by Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
Jacksonville Community Council Inc. will present 13 recommendations Wednesday for leaders of the seven counties of Northeast Florida to ward off the employment problems caused by recessions.
The “Recession Recovery and Beyond: Job Creation, Employment and Improving Northeast Florida’s Competitiveness” report will be formally released at noon at the Hyatt Downtown.
The study committee wrapped up eight months of work May 4, concluding with regional recommendations that were determined by the group’s findings and conclusions.
To read previous stories about the study, visit www.jaxdailyrecord.com and search “JCCI.”
The recommendations were grouped under specific headings: Creating jobs in key regional growth industries, building and maintaining an educated and skilled work force, encouraging the growth of small businesses, improving the region’s marketing elements and securing regional leadership for sustained economic growth.
“Regional recovery was of great interest to me personally,” said study Chair Elaine Brown, president of the Northeast Florida Regional Council planning organization and a member of the Northeast Florida Regional Transportation Study Commission.
“I feel hopeful and optimistic this study will lead to additional economic growth through continued and enhanced regional cooperation,” she said.
The study resulted from the December 2007-June 2009 national recession. JCCI set out to discover how the seven counties of Northeast Florida might retain existing jobs, rapidly create new jobs and position the region for long-term economic growth.
The study was sponsored by WorkSource and the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Cornerstone Regional Development Partnership.
Starting in October, committee members launched the effort and visited the seven counties involved in the study. Then they met weekly at the Northeast Florida Regional Council in Southside to hear from executives in economic development, education, health care, government, banking, manufacturing, the port and other industries and areas that deal with job creation.
In March, the group started reviewing 35 pages of findings from the presentations line-by-line. From those, it determined the conclusions and recommendations.
“There was a true cooperative mindset for strategic economic planning with no real ego standing in the way,” said Brown.
“Often, Jacksonville has been viewed as the 800-pound gorilla, but this study showed a true cooperative spirit for regional partnership in economic recovery and planning,” she said.
Brown also noted there is great interest in the port’s development. “How the port grows will help the region, and each county expressed its desire for growth and development of JaxPort,” she said.
Brown also cited the groundwork by the chamber, whose Cornerstone partnership includes the seven counties.
“Cornerstone has paved the way for regional planning,” said Brown. “Jobs are needed and getting there means working together for a faster and stronger economic future for Northeast Florida.”
Brown responded to several questions regarding the study.
Would you summarize the key points and conclusions in the report?
Regional streamlining of regulatory and permitting processes; an annual seven-county economic summit with elected officials, business leaders and economic development professionals discussing goals and committing to the strategic plans for growth and development; and working together to attract business and entrepreneurialism in all fields, including medical, engineering and mathematics.
What happens next with the recommendations?
The next step will be the study group under committee member Tom Patton’s leadership taking the recommendations and drilling down to see if they are viable and how they could and/or should be pursued. Our study group focused on regional cooperation and economic planning. The next group will recommend how and who should take it to fruition.
Two specific recommendations raise heightened interest. Those are the call for regional branding and securing a medical school. What specific actions already are being done in those efforts?
Regional branding is being studied by the chamber through Cornerstone. I think we will hear more of this very soon and again, capitalizing on all of our seven-county assets can make this a more desirable market. Each person in the study group believes that a branding that we could all promote could be very effective as we pursue new business to the region.
The medical school idea is already being discussed, but how we get one is going to be the big question. The group determined that medical research and a medical school fit the already existing medical research and leading-edge technology by Mayo Clinic and Shands Jacksonville, which is affiliated with the University of Florida Health Science Center. This will be pursued in the future and recommendations may be to formalize that goal.
Many of the points made in the study have been made in previous studies, such as the need to focus on education, regional cooperation, Downtown redevelopment, job training and more. How do you interpret the fact that there continues to be a focus on such efforts?
Certainly there has been a review of Duval County’s needs and flaws in the past with recommendations for Downtown, education and more, but this focus was on the comprehensive economic planning and development of a seven-county area that addresses the flaws and assets that can make a stronger and more marketable product — North Florida — with additional cooperation and talent.
How significant is this study?
This study is significant if for no other reason that we take steps for true regional strategic planning. Around the country, there are examples of great success by casting the net wider for education, jobs, medical and technological growth. Look at Tampa and Orlando with their medical school and research commitment together.
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