In a busy night of news, JAX Chamber leaders announced at the 127th annual meeting Thursday that it will remodel its Independent Drive headquarters as “Downtown’s New Front Door” and also referred to “JAX Boldest,” a regional contest to identify the best company, nonprofit and project of 2011.
About 1,100 members and guests attended the event at The Florida Theatre. They also heard:
• New Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan say the franchise would “deliver” success to Jacksonville.
• Former owners Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver, who were honored for their history of supporting the community during their 18-year ownership of the franchise, pledge their support of the team and the City. “The best is yet to come,” they each said.
• Chad Perce, CEO and co-founder of the iMethods information technology staffing and consulting company, accept the award as 2012 Small Business Leader of the Year.
• 2011 Chamber Chair Hugh Greene recounted the achievements of the past year, including support for Downtown revitalization, the EverBank move of suburban operations to Downtown, port development progress, the working relationship with new Mayor Alvin Brown, the new branding as JAX Chamber and JAXUSA Partnership and the continued support of Jaguars. “Be assured of our strong and robust support as we move forward,” he told Khan.
• 2012 Chair Tom Van Berkel pledged continued support of those efforts as well as for the new #ilovejax movement on Twitter and the Buy Chamber campaign for members to do business with each other.
Meanwhile, the chamber announced more details about the Downtown headquarters redesign and earlier in the week provided information about the new “JAX Boldest” contest.
• The $2.1 million “Downtown’s New Front Door” redesign, first announced in 2011, includes the renovation of the building’s interior and exterior facade, designed by Content Design Group, and a redesign of the adjacent parks and a new sustainable parking area, designed by Marquis Halback Inc. Former Chamber Chair Mike Hightower leads the fundraising effort. The companies already committed to in-kind services and materials include Auld & White Contractors; Jen Jones Art Consulting; Perdue Office Interiors for first-floor furnishings; Solid Rock Engineering; and Trane, which is conducting an energy audit. Because more than 20 countries have a presence in Jacksonville, the chamber included an International Plaza that will feature the flags representing each of the countries.
• The regional “JAX Boldest” contest seeks entries and votes on www.jaxboldest.com from the public to identify the best company, nonprofit organization and project of 2011. Northeast Florida residents can submit entries until March 31 in the form of a video, picture or written description. Residents can choose the entries they think are the best by voting on the website. JAXUSA Partnership, the economic development division of the JAX Chamber, is driving the contest and will announce the winners at the Innovate Northeast Florida launch event on April 19.
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