5 Ways Republican National Convention (RNC) Boosts Tampa Economy

Published by nora | Filed under Buyer / Seller Tips, Economy, Real Estate

The Republican National Convention has been helping push business activities and drive economic growth in Tampa, the city that will host the RNC from August 27 to 30 this year.  More economic and business activities mean more jobs, more small-business endeavors, and more entrepreneurs.

Ten of these business activities and economic growth efforts are the following:

1.   Verizon Wireless invested $138 million in Florida in the first half of 2012.

Verizon spent part of this money to expand its wireless coverage and make sure its network is working perfectly during the Republican National Convention.  Among the improvements are installation of new cell sites, expansion of its 4G LTE network, installation of distributed antenna systems at major RNC sites, and improvement of its processing center in the Tampa area. It has also prepared ready-to-deploy cells and generators for critical areas that need extra network capacity during the convention.

2.   Tampa International Airport upgraded its facilities.

The airport expected to serve majority of the thousands of RNC visitors, media personnel and protestors, so it upgraded its service areas, such as bathrooms and check-in areas, and readied its incident command center.  Businesses at the airport, such as restaurants, rental car agencies, taxi companies, limousine operators and shuttle services have also beefed up their operations.

3.   Increased hiring pushed up Tampa’s job growth ranking across Florida.

Hotels, other hospitality businesses and professional and business services hired more people in preparation for the convention, helping make the Tampa area Number One among Florida’s metro areas in job creation in June 2012. Over the 12-month period ending June, the Tampa area added 23,300 new jobs, accounting for more than one third of Florida’s job creation efforts over the period.

4.   Tampa Bay Times Forum hired workers to prepare the arena for the RNC.

Workers were hired by the Forum for various projects such as wiring the building so that journalists can broadcast immediately what is happening during the convention, installing a staircase, preparing a video wall,

5.   Tampa Bay Host Committee Small Business Network Is a Boost to Small Businesses

The network provided trainings, networking opportunities, and exposure to small businesses in the area, particularly businesses owned by women, minorities and handicapped veterans.

All in all, analysts estimated that direct spending during the convention will reach $175 million, and that this amount will be multiplied by economic growth gains weeks, months or years after the event.  One sector that will benefit from the global media exposure will be Tampa Bay real estate.