Ex-mayor keynotes 'super region' event

Former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy will be the keynote speaker for the Super Regional Leadership Conference, set for April 28-29 at the Tampa Convention Center.

The conference, presented jointly by the Tampa Bay Partnership and Central Florida Partnership, will bring together business and government leaders from both regions. Discussion topics will include regional planning, overcoming obstacles to develop potential, job creation for the new century and helping employers succeed in a post-recession economy. Murphy will discuss his report “Building on Innovation: The Significance of Anchor Institutions in a New Era of City Building,” released by the Urban Land Institute earlier this month. He maintains that in the current environment of extremely limited public funds, being competitive means being able to create new economic engines, marketplace synergies and corporate enterprise offshoots.

During his three terms as mayor of Pittsburgh from 1994 through 2005, Murphy initiated a public-private partnership strategy leveraging more than $4.5 billion in economic development. He also led efforts to secure and oversee $1 billion in funding for the development of two professional sports facilities and a new convention center.