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They got one

About 90 new jobs a day. That’s the number of new positions created over the past year in the Tampa Bay area as the state’s scorching economy continues to generate job openings.

By KRIS HUNDLEY
Published July 27, 2006

	[Times photo: William Dunkley]
	Jerry Long: He went to work a few months ago at his brother’s TeJon’s Urban Wear in St. Petersburg. “It’s all about customer service.”
	[Times photo: Chris Zuppa]
	Gina Bailey: She found a job in financial services. “My responsibilities have increased,” she said of her new position.
	[Times photo: Keri Wiginton]
	Kevin Harkless: He took his 22 years in the construction business to a new job. “I was looking for a company that wanted to grow.’’

Here are the stories of three people who have benefited from that growth in sectors that have been particularly strong: professional services, construction and retail. Whether their positions resulted from a corporate relocation, change in ownership or a business expansion, the upshot is the same: an opportunity and a paycheck that didn’t exist a year ago.

GINA BAILEY 

Gina Bailey figured she’d have to leave the area after graduating with an MBA from the University of Tampa in 2004. Instead, she decided to stick around after hearing that New York City’s Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. was opening an operations center in town.

Today Bailey, 39, is a senior securities valuation analyst for the massive financial services company, which settled $1.4-quadrillion in securities transactions last year.

“I was thinking of moving to Miami,’’ said Bailey, who worked in securities in Peru before coming to the United States in 1998. “To be honest, I was surprised to find such a high-level finance job here.”

Bailey joined DTCC’s Southern Business Center in December after 14 months with the finance department at Tampa’s Citigroup. Before moving to the area to get her MBA, she had been a bond trader at Charles Schwab’s headquarters in San Francisco.

“My responsibilities have increased and my decisions have greater impact,’’ Bailey said of her new position at DTCC, which has about 470 employees. “And DTCC is constantly growing, so there’s always room to advance.’’

Bailey and her husband left San Francisco because of the area’s high-priced housing and long commutes.

Here the couple owns their own home 12 miles from DTCC’s complex at Highwoods Preserve. And while she declines to disclose her income, saying only that it is “significantly above average” for Tampa, Bailey figures she would have to be earning about $200,000 to maintain a similar lifestyle in San Francisco.

“There, I had to get up at 4 a.m. and be on the 4:30 train. I didn’t have any life,’’ she said. “Here I do have a life.’
 

KEVIN HARKLESS 

After 22 years in the construction business, Kevin Harkless found his career in flux last fall. His employer, Raleigh, N.C.-based Stock Building Supply, had acquired a Florida company and Harkless was being edged out of his management job at Stock’s truss factory in Brooksville by someone with more seniority.

Though Harkless, 43, was offered another position with Stock, he decided to look around. In April, he became design manager at 41 Truss, a roof and floor truss factory with 98 employees in Spring Hill. It’s a newly created position at the company on U.S. 41, one of about 20 jobs added since David A. Wood bought the business in October.

“I wanted to stay in the area,’’ said Harkless, who lives in New Port Richey. “And I was looking for a company that wanted to grow.’’

At 41 Truss, Harkless works with the company’s technicians to translate customers’ blueprints into custom-made trusses. He hopes to boost the company’s sales to more than $2-million a month at the same time he improves margins.

Though he took a pay cut to join 41 Truss, Harkless figured the tradeoff was worth it.

“Working for a large company, there are a lot of very good things, but you get caught up in the corporate bureaucracy,’’ Harkless said. “In a smaller company, it’s more of a one-on-one relationship. There’s just a feeling generated from the ownership on down that’s very catchy and enthusiastic. It makes you want to be part of it.’’
 

JERRY LONG 

Earlier this year, Jerry Long had a failing sports bar in St. Petersburg. His brother, Edward Pratt, had a growing clothing business. Long closed the bar and went to work for his brother, becoming the third employee of TeJon’s Urban Wear on St. Petersburg’s 34th Street S.

Pratt started the business, which specializes in brand-name hip-hop apparel, about three years ago and has expanded twice, recently doubling its square footage. Long, 47, helped his brother with the renovation, spending about three weeks painting and building display walls.

“We’d never done this kind of thing before, but we worked day and night,’’ said Long, 47. “Working with my brother, that was the blessing part of it.’’

Pratt, 27, said sales have been strong at the business, which is named after his son. “Next thing I want to do is hire some teenagers to work here part-time,’’ he said. His brother, meanwhile, who once worked at Dillard’s, is glad to be part of the growth.

“The retail business is not easy,’’ Long said. “But there’s a big need for this kind of business. Everything here is brand name and we know what brands the kids want.”

Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2996.
 

[Last modified July 26, 2006, 23:17:35]