Economy
Agriculture was the single most important industry in Pinellas until the early 20th century, with much of the best land devoted to citrus production. Cattle ranching was another major industry. In 1885 the American Medical Society declared the Pinellas peninsula the "healthiest spot on earth", which helped spur the growth of the tourist industry.
Tourism today remains a major industry, with Tampa Bay's climate, white sand beaches, and many cultural attractions drawing over five million visitors to Pinellas County alone in 2010.
Service industries such as healthcare, business services and education account for more than 200,000 jobs in the county, generating almost $19 billion in revenue. Other major sectors include retail, with close to 100,000 employees in jobs such as food service, bars, and retail sales generating $12 billion for the local economy in 2010, and industries related to finance, insurance and real estate with approximately 44,000 workers generating $8.5 billion in sales.
Pinellas County's largest employers are:
- Pinellas County School District (Public; 13,905 employees. Headquartered in Largo)
- Home Shopping Network (Private; 4,000 employees. Corporate headquarters in St. Petersburg)
- Pinellas County Government (Public; 4,000 employees. Headquartered in Clearwater)
- City of St. Petersburg (Public; 3,500 employees)
- Times Publishing Company (Private; 3,187 employees. Headquartered in St. Petersburg)
- Raymond James Financial (Private; 3,022 employees. Corporate headquarters in St. Petersburg)
- Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (Public; 2,800 employees. Headquartered in Largo)
- Nielsen Media Research (Private; 2.669 employees in Oldsmar)
- Morton Plant Hospital (Private, 2,448 employees in Clearwater)
- Bay Pines VA Medical Center (Public; 2,330 employees in St. Petersburg)
Read more about this topic: Pinellas County, Florida
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“Wise men read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior. The whole economy of nature is bent on expression. The tell-tale body is all tongues. Men are like Geneva watches with crystal faces which expose the whole movement.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get “a good job,” but to perform well a certain work; and, even in a pecuniary sense, it would be economy for a town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, as for a livelihood merely, but for scientific, or even moral ends. Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical terms.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)