Gov. Rick Scott has named Mike Griffin, a well-regarded local leader and current chair of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, to the Tampa Port Authority. While announcing Griffin’s appointment, Scott took a shot at the agency over reports of excessive spending.
Port Tampa Bay announced Thursday that it had hired sixth-generation Floridian and former marine Jamal Sowell as its new director of special projects.
A report paid for by the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) says the agency’s strategic investment planning decisions have generated $1.2 billion in local and state gross domestic product and a combined 13,200 jobs. The Tampa based-agency is best known for owning and operating the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, the 14-mile all-electronic, limited-access toll road in Hillsborough County. The report, written by the Center for Urban Transportation (CUTR), begins with the premise that increased transportation accessibility promotes the clustering of business and residential units…
Ed Miyagishima, the Vice President of Communications and External Affairs at Port Tampa Bay and a senior adviser to CEO Paul Anderson, announced that he is leaving his position to “lead the charge” to have Tampa Bay host the 2019 Medal of Honor Convention. Miyagishima, who had been with the port for four years, made the announcement on his Facebook page Wednesday night. “I’m humbled and excited for this new chapter which will allow me to represent and showcase the American heroes and military community I love…
The master plan devised by Jeff Vinik’s Strategic Property Partners and Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment to revitalize the Channelside region of Tampa was originally designed as a 40-acre, billion-dollar plan when it was first unveiled in December of 2014. Then it went up to $2 billion. Speaking to the board of Port Tampa on Tuesday, SPP CEO James Nozar revealed that the investment has now grown to $3 billion and 53 acres, and its footprint has now expanded to between six…
Adam Putnam says that new trade opportunities has historically had a negative impact on Florida agriculture, but a confluence of events is setting up the state to play a major role in feeding the world in the future. “Put very simply, by 2050 we will have 10 billion mouths to feed on Planet Earth,” the state’s Agricultural Commissioner said Wednesday in Tampa. “The only way to meet the demands of that population will be through productivity and yield gains in agriculture.…
Today on Context Florida: Chris Timmons calls for sober rhetoric to produce better government. Several weeks ago, business mogul and presidential candidate Donald Trump pledged to “kick the hell of ISIS.” During the New Hampshire primaries, Trump called his fellow presidential contender Ted Cruz “a pussy.” You notice a problem here, Timmons asks. There has been a devolving standard of public substance and decorum. In private, we can expect politicians to use salty, often abrasive language. No one ever said President…
