TAMPA, Fla. – Former City of Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is joining Shumaker Advisors Florida as Principal, where he will focus on economic development opportunities and urban development strategies, while working with clients to improve the overall quality of life in the Tampa Bay region and statewide.
“There is an art to building cities and communities that thrive. It takes deliberate planning and vigorous leadership,” said Bob. “I am excited to work with the talented Shumaker Advisors team and their clients to grow our communities strategically, equitably, and with purpose. These are unprecedented times for the Tampa Bay region and our potential remains limitless.”
Bob served as the Mayor of Tampa, Florida from 2011 to 2019, where he led the city of the Tampa out of the largest recession since the Great Depression. Facing a $30 million deficit upon taking office, he annually balanced Tampa’s billion-dollar budget eight straight years and made strategic investments in infrastructure to prepare Tampa for the future. Bob spearheaded the development of the Invision Plan, a blueprint for the development of our urban core, and he successfully worked with the Obama Administration to secure a grant to complete the Tampa Riverwalk.
“We could not be more honored to have Bob join Shumaker Advisors. His exceptional leadership and depth of experience is unparalleled,” said Shumaker Advisors President and CEO Ron Christaldi. “His confidence in us as his new team is a testament to all we have achieved together over the past several years and we look forward for many successes to come.”
Buckhorn joins Shumaker Advisors as the firm has established itself as one of the most impressive and fastest growing public affairs firms in Florida and beyond. With offices now in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C., Shumaker Advisors has added in recent months former Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward, former Hillsborough County Commissioners Lesley “Les” Miller, Jr. (also former minority leader in the Florida House and the Florida Senate) and Sandra “Sandy” Murman (also former speaker pro tem of the Florida House), as well as long-time Chief Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Jennie Granahan Tarr, Suskey Consulting founder and CEO Alan Suskey along with Lobbyist RJ Myers, former South Carolina Governor and Congressman Mark Sanford, Michael R. McKinley (Charlotte County’s first ever assistant county attorney), and former Congressional Chief of Staff Ryan Walker, to an already impressive team that includes Ron Christaldi, Congressman David Jolly (ret.), Amy Maguire, Mike Hamby, Melanie Griffin (Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation), Andrew Mayts, and JD White.