ECONOMIC PROSPERITY [EP]
The Economic Prosperity chapter reflects economic development through the support of target industries, small businesses, the workforce and the overall business climate of the area. Continuing PLANPinellas’ systems approach, this chapter recognizes the local economy’s relationship to meeting the needs of both businesses and the workforce.
The County’s long-term sustainability is directly connected to maintaining a diverse, well-rounded local economy. Realizing the County’s economic potential means that all residents – including the most vulnerable – have access to participate in and benefit from its success. Opportunity for innovation, strategic target industry investment, and a commitment to support local businesses, our tourism economy, and the arts all aim to strengthen Pinellas’ place in today’s competitive global economy. We must support our workforce by addressing the need for quality housing and transportation options that safely and conveniently connect them to and from their jobs and training opportunities. The goals, objectives, and policies outlined in the Economic Prosperity chapter address each of these essential factors.
Everyday Actions
Check out local employment and business resources available to you:
- Pinellas County Government Career Center
- Career Source Pinellas
- Pinellas County Job Corps Center
- Florida Small Business Development Center
- Pinellas County’s Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Program
- Business Workshops and Seminars
- Events and Opportunities
- Investment Tools
- Pinellas County – Target Industries
And don’t forget to SHOP LOCAL!
Goals, Objectives, Policies & Strategies
STRENGTHEN THE LOCAL ECONOMY THROUGH THE ENHANCEMENT OF PINELLAS COUNTY’S REGIONAL AND GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS TO ENSURE EQUITY FOR ITS PEOPLE AND INCREASE PROSPERITY FOR ITS RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES.
Create a pro-business climate that attracts and retains a diverse range of businesses and employment opportunities.
Periodically assess existing conditions of the County’s business environment to identify needs to strengthen and grow the economy and to identify and address potential barriers to attracting, growing and retaining businesses.
Develop a prioritization methodology to evaluate opportunity areas and to determine how redevelopment investments would best be made.
Periodically assess the effects of County regulations and policies, including those regarding taxes, fees or utility rates, on economic development goals, considering the interrelationship between the County’s economic growth and fiscal health.
Encourage citizen and business participation and involvement in the economic (re)development process.
Identify and advance tools and initiatives that address identified employer and workforce needs to ensure economic mobility and access to opportunity.
Create an economic prosperity strategic plan that lays out the steps to maintain and grow the County’s economic opportunities for its citizens. This plan should utilize data and metrics on labor force and employment, wages and salaries, sector forecasts, opportunities for future growth, educational attainment, poverty levels, access to transportation, affordable housing, healthcare, education, workforce training and job opportunities. Public programs and projects should be measured to understand and address equity impacts.
Coordinate with economic development partner entities to leverage resources and better capitalize on local economic development investments and opportunities.
Promote economic stability and prosperity by coordinating with area partners, schools, universities and colleges that contribute to the development of an educated, motivated, productive and creative workforce.
Advance workforce training strategies (as outlined in the Lifelong Learning chapter) that match the current and anticipated needs of growing business sectors, with an emphasis on those occupations that are part of career ladders leading to higher-wage opportunities.
Invest in public infrastructure and capital facilities that support existing and anticipated business/industry needs.
Conduct a strategic planning process that focuses on economic recovery and expansion, as part of the County’s post-disaster recovery planning process.
Create holistic strategies to attract, retain and expand target industries as generators of higher than average prevailing wages and a catalyst for indirect and induced wage, employment and output generation.
Encourage industries that:
- Bring in high-wage jobs;
- Bring new capital into the economy, reflecting multiplier effects other than high-wages (including an increased tax base);
- Have long-term growth prospects;
- Involve a cluster of businesses engaging in similar activities;
- Use quality environmentally sensitive practices;
- Enhance quality of life; and
- Diversify the County’s economic base.
Establish programs and incentives for public and private investment in commercial and industrial areas should be established utilizing criteria to evaluate the appropriateness of site location and readiness, and need (as demonstrated by socioeconomic indicators and evidence of physical disinvestment).
Encourage job growth through infrastructure and capital facilities investment that supports business expansion.
Collaborate with partners to generate site-ready locations, through such activities as site assembly, infrastructure improvements, and meeting transportation needs.
Work with government agencies and the private sector to support and encourage the cleanup of contaminated soil and other environmental remediation associated with reuse or expansion of industrial sites.
Encourage exports of goods and services produced by Pinellas companies.
Provide for the financing of projects through the Industrial Revenue Bond program for the public purposes described in Chapter 159, Florida Statutes.
Pinellas County will foster and actively participate in intergovernmental coordination strategies and efforts toward regional economic growth.
Coordinate efforts with local municipalities and government agencies to identify economic development strategies.
Pinellas County will continue coordination efforts with State and Federal programs, local school boards, and colleges and universities to address worker training and ongoing education opportunities.
Pinellas County will actively engage the private sector regarding beneficial public/private partnerships related to the economic development of target industries.
Pinellas County will continue its public education and marketing efforts to grow the industrial base.
Promote economic growth through land use and development patterns that meet County, business and workforce needs.
Focus growth along investment corridors and urban centers to provide greater proximity of jobs to housing and efficient investment in transportation and infrastructure.
Stimulate the revitalization and redevelopment of County identified commercial corridors and urban centers through targeted economic development programs, zoning, land use regulations, public investments in infrastructure, and incentives.
Undertake strategic revitalization plans for select corridors to identify appropriate zoning and the infrastructure and public realm improvements necessary to catalyze economic development.
Coordinate investments to plan more effectively for housing, employment centers, commercial uses, education/workforce training, and for public services.
Provide quality siting opportunities for primary employers by maintaining and enhancing industrial and employment center lands.
Assist Pinellas County’s significant employment sector contributors (e.g. tax or revenue base; percent of high-wage jobs; employees) to resolve redevelopment constraints so that they can continue to grow, expand job opportunities, and provide a stable economic base.
Plan strategically for Pinellas County’s remaining large sites (or single/assembled parcel(s) of approximately 5 acres or more) to ensure that their economic development potential is fully realized, as assets to revitalize neighborhoods and diversify the economy.
Identify the infrastructure investments required to make large sites more competitive for economic development.
Create investment opportunities for new housing and employment in areas needing reinvestment and revitalization through land assemblage incentives, site preparation, and public infrastructure improvements.
Target a jobs-to-housing ratio based on the ratio of the workforce to households and implement land use and zoning policies to achieve this target.
Identify the infrastructure investments required to make sites in under-performing areas more competitive for economic development.
Consider access to educational institutions, places of employment, and child care services when planning public and multimodal transportation investments.
Enhance the vitality of Pinellas County as an attractive place to work and live through thoughtful placemaking that addresses quality-of-life of the workforce (e.g., community identity; mobility; housing; and access to amenities and services).
Utilize urban design principles that create vibrant places, streets, and spaces that, in aggregate, meet the needs of a diverse workforce.
Pursue opportunities to support small and entrepreneurial businesses to ensure communities throughout Pinellas County are economically strong, diverse and dynamic.
Focus support to spur commercial and industrial public and private investments in the most challenged and distressed neighborhoods, as demonstrated by socioeconomic indicators and disinvestment.
Provide training programs, business counseling and other support for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Address the needs of small businesses that are most vulnerable to displacement.
Reinvest throughout Pinellas to ensure local communities and businesses are economically robust and to improve access to opportunity and economic mobility.
Focus investments and small business support on the most underserved or distressed neighborhoods.
Make catalytic reinvestments in communities with traditionally less private investment.
Promote small, locally-owned community businesses that reflect the unique character of Pinellas County.
Embrace the diverse nature of our communities through support of culturally relevant businesses.
Build the capacity and strength of small businesses, including those owned by women, veterans and people of color, to increase County contracting with these businesses.
Improve economic mobility through workforce training, career development, quality education and wealth creation.
Reduce the involuntary displacement of residents and businesses resulting from market changes or insufficient business support services.
Advance a comprehensive approach to mitigating involuntary displacement that includes expanding economic mobility, creating new affordable housing and preserving existing affordability.
Stabilize residents and businesses at risk of displacement through programs and policies that help them to stay in their existing community.
Evaluate county plans, projects and significant regulatory changes for the potential to contribute to involuntary displacement; identify and implement strategies to mitigate anticipated impacts to residents and businesses.
Support the needs of specialized and emerging sectors, including creative and cultural sectors that contribute to the growth of the local economy.
Identify and support emerging sectors that can contribute to the County’s economic growth and make financially-sound decisions to invest in their attraction and retention.
Develop an increasingly robust tourism industry, supported by the continued protection of the County’s natural resources and a broad base of arts, entertainment, restaurant, lodging, and cultural and recreational amenities, which provide essential quality of life components for residents and serve as workforce and business attractors.
Support the continued concentration of entertainment uses in urban centers to create a more visible destination for visitors, workers, and residents.
Promote hospitality job training and placement initiatives by working with local hotels, tourism and visitor organizations, and others to generate entry level jobs that provide soft skills training and work experience that can lead to opportunities for upward mobility.
Support housing programs that meet the needs of the service industry.
Encourage cultural and creative arts as a tool for stimulating economic development and neighborhood identity across the County.
Promote the development of cultural amenities to more fully capitalize on the economic benefits of tourism for County residents, businesses, and neighborhoods.