Why Tampa Bay is not on the Amazon HQ2 shortlist None of the Tampa Bay executives I interviewed last year thought Tampa Bay would make it into the Amazon main event and most of them thought the entire state of Florida was a long shot. What was certain to follow the HQ2 announcement was a … More Be Humble
Obituary from the Tampa Bay Times. January 9, 2018 The man they called the ninth council member around St. Petersburg City Hall leaves colorful memories unlikely to face term limits. Gene Smith, 68, was found dead in his apartment at 430 5th St Monday morning, according to police. The death is still officially under investigation, … More In Memoriam-Gene Smith
Florida This Week is West Central Florida’s longest-running primetime public affairs program. Moderator Rob Lorei leads a diverse roundtable of journalists, academics, officials, and other political insiders for lively talk. This week: more fallout in Florida from the growing number of sexual harassment allegations. Senator Marco Rubio supports the Republican tax plan despite failing to … More Florida This Week
The mission of Jameis Winston’s Dream Forever Foundation is to impact the lives of financially disadvantaged children and youth through encouragement, opportunities and resources to develop and achieve their dreams. Winston and his Buccaneers teammates will step off the field for one evening only to mix and mingle raising funds to launch the Foundation. Funds … More Blake Collins Group sponsors Jameis Winston’s: A Night to Achieve Dreams
Florida This Week is West Central Florida’s longest-running primetime public affairs program. Moderator Rob Lorei leads a diverse roundtable of journalists, academics, officials, and other political insiders for lively talk. This week: The violence in Charlottesville last weekend has sparked a national debate over where the country is heading under President Trump; The Hillsborough County … More Florida This Week
After some of the usual Tallahassee two-step, the Legislature passed the Tampa Bay Transit Authority bill and last week the Governor signed it. The inspiration for the Transit Authority bill was the proposal spearheaded last year by Pinellas County Commission Chair, Janet Long. We have all watched the region struggle to address the transportation gridlock … More A New Narrative for TBARTA
April 10, 2017 By Tony Chapelle, Agenda Week Governance observers disagree about designating board members to serve as risk experts. Fewer than 20% of Fortune 500 directors serve on a board that has designated any member as a risk expert. That’s an “astonishingly low number,” according to an investigation that reviewed the biographies of more … More Risk Experts on Boards Still Not a Given
Florida This Week is West Central Florida’s longest-running primetime public affairs program. Moderator Rob Lorei leads a diverse roundtable of journalists, academics, officials, and other political insiders for lively talk. This week: Senator Bill Nelson says if the allegations of Russian involvement in the November election are true, it was an “act of war;” The … More Florida This Week
Creating the Success Agenda Jim Ley, February 2016 Thirty five years in local government service taught me one thing – the status quo is in charge. To make progress, there must be leaders who are willing to challenge the status quo, propose a new agenda and be politically nimble enough to adapt to input from … More Transportation in the Tampa Bay Region
Tony Collins-2016 All stories have a narrative. It is how we transmit values, enrich the story-telling and identify who to jeer and who to cheer. In its simplest form every story has a hero, a villain and a foreseeable outcome which we call the narrative. Our traditional narrative lets us know that despite Luke Skywalker … More The Law Enforcement Narrative is Changing
Blake Collins Group 