Fix it now

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater lost more jobs from January 2007 to January 2008 than anywhere else in the state of Florida, according to stats released today by the state’s Agency for Workforce Innovation.

11, 700 jobs went bye-bye from greater Tampa Bay over the 12-month period.

(Waiting a few seconds for that to sink in.)

Hot on our tails were Bradenton-Sarasota (-11,100 jobs) and the Fort Myers area (-10,800 jobs). Not a good year for the gulf coast.

Download the numbers here (.pdf file)

The Tampa Chamber, for its part, counters with news of the creation of 410 aircraft maintenance jobs at Tampa International Airport.

A first step: Various chambers of commerce have instituted organizations to create a more hospitable environment for young professionals. But there’s no quick marketing fix to the youth drain problem. A good start would be for local governments and businesses to recommit themselves to funding the arts, which would provide a hipper Tampa Bay and keep creatives here instead of sending them fleeing to New York or Austin. Plus, the arts have a tremendous economic impact, one that generally stays in the area.

Resources

Emerge Tampa Bay, emergetampa.com; St. Pete Young Professionals; HYPE (Hispanic Young Professionals & Entrepreneurs), hypetampabay.org; HYPE (Helping Young Professionals Emerge) Pinellas, hypepinellas.org; download a copy of Creative Tampa Bay’s “Young & Restless” study of young professionals in the region.