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Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Research has highlighted the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship for the economic growth of a region. Multiple research studies have identified the positive association between innovation and regional economic growth. Innovation improves productivity which fuels economic growth. Increased economic growth in turn boosts investments into the economy. Entrepreneurship also plays a major role in the economic prosperity of a region. High-tech startups attract investments and create high paying jobs contributing to the overall gross domestic product of a region. Local businesses create employment opportunities and thus play a crucial role in keeping unemployment rates low.

Considering the significant role played by innovation and entrepreneurship in the economic growth of a region, in this section, researchers benchmarked the Tampa Bay region with respect to 19 other MSAs along the lines of innovation and entrepreneurship. To measure innovation, they choose the indicators such as patents per capita, university R&D expenditures, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards per capita, etc. To measure the entrepreneurship activity in a region, they chose the indicator, 鈥淏usiness Establishment Entry Rate.鈥�

Researchers used real-time signals from Google Trends to track the innovation and entrepreneurship activity in the region. They track Google search volume for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA, with respect to 19 comparison MSAs for the search terms related to innovation and small business activity. In the charts, Tampa denotes Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA only -- not the entire Tampa Bay region as considered for most of the other indicators in the report.

For innovation activity, researchers chose the search terms 鈥渞esearch jobs,鈥� 鈥淯SPTO,鈥� 鈥渕arketing ideas,鈥� 鈥渘ew product development,鈥� and process improvement.鈥� To track the entrepreneurship activity, they chose the terms 鈥渉ow to start business,鈥� 鈥渂usiness loans,鈥� 鈥渙ffice space for rent,鈥� 鈥渋deas for business,鈥� and 鈥渂usiness registration.鈥�

They not only benchmarked the Tampa Bay with respect to other MSAs on these indicators over the years, but also analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on innovation and entrepreneurship in the Tampa Bay region. We end this section highlighting the key takeaways from the analysis.