D E P A R T M E N T H E A D
Visions of the Year to Come 2015
Bob Martinez
Senior Policy Advisor
Holland & Knight LLP
Twenty-Fifteen should be a Tampa Bay
banner year for tourism, convention
visitors, urban development and major
construction projects completed or
started. Urban living, shopping and
entertainment venues are changing
skylines, creating new jobs and bringing
life after dark to city centers.
Our Tampa Bay universities, colleges
and medical centers are magnets for
education, research and health services.
Their reach extends beyond Tampa Bay to
bring in new investments, business and
residents to expand our economy.
We need to make certain that our quality
of life institutions can meet the challenges
of growth. Museums, performing arts
facilities, zoos and aquariums and
professional sports teams must receive
public and community support to provide
a superior product.
Transportation is an unfinished business
in growth areas. With the increasing
popularity of compact growth for work
and living among young workers, the
reliance on car transportation diminishes.
This will increase the roll of public
transportation.
Judy Genshaft
President
University of South Florida
The next year is going to be a great one
for the Tampa Bay Region, as we continue
working toward our goals of building
innovative, healthy and sustainable
communities. We are now seeing the
incredible benefits of our regional focus on
higher education and research. We are
building a bridge to a high-tech, knowledge
economy and fueling a great entrepreneurial
and creative spirit all across the region.
The University of South Florida System
has many exciting initiatives for 2015,
from pursuing the opportunity of building
the new Morsani College of Medicine and
USF Health Heart Institute in downtown
Tampa to a new College of Business at
USF St. Petersburg, to investments we
are making in STEM programs at USF
Sarasota-Manatee. We will continue to
work with our economic development
partners to retain and expand the region’s
current businesses and recruit new
corporations to the area. USF makes a
difference for Tampa Bay!
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 43