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august 31, 2012

THE NEWS | 23

TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL www.tampabaybusinessjournal.com

Mining company considers new operation here

Wainio: Many improvements at Tampa port FROM PAGE 1

“third-world” look of crumbling docks and rusting warehouses. “It was terrible. It was physically a mess,” Wainio said during an Aug. 27 interview with the Tampa Bay Business Journal. “The port board was in disarray. You had people flipping property to builders for condos on the waterfront. The place was in a state of confusion.” As he leaves the job Sept. 7, Wainio pointed to many improvements at Florida’s largest port: • A 40-acre container terminal expandable to 160 acres. • A new intermodal railroad link nearly ready to open. •A petroleum terminal modernization under way. • More cruise ship service served by a new parking garage. • New businesses attracted to the waterfront and others in the pipeline. Criticism comes with the territory Wainio said he is not surprised to leave the job with some criticism from the Port of Tampa Maritime Industries Association and a few members of the Port Authority board. Some have said Wainio was too brusque or indifferent to the needs of port tenants or adjoining private property owners. Others have complained more specifically about the decline in the port’s shipping tonnage. “Contrary to comments made repeatedly over the years by a few folks in our community, total port tonnage — driven mainly by a few bulk cargoes from private terminals — is not the best measure of TPA operating performance,” Wainio told the board during an Aug. 24 budget workshop. “Value added cargo-processed materials, manufactured goods, consumer goods, which weigh far less, are much more important to the region and the port in terms of economic value, return on investment

and job creation.” At the workshop and during the Business Journal interview, Wainio insisted that Tampa’s port has weathered the economic recession better than other ports or other industries. “Ports are extremely political all over this nation,” he said. “It’s just not conceivable you are going to keep everybody happy. … I was asked coming in here if I could stand up to local people with their own agenda. I said I could be that person.” Wainio, 62, said he never expected to stay in the job more than five years. He said he has several private sector consulting jobs lined up for after his last day at the port. He plans to stay in Tampa while he son, Robert, attends Newsome High School. Wainio praised the port board for hiring Boyden Global Executive Search to find his replacement and for naming Charles Klug, deputy director of administration and general counsel, as interim director. “You want the transition as seamless as possible,” Wainio said. “That signals continuity to the port’s customers and the rest of the world.” He also praised the port’s small staff of about three dozen people. “They do a huge amount of work,” Wainio said. “The CEO here can’t just delegate and direct. The CEO is right smack in the middle of the team. I don’t take credit for very much. The team takes the credit.” To successor: get the word out He said the next director should continue to build strong infrastructure and aggressively market the port. “We invest to make sure everything is there to serve future opportunities,” he said. Wainio praised Gov. Rick Scott for directing the Florida Department of Transportation to focus more on international trade. “He has created real opportunity for ports, and he has put his money, so to speak, where his mouth is.”

By Mark Holan

STAFF WRITER

Scott directed FDOT to split the $45 million cost of the petroleum terminal complex known as REK Pier with the port. “They have a whole new focus on freight and trade,” Wainio said. “But you have to show [return on investment] and economic benefits. You have to show you are bringing new business to the state, not just moving it around the state.” Wainio reiterated his stance that Tampa should focus more on north-south trade with Latin America rather than focusing too much on trade with Asia through the expanded Panama Canal. He said the port should move forward with state and Pinellas County officials to build a new deep water cruise ship terminal outside the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. “There’s about five to six years to get that in place or the market will change and Tampa will become a niche player,” he said.

A Canadian mining company is considering opening a new operation at the Port of Tampa, outgoing port director Richard Wainio confirmed. “It will be a huge project if it happens,” he said. The Tampa Bay Business Journal began tracking the potential deal about two months ago. Speaking on background, one port commissioner said Tampa is one of two ports under consideration. He said the operation would import raw material and export processed product. “This could be the cornerstone of other manufacturing coming to Tampa,” the commissioner said. Wainio would not name the company, but it appears to be one of several firms with operations in the Goose Bay region of Newfoundland and Labrador. Several mining companies in the region produce iron ore, nickel, copper, zinc, cobalt, antimony and gold. Other operations mine slate, limestone and dolomite, according to a government website. The Tampa-Hillsborough Economic Development Corp. and Enterprise Florida are working to lure the mining company to Tampa. Tampa Electric Co. (NYSE: TE) has been contacted about providing electricity for the operation, Wainio said. In July, the port closed on the purchase of 110 acres near Port Redwing for $8.9 million for future development.

[email protected] | 813.342.2468

[email protected] | 813.342.2468

taxes: Republicans want government to reduce taxes and regulations they say are an unfair burden on biz FROM PAGE 1

resonate nationwide and propel presidential nominee Mitt Romney to victory, defeating President Barack Obama in November. The RNC, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, focused heavily on the theme “We Built That” — a slogan that skewers Obama for his July comment that entrepreneurs “didn’t build that,” referring to their businesses, without help from government-supported infrastructure “that allowed you to thrive.” Business experience At the convention, the GOP touted Romney’s business experience. The president “has never run a lemonade stand and it shows,” scoffed U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, RN.H. To make the point, several small business owners addressed the convention, suggesting government only hinders and harasses free enterprise. Among the speakers was Jack Gilchrist, owner of Gilchrist Metal Fabricating in New Hampshire, who has been featured in a Romney commercial. He said government regulations are burdensome and hard to follow. Sweatman, whose company manufactures special machined components, said he found himself nodding in agreement as

Behind the catch phrase What President Obama said: “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.  Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own.  Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make Gilchrist spoke. “This administration, with its rules and regulations, is throwing a big burden on small businesses,” Sweatman said. Fay said she understands the larger context of Obama’s remark, but took it personally. “He could have said it in a better way,” she said. “We had some government help, but we built our business. We worked 100 hours a week. I didn’t get anyone to hold our hand through it.” The eight-year-old company, which services cranes, winches, steering systems and

money off the Internet. “The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.  “There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own.  I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service.  That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires. ” – July 13, in Roanoke, Va. Source: White House Office of Press Secretary

other heavy equipment, is building new headquarters with the help of a $1.2 million Small Business Administration loan. It also has tapped a Hillsborough County job creation incentive program. Gilchrist’s company also benefited from SBA loans. Health care With 18 employees, Lightning Bay will avoid the 50-worker threshold of the Affordable Care Act, Fay said. When it fully takes effect in 2014, the ACA will require

companies with 50 or more employees to provide health care insurance coverage or pay a penalty. At Southern Manufacturing with 110 employees, Sweatman figures that he could save money if he eliminates health insurance for his workers and instead pays the fine. “I could save about $100,000 if I did that, which I really don’t want to do,” he said. Sweatman also believes the Obama administration is paying back unions for their election support through rulings from the National Labor Relations Board that attempt to make it easier for unions to organize employees. Indirect impacts on his business include regulations regarding carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. “This puts the squeeze on these plants,” Sweatman said. “We use a lot electricity. It costs $15,000 to $16,000 a month.” Fay complained about tangible property tax her business pays on equipment. “That’s like paying tax on your refrigerator at home,” she said. She said she doesn’t mind paying some taxes. “We need roads and police and the fire department, but I don’t want to support people who don’t support themselves.” [email protected] | 813.342.2468