Jobs up, income down
Tampa Bay receives mixed scores
By SUZETTE PORTER
Article published on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006  |
TAMPA BAY – Tampa Bay Partnership on Thursday, Jan. 12, revealed the results of its Regional Economic Scorecard, which measured five categories of the area’s competitiveness and attractiveness to business and investment.
“By releasing this scorecard, we’re making a bold statement and looking to focus the region’s resources toward issues which can have the greatest impact for our future,” Dewey Mitchell, broker and owner of Prudential Realty and chair of Tampa Bay Partnership, said in a press release.
The scorecard answers the question of how Tampa Bay is doing, using five economic driver categories – employment and workforce; income and productivity; housing; innovation; and education.
Cities and counties within the Tampa Bay Partnership, which include Tampa, St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Lakeland, Sarasota-Bradenton, and Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota counties, were compared to Atlanta, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Raleigh-Durham and Dallas.
Key points on the scorecard, according to the Partnership, include:
• Tampa Bay is strong in job creation, employment and labor force growth
• More work needs to be done for affordable housing in the area
• Incomes and wages are on the rise, but still relatively low.
Overall, Tampa Bay received a scorecard ranking of 2. Charlotte scored a 1, Raleigh-Durham a 2, Dallas scored a 4, Jacksonville a 5, and Atlanta scored a 6.
Per category, Tampa Bay scored a 1 in employment and workforce, and income and productivity. The region scored a 2 in education, a 5 in innovation and a 6 in housing.
"The ability of industries in the region to create quality jobs, increased average wages, affordable housing for all residents, support for innovative activities, and provide high quality education are critical to a vibrant region," the scorecard said.
Employment, workforce rank
Tampa Bay scored a 1 in employment and workforce, compared to Charlotte with a 2 ranking; Jacksonville a 3; Dallas scored a 4; and Atlanta and Raleigh-Durham received rankings of 5.
In the third quarter of 2005, 51,400 jobs were created in Tampa Bay, according to the scorecard. The region also had a low employment rate of 3.7 percent in the third quarter, “the lowest of all comparison metropolitan areas,” the scorecard said.
Income and productivity rank
Tampa Bay scored a 1 in income and productivity, compared to Charlotte with a ranking of 2; Jacksonville with 3; Raleigh-Durham with 4; Dallas with 5; and Atlanta with 6.
Tampa Bay’s average wage growth of 3.3 percent was higher than the national average of 2.5 percent, the scorecard said. However, Tampa Bay’s average wage of $32,962 and the median household income of $42,263 are “lower than all five comparison regions and national figures,” according to the scorecard. Per capita income personal income in Tampa Bay of $30,496 is lower than the national level of $31,472 and all the comparison regions except Jacksonville.
“While it’s promising that income levels are rising in Tampa Bay, the work to recruit high-wage jobs needed to transform the economy has just begun,” the scorecard said.
Housing rank
Tampa Bay ranked 6 in housing, compared to Charlotte, Dallas and Jacksonville with a rank of 1; and Atlanta and Raleigh-Durham with a rank of 4.
In the third quarter of 2005, the median price of an existing single family home was $230,900. New homes are even more expensive, the scorecard said.
The lower than average income of residents, coupled with high housing prices have resulted in Tampa Bay having “the lowest single family affordability ratio and, indirectly, the lowest rental affordability ratio of all comparison regions,” the scorecard said.
Housing affordability will affect transportation as people move farther away, creating more congestion and sprawl, according to the scorecard.
Availability of affordable housing is important to attracting and retaining a workforce needed to support economic growth.
"Companies may not choose to relocate or expand in a region if they believe that their employees will not be able to afford homes of their own," the scorecard said.
Examples of proactive measures being taken to address affordable housing needs include action taken by Pinellas County to require developers to pay rent subsidies to displaced mobile home park residents.
Innovation rank
Tampa Bay ranked 5 in innovation, compared to Raleigh-Durham with a score of 1; Atlanta with a 2; Dallas with 3; Charlotte with 4; and Jacksonville with 6.
"An innovative environment encourages and incubates knowledge-based companies, which then use their discoveries to create a competitive advantage for their company, and, in turn, create new high-wage jobs," the scorecard said.
Tampa Bay is improving with an increase in venture capital flowing into the region; however, more is needed along with an increase in educational institutions, "which are critical to supporting innovative thinking," according to the scorecard.
Education rank
Tampa Bay scored a 2 in the education category, compared to Raleigh-Durham with a 1; Charlotte with a 3; Dallas with a 4; Jacksonville with a 5; and Atlanta with a 6.
"The amount of intellectual capital in a region influences the types of companies and industry sectors that are attracted to a region," the scorecard said.
High school graduation rates in Tampa Bay have increased from 66.6 percent in 2001 to 75.4 percent in 2004. The median SAT scores in the Tampa Bay region are higher than the state's. Five high schools ranked in the top 100 in the nation are located in Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay has 34 institutions of high learning and led the comparison regions in the number of associate degrees earned by residents.
Tampa Bay Partnership believes that knowing “how we’re doing” compared to other metropolitan regions is important.
“Analyzing a realistic snapshot of our market is critical to remaining competitive and ensuring the attractiveness of our region for business and investment,” said Kathy Baylis, Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County and ED Partners chair of the Partnership.
Roy McCraw, regional president of Wachovia and secretary-treasurer for the Partnership, described the scorecard effort as “doing the right thing in our community to get better.”
|
Article published on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006
Copyright © Tampa Bay Newspapers: All rights reserved. |
