Highlights of Economic and Business Growth in the Tampa Bay Region

TAMPA BAY, Fla., July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- News briefs concerning the economic and business growth in the Tampa Bay Region from the Tampa Bay Partnership:

United Natural Foods to Open New Distribution Facility in South Tampa Bay

United Natural Foods, Inc. announced plans to open a new 352,000-square-foot distribution facility in Sarasota that will utilize state- of-the-art technology and allow the Company to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance service levels to customers in the Southeastern United States. United Natural Foods expects its Sarasota facility will create 150 new jobs in the first year, growing to 250 jobs within three years. The leased Sarasota facility is scheduled to commence operations in early Fall of 2007 and will serve as a distribution hub for customers in Florida, and the Caribbean. The distribution facility will be the Company's largest facility on the East Coast and the second largest in its nationwide distribution network. United Natural Foods has the largest warehouse capacity of any distributor in the natural products industry and, with the opening of the Sarasota facility, will have more than 3.7 million square feet of space at 16 distribution centers nationwide. (Contact: Michael Beaudry, President of the Eastern Region, 800-520-6982, http://www.unfi.com/)

Polk County, Florida, Wins "All-American City" Designation

Polk County was selected as one of 10 communities in the U.S. to be designated an "All-American City" this year. According to the National Civic League, the All-American City designation recognizes "exemplary community vision, collaborative problem-solving and inclusiveness to meet local challenges." The effort also highlighted the effects of Polk Vision, which drew people from all over the community together to come up with a plan to make Polk County a better place. Polk County leaders expect the honor to result in million s of dollars worth of exposure and to improve Polk's changes of recruiting new businesses. (Contact: Tom Patton, Central Florida Development Council, 863-534-4370, tompatton@cfdc.org)

St. Joseph's Cancer Institute to Become First U.S. Hospital to Test Treatment

Once breast cancer spreads to the liver, the prognosis can be a death sentence. St. Joseph's Cancer Institute has received permission to become the first U.S. hospital to offer a potential new treatment for such cancer and study its effectiveness. The FDA approved St. Joseph's application for a clinical trial using Selective Internal Radiation Therapy to treat breast cancer that has become advanced liver cancer. St. Joseph's will investigate whether the treatment kills tumors selectively without harming the organ, something radiation beams can't do. (Contact: Lisa Patterson, St. Joseph's- Baptist Health Care, (813) 554-8134, lisa.patterson@baycare.org)

Sarasota-Bradenton Ranked Among U.S. Best Markets for Small Business

Sarasota-Bradenton ranked #2 in the nation for Best Markets for Small Business according to a recent Bizjournals study. Bizjournals used a 12-part formula to rate small-business vitality in the nation's 75 largest metropolitan areas. The study rated four of America's five best markets for small business are in Florida. Each experienced rapid growth since 2000 in population, employment and number of small businesses. The study noted while Sarasota-Bradenton was the second-smallest metro in the study it ranked as the second biggest success story with 3,000 small businesses per 100,000 residents. The number of small businesses grew by 25 percent in five years. (Contact: Nancy Engel, 941-748-3411 or Kathy Baylis, 941-309-1200, info@SouthTampaBay.org)

Hernando County Airport Industrial Park Attracts New Business

Six new businesses have moved into the Hernando County Airport Industrial Park employing 15 full time workers and occupying approximately 23,4000- square-feet of industrial space. New tenants include All Star Moving & Storage, an interstate agent for Stevens Worldwide Van Lines; Promation Engineering, an industrial engineering firm; TurboGenix, a manufacturer and distributor of waste heat recovery systems; JMar Enterprises, a parking lot maintenance firm; Alpha Provisions, a distributor of meats and cold cuts; and Inter-Continental Graphics, a supplier of offset printing presses and related equipment. (Contact: Valerie Pianta, Hernando County Office of Business Development, 352-540-6400, VPianta@hernandocounty.us)

Raymond James IT #1 Second Year in a Row

IDG's Computerworld ranked Tampa Bay-based Raymond James as a top workplace for IT professionals for the second year in a row in the publication's 14th annual Best Places to Work in IT survey. (Contact: Anthea Penrose, 727-567-5283, anthea.penrose@raymondjames.com)

Moffitt Receives Grant to Study Effects of Green Tea

A team of physicians and scientists at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute has received a $3.6 million grant over five years from the National Cancer Institute to study the effect of Polyphenon E, a drug developed from green tea, in preventing progression of early signs of prostate cancer. Studies of Asian populations demonstrate that green tea consumption may be one of the reasons why they have the lowest risk of prostate cancer compared to the Western world. Based on promising results from earlier studies, Moffitt hopes to recruit and treat 240 men and evaluate safety and effectiveness of the drug in preventing progression to prostate cancer. (Contact: Michelle Foley, 813-745-1505, michelle.foley@moffitt.org)

Advanced Microwave Components Preparing to Transmit from Pinellas Park

An expansion in Pinellas Park, Florida spells success for Advanced Microwave Components (AMC) and jobs for Pinellas County. The company is using an Industrial Revenue Bond to finance the land acquisition, building construction, and equipment for a 20,000-square-foot RF transmission product manufacturing facility. AMC will retain a staff of 25 and the expansion could result in additional jobs at the new facility. A $2 million Industrial Revenue Bond (IRB) provided the easiest and most cost-effective tool to fund the company's expansion needs. (Contact: MaryLou Sciarrino, CEO, 727-571- 1008)

American Body Company Breaking Ground in Pasco County, Florida

American Body Company Holdings, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Leggett & Pratt) has begun site construction on a 20-acre site in the North Suncoast Industrial Park in Pasco County. The site will be the home to its new 80,000- square-foot plant. The company manufactures fleet truck bodies for suppliers, and anticipates moving into their new facility by the end of 2007. (Contact: Bryan Kamm, Pasco Economic Development Council, bkamm@pascoedc.com.)

Albert Whitted Airport Expansion Nears Completion

Construction on a variety of new projects is almost complete at St. Petersburg's Albert Whitted Airport. The airport has three of its four approaches over water with views of the landmark Pier and Tropicana Field along with downtown's developing skyline. The new Intermodal General Aviation Center is complete. This facility contains a 10,600 sq. ft. terminal and a 12,200 sq. yd. aircraft parking ramp. Albert Whitted Airport currently has 183 based airplanes on-site and is expected to reach an operation level of 76,000 this fiscal year. Negotiations with Bay Air Flying Services, Inc. as the Fixed Base operator (FBO), providing fuel, maintenance service, supplies, and aircraft rentals are underway. Additionally, Arigato, Inc. is negotiating to provide an aviation themed restaurant with American fare at the airport. A new helicopter parking ramp has also been completed to accommodate the many based and transient helicopters that utilize the airport. These include Bay Flight, the news media, and other private helicopter flights. For more information please visit http://www.stpete.org/airport.htm