Ashton Hudson looks forward to developments in his personal and professional lives.
Hudson, 39, is the new board chairman of the JEA, the city’s utility, while it searches for its seventh chief executive. Jim Dickenson, the managing director and CEO, will retire in 2013.
“I was very excited to get the opportunity to be a part of JEA. It is a unique City asset that is a multibillion dollar business and it provides nearly a third of the City’s operating budget,” said Hudson.
The board also is addressing a generational issue because a large group of employees will reach retirement age soon.
“We are going through a transition that will have a generational impact as we look for a new CEO and select Jim Dickenson’s replacement,” he said.
“We also have focus on workforce readiness to make sure we have adequate staffing to meet the needs of our customers. It will be a challenge that this board has to grapple with over the coming years,” he said.
He recognizes that the board has to replenish the workforce at a time when pensions and salaries are being reduced or restructured because of government budget challenges.
“We’ve got to find a way to keep salaries competitive within the industry or we are going to lose some good talent to the private sector,” said Hudson.
Hudson also will work with three new board members. Charlie Appleby was recently appointed and Lisa Strange Weatherby and Walt Bussells await City Council approval.
Hudson acknowledged there was a lot to learn when he joined the board in 2006.
“It’s a very complex business. There is a lot to the electric utility and a lot to the water and sewer business. When you marry the two under one utility, there is a tremendous number of moving parts,” said Hudson.
“There is a lot for new members to understand before they start to comprehend what is happening. It’s a steep learning curve, but the management team does a great job of getting us up to speed,” he said.
Hudson said he believes he was chosen by former Mayor John Peyton for a seat on the board because of his business background and said Peyton was looking for candidates that were pro-business.
Hudson is the president and general counsel for Jacksonville-based Rock Creek Capital, an asset manager.
The company invests primarily in land, mainly in the Southeast and Mountain States, for its clients, but it also invests in operating businesses, such as Advanced Disposal, Turner Pest Control and AccuStaff.
“Investments in land are very stable and they are attractive to the institutional investor,” said Hudson. “On a risk-adjusted basis, land produces very attractive returns.”
His duties involve oversight of the counsel hired by the firm to handle its legal matters. Hudson is licensed to practice law in Georgia, but he is allowed to represent Rock Creek Capital as an authorized house counsel, defined by the Florida Bar as a person licensed to practice outside the state and certified by the state Supreme Court to provide limited legal services in Florida while exclusively employed by a business organization located in Florida.
“I practice just enough law to be dangerous,” Hudson quipped. “I prefer the business side.”
On the personal side, Hudson and his wife, Mandy, are expecting a baby boy in August.
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