At the Gwinnett Chamber, championing business means looking ahead. It means connecting leaders, challenging assumptions and creating opportunities to see what is working beyond our own community — then bringing those ideas home to help shape what comes next for Gwinnett. That is the purpose of the Gwinnett Chamber Strategic Leadership Visit (SLV).

For three days, Gwinnett leaders stepped outside the familiar, to explore how another fast-growing region is tackling many of the same questions facing our community: How do we grow well? How do we prepare people for what comes next? And how do we make sure opportunities reach more of the community

Those questions framed the Chamber’s 2026 Strategic Leadership Visit to Tampa and St. Petersburg. Presented by Jackson EMC, the program moved from regional economic development and urban placemaking to workforce readiness, innovation and housing. The schedule was full. So were the buses. And that was very much the point.

This year marked the Chamber’s 20th Strategic Leadership Visit, and two decades of experience have shown that sometimes the best way to envision what is possible for Gwinnett is to see what is possible somewhere else. The Chamber traces the concept for the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology to its first visit, to Fairfax County, Virginia, in 2006. That same trip helped inspire Partnership Gwinnett and its public-private approach to job growth. A later visit to Frisco, Texas, gave local leaders a model to study as Gwinnett considered the stadium development now anchored by the Gwinnett Stripers. Municipal town-center redevelopment and the continuing reinvention of Gwinnett Place add to the list of ideas these visits have helped inform, affirm or accelerate. That history speaks to why SLV matters.

These trips are not about copying another community’s playbook. They are about expanding our own, giving Gwinnett leaders the opportunity to connect around big ideas, learn from other markets and consider what can be adapted to meet the needs, assets and ambitions of our community. The results are rarely immediate. Big community ideas have an inconvenient habit of requiring patience, partnership and more meetings than anyone wants to count. But they begin by seeing what is possible.

 Day 1: Connecting Business, Community and Place

The delegation arrived for opening remarks from Gwinnett Chamber President and CEO Nick Masino. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor then welcomed the group before regional economic development leaders provided an overview of the Tampa Bay market.

Representatives from the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council, Pinellas County Economic Development and the Pasco Economic Development Council helped establish the wider regional picture: who is growing, where investment is moving and how communities and economic development organizations work together to compete for opportunity.

The afternoon moved from regional strategy to placemaking at Water Street Tampa. Darren Morse of Strategic Property Partners and Cedric McCray of the City of Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency discussed the public-private coordination behind a walkable, mixed-use district integrating residential, office, retail, hospitality, entertainment and public spaces.

Then the presentation moved outside. A walking tour of Water Street and Sparkman Wharf allowed leaders to experience the development rather than simply study it on a screen. That matters. A place can look flawless in a rendering. The real test is whether people want to walk through it, gather there, do business there and stay awhile.

For Gwinnett, the conversation was particularly relevant as communities across the county continue to rethink how development, redevelopment and quality of place contribute to economic competitiveness.

 Day 2: Advancing Talent and Accelerating Innovation

Day two put people at the center of growth. The morning began with workforce readiness and a conversation focused on students receiving special education services. Leaders from Pepin Academies and Gwinnett County Public Schools shared approaches to transition programming, including classroom instruction, vocational experiences, work-based learning and mentorship. The conversation challenged leaders to think beyond graduation day. Preparing people for meaningful employment and community engagement requires connection among schools, employers and community partners. It also requires recognizing talent in all its forms and creating pathways that allow more people to participate in the economy.

The delegation then traveled to St. Petersburg College’s Gibbs Campus, where Chris Steinocher, president and CEO of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Ken Welch welcomed the group. Leaders from Pinellas County Economic Development and the City of St. Petersburg followed with sessions examining the county and the city’s reinvention.

St. Petersburg College President Dr. Tonjua Williams continued the workforce conversation with a look at how education, industry and economic development can work together to prepare talent for what comes next. A tour of the manufacturing lab at SPC’s Midtown Center then moved the conversation from strategy to the environments where skills are developed.

The afternoon shifted from talent to innovation at the ARK Innovation Center. Alison Barlow, CEO of the St. Pete Innovation District, examined how the district connects research institutions, higher education, healthcare, marine science and technology organizations.

For Gwinnett leaders, there were familiar threads. The Water Tower, Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners and Rowen represent different pieces of Gwinnett’s own growing innovation ecosystem — places where research, talent, technology and business have opportunities to intersect.

The models may be different. The principle is much the same: innovation accelerates when the right people, institutions and ideas are connected.

Day 3: Driving Opportunity Through Inclusive Growth

Friday brought the conversation back to one of the most complex issues facing growing communities: housing. Through the lens of the ENCORE District and West River redevelopment, Leroy Moore of the Tampa Housing Authority and Frank DeBose of Pinnacle Group Holding discussed the planning, financing and partnerships behind two major redevelopment efforts. The session explored how former public housing sites are being reimagined as mixed-income, mixed-use communities combining affordable, workforce and market-rate housing with retail, office, cultural and public spaces.

But the larger conversation was not simply about building housing. It was about connecting people to opportunity – opportunity for jobs, education, transportation, community services and other amenities. Housing is part of a much larger ecosystem that influences whether people can successfully participate in a growing economy.

Then it was Gwinnett’s turn. From municipal projects to countywide housing and development plans, leaders heard how projects are taking shape right now across Gwinnett’s 439 square miles. It was an important reminder that the big ideas discussed throughout the week are not beyond Gwinnett’s reach. In many cases, they are already being put into motion at home.

Bringing the Vision Home

Over three days and dozens of conversations, one idea surfaced again and again: progress depends on connection. Public investment and private enterprise. Education and industry. Research and commercialization. Housing and access to opportunity. Leadership and collaboration. A vibrant, sustainable community needs all these facets working together.

That is also where the Chamber’s work comes in. Through leadership development and experiences like the Strategic Leadership Visit, we advance leadership by giving decision-makers the relationships, perspective and ideas needed to help shape Gwinnett’s future.

The task now is not to recreate Tampa Bay in Gwinnett. Gwinnett is Gwinnett, and that is one of our greatest strengths. The value of going somewhere else is coming home and being able to see your own community a little differently. It’s in asking sharper questions, recognizing opportunities and connecting ideas that may not have been connected before.

The itinerary may have ended at Tampa International Airport, but the real work of a Strategic Leadership Visit begins after the flight home. Observations become conversations. Conversations build partnerships. Partnerships move ideas forward. And, with the right people around the table, vision moves into action. That is how we Champion Gwinnett.