Task Force Wraps Up, Submits Recommendations to City and County

May 22, 2020

After weeks of engagement with dozens of local business, community, academic and nonprofit leaders weighing in with their expertise, the Economic Recovery Task Force concluded its work and submitted its recommendations to Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa.

The Tampa Bay EDC was charged with delivering recommendations that our elected officials might consider for accelerating the hiring and rehiring of dislocated workers and providing information and assistance to local businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The recommendations were distilled from the output of our two key working groups, Re-employment and Retention and Business Support, and represent the best thinking, strategies and tactics they advanced. A third working group, Recovery, consists of City and County economic development staff who will review internally before submitting the final recommendations to Mayors Castor, Lott and Ross and the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners.

In addition, the EDC developed a Back to Business Toolkit with our partners Visit Tampa Bay and the Tampa Bay Chamber that local companies can use to help them re-open safely and regain worker and consumer confidence. This toolkit is being reviewed by City and County staff and will be released next week.

I would personally like to thank the co-chairs of our working groups for their exceptional leadership: John Flanagan, CEO of CareerSource Tampa Bay, and Dr. Ken Atwater of Hillsborough Community College (Re-employment Working Group); Santiago Corrada, President & CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, and Bob Rohrlack, President & CEO of the Tampa Bay Chamber, for joining me in spearheading the Retention and Business Support Working Group; and Ron Barton, Assistant County Administrator for Hillsborough County, and Carole Post, Administrator for Economic Development for the City of Tampa.

And of course, I wish to thank every member of the working groups for sharing their time and expertise while simultaneously navigating their own personal and organizational challenges related to this crisis.

I look forward to sharing the final recommendations from the Task Force as well as the Back to Business Toolkit once our elected officials have had a chance to review them. Have a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend.

Craig