TAMPA — Historically human trafficking hasn't been on the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce's list of pressing concerns — until Monday.

"I believe this is the first time our chamber has ever embarked on something like this," chamber chairman Jamie Harden told a crowd of nearly 200 at the Centre Club in Westshore for a lunchtime summit on sex and labor trafficking in Florida.

But a few chamber members had brought up the issue internally, as had the office of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, Harden said. Moreover, the organization knew that human trafficking would become a bigger concern with the return of the Super Bowl to Tampa in 2021. In Atlanta, an FBI sex-trafficking sting around Super Bowl LIII resulted in 169 arrests, 26 of them traffickers, and recovered nine juvenile victims as young as 14.

JAMIE HARDEN GUEST COLUMN: Combatting human trafficking in Tampa Bay

But while the topic was a new one for the chamber, the discussion revolved around a handful of business concepts familiar to most of those in the room: supply and demand; the importance of partnerships and the ability to recognize and act upon critical information.

"We're not going to arrest our way out of the trafficking problem, the prostitution problem; it's a multi-prong approach," Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said. Florida, the third most populous state, accounts for the third most calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Those calls include both sex trafficking, which got the most discussion on Monday, and labor trafficking, which extends to construction, janitorial services and domestic help.

"If you're business owners, you need to know who your cleaning crews are," said Julie Sercus, an assistant statewide prosecutor with the Florida Attorney General's Office. "Not just who you're hiring, but who are they hiring. Are you supporting labor trafficking?"

Education is key, and it can't start too early, said Elizabeth Melendez Fisher, co-founder and CEO of the anti-sex trafficking nonprofit Selah Freedom, which formed in 2010 and has offices in Sarasota with outreach efforts nationwide. Predators target children online through online video games and messaging platforms, and 80 percent of minors who run away are approached within 48 hours by a predator who can take advantage of their basic needs to begin exploiting them.

ST. PETE POLICE: Six arrested after missing boy held prisoner, sexually battered

Locally, Chronister said, Hillsborough County Commissioner Kimberly Overman is working with the Sheriff's Office on a county ordinance that would target rental properties, including apartments, houses and hotels with hourly rates, that facilitate prostitution that exploits victims of human trafficking.

If businesses adopted policies not to employ people charged with pursuing sex with trafficking victims, then, one panelist said, that could help reduce demand and put a dent in the problem.

"I'm not speaking for the attorney general at this moment, because I haven't had this conversation with her," Sercus said, "but along these lines, I must say, it's a call to action to our community leaders and to our business partners to have a no-tolerance policy in their employment contracts for people arrested for prostitution."

Businesses can partner with nonprofits in a variety of ways, Fisher said, including sponsoring educational and awareness programs for children in clubs, churches and synagogues, mentoring victims and funding scholarships and offering employment opportunities for victims trying to create new lives.

Awareness was probably the word used the most on Monday. Every expert said it was important to listen for clues for potential abuse. About eight out of nine trafficking victims later report that they had contact with a medical professional while they were being held, and two thirds went to a hospital's emergency department, said St. Joseph's Hospital emergency department director Dr. Dion Samerson said.

"You have to be able to survey for these patients," he said.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Tampa General Hospital helps nurses focus on new human trafficking requirements

Contact Richard Danielson at rdanielson@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3403. Follow @Danielson_Times

Signs of human trafficking

Physical: Branding by scars, burns or tattoos, malnourishment, serious dental problems, disorientation or confusion; other signs of physical abuse.

Verbal: Responds as if coached; allows someone else to speak for them; reluctance to discuss injuries; fear, anxiousness, paranoia

Medical: Urinary difficulties, pelvic pain, rectal trauma, chronic cardio or respiratory problems; drug additions, infections, sleep deprivation

National Human Trafficking Hotline

1-888-373-7888

Source: Florida Attorney General's Office