springing up to capitalize on the requirements of the new law.

Just when you think you've got trouble, Joe Redner gets arrested again for trying to keep his businesses open. Redner is king of adult entertainment in Tampa Bay, the kind of guy you love to hate. He's colorful, articulate and probably making bond even as you read this.

Economic development agencies got a boost in their efforts to relocate businesses to Tampa Bay in 1989. Pollster Louis Harris surveyed chief executives of the nation's largest companies for Cushman & Wakefield and asks them to grade 31 cities in categories such as labor, access to markets, quality of life and attitudes of government. Tampa ranked fifth in the survey.

Research is crucial to large and small industry. Tampa Bay is home to accomplished and respected facilities at the University of South Florida, Showa University Research Institute (cancer research), Commerce Clearinghouse (law), and Poynter Institute (media).

This is America's 20th largest radio market. Approximately three dozen AM & FM stations are licensed to the Tampa Bay area.

U.S. News & World Report ranks Tampa as the 16th hottest real estate market in the United States. West Palm Beach ranked first; Ft. Lauderdale was 24th.

Restaurants: Armani's, Eugen's, Lobster Pot, Donatello, Il Nido, Mise en Place, Oystercatchers, Black Swan, Bentley's, r.g.'s, Wine Cellar, Le Bordeaux, Le Pompano, Bella Trattoria, Basta's, Dolce Vita, Lauro Ristorante ....

The Rutenbergs, Arthur and Charles, have been among the most consistent, respectable and successful developers in the Bay area. Arthur, whose trademark single family residences are renown across America, and Charles, who developed Countryside Mall, continue to call Clearwater their home.

S
Hillsborough and Pinellas have tens of millions of square feet in industrial, office and commercial sites ready and approved for development.

Some skeptics might say there's only one game in town, but sports represent a major part in the way Tampa Bay works and plays. Buying season tickets to see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is virtually de rigeur for prominent businesses. Motorcar racing has taken off locally with two annual events, the World Challenge of Tampa and St. Petersburg Grand Prix. Four major league baseball teams come each year for spring training; those four and two more have minor league operations in Hillsborough and Pinellas. The University of Tampa and University of South Florida have consistently ranked in national collegiate baseball polls and USF's basketball team qualified for the NCAA tournament in 1990 for the first time. Besides providing thrills, local sports provide a tremendous number of spinoff business opportunities from concessions and uniforms to transportation and lodging. They also send Tampa Bay datelines around the world via TV, radio, newspapers and magazines.

Speaking of sports, the biggest name in the world of Tampa Bay athletics has to be shipping magnate and New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Not many people in these parts can make both the sports and business news on the same day. This Tampa resident also been generous to local charities and community organizations with his time and money.

When the question of recession comes up, Tampa Bay economists and bankers frequently point to the region's senior citizens as one cushion against a local downturn. The line of thought is that between Social Security checks, pensions, military benefits and investment income, the area's older resident will always bring a guaranteed volume of dollars that other communities can't count on.

St. Petersburg-based Stetson University College of Law - Florida's oldest law school - has become a significant legal resource for Tampa Bay and the entire west coast of Florida.

The home team may not play in it, but Tampa Stadium will still put on its best face to host its second NFL championship game, Super Bowl XXV, in January 1991.

T
A coalition to watch is the Tampa Bay Partnership. An informal amalgamation of economic development groups from Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough, TBP is marketing a Bay area without county boundaries to the outside world.

The Tampa Convention Center - which still needs a more distinguished name - should finally be on-line this fall. Located on the city's downtown waterfront opposite Harbour Island, this spectacular, world-class building offers 200,000 square feet of exhibit space and a 36,000-square foot ballroom. Anyone with deep pockets looking for business opportunities should examine the convention center: when it opens, downtown Tampa will face a dire shortage of business-class hotel rooms.

A Moran, Stahl & Boyer study reported that the tax situation in Tampa Bay - moderate corporate income tax, no inventory tax, no personal income tax, no sales tax on business services and low personal property taxes - mirrors the advantages other areas of Florida have over neighboring states.

A number of economic reports have proclaimed this to be "Technology Bay" in deference to the fast-growing high technology, communications and advanced medical industries that have developed and relocated here.

This is America's 13th largest television market. Viewers are served by four network affiliates, two public broadcasting stations, two independents and a cornucopia of cable companies.

Rand McNally's Vacation Places Rated ranks the bay area third nationally for tennis. Teen sensation Jennifer Capriati trains at the Saddlebrook Resort.

The 41 miles that stretch north and south through Tampa have taken on an identity as the Tampa Parkway. It has become home to thousands upon thousands of square feet of office, commercial and industrial space, plus high-quality residential developments.

U
Even without a football team, the University of South Florida has topped Florida State as the Sunshine State's second largest school. It is based in Tampa, but the St. Petersburg Bayboro campus continues to increase enrollment and facilities. USF also has branches in Pasco, Polk and Ft. Myers.

Upscale retail stores are not yet abundant here but are growing in number. Old Hyde Park Village has the best collection, including Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, Ann Taylor, Williams-Sonoma, Crabtree & Evelyn, Jacobson's, and The Sharper Image. Downtown St. Petersburg's redevelopment plan centers upon attracting more of the same, including a major anchor or two that would be unique to the area, perhaps Macy's, Bloomingdale's or Parisian.

V
Anyone with an office in a downtown Tampa, St. Petersburg or Clearwater tower would be hard-pressed to disagree that the Bay area's office buildings offer some of the best views of land and sea available anywhere.

Vocational and technical schools have grown exponentially on both sides of the bay in answer to the needs of new and existing industry. These county-operated programs can train high school students or adults in dozens or regularly scheduled programs or can accommodate special needs.

W
Weather
? The weather is great. Only California would be better and you can't breathe or see the weather there.

Y
Youth
is on the march. Once a victim of its demographic perception, Tampa Bay has 685,046 men and women between the ages of 15 and 44. By contrast, there are only 315,911 people age 65 and over.

Ybor City is the perpetual city of hope. A new redevelopment agency and a wave of ambitious young entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, and artists have taken root and are beginning to attract a crowd.

Z
And finally, Tampa has two zoos, one world class (Busch Gardens), one on its way (Lowry Park). In the works: the Florida Aquarium, largest marine aquarium in the United States, perhaps by 1993.

end

 

©2000, All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced without the express written permission of the author.


Wash Wear Smile


Free Andelmania E-Newsletter!

Want to hear the latest about the Andelmans? Join our mailing list!
You'll get updates about the family and professional news, too.
Enter your email address below, then click the 'Join List' button:
Powered by ListBot


banner


Try Link-O-Matic for instant hits!