Mayor Rick Kriseman, Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin, and managers Jessica Eilerman and Sophia Sorolis recently visited Great Bay Distributors, Inc. The company, which has been in business for over 46 years, has a great local history. Founded by Claude Focardi and family, Great Bay is the State's largest independently owned distributor of Anheuser Busch products, serving Pinellas, Pasco, Citrus, and Hernando counties. Great Bay also partners with many of the area's craft brewers, including 3 Daughters, Big Storm, Coppertail, and the Tampa Bay Brewing Company.

The company purchased 100 acres in St. Petersburg and constructed a state of the art headquarters facility, with over 280,000 SF, which they moved into last summer. The main corporate offices, a large meeting room, controlled environment warehouse space (CEW), and garage maintenance facility are all located at the new site. The CEW alone is over 180,000 SF and includes a 23,000 SF keg cooler.

To help power the facility, Great Bay has installed Florida's largest private solar array producing 1.5 MW of power, with all components made in the USA. This solar field produces enough power to cover 80% of Great Bay's power needs.

Great Bay employs over 360 people working together to service its retail partners with responsibilities that include sales, warehousing, merchandising, marketing, administrative and more.  Employees in St. Petersburg enjoy a beautiful workspace, filled with local art curated by Chad Mize, murals curated by the Vitale Brothers, and a living aquarium. Outside are tables and a walking path around the lake. In 2016, Great Bay was nominated as one of the Top Workplaces by its employees.

Photo credit: Joellen Sokolowski

Mayor Kriseman leads a group bicycle ride along the newly completed Walter Fuller Trail and Pinellas Trail.

Saturday, April 16th  saw the celebration of 3 completed projects on the city's west end. Mayor Kriseman along with neighborhood leaders and city staff took advantage of the excellent spring weather to celebrate the blossoming of a new trail facility and two businesses.

First, the group attended a ribbon cutting for the Walter Fuller Trail, which connects the park of the same name to the Pinellas Trail. From there, the group cycled to the new Cobb Luxury Theater at Tyrone Square Mall where they admired the trail connection and mural that connects directly from the Pinellas Trail to the theaters. Finally, the group pedaled further up the Pinellas Trail to celebrate a ribbon cutting at the new facility for Northwest Collision Center. 

All three stops throughout the day highlighted the city's efforts to add new facilities for residents and businesses that are both appealing and built to last.

Station House is a multi-functional 5-story building in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg. The historic building was originally built in 1911 as a Fire Station. Today the space has been completely remodeled into a beautifully modern yet charming destination that offers a co-working membership, office space, event space, dining and more.  

On their cozy 2nd floor, TeBella offers TeBella Tea & Kahwa coffee 7 days a week. In the basement, the restaurant encourages sharing with their "American Cocktail Cuisine" menu, and on Friday and Saturday nights you can sit in the lovely Speakeasy for a delicious libation.  

Not only does Station House offer upscale beverage and dining, they also have a "Members Only" level on the 4th floor that functions as a co-working space with a network of over 100 small businesses. There are private offices on each level and two floors of communal space.

If you are looking to book a private event, they have 3 different levels of event space available - including a Rooftop Terrace. For more information, contact Erin Yonke, Membership Director, at [email protected].

Photo courtesy of Erin Yonke

GeniusCentral, located at 2232 5th Avenue South, offers a cool, eclectic co-working environment with a Google-feel suitable for start-ups or more established companies looking for a creative, funky space. Currently, there is 2,000 to 10,000 SF available depending on a business' needs. The space includes 6 private meeting rooms, stadium bleachers to hold company-wide meetings, a kitchen, and showers. Desks and furniture are included in many work spaces - all you need to do is bring your laptop and get to work!

Space is available immediately. Please contact Angie Jula at [email protected] or 727-209-2230 for more details.

Jon Hair, an internationally recognized figurative sculptor, has opened a new workspace and display studio in downtown St. Petersburg at 290 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street North, Suite 100. Mr. Hair has fulfilled more than 80 major public art commissions including those for The US Olympic Committee, The US Air Force Academy, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (The Emmys), the cities of Beijing and Shanghai, and 35 colleges around America.

The Jon Hair Monumental Studio offers classes and displays many of Mr. Hair's works of art in the 7,800 SF space. "I wanted to bring my art here and to get people excited about monumental sculpture. I have this gift that I want to share with people, and that's really the reason for the studio in St. Petersburg," says Hair.

Photo credit: 2014 Jon Hair Studio of Fine Art

LINCS (Leveraging, Integrating, Networking, Coordinating Supplies) is a national supply chain management education and training program funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. The program is administered by a consortium of 9 colleges and 3 universities, including St. Petersburg College (SPC).

Each non-credit class can be completed in 6 weeks or less. After completing each course, students have the opportunity to earn a national industry certification endorsed by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP):

SPC is offering your first and last class in the LINCS Supply Chain Management Program for free! For more information, contact Marta Przyborowski, Program Manager, at [email protected] or 727-341-7973.