Three days after the surprisingly closely held news was announced that Florida Rep. Daniel Davis will become president and CEO of the JAX Chamber on July 1, Davis outlined several actions he intends to take, and one he won't.
Davis, a Republican, said he will not run for mayor in 2015, ending the rumor that he might oppose Mayor Alvin Brown, a Democrat seeking a second term.
"I will not run for mayor," Davis said, referring to 2015.
"There have been several people who have asked if I would do this to set up a platform to run for mayor," he said.
"Clearly this is a very, very important job and there is no way I would attempt to do this job looking at another job and I clearly will give 100 percent to grow jobs in Northeast Florida for the chamber," he said.
Davis said he met with Brown for about an hour Friday morning before the noon news conference.
"We are very clear on the same goal and this is to create jobs in Northeast Florida. The chamber plays a role with that as does the City," Davis said.
Brown's communications director, David DeCamp, issued a statement Monday morning that "Mayor Brown looks forward to working with Representative Davis, and is happy he shares the mayor's priorities and goals for economic development in Jacksonville."
DeCamp referred questions about the mayor's race "to the political organization outside of the city administration as it is inappropriate for city staff to be involved in political actions as public employees."
Davis won't rule out a future run. He said he wasn't running for mayor in 2015, but when asked if that meant "ever," he responded:
"No one can say that, but I'm definitely not running this time. I am going to focus on the chamber," he said.
Among the actions he does intend to take:
• He wants to create a Real Estate Council to add to the nine chamber councils that exist to cover geographic areas and specialized interests. Davis is executive director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association and said at the news conference he wants the two organizations to work together.
• He wants a proactive chamber communications campaign to reach businesses of all size to increase membership and show the value of being a member, and also to improve the community's knowledge about the chamber's work. He envisions a campaign "directed toward the business community on how we can help them," he said. "The communication has got a lot of opportunity to be improved."
• He will bring his experience as a fundraiser to the chamber to generate money for economic development and capital needs, including completing the funding for the chamber's $3.5 million renovated Downtown headquarters, for which there are naming rights for "everything from the building to the coffee pot." He would not divulge donor names. At the builders' association, "I am fundraising all the time and that is one thing that I feel very comfortable doing and I expect to bring that talent and expertise to the chamber," he said.
• He will capitalize on his local ties as a former City Council member and current state representative as well as being a 34-year resident of Jacksonville, moving to the Westside as a child and maintaining a residence in West Jacksonville since.
• He wants the chamber to take advantage of economic development circumstances. "From London to the port to Cecil, we have a lot of opportunities to capitalize on," he said, referring to the Jacksonville Jaguars' once-a-season game in London the next four years; Jacksonville's ports, considered a major area economic driver; and Cecil Commerce Center, the City-owned business and industrial park in West Jacksonville.
• He wants to create a Downtown initiative. "I have a lot of ideas and I need to work with the leadership in the chamber to hone all these ideas into a policy initiative," he said. "We need to capitalize on the sporting events and events like One Spark. We have to provide opportunities for people to leave the suburbs and come Downtown. And they've done it. There is proof that they do it. We have to make sure we continue in an organized fashion and the chamber can add horsepower to that," he said.
His first comment in an interview Monday morning was an expression of surprise that the news of his appointment was kept a secret almost until the day it was announced.
"I never thought in a million years you would have been able to keep it under wraps, because it was a long process," he said. "I think everybody included in the process understood how important confidentiality was."
Davis, 40, was introduced Friday as the new president and CEO of the JAX Chamber, succeeding Wally (Walter M. III) Lee, who retired after 23 years in the position. Lee remained an adviser until March, when he turned 65.
Davis isn't much younger than Lee was upon taking the job. Lee was 41.
Davis was one of about 150 applicants considered for the position and said he was approached by the search firm before the legislative session began March 5.
The session at the state capital in Tallahassee concluded May 3 and Davis was announced as the JAX Chamber CEO two weeks later.
It was a new experience in that he had never applied for a job before and had to put a resume together. He was invited in 1999 to take the builders' association job, first as government affairs director and then moving up to associate director and becoming executive director in 2006.
Davis said he and chamber leaders would meet to decide his future with the Legislature – whether he should step aside or keep the position, which he has held since 2010.
He expects a decision "in short order," but didn't have a timeframe.
"The leadership of the chamber and I will get together and we will talk about what's best for the community," Davis said.
Davis said at the news conference Friday his priorities
included expanding and serving the chamber membership, now about 3,000; recruiting jobs
and the retention and growth of existing jobs; and public policy, including support of the proposed City human rights ordinance, which failed in a City Council vote after heated debate.
Davis said Friday there was "no place in our community for any type of discrimination" and repeated that Monday.
Chamber leadership strongly supported the anti-discrimination legislation, which would have added language to the City ordinance code banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.
At the builders' group, he has been leading Jacksonville's second-largest membership organization, with about 1,100 members expected as of May.
Davis is helping with its leadership succession.
"This is a very good job, too, and I think there would be a lot of good candidates interested in doing something for the construction industry," he said.
Politics and family
A Westside resident, Davis represents House District 15 and chairs the House Transportation and Highway Safety Subcommittee.
He was elected to the House in 2010 and re-elected in 2012 after representing City Council District 12 from 2003-10, serving as Council president in 2007-08.
Davis said he first ran for Council at the age of 25 but lost to Doyle Carter, who currently is serving another tour in the District 12 Westside seat.
He said he and Carter came to know each other well through that campaign. "Usually opposing candidates don't become really good friends, and to this day we are dear friends," Davis said.
Davis was born Jan. 15, 1973, in South Bend, Ind., and moved to Florida in 1979 when his father moved here in the ministry with Trinity Baptist Church and College.
Davis is the youngest of five children, a girl and four boys, and is six years younger than his next oldest brother. The siblings remain in Jacksonville and Davis said the family is "very, very close."
His dad, Charles Davis, is a bailiff at the Duval County Courthouse. His mom and dad attended the Friday news conference.
Daniel Davis, a member of Trinity Baptist and graduate of Trinity Christian Academy, earned his bachelor's degree in liberal arts from Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wis., where he played Division III football and where he met his wife, Rebekah.
A right-fielder, he played baseball at St. Johns River Community College until an injury interrupted that path. He didn't want to give up sports, so he traveled north to Maranatha.
He returned to Jacksonville and worked with Chief Judge Donald Moran, setting up the juvenile drug court program.
"It was an opportunity to meet all of the players in Jacksonville through that process," Davis said.
After losing the 1999 Council race, he was recruited to the builders' association by builder Ronnie Fussell and group executive Arnold Tritt.
Davis then ran for Council again and won.
His biographical information on the myfloridahouse.gov website lists his family – wife, Rebekah Pendleton Davis, originally from Boulder, Colo., and their four children — two girls, two boys, from age 13 to 6.
The couple celebrates their 16th anniversary in June.
He lists his recreational interests as fishing, golf, hunting and time with family. He also works out at the gym.
As for longtime talk about his family relationship to Fussell, now the Clerk of Courts, Fussell's wife is a first cousin to Davis.
He and Fussell, who attended the Friday news conference, served together on Council, even serving successive terms as Council president. Fussell was president in 2008-09.
Chamber priorities
The appointment of Davis also frees interim CEO Jerry Mallot to resume full-time leadership as the JAXUSA Partnership president.
Mallot took the interim title of JAX Chamber CEO on Jan. 1, when Lee stepped aside to become an adviser.
"We all know Jerry Mallot is an expert in the economic development world and I look to be the perfect complement to Jerry Mallot," Davis said.
"With the experience I have in Tallahassee and locally, I can be helpful in that process. To be realistic, if we going to land major deals, it is going to be a partnership with Tallahassee and I look forward to assisting that process," he said.
The chamber, one of the largest in membership in the nation, operates with a $7 million annual budget and has about 50 employees. Davis intends to meet with staff.
The chamber and Davis declined to provide his salary. The Florida Times-Union reported in 2011 that Lee's total compensation was $405,339 in 2009, according to IRS filings.
The chamber began in 1884, which means next year will be its 130th anniversary.
JAXUSA Partnership, formerly known as Cornerstone, is the economic development division of the JAX Chamber, which previously was known as the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The JAXUSA Partnership comprises the seven counties of Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns as well as almost 200 private-sector investors along with the Jacksonville Office of Economic Development, JEA, Jacksonville Port Authority, Jacksonville Aviation Authority, Jacksonville Transportation Authority and the WorkSource state job agency.
Mallot's strong reputation as an economic developer was underscored when he took the microphone Saturday at the release of the JAX2025 vision, staffed by Jacksonville Community Council Inc.
Mayor Alvin Brown began chanting "Jer-ry… Jer-ry..."
The JAX Chamber news release Friday about Davis called it the "rebirth" of the 129-year organization.
The news conference took place in front of the chamber's Downtown headquarters under renovation at 3 Independent Drive. The banner behind the announcement declared "It's a New Day!"
The building was developed in 1981. It is being referred to as "Downtown's New Front Door," given its location at the Northbank base of the Main Street Bridge.
In the meantime, the chamber staff has been operating in the BBVA Compass Bank building at 10060 Skinner Lake Drive, Suite 200, in Southside near the St. Johns Town Center.
The chamber had settled on its focus for the year before hiring Davis.
As reported in February, the JAX Chamber board identified five priorities for 2013.
"The chamber board identified key priorities that will help us drive business growth to the region," said 2013 JAX Chamber Chair Greg Smith in a news release. Smith is the Northeast Florida Market president for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
The five priorities are:
• Revitalize Downtown.
• Encourage education and workforce development.
• Transportation and infrastructure.
• Build strategic partnerships.
• Instill community pride.
The chamber said it also will continue to provide leadership in public policy to create a business-friendly political environment; work with businesses to create and grow the number of jobs in Northeast Florida; and to continually innovate to increase the interaction among chamber members.
"There is so much potential with the chamber to grow" Davis said.
"You are always going to have the larger Fortune 500 companies that are going to be major players in the chamber and we need to be proactive about reaching out to the small businesses, too, and making sure they feel value and that they add value to the chamber," he said.
He intends to continue what he considers the strong relationship he has cultivated with leadership of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
As CEO, Davis takes on responsibility for a list of targeted industries for recruitment, expansion and retention.
As Mallot re-stated Saturday at the JAX2025 event, the chamber and City's targeted industries are:
• Aviation and aerospace.
• Supply chain logistics.
• Finance and insurance.
• Headquarters.
• Information technology.
• Life sciences.
• Advanced manufacturing.
"We need to hit it on all cylinders now," Davis said Monday. "We've got a bright future."
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