Spotlight On: Cynthia Johnson, Director, Pinellas County Economic Development

Spotlight On: Cynthia Johnson, Director, Pinellas County Economic Development

2023-02-21T16:38:43-05:00February 21st, 2023|Economy, Spotlight On, Tampa Bay|

2 min read February 2023 Cynthia Johnson, director of Pinellas County Economic Development, is coming off a year of great advancements. Through lower unemployment and creating business spaces, she is focused on tuning her work to the needs of the community. In an interview with Invest:, she said economic equity and an eye on business retention and expansion have helped bring the county to its current level of stability. 

What have been the biggest, recent successes for Pinellas County?

The last year has been extremely exciting for Pinellas County. We’re playing a key role in the regional economic development of this community from growing our thriving manufacturing industry and target industries to working one-on-one with our major employers and workforce partners to keep our unemployment rates low. Our unemployment rates are the lowest in the region. Pinellas County has been very intentional about creating a business-friendly environment to attract the right industries and retain those we already have. We are growing our manufacturing facilities and creating good jobs for our most valuable assets, our citizens. Over the past year, we have celebrated two major milestones related to the Ark Innovation Center, our new 45,000-square-foot purpose-built incubator space located in the Innovation District in St. Petersburg. In February 2022, we celebrated the groundbreaking of the new incubator, and in January 2023, we held a topping off ceremony. Our partner and operator, the Tampa Bay Innovation Center, is on track to occupy the new building this summer. The incubator is going to be a hub of innovation and disruptive technologies. The impact will not only be great for the city of St. Petersburg and our region, but also for the state of Florida by adding to the state’s reputation for innovation.

Pinellas County’s small-business activity has taken off tremendously. In 2022 Pinellas County celebrated the fourth year of full implementation of the Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Program that is race and gender neutral. Through this program, small businesses received $28 million in contracts in 2022. A total of $17 million of those contracts went to our clients for federal, state and local contracts. Overall, there was a 30% increase in contracts the SBE Program awarded in 2022 over the previous year, which helps the small-business community in Pinellas County to thrive and grow. 

One of the biggest accomplishments for Pinellas County Economic Development this past year was our Employment Sites Program (ESP). This is a program established by the Pinellas County Commissioners to assist in the construction and redevelopment of industrial (manufacturing and flex space) and office buildings to facilitate growth opportunities for existing businesses and attract new target industry employers. The County’s $20 million investment created over 905,000 square feet of modern industrial and office space, all of which will support our target industry sectors. In September we celebrated the grand opening of a new ESP facility, the Brooker Creek South Industrial Building, in Oldsmar, FL. As the leading economic development agency in Pinellas County, we collaborate with the communities of Pinellas to create processes and strategies to help our collective community succeed.  

Another success I’m thrilled to promote is the Ad Valorem Tax Exemption incentive. My Department totally revamped the program in order to create more transparency and an equitable standard in the application process and scoring criteria. We have found that using this new process adds validation, reduces uncertainty and benefits small businesses. As a county organization, we try to be a model for our municipal partners and provide agile, supportive economic development services to help complement the work that the cities are doing. 

How are you involved in workforce development?

One of the areas that Pinellas County focuses on is making sure that job growth is tied to workforce development and talent development. Our Business Development team has been focusing their recruitment efforts on helping our existing industries grow by identifying talent resources in the skill sets that businesses need today. In our Department’s experience, we have found that there is a perception that there are job openings across our industries and not enough workers to fill those vacancies. Actually, we have plenty of talent in our region; and as economic development and workforce development practitioners, we need to master how to match or identify the right skill sets to match the opportunities. This is why Pinellas County has taken such an active role in convening economic development partners, and working with St. Petersburg College, the University of South Florida, other educational and training providers to discuss how we can work together to intentionally improve connecting talent to opportunity. 

How do you sort and determine allocation of resources?

Traditionally, Pinellas County has assessed community needs and has remained very retention-focused and growth-postured. I find that we are spending the lion’s share of our time and resources on redevelopment and on retaining companies by attracting interrelated companies to support their supply chain needs, while creating space for innovation and entrepreneurial development. A key resource needed in Pinellas County is supporting infrastructure development and improvements. Our ESP program supports improvements in stormwater and floodplain compliance as well as creates new class A office space in our urban corridors. This program also focuses on new construction, expansion and rehabilitation of office and industrial, manufacturing and flex space to strengthen the county’s competitive positioning. Lastly, I would say that we have spent more resources this year than in years past to step up our marketing initiatives and partner collaborations. We spend a lot of time working with our partner cities and industry partners to ensure that we have the most relevant tools and resources to help our businesses.

How do you incorporate equitable practices into your work?

I am a big proponent of economic equity. I think it is the responsibility of all of us who have the opportunity to shape a community that we are intentional about inclusion. Mayor Ken Welch always talks about intentional inclusivity. I echo that, and I think that we have to be intentional about reaching out to communities that have been traditionally underserved. We must be intentional about creating entrepreneurial opportunities for all who desire to go into that arena and not only avail them of the resources but coach them along the way. It is necessary to set a foundation so that as a community, we can have a sustainable and resilient economy that is transparent and available to all. Pinellas County is inclusive. In my Department, we are creating sustainable processes and programs and procedures that help all our citizens be successful, whether they live or play in our community. Diversity, equity and inclusion are keys to effective economic development practices.

What industries do you hope to expand to in the future?

As it relates to emerging industries, we are fortunate to have sectors that are competitive and that continue to seek out our community as a destination for their venture. We have longevity with manufacturing, technology, financial and professional service industries. We are really looking toward emerging technologies in the new economy within our target industries. AI, fintech, clean tech — those are all technology industry areas that we are working on, not only in terms of what companies to help expand and recruit, but working with our education partners to make sure that we are developing the talent to meet those industry needs. When Pinellas County looks at emerging industries, we have to look at it from a holistic perspective and that means looking at it from an economic, educational and entrepreneurial lens as well. Looking toward the future, we are working toward greater opportunities to showcase that Pinellas County is not only a place to come to play, but a place to stay and work as well. 

For more information, visit:

https://www.pced.org/ 

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