By Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
Mayor Alvin Brown, hours after presenting a balanced budget Friday to City Council, outlined a wish list for economic development that includes an economic summit, a Jacksonville Economic Club and a small-business assistance package that he calls “Brown’s Backpack.”
He also envisions single-family housing Downtown, as well as his trumpeted focus on increased investment from all sources in the Port of Jacksonville.
Brown also talked about the future, including referencing a second term.
“I believe we are going to do great things the next 4-8 years,” he said.
Those plans and goals are in addition to the economic develop-
ment priorities he included in his budget to create four departments, of which three are directly related to job creation and investment: A Downtown Community Empowerment Corp., a Jacksonville Sports and Entertainment Corp.
and an Office of Public Private Partnerships.
His other proposed department, the Office of the Education Commissioner, relates to economic development in terms of improving the public school system and its relationship with the mayor’s office and the City to improve education opportunities and to prepare the future work force.
“We need to really focus on the future now,” he said.
In a wide-ranging interview with Daily Record reporters late Friday afternoon in his office at City Hall, Brown talked briefly about some of his economic development desires once the budget is passed by Council and the fiscal year starts Oct. 1.
Among those plans:
• Brown wants to convene an economic summit to bring businesses, especially small businesses, together to determine what the City needs to do to improve conditions and opportunities for local businesses to create jobs. He said he would focus more on that after the budget passes.
• Brown wants to launch a Jacksonville Economic Club Downtown of the membership, stature and influence to attract national and international speakers, such as Federal Reserve Board Chair Ben Bernanke. He referred to The Economic Club of Chicago, which began in 1927 and has hosted speeches by international heads of state, U.S. presidents, CEOs, labor leaders and historians, among others. Its website said it “fosters development of civic-minded executives who understand their broader role in building a better society.” There also are similar clubs in New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit and other cities.
• He wants to package development assistance as “tools for entrepreneurs and small businesses” as a “Brown’s Backpack” collection. It would be “a one-stop capital shop” that includes help available to small businesses, including the resources available at the University of North Florida and Jacksonville University.
As for his proposed departments, Brown wants the Downtown Community Empowerment Corp. to focus strictly on Downtown, taking advantage of the St. Johns River, the existing corporate headquarters and other elements.
He repeated his call for a state-of-the-art movie theater Downtown and also mentioned an aquarium and an Olympic-size pool.
He also wants to see the 2,000 current residents who live Downtown gain some neighbors. In addition to the existing apartments and condos, he talks about single-family housing, referring to Florida State College at Jacksonville as one driver.
“Wouldn’t it be great if FSCJ developed a new campus with housing Downtown?” said Brown.
Brown didn’t say what he expected from the review under way of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, which was created in 1997 as part of the mayor’s office to create, direct and negotiate jobs and corporate investment.
Brown appointed Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Jerry Mallot and Jacksonville Civic Council Executive Director Don Shea to spend the next several months studying the City’s economic development process and to recommend how best to proceed.
“I want to make sure we do it right,” said Brown.
With his proposed Downtown corporation, however, he envisions a president and CEO, not an executive director, as its leader. Brown wants that leader to function “peer-to-peer” with corporate CEOs.
With the sports department, Brown wants to capture more of the sporting and entertainment dollars that circulate in Jacksonville and leverage them to create more investment, opportunity and visibility.
He foresees capitalizing more on the national publicity of “Monday Night Football” broadcasts and the environment of the annual Florida-Georgia game. The Jacksonville Jaguars have two Monday Night Football games on the schedule in Jacksonville, Oct. 24 against Baltimore and Dec. 5 against San Diego.
Brown said a National Basketball Association team and an ESPN Zone sports-bar center also would fit into that scenario.
ESPN Zones are sports-themed restaurants with big-screen TVs. While there were ESPN Zones in several major cities, most closed during the recession.
Two operate in California, in Los Angeles and Anaheim.
Brown also wants to leverage area high schools’ Friday night football games when possible, and also said the area needs to celebrate the August induction of Jacksonville University basketball star Artis Gilmore into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Gilmore took the JU Dolphins on a run to the national title game in 1970 and then played professional basketball. He has been a Jacksonville executive since then.
Brown ties the Downtown and sports efforts together in referring to an ESPN Zone Downtown.
On behalf of job creation and the port, Brown also envisions traveling.
He spoke of his predecessor, Mayor John Peyton. “He just did not sit in his office. He got on that plane,” said Brown.
“I just think you have to do it,” he said.
Brown mentioned trips to Korea with Jacksonville Port Authority CEO Paul Anderson and trips to Brazil and Washington, D.C., where he would lobby for assistance and funding to deepen the St. Johns River for more ship traffic through the port.
Larger ships will come through the expanded Panama Canal in several years and the port wants to deepen the channel to accommodate them, as well as fix the Mile Point navigational issue.
“I’m going to be fighting for Jacksonville,” said Brown.
“Elections are always about the future,” he said.
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