News Archive

Want to Know How the Tampa Bay Region Measures Up? Find out on Jan. 15 at the Annual State of the Region Meeting

By Keith Morelli

TAMPA (January 6, 2021) -- The Tampa Bay E-Insights Report 2021, complied from real-time sources such as Google searches, Zillow postings and LinkedIn employment connections, has furthered the understanding of how the Tampa Bay region compares to other municipalities of similar size and demographics.

The groundbreaking research, compiled by the USF Muma College of Business’ Center for Analytics and Creativity, is part of a larger 2021 Regional Competitiveness Report issued annually by the Tampa Bay Partnership. While the Partnership’s research relies on economic statistics gathered over the past year or years, researchers and graduate students with the center delve into real-time data, such as key words in Google searches related to transportation and entertainment. Various social media channels reveal the likes and dislikes of the region and LinkedIn and Indeed provide essential information on career matters.

The data gives a more current picture of the attitudes, standings and economics – both positive and negative – about the region in comparison with 19 other similar municipalities. This is the fourth consecutive year the center has collaborated with the Tampa Bay Partnership in this exhaustive effort. The results of both reports will be presented on Jan. 15. To register for the virtual event, click here.

Among the takeaways of the Tampa Bay E-Insights Report 2021:

• Investments in transit infrastructure, education and labor force participation are key to economic growth.
• The Tampa Bay region is less impacted by COVID-19 when compared to Miami and Orlando.
• The economy in the Tampa Bay region is recovering after suffering a dip in the month of April.
• Regular commerce and travel in the Tampa Bay region have been less affected than in most other regions in the study.
• By mid-October, consumer-spending levels in the Tampa Bay region recovered to 100 percent of the January value.
• The Tampa Bay region stands in the lowest quantile in terms of number of job openings per million individuals.

Graduate students Roohid Syed, Sharon Neethi Manogna Vuchula, Gokul Shanth Raveendran, Yusi Wei, and Munja Dnyanoba Solanke worked alongside analytics professors Balaji Padmanabhan and Shivendu Shivendu on the project, gathering and analyzing data and preparing the report, said Moez Limayem, dean of the USF Muma College of Business Limayem, giving the students “a learning opportunity that is beyond measure.”

“Our scholars used real-time big data and rigorous quantitative methods to analyze the regional economy,” he said. A pillar of the education business students receive is in analytics, he said.

“We focus on analytics and creativity,” Limayem said, “using our faculty expertise to contribute to the well-being of the greater community while providing opportunities for our students to conduct relevant business research.”

To register to attend the virtual event, click here.