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By KATHY STEELE

ksteele@tampatrib.com

Published: November 19, 2008

EAST TAMPA - Despite gloomy economic trends, groundbreakings for a bank and office building are good news in one of the city's redevelopment areas.

A Fifth Third Bank branch is under construction on East Hillsborough Avenue in front of the Meridian Pointe Apartments. An April opening is scheduled.

On Taliaferro Avenue, off Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Pro-Fit Development has started construction of the two-story Seminole Heights Professional Center, which is set to open in July.

Both projects held kickoff ceremonies Nov. 12, each attended by about 40 people, including Mayor Pam Iorio, bank officials, Pro-Fit owners, East Tampa redevelopment staff and board members of the East Tampa Community Revitalization Partnership.

"We think it's good business to be in East Tampa," said Brian Keenan, president of Fifth Third Bank Tampa Bay.

A full-service commercial bank has not opened in East Tampa in 30 years, city officials said.

The bank is a vital link in reaching out to residents about "common sense reinvestment, doing things the old-fashioned way," Iorio said. "How do you do that if there is no bank in your community? That is one of the keys to financial success."

The not-for-profit Corporation to Develop Communities in Tampa is a project partner.

"We want to make sure people who live in the area can get jobs," said Ernest Coney Jr., the corporation's chief operating officer.

The corporation provides counseling, job training and placement, business planning, youth services and home ownership programs. It also builds housing in East Tampa.

One of its programs focuses on former convicts, seeking to place them in construction jobs. Coney said a few might find jobs on the bank's construction crew.

Pro-Fit's groundbreaking was a family affair, with owner Terrance Bradford, his wife, Precious, brother Stanley Bradford Jr. as well as parents and friends in the audience.

Bradford founded Pro-Fit more than five years ago and with partner John Dixon provides contracting, roofing, consulting and design services.

"You truly represent the spirit of entrepreneurship in our country," Iorio said.

The 7,000-square-foot building, at 4007 Taliaferro Ave., is expected to create as many as 30 jobs when completed and will be Pro-Fit's headquarters. The company plans an eco-friendly design and will seek certification from the Florida Green Building Certification Agency.

Space could be leased to businesses such as law firms, a fine art gallery or a title company.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652.

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