August 11, 2026 — Tampa Bay (Gulf Coast) new business activity

Tampa Bay's seven counties recorded 3,154 new business filings the week of July 21 to 27, 2026, down 6.5% from the week before and the second week of decline in a row.

Every county in the region filed fewer than the week before. Pinellas stayed first with 1,436 and Hillsborough second with 876. The rank order did not change anywhere, first through seventh.

A few kinds of business still grew. Hospitality and tourism rose 41 to 215, the biggest gain of the week. Construction and trades rose 13 to 226. Wholesale and distribution added 8 to reach 67.

Three groups account for most of the drop. Retail fell 59 to 178. Real estate fell 47 to 131. Transportation and logistics fell 44 to 118.

Two suburbs climbed in the city ranking while the big cities fell. Wesley Chapel added 15 filings to reach 81 and moved up two places. Brandon added 5 to reach 63 and moved up one.

Muy poca baja en las últimas 13 semanas.

La línea gruesa es el promedio de 13 semanas. Léela para ver la tendencia más larga. La línea delgada es el conteo de cada semana, que cambia de una semana a otra.

• 2025-26
• 2024-25
• 2023-24
• 2022-23
• 2021-22

La formación de negocios nuevos suele ser más alta alrededor de Mar y más baja alrededor de Nov, y se mantiene cerca de 12,500 al mes a lo largo de los años.

Cada línea es un año, que termina en el mes actual a la derecha, así puedes leer el año pasado de izquierda a derecha. El Día de Año Nuevo queda fuera porque la oficina estatal está cerrada, así casi ningún negocio se registra ese día.

Hospitality and Tourism grew the most this week, 41 more (up 23.6%). Retail dropped the most, 59 fewer (down 24.9%). 3 other sectors shown here also grew.

Pinellas led the region this week with 1,436 new filings.

• Hillsborough County's zoning agenda for July 20, 2026 carried a run of rezoning and planned development requests, several of them large.

  3 oportunidades en esta actualización

  • G.L. Acquisitions Corporation asked to modify a planned development covering 149.85 acres, more or less, at 10550 Regents Park Dr. A change on a site that size reopens the site work, the utilities and the road access before any building starts, so the first bids go to heavy civil firms.
  • Robert and Tamara Cribben asked to rezone 6.489 acres at 19135 N Dale Mabry Hwy from ASC-1 to CN (R), a commercial category. Turning rural acreage into commercial frontage brings grading, parking, lighting and signage work with it.
  • Ravi Patel asked to rezone 13.79 acres at 13030 E 92 Hwy to Planned Development, and Velair Development Company asked to rezone 11.66 acres on Sheldon Rd near the Citrus Park Dr intersection. Both are early stage, which is when surveyors and civil engineers get hired.

  Construction and trades was one of the few groups that grew in the region this week, and an agenda this full is the sort of public record that lines up with it.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • surveyors
  • civil engineers
  • excavation and paving crews
  • utility contractors
  • concrete and masonry contractors
  • general contractors
  • landscapers
  • land use attorneys

  Hillsborough County Zoning Hearing Master, 2026-07-20

• Pinellas County commissioners took up two large public works items on June 16, 2026. One is an engineering agreement with WGI, Inc. for the Crystal Beach drainage and roadway improvements at $1,193,200.82. Five firms submitted proposals, and two certified small business sub-consultants, The Valerin Group, Inc. and Driggers Engineering Services, Inc., were included for $31,119.00 of that award. The other is a Resilient Florida grant agreement with the state environmental department for the 98th to 100th Way drainage improvements, with $3,887,800.00 in grant money matched by the same amount locally.

  Pinellas filed more new businesses than any other county in the region this week at 1,436. The county naming its small business sub-consultants in the award is the part worth reading twice, because it shows there is a real path onto this work for a firm that is not the prime.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • civil engineers
  • surveyors
  • stormwater and drainage specialists
  • excavation and paving crews
  • utility contractors
  • traffic control companies
  • certified small business subcontractors

  Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners, 2026-06-16

• Pasco County commissioners took up road work, landscape work and a small business program on their July 14, 2026 agenda.

  3 oportunidades en esta actualización

  • A bid went to Sun Civil LLC for the Ranch Road sidewalk between U.S. Highway 19 and Ponderosa Avenue at $744,414.06. Sidewalk work at that size carries concrete crews, grading, traffic control and restoration behind it.
  • A second bid went to Arazoza Brothers Corporation for landscape and irrigation along Ridge Road from Broad Street to Moon Lake Road at $1,674,989.50. Planting and irrigation on a road corridor runs for months and buys from suppliers as well as hiring crews.
  • The county also moved $750,000.00 into its Redevelopment Landscape Grant Program for small business landscaping assistance. That money is aimed at existing small businesses improving their own frontage, so landscapers and sign companies should watch for the application window.

  Pasco recorded 277 new filings this week, and Wesley Chapel was one of only two cities in the region to climb in the rankings. The county is adding public work and new competitors at the same time.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • concrete crews
  • landscapers
  • irrigation contractors
  • traffic control companies
  • excavation and paving crews
  • nursery and plant suppliers
  • sign companies

  Pasco County Board of County Commissioners, 2026-07-14

• Hernando County commissioners handled several contracts on July 14, 2026. Task Order #39 with Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. covers architect and engineer services for the design, permitting and construction of a new Waterways Facility at $598,755.00. A separate contract went to Sustainable Landfill Solutions LLC for a leachate treatment system at $1,620,000.00. The board also took up temporary construction easements for the Braewood Mobile Home Subdivision water system replacement project.

  Hernando is a small filing county, with 81 new businesses this week. A county letting design and treatment contracts at these amounts is a large share of the work available locally, and the water system replacement means digging and pipe work in an existing neighborhood.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • civil engineers
  • architects
  • mechanical contractors
  • electricians
  • pipefitters
  • excavation and paving crews
  • environmental consultants

  Hernando County Board of County Commissioners, 2026-07-14

• The Hillsborough County zoning board worked through another slate of rezoning and planned development requests on June 22, 2026, including two very large sites.

  3 oportunidades en esta actualización

  • HBWB Development Services, LLC asked to rezone 190.02 acres, more or less, at the southwest corner of Lithia Pinecrest Rd and Cattle Baron Ct to Planned Development. A site that size is years of phased work rather than one contract, starting with clearing, utilities and roads.
  • Ashley Global Retail, LLC asked for a major modification to an industrial planned development covering 54.15 acres on the west side of the Broadway Center Blvd and Williams Rd intersection. Changes on an industrial site that large tend to mean building, loading dock and yard work, plus the freight, security and cleaning contracts the tenant needs once it is running.
  • Smaller requests moved as well. Cadence Partners, LLC asked to rezone 6.7 acres on George Rd, Potomac Land Company asked to modify a 15.01 acre planned development north of Hideaway Ln, and Souad Mansour, Trustee asked to rezone 14.6 acres north of Missionary Ln and Thonotosassa Rd.

  Acreage moving through review now is the bid list a year or two out. This is the pipeline sitting behind the construction and trades filings the region recorded this week.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • civil engineers
  • surveyors
  • home builders
  • excavation and paving crews
  • concrete and masonry contractors
  • electricians
  • plumbers
  • roofers

  Hillsborough County Zoning Hearing Master, 2026-06-22

• The City of Venice Planning Commission approved a conditional use for a Mavis Tires and Brakes location at its meeting on June 2, 2026. The petition, numbered 26-10CU, was filed for 2001 Laurel LLC and the commission's action passed.

  Sarasota County recorded 262 new filings this week. One approved auto service building is a small job next to a county contract, but it is a real one, and it comes with a building shell, vehicle lifts, compressed air lines and a paved lot.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • general contractors
  • concrete crews
  • electricians
  • plumbers
  • overhead door installers
  • paving contractors
  • sign companies

  City of Venice Planning Commission, 2026-06-02

The pool of new prospects in this region is getting a little smaller each week, so the useful move is picking the parts that are still growing. Construction and trades added 13 new businesses, and the public record shows why there is work to chase. County boards in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando are letting real contracts and moving hundreds of acres through review. Hospitality and tourism grew faster still, up 41, so food distributors, cleaners and staffing firms have a bigger list this week too. There is a second opening that has nothing to do with any of that. The single busiest filing agent in the region handled 566 of this week's registrations, so several hundred brand new owners here have a company on paper and no local accountant, insurance agent, attorney or banker yet.

These counts come from Florida's official record of new business registrations, limited to the seven counties in the Tampa Bay area and counted for the business week this report covers. We wait about two weeks after a week ends for the state to finish recording every filing, so the counts here are complete and accurate. Filings are sorted into plain language categories, and the county and city figures follow the address on each registration.

Preguntas frecuentes

Are new business filings in the Tampa Bay area going up or down right now?

Down, for the second week in a row. Filings fell 6.5% from the week before and came in 4.6% below the same week last year. The 13 week average has slipped to 3,427.2 filings a week, and the last 13 weeks total 44,553 against 45,164 for the 13 weeks before that.

Which Tampa Bay county has the most new businesses?

Pinellas, with 1,436 filings this week, ahead of Hillsborough at 876. Pasco follows at 277, then Sarasota at 262 and Manatee at 206. Every one of the seven counties filed fewer than the week before.

What kinds of business are still growing in the Tampa Bay area?

Hospitality and tourism grew the most, up 41 to 215. Construction and trades rose 13 to 226, wholesale and distribution rose 8 to 67, education rose 6 to 44, and health care edged up 5 to 195.

Where are new businesses opening fastest outside Tampa and St. Petersburg?

Wesley Chapel and Brandon. Wesley Chapel added 15 filings to reach 81 and moved up two places in the city ranking. Brandon added 5 to reach 63 and moved up one. Bradenton also edged up to 146.

What is the most common kind of new business filing in the Tampa Bay area?

Companies set up to hold property or protect assets, at 521 filings, or 16.5% of the week. Professional services is next at 492. About 60 of this week's new companies are named after a street address, which is a common sign of a single property held in its own company.