“We’re grateful to build projects that really enhance our community,” said Joshua Bomstein, President of Creative Contractors. “Building schools and hospitals, performing arts centers, recreational facilities, that’s a special privilege because we know the activities in these facilities have such a profound impact on people’s lives.”
Celebrating 50 years in business in 2024, Creative Contractors is consistently ranked by the Tampa Bay Business Journal as the largest locally owned contractor in the region. Founded in 1974 by Alan Bomstein, the company got its start by building fit-outs at the region’s first indoor shopping malls. Those projects led to free-standing retail and office buildings. Over time, the focus of the company evolved to the community and institutional projects it builds today.
Bomstein credits the company’s success to the hardworking attitude of its people and a dedication to building long-term relationships with clients. “We have great people who share our mission of client satisfaction above all else,” said Bomstein. “The culture of doing the right thing and always placing the needs of clients above our own is how we’ve built longstanding and good relationships with our clients and design partners.” Another key to the company’s success is its emphasis on strategic planning and due diligence far in advance of breaking ground on construction. This planning enables the company to deliver excellence despite workforce and supply chain challenges.
Creative Contractors’ clients include the Tampa Theatre, Moffit Cancer Center, YMCA of Metro Tampa, University of South Florida, Hillsborough County Public Schools, BayCare Health System, and Tampa General Hospital. When asked about a favorite project, Bomstein singled out the Glazer Family Jewish Community Center as one of his more memorable projects in the City of Tampa.
“We took an underutilized, historic landmark, the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory, and repurposed it into what is now a great and actively used event space and fitness center,” Bomstein said. “Also, I am a member of the JCC, so I get the satisfaction of using it personally for exercise and wellness, which is a nice bonus.”
This year the company will be breaking ground on an expansion and renovation at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. Bomstein describes it as “transformative” for all of Downtown Tampa, not just the Straz Center. “It’s going to add significant new amenities and create great vibrancy between the building and the riverwalk,” Bomstein said. “The architecture of the project is very exciting and contemporary. The reimagined exterior of the building is going to be iconic and inspiring. It really has something for everyone.”
Chamber Members since 2015, Creative Contractors is always looking for ways to be more deeply involved in the communities they serve. “If you want to get plugged in to the region and what’s going on, the Chamber is an essential resource,” Bomstein said. “I can’t venture to even guess how many relationships and friendships have been formed as a result of engagement with the Chamber, and that serves us every day. We’re beyond grateful for everything the Chamber does.”
Bomstein serves on the Chamber’s Board of Directors and graduated from the Leadership Tampa Class of 2017, an experience he said exceeded all his expectations. “I really made lifelong friends,” he said. “Folks I do business with and folks I have fun with, it was really transformational for my life and my career.”
