Bosses for Babies

How This Boss Makes an Impact for Children in Florida

Bob Rohrlack is the president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Chamber. Bob has a 10-year plan to make sure the organization continues to move forward and is ready for the future. One of the pillars of that plan is “organization excellence,” in which the goal is to attract and retain a diverse team of skilled and empowered professionals partly through a strong workplace environment. He does that by embracing a family-friendly approach.

He tells other chambers that he has the best team, and he means it. He understands that gaining quality employees and keeping them requires attention to family-friendly policies. He offers flexible schedules, vacation days, sick days, health insurance, dental, vision, a 401k with a match, and much more. Although his team is heavily recruited, they choose to stay with the Tampa Bay Chamber because they know Bob has a focus on family. Bob’s motto is “Do what you need to for your family” because he knows that people can focus on their work and produce results when their family is cared for.

Not only that, but Bob uses his platform as a chamber leader to push advocacy initiatives that impact families in his community. There once was a time when many chambers of commerce in the area were doing away with their policy departments because of tough times. Policy departments of a chamber of commerce typically advocate for education, workforce development, and health care issues to build a strong community that is ready to work. Through his leadership and the commitment of 8 other chambers, Bob entered a series of Memorandums of Understanding to keep policy departments open and advocate for what’s best. Because of this, the chambers saw membership increase during those hard times.

Bio

Bob Rohrlack, CCE, serves as the president and CEO of The Tampa Bay Chamber, the voice of business for the Tampa Bay area. He leads the Chamber’s mission to “Serve our members and enhance the community by building business success.” The Tampa Bay Chamber is the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals “2020 Chamber of the Year” Large Chamber category.

Dr. Rohrlack earned his Doctor of Business Administration degree from the University of South Florida. His dissertation researched the factors that influence chamber of commerce effectiveness. His award-winning research has been published in scholarly peer reviewed journals. With over 30 years’ experience in the chamber of commerce/economic development profession he has led programs at the local, regional, and state level. He is a Certified Chamber Executive (CCE), and past chairman of the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals. He was named the 2017 FACP Executive of the Year.

Since joining the Tampa Bay Chamber, they became the first Chamber nation-wide to be invited to the White House for an Economic Briefing discussing issues important to the region. The Tampa Bay Chamber has been awarded the 3-Star “Chamber of Valor” Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for their work with the military community.

He was appointed by the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Dean Cannon to the Government Efficiency Task Force. Their goal is to recommend $3 billion in savings over four years. He chairs the subcommittee on Health and Human Services.

He is an Honorary Commander at MacDill Air Force Base, a board member of Visit Tampa Bay, Tampa Downtown Partnership, the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, and the Westshore Alliance. He is a past board member of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Rohrlack graduated from the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma and the Institute for Organizational Management, a program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at the University of Georgia where he also teaches several classes in their program. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of South Florida.