Jacksonville ranks high nationwide among peer cities for its concentration in hotels and entertainment, according to an economic development research and site consulting firm.
AngelouEconomics, based in Austin, Texas, analyzed 36 industry groups and last week released its analysis of the fourth of its six lists of 2012 “Industry Hotspots.”
Compared with its population peers, Jacksonville ranked No. 5 in hotels and entertainment.
Jacksonville did not rank among the top 10 spots in the other five categories — government, health services, higher education and research, industrial machinery and industrial supplies.
Jacksonville was measured against its population peers in the middle third of the 100 largest metro areas. Jacksonville’s area population is listed as 1.345 million.
The strong presence of a specialization indicates an area is strongly invested in the industry and can develop within it, according to Angelou.
The “hotels and entertainment” category is defined as “individual artists and performing arts companies, spectator sports as well as event promoters and managers. All traveler accommodation and sightseeing transportation. Recreation and gambling industries.”
“Industries tend to form clusters that allow them to share ideas, talent, suppliers, infrastructure and investment in ways that deliver shared benefit among industry participants,” said the Angelou report.
“In turn, these clusters tend to define the communities in which they are located,” it said.
The first three monthly reports covering 18 “Hotspots” ranked Jacksonville in the six specializations of aerospace and defense; apparel and textile manufacturing; business support services; communication services; financial services; and “eat/drink.”
The top 10 middle-third metro areas in the six industries measured this month ranged in population from Grand Rapids, Mich., and McAllen, Texas, both at almost 775,000 people, to Austin, Texas, at 1.7 million people.
Angelou said as part of a multimonth study, it “completed a sweeping analysis of America’s 100 largest metropolitan areas.”
The focus was to calculate and compare the concentration of industry groups within those areas.
“This allows one to better understand where and why certain industries locate where they do and the implication that this may have for the communities in which they have the strongest presence,” it said.
AngelouEconomics said the top 100 metro areas account for about 73 percent of total U.S. gross domestic product.
The firm said the 36 industry cluster groups were analyzed and communities were ranked based on their “location quotient” in each industry group.
“Location quotients” are a measure of industry concentration within a particular area relative to the concentration of that industry in the nation as a whole, it said.
Jacksonville’s location quotient was 1.14 in hotels and entertainment, while No. 1 Honolulu’s was 2.05 and No. 10 Austin’s was 0.97.
The fourth set of six industries shows where the concentrations are highest nationwide among Jacksonville’s peers, with their quotients and population:
• Government — Albany, N.Y., 2.43, population 870,716.
• Health services — McAllen, Texas, 1.95, population 774,769.
• Higher education and research — New Haven, Conn., 3.41, population 862,477.
• Hotels and entertainment — Honolulu, Hawaii, 2.05, population 953,207.
• Industrial machinery — Grand Rapids, Mich., 4.29, population 774,769.
• Industrial supplies — Tulsa, Okla., 3.15, population 937,478.
Overall, including all of the 100 largest metro areas, the leading cities, their quotients and populations were:
• Government — Sacramento, Calif., 2.90, population 2.15 million.
• Health services — McAllen, Texas, 1.95, population 774,769.
• Higher education and research — New Haven, Conn., 3.41, population 862,477.
• Hotels and entertainment — Las Vegas, Nev., 8.44, population 1.95 million.
• Industrial machinery — Grand Rapids, Mich., 4.29, population 774,769.
• Industrial supplies — Youngstown, Ohio, 5.18, population 565,773.
Mayo primary care under way
Construction was approved for the Mayo Clinic primary care center in Southside at 7826 Ozark Drive.
Auld & White Constructors LLC is the contractor for the 40,424-square-foot center at a construction cost of $7.56 million. The center is being developed on 5.5 acres.
Mayo Clinic said in May the two-story primary care center will be designed to support 20 physicians and providers and offer X-ray, mammography, ultrasound and laboratory services.
It expects the center to open in summer 2013 and it will be Mayo’s third freestanding primary care center in Northeast Florida in addition to the primary care practice on the main campus. The other primary care centers are in Jacksonville Beach and St. Augustine.
In May, Mayo Clinic announced that it would invest in the $16.7 million construction of the off-site primary care center that will be built near Interstate 295 East and Gate Parkway.
Petland near construction
Tenant build-out is pending for a Petland store in the Pablo Creek Plaza East center at 13740 Beach Blvd. The construction cost for the 3,931-square-foot store is shown as $27,000. The contractor is listed as Stonebridge Construction Services LLC.
Petland Inc. is a privately held company based in Chillicothe, Ohio, and was founded in 1967. Initially, Petland owned and operated retail pet stores in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky and it began franchising pet stores in the early 1970s.
In the late 1980s, Petland expanded in Canada and entered international markets. It has more than 150 full-service retail pet centers across the United States, Canada, Japan, China, Mexico, South Africa and Israel.
First Coast Oncology orders RaySearch system
RaySearch Laboratories AB, based in Stockholm, Sweden, reported it has received an order for its RayStation treatment planning system from First Coast Oncology in Jacksonville.
First Coast Oncology has three locations in Northeast Florida and provides patients with radiation oncology treatments available for all types of cancer.
The RayStation will be used for clinical use at First Coast Oncology in conventional radiation treatment planning beginning in the fourth quarter this year, RaySearch said.
In addition, RaySearch said it will partner with both Mevion Medical Systems and First Coast Oncology to provide planning services for the Jacksonville Mevion Proton Therapy Center that is scheduled to open in 2013.
Dr. Scot Ackerman is the medical director of First Coast Oncology.
Marc Mlyn, president of RaySearch Americas, said in a news release First Coast Oncology will be the first Mevion S250 Proton Therapy System/RayStation to be installed in 2013.
Meanwhile, the City is reviewing a permit for the “proton accelerator addition” at First Coast Oncology’s Mandarin location at 10881 San Jose Blvd. Plans show a building addition and concrete vault for proton beam therapy treatment.
Sauer Inc. is listed as the contractor for the $3 million project.
Bank of America adds small-business bankers
Bank of America said Tuesday it hired almost 140 bankers in Florida, including six in Jacksonville, to focus on small-business owners.
By area, Bank of America hired 58 bankers in South Florida; 34 in Central Florida; 28 in the Gulf Coast area; and 18 in North Florida.
Bank of America cited U.S. Small Business Administration statistics that there are more than 2 million small businesses in Florida, representing more than 98 percent of all employers, 40 percent of the private-sector workforce and 75 percent of the state’s gross domestic product.
Among other major population areas, the bank hired 24 bankers in Miami-Dade County, 21 in Orlando, 20 in Broward County, 15 in Tampa-St. Petersburg and 14 in Palm Beach County.
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