Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council

Located in the Gateway Centre area of Pinellas Park, just off US 19, is the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. This is not a business which will be known by many people as they are the regional not-​for-​profit organization which brings together local governments and gubernatorial appointees to coordinate planning for the Region’s future, while providing a venue for analyzing issues, resolving problems, and sharing solutions.
Putting that into English, the TBRPC develops impact analyses to study population growth, land use, impacts on the coastal waterways, traffic flow, and other types of urban growth, and then shares that information with the various county and state leaders to make the best possible decisions for the region.
I am personally involved in the TBRPC’s Emergency Management efforts, and work with them on the Tampa Bay Regional Disaster Planning Guide and the Florida Disaster Survival Guide for businesses. It’s very rewarding to come together with other emergency management experts and plot the best course of action for businesses to survive and recover from a wide variety of weather-​related, man made, and technology disasters. We work on issues like emergency communications and notification systems, evacuations, emergency traffic flow, storm surge probabilities, hazardous materials releases and spills, appropriate credentialing to return to impacted areas, and of course building solutions to help area businesses recover from the impact of things like tropical storms and hurricanes.
It’s one of those businesses that you seldom deal with, but you’re very glad that they’re helping to protect our community.