Episode 73: Can St. Pete Keep Growing Without Losing What Makes It Special? | Mike Swesey
St. Pete is growing fast.
More people are moving here. More companies are paying attention. More development is coming. And for a city that has worked hard to become a place people actually want to live, work, and build a business, that sounds like a win.
But there’s another side to it.
How do you keep growing without losing the things that made people fall in love with St. Pete in the first place?
In Episode 73 of Talkin’ St. Pete, Ryan Bogden sits down with Mike Swesey, President and CEO of the St. Petersburg Area Economic Development Corporation, to talk about what’s bringing companies here, what St. Pete still needs, and why local businesses have to be part of the growth conversation.
“If I Can Sell Des Moines, I Can Sell St. Petersburg”
Mike came to St. Pete after spending years in economic development in Des Moines, Iowa.
He had already been watching this part of Florida for a long time and knew he wanted to end up here.
When the opportunity opened up with the St. Petersburg Area EDC, he was all in.
One of the lines he used during the interview process says a lot about how he saw the opportunity:
“If I can sell Des Moines, Iowa, I can sell St. Petersburg, Florida.”
And really, that gets to the heart of his job.
Mike’s role is about helping companies see St. Pete as more than a place to visit.
Not just beaches.
Not just retirement.
A place to move a business, grow a company, recruit people, and build something long term.
Why Companies Are Looking at St. Pete
Mike says there isn’t one single reason companies move.
But workforce is one of the biggest.
Can a company recruit good people here?
Can they keep them?
If they’re moving from another state, can they convince their existing team to come too?
St. Pete has a lot working in its favor.
You have warm weather, walkability, beaches, restaurants, arts, sports, access to Tampa Bay, and two airports with a huge number of nonstop destinations.
You also have a growing workforce and a city that feels smaller and easier to live in than some of the bigger markets companies usually look at.
Mike also points out that St. Pete is part of a much bigger region.
The city itself is around 260,000 people, but the Tampa Bay metro is in the millions.
That gives companies access to a much larger workforce while still getting the feel of a midsize city.
Big Company Moves Get People’s Attention
One thing Mike talks about is what happens after a major company picks St. Pete.
He calls those moves “head turners.”
When a recognizable company chooses the city, other business leaders start asking questions.
Why St. Pete?
What are they seeing?
Should we be looking there too?
Mike brings up Foot Locker as an example of the kind of announcement that raises awareness.
One big move can make other companies take St. Pete more seriously.
And from an economic development standpoint, that matters.
The more often St. Pete comes up in those conversations, the easier it becomes to get decision makers here to actually see the city for themselves.
Once People Visit, St. Pete Usually Sells Itself
This part of the conversation is pretty simple.
Get people here.
Let them see it.
Mike talks about inviting business consultants and decision makers to St. Pete and showing them the city in person.
One consultant he knew had done plenty of deals in Tampa but had never really thought about crossing the bridge into St. Pete.
Mike drove him through the city, out toward the beaches, and showed him what he had been missing.
That’s the challenge Mike is trying to solve.
St. Pete can be an easy sell once someone experiences it.
The harder part is making sure it gets on their list in the first place.
Ryan says something similar when he works with people thinking about moving here:
Be careful when you come to check it out because you might fall in love.
That’s happened to a lot of people.
Including Mike.
Quality of Life Is a Business Advantage
Mike and Ryan spend a lot of time talking about something that doesn’t always sound like economic development at first.
Happiness.
If people actually like where they live, that helps companies too.
Workers want access to things outside the office.
They want to walk somewhere.
Go to the water.
Ride a bike.
Grab coffee.
Go to dinner.
Get outside.
Mike tells a story about people he helped recruit who told him that if they were having a rough day, they could walk outside, go by the water for a few minutes, and come back with a completely different headspace.
That matters.
A city isn’t just selling office space or tax advantages anymore.
It’s selling a life.
And St. Pete has a pretty strong one.
Companies Want People Back in the Office
The conversation also gets into return to office trends.
Mike says there’s definitely a move back toward people working in person again.
Remote work gave employees more flexibility, and plenty of people were productive from home.
But companies started noticing what was missing.
Creativity.
Collaboration.
Random conversations.
The kind of ideas that happen when you bump into someone in the hallway and end up talking for ten minutes.
That has pushed more companies to rethink office space.
Not necessarily the old model where everyone is in a cubicle five days a week.
But more companies are looking for spaces people actually want to come back to.
And that creates another challenge for St. Pete.
St. Pete Needs More Class A Office Space
Mike says downtown St. Pete is tight on quality office space.
That has already cost the city some opportunities.
Companies looking to bring hundreds of people need somewhere to put them.
And for a long time, St. Pete didn’t have enough new Class A office space coming online.
That is starting to change.
Mike talks about new mixed use projects that include office space and says that even smaller amounts can help.
He also mentions that companies are looking for better quality buildings and better locations.
Not just any office.
They want space that helps them recruit and keep people.
And downtown St. Pete is attractive because employees can walk outside and immediately be around restaurants, coffee shops, parks, and everything else that makes the city feel alive.
Growth Is Good, but It Can’t Be Careless
Then the conversation shifts into one of the strongest parts of the episode.
Can St. Pete grow too fast?
Mike says yes, that’s always a concern.
Ryan brings up one of the things locals complain about most.
Traffic.
Parking.
Crowds.
More people.
But both of them also know that growth itself isn’t the problem.
The bigger issue is how the city grows.
More people can mean more business.
More companies can mean more jobs.
More development can mean more opportunity.
But if that growth pushes out the businesses and people that helped make St. Pete what it is, then the city starts losing something.
What Happens If Local Businesses Get Pushed Out?
This is where Ryan gets especially direct.
He says he wants the city to do everything it can to protect local businesses on Central Avenue.
Because the more chains come in, the more St. Pete risks losing its character.
Mike agrees with the concern.
He says St. Pete should not try to become Austin, Nashville, Charlotte, or any other city people like to compare it to.
St. Pete should be the best version of St. Pete.
That matters.
The local restaurants, shops, bars, and businesses are a big part of why people want to be here.
If those places get priced out, the city may still grow.
But it might not feel the same.
Ryan makes the point that the issue isn’t necessarily one chain coming in.
It’s what happens when rents go up and smaller local businesses can no longer compete for space.
That’s a much bigger problem.
The Goal Is Not to Stop Growth
Neither Ryan nor Mike is arguing that St. Pete should stop changing.
They both know that isn’t realistic.
More people are coming.
Companies are coming.
Development is happening.
The real question is whether the city can guide that growth in a way that keeps the things people actually care about.
Walkability.
Local businesses.
The waterfront.
Arts.
Neighborhood character.
Places that feel unique.
Mike says that when he was interviewing for the EDC role, people asked him what cities St. Pete should try to become.
His answer was simple:
None of them.
St. Pete should keep becoming more of itself.
Transportation Is One of the Biggest Challenges
Mike also talks about what the region still needs to improve.
Transportation is high on the list.
Tampa Bay is growing, and getting people around the region is only going to get harder.
He talks about bridges, buses, bike lanes, the SunRunner, and the possibility of using the water better for transportation too.
From a business standpoint, transportation is really about workforce.
Can people get to work?
Can companies recruit from the whole region?
Can workers live in one part of Tampa Bay and still reasonably get to another?
Those things matter more as the region keeps adding people.
Affordability Is Part of the Growth Conversation Too
Housing also comes up.
Mike points out that affordability looks different depending on where someone is moving from.
For people coming from very expensive markets in the Northeast or on the West Coast, St. Pete may still look like a deal.
For someone who has lived here for years, the same prices can feel completely different.
That tension is real.
Economic growth can bring more jobs and more investment.
But if housing gets too expensive, it becomes harder for the people working those jobs to stay close to where they work.
That’s another piece of the balance St. Pete has to figure out.
The Innovation District Is a Big Opportunity
Mike also talks about the St. Pete Innovation District and why it matters.
The city is building a reputation around technology, research, sustainability, healthcare, and entrepreneurship.
That gives the EDC another story to tell companies looking at St. Pete.
It also helps attract investors.
Mike says there’s more outside interest coming in, including people from places like the San Francisco Bay Area who want to understand what’s happening here.
For years, entrepreneurs in places like St. Pete often had to go somewhere else to raise serious money.
That may be starting to change.
The more talent and investment that stays here, the more businesses can grow without having to leave.
Existing Businesses Matter More Than People Think
One of the most important points Mike makes is that most job growth comes from companies that are already here.
New company announcements get the headlines.
But existing businesses create a huge amount of the actual growth.
That means the EDC’s job isn’t just recruiting companies.
It’s also helping businesses that are already in St. Pete deal with the things that could slow them down.
Space.
Workforce.
Connections.
Investment.
Growth barriers.
That part doesn’t always get as much attention, but Mike says it’s a major part of the work.
Albert Whitted Airport Is Part of St. Pete’s Identity
The conversation also gets into Albert Whitted Airport.
Ryan is pretty clear about where he stands.
He wants it to stay.
He believes the airport is part of St. Pete’s character and that losing it would change the waterfront in a big way.
Mike agrees that the airport is an important economic asset, while also saying the city is studying how it can be used even better in the future.
He brings up the idea of advanced air mobility and how airports like Albert Whitted could become even more valuable if short distance electric air travel becomes more common.
So while some people may look at the airport as valuable land, Mike sees a bigger question.
What could this place become if the city thinks ahead?
St. Pete Is Competing With Bigger Cities Now
Mike makes it clear that St. Pete isn’t just competing with nearby cities.
It’s competing nationally.
Austin.
Scottsdale.
Nashville.
Other cities that businesses and entrepreneurs already know.
The difference now is that St. Pete is getting noticed.
More rankings.
More company moves.
More investment.
More attention.
Mike believes the city has a real chance to compete because it offers something a lot of other places don’t.
You can have the business opportunity without giving up the quality of life.
You can be in a growing metro without feeling like you’re living in a giant city.
You can work hard and still be minutes from the water.
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