HCP Associates Delivers Annual Report for Bartow Community Redevelopment Agency

BARTOW, Fla. (April 21, 2025) – HCP Associates, the Tampa based research, strategy and marketing consultancy, has finalized and released the 2024 Annual Report for the Bartow Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), giving residents, businesses and policymakers a clear overview of the agency’s achievements during the past fiscal year. 

Working with CRA Executive Director C. Howard Smith, HCP’s analysts distilled financial statements, program metrics and interview notes into a 20-page narrative and graphics package. The report details how $1.94 million in Tax Increment Financing was invested during FY 2023/2024, led by $1.36 million for public infrastructure upgrades that repaved fifteen streets, installed ADA-compliant restrooms downtown and at Over the Branch Park, and funded an outdoor vacuum sweeper to keep the historic core spotless. 

A section profiles “Bartow Now,” the CRA effort that rolled out smartcity Wi-Fi poles, pedestrian counters and the Bartow Squeeze microtransit shuttle. The shuttle logged more than 1,100 passenger trips in its first two months, underscoring the CRA’s focus on mobility and commerce. The report also notes future milestones such as reviving the Orpheum Theatre, securing land for affordable housing, and launching flood mitigation work in the Tee Circle community—steps designed to maintain balanced growth. 

“Our mandate was to turn a complex array of numbers into a story the community could instantly understand,” said Robert Allen, vice president at HCP Associates. “The finished report shows that targeted reinvestment is delivering measurable gains for Bartow’s residents, property owners and entrepreneurs.” 

The publication is available in print and on the City of Bartow website; hard copies may be requested from the CRA office.