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A Model Leader For The Region

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 7, 2009

Leadership Tampa gives its annual Parke Wright III Award to a leader who has "made a significant difference in the Tampa Bay community."

That describes Deanne Roberts, this year's worthy selection. The founder and chairwoman of Roberts Communications has long labored with little fanfare but is responsible for many improvements to the community.

She was among those business leaders who recognized the importance of diversifying the region's economy and sought to bring high-paying jobs here by developing the biotech industry.

As chair of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, she pushed for the region to address its transportation problems and develop mass transit.

She founded Emerge Tampa Bay to develop young community leaders and established a similar statewide program, Connect Florida.

And she helped found Creative Tampa Bay, which seeks to nurture creative industries, from filmmaking to sculpture.

Her efforts have paid off. Mayor Pam Iorio developed a Creative Industries Council to complement Creative Tampa Bay's efforts. The city is seeing "creative clusters" take root in Ybor City and elsewhere.

The mayor also is promoting a transportation referendum on rail that would help advance the multimodal transportation system Roberts has long advocated.

Emerge Tampa Bay now has more than 300 members and is inspiring other communities to develop similar organizations.

While such results are the true reward for her work, it is nice to see Leadership Tampa recognize Roberts and the fine example she sets for the next generation of community leaders.

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