economy | Capital Analytics Associates

Top 5 Tourism Drivers for The Palm Beaches

By Max Crampton-Thomas

4 min read October 2019 — With more than 8 million visitors to Palm Beach County in 2018, it’s no secret that tourism is the driving force behind the economy in The Palm Beaches. Last year, these visitors generated $7.4 billion in economic impact and are the reason for over 70,000 tourism jobs. While the appeal of a relaxing beach vacation may seem like the obvious tourist magnet, there are so many different and unique facets of the county that drive the economic behemoth that is the tourism sector. Here is the Invest: Top 5 tourism drivers for The Palm Beaches

BEACHES

Palm Beach County is bordered by 47 miles of Atlantic coastline that offer some of the state’s most attractive beaches. These include Boynton Beach Ocean Park, Coral Cove Park, Juno Beach Park and many more, with a large portion of these beaches offering resort amenities and marine activities. The Palm Beach County coastline was also nicknamed Florida’s Gold Coast after gold was recovered from Spanish galleons that sank off its shores. A fitting nickname for beaches that are like gold to the Florida economy. Invest: spoke with Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO of Discover The Palm Beaches, who touched on the importance of the beaches to the tourism industry in the county. “Leisure remains the most crucial tourism driver for The Palm Beaches, with meetings and conventions continuing to gain momentum. Within the leisure tourism market, our beaches are the biggest draw for not only those seeking to relax and rejuvenate, but also those interested in activities such as boating, fishing, scuba diving, kayaking and paddleboarding,” Pesquera told Invest:.

You can learn more about the county’s best beaches here: https://www.thepalmbeaches.com/blogs/best-beaches-are-palm-beaches

ARTS & CULTURE

Home to cultural institutions like the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, The Palm Beaches are an arts and culture hub that drives many cultural travelers to the area. Invest: discussed with Judith Mitchell, CEO for the Kravis Center, how this increased interest from out-of-town visitors has positively affected her business as well as those in the surrounding area. “Our strong programming and marketing teams ensure that we continue to bring the best of Broadway and other diverse performances that attract audiences from outside the state and from cities north and south of the Center. In 2018-2019, the Center saw an increase in out-of-county audience members by nearly 50%. This also has a positive economic impact on the surrounding hotels, restaurants and shops as these nonresident guests choose to dine, shop and stay overnight before or after attending a performance.”

For more on the various arts and culture destinations in the county, visit: https://www.palmbeachculture.com/

SPORTS

For an area that doesn’t have a major professional sports franchise, the county’s tourism market has a strong driver in the sports tourism market. It helps that among Palm Beach County’s various monikers, one of the titles held most proudly is “The Golf Capital of Florida,” boasting more than 150 public and private golf courses. It also doesn’t hurt that Major League Baseball teams, namely the Houston Astros, Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals, call Palm Beach County their home during spring training. For those who prefer alternative sports, The Palm Beaches are also the location of polo and equestrian events, including a variety of International Polo Club tournaments.

Interested in learning more about sports offerings in The Palm Beaches? Visit: https://www.palmbeachsports.com/

ECO-TOURISM

When a county boasts 110 parks and recreation facilities paired with 35 natural areas that make up more than 31,000 acres of environmentally sensitive lands, it is bound to attract eco-tourists. This form of tourism may seem obscure from an outside perspective, but it not only can provide visitors with a memorable experience, it also provides health benefits as well. Invest: recently sat down with Deborah Drum, department director of Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management, who spoke to this tourism driver and its benefits. “We have conducted economic studies of our natural areas. We have over 300,000 visitors just to the natural areas in our county. These are remote areas that offer more passive types of recreation, including hiking, fishing or bird-watching. We have done a study with the University of Florida on this passive connection and we have determined that these visitors are coming for that purpose. There have also been a number of studies about the connection between mental health and time spent in natural areas or spent outside. There is a positive relationship between the reduction in mental health issues with more time spent out in nature,” Drum explained.

Check out more on Palm Beach County’s Natural Areas Map: http://discover.pbcgov.org/erm/Pages/Natural-Areas-Map.aspx

MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS

There is a direct correlation between the increase in business tourism to The Palm Beaches and the economic and business growth that the county is enjoying. The beneficiaries from this driver of tourism are a wide range of business types, from hotels to restaurants and even retail. Discover The Palm Beaches’ Pesquera highlighted just how significant this is to the tourism market. “On the meetings front, we’ve seen a 567-percent increase over the last several years in groups booked at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. Unlike our good friends in Miami and Fort Lauderdale — where there is a clear and established epicenter of tourism activity — The Palm Beaches are truly a collection of midsize to small cities and towns that altogether deliver an exceptional vacation or meeting experience,” Pesquera told Invest:.

For more on this and the tourism industry in Palm Beach County, visit:

www.thepalmbeaches.com/

It’s Go Big or Go Home for Miami’s OZs

Writer: Sara Warden

2 min read October 2019- When the Opportunity Zones (OZs) were created by the federal government in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, they were focused on 8,764 across the 50 states covering almost 35 million Americans. The program was designed to direct investment to regions with an average poverty rate over 32%, compared with the national average of 17%.

“We anticipate that $100 billion in private capital will be dedicated toward creating jobs and economic development in Opportunity Zones,” said US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin in a press release. “This incentive will foster economic revitalization and promote sustainable economic growth, which was a major goal of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”

Florida is home to 427 of these OZs and Miami-Dade houses 68 of them. “The creation of these new Opportunity Zones provides new investment opportunities for some of Miami’s economically distressed areas,” said Michael Finney, president and CEO of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, in another press release. “This means greater consideration will be given to investing and providing jobs in areas of the county where they are needed most.”

The program works on the basis of deferral of taxes until either the property is sold or Dec. 31, 2026, whichever comes first. Investors can claim a 15% tax reduction if they invest over the entire 10-year period.

But the program is still new, and many investors are struggling to work out the best way to obtain returns. “Every real estate developer in the country is trying to figure out their Opportunity Zone strategy,” Reid Thomas, principal at NES Financial, told the Miami Herald. “Some are deciding it’s not worth the hassle, (and) that they’re not going to bother doing this kind of development.”

But those that do bet are betting big. Developer Russell Galbut closed a deal for the final piece of acreage from Northeast 29th to 32nd streets, and Northeast Second Avenue to Biscayne Boulevard. The $4.9 million purchase of 2901 Northeast Second Avenue brings Galbut’s total investment in the project to over $37 million. The site will house a major mixed-use development built by Galbut’s company Crescent Heights. It plans to build 800 residential units and use over 600,000 square feet for retail and office space.

Galbut told Miami-based real estate magazine The Real Deal that the OZ incentive was “some of the smartest legislation that has come out of Congress in a long time,” adding that his company is buying properties in all markets across the OZs.

But some investors saw the virtues in the Miami real estate market before the OZs arrived, and now there’s an added bonus to their investments. Developer BH3 invested $60 million in a retail and showroom and the space happened to be placed in one of Miami’s OZs. “The fundamentals, economics, and merits must stand on their own, whereby the tax benefits are purely an added bonus. A bad deal with good tax benefits is still a bad deal,” Greg Freedman, principal and founder of BH3, told the Miami Herald.

Although some are sceptical that the OZs will provide tangible benefits to anyone other than the investors, Neisen Kasdin, managing partner at law firm Akerman LLP, told the Miami Herald the zones are still in their infancy. “At the end of the day, these neighborhoods will benefit the most when people invest money in them,” he said. “Whether it’s a real estate development, or a capital-intensive project or businesses…You have to start with the assumption that investment in neighborhoods [that have] only seen disinvestment is a good thing.”

To learn more about our interviewees, visit their websites:

https://www.miamigov.com/Home

Rays’ Sights Set on Game 5

Writer: Max Crampton-Thomas

2 min read October 2019 — Tampa Bay can be called a lot of things: a tech hub, a thriving economic ecosystem, an arts and culture destination. After last night’s 4-1 win over the Houston Astros, let’s add the true epicenter of baseball in the state of Florida. Now only one win away from advancing to the American League Championship Series, the Tampa Bay Rays are looking to capitalize on the momentum of this successful season.

Before the 2019 season began, expectations were tempered. The Rays entered the season with the second-worst fan attendance in Major League Baseball, the lowest player payroll at about $60 million and having not reached the postseason since 2013 when they lost to the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series. These factors coupled with the ongoing trouble of finding the right location in the Tampa Bay region for their new stadium, left most fans wondering what this season might hold in store.

It was not all bad though, as there were quite a few positives entering the season, including having three Rays players listed among Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 MLB players of 2019. These players were Blake Snell, Charlie Morton and Tommy Pham, who had the first home run of the game against the Astros last night. Even with the uncertainty swirling around their future home in the region, there was a shared desire expressed by the team to keep Tampa Bay their base for the long term. Brian Auld, the club’s president, expressed this desire to Invest: when he spoke with us earlier in the season. “We’ve been forthright with the community that we want to be here in Tampa Bay for generations to come. That’s the most important thing to us at this moment. It’s also what keeps me up at night because in order to make that happen we will need a new facility,” Auld told Invest:. He continued: “Tropicana Field is among the oldest facilities in all of Major League Baseball, especially without major renovations. We have to figure out where we can put a new ballpark and how we’re going to fund it in such a way that our attendance increases and we become more of a sustainable enterprise.”

Fast forward to the end of the regular season, and the Rays would finish with a record 96 wins against 66 losses. This would be enough to propel them into the Wild Card game against the Oakland Athletics at the A’s home field. The game itself scored record-setting attendance for a wild card game with over 54,000 people. The Rays would ultimately parlay their success from the regular season into a dominant 6-1 win over the A’s.

After last night, the series against the Astros, who are only two years removed from winning the 2017 World Series, is tied 2-2. While this series started with the Rays giving up the first two games to the Astros, they have swung the momentum and are coming off back-to-back wins to even the series. Sights are now set on a winner take all Game 5 to be played on Oct. 10. The winner of this series will face the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

No matter the outcome, this is a season that the Tampa Bay Rays can look back on with pride. They have not only exceeded expectations and provided a glimpse into what promises to be a great future, but have also brought excitement back to baseball in Florida.

To learn more about our interviewee, visit:

https://www.mlb.com/rays

Spotlight On: Brian Katz, CEO & Founder, Katz Capital

Writer: Max Crampton-Thomas

2 min read October 2019 —There has never been a more perfect time to invest in Tampa Bay then the present. With seemingly all sectors of the economy in expansion mode, it is not a surprise that both foreign and domestic investment has been streaming into the Bay area at a rapid rate. Invest: Tampa Bay spoke with Brian Katz, the CEO and founder of Katz Capital whose business is headquartered in Tampa Bay and focused on investing in the real estate and financial services sectors. Katz covered the advantages of being headquartered in the region, keeping his company’s growth sustainable and what makes Tampa Bay resilient in the face of real estate market changes.

What makes Tampa Bay a conducive environment for your business?

From a pricing standpoint, although nationally we are in a low interest rate environment, Tampa relative to Orlando, South Florida or places like Atlanta is still an affordable market. My personal feeling is that we are soon going to have negative interest rates. Six months ago, the collective mindset was that we would be in a rising rate environment, but that is simply not the case. A good analogy for what Tampa Bay is in terms of the scope of the market is that the region is a value stock. As a real estate and financial services private equity firm, this is a really great time for us to be in this market.

How does a business like Katz Capital sustain its growth in Tampa Bay’s business environment?

Our various businesses employ different investment strategies for us to be able to remain sustainable. When I think of being an investor, I view the business world in terms of hunting and farming, so psychologically I am more of a farmer and all of these businesses are my crops that I can reap the benefits of on a regular basis. The problem with a hunter mentality is you can get the big kill, but it can be a long time before getting another kill, which is risky. To remain sustainable in this business environment, it’s better to diversify your business so that you’re not reliant on one source of income.

How susceptible is Tampa Bay to fluctuations in the real estate market?

The fact that real estate pricing in Tampa is still relatively attractive versus other markets, I believe insulates Tampa Bay to a degree from real estate sector cycles and general market cycles. This is the opposite of South Florida, where there tends to be more dependency on these market cycles. When the South Florida market is hot, there is tons of money pouring in and prices push up. Although it’s increasingly on investors’ radar, Tampa Bay still has a lower modulation in these cycle waves. The big concern is that asset values keep rising. If we look at real estate development in the region, land values are up, labor costs are up and material prices are up. That means to achieve the same return for the amount of risk an investor is taking, you have to raise the exit price. This is going to be one constraint that Tampa Bay is going to face, and will have to figure out how to navigate that.

To learn more about our interviewee, visit:

https://katzcapital.com/

Spotlight On: Tim Pulte, Senior Executive Vice President, Colliers International

Writer: Yolanda Rivas

2 min read October 2019 — Collier’s Philadelphia delivers a full range of services to commercial real estate occupants, owners and investors throughout the tri-state region. Senior Executive Vice President Tim Pulte joined Colliers’ senior leadership team in 2017, bringing more than 31 years of experience in corporate operations, corporate real estate, transaction management and facility management. The Invest: Philadelphia team recently spoke with Pulte about the company’s plans for growth and how it serves local and foreign investors.

2 min read OCTOBER 2019 — Collier’s Philadelphia delivers a full range of services to commercial real estate occupants, owners and investors throughout the tri-state region. Senior Executive Vice President Tim Pulte joined Colliers’ senior leadership team in 2017, bringing more than 31 years of experience in corporate operations, corporate real estate, transaction management and facility management. The Invest: Philadelphia team recently spoke with Pulte about the company’s plans for growth and how it serves local and foreign investors.

What are the benefits of being located in Philadelphia?

As a global company, we have offices all over North America and abroad. Because of this, we’re able to service our clients no matter where their requirements are, both inbound and outbound. For example, if a company is coming in from Mexico, we can help them. Conversely, we can send a deal to Mexico and know it’s going to be taken care of. Philadelphia’s a great location for us. We’re close to other large markets and have access to our international markets as well. We have a very strong industrial base in our clientele. We have long-standing relationships with multiple manufacturing companies throughout the Colliers network. For example, we’ve worked with Philadelphia-based company Cardone to secure locations throughout the United States. We also helped NFI secure locations in Canada and the UK.

What type of investment is the Philadelphia market seeing?

We’ve started seeing an increase in foreign investment come into the Greater Philadelphia market. It has mostly been asset-driven as opposed to geographically-driven, so it’s really dependent on what investors are looking for. We’ve seen a lot of investment in the industrial space recently; markets such as Philadelphia have become more appealing to investors, both foreign and domestic, because of the higher rate of return. For this reason, we’re seeing a lot of buyers from New York. We’ve also seen a lot of international investors buying companies here in the Philadelphia market. We’ve represented quite a few in the industrial space.

How does Colliers International plan to grow in the Philadelphia region?

We have six offices in the region: Harrisburg; Allentown; Conshohocken; Center City, Philadelphia; Mount Laurel, New Jersey; and Wilmington, Delaware. In all our offices we handle office, industrial, retail, property management and landlord representation. We’re trying to grow those areas across all our offices in the region. We’re looking to capitalize on established relationships while building new ones, especially in strategic areas where we can grow — and from an international standpoint as well. The new federal Opportunity Zones will be interesting, and we hope to see some growth in the market from those. There are some very strategic areas in Philadelphia, like the corridor leading up Broad Street toward Temple. It’ll be exciting to see what happens in those areas.

To learn more about our interviewees, visit their websites:

Colliers International: https://www2.colliers.com/en/United-States/Cities/Philadelphia

Spotlight On: Kevin Rogers, Regional President, Seaside National Bank & Trust

By Max Crampton-Thomas

2 min read October 2019 — Seaside National Bank & Trust may be considered a newer entry into the market, having first opened its doors in 2006, but since then it has become a prominent force in the banking community. Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale recently spoke with Kevin Rogers, the regional president of Seaside National Bank & Trust’s South Florida operations. During the discussion, he spoke on the importance of cybersecurity to a bank like Seaside, how Seaside handles the challenge of competition in South Florida and his approach to finding the right employee candidates.

How are you protecting your clients in regards to cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is a huge topic, not only at our bank, but also across the financial services industry. We tell our people all the time that we’re a small bank, and if we took a $2 million to $3 million hit it would substantially hurt us. Our people are on guard every minute. We have an incredible onboarding process, and we not only know who we’re banking with, but we also know who are clients are dealing with as well. If you ask what keeps me up at night more so than hitting balance sheet goals, it’s cybersecurity and being hit with a loss.

The amount of money that the bank spends on cybersecurity is incredible, but you have to stay ahead of the game. We conduct a lot of training on the subject. I even do a communication call twice a month with our South Florida employees, and one of the main topics is cybersecurity. We want to make sure that everybody is on guard, that they know who their clients are and that they’re asking the right questions. You have to ask the tough questions to make sure you protect the bank.

What is the biggest challenge in the market for a small to midsize bank like Seaside, and how do you overcome it?

I think the biggest challenge is always going to be the competition. Banks of our size do not have the brand recognition that a Bank of America does, so the question is how do we sell Seaside Bank? We have to go out and talk to our clients about who we are and what we specialize in. We drive home the fact that we are able to provide the same products and services that the big banks do but in a community bank setting. We’ve taken a lot of clients away from these big banks. If you look at what’s going on in the big banks right now, it’s all about sales process management and managing their people to numbers that, a lot of the time, mean selling products and services that the clients really don’t need. We don’t subscribe to this notion and instead focus more on listening to our clients and making sure that they get what they want and need. We’re not for everybody; there will never be a time when you’ll see a Seaside branch on every street corner like you do Bank of America. If a customer is looking for that then we’re not the bank for them. If they’re looking for a single point of contact to deal with on a consistent basis then we are a perfect bank for them.

How difficult is it to find professional, hard-working talent in the Palm Beach County market?

It is very hard, and I find that I’m always looking for people. I’m constantly asked the question when I’m out at a meeting or at a networking event, “Are you looking for bankers?” I always say, “I’m never looking, but I’m always looking” because I’m trying to find the right person who will fit into our culture.

It’s also very hard to recruit a good banker who is working at a big bank because they already have an established book of business and a continuous flow of referrals. At a smaller bank like ours we don’t have that, and you have to be an aggressive calling officer and business developer to be able to be successful here. We have to be careful about whom we hire because we don’t want to set anybody up to fail. Some of the best people I’ve recruited are from big banks and who want to try something else because they’re at a time in their lives when they want to scale down. A smaller bank like ours is attractive to these people because of our incentive plan and how we operate.

To learn more about our interviewee visit:

https://www.seasidebank.com/

How Broward is Solving its Transportation Troubles

By Max Crampton-Thomas

4 min read October 2019 — For over a century, the car has been America’s top transportation choice when getting from point A to point B. As the population in the United States has grown exponentially year over year, so has the dependency on these vehicles, which has led to worsening transportation issues like congested roads, air pollution, traffic accidents and in some cases fatalities. Throughout South Florida, in this case Broward County, the negative effects of the population’s dependency on single-occupancy vehicles are rampant throughout the region. While these issues pose a major challenge to Broward, there is hope as the younger generations are looking to avoid the stress of car ownership, and many community leaders and organizations are making a push toward better mass transit and alternative transportation options.

While these are not all new ideas, in the last couple of years the emphasis for Broward has become truly exploring and executing these ideas. This starts with the 30-year Penny For Transportation Surtax that was passed last November and is set to generate billions of dollars toward improving transportation and mass transit options throughout the county. Invest: recently spoke with Monica Cepero, deputy county administrator for Broward County, who discussed what the community could expect from the revenues generated by the tax. “This sales tax is set to generate about $16 billion over the next 30 years, and will be used in the more immediate future to improve and modernize public transit services. Our long-term plan for those funds is focused on creating connectivity, extending roadway capacities, multimodal improvements and improving transportation facilities and service.”

Invest: also spoke with Gregory Stuart, executive director of Broward MPO, about the near-term changes that could be expected from the revenues collected from the tax. “Realistically, the immediate changes aren’t going to result in construction; we are focusing on enhancing the traffic signalization program. This includes a coordination between the traffic lights, people’s vehicles and installing smart communication equipment. Another immediate change that has happened already but which we’re not going to notice for about another year, is the county transit agency’s purchase of another 130 buses. Considering they are operating a fleet of about 300 buses right now, this is a one-third expansion and a significant increase in the bus system,” he told Invest:.

While the tax is going to be a huge benefit for transportation in the region, a change in mindset is another factor impacting how people get around. One option is the Tri-Rail, which is celebrating its 30th year servicing the South Florida community. Tri-Rail Executive Director Steven Abrams spoke about how it is benefiting from the changing mindset toward mass transit in the area. “South Florida is a tourist and service-related economy, and these individuals, like waiters or construction workers, cannot work from their homes. We have people coming from all over the world who are used to rail transportation in their countries, and they are feeding into our system. Our roads are also just becoming so congested. It used to be that our ridership would principally, and almost exclusively, fluctuate with gas prices, but now that gas prices are stable and dropping, we still have people riding our system because ultimately it is the overabundance of cars on the road that is urging them to seek alternative transportation.”

Abrams also spoke to how Tri-Rail has improved and updated its operations over the years to encourage use by a larger population. “Over those 30 years, we have improved our service, added more trains, added weekend and holiday service and added connections to the three airports. We are a transportation system that has become popular over time and we have really embedded ourselves in the tri-county area.”

The other popular train in South Florida is also the newest mass transit option for the region, Virgin Trains USA. Running through the three counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, the train is looking toward the future by connecting the three counties with Orlando and an eventual Tampa Bay stop as well.

Patrick Goddard, president for Virgin Trains USA, discussed with Invest: how it wants to be a catalyst for transit change in South Florida. “We are reinventing train travel in America, so there are always going to be challenges, but none that we have not been able to overcome so far. The advent of this project has awakened a desire and a curiosity within the municipalities to recognize the full potential for mass transit in South Florida. We are solving the challenge in Florida of medium-haul travel. Airlines take care of long trips, while rideshare, motorized scooters and buses take care of short ones. There has always been this gap with the 200- to 300-mile distances that are too short to fly and too long to drive. By introducing an option like this, it encourages people to leave their cars at home and start using a more environmentally sustainable means of transit.”

A key factor in remaining economically sustainable is having good transportation and mass transit options. As Broward County continues to develop into an economic powerhouse so to must its transportation, and with changing mindsets and push from community leaders the future looks bright.

To learn more about our interviewees, visit:

https://www.tri-rail.com/

http://www.browardmpo.org/

https://www.gobrightline.com/

https://www.broward.org/

Spotlight On: Chuck Cross, Executive Vice President & Commercial Banking Executive, Seacoast Bank

By Max Crampton-Thomas

2 min read October 2019 – With over 30 years in the banking industry, Chuck Cross has witnessed seismic changes in the way the banking sector conducts business. Currently serving as the executive vice president and commercial banking executive for Seacoast Bank, Cross has a unique perspective on the prominent growth of the banking sector in the past couple of years. He recently sat with Invest: Palm Beach to discuss how Seacoast has sustained continuous growth, why the business ecosystem in Palm Beach County is a benefit for banks and some of the reasons he attributes to the overall growth of Palm Beach County.

How has Seacoast Bank sustained continuous growth?

Seacoast Bank has been growing organically by hiring people and building relationships with customers since the recession, but we augment that organic growth with strategic M&A activity as well. We acquired Palm Beach Community Bank in November 2017, expanding our branch locations in the county from three to five and getting access to new customers. We also have two commercial offices in the market, which is another catalyst for growth.

Why is Palm Beach County a conducive business environment for the banking sector?

From a macro perspective, when you have a half million people relocating to Florida and a good amount of that coming to Palm Beach County, it drives the kind of growth we hope to see for the next couple of years. From a financial services perspective, Palm Beach is a great place to be operating and providing service.

Palm Beach County has really grown over the past decade. Dense population provides great opportunities for banks. Palm Beach is growing like the whole state of Florida is growing. Everyone wants to move to Florida either for the weather or for some of the changes in the tax reform, and people have always wanted to retire here. Palm Beach also has great infrastructure in terms of education. In addition, there’s a lot of oceanfront property that attracts high-net-worth individuals, which in turn attracts retail, recreation and service jobs.

To what do you attribute the growth of the local economy in Palm Beach County?

The Business Development Board of Palm Beach County has done a great job of attracting a lot of wealth management and private equity firms where the owners can live on the island and operate their companies from there. In the northern part of the county, there are also some aerospace companies, and there are healthcare technology companies like Max Planck and Scripps that are providing higher-level jobs as well. Hopefully this will help attract other types of high-level businesses.

To learn more about our interviewee, visit:

https://www.seacoastbank.com/

Face Off: The Bay’s Banking Bosses

Writer: Max Crampton-Thomas

4 min read September 2019 — The health of the banking sector is a great way to gauge the overall health of the economy, so when the banking sector is prospering it is normally on par with a healthy economy. This remains true in Tampa Bay as the local economy has been experiencing a long and healthy growth that is also shared by the banking sector in the region. Invest: Tampa Bay recently spoke with David Call, Florida regional president of Fifth Third Bank, and Allen Brinkman, region president for Seacoast Bank, two of the premier banks in the Tampa Bay region. Discussions with both banking institutions covered their view of the current state of the market in Tampa Bay, how emerging technologies are impacting their banking practices, and ways to keep growth in the sector and Tampa Bay sustainable for the future.

What is your view of the local market in light of the burgeoning economy in the region?

David Call: Everything is moving at a fast pace in the Tampa Bay region, and from my perspective there is not one particular sector or segment of the market that is doing better than another. Our bank has five lines of business in the region: commercial, small business, retail, wealth and mortgage. All five of those lines are doing well and we are still seeing strong momentum. We have seen this growth for the last four years, and while we are prepared for any kind of slowdown, we haven’t seen any sign of that for the near future.

Allen Brinkman: As long as the economy does well and as the spirit of Tampa Bay continues to rise, the market will remain prosperous. There is a growing sense of pride in the city. This pride is creating opportunities for new businesses to start, established businesses to expand and investments into the business market to remain lucrative. It has been a great market for quite some time, and outside of a global economic issue, Tampa Bay is going to continue to do well. I believe that even if the global economy slows down, Tampa Bay is somewhat insulated because it is a place that people want to be, for both a younger and older demographic. There is almost nowhere else in Florida that is as cost-effective, beautiful and offers as many cultural and economic opportunities as Tampa Bay.

With the prominence of emerging technologies in the financial sector, how can banks find the balance to still deliver a personal experience?

Call: Technology has not taken the place of our physical centers, but everything that we do around technology has definitely taken off. Whether that is depositing a check or checking an account balance, all of these uses are being adopted at a much quicker pace than how technology was adopted in the past. That being said, we believe at least 60% of our clients still want to come to a branch and bank with a human being. That does not mean that they do not want technology, because they do, so it is a balancing act. We are still building branches in the state of Florida, and we will have more branches in the Tampa Bay area too. We want to offer all these various channels for people to use because ultimately we need to stay in line with the voice of the customer and keep them at the center of what we do.

Brinkman: The online and digital experience is more of a convenience vehicle than it is an alternative to all banking. Simple transactions like depositing a check or finding a branch can be accomplished with technology, but more complicated transactions are usually going to involve an interaction with a banker. Banks are somewhat of a commodity today, and the only way to set yourself apart from other banks is by the advice you give. Our bankers are trained and spend a lot of time on their consultative approach. For example, in the past, we knew that the mortgage business was about borrowing as much as you could to get the biggest house, and hopefully everything worked out. Today, bankers give a little more advice and guidance on what is a responsible financial decision for a customer to make. This type of personal interaction could not be accomplished by technology.

What are some ways to keep banking sector growth and that of Tampa Bay sustainable and recession resilient?

Call: When we adapt to this influx (of high-net-worth investors), it has a positive affect on our business, and this is true for all of Tampa Bay, not just our bank. There are a lot of businesses and people bringing money to Tampa Bay because they see the growth. Outside investment is a huge part of keeping this growth sustainable because we need an infrastructure that matches the influx of people coming to Tampa Bay. In regards to our bank, we are investing our time and resources into making sure that we are a part of the change so we can help our communities thrive.

Brinkman: We are quite conservative in terms of our approach to lending, which some could misinterpret as not offering loans. However, we do offer loans just as much as most banks, we just tend to be conservative in how we advise our customer. Our bankers sit down with customers to understand why they need a loan, what the purpose is and inform the customer of whatever risk elements are out there that they may not have thought of. When a loan is done with Seacoast, a relationship is formed. We make the decision jointly versus just providing a loan that may not be right for the customer. Our role as a bank is to protect the customer, which creates a greater sense of responsibility to really develop a product that’s customized to their needs. If there is another recession, we believe we will fair well because of this practice.

To learn more about our interviewees, visit:

https://www.seacoastbank.com/

https://www.53.com/

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