The well-dressed men at the front of the room at the Lion's Eye Institute touted the nascent effort to get support from dozens of businesses, small and large, to build momentum for a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays just off Adamo Drive.
The effort is being branded as Rays 100, and it names (nearly) 100 Tampa business and community leaders that are pledging support — monetary or otherwise — for the stadium effort.
In February, the team announced it was indeed looking to leave Tropicana Field for the Ybor site, assuming the team could nail down the $500 million-plus price tag for a new stadium.
As "ambassadors" from the group Rays 2020, members of the Rays 100 will be tasked with actively cultivating support within their networks of influence, lobbying local government and helping raise funds to help pay for the new facility.
Rays 2020 leaders said they hope the coalition will create incentive for the team to invest more in a new stadium effort.
After all, gone are the days when the general public is all that supportive of subsidizing sports teams to the tune of hundreds of millions.
"I think what you're seeing is that the momentum that we've put in already has caused the Rays to kind of up what they can put in by way of private investment, so if we're really successful, there won't be any need for us to put in money, and we're going to try our darnedest to get that," said Rays 100 co-chair Ron Christaldi, a business lawyer with Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick.
It's unclear how — or if — the effort will work.
"We're not at the stage yet of getting hard pledges," Christaldi said.
This is thus far the list of individuals that are thus far part of Rays 100, as well as the entities they represent:
Aakash Patel (Elevate/county commission candidate)
Alan Denham (TECO/Brandon Chamber Chair)
Ana Cruz (Ballard Partners)
Andrew Smith (J.P. Morgan)
Andy Mayts (Gray Robinson)
Bemetra Simmons (Wells Fargo)
Bill Schifino (Burr and Forman)
Blake Casper (Caspers Company)
Bob Morrision (Tampa Hotel Motel Association)
Bruce Faulman (Tampa Bay Times)
Carmine Iavarone (Carmine's Restaurant)
Chad Loar (PNC)
Chase Stockon (Panther International)
Chip Diehl (Diehl and Associates)
Chloe Coney (HNTB Consultant)
Christopher Rogers (Sykes Enterprises)
Chuck Sykes (Sykes Enterprises)
Colleen Chappell (Chappell Roberts)
Copeland More (La Segunda Central Bakery/Ybor City Chamber Chair)
Corey Neil (Bank of Tampa)
David Pizzo (Blue Cross Blue Shield)
David Weinstein (Greenberg Taurig)
Dean Kent (Trenam)
Doug Pace (Stonehill Innovation)
Ed Narain (AT&T)
Fassil Gabremarian (Hillsborough County Limousine and Taxi Cab Coalition/Retired)
Frank Capitano (Radiant Oil)
Guy King (M. E. Wilson)
Holly Tomlin (Tomlin St. Cyr)
Hugh Campbell (AC4S)
India Witte (USF Women in Leadership and Philanthropy)
Jack Jarrell (Florida Gulf Coast Building Trades)
Jake Austin (Plant City EDC)
Jamie Harden (Creative Sign Design/Chamber Chair Elect)
Jason Accardi (717 Parking)
Jason Fernandez (Historic Hospitality)
Jason Woody (Lions Eye Institute)
Jeff Eakins (Hillsborough County Public Schools)
Jim Weiss (Fifth Third Bank)
John Accardi (717 Parking)
John Byczek (Northwestern Mutual)
Jose Valiente (Jose Valiente CPA)
JP Peterson (I Heart Radio)
Justice Gennari (Gaybor Chair)
Kelly Flannery (South Tampa Chamber of Commerce)
Ken Atwater (HCC)
Lauren Key (Florida Hospital)
Lee Bell (Temple Terrace Chamber CEO and President)
Lee Green (Moffitt)
Linda Olsen (Tampa Bay Wave)
Lou Prida (Sports Authority Board)
Lynda Remund (Downtown Partnership)
Mark Sharpe (Tampa Innovation Alliance)
Martin Peate (AECom)
Merritt Martin (Moffitt Lobbyist / USF Alumni Association)
Mickey Jacob (BDG/Downtown Partnership Chair)
Mike Griffin (Savills Studley)
Patrick Manteiga (La Gaceta)
Paul Sisco (Jung and Sisco PA)
Rhea Law (Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC/Tampa Bay Partnership Chair)
Robert Watkins (Robert Watkins and Co.)
Roger Germann (The Florida Aquarium)
Ron Christaldi (Shumaker Advisors)
Ron Weaver (Stearns, Weaver, Miller)
Scott DeThomas (GTE Financial/former Base Commander)
Sean Coniglio (HCP Associates, Inc.)
Steve Anderson (General Counsel to Sports Authority)
Steve Bernstein (Fisher Phillips/Chamber Chair)
Todd Buchanan (Valic Finanacial Advisors, Inc.)
Travis Horn (S3 Media)
Troy Manthey (Yacht Starship)
Vince Cassidy (Majesty Tile)
Yvette Lewis (NAACP)
Yvonne Fry (Fry Productions/Plant City Chamber 2017 Chair)
"One of the fundamental, key components is community support, business support, and we're here to step up," Christaldi said. "This is our community and we'll make this happen."
This article appears in Apr 5-12, 2018.