JAXUSA Partnership plans to open an innovation and technology training center for companies and entrepreneurs inside the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center in LaVilla.
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority board voted 7-0 on Oct. 29 to approve a five-year lease with JAXUSA for its Open Innovation Center.
JAX Chamber Chief Innovation Officer Carlton Robinson said the center will position Northeast Florida for “corporate innovation, entrepreneurism and smart city initiatives.”
“It’s a new brand of innovation for Jacksonville,” he said.
Robinson said JAXUSA has received commitments from three “top-tier” companies in Jacksonville to participate in the center, although he could not announce them Oct. 29.
Robinson said the center will add to innovation initiatives at Mayo Clinic, Fidelity National Information Services Inc. and the University of North Florida Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
JAXUSA will use the space as a lab to match corporations and businesses with entrepreneurs to identify and solve problems needed to achieve goals like JTA’s Bay Street Innovation Corridor and its Ultimate Urban Circulator automated vehicle program.
JAXUSA is the economic development division of JAX Chamber.
Robinson said the idea for the center began with a conversation with JTA CEO Nathaniel Ford Sr. in Denver at JAX Chamber’s annual leadership trip.
Robinson said the center will give JAXUSA’s innovation work that began nine months ago a new home.
According to lease documents included in the JTA board’s meeting packet, JAXUSA will spend $360,000 to build-out the 3,900-square-foot space.
Robinson said there is no set date to begin construction or open the center because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
JTA will provide JAXUSA a $6,000-per-month rent abatement in exchange for the build-out cost, totaling $72,000 a year or $360,000 over the life of the lease.
“This partnership with JTA is an incredible opportunity for our region to build its innovation ecosystem and continue the great work underway with Smart Regions and the transportation space,” Robinson said in a news release.
“Through our experience working with entrepreneurs, we saw a need to be able to move quickly and, for example, offer opportunities for companies to send employees to get tech training that will build a pipeline of skilled talent in our region.”
The space also will house the chamber’s Venture Services Division, run by Robinson.
Robinson founded the JAX’s Bridges Program, which has provided entrepreneurial education programs to 1,800 business owners since 2014, according to chamber officials.
Ford and JAXUSA President Aundra Wallace signed a memorandum of understanding between the organizations for the deal after the Oct. 29 vote.
“The Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center at LaVilla serves as a space for innovation, enhanced mobility, and as a catalyst for economic vitality in this historic neighborhood,” JTA Chief Administrative Officer Cleveland Ferguson III said in a news release.
“This initiative with JAXUSA Partnership and the JAX Chamber will create opportunities for creativity and shepherd the next generation of local entrepreneurs as they pursue their dreams.”
The 67,000-square-foot Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center opened to the public May 4 and is JTA’s main bus transfer facility, administrative headquarters and regional mobility hub.
