Competition amongst counties and regions for economic development is fierce, almost as fierce as it was during the recession. Now is the time to diversify and make sure we are well-positioned for the next inevitable recession, which will hopefully come later than sooner.

Sarasota County sits as a southern outlier in a region known as the Tampa Bay Area. Recently, the Tampa Bay Partnership, in collaboration with the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and the United Way Suncoast, released the “2018 Regional Competitiveness Report” to “examine the Tampa Bay region’s relative performance across a variety of economic competitiveness and prosperity indicators.”