Cantrece Jones received some valuable advice when she started her marketing company, Acuity Design Group Inc.
Focus on the areas where you know the most.
Jones said she was “all over the place” when she launched the company in 2008.
Her conversations with Janice Donaldson, then regional director at the University of North Florida Small Business Development Center, helped Jones redirect her energy.
As a result, Acuity Design Group, or ADG, now works in a niche market with engineering, construction, architectural, transportation and environmental firms, along with municipalities that include the city of Jacksonville.
The bulk of the company’s work is in Northeast Florida, but it has clients in South Florida, Alabama, North Carolina and Washington, D.C., as well.
“That’s where we are, and that’s who we are,” said Jones, 54.
Much of the work involves sharing information to help communities understand how they may be affected by issues and projects.
She describes ADG on its website as a “project partner.”
The company is working with the Jacksonville Transportation Authority on a project called Northwest Jacksonville Connects to help pinpoint ways to improve the city’s Northwest corridor through transit-oriented development.
ADG is contributing to the city’s resiliency strategy in a comprehensive countywide effort to identify community concerns involving issues such as drainage and flooding.
The company categorized those issues in terms of importance and identified the steps to improve resiliency across the city in a 300-page planning document.
ADG also is working with the city on a climate pollution reduction grant and making sure residents understand the importance of climate change.
A steady growth in contracts has helped her annual revenue increase from about $742,000 in 2021 to $1.97 million in 2023.
During that time, she has more than doubled the number of employees, from 6 in 2021 to 13 in 2023.
She was one of JAX Chamber’s Small Business Leaders of the Year in 2023, representing the Downtown Council.
ADG is part of a niche, Jones said.
“People find out about me and it’s almost like a unicorn, because it’s so different.
“We are so particular about the type of work we do and the industries that we serve. We kind of just stay in that wheelhouse, and we stay in our safe place where we know we can do a really good job for our clients,” she said.
Jones left her job of three years as marketing director for with Barcelona, Spain-based Soler & Palau USA, an international HVAC manufacturer, to start the company.
The Great Recession was underway, and Jones said she “could see the writing on the wall” regarding her future there.
She launched ADG in March 2008.
“I just decided to go out on my own. I had no money, no clients, nothing. I just wanted to do it,” she said.
Her first job after graduating from the University of North Florida in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in communications and graphic design was with the Jacksonville-based Prosser Hallock planning and engineering company.
She then worked for Aerostar Environmental Services before joining Soler & Palau USA.
“Each of those industries, if you will, gave me an edge,” Jones said.
“Most marketing people aren’t necessarily in the AEC world, which is the architecture engineering construction world.”
“I would say my previous three jobs all just kind of culminated into what we do today.”
Jones was more than the CEO when she formed ADG. She was the company.
“When I first started, it was me by myself for a long time. I was the janitor, the chef, the cook, the painter – all of the above, right? I did all of the work, but I knew that over time it was going to allow me to have the opportunity to grow organically,” she said.
“I didn’t want to grow too fast, where I had to take out loans and borrow money. I didn’t have to do any of that, thankfully. So I grew slowly. I worked a lot. I mean, let’s just be clear: You know that the eight-hour day is not what an entrepreneur does.”
In naming the company, Jones decided “acuity” was a good fit.
“We’ve been paying attention. We know what’s going on. We’re focused. So that’s how I ended up choosing acuity,” she said.
ADG has had a couple of locations since its formation. Jones moved to its office at 975 McDuff Ave. S., Suite 2, in Riverside in 2022. She bought the building in January.
The ADG offices are on the second floor. Most of the staff works there, rather than remotely, because Jones believes it produces the best collaborative work and because it helps establish a sense of family, which is important to her.
Those entering the building will find her second business, Aura Plant Studio, on the first floor. She opened it when she brought ADG to Riverside.
“I really love plants, I’m obsessed with plants,” she said.
A nature lover, Jones said they give her comfort, balance and energy.
“It really feels like this is really me now,” she said.
“The combination of the two businesses has been a dream of mine for years.”