by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Last week, 160 local leaders participated in the Chamber’s annual leadership trip, which this year traveled to Dallas. Here are some of their observations:
“Dallas is working on a 20-30 year master plan for riverfront development. This sounds ho-hum, except that Dallas doesn’t have much of a river. The Trinity is more of a creek, but they see the benefit of a river, so they’re talking about enlarging it and re-channeling it. Lesson learned: it is a city without a real river wants a river, what might be our greatest asset?”
— Jim McCollum, regional director of corporate and external affairs for BellSouth and this year’s Chamber chair.
“I was interested in going to Dallas because I wanted to look at the [Intelligent Transportation System] they have in place. What I’ve found is that they have some very clever things they’re utilizing, but they have more than 20 municipalities and agencies handling traffic congestion and they aren’t talking to each other. Here in Jacksonville, where we have a much more streamlined government, I believe it’s possible for us to develop and implement one of the most state-of-the-art systems out there.”
— Lake Ray, City Council member.
“As incoming president of the Chamber’s Downtown Council and a working professional downtown, I was most intrigued by the revitalization for both downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth. It reinforced, for me, that Jacksonville is on the right path to forge a downtown that, as Dallas mayor Laura Miller referenced it, can become the “city’s central living room.”
— Melanie White, vice president of the Chamber’s Downtown Council.
“I left Dallas with a great feeling of how far Jacksonville has come in its planning and accommodating for future growth and in our areas of concern like education and infrastructure. In it of itself, the trip was great, but I don’t think anyone left with any revelations for what Jacksonville needs to do. Instead, I think we got a handle on how well we’re actually doing.”
— Ham Traylor, TriLegacy Group president.
“Since I led this year’s trip, I may have a different perspective than some of the others who went, but I thought it was excellent. Particularly, I found it very interesting to hear how Dallas — a city similar in profile to Jacksonville, but much larger and with a longer history — is dealing with a variety of issues that are currently or will soon be impacting us, transportation options and development focusing on natural resource elements, for example.”
— Barry Allred, president and CEO of Elkins Constructors.
“This was my first leadership trip so I didn’t know what to expect. However, I found it to be an overwhelmingly positive experience where you are given the chance to network with business leaders and peers in another setting. You are also able to see some of the exciting things happening in another city while realizing that we have equally exciting things happening here. I’d also like to add that the trip was very well organized by the Chamber. Everything was seamless.”
— Michelle Querry, City Council liaison for the mayor’s office.
“This was my first leadership trip and I really enjoyed it. However, I wasn’t as impressed with downtown Dallas as I thought I’d be. Comparatively, I think downtown Jacksonville has a lot more to offer. Things are happening here relatively quickly and, at a glance, you’re able to see various projects and new businesses moving in all the time. I had never been to Dallas before this trip, but I didn’t see nearly as much of that as I thought I would. I know they are really working at changing that, but I expected to see a much more dynamic city and it struck me that it wasn’t really like that.”
— Shannon Hewitt, Fiorentino and Associates vice president.
“I’m a big Dallas fan. It’s full of big hearts and big pocket books. I really enjoyed this year’s trip because I was able to meet with so many new people. I was particularly intrigued by the first luncheon — the historian — because we were able to learn the history of the wild West. I was also very interested in hearing about their revitalization efforts for their downtown and it reaffirmed my thoughts of the St. Johns River as being a real asset to Jacksonville and downtown, in particular.”
— Susie Wiles of the mayor’s office.
“I was particularly pleased with the speaker who gave a presentation of Dallas’ downtown master plan for redevelopment. It was interesting to hear how another city is approaching a revitalization similar to ours. I also enjoyed the presentation where the speaker talked about the impact of the cultural community on Dallas and how it plays an important in role in its revitalization.”
— Michael Kelly, Jacksonville Super Bowl Host Committee president and chief operating officer.
“For me, the trip was very, very productive. My top priority was to look at the Intelligent Transportation System in Dallas and I’m happy to say that I was able to see the process that they are involved in right now and how far they have progressed in it. So, in terms of that, my No. 1 concern was satisfied and I applaud Lake Ray for pulling all of that together. On another note, I was impressed with all that they do culturally, especially for the younger people. They actually have a system in place where a younger person can attend a cultural event for free, with a parent. I thought that was excellent. Lastly, I was very impressed with the openness and friendliness of the people of Dallas. From the mayor down to the people at the hotel, I was amazed with their willingness to share information with us.
— Lad Daniels, City Council president.