The Sunshine City
The city was founded in 1875 when General John Williams came from Detroit and bought 2,500 acres of land on Tampa Bay. He envisioned a grand city with beautiful parks and broad streets, a trademark of today’s St. Petersburg. Thirteen years later, Peter Demens, a noble Russian aristocrat, brought the Orange Belt Railway to the new city, and named it after his hometown of St. Petersburg.
Working In St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg combines the amenities and variety that any top tier city offers, while providing a small-town neighborhood feel in an affordable setting. St. Petersburg continues to develop as one of the brightest spots in the Southeast, not only as a business location, but as a home for a talented workforce.
The City is dedicated to helping businesses succeed by providing such resources as “The Greenhouse,” formerly known as the Business Assistance Center, and administering incentive and financing programs. These resources are useful to companies of all sizes from sole proprietorship to Fortune 500 headquarters and everything in between.
Getting There – And Staying There
As one of the three pillars of the Tampa Bay MSA, St. Petersburg is easily reachable by Interstates 4, 75 and 275. Once there, many new residents find the growing arts districts, the popular health and environment initiatives, and the city’s Entrepreneur In Residence program to be very conducive to living there.
Business Opportunity In St. Petersburg
The Economic and Workforce Development Department fosters growth and development in St. Petersburg by working with its partners to provide services to help existing businesses grow and succeed and welcome new businesses to the community.
St. Petersburg also houses a SCORE program – a volunteer, non-profit organization whose mission is to help entrepreneurs start, grow, and maintain their businesses. Mentors are seasoned, skilled executives from Tampa Bay who have managed businesses, and executed business turnarounds and growth strategies who provide free and confidential counseling to Pinellas County’s small business community.
