by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
When Jeanne Miller’s two daughters ask her what she does for a living, the new deputy director for the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission keeps it simple.
“It isn’t easy, but if they ask, I tell them I help people with problems, that I work with businesses to create a better life for the city,” said Miller, the first hire following the JEDC’s ongoing restructuring. “They’re only four and five so I don’t go into too much detail beyond that.”
Miller’s broad description may be right on target. As the JEDC’s second-in-command, Miller is looking forward to not only massaging business development deals for the City, but also seeing them through while enforcing their specific contract terms.
“I look at it as a fantastic opportunity,” she said. “As the former director of business development, I was more involved in simply structuring those deals. Now the JEDC is going to be able to create a team who can see the entire process through, from start to finish.
“It’s that team that’s going to be able to measure a project’s success against our specific goals.”
Born in Rhode Island and raised in Panama, Miller — a Navy brat — moved to Jacksonville in 1995 after graduating from the Florida State University College of Law. Her parents retired and settled here in 1988.
Upon arriving in Jacksonville, Miller went to work as an associate for downtown law firm Smith, Hulsey & Busey. There she worked closely with senior partner Stephen Busey on cases involving contract disputes and real estate issues.
Busey called Miller “high energy, hardworking, talented and charming.”
“The mayor, and the city will be well served by her appointment,” he said.
Miller gushes, calling her time with Smith, Hulsey, “interesting and exciting.”
“It was and I was learning a lot and during my two and half years there,” she said. “I was able take a lot of experience with me.”
Miller went on to become the first in-house general counsel for Regency Centers Corp. which at that time was poised to expand into a national market.
That job, she said, helped her refine her practice and also allowed her more time to address her personal responsibilities. Miller was married to Marc, also an attorney, and the mother to Yali and Sarah.
“Because I was mostly working on our West Coast portfolio at that time, I found myself working odd hours,” she said. “I might come in at 10 or 11 a.m. and work until much later in evening. But the good part about that was that my husband and I were able to coordinate our schedules around each other and do our best to raise our children. To me, family really is the most important thing.”
Miller’s first taste of working with the government came in 2002 after a friend referred her to a job in the City’s General Counsel’s Office. Miller interviewed and eventually got the job.
“I loved the work I did at Regency, but I was looking for more opportunities to grow professionally,” she said. “I knew the City was looking for a real estate transactional lawyer so I went for it because I thought it was a good fit for my skill set.”
It was at City Hall that Miller said she learned how to better develop policy and structure agreements. It was also where she began working closely with the JEDC and specifically its top tier employees, including executive director Kirk Wendland.
“Among other things, I learned how government works and about the different personalities behind it,” she said. “That’s proven to be very valuable.”
From there Miller moved quickly, establishing herself as the primary legal voice for the City Council.
Her work for them did not go unnoticed.
“She was exceptional,” said Council member Suzanne Jenkins. “Her ability to grasp a situation and understand its impact was phenomenal and I have to tell you that I can’t think of another person who had the potential to climb the career ladder faster or better than Jeanne.”
The JEDC noticed, too.
After former JEDC business development manager Roslyn Phillips left to go work for the City’s Neighborhoods Department, Miller got a call.
“(Wendland) called me out of the blue and we talked about it,” said Miller. “I knew the mayor was looking to restructure the JEDC and I knew he wanted to develop new goals for economic development. I saw it as a rare opportunity, but I was just really scared to leave the law. ”
A pep talk with Bob Rhodes, a close friend and an executive at the St. Joe Company, gave Miller the push she needed.
She accepted Wendland’s offer and awaited the changes that would face the JEDC, without knowing when they would take place or what they would be.
“But I was confident it would be done in a way that would refine what we do,” she said. “I knew it would be handled well and think that it has been.
“Now I’m ready to built the team we need.”
That team, she said, will take shape quickly after two division directors who will report
to Miller and Wendland are named.
“I expect things to move along soon, which I’m looking forward to,” she said. “We’re not putting a time line on it, but the team we put together is going to be able to do so many wonderful things for the city. It’s going to be able to accomplish things no single person could do on their own.”
So when she’s not saving the city, what does she do for fun?
“I get asked that a lot,” she said. “But, above all else, I want to spend as much time as I can with my family. Whether it’s going to the zoo or Disney World, that’s where my passion lies.
“Sometimes it’s a lot, but
it’s OK.”