by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Compared to center stage performers like Miami and New York, Jacksonville is still a bit player on the stage of the international economy. But the Chamber’s new chairman of International Development sees the City’s role continuing to grow if its corporate citizens think globally.
Holland and Knight Executive Partner George Gabel will replace ICS Logistics CEO Jeff Spence as the head of the Cornerstone division’s international development. As Gabel steps into his post, Cornerstone and the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce is preparing to assume a larger role in the City’s corporate recruiting.
Cornerstone is the Chamber arm that recruits businesses to move to this area. It coordinates with area Chambers and governmental agencies.
The City is shedding some of its jobs previously dedicated to international recruiting and City planners are looking to the Chamber to help fill the void.
The City’s plans to scrap its International Development Commission caused an uproar on the City Council and throughout the business community when they were first announced in August by Kirk Wendland, the executive director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. Since then, Wendland and JEDC Chairman Ceree Harden have given loud assurances that the
City understands the importance of doing business across borders.
The job is too important, they say, for the City to continue with the same approach, which Harden described to the Council in September as investing a lot to get a little.
“There have been fairly significant resources invested, and we haven’t created the economic development we hoped for,” he said. “I’ve heard the definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect different results.”
Although the City has claimed some notable international recruits in the past year, Wendland said success stories like Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer, weren’t necessarily a result of the IDC’s efforts.
“Those projects really came through more of our traditional approach to development that just happened to land internationally,” he said.
The JEDC’s new organizational chart won’t include three staff members whose jobs focused solely on building international relationships. Those jobs didn’t survive a 20 percent staff cut ordered by Mayor John Peyton. Once those cuts take effect, there won’t be anyone on the JEDC with a
full-time focus on international development. Instead the responsibility will fall to someone near the top of the Commission’s chain of command, possibly Executive Director Wendland or new Deputy Director Jeanne Miller.
Taking the place of the IDC will be a coordinated effort among government and
private stakeholders in trade and international investment. Wendland envisions the JEDC, Cornerstone and the City’s trade gateways: the Jacksonville Port Authority and the airport working together to develop Jacksonville’s strategy.
It’s a responsibility that Gabel said Cornerstone, and Jacksonville, is ready to take on.
“It’s an exciting time to be moving into this position,” said Gabel. “Seventeen percent of Cornerstone’s current prospects are international. We want to increase our focus in that area and bring in more companies like Embraer.”
Gabel’s comments came last week after Embraer CEO Mauricio Botelho finished an hour-long presentation to Cornerstone’s quarterly luncheon, detailing why his company chose Jacksonville to build its newest plant. Botelho credited Jacksonville’s business-friendly climate and the local
government’s focus on removing barriers to free trade.
Gabel has heard similar enthusiasm from other potential international partners.
“When international firms look at
Jacksonville, they see a growing economy and a great atmosphere for businesses to operate and for their employees to live,” he said.
Gabel agrees with Wendland that the sales pitch for Jacksonville will sound most convincing from those already doing
business in the City. Enhancing the
corporate community’s role in international recruiting obviously excites Gabel.
“I think the new approach is going to work well,” he said. “The mayor’s made it clear that he’s committed to international development, but he wants to revamp the City’s approach to get more
of an effort coming from the private
community.”
So how can Jacksonville “think more internationally” as Gabel suggests? An international flight or two at Jacksonville International Airport would be a good place to start. Gabel also points to organizations like AmSouth Bank, which employs an in-house vice president of international banking.
The idea, he said, is to greet visiting prospects with members of Jacksonville’s business community. The City auditions most impressively, said Gabel, with its corporate citizens on center stage.