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Smart Investing Will Boost Local Economy

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 7, 2008

Only a few years ago Hillsborough County and the rest of Florida looked on the financial struggles elsewhere in the nation with smug detachment.

While other states struggled as manufacturing plants closed, jobs were outsourced, and retirees fled South, Florida could count on its growth to keep the money and jobs flowing. Our state seemed virtually immune from economic downturns.

No longer.

This recession has slowed growth and brought the state to its knees. Florida now suffers more than most states.

It leads the nation in job loss. In the past year some 156,200 Florida jobs have vanished. And West-Central Florida's job loss is among the highest in the nation. Florida's 7 percent unemployment rate is the highest in 15 years. Hillsborough's unemployment rate is even higher - 7.4 percent.

Florida's once mighty homebuilding industry has been humbled. The state is second in the nation in foreclosures, with 440,000 filings. The market is glutted, with more than 300,000 unsold homes. So even if Washington should manage to quickly resolve the mortgage crisis, the state's homebuilding industry is unlikely to bounce back anytime soon.

More significant to Florida's long-term economic prospect is that even prior to the economic downturn, congested roads, water shortages, inadequate schools, pollution and the other consequences of haphazard growth and inattention to infrastructure combined to tarnish the state's appeal.

Retirees and companies alike have started to find the quality of life more attractive in North Carolina and other regions.

Now, with its economy in shambles the state is projected to face a $3.5 billion budget shortfall next year, which will make deep cuts to services necessary. Florida's appeal is likely to further erode.

State and local leaders must recognize the urgency of ending their dependence on growth and begin to invest in a strong, diversified economy.

There has been a lot of talk in the past about such an effort. But not much action. Former Hillsborough Commissioner Ed Turanchik was widely ridiculed for his visionary support of a transit-oriented community, where business and homes could be developed along transit line. He clearly was ahead of his time.

It's encouraging that now a few leaders appear to have the courage to lead the charge for overhauling the local economy and its growth patterns. Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, for one, is pushing hard to present voters a transit plan.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe supports that effort and is promoting a "blueprint" for diminishing the region's dependence on growth.

He has been studying Charlotte, Houston and other communities best weathering the financial downturn.

At the top of the list in helping communities thrive and attract high-paying jobs are two major public investments: education and transit.

Companies want an educated workforce and strong research facilities that can collaborate with the private sector.

Sharpe points to Hillsborough's success in attracting Draper Laboratory as an example of the sorts of enterprises on which the community should concentrate.

Draper will partner with the University of South Florida, James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, and the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center.

The nonprofit firm headquartered at the edge of the MIT campus in Cambridge is involved in energy, surveillance, micro-electronics, health care and other research.

Draper was provided about $20 million in state and local incentives to locate a branch here. But the company eventually will provide thousands of high-paying jobs for scientists, researchers, machine operators and other positions.

The enterprise never would have chosen Tampa were it not for USF and the trained workforce it produces, something lawmakers should consider as they hack away at the state budget.

Transit, as both Iorio and Sharpe understand, also is key to attracting high-wage companies. Young professionals want transportation alternatives. They also want lifestyle options, and transit encourages development patterns that allow for both dynamic urban centers and peaceful rural areas.

Sharpe points out that while Hillsborough is losing jobs, communities that have invested in transit, such as Charlotte, Houston and Dallas, are adding jobs. Transit ridership is high, and homes near transit lines are increasing in value, despite the real-estate slump.

All this doesn't mean the county should abandon the development industry, which eventually will regain steam.

But state and local leaders should see permitting far-flung subdivisions to claim the countryside will stress resources as well as diminish the region's appeal to the kind of industries that could secure a stronger economic future.

The focus should be on nurturing and attracting high-tech jobs and building efficient communities.

As Sharpe puts it, our current financial plight shows that elected officials can no longer afford to be "short-sighted."

Nor can they afford to blindly put all their economic hopes into hammers and nails.

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