Economic Trifecta

Economic Trifecta

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT by Mark Gordon | Managing Editor

People who know Roy McCraw say he's real good at working with others. He'll need to be, as he's a big part of several Florida economic development agencies.

It's a good thing Roy McCraw Jr., head of Wachovia Bank's 100-plus Tampa Bay branches, relishes competition.

First, he gets plenty of it with his primary day-job, as he leads his bank in an ongoing battle with Bank of America for Florida market share supremacy, all the while monitoring what the smaller regional and community banks are up to.

McCraw's second day-job, an economic development savant of sorts, involves a combination of competition and congeniality.

McCraw, 60, has a trio of integral leadership positions in the tight-knit Greater Tampa economic development community. His newest role is also his most prominent: He's the 2007 chairman of the Committee of 100, the influential development arm of the Greater Tampa of Chamber of Commerce. The groups' main focus is to recruit companies and business for Hillsborough County and a few surrounding areas, as well as retain the current ones; McCraw was vice chairman of the group, known as the C100, last year.

He's also a founding member and current vice chairman of the Tampa Bay Partnership, an organization similar to the Committee of 100 in tasks, but different in geographic scope, as the Partnership goes as far north and east as Polk County and Winter Haven and as far south as Sarasota.

To complete the trifecta, last month McCraw was appointed to an at-large seat on the board of Enterprise Florida, the state's economic development agency that focuses on national and global businesses.

"As a banker," McCraw says, "I have a keen interest in economic development. I like to see quality economic growth."

Playing the game

McCraw says each group he's part of has a distinct role in the economic development game. The state and regional groups promote the larger geographic areas, while the more localized groups try to zero in on certain companies and businesses.

Still, McCraw admits there are times where two groups go for one prize. It could be Pasco and Sarasota counties, or it could be Palmetto and Brooksville. Says McCraw: "It's very competitive among the players."

That competition manifests itself in several ways. Counties and jurisdictions will play up an area's strengths, such as easy airport, train and highway access; available land to build facilities; and a competent and plentiful workforce. And then each county or jurisdiction can use the trump card of tax incentives, tax breaks and other financial lures.

McCraw's most time-consuming economic development task is leading the other volunteer executives at the Committee of 100 in wooing companies and business to the Bay area. Overall, the goal is to do better than last year, when the committee recruited 15 companies that brought in 1,572 jobs with an annual average salary of $52,362.

In jobs and new businesses, McCraw hopes the 2007 numbers will be closer to 2005, when the committee brought in 18 companies that hired 3,200 people. The average annual salary of those hires was $39,000. McCraw considers that salary number an aberration.

Challenges to reaching those goals, says McCraw, revolve around the state of the Sunshine State's economy. While some parcels are doing very well, McCraw and other executives worry that the property insurance crisis and rising property tax rates could force businesses to look elsewhere when expanding or relocating. Land availability is another ongoing McCraw concern.

'Quality growth'

McCraw's colleagues and peers say he has the right temperament to balance his many economic development responsibilities. Myron Hughes, vice president of economic development for the chamber, says McCraw has been consistent in preaching his main message: All of the agencies and businesses need to collaborate to do what's best for the region.

It doesn't hurt McCraw's standing that he has a sizeable Rolodex after climbing up the ranks of the area's banking industry. "He's a high profile individual and well-respected," says Hughes. "He's a statement."

Kathy Baylis, president of the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County, has worked with McCraw on the Tampa Bay Partnership. Baylis agrees with Hughes, adding that the respect and admiration many have for McCraw is genuine.

"He listens very carefully to what other people are saying," says Baylis, pointing out that skill is especially appreciated on economic development boards that normally carry high opinion counts. "He's mindful of others' opinions."

Several survivor-like experiences have shaped McCraw's life, as well as his 30-year banking career. He served as a first lieutenant under an administrative general in the U.S. Army, and he also considers himself something of an adventurer: He's climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, hiked the Inca Trail in Peru and taken a weeklong survival course in the Utah desert.

Likewise, McCraw's banking career has included some taxing twists. He's one of dozens of Gulf Coast banking executives to have worked his way up in Barnett Bank, running the bank's private client services department for several years. Before Wachovia, other banks McCraw's held leadership positions at include First Union, SunTrust, AmSouth and Fortune Bank.

McCraw, the son of a car salesman and businessman, grew up in Roanoke Rapids, N.C, a small town in the eastern part of the state; he earned his MBA from the University of North Carolina. He likes to think big on just about any issue that impacts economic development, be it in Tampa, the Gulf Coast or the entire Sunshine State. That includes transportation, salary increases, health care costs and anything else that helps a business grow.

"We like to see quality growth of good businesses that employ lots of people at high wages," McCraw says, in relation to all three economic development groups he's a part of. "We want to build a foundation."

REVIEW SUMMARY

Who: Roy McCraw, Jr.

Industry: Economic development.

Key: McCraw holds leadership positions with three economic development groups. One covers primarily Hillsborough County, another one covers the Greater Tampa area, including Sarasota and Lakeland, and a third covers the entire state.

Banking on growth

Banking

on growth

There are several similarities between Roy McCraw's economic development roles and his salaried job with Wachovia Bank, where he runs the company's Hillsborough and Pinellas county branches. A big one is being aware of challenges to growth.

In economic development, that includes the insurance crisis. In banking, McCraw says the biggest threat to Wachoiva's growth is the "flat yield curve, and what that's done to deposit growth."

McCraw, who's been at the helm of the 100-plus Tampa area branches since 2004, says rates are so low, many customers from an array of banks are moving money into places where the return is better. Wachovia is trying to combat that, McCraw says, by growing market share so it has more of a deposit base to pull from.

Pay at the door

About 50 years ago, a group of Tampa Bay business leaders involved with the area's chamber of commerce wanted to do a little extra for recruiting new businesses and retaining the current ones. Each member of the ad-hoc group forked over $100 to get things going.

Based on its cut-rate membership fee, the group called themselves the Committee of 100. The name stuck, but as the membership, focus and mission of the group grew, so did its' entrance fees. A half-century later, the group, which now serves as the economic development department of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, uses a 'pay to play' model that gets members, or investors, more perks depending on how much more they pay.

The Committee of 100 currently has about 190 members, at various price points. In the past, membership levels have grown about 8% to 10% a year, says Christa Watson, the committee's director of investor relations, but growth's been flat lately. The group plans to run several programs this year to increase membership. Members are both companies and government entities, as the group is considered a public-private partnership.

Investors, or the companies they work for, must be chamber members. The annual investments start at $3,000 and go up to a $50,000-plus level. In addition to being on the inside to the goings-on of the committee, all investors receive business referrals, some event invitations, research services and the company's name on the committee's Web site.

-Mark Gordon

Breakdown of investor levels

• Emerging businesses, $3,000: The most popular category, with about 150 members. The list includes hospitals and health care firms, public companies, colleges, local governments, banks and construction firms. The Florida Aquarium, Southwest Airlines and the AAA Auto Club South are also members;

• Corporate, $5,000: Its 14 members include some well-known Tampa Bay companies and firms, such as Deloitte & Touche, Holland & Knight and Ernst & Young. The Tampa Port Authority and the University of South Florida are also members;

• Trustee, $10,000: Category has 23 members. For the extra $5,000, each member is recognized at certain special events, as well as given one free ticket to the annual committee dinner. It's made up partially of prominent banks, law firms and financial services companies. The list is also diverse, including Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer, Outback Steakhouse CEO Bill Allen and Bush Gardens & Adventure Island executive vice president Dan Brown;

• Advisory, $25,000: Category has eight members; the fee bumps up the recognition perk to being included in committee marketing materials. Members include Wachovia, of which Roy McCraw, Jr. is the representative. Other businesses include the Tampa Tribune and Tampa General Hospital;

• Chairman's circle, $50,000-plus: Three members make up this level: The city of Tampa, Hillsborough County and Teco Energy.