​St. Petersburg Business Litigation and Dispute Attorney

St. Petersburg, located in Pinellas County, has a population of 271.842, making it Florida’s fifth-most populous city, the second-biggest city in the Tampa Bay Area after Tampa. St. Pete is the largest city in the state that is not a county seat.  The city of Clearwater is the seat of Pinellas County.

St. Pete, and surrounding cities (including Clearwater, Pinellas Park, Largo, and several other cities), make up the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area.  The St. Pete/Clearwater SMA is Florida’s second-largest, with a population of roughly 2.8 million people.

St. Pete is “The Sunshine City” because it receives an average of 361 days of sunshine per year and holds the Guinness World Record for the most consecutive days of sunshine (768 between 1967 and 1969).

In 2011, American Style magazine named St. Petersburg the best mid-size city in the United States, noting the city’s “vibrant” art culture. In addition, St. Petersburg’s arts have earned it the title of “One of the Best Street Art Cities in the World.”  St. Petersburg was also named one of Florida’s top three places to visit.

With 15% of the population over 65 years old, CNN named the city the sixth-best place to retire.

St. Petersburg was named one of the “best cities to visit” in Conde Nast Traveler’s 33rd annual Reader’s Choice Awards in 2020. Because of its famed beaches and historic landmarks, the city was dubbed the “ideal” retreat. In addition, St. Petersburg just became one of 290 cities designated as an “International City of Peace.” The International Cities of Peace bestowed this award to the community, making it the second in Florida to receive it.

St. Petersburg Business Climate

The Gateway neighborhood, which straddles St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park, is a hotbed of business in Pinellas County,  The most important industries are health care, retail, and professional services. Office and administrative support, sales, and management are the most popular jobs in St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg Major Employers

According to the 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the City of St. Petersburg, Florida, the city’s largest private-sector employers are

• Jabil Circuit
• Fidelity National Information Services
• Bayfront Medical
• Continental Group
• Spectrum
• Raymond James
• Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital
• Home Shopping Network
• Anthony’s Hospital
• Publix Super Markets

Manufacturing Technology Sector

Jabil Circuit, a Fortune 500 corporation and a global leader in the manufacturing services market, is located in Pinellas. In addition, Honeywell, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, GE Energy, Baxter Healthcare, Johnson Controls, Monin Gourmet Flavorings, and Conmed Linvatec are among the companies with a significant presence in the county.

Pinellas County has the second-largest manufacturing workforce among the eight Tampa Bay counties and the state’s second-largest manufacturing workforce.

Pinellas Technical College and St. Petersburg College offer workforce training in CNC machining, welding, mechatronics, and supply chain management. In addition, employers in Pinellas County can turn to AmSkills (AmSkills.org), the German apprenticeship model, National Aviation Academy, and the College Alliance for Advanced Manufacturing (CAAM) for worker training and development.

AAR Manufacturing Group Aerosonic Avantair Bigorre Aerospace Diversified Tech Group ENSER GE Aviation Honeywell International Jormac Aerospace L-3 Lockheed Martin National Aviation Academy Raytheon SAIC are some of the companies that have operations in Pinellas.

The National Aviation Academy, situated in Pinellas County, is an FAA-approved school that offers aviation repair and avionics technology programs. Students acquire Bachelor’s degrees from Florida’s renowned Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University through St. Petersburg College’s University Partnership Center.

Enterprise Florida offers Target Sector Trade Event Grants to qualified Florida businesses to help defray the costs of some of these events.

Information Technology Sector

Information Technology (IT) companies in Pinellas County are on the upswing, with around 11,500 people employed by over 1,000 IT firms. These jobs are associated with nearly all industry sectors, including:

• software development
• telecommunications
• data processing
• graphic & web design
• computer & office machine repair
• computer equipment and software wholesalers
• electronics
• internet publishing
• broadcasting & web search portals
• programming services
• system design services
• and computer facility management services

Pinellas County Schools have structured programs that begin in middle school and progress to Career Academies in high school. Northeast High School has the Pinellas County Schools Career Academy for Technology, while Dixie Hollins High School hosts the Graphic Arts and Web Development Academies. In addition, St. Petersburg College (SPC), Pinellas Technical College (PTC), the University of South Florida, and the University of Tampa all provide IT training. SPC and PTC offer internships to help students get experience, and funds are available to local businesses interested in hiring interns.

Vology, located in Pinellas Country, is one of the country’s major managed IT services companies.  For 11 years in a row.  They made the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies.

SCIENCES OF LIFE AND MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES

Pinellas County is forging ahead by backing a robust supplier network and innovative Life Sciences and Medical Technologies sector leaders. As a result, Pinellas County is home to nearly half of all life sciences enterprises in the Tampa Bay area.

The Florida Medical Manufacturers Consortium (FMMC), based in Pinellas County, and educational and governmental partners, have a vested interest in strengthening this critical sector. Pinellas County has a pro-business climate with tax incentives for job development, low tax rates, a well-developed infrastructure, a competent workforce, and solid educational institutions focusing on industry needs.

CoreRx, a company based in Clearwater, is a contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in clinical phase drug product development and providing state-of-the-art facilities to serve supply chain demands throughout the clinical trial process. NovaQuest Private Equity recently bought CoreRx, which has been operating in Pinellas since 2013. The deal aims to expand the company’s capabilities by introducing new technologies and boosting scale to improve service offerings.

Florida has the second-highest number of FDA-registered establishments in the country.

Medical devices account for one-fifth of the state’s economic activity.

The medical manufacturing industry in Florida employs more than 605,000 people and includes more than 32,000 enterprises.

Pinellas County is home to 70% of the more than 10,000 medical technology jobs in the Tampa Bay area.

Medical Device Technology, Medical Quality Systems, Engineering Technology-Biomedical Systems, Regulatory Affairs, and Orthotics & Prosthetics are among the majors and certificate programs offered by Pinellas County’s best schools and institutions.

Pinellas Technical College, located in Pinellas County, provides students with the opportunity to meet national workplace competencies in business and industry and hands-on instruction on cutting-edge manufacturing equipment. Certificate programs in various trades, such as CNC machining, CAD, and machine shop, are available.

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