Tampa mayor honors local business for 30 years

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor designated Aug. 19 as "Schifino Lee Day," in recognition of the Tampa Bay advertising agency's 30th year in business.

The ad agency was founded on Aug. 19, 1993, in Tampa.

The proclamation caps a yearlong celebration of events highlighting the agency's three decades of partnering with Tampa Bay businesses and nonprofits to deliver advertising, branding and communication campaigns in the 18th largest metropolitan area in the U.S., Schifino Lee officials say in a news release.

Castor presented the proclamation in a ceremony at the Tampa Municipal Office Building on Thursday. The event included the agency's founding partners, Paola Schifino and Ben Lee, and its recently named partner, Jeff Philbin.

"For three decades, Schifino Lee has been recognized as an industry leader," the proclamation says.

Through the 30 years, Schifino Lee helped build brands for Tampa Bay area companies and organizations including Alessi Foods, Tampa Museum of Art, Wellcare Health Plans, Blue Grace Logistics, The Bank of Tampa, Hillsborough County Arts Commission, Ferman Motor Car Co., Tampa Bay Sports Authority, Cross-Bay Ferry, MGT, and Kimmins Contracting Corp.

Since its founding in 1993, Schifino Lee grew from a two-person agency to more than 20 professionals providing a range of services that include advertising, branding, search engine marketing, public relations, social media, digital media and website design, the company says.

"On Aug. 19, 1993, Ben and I took the plunge in starting our own shop, and it's been the ride of a lifetime ever since," says Schifino. "While it wouldn’t have been easy to predict that we would one day be celebrating Schifino Lee Day when we opened our doors 30 years ago, we remain just as excited about marketing and communication in Tampa Bay today as we were back then. We've entered a time where agencies are having to operate more quickly and nimbly than ever in order to keep pace with the accelerating rate of change in today's media landscape."

In March, Schifino Lee named its first partner since the founding of the agency, when Jeff Philbin, director of business strategy, was promoted to partner.