by Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
City and area leaders, including the next Jacksonville mayor who will be elected this spring, had better be ready if and when Gov. Rick Scott brings an economic deal this way.
That readiness covers a wide range of preparations including fast permitting, minimal paperwork and accessible incentives, according to two industry leaders speaking to a Jacksonville Community Council Inc. study group this week.
“Northeast Florida has to place itself in a position to accept the jobs that are coming,” said Erika Lorenz Alba, a principal and managing director of the multistate legislative and regulatory practice of The Fiorentino Group government relations firm in Jacksonville.
“If Northeast Florida does not have its ducks in a row, the wave is going to pass by,” said Alba, who also chairs the Associated Industries of Florida.
Alba and Avery spoke to about 40 members of the JCCI “Recession Recovery and Beyond” study committee.
The study covers the region of Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties.
The group wants to determine ways for the area to best recover and create the jobs necessary for growth after the deep 2007-2009 recession.
Scott, who took office Jan. 4, ran on a platform of “let’s get to work,” pledging to create 700,000 jobs in seven years with the seven steps of accountability budgeting, reducing government spending, reforming regulations, focusing on job growth and retention, creating world-class universities, reducing property taxes; and eliminating Florida’s corporate income tax.
Scott’s heavy voter and leadership support in Northeast Florida might help, said Alba.
“He’s predisposed to helping us,” she said.
But Avery wonders for how long if the area isn’t ready for Scott’s projects.
“Rick Scott will lose interest regardless of who has connections,” said Avery, chair of The Ronco Group, a Jacksonville-based company with divisions and employees worldwide.
The Ronco companies specialize in the industrial, manufacturing, construction, fire protection, logistics, real estate, equipment and professional services industries.
Alba said she served on the Associated Industries of Florida board with Scott and calls him “a metrics person.”
“His primary goal is to bring jobs” and he already has a company coming to Florida, said Alba, not providing details.
Asked about the role of the next mayor in working with Scott, Alba said he or she needs to provide an economic platform “within about a minute and a half.”
“It can’t be just talking points. It has to be true plan,” she said. “It has to be true action points and the mayor has to go to the governor’s office and present it. That has to be the tone, that you want to be a partner with him.”
In case anyone missed the point, she said the plan “has to be active, it has to be a quantifiable plan and you have to do it.”
Avery agreed.
Leaders must “work directly with the (governor’s) team to see what we need to do. We better get our act together and get on the train or the train will pass us by,” he said.
Avery offered suggestions.
“You have to get the regulations and restrictions out of the way,” he said.
To attract jobs, he said, local governments must “make government more efficient.”
Avery said that many manufacturing companies, many of which are headquartered outside the country, don’t pay attention to some of the traditional selling points of the area.
“Quality of life means nothing,” he said. What matters are available skilled workers, a reasonable cost of doing business, no burdensome regulations and a streamlined permitting process.
“I can’t drive that point home enough. We have to get government out of the way,” he said.
Alba gave an example. She serves on a Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce committee that is trying to bring business Downtown.
She said a Downtown restaurant wants to add outdoor seating and has been working on the issue for a year and has hired legal counsel to help.
“Why is this more than a 10-minute decision?” she asked. “If Rick Scott hears this, he is going to say, ‘we’re not bringing companies there,’” she said.
Alba said the next mayor has to answer a question: “What do we do to show Rick Scott we will welcome the business he’ll bring us?”
She said that “CEO types are not emotional guys” and they make decisions “like that,” snapping her fingers.
“You can’t have a restaurant wait a year to get outdoor seating.”
Alba also addressed educational issues and the quality of schools in Duval County, primarily the perception of them.
Alba, who said she relocated to Jacksonville with Fidelity National Financial from California, said she and others who were transferred were told by real estate agents that “if you have kids, don’t buy in Duval County.”
“Everyone has to decide we’re not going to say that anymore,” she said.
Alba was senior vice president and assistant general counsel at Fidelity National Financial, also serving as the chief legislative counsel responsible for the management of governmental affairs issues for the 50 states and U.S. Congress. She joined The Fiorentino Group in 2009.
The two made other points during their presentations and a question-and-answer session:
• Avery said that he asks mayoral candidates several questions: Are you serious about reforming government? Can you shrink your work force by 10 percent? Can you fire your relatives and friends? “If your candidate can’t do that, we’re hiring the wrong mayor.”
• Study group member Jim Crooks asked study chair Elaine Brown, a former City Council president, if the City could endure a 5-10 percent cut. She responded that her knee-jerk reaction was yes, but also that the mayor has already cut jobs. “I am seeing that they have been trying to cut government,” she said. “You can always cut more. Will services suffer? In some cases, yes.”
• Alba said students need practical experience. Also, “it would be really helpful if they could write a complete sentence.”
• Participant Janice Williams Donaldson, regional director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of North Florida, asked how to assist the growth of existing companies, saying they create 80 percent of the jobs. Several other participants repeated the question in various forms throughout the session. Avery said that government makes a big deal out of a new 500-job company, but not so much about numerous small businesses creating several jobs each, which add up.
• Avery said he moved to Florida from Pennsylvania for business reasons, but also because of the snow there and not here. “I’m a hypocrite” on the quality-of-life issue, he said.
After the speakers conclude, JCCI study groups typically hold summary discussions to allow participants to make points. Among them:
• There’s not a wide perception of the good and positive points about the area, especially education.
• If real estate agents are telling potential buyers that Duval County schools are not good, they need to be told to “stop saying that.”
• One participant voiced concern “about the broad-brush bashing of local government.”
• While some companies might want less permitting and regulation, “there is an impact on the environment and traffic. There are consequences. That’s why you have government to study the trade-offs and impacts.”
• Indicating that whether or not people voted for Scott or agreed with his platform, area leaders
need to work with him or “Gover-
nor Scott is going to lose interest in us.”
• If governments outsource work to become more efficient, it should be outsourced to local companies “to keep the dollars in the community.”
The group convenes Jan. 19 to explore “job creation opportunities: strategies for Northeast Florida” at the Northeast Florida Regional Council in the Southpoint area.
Participants will meet Wednesdays through March 9 to hear speakers. Starting March 16, the group will focus on committee work and conclude the study
May 4.
356-2466