While the Jacksonville Jaguars want to bring back a win from London, city and business leaders want to lure more jobs from the weeklong trip that starts this weekend.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan and President Mark Lamping will lead a Jacksonville delegation of economic development recruiters on the trip to London, where the Jaguars will play the Dallas Cowboys on Nov. 9 at Wembley Stadium.
It’s the second of four annual London games for the Jaguars and the second attempt by Mayor Alvin Brown and other delegates to recruit jobs through meetings and tours with companies and industry representatives.
The team agreed to play one home game in London for four consecutive seasons, from 2013-2016.
“The Jaguars are committed to economic development. Yes, they are going to play the football game, but they want to bring economic development to Jacksonville, too,” said City Council President Clay Yarborough, who plans to attend.
Brown said Thursday the leadership of Khan and Lamping has “been a tremendous asset in opening opportunities for our city.”
He cited Khan’s “global Rolodex” for marketing the city internationally.
The nine-member delegation will be led by four partners of the Jaguars-JAXUSA London Mission, scheduled Saturday through game day.
Brown and Yarborough are scheduled to be joined by Office of Economic Development CEO Ted Carter; JAXUSA Partnership Chair Fredrik Eliasson; Bank of America Merrill Lynch Jacksonville and Northeast Florida Market President Greg Smith; Florida Blue North Florida Market President Darnell Smith; JAX Chamber President and CEO Daniel Davis; JAXUSA Partnership President Jerry Mallot; and JAX Chamber International Department Senior Director Mike Breen.
The partners are Khan, Lamping, Leslie Slover, Deutsche Bank regional head of Jacksonville and Cary, N.C., and Paul Astleford, Visit Jacksonville president and CEO.
Most of the delegates are scheduled to leave Saturday for Cincinnati, where the Jaguars will play the Bengals on Sunday. Brown plans to attend the Georgia-Florida game in Jacksonville and meet the group in Cincinnati. Some leave after the game Sunday for London on the team plane.
For the return trip, the team plane leaves at 1 a.m. Nov. 10 and arrives in Jacksonville about 6 a.m.
Unlike last year, the chamber’s trip agenda does not identify all of the companies or leaders that will be visited. Mallot confirmed that the group will meet with Deutsche Bank, which it did last year as well, although the bank is not identified on the itinerary. Deutsche Bank is based in Germany and has a major presence in London.
“We always meet with companies that have a significant relationship with us,” Mallot said.
Deutsche Bank opened in Jacksonville in 2008 with 100 jobs, pledging a 1,000-job operations center. It now expects more than 1,600 jobs by the end of 2016.
Brown said he would ask Deutsche Bank to bring more jobs to town. “We are very strong when it comes to financial services and we should be talking to Deutsche Bank. I know that’s what I am going to be doing.”
At least nine appointments are listed as “company meeting” with no identification. Many are at The Dorchester hotel, where the group will stay. Mallot said the chamber wanted to respect the privacy of those companies and not publicize their names.
Mallot said the group had some meetings related specifically to aviation and aerospace, IT and logistics.
Some of the visits and meetings are identified. The delegates will visit the Port of Liverpool; meet with maritime-related companies and software developers; meet with the Sports Business Council at the Oval; and tour Johnson & Johnson facilities outside London. Johnson & Johnson owns Jacksonville-based Vistakon, which makes disposable contact lenses.
Mallot said Vistakon General Manager Tim Ryan intended to take the trip but has other commitments. He arranged the tour.
“That is another good example,” Mallot said. “We try to take advantage of connections.”
Mallot, Brown and past council President Bill Gulliford said that last year’s trip affirmed job-growth plans by Greencore USA, an Ireland-based company that makes sandwiches, sushi and other food for convenience and grocery stores from a plant at Jacksonville International Tradeport.
Mallot said Thursday the 2013 trip brought Greencore’s decision to add more than 280 jobs to completion. “We thought we had a number of other projects that would be completed by now, but a decision has not been made,” he said.
Mallot views the trips as a four-year process to build relationships, identify projects and bring them to Jacksonville.
“We thought it was a very successful mission and this year will be a continuation of meetings with companies, organizations and others that we think can have an influence on our economy and on Jacksonville and on the region,” he said.
Mallot said the delegates will meet with some of the companies visited last year, but declined to identify them.
Gulliford said the biggest benefit of the 2013 trip was exposure of Jacksonville to international companies.
“The first question you had to answer is where in the world is Jacksonville, Florida,” he said. “When you say to Europeans ‘Florida,’ we are at the bottom of list if on the list at all.”
Gulliford said that when the area and its assets were explained, “we got attention.”
He expects long-term success from the trips, but not necessarily short-term results. He also counts Khan’s ownership of the Fulham Football Club as a beneficial connection for Jacksonville.
Gulliford said it was important for the council president to attend, and Mallot said a city’s CEO is an influential ambassador.
“It sets a tone that is different when a mayor with the city is directly involved,” he said. Mallot said international business leaders consider the involvement of government officials to be important to a deal.
Yarborough said he hopes for success from the contacts. “I hope we can bring a lot of jobs to Jacksonville,” he said.
Brown intends to meet with Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson about Jacksonville’s participation in 2016 International Festival for Business.
There’s also a visit scheduled Tuesday to the Britannia Vaults, Albert Dock – “The Beatles Story Liverpool.” Mallot said the Liverpool hosts want the delegates to experience the museum if there is time.
“And we hope it works out,” he said.
Brown said he also would meet with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, who will be there to watch the Cowboys take on the Jaguars.
“We are going to win. We are going to bring that win back home,” Brown said.
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A summary of at the Jacksonville delegates’ schedule in London.Sunday: Jacksonville Jaguars team plane departs Cincinnati for London.
Monday: Potential business meetings and the London Mission Dinner.
Tuesday: Port of Liverpool tour; meetings with maritime businesses (Polaris Media, Seascope Maritime Training, Curtins Consulting, Chamber of Commerce); meetings with high-tech businesses (software developers Citrus Suite, Globall Coach, Atomicon); evening event at the Albert Dock Britannia Vaults.
Wednesday: Three unidentified company meetings; several delegates view the Prime Minister’s “Questions” at Parliament; evening Fulham FC match with clients.
Thursday: Three unidentified company meetings; lunch with London & Partners promotional company; late afternoon meeting with Sports Business Council at the Oval, home of the Surrey County Cricket Club.
Nov. 7: Three unidentified company meetings; meeting with the UK Trade & Investment Automotive Manufacturing Team; tour of Johnson & Johnson facilities outside London; reception with Compass Consulting.
Nov. 8: Fulham FC match.
Nov. 9: Jaguars vs. Dallas Cowboys at Wembley Stadium.
Nov. 10: Team plane returns to Jacksonville.