{"id":159335,"date":"2026-02-18T04:31:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T04:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159335\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T04:31:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T04:31:04","slug":"state-of-the-region-researchers-unveil-how-tampa-bay-compares-against-its-peer-and-aspirational-communities-at-annual-community-luncheon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159335\/","title":{"rendered":"‘State of the Region\u2019 researchers unveil how Tampa Bay compares against its peer and aspirational communities at annual community luncheon"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA \u2014 Innovation is on the rise. Wages are up. The region is becoming more educated.\u00a0
\u00a0
Then there\u2019s this unexpected strength: Tampa Bay ranks third among its 19 peer regions
\n in AI adoption \u2014 surpassing major tech hubs \u2014 with nearly 13% of businesses utilizing
\n AI.\u00a0
\u00a0
Despite these positive indicators, transportation costs and housing expenses leave
\n residents feeling strained.\u00a0
\u00a0
For example, roughly 3 out of 5 renters spend 30% or more of their income on housing.
\n Additionally, half of households spend more than $1,500 each month on housing.\u00a0
\u00a0
These were the major trends revealed at the ninth \u2018State of the Region\u2019 community
\n luncheon, where nearly 500 community and business leaders, policymakers, and government
\n officials gathered to hear where the region stands on its most pressing challenges.\u00a0
\u00a0
Tuesday\u2019s event was heavy on data and trends, but also a homecoming for University
\n of South Florida president Moez Limayem<\/a>, whose welcome remarks kicked off his first day as the university\u2019s ninth president.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The crowd in the Marshall Student Center ballroom greeted him with applause and a
\n standing ovation.\u00a0
\u00a0
\u201cTo be the ninth president of this incredible university at my very first official
\n event, to welcome you to the ninth State of the Region, that is incredible,\u201d said
\n Limayem, who played a pivotal role in creating the event during his 10-year tenure
\n as dean at the Muma College of Business.\u00a0
\u00a0
Since 2017, the Tampa Bay Partnership and the Muma College of Business have partnered
\n to publish two complementary benchmarking reports \u2014 the 2026 Tampa Bay E-Insights Report<\/a> and the 2026 Regional Competitiveness Report<\/a> \u2014 which show how the Tampa area\u2019s eight-county region compares with 19 peer and aspirational
\n metropolitan communities across the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The reports show the regional successes while also identifying the challenges in key
\n economic and socio-economic metrics. Some of the main findings from this year\u2019s reports
\n include:<\/p>\n

Innovation continues to play a critical role in both education and the broader community.
\n University research and development rose by $58 million to $467 million, and the region
\n received an increase in small business awards.<\/p>\n

The issue of affordability remains a consistent theme. While Tampa Bay\u2019s wages and
\n net worth increased, those gains were offset by higher living costs.<\/p>\n

Average wages are up by more than 5% to about $67K.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New this year is a data dashboard<\/a> that allows statistical analysis of Tampa Bay against more than 600 counties across
\n the U.S. on 24 metrics, hosted by USF. This is a complement to the State of the Region
\n website which focuses on the core comparison communities.\u00a0
\u00a0
\u201cThis year we celebrate nine years of collaborative research, and we hope these insights
\n challenge our community leaders to think big, be innovative, and act on the trends
\n shaping our region\u2019s future,\u201d said David W. Blackwell<\/a>, Lynn Pippenger Dean at the Muma College of Business.<\/p>\n

The 2026 Tampa Bay E-Insights Report is an 80-page report that focuses on three main
\n areas: economic outcomes, education and opportunity, and quality of life. The Tampa
\n Bay Partnership, in collaboration with Community Foundation Tampa Bay and United Way
\n Suncoast, created the 2026 Regional Competitiveness Report.\u00a0
\u00a0
Researchers took turns highlighting specific data points and dove into trend lines.\u00a0
\u00a0
This year\u2019s research uncovered an unexpected strength: AI adoption.\u00a0
\u00a0
\u201cThis is a massive \u2018early-mover\u2019 advantage, and this shows that our private sector
\n is agile. If we leverage this advantage, we can be on the path for attracting high-wage
\n jobs and workers,\u201d said Manish Agrawal<\/a>, professor in the USF School of Information Systems.\u00a0
\u00a0
Shivendu Shivendu<\/a>, associate professor in the School of Information Systems, discussed the factors
\n that could improve life in Tampa Bay and increase regional competitiveness.\u00a0
\u00a0
\u201cSimply adding more jobs is not sufficient,\u201d he said. \u201cTo move the needle, we must
\n focus on high-quality jobs and high-wage STEM and finance jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, the Regional Competitiveness Report shows that Tampa Bay has had year-over-year
\n improvements in 39 of the 61 indicators, including 83% of talent indicators, 80% of
\n civic quality metrics, and 67% of Florida talent indicators.\u00a0
\u00a0
Sarah Burgoyne, senior director of research and public policy for the Tampa Bay Partnership,
\n said the region\u2019s job growth slowed slightly, with other Florida metros creating jobs
\n slightly faster than Tampa Bay.\u00a0
\u00a0
\u201cHowever, job growth alone doesn\u2019t guarantee talent attraction,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople
\n are weighing the full picture \u2014 housing, transportation, education, affordability,
\n and overall quality of life.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
Burgoyne said buses, light rail, and other modalities that help the masses move are
\n not as exciting, but they are a necessary driver for job growth.\u00a0
\u00a0
And when she mentioned that average commute times decreased by 18 seconds, the crowd
\n roared with laughter. \u00a0
\u00a0
Moderators held two fireside chats \u2014 one on attracting talent and the other on healthcare
\n affordability.<\/p>\n

Josh Wright, executive vice president of Lightcast, the global leader in labor market
\n data, talked about workforce development trends, AI, and where growth opportunities
\n lie in the Tampa Bay region.\u00a0
\u00a0
\u201cThe skill of the future and of today is the skill of human and AI collaboration,\u201d
\n he said. \u201cSkills are changing inside job descriptions faster than before. There is
\n a huge need for foundational human skills.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
Brian Pieninck, president and Chief Executive Officer at GuideWell, the parent company
\n of Florida Blue, discussed the challenges and consequences of rising healthcare costs
\n and the future of healthcare affordability.\u00a0
\u00a0
Bemetra Simmons, president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership, challenged attendees
\n to choose one indicator from the data and act upon it.\u00a0
\u00a0
\u201cToday, we heard what it looks like when leaders move from measuring and monitoring
\n to acting on the trend,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard from leaders who have leveraged this information to create new partnerships.
\n We saw promising improvements in our talent indicators. To each of you, thanks for
\n your leadership, your curiosity, and for investing your time in this important conversation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 Innovation is on the rise. Wages are up. The region is becoming more educated.\u00a0\u00a0Then there\u2019s this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159336,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-159335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}