by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Work needs to be done to develop Jacksonville’s newest economic driver, international trade. That theme dominated the 2010 Global Trade and Transportation Symposium Tuesday.
The annual gathering of business and government leaders focuses on global trade and transportation and was held at the Jacksonville Marriott.
Lad Daniels, president of the First Coast Manufacturers Association, moderated the “Legislation and Funding” panel discussion.
He summed up the discussion after listening to representatives of the Jacksonville Port Authority, City Council, State Legislature and the logistics industry.
“The Florida economy is changing. What are going to be the major economic drivers going forward? International trade,” said Daniels.
“Like Jacksonville had the ‘Better Jacksonville Plan,’ we need a plan as a community for economic
development. We don’t have one right now,” he said.
To fund the Better Jacksonville Plan, voters approved a half-cent sales tax in 2000 for a $2.25 billion program for public facilities, road and infrastructure improvements, environmental preservation and targeted economic development.
“Congress is saying that they can’t get the money (for infrastructure improvements) from the feds, and (State Rep.) Lake (Ray) can’t get money from the state,” said Daniels.
“We need to create a plan for people to get behind so we can find the money we need to get these projects going.”
While there are many projects to be undertaken to improve the logistics industry in Jacksonville, a dominant theme has been development of Jacksonville’s port. The issue was heavily discussed during panel presentations and a port update from Chief Operating Officer and Interim Executive Director Chris Kauffmann.
“A study by the Florida Chamber of Commerce that is due out next week reveals that 62 percent of the goods consumed by the State of Florida comes from ports in other states,” said Ray. “Capturing that market could mean capturing more than 200,000 jobs for Florida. Jobs that average $54,000 a year.”
Ray has been a voice of support for the logistics industry in Tallahassee, crafting legislation to set policy and develop funding sources for the state ports.
He sponsored the “Florida Ports Investment Act” during the last legislative session to create a Florida Ports Investment Corporation, but it died in the Florida Senate.
“We need to look at the policy issues as well as the funding issues going forward,” said Ray. “In HB 963 we got a lot of what we wanted, but a lot has to be added, like defining what we call a ‘port user.’
“We also need to look at streamlining the funding process. Not eliminating it, just streamlining it to get projects moving quicker,” said Ray.
One of the big projects affecting Jacksonville currently is the Mile Point project, which would widen the window of time that ships could navigate into the Jacksonville port.
Currently, a whirlpool effect is created where the St. Johns River meets the Intracoastal Waterway, which causes ships to spin during various tidal conditions before they come into port. This limits the window of time for ships to navigate into Jacksonville’s harbor.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying how the situation can best be corrected.
“We are trying to relieve this issue,” said Kauffmann during a port update. “I am very optimistic that we will have an expedient way to fix this by November.”
The port also is actively searching for funding to deepen the shipping channel to a depth of 50 feet to accommodate the larger ships that will travel through the expanded Panama Canal in 2014. It also seeks funding to repair aging infrastructure at the ports.
“A lot of the existing infrastructure was built in the 1960s and is reaching the end of its useful life,” said Kauffmann. “It needs to be replaced and it’s expensive, but we have a responsibility to maintain our facility as a landlord port.”
Both state and local governments are being forced to trim budgets, so money for these projects won’t be easy to find, Kauffmann said.
“We need to find a way to fund these projects and we are looking into public-private partnerships to develop funding sources,” said Kauffmann.
The symposium was sponsored by the Jacksonville Business Journal and the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization. The Jacksonville Port Authority was the presenting sponsor.
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