2022 Annual Report
Catalyst In The Region
Catalyst
Legislative Kickoff
| Date | January 6 |
| Spotlight | The Chamber’s annual Legislative Kickoff drew nearly 140 attendees for the 2022 Session, with guests engaging in thoughtful dialogue on important issues for the business community. |
Legislative Wrap-Up
| Date | March 22 |
| Spotlight | Following the close of the 2022 Legislative Session in Tallahassee, State Senators and Representatives from more than a half-dozen districts in Hillsborough County discussed key votes with guests as well as the Chamber’s Legislative Agenda. |
Face The Chamber
May 12
Guests heard directly from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor in a moderated Q&A with local news anchor Holly Gregory. Business development, regional growth, affordable housing, the fate of the Tampa Bay Rays in the region, and her own re-election were hot topics of discussion.
Public Policy Roundtable
| Date | May 18 |
| Spotlight | Featured Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared W. Purdue |
Hob Nob
| Date | August 10 |
| Spotlight | Engaged with nearly 60 local, state and federal candidates from Pasco, Pinellas, and Hillsborough counties. |
More than 240 guests participated in Hob Nob’s annual straw poll, which included local, state and federal races, plus voter amendments and local referenda set to appear on the November 2022 ballot.
Beyond the annual legislative season, Chamber members continued to volunteer their time and expertise on a number of public policy initiatives. Working alongside our Vice President of Advocacy Nicholas Glover, this sustained collaboration made it possible for our Chamber to enhance programming that brought citizens and public figures face to face on high-interest issues at the local, regional, and state levels.
Serving on the Policy Advisory Committee were Co-Chairs Melanie Brown of AdventHealth and Matt Floyd of the Mosaic Company.
Rebecca Arends of Moffitt Cancer Center and Ed Narain of AT&T served as Co-Chairs of our Policy Council.
Local Advocacy
As a 5-star rated chamber, accredited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, we carry our responsibility in local advocacy very seriously and take every opportunity to serve as the voice of our region’s business community on a number of public policy fronts. In 2022, this work included high-level meetings on transportation, creating a collaborative regional strategy among chambers, and increasing civic engagement on healthcare, and education, as well as other public policy matters of heightened interest to voters.
Our Transportation Council Chair was Mickey Jacob of Goodwyn Mills Cawood.
Transportation & Innovation
Our Policy Council and Transportation Council both hosted robust Q&A sessions with community leaders engaged in the process of deciding what to do with funds raised through Hillsborough County’s 1% Transportation Sales Surtax. Our Chamber’s position remains that the Florida State Legislature appropriate the revenues back to Hillsborough County for local road and transportation needs in accordance with State Statute 212.055(1) as court ordered and agreed to in the 2022 Legislative Budget.
| Subject Experts, Influencers & Decision Makers |
|---|
| 1% Transportation Sales Surtax with Gwen Myers – Hillsborough County Commissioner |
| Micro mobility and transportation innovation with Andrew Cary – PT Solutions |
| The inter-city passenger railroad between Miami Dade & Palm Beach counties with Christine Kefauver – Brightline |
| Industry innovation with Senior Executives – Hyperloop Transportation Technologies |
| Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) Leaders |
| Parking in Downtown Tampa with Karen Kress – Downtown Tampa Partnership |
| Support to Hillsborough’s Transportation Planning Organization on freight industry’s supply chain resiliency |
Regional Strategy
In alignment with our Vision 2026 plan, we continue our pursuit of a regional strategy that serves the Tampa Bay area best. Collaboration with other area chambers and economic development agencies continues as we engage with more partners with memorandums of understanding (MoU).
Catalyst & Hub for Business
Our Chamber addressed developing trends and current issues involving access to healthcare and quality education and increasing civic engagement. These are common threads in the success or failure of any industry. Our 2022 gatherings and strategic meetings included top leaders in these three arenas.
- The Chamber’s 2022 Candidate Interview Series, including races at the local, state and federal levels in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
- City of Tampa Development & Economic Opportunity – meet & greet with its newly appointed Administrator Nicole B. Travis
- Bay Area Manufacturing Association (BAMA) on collaborative initiatives with us on Advocacy, Membership, Workforce Development and Military.
- TampaBayAreahospitalsontheDirectedPayment Program for Hillsborough County Hospitals
- Community Leaders on Hillsborough County Public School’s proposed 1-mill Operating Millage Increase
National/State Advocacy
Tracking developments in the 2022 Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, our Chamber became a signatory to a national letter of support by chambers of commerce urging for the release of dedicated transit funds to local transportation agencies. We also hosted several meetings with the White House Administration and Congressional Leaders to advocate for the Tampa Bay region.
- Met with members of the Tampa Bay Congressional Delegation, the Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Rail Administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during 2022 Annual Catalyst Trip.
- Wide-ranging conversations on affordable housing and community resiliency with U.S. Congressman French Hill (Arkansas – District 2), who is a ranking member on the Housing, Community Development and Insurance Subcommittee.
- Roundtable discussions with U.S. Senator Rick Scott, Florida Senator & President-Designate Kathleen Passidomo and State Senator Jennifer Bradley, Chair of Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice on legislative agendas well into 2023. These forward-looking discussions were made possible by our board’s unanimous adoption of Key Issues, the Chamber’s 2023 legislative agenda.
Our Board of Directors recognized the impact the availability of workforce housing has on the business community’s ability to recruit and retain top talent.
John DeLaVergne of DeLaVergne & Company and Rob Ledford of Baker Barrios Architects served as Co-Chairs on our Workforce Housing Committee.
In pursuit of solutions, our Chamber’s Workforce Housing Committee organized crucial meetings with subject matter experts and decision makers on key initiatives in 2022.
- Robles Park Village in Tampa: Guest Speaker Dan Coakley, President of PMG Affordable, specializing in affordable housing.
- Workforce Housing initiatives became the focus of Leadership Tampa’s Class of 2022
- Discussions on current workforce housing initiatives by the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County, as well as incentive programs.
- Natural Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH): Guest Speaker Bill Mague, Director of Acquisitions & Special Projects of Aeon, specializing in funding solutions that preserve existing affordable residential rental properties without public or federal subsidies.
- The Community Workforce Housing Fund in Raleigh, North Carolina provides financial incentives to developers to create more housing options: Guest Speakers Lorena McDowell, Wake County’s Director of Affordable Housing & Community Revitalization and Mark Perlman, Division Director of Equitable Housing & Community Development.
Our Chamber takes every opportunity to connect our members with subject matter experts to discuss issues of importance.
| 2022 Highlights |
|---|
| Artspace Arts Market Study by the President of the Gobioff Foundation, Neil Gobioff |
| Workforce development experts Frank Wells of the Bright Community Trust and Bill Mague of Aeon on creating actionable items for change |
| A closer look at the workforce housing initiative of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce |