by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The First Coast is slowly expanding to the Space Coast.
At Friday’s Cornerstone luncheon, Enterprise Flagler will be introduced as the newest member of Cornerstone, the economic development arm of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce. Enterprise Flagler is the equivalent of Cornerstone and is a branch of the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce.
Jerry Mallot, the Chamber executive vice president, said his organization has been talking with Enterprise Flagler about joining Cornerstone for years.
“They have been interested in joining Cornerstone for four years,” said Mallot. “We had just taken in St. Johns County at the time we started talking to Flagler and at the time were reluctant to skip over St. Johns County.”
Mallot said Cornerstone was also waiting for Flagler to show signs of economic prosperity and development, the kind of success that would make membership in Cornerstone an asset for both organizations. Considering Flagler’s status as the fastest-growing county in the nation, it’s a coup for Cornerstone to gain that kind of member.
“The time is right. They are growing rapidly and they are developing in all aspects,” said Mallot.
Steve Marro is Mallot’s counterpart at Enterprise Flagler. He and 15 other Flagler County officials will be on hand Friday at the Cornerstone luncheon to accept their membership and meet their new business partners.
“We are very excited about joining Cornerstone,” said Marro. “It’s a marriage made in heaven. Cornerstone is a great organization and they are a very successful group.”
Marro conceded much of Flagler’s development and population explosion is due primarily to residential real estate growth. However, that will change soon.
“It’ll change over time,” said Marro, who is bringing Flagler County commissioners, Flagler economic development commissioners and Enterprise Flagler board members to Jacksonville. “Commercial and retail growth will happen over the next five years.”
Each member of Cornerstone pays an initial fee to join and yearly membership dues. Mallot said that fee is based on a formula that includes population and several other factors. He also said Cornerstone is considering a plan that would create a sliding scale for annual dues that would be based on yearly growth rates and population figures.
Mallot believes Enterprise Flagler will be a great complement to Cornerstone, which already features 350 businesses and economic development agencies from Duval, Clay, Baker, St. Johns, Nassau and Putnam counties.
“They will invest funds in Cornerstone and in return we will extend full privileges to them,” he said. “They will be able to engage with prospects, compete for economic incentives, participate in research projects and be included in all our marketing materials. They will have a much larger marketing opportunity than before.”
Having the fastest-growing county in the country on board is nice, too.
“That’s not bad,” said Mallot. “The fact that they are growing rapidly and experiencing good business growth opportunities was an important factor.”
Cornerstone’s expansion may not stop with Enterprise Flagler. Mallot said Alachua County and Gainesville have both expressed interest in joining with the University of Florida’s ties to the First Coast being the impetus. However, before that happens, Mallot said Cornerstone may become a multi-state entity first.
“Kings Bay in Camden County in Georgia is another place we are looking at,” said Mallot. “They just got (thanks to the recent BRAC decisions) about 3,000 more people in the area and many around here are commuting to Camden. It’s a complicated process to cross state lines, but it can be done. In Charlotte (North Carolina), they have the Carolina Partnership which includes companies from the northern part of South Carolina and the southern part of North Carolina. In Kansas City, they have a similar group because Kansas City is so close to the Missouri state line.
“We will think long and hard about crossing the state line. At some point in time, I think we will be a multi-state organization. It may be 10 years down the road, but I think it will happen.”