by Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
In a four-hour strategic planning retreat on Friday, the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce board of directors focused on priorities for 2011.
Chair Hugh Greene, who is CEO of Baptist Health, said several common issues surfaced among all of the breakout groups of the 42 directors.
All of the groups carried one overriding theme, he said, falling “under the backdrop of economic development, creating jobs.”
Greene said the group’s strategy didn’t yet include a specific goal for job creation. Last year, the chamber’s Cornerstone Regional Development Partnership reported 3,437 jobs were created or preserved in the seven-county region of Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties.
“We were much broader,” he said, determining “where do we want to focus our energy this year?”
Those areas, in summary:
• The port of Jacksonville. “There is a very strong consensus that we need to focus on JaxPort because of the opportunity the Jacksonville port brings in terms of being an economic engine for job creation and good-paying jobs for our community,” said Greene. “This is a strategic area that is laden with opportunity, but still also faces some fairly formidable challenges, so we really are making this a very high priority.”
• Downtown development. “We believe that for the City to move to another level, again in the context of economic development, we really need to start the revitalization of Downtown,” said Greene. “We will work in concert with the Jacksonville Civic Council and elected leaders to help make the business community aware of the importance of the issue as well as the general population, and also support an implementation plan.”
Greene said Mayor John Peyton appointed a task force last year that has been working to determine how best to develop downtown. “We await that plan.”
• Education and workforce development. Greene said the chamber will work closely with the Duval County School Board and board Chair W.C. Gentry. “There are a lot of things at work with the school board as far as opportunities,” he said. “The whole issue of public education related to the development of the work force is critical.”
• Advocacy with elected leaders. “We have a unique situation with the chamber working with a brand new mayor and many new members of the City Council, and we need to foster a strong working relationship to achieve the goals of economic development,” said Greene. He wants the chamber to “make sure they are aware of the issues and challenges.”
• Small and second-stage businesses. “Those businesses do contain most of the jobs in our community, but at the same time, it’s those jobs where the economy has had its major impact. They are the heart and soul of the chamber,” he said.
“We want to make sure we bring value for them and even embark on some initiatives, such as encouraging business purchasing from each other in the business community.”
• The Jacksonville Jaguars. “We concluded that we cannot let up on our efforts” to support the area’s NFL team, he said. “We still believe that we need to strongly encourage the business community to be supportive of the Jaguars, so we will keep that focus as well.”
It was the first meeting of the 2011 board and it took place at the Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership. Greene said the group will meet monthly at the chamber from now on.