The Regional Business Plan, which seeks to enable the growth of more than 150,000 jobs in the Tampa Bay region by 2020, focuses on four target clusters: Applied Medicine & Human Performance; Business, Financial & Data Services; High-Tech Electronics & Instruments; and Marine & Environmental Activities. These sectors were chosen because they represent high-growth employment opportunities. The Tampa Bay Partnership works closely with our economic development partners, cluster businesses and workforce alliances throughout the region in implementing the plan.

The Tampa Bay Partnership is pleased to announce that the Tampa Bay region added approximately 7,000 new jobs in the Applied Medicine & Human Performance sector between 2009 and 2011. During this time, the sector grew by nearly 3 percent, surpassing the overall growth rates of all jobs in Tampa Bay and the nation. The Applied Medicine & Human Performance industry comprises two-thirds of all of the plan’s target clusters employment. Overall, the four clusters (Applied Medicine & Human Performance; Business, Financial & Data Services; High-Tech Electronics & Instruments; and Marine & Environmental Activities) had positive year-over-year job growth while the overall job markets in Tampa Bay and the United States had negative growth or struggled to get into the positive range. The Applied Medicine & Human Performance sector entails the niche clusters of senior health and wellness, human performance, clinical trials, personalized medicine, health information technology, bioinformatics and medical instruments and devices. The University of South Florida’s Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) and USF Health’s partnership with The Villages Health System are two examples of innovative and collaborative activities within this target cluster. Also, Moffitt Cancer Center has become nationally known for its Total Cancer Care model, which combines elements of personalized medicine and access to clinical trials with traditional cancer care. M2Gen, a Moffitt and Merck for-profit spinout, provides a state-of-the-art facility, which is unmatched worldwide, providing bioinformatics, clinical trial matching and translational research. IMG Academies in Bradenton has produced some of the world’s top competitors and is redefining sports training for young athletes.

Tampa Bay has emerged as the preferred destination for corporate shared services operations (SSOs), with 10 percent of Fortune 50 and 9 percent of Fortune 100 companies’ SSOs located in the region. Two such companies are Coca-Cola Enterprises and Progressive Insurance. Also, the SSOs of several worldwide companies have found the Tampa Bay region to be a prime location to house their operations. In fact, a KPMG 2012 Competitive Alternatives study ranked Tampa Bay best among large U.S. markets for shared services centers. SSOs are the consolidation of business functions used by multiple parts of an organization, like accounting and information technology. Recently, the Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON) hosted its North American Conference in Florida’s Super Region. The Tampa Bay Partnership, along with its economic development partners, was in attendance and showcased the Tampa Bay region to a worldwide audience. SSOs comprise just one component of the Business, Financial & Data Services cluster of the Partnership’s Regional Business Plan.

The Marine & Environmental Activities target sector focuses on developing commercial and business applications from the region’s already strong research/innovation capabilities in the marine sciences. One niche is aquaculture, which includes the cultivation and production of aquatic animals and plants in a controlled aquatic environment. It is expected to experience strong growth due to high U.S. demand for seafood and lower yields from wildlife fisheries. Currently, the United States imports the vast majority of its seafood. Changing regulations create an opportunity for more farm-raised American seafood. The Tampa Bay Partnership is seeking support for a progressive water policy that allows for easier transfer of water permits, which would enable aquaculture production in existing agricultural areas.  Additionally, the Partnership is seeking the support of the state to invest in a feasibility study of inland aquaculture.  The study would seek to demonstrate the commercial viability of inland aquaculture for the region and Florida to create jobs and increase Florida’s seafood exports to the nation and the world.

Tampa Bay is the 32nd-largest merchandise export region in the nation and has the incredible potential to drive jobs creation by increasing its export intensity, specifically within our High Tech Electronics & Instruments sector. Research shows that while Tampa Bay makes up 25 percent of Florida’s economy, the region only represents a little more than 15 percent of the state’s merchandise exports. The Tampa Bay Metropolitan Export Exchange is hoping to change that and, in turn, increase job growth in our High Tech Electronics & Instruments sector and the region as a whole. Tampa Bay was recently selected as one of eight metropolitan areas in the nation to participate in the Brookings Metropolitan Export Exchange, which will help to develop and execute strategies to increase the region’s exports. In March, a delegation of Tampa Bay leaders traveled to Washington, D.C., to take part in a Brookings Institution session and brief the region’s congressional offices on the importance of exports in fostering job growth and economic diversification.