At long last, the wait is over. It's been more than two years since the Tampa Bay area was selected to host the 2012 the Republican National Convention.
Today, the Forum and the Tampa Convention Center are being ceded to the exclusive control of the Tampa Bay Host Committee and the Committee on Arrangements to begin the build out and other preparations to lower the opening gavel for the convention less than 50 days from now.
In parallel to the build out and other logistics, the host committee is continuing to promote and highlight the Tampa Bay area and work to ensure the convention is a phenomenal success in August.
In addition to fundraising and working the logistics, the host committee has been working diligently to showcase the Tampa Bay region from an economic development perspective.
Recently, the committee announced it is developing an economic development series in conjunction with Bloomberg, L.P. The series, which will be held during the week of the convention, will promote the Tampa Bay area and Florida as an optimum location for business, investment, recruitment and innovation, among other things.
This economic development series is the first of its kind in the history of a presidential nominating convention and will break new ground. You will be hearing and seeing more about this initiative in the coming weeks. I believe it will become a model for future host cities to replicate.
Having lived here nearly all my life, I know that Tampa and Florida have numerous key benefits for business, including, a favorable tax climate, a relatively low cost of living, dynamic research facilities and excellent weather.
I believe that any individual or company looking for a new locale in which to do business will no doubt discover that the Tampa Bay area has a great quality of life and will provide an excellent return on investment from a variety of perspectives.
As a result of the Republican National Convention, we have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to market and promote the Tampa Bay-area business community like never before. Florida is home to 16 Fortune 500 companies, one-quarter of which are based in the region.
In fact, the region is home to nearly two dozen companies that each generates more than a billion dollars a year in revenue. All in all, more than 175,000 businesses call the Tampa Bay area "home." In addition, the Tampa Bay-Central Florida combined super region has a gross domestic product of roughly $272 billion, making it the ninth largest economy in the United States.
These are all little known facts that we intend to disseminate to the diverse global audience that will be visiting our great cities next month. Highlighting the Tampa Bay area's small business community has been and continues to be one of the host committee's top priorities.
Earlier this year, registration for the Host Committee's Small Business Network opened to the public. As part of the small business network, businesses that registered in our local area were automatically approved to be featured in our Small Business Network Directory, which was published in May. The directory has been distributed to delegations from around the United States, state-based as well as national corporations and the global media; it is also available online at the host committee's website, www.2012tampa.com.
The directory will help visitors utilize our local small businesses before, during and after the convention.
The committee is committed to doing everything it can to foster economic development for the area and Florida. We are taking deliberate, thoughtful and unprecedented steps to promote the region and the state as a business powerhouse.
We are focused on showcasing the region and the Sunshine State as both a tourist destination and a business destination. On behalf of the 2012 Tampa Bay Host Committee, I look forward to continuing our efforts for the next 42 days leading up to this historic convention.
I know we will succeed in demonstrating to the world that Tampa is one of the best cities in America and, come August, it will no longer be such a secret. The wait is over. Our time to showcase the Tampa Bay area is right now.
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