by Liz Daube
Staff Writer
A year of adjusted strategies has paid off for the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, according to executive director Ron Barton.
At Thursday’s meeting, he reported on the changes he’s overseen since joining the commission last August. Mayor John Peyton made an appearance and gave his opinion on the JEDC’s most recent work.
“I have maintained consistently that it is not the expense of government or government programs that will make us better,” said Peyton. “That which gets measured gets done. What you’ve done here is put measurables in place.
“We have met obligations (this year) that have been facing this government for 20 years,” he continued. “There’s been a lot of respect and appreciation for what we do here, and that has not always been the case.”
Barton said the JEDC has “really turned the corner” in terms of public image and decreasing city spending. He estimated the last year of work has resulted in 3,300 new jobs, 5,000 retained jobs and a 746 percent increase in JEDC’s private versus public investment ratio. Barton highlighted a variety of key projects, including:
• Major business development deals with Fidelity Investments – a difficult sell in which Jacksonville was not a top-choice location – and Firestone/Bridgestone, a project in the Cecil Commerce Center, where the JEDC controls 8,500 acres of land.
• Assistance to more than 170 small businesses, 110 of which are start-ups.
• Redevelopment initiatives in blighted areas. Barton said work in Brooklyn, a neighborhood between Downtown and Riverside, will begin in March. Meanwhile, a project in the Soutel-Moncrief area on the Northwest side of town is still awaiting City Council approval.
• Resolution of “inherited issues” in the Downtown area, such as the Landing parking agreement.
Other developments from the meeting include:
• New commissioners: Clarence Gooden, vice president of logistics for CSX, and Sylvester Robinson, plant manager for Anheuser Busch, attended their first meeting.
• Samsonite Corporation project approval. If approved by City Council, the City will pay up to $26,500 in incentives for jobs created by luggage manufacturer Samsonite Corporation. They plan to build a new 800,000 square-foot distribution center within Imeson International Industrial Park, an area designated as “distressed” by Florida’s Brownsfield Redevelopment Bonus program. Samsonite said they will expand local operations by 24 jobs with an average annual wage of $29,834.
• Beaver Street Fisheries project approval: If approved by City Council, the City will pay up to $335,000 in incentives to a joint expansion of Beaver Street Fisheries, Inc. and Preferred Freezer Services in West Jacksonville, another area with “distressed” status. BSF plans to build a 185,000 square-foot food processing and freezing facility on Beaver Street they say will result in 50 new jobs with an average annual wage of $40,000.
• Request for Proposals for Clara White Mission purchase in La Villa approval: The Clara White Mission wants to use City-owned land at Ashley and Jefferson streets to create 50 units of affordable housing for its culinary program graduates. The RFP asks for a bidder to purchase and develop the land.