The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission called a rare special meeting Thursday to consider a proposal that could create 250 new jobs.
JEDC Deputy Executive Director Paul Crawford said the meeting was called at the request of the applicant, JPMorgan Chase, which was seeking a Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund of $3,000 per job and a High Impact Bonus of $2,000 per job for a total $1.25 million in City and state incentives. The City’s share would be $250,000, 20 percent of the refund.
Chase proposes to expand its Home Lending Group local operations by 250 jobs at an average salary of $53,000 for a net local payroll increase of $13.3 million.
Fifty of the new jobs would be for underwriters at an average salary of $50,000; 98 positions would be operations staff at an average salary of $45,000; and 102 of the new jobs would be IT positions at an average salary of $65,000.
Twenty-five of the jobs would be created by Dec. 31, with the remainder being filled in 2012.
The tax refund would be paid over four years after the jobs are created and verified.
Chase proposes to add some of the new positions to its office at Deerwood Park and lease 66,000 square feet of office space at Flagler Center for the remainder. The project also would include capital investment of about $2.4 million in space improvements and acquisition of infrastructure, technology, equipment, fixtures and furniture.
The financial services firm currently has 3,800 employees in Jacksonville and 14,000 in the state.
Chase Vice President of State Government Relations Richard Mahler said the firm considers Jacksonville “a prime location for expansion” and part of a larger program Chase plans to implement.
He described the business climate in the state as “conducive to growth.”
“We have a very aggressive plan for Florida. Our leadership is very bullish on Florida,” said Mahler.
The commission approved the proposal unanimously. It will be sent to City Council for review.
Outgoing JEDC Executive Director Ron Barton attended the meeting. His last day with the City is today.
“I’m sure I’ll see everybody around,” said Barton, who announced Wednesday that beginning next week, he will be doing consulting work with some former colleagues from KPMG LLC.
Jerry Mallot, JAX Chamber executive vice president and economic development advisor to Mayor Alvin Brown, rose to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting.
He thanked Barton for his service to the City and then told the commissioners, “The mayor’s interest in this board is in focusing on Downtown as we go forward. We’ve all got to be going in the same direction.”
The future of the JEDC has come into question based on Brown’s plans to comprehensively reorganize City government including the creation of an independent, authority-wielding entity for Downtown development. The City Council enacted the 2011-12 municipal budget early Wednesday morning with only six months of funding for the commission.
Asked after the meeting adjourned what Brown has planned for the commission, Mallot said, “I think he sees the JEDC as the core of future Downtown development.”
Brown’s Chief of Staff Chris Hand said Thursday that “the mayor has made it clear he wants to take a fresh look.”
Hand said he expects the reorganization plan to be made public “in late October or the beginning of November.”
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