WiFi St. Pete:  This is an initiative to provide wireless Internet access throughout the city through a private network. WiFi St. Pete will be funded by a private service provider (Earth Link) who was selected by the city in the RFP process. No city funds will be spent to construct, maintain or upkeep this public internet wireless network. The network is anticipated to be operational in approximately six months.

Economic Development: The city’s quality of life investments and economic initiatives continue to attract a diverse and stable business community and skilled workforce. St. Petersburg is the western anchor to the nationally recognized Florida High Tech Corridor, which includes Tampa, Orlando and the Space Coast communities of east central Florida. St. Petersburg leads the corridor in numerous high-tech industry categories including medical devices, defense-based communication systems and marine and life sciences. The city recently attracted SRI International, which will accelerate research and development technologies related to ocean science, the maritime industry, and port security.  This will bring and initial 100 new jobs to the area, and could bring as much as $172 million to the local economy and create hundreds of related jobs via private spin-offs focused on commercializing technology. St. Petersburg also leads the region in contributing to a financial services clusters that has resulted in new, expanded and relocated national financial services companies including Raymond James, Franklin Templeton and PSCU. This cluster is especially important as many of the technology applications are driven by the needs of the financial services industry. And St. Petersburg is also a leader in the manufacturing sector, ranking second in the state in the number of employees involved in this largely technology-based arena.

Midtown Economic Development: To further its goal of creating a seamless city in which every district of the city is desirable and stable, all city departments are charged with the implementation of the city's Midtown Economic Development Plan that focuses on development projects and infrastructure improvements in the inner city Midtown area. To this end, the city invested $8 million into the Dome Industrial Park Revitalization Plan, a business retention/recruitment program designed to develop a 16 acre site in the city's oldest industrial district in the inner city Midtown area. Results to date have been astounding, with historic renovations along the culturally diverse 22nd Ave. S. corridor that include opening of a new African American history museum, renovation of a historic black theater to a Boys & Girls Club performing arts center, renovation of one of the city’s first  hospitals into a community health clinic, and the restoration of a former rail station into one of the country’s largest creative clay operations. Midtown has also welcomed the arrival of badly-needed consumer services, such as a full service post office, supermarket, two new libraries, community centers, parks, athletic fields and new housing developments. The St. Petersburg Business Assistance Center has assisted with technical advice and support to dozens of new businesses that have made their home in Midtown.

Partnerships: Whether it’s the development of an intown shopping and entertainment complex, finding corporate support for the city’s public schools, or devising innovative strategies for assisting cultural institutions in the city, partnerships between the city, and private and not-for-profit institutions are at work. A good example is the $40 million BayWalk downtown shopping/entertainment complex which was a public/private partnership between city and local developers and had three million visitors its first year. The city-built $3.2 million Midcore parking garage adjacent to BayWalk reduces the need for parking lots and on-street parking.

Qualified Target Industry (QTI) Tax Refund: The Qualified Target Industry program provides for tax credits for the creation of high-paying jobs in target industries.  The city has been actively marketing itself to target industries to attract new high wage jobs that are on the cutting edge. To date, 17 companies have participated with the expectation of creating over 4,000 jobs.