St. Petersburg’s Jabil says coronavirus is hurting its business
It’s not alone. Other Tampa Bay area companies are on alert, too. The health crisis also is seen increasing the chances of a Florida recession.

By Richard Danielson
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Feb 25, 2020

ST. PETERSBURG — The growing coronavirus health crisis is becoming an economic crisis, too, and not just for the stock market.

Jabil, one of the Tampa Bay area’s largest public companies, said Tuesday the outbreak has slowed its electronics factories in the affected part of China to 65 to 70 percent of normal output.

A few hours later, the chief economist for the pro-business Florida Chamber Foundation said the health crisis is driving up the chance of a recession.

“It will have a ripple effect here,” agreed Olga Pina, a Tampa international trade attorney whose clients are worrying about delays, shortages and higher prices for Chinese imports.

Jabil, No. 140 on the Fortune 500 list of largest publicly traded U.S. companies, has more than 200,000 employees at 100 sites in about 30 different countries.

“Our first priority is the overall safety of our people," Jabil chief executive officer Mark Mondello said in a statement. So Jabil has “broad testing and quarantine protocols” for those on-site and keeps in touch with employees "unable to return to work due to ongoing travel restrictions.”

Jabil’s announcement came a day after the Dow Jones Industrial average dropped more than 1,000 points, or 3.5 percent, following news of new clusters of coronavirus infections in South Korea, Italy and Iran.

Partly as a result, the chances of Florida going into a recession in the next nine months have risen to 24 percent, according to Jerry Parrish, the chief economist for the Florida Chamber Foundation.

The Florida industries considered most vulnerable to disruption are its 14 million international visitors a year, its cruise ship industry, its manufacturing sector, and its import and export business.

Along with turmoil in financial markets, coronavirus-related declines in industrial production and forecasts like Jabil’s play into the likelihood of recession, Parrish said.

“All of this is having an effect on Florida’s economy, and it could continue,” he said in an online update about the state’s economy. "This is certainly a concern, but it’s not anything to panic about.”

Headquartered in St. Petersburg, Jabil makes makes a huge range of products, including smart phones, appliances, medical devices, data centers, product packaging and electronics for the automotive, aerospace, industrial, energy and consumer goods sectors.

Its facilities include a 186,000-square-foot factory at The Great Wall of Innovation and Technology Park in Wuhan, China.

Wuhan, with a population of 11 million — more than New York and Houston combined — is ground zero for the virus and is a hub of high-tech manufacturing. Jabil’s factory there designs, develops and makes optical components and other products for a range of high-tech industries.

“The supply base is where we have a few trouble spots,” Jabil executive vice president and chief executive officer for enterprise and infrastructure Alessandro Parimbelli said during a Feb. 12 Goldman technology conference sponsored by Goldman Sachs.

“For a few critical commodities,” he said, suppliers were operating at half capacity, though the situation “changes every day. ... It’s getting better, but when it’s going to be back to full normal, still TBD” — to be determined.