• Downtown entrepreneur Tony Allegretti has joined the JAX Chamber as director of downtown engagement, a new position that the chamber said is “focused specifically on enhancing the urban core and engaging members in Downtown activities.” Allegretti will lead the Chamber’s Downtown initiatives and streamline efforts to enhance the urban core. He will report to chamber Vice President of Operations Anna Valent. Allegretti is a partner of Gallery Restaurant Group LLC, which includes Burrito Gallery Downtown, Burrito Gallery at EverBank Field, Burrito Gallery Express at Jacksonville Beach and Uptown Market in Springfield. He is the founding director of the Riverside Arts Market and First Wednesday Art Walk.
• Bankruptcies in Jacksonville continue to drop in number. In the Jacksonville Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Florida, filings fell 8.5 percent to 755 in April from 825 in April 2011 and were down 26.2 percent from 1,023 filings in April 2010, a record year. Year-to-date, filings are down 7.8 percent to 2,988 from the first four months of 2011, when 3,240 filings were made, and are down almost 22 percent from the 3,822 filings in the first four months of 2010.
• Jacksonville Transportation Authority bus operator Ramon Farfan won first place in the 40-foot bus category at the 2012 International Bus Roadeo held May 6 in Long Beach, Calif. The Roadeo highlights the best bus operators and bus maintenance teams in North America. The bus operators compete on a course that challenges their driving skills. Farfan joined JTA in 2000 and is the second JTA bus driver to win the award. JTA Service Planning Manager Kent Stover took top honors in 1994.