Many people refer to St. Petersburg as a "big, small town." Forget six degrees of separation (aka Kevin Bacon)… St. Pete is probably three degrees of separation. I can point to numerous situations where this is in evidence. One of my most memorable was my first meeting back in St. Pete after 15 years away, I found myself at a Chamber of Commerce meeting sitting next to a high school classmate I hadn't seen since graduation.
The size and scale of St. Pete fuels collaboration. The image above is one of my favorite to show locals and visitors. Its hard to imagine another place where this amazing collection of innovators are sitting side-by-side from NOAA to Poynter Institute to the hospitals to the Dali... and everything in between. Our proximity and "big, small town" attitude builds strong bonds of trust. We are open to newcomers and appreciative of the wisdom of longtime locals. This creates opportunities for partnerships that bridge traditional silos and a willingness to experiment. We gravitate to big ideas and people who back those up with action. Together we flourish.
(This article was first featured in our June/July newsletter - to subscribe to our monthly newsletter click here)
In the season finale episode of Innovation in the ‘Burg, we gave Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, all the knowledge from the St. Pete Innovation District 2024 Impact Report and sat down to interview it.
The St. Petersburg Innovation District is hitting double digits! On April 10th, the district will celebrate 10 years of sparking bold ideas, fueling research, and powering economic growth across the city and beyond.
Welcome, GISJane, to the Maritime and Defense Technology Hub! A woman-owned business based in St. Petersburg, Florida, GISJane is dedicated to making innovative engineering solutions accessible to all