Biotech company Amgen expanding its Tampa operations hub
The $10 million expansion will add more than 33,000 square feet to the company’s offices in the Westshore business district.

By Richard Danielson
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Apr 23, 2020

TAMPA — Two years after opening a hub for its teams in finance, human resources and information systems, biotechnology company Amgen wants room to grow.

So the California-based multinational plans to add 33,000 square feet to its existing 130,000 square feet of offices near International Plaza. The $10 million expansion will give the company’s Westshore-based staff more room for collaboration, meeting space and growth.

The company picked Tampa in 2017 after considering 270 other cities around the U.S. It opened offices in Corporate Centers One and Three with about 300 employees and plans to expand to 400 to 450.

Unlike pharmaceutical giants Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson, which also expanded to Tampa in recent years, Amgen did not receive any state or local incentives either to move here or for this new expansion.

Since arriving, Amgen has been able to find the local talent it needs for its team in Tampa thanks to support from the business community and bay area academic institutions, according to Gwen Cummings, the company’s lead executive for the Tampa site.

The nonprofit Tampa Bay Economic Development Council projects that health care will grow by 12.7 percent and life sciences will grow by 8.3 percent in Hillsborough County over the the next five years, outpacing the expected growth by both industries on the state and national level.

“Amgen’s decision to invest and expand in Tampa demonstrates confidence in this community,” council chairwoman and Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. managing director Marie Chinnici-Everitt said in an announcement of the expansion. “Amgen has woven itself into the fabric of our community since its arrival, supporting local nonprofit organizations and philanthropic initiatives."

Most recently, Amgen and the Amgen Foundation committed up to $12.5 million to support U.S. and global COVID-19 relief efforts. Of that, $300,000 is earmarked for the United Way Suncoast and Hillsborough Education Foundation.