Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is back home after a couple of important meetings in the nation's capitol.
Buckhorn spent two days in Washington D.C., where he joined a round-table discussion on trade with small business owners and President Barack Obama.
Obama has been trying to drum up support for his trade legislation.
"Mayor Buckhorn has got the Port of Tampa which is the gateway to the entire South part of our hemisphere," Obama said. "They know we got to get this done."
Buckhorn said the trade legislation would boost trade and benefit Tampa.
"Sitting here as the Gateway to the Americas, as the closest port to the Panama Canal, with a growing international airport, with more international flights, every opportunity we get to export, every opportunity we get to invest and vice versa creates jobs for Floridians," said Buckhorn. "If we can get the trade legislation passed it will be hugely helpful for us."
During Buckhorn's visit to D.C., he also met with investors who were interested in funding large-scale infrastructure projects. Buckhorn said he told the investors about the city's reclaimed water project.
"It's about a $250 million deal and we don't have that under the mattress here so we would have to find other ways to finance that," he said. "And funds like the ones at the meeting may be vehicles in which we can do that."
Buckhorn said the meeting created a great networking opportunity. He said he hopes the visit will lead to the public-private partnerships that are needed to fund those major projects in Tampa.