Ceridian's relocation

Another pleasant surprise occurred at Ceridian Benefits Services when the human resources firm relocated 1,000 employees from offices in North Pinellas. Ceridian acquired the former corporate headquarters of Florida Power in South St. Petersburg and recently occupied its newly renovated 400,000-square-foot corporate campus.

"This city has gone out of its way to make this transition very smooth and to provide incentives for our people to move here," says Bill Povilus, the firm's president. "They've done everything, such as offer free tours of the area. We moved over six weeks and had no problems of any consequence. That's very unusual when you're moving 1,000 people. And this was due to the helpfulness of the community. The police helped direct traffic and downtown people helped our folks find the nearest restaurants. Everybody came out. This is the kind of thing that really makes you feel welcome. The St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce had a huge part in this."

While the Welcome Wagon has rolled out to greet this corporate newcomer (it used to be ABR Information Services Inc. of Palm Harbor), the Bloomington, Minn.-based headquarters of Ceridian has taken note of its St. Petersburg asset and is moving other operations to the area. "We're in the process of relocating a payroll processing back-up site from Las Vegas," Povilus says. "We're also relocating about 250 positions from operations in Fairfax, Va., and Milwaukee. These are flexible spending accounts (FSA) administration offices. And there are active discussions about relocating other portions of the business here."

With all these new positions coming to the area, Povilus notes that "it's been easier than we thought to find the kinds of people we need. A fear that caused me to lose a lot of sleep when we moved to this part of the county was finding adequate numbers of skilled employees," he says. "That has not been the case. We've had no trouble at all attracting staff. We've hired over 300 people since our move."

Carolina energy

Another move impacting the area is the pending acquisition of Florida Progress Corp. by Raleigh, N.C.-based Carolina Power & Light. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Federal Trade Commission recently approved the acquisition. At this writing approvals were awaited from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the North Carolina Utilities Commission and shareholders of both companies.

"We're pretty certain of a fall closing date," says Keith Poston, a spokesman for CP&L Energy Inc. "We had committed to the goal of closing in a year and we're very close to that. For an electric combination, that's pretty fast. But on top of that we're committed to achieving our synergies in the first year. We'll hit the ground running in 2001 with our new company."

The financial reports of the two companies have been excellent in recent quarters. "Our most recent announced earnings were 63 percent higher than last year," Poston says. "We've added a lot of new customers. Retail and commercial sales are up. This is the best place in the country to do business. Both Florida and North Carolina are seeing increases in customers of about 3 percent [annually]. That's double the national average. Our CEO [William Cavanaugh] has said many times this is the best place to be in business, especially the energy business."

Advantages of the acquisition are that "the new company will have a lot more resources in terms of generating capacity," says Poston. "We'll have 19,000 megawatts of combined generation, putting us in the top ten. And we'll have $16 billion in total assets to build new generation, invest in infrastructure and deliver reliable, competitively priced power. We'll be a high-quality, low-cost provider. In addition, the new company will invest in new technology and apply the best practices of both companies to better serve our customers."

Some jobs will be eliminated due to the acquisition.

"Downsizing of staff is impending," Poston says. "There will be job loss both in the Carolinas and Florida. The number will likely be around 1,200 jobs. There is very little overlap in terms of plants, line and service crews, delivery. There is overlap in management and various functions that support the company. Corporate communications, human resources, accounting, legal, those are the kinds of departments that are going to see most of the impact. Out of 17,000 employees the integration of the two companies affects less than 4,000 people."

One surprise in August was the loss of what amounts to the last Tampa Bay person in the top echelon of the firm when Joe Richardson resigned as chief of Florida Power Corp. When the transition is complete he will be replaced by regional vice president William Habermeyer, who had been CP&L's vice president for western North Carolina.

Poston doesn't anticipate that the area's electric bills will have a different company name. "At this point we don't expect the name to change," he says. "A new name for the holding company is being created. After the deal closes we'll have a brand new company that will be unlike anything any of us have seen before."

Transformation at USF

While the Florida Power offices are gearing for change, things are anything but static at the University of South Florida Bayboro campus. This fall the curriculum is expanding to include a four-year undergraduate program. "The prospect of this will bring 6,000 to 8,000 students here," says Normile. "That's a change from 3,400 night students."

As the student population shifts, the school's Center for Ocean Technology has been recruiting staff for a new MEMS facility. "We have 10 MEMS engineers at USF Bayboro, creating new industries and developing prototypes," says Dr. Peter Betzer, chairman and professor of the USF Marine Science Department. "Ken Carter, an optics researcher on campus, advises the Japanese government on satellites. And a [miniature] computerized, autonomous submarine built by a national effort of England is using an optic sensor developed here. Our researchers will put this area on the map."

Finding space for the new MEMS center at the Bayboro campus has been an issue and negotiations are under way with Concurrent Technologies Corp. at the STAR Center in Largo for a 10,000-square-foot facility. "Concurrent is working on projects that have synergy with MEMS," says Larry Langbrake, director at the USF Center for Ocean Technology. Langbrake is responsible for development of MEMS at the Bayboro campus. "One of our motivating factors for linking up with them is because of the types of work they do. There will be a lot of interaction between our two organizations."

Florida recently awarded a $1-million grant to the center but a federal $6-million contract will decide the research center's fate. "The state money will provide funding for eight researchers," Langbrake says. "The contract for the federal government will get this project going. This whole thing hinges on this contract. It will be a project that will involve technology having application for the military but across the board it will also have medical, marine science and potential commercial applications. Funding for this technology is being heavily competed for in every arena, but we think we're in pretty good shape."

The advantage in USF's funding strategy is combining product commercialization with research.

"Our proposed effort is to not only provide research and development of new MEMS technology but to create new devices," says Langbrake. "Very few people out there are doing that. In that regard we're very applications oriented and the market for this technology is exploding right now."

Langbrake has recruited Dr. Sheckhar Bhansali, formerly a researcher at the University of Cincinnati, to head MEMS development. "He's putting together a course for MEMS engineering at the USF College of Engineering," Langbrake says. "I don't know of a single university in the country that provides a degree in MEMS engineering. We have a vision of a full program at USF for this degree. Being able to produce people with that background and capability is very important. We were lucky to recruit him. He came here because of the potential to build this center from the ground up. He'll be a key player."

Additional scientists are coming to the U.S. Geological Survey's office at the Bayboro campus. "The USGS is bringing in experts in other sciences," Betzer says. "They transferred two scientists from the University of Florida. The USGS annually pumps $4.2 million into this community."

And discussions are in process about pumping even more capital investment into the area with construction of an additional 30,000-square-foot building for the USGS. This facility will also likely become the home of USF's MEMS research center. "In the next three years we'll add about 30 new people here at the center, possibly more," says Lisa Robbins, the agency's chief scientist. "We've grown a lot in the last couple months with 80 scientists and staff now. We're burgeoning."

Their 60,000-square-foot building is becoming the center of activity for "scientists outside the geological field," Robbins says. "Our scientists here have been traditionally geologists working on coast issues. This expansion will accommodate biologists and water resources folks who can do research in science. It will fit in well with the geologists already here. It will be a more complete, wholistic approach to science. One of the major thrusts of USGS is to do integrated science now, and this will be a facility to promote that.

"This is a research center that is developing to its potential," adds Robbins. "A lot of exciting things are happening at the Bayboro campus. What Peter Betzer is doing with marine science and the MEMS facility is taking off. There is an enclave of research going on here. It's exciting for a scientist to come here at this point. I'm happy I'm here. Other organizations are thinking about moving onto the campus."

Jabil Circuit Inc.'s corporate headquarters campus on Roosevelt Boulevard is only part of the 648,000 square feet the company occupies. Last year the firm reported revenues of $2 billion. Photo:D.J. Wilson

Expanding airport

Neighboring Albert E. Whitted Airport is also working on developing to its fullest potential with completion of the first phase of an expansion program that includes 48 new T-hangars, three new maintenance hangars and rehabilitation of the storm drainage system on the airfield. "The second phase is just beginning," says Monty Burgess, the airport's director. "We're doing soil remediation for our new 10,000-square-foot terminal. The main terminal facility will have a lower lobby area with a lounge and operations for transient aircraft and the second story will include new administrative offices for the airport as well as a large community meeting room. We may have a restaurant on the second story overlooking the airport."

Although air traffic had decreased over the past few years while the city deliberated closing the facility, Burgess says the airport is "running 8.5 percent over last year. We'll be in the neighborhood of 98,000 takeoffs and landings for 2000," he says. "The city made a commitment to spend money on the airport and we're on the rebound. This new terminal facility will be a great asset as a drawing card for business traffic to the downtown area."

Similar redevelopment plans are under way at the Port of St. Petersburg. "We're looking to bring it back into prominence," says Michael Perez, the port's director. "This used to be the premier cruising port on Tampa Bay. It has gone by the wayside. It's a diamond in the rough that needs a little polishing. We'll pursue cruise as a port of call." The port recently completed refurbishing the cruise embarkation terminal. "We're looking at massaging the master plan," Perez says. "We have a beautification plan that involves getting rid of old warehouses around here. We don't have cruise ships currently in the port and will have to market to them. Our debarkation terminal needs to be renovated so that we can accept cruise ships as a port of call."

The main ship channel will be drudged this fall. "That will deepen the harbor back to its original design depth," says Perez. "This is a multi-million dollar project. We'll end up with deeper water, which will open the window of opportunity to larger cruise ships." Because of the port's proximity to the USF Bayboro campus, Perez says the school will "utilize a portion of our docks for scientific research vessels. This is an area of opportunity for the campus and port to work together in a win/win situation."