Rays president talks stadiums at Tampa EDC annual meeting

Tampa Bay Rays President Brian Auld, in his new office only a week, made a special appearance Tuesday night at the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp.'s annual meeting to make sure the business community remembers the baseball team in downtown St. Pete.

The Rays already were a sponsor of the EDC's annual event, but with a new president in place, the team sent Auld to Tampa to begin the conversation about a Rays stadium anew.

"Baseball can be a catalyst for economic development," Auld told the crowd of about 500 business leaders at Amalie Arena. He referenced cities like Baltimore and San Diego that have used stadium projects to enliven underdeveloped parts of the community.

He noted the 25-year history of Tropicana Field and acknowledged that the location of a new stadium – wherever it lands in Tampa Bay and whenever it gets built – will be the beneficiary of an economic spark.

It was an event where every speaker who took the stage had a hand in shaping the EDC's history. That included representatives from critical Hillsborough County economic engines including Tampa International Airport, Port Tampa Bay and the University of South Florida. So, when time was allotted for the Rays – the only organization based outside the county –– felt like an important moment.

Many of the speakers at the EDC's fifth anniversary annual meeting on Tuesday made some reference to the fact that this community is just getting started. Beck Group Managing Director for Strategic Integrated Projects Mark House made mention of Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn's "This is our time" quote before the mayor had time to take the stage, and almost everyone who took the microphone talked about how our best days are ahead of us.

Chris Wilkerson is Deputy Editor of the Tampa Bay Business Journal.