by Michele Gillis, Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Commercial Real Estate Women of Jacksonville brought together a very diverse panel recently to discuss what the North Florida region might look like in 50 years if everyone thought regionally.
The panel consisted of moderator Brian Teeple of the Northeast Florida Regional Council who asked the speakers questions regarding their part in thinking regionally.
Speakers included Bob Rhodes, regional transportation study commission and co-chair of the Innovate NE Florida; Cathy Chambers, vice president of Business Development and Marketing for the JaxUSA Partnership; Elaine Brown, former Jacksonville City Council president and chair of the First Coast Consortium; and Stan Totman, Baldwin City mayor and immediate past chair of the Northeast Florida League of Cities.
Brown was asked to discuss Reality Check, a program that brought 300 people from seven counties together to engage in a discussion about Northeast Florida will look like in 50 years.
“The reality is that North Florida is a region that in my opinion has come together through the guidance of the regional council to look at opportunities more than anything else,” said Brown.
The program focused on a regional approach to the growth and development of northeast Florida and opportunities and advantages from a regional approach.
“We who live in North Florida can and should pull together for economic reasons certainly, but also pulling together means making up a priority list of what do we want for our children, grandchildren and the people who will be here 50 years from now.”
She also discussed business opportunities that could be available when counties work together to bring business to northeast Florida.
Rhodes discussed First Coast Vision, which came from the Reality Check program and which is a seven-county regional vision plan that addresses land use, economic development, transportation and human resources. He also discussed the Strategic Regional Policy Plan that has been developed by the Regional Transportation Council.
“There are many reasons why I think we need a more regional approach to transportation,” said Rhodes. “Our region faces some fairly significant regional challenges. For many of our residents, the daily commute is regional.”
He said 52 percent of workers in Baker County cross county lines to go to work.
“In Clay, that statistic is 52.5 and in St. Johns County it is 39.3 percent,” said Rhodes. “We have a number of regional commuters and expect these numbers to increase.”
As chair of the Governance and Funding Committee of the RTSC, Rhodes stated that the committee hopes to have recommendations soon. Public input will be sought during the summer and the committee will reconvene in the fall and develop a final report.
Chambers discussed the rebranding of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce economic development arm, formerly known as Cornerstone.
“The name change was made due to the increased importance of regionalism and their goal is to market the region to successful companies as enticement for them to relocate their operations to this area,” said Chambers.
Her job is to sell the region every day. She meets monthly with local chambers in the region to discuss potential deals and they work together with clients to get a commitment to the region, then they pinpoint the ideal location in the region that will meet the company’s needs. One of the overriding issues is that Jacksonville has 90 percent of the existing real estate in the region.
Chambers also discussed Innovate Northeast Florida, which was created to conduct a separate study using a $250,000 grant to look at target industries. She stated that the region has wonderful assets and she enjoys the opportunity to bring in site consultants.
“It’s the true joy of my job because our area shows so well,” said Chambers.
Totman said that regionalism would bring the different counties together rather than relying on each to create their own rules and regulations regarding commercial business and transportation.
During the discussion, a member of the audience asked about the importance of Jacksonville’s downtown revitalization to the region. Brown’s response was that regional partners really do care about Jacksonville’s downtown, because it is a first impression when you enter northeast Florida.
“It must be revitalized and it cannot be a blighted area,” said Brown.
EverBank’s relocation to downtown, together with the new Duval County Courthouse opening, are both huge for downtown revitalization, she said, adding that there are more bars and restaurants along Bay Street now.
“It will be that gem once again in our future,” Brown said.