Located in the heart of the Channel District, Suffolk Construction’s Tampa office has a unique vibe and diverse people who are passionate about their city and excited to work together on projects and in their local communities. Locally, the Suffolk team has worked on projects like Manor Riverwalk and the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Expansion. Suffolk believes in the power of people. Their people. Suffolk is caring and passionate, curious and engaged, diverse and inclusive. They take great pride in our work, and they are committed to asking questions and thinking differently about the world around us. Suffolk believes the best ideas come from individuals who share their knowledge and unique experiences with each other while remaining focused on achieving the same goals. They seek and embrace the strengths in others, and understand that incorporating different perspectives, ideas and backgrounds into work make them better at what we do. Together, their people are bringing about transformative change in our industry that will last for generations to come. Learn more about Suffolk.
In observance of the upcoming Independence Day holiday, the Tampa Downtown Partnership office will be closed on Thursday, July 4 and Friday, July 5. Office hours will resume at 8am on Monday, July 8. Tampa’s Downtown Guides and Clean Team will maintain normal working hours.
For more information about Tampa’s Downtown Guides and Clean team, visit tampasdowntown.com.
Tampa Downtown Partnership is looking to fill the position of Public Space Operations Manager.
Position Overview
The Tampa Downtown Partnership is a private, not-for-profit 501(c)(6) organization. It is a membership organization comprised of companies, organizations, and individuals with a common goal of advancing Downtown Tampa.
Through an annual contract with the City of Tampa, Tampa Downtown Partnership administers the Special Services District. In addition to the Tampa’s Downtown Guides and Clean Team, Tampa Downtown Partnership works to promote Downtown Through marketing, communication, community engagement, beautification, and placemaking.
The public space operations manager ensures the delivery of high-quality service through development and implementation of efficient operational systems by managing staff and financial resources related to beautification, maintenance, litter abatement, and ambassador services in Downtown Tampa. The position supervises facilitation of landscaping and public space maintenance services, as well as supporting the execution of special projects related to public programming. The operations manager reports directly to the Senior Director of Public Programming & Operations.
Responsibilities
Required Skills and Competencies
Preferred Skills and Experience
Required Education and Experience
To apply for the position, please email a cover letter and resume to Shaun Drinkard. Please, no phone calls.
The Tampa Downtown Partnership is working alongside the City of Tampa to host the largest Fourth of July celebration Tampa has ever seen. We are seeking volunteers for Boom by the Bay! Join us in Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park to help make the experience a memorable one. There are 24 spots available and volunteers must be 21 or older. Shifts are 5:30pm to 9pm. Sign up here.
Tampa Downtown Partnership celebrated another monumental year of growth and change by reflecting on accomplishments, welcoming new leadership, and setting the stage for future opportunities at the 33rd Annual Meeting and Luncheon in the Hilton Tampa Downtown hotel.
“I am especially proud and honored to lead the remarkable staff at the Partnership. Together, we’ve made great progress in our 33rd year and I’m excited to carry that momentum forward,” said Lynda Remund, President and CEO of the Tampa Downtown Partnership. “Everyday the Partnership staff works tirelessly to go above and beyond the standard for excellence in urban place management, and today we celebrate all of the progress made throughout this year.”
2018-2019 Highlights
This year, Head of School for Tampa Preparatory School, Kevin Plummer, becomes the Chairman for Tampa Downtown Partnership. He replaces Mickey Jacob, Principal at BDG Architects after completing two terms as Chairman.
During his first address as the Partnership’s Chair, Plummer presented the room of over 500 stakeholders, members, and elected officials with two challenges. “The first challenge is to fully embrace the genius of the ‘and,'” said Plummer. “I want you to think just for a moment what it would mean if the metric of success was defined by what was best for you and your company and Tampa.”
Plummer continued, “My second challenge. At the end of our lunch, find one person in this room you don’t know, exchange contact information and on July 4th, contact one another and wish each other well and happy Independence Day and perhaps share some time at Boom on the Bay. Our passion for Tampa and continuing to build relationships and understanding will fuel the future of our city.”
Mayor Jane Castor also spoke at the luncheon, commenting on the key accolades the city has recently acquired as one of the safest cities and one of the best places to do business. Both show that Downtown is a place poised for greatness.
Keynote speaker for the event, Tim Tompkins, CEO of the Times Square Alliance, closed out the luncheon by encouraging the audience to have authentic and local conversations, be ready for change, and to learn how to nurture and tap into our differences to make Tampa a better place. Often Tompkins compared the work his team at the Times Square Alliance was doing in New York to the work the Tampa Downtown Partnership is doing in Tampa. “You have the momentum,” said Tompkins, “you just need to decide where to take it.”
2019 – 2020 Officers
2019 – 2020 Executive Committee
2019 – 2020 Board of Directors
View photos from the event.
Watch the video, “Feel Downtown’s Momentum.”
View our Year in Review.
Summer Series at Julian B Lane Riverfront Park
Summer Series at Julian B Lane Riverfront Park offers kids and parents a break from the sun and rain with FREE access to over-sized games throughout the week under 12,000 SF of shade during its installation. This free, all-day event takes place from June 24 – July 28. For more information, head to Julian B Lane’s Facebook page or the Partnership’s event listing.
Donuts and the Download on Downtown
Join us for the Tampa Downtown Partnership’s quarterly Donuts & the Download on Downtown! This morning event will highlight what’s happening in Tampa’s Downtown and ways to engage with the Partnership’s programs and initiatives. Get the download on the benefits of membership, networking opportunities, transportation initiatives, marketing efforts, new developments, public art, crime prevention, beautification efforts, and much more. Complimentary pastries and coffee will be served. This event is held at the Partnership’s office at 400 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 2125, Tampa, FL, 33602on July 31 from 8:30am – 9:30am. For more information and to register, click here.
Retail 101
Are you a retailer who is a new small businesses or an entrepreneur looking to start a small retail business? If you are interested in becoming a vendor during Winter Village at Curtis Hixon Park’s upcoming season, the Tampa Downtown Partnership invites you to join for a free Retail 101 session on July 9th from 10am to 11am at Tampa City Center, 2nd floor, Room #225.
Local small business experts will share lessons learned, best practices, and their experiences with making the most of their time as a vendor at the Shops of Winter Village.
Speakers include:
Attendees will also hear from a representative at the Small Business Resources Center and Julia Mandell of GrayRobinson, P.A.
This is a free and open event. Pre-registration is required as space is limited. Register here.
A Tampa Downtown Guide for over 18 years, Ray Bertrand has announced his retirement. Ray began working as a Guide in December 2001 after a friend had suggested he “give it (being a Guide) a try” for a few days. Well, after 18 years, Ray is now a well-known friendly face in Tampa’s Downtown. Ray shared a few details of his life as a Guide with us.
Hometown: Narragansett, RI
Favorite “gem” in Downtown: Tampa Theatre
Favorite place to catch a show: Straz Center for the Performing Arts
Favorite time of year: When the heat breaks! Fall when it’s around 70/80 degrees
How would you describe your role as a Guide? A friendly face that is always willing to help.
What are your retirement plans? Travel! I also plan to help with special events so I will still be around.
We wish you a happy retirement, Ray, and look forward to seeing you around Tampa’s Downtown!
First came a building, then came companies, and now Embarc Collective is revealing its long list of partners across the country.
Embarc Collective, the innovation hub backed by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, has been under construction for several months, but despite not having a home, it is still making waves in the entrepreneurial and startup world. The hub that looks to work with tech-based startups announced Monday morning a long list of 50 heavy-hitting partners that go well beyond the Bay area.
“Our goal is to support startups and increase their odds of success,” Lakshmi Shenoy, CEO of Embarc Collective, said. “We see this opportunity to connect regional and national resources as critical to strengthening and supporting the growing number of startups in Tampa Bay.”
Some of the many partners include:
Locally, the usual suspects have signed on board including Synapse, the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator, Tampa Bay Wave, University of Tampa, Tampa Bay Spark, Blockspaces and Tampa Bay Tech.
“This is not just national partners, this is local connectivity and that was crucial from the start,” Shenoy said. “If we didn’t build with mindset of collaboration, we would do a disservice to the region.”
“We are excited by momentum and increased support for startups across the Tampa Bay region,” Linda Olson, CEO of the Tampa Bay Wave, said in a statement. “Embarc Collective’s collaboration with established programs like ours will help unify the ecosystem, propel our startups forward, and ultimately raise the profile of the entire Tampa Bay region.”
Shenoy added Embarc Collective is “always open” to adding new partners.
“Embarc Collective reveals list of 50 countrywide partners” – Tampa Bay Business Journal (subscription required)
Thousands of people were already on their feet cheering at Amalie Arena, but when the flag bearer for Team Navy waved that banner with big, sweeping strokes, then exaggeratedly leaned over and cupped a hand to one ear in a Hulk Hogan-esque, “I can’t hear you” gesture, the crowd went wild. And it was all set to the sounds of Metallica’s Don’t Tread on Me.
Energy was high at the opening ceremonies for the Department of Defense Warrior Games on Saturday night. Even so, when a cadre marched on stage in full dress uniforms for the presentation of colors, the arena went silent enough that you could hear their footsteps. It was a heavily military crowd, after all.
Some in the audience came wearing head to toe stars and stripes, while others wore hats identifying them as Vietnam veterans, or stitched with unit patches, or noting the names of ships they’d served on. Many brought children.
Hundreds of Warrior Games athletes, men and women, veterans and active-duty service members from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, paraded through the arena at the start of the night. They were joined by teams from the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Canada, Denmark and Australia, as well as a group of competitors representing SOCOM, the Special Operating Command housed at Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base.
Some made their way in wheelchairs or on prosthetic limbs. Others had suffered wounds that weren’t immediately visible, but all of them “refuse to be defined by their worst day,” said comedian Jon Stewart, who served as emcee and urged people to fill the stands during this week’s games to witness tenacity, intense competition and family.
Then he joked that the athletes were also learning what it was like “to compete in a city that was built inside a humidifier.”
The Paralympic-style games are already underway at venues across the Tampa area. They run through June 30, as athletes who’ve survived the loss of limbs, brain injuries, visual impairments, PTSD and other illnesses compete in 14 sports, including basketball, volleyball, rugby, archery and swimming. The games are free for spectators, and a full schedule is at dodwarriorgames.com/schedule.
On hand for a night of honor, pride and celebration at the opening ceremonies were Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, the second-highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military. There were also several other top-ranking officers from the various branches.
“They’re here because they realize how important these games are to the Department of Defense, and they honor you warriors and your families,” SOCOM commander Army Gen. Richard D. Clarke said. “You are showing the American public that we will never quit.”
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor took the stage told the competitors she wanted them to know how grateful “this patriotic community” was to them. Tampa mayor Jane Castor told them that this week, “the city is yours.”
Mayor Castor added that she expected the “home team” of SOCOM to earn the most gold medals.
Stewart was introduced in a cameo-filled video that started with a faux newscast in which News Channel 8 anchors Keith Cate and Jennifer Leigh reported the Warrior Games torch had gone missing, spurring Clarke to launch “Operation Jon in the Box,” a special force made up of Jane Castor, WWE wrestler Titus O’Neill, Tampa councilman Luis Viera and Stewart, who searched for the torch via fighter jet, electric scooter and Tampa streetcar.
The video ended with the team interrogating two suspects, Lightning mascot ThunderBug, and former mayor Bob Buckhorn, who were each tied up in the Lightning locker room and eventually confessed the torch was inside the arena. Then Stewart walked out on stage in real life, to huge cheers.
After a succession of Warrior Games athletes relayed a smaller torch through the arena, Jane Castor, Clarke and O’Neill together lit a larger ceremonial torch, officially marking the opening of the games.
Stewart, who obviously knew his audience, told jokes about the differences between being a passenger on a C-17 and a C-130 aircraft, (he compared the C-130 to riding in an empty can of black olives), and experiencing his first, frightening, “combat landing” while visiting troops in Afghanistan.
“My beard was brown before that,” he joked, “and my underwear were white.”
After an intermission, country musician Hunter Hayes played a full concert, telling the crowd, which was mostly Warrior Games competitors on the floor in front of the stage, it was a “privilege” to play for them.
Outside the arena, Jamie Gomez, a Tampa resident who came with a friend, bought a Warrior Games t-shirt with a pirate ship on it. Her father had been in the Air Force, but Gomez said she didn’t know any of the Warrior Games competitors personally. She just wanted to support the military in general.
“It’s really inspiring,” she said. “They can do things that I can’t do as an able-bodied person.”
Marine veteran Paul Rosenbloom found tickets through Vet Tix, which gives away event tickets to veterans and active-duty service personnel. He was there with his wife Debbie, and their children Samantha, Sarah, Zachary and Seth.
“We know a lot about wounded warriors, but we didn’t know about the Warrior Games until now,” Rosenbloom said. “It was great. It gives my kids a good sense of what these people do, and what they sacrifice.”
“Jon Stewart, Hunter Hayes and politicians welcome Warrior Games competitors to Tampa” – Tampa Bay Times (subscription required)
Another national retailer is setting up shop in downtown Tampa’s Channel district.
CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) has signed a lease for 13,116 square feet at the intersection of Meridian Avenue and East Kennedy Boulevard, in a street-level storefront in Grand Central at Kennedy.
Construction is slated to begin in August, and the store will open in early 2020, CVS said.
The deal comes as Publix Super Markets Inc. is about to open a new downtown store a block away from the CVS location in the Channel Club — a mixed-use development that includes the Publix, parking deck and apartment tower.
Across the street from CVS, a dual-branded Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton flags will bring a new Starbucks to the intersection of Meridian Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard. Crunch Fitness opened a location in Grand Central in 2017.
Multifamily construction has flourished in the Channel district in recent years, bringing hundreds of new apartments and thousands of residents to that corner of the urban core. But retailers — especially household names like Publix and CVS — have only come in the last two years.
Those types of stores are critical for downtown Tampa and the Channel district as business and economic development leaders tout the urban core as a live-work-play neighborhood.
“When people are looking for a place to live, especially if they want a walkable neighborhood, there are certain boxes in their head they check, and a drugstore is one of those boxes,” said Ken Stoltenberg, principal of Mercury Advisors in Tampa. “Think of the things you need if you’re running errands on a Saturday — go through that list in your head, and they’re all right here.”
Mercury Advisors is the developer of Channel Club and Grand Central as well as the forthcoming Eleve 61 condo tower. Stoltenberg says he specifically sought out CVS to fill in a missing link in the Channel district.
“You’ve got CVS coming in, at a Main-and-Main corner, which is where you would see them in any large city,” Stoltenberg said. “That’s the type of corner they want, and I knew that, and I went after them.”
There’s some overlap between the merchandise at Publix and CVS, but Stoltenberg — who previously worked in grocery and retail real estate — points out that they’re different shopping experiences. Drugstores are much more convenience driven than full-scale grocers.
“When the big national guys come in, and I would include Publix, CVS, Crunch and Starbucks in that bunch, they do their research,” Stoltenberg said. “If the question is, ‘Have we arrived?’ The answer is ‘yes.'”
“Downtown Tampa’s Channel district lands a new CVS store” – Tampa Bay Business Journal (subscription required)
Your Downtown Calendar
The following is just a sample of upcoming events in Downtown Tampa. Visit the Downtown Tampa Events Calendar for a more comprehensive list!
Monday, June 24 to Sunday, July 28 Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park This summertime program offers kids and parents a break from the sun and rain with free access to over-sized games throughout the week under 12,000 square feet of shade during its installation. For more information, go to Summer Series at Julian B Lane Riverfront Park
Fourth Friday
Friday, June 28, 4pm to 10pm Downtown Tampa and Ybor City When the sun goes down, the streets of Tampa and Ybor will light up with music, laughter, art, friends and FREE fun. This evening of special offerings and programs by cultural venues, restaurants, and more takes place on the fourth Friday of every month! For more info, go to Fourth Friday.
Up Next: Tampa Bay
Saturday, June 29, begins 1pm The Attic Cafe An annual networking event for creatives curated by Gold Mined Productions. Attendees will have the chance to network with other creatives, connect with businesses, and be part of the discussion with this year’s roundtable topic: Tampa’s Creative Future. At Up Next, you’ll have the opportunity to meet with featured creative organizations, work on personal projects and receive instant feedback from other creatives, and be at the forefront of Tampa’s creative movement. For more information, go to Up Next: Tampa Bay.
Taking the Stage at the Straz Center
Little Black Dress – Friday, June 28 to Sunday, June 30 Laughs for the Troops: The Funniest Night in America – Saturday, June 29, begins 8pm Newsies Wandleprobe – Saturday, June 29, begins 7pm
On the Marquee at Tampa Theatre
Pavarotti (2019) – Through Thursday, June 27 Akira (1989) – Friday, June 28, 10:30pm to 12:30am Sing-Along The Greatest Showman (2017) – Saturday, June 29, 3pm to 4:45pm Dial M for Murder (1954) – Sunday, June 30, 3pm to 4:45pm
This Week at Amalie Arena
Luis Miguel 2019 North American Tour – Tuesday, June 25, begins 8:30pm Adam Sandler 100% Fresher Tour – Saturday, June 29, begins 8pm Warrior Games Closing Ceremony feat. Sara Evans – Sunday, June 30, begins 7pm
Monday Morning Memo –Monday Morning Memo is a weekly update of “insider downtown information” regarding developments, transportation, special opportunities and other useful information to help you make the most of downtown. Subscribe to receive this weekly newsletter.
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