City Council approved an agreement with the Greater St. Petersburg Area Economic Development Corporation (EDC) on Thursday, March 16th. Through the agreement, the city will be providing $100,000 in funding to the EDC annually for the next 4 years. This investment will assist the EDC in its efforts to advance the Grow Smarter Initiative, enhance the city's business environment, and attract new companies and talent to our community.  The EDC, which launched in November 2016, is a public-private partnership led by J.P. DuBuque, the organization's first president.

#BurgBiz is the city's bi-weekly social media feature highlighting great local businesses - which our city has so many of! Use #BurgBiz to discover stories from local businesses about their St. Pete experience and why they chose this city as their home. 

Effective March 20, Raymond James Financial became part of the S&P 500. "We are honored to be included with this prestigious group of companies," said Paul Reilly, Chairman and CEO. " This represents a significant milestone for Raymond James, and a major accomplishment for our Chairman Emeritus Tom James, who brought Raymond James public more than 30 years ago, as well as the many current and past advisors and associates who have built this company to its current place among our industry's leaders."

Headquartered in St. Petersburg, Raymond James is the second Tampa Bay company to be part of the index. The other is Roper Technologies, a software and engineered products firm in Sarasota.

Join the Tampa Bay Export Alliance (TBEA) team as a delegate to help strengthen ties with Germany, the 4th largest investor in Florida impacting 25,000+ jobs. You'll have the opportunity to explore the Frankfurt region and take part in high level group activities, including events with Lufthansa Airlines executives and a formal reception at the Consul General's residence in Frankfurt. 

Although TBEA will not be including Gold Key/Trade Matchmaker services in the formal agenda, companies interested in exporting are encouraged to schedule individual Gold Key service trips to coincide with the mission. Contact Brent Barkway at 727-464-7411 or [email protected] to find out more information.

The Tampa Bay Innovation Center , an innovation and entrepreneurship center for technology businesses, will hold its quarterly "Diary of an Entrepreneur"/monthly TECH Talk program on Tuesday, April 11, at 8:30 am at Microsoft Headquarter offices, 5426 Bay Center Dr, Suite 700, in Tampa.  The April "Diary of an Entrepreneur" program "Instructions Not Included" will be presented by Joy Randels , CEO of Citizinvestor and board chairman of Technova Florida . She will discuss the concepts of Coordination, Cooperation, Teamwork, Convergence and, above all, Communication to achieve groundbreaking success, with Passion, Persistence and the right People. 

TECH Talk is the area's premier networking and education event developed specifically to meet the interests of the local technology community. Attendees include new and start-up technology companies, as well as entrepreneurs and those interested in the growth and success of technology innovation and entrepreneurism in the Tampa Bay area.

This event is free, but space is limited. Register in advance here. Additional information is available by contacting Mary Rodriguez Gort at 727-547-7341 or [email protected].

Dean Dixon and the USF College of Marine Science invite the community to join in their 50th Anniversary Celebration. Events are scheduled for Wednesday, April 5 through Saturday, April 8. For more information and registration, visit the event page.