•The U.S. Small Business Administration announced that Jacksonville is one of five new cities being added to the Emerging 200 initiative; a federal program designed to assist small businesses within inner cities.  Twenty small businesses in each city will be invited to participate in the program where owners of the selected businesses will be taught strategies to grow and improve their business. The other cities being added to the program are Detroit, Dallas, Denver and Portland.  Details are not finalized, but SBA officials hope to have the businesses selected in the spring. For more information, visit www.sba.gov/e200 or contact Janice Donaldson with the Small Business Development Center at University of North Florida at (904) 620-2479. 

•JEDC Chairman Bob Rhodes resigned as commission chair effective January 1 to take a teaching sabbatical as a Practitioner in Residence at the Georgia State College of Law in Atlanta, GA.  Rhodes served on the JEDC for nine years and was instrumental in the formulation of the Downtown Action Plan.  During his tenure, the JEDC approved 22 projects resulting in more than 2,000 higher-wage jobs and more than $535 million in private capital investment.  Mayor Peyton named Commissioner Zimmerman Boulos as chairman until a successor can be appointed. 

•Beaver Street Enterprise Center welcomes two tenants to its incubator:  B3 Solutions LLC, a logistics and acquisitions company and ISS Facilities, Inc., an international company that provides a wide range of service solutions.  For more information on the Enterprise Center, visit www.bsecenter.net.

•Mayor Peyton announced the city’s plans to continue moving forward with $100 million in new roadway construction projects, despite the national economic downturn. The investment is in addition to the $250 million in Better Jacksonville Plan roadway projects that are currently under construction. Click here to read more.

•According to the magazine, Education Week, Florida’s public schools are improving.  The state’s education ranking moved up to 10th from 14th.  Last year, the state moved up to 14th from 31st.

•The JEDC Sports & Entertainment Office concluded a busy quarter with several events including the Florida vs. Georgia Football Classic, the 2008 Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and the UF vs. UCF basketball game.  Look for more events in the upcoming months like the Florida vs. Florida State baseball game on March 31 at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.  Click here to purchase your tickets.

•The JEDC welcomes new commissioner Helen Rowan.  Rowan currently serves as vice president of strategic planning for Rayonier, Inc., where she is responsible for leading the strategic planning efforts of the nation’s second-largest publicly traded timber real estate investment trust.  Subject to City Council approval, Robert Helms and Jack Meeks have also been appointed as commissioners. Helms most recently retired as CEO of Wachovia Bank of Florida where he was responsible for the overall leadership of the Jacksonville bank. Meeks currently serves as president of Meeks, Ross, Selander & Associates where he is responsible for executive management of the firm.

•Florida ranked 4th overall in the nation’s top states for entrepreneurship in the 2008 Small Business Survival Index, a continued improvement from 6th in 2006 and 5th in 2007.

•Mark your calendars for the JAXPORT 2009 Logistics and Intermodal Conference on March 17 at Amelia Island Plantation.  The conference will offer networking and panel discussions with major shippers, ocean carriers and executives in the fields of transportation and logistics. John Stokes, partner with Highstar Capital, will deliver the keynote address.  For more information and to register, visit www.jaxportconference.com. 

•The JEDC Office of Film & Television hosted the 4th quarterly meeting for Film Florida, Inc. and Florida Film & Entertainment Advisory Council at the One Ocean Resort. More than 40 film & television industry leaders attended. Discussion topics included:  state legislation, public relations and marketing, state economic assessment and scholarships.  The film office has been busy assisting a Japanese documentary, a short film and several commercials.

•The National Multiple Sclerosis Society—North Florida Chapter’s newest fundraising event, MS Mud Run Jacksonville, will be held at Cecil Commerce Center on February 28 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.  The Mud Run, the first of its type in northeast Florida, is a 10K obstacle course race with most of the obstacles being surrounded by mud.  Registration fees are $40 and each participant must agree to raise a minimum of $100 for NMSS-NFL.  Click here to register www.mudrunjax.com.  For information about volunteering, sponsorships or the event in general, visit www.nationalmssociety.org/FLN or call (904) 332-6810.

•The 13th Annual First Coast Real Estate Economic Outlook Conference and Expo will be on March 17 at the Prime Osborn Convention Center from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  An economic update will be presented by Dr. Sean Snaith, Director of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida.  Seating is limited. Click here to register for the event. 

•The State Legislature passed “economic gardening” bills that will help stimulate Florida’s economy.  Economic gardening is a strategy designed to grow jobs from within a region or state.  The bill passed as part of Governor Crist’s economic stimulus plan and focuses on helping small businesses with financing working capital purchases, training existing employees and hiring new employees.  To view the bill, click here.

•Jacksonville’s partnership with Leeds, England continues to expand.  The University of North Florida (UNF) and Leeds Metropolitan University signed an agreement committing to student and faculty exchange and supporting internationalization.  In addition, Jacksonville will host rugby matches like the Leeds Rhinos and other British competitors.  On January 17, the Rhinos returned for their second year to face the Salford City Reds at UNF. 

•Certified Business Analysts of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the University of North Florida (UNF) are available for business counseling at the following locations:  UNF’s University Center: Monday - Friday; Beaver Street Enterprise Center: Wednesdays; First Coast African American Chamber of Commerce: first Monday of each month; Springfield Preservation and Revitalization Council (SPAR): second Tuesday of each month; Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce: last Thursday of each month.  Call (904) 620-2476 to make an appointment or visit www.sbdc.unf.edu.

•Alenia North America signed an agreement with the JEDC to lease 10,705 square feet in Building 900 at Cecil Commerce Center to accommodate their staff during the construction of the new final assembly facility for the C-27J Spartan cargo plane.  The term of the market rate lease is 18 months at a rate of $10,499 per month.

•Reality Check First Coast is helping to shape the region’s future through a visioning process that asks regional leaders to envision the First Coast in the next 50 years.  The process focuses on two questions: How should we grow? Where should we grow?  Nearly 300 leaders from the public, private and non-profit sectors will work together to answer those questions and discuss alternative growth scenarios for our region. Click here for more information.

•Jacksonville was cited as a top “emerging port city” in the latest issue of National Association of Industrial and Office Property's (NAIOP) Development magazine.

•A recent assessment on the 2007 economic impact of the Florida Film and Entertainment Industry by the Hass Center for Business Research & Economic Development stated that in  production and post production service companies’ revenues were $140.7 million in northeast Florida and that there were 2,237 industry employees and 811 industry establishments in Duval County.

•Mayor Peyton attended the grand opening celebration of the new Red Lobster restaurant in River City Market Place.  The development cost of the 200-seat restaurant was $3.5 million and approximately 75 new full-time jobs were created. 

•The ACG Florida 2008 Capital Connection and Conference, held for the first time in northeast Florida, for private equity firms and lenders, focused on logistics in Florida and kicked off with tours of JAXPORT and Cecil Commerce Center.  The event allowed for deal sourcing and networking among capital providers, intermediaries, corporate executives and owners of privately-held companies.  More than 600 people, representing approximately $300 billion in capital, were in attendance. The event was sponsored in part by the JEDC, Cornerstone, JAXPORT and JAA. 

•According to a Tax Foundation survey, Florida is ranked among the top 5 states for best tax climates for business.  Florida has remained among the top 5 U.S. states, since the survey’s inception, due to no state income tax, low corporate taxes, a low unemployment insurance tax rate and sales tax exemptions for certain business transactions.

•Jacksonville-based Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (FIS) was ranked the number-one banking technology provider in the world according to the annual FinTech 100 listing for the third year in a row. The FinTech 100, a yearly compilation of top technology vendors, also named FIS the world’s number-two overall technology provider to the financial industry.

A private sector developer is needed that has the ability to execute a long-term development strategy at Cecil by utilizing private development talent, capital resources and expertise with large-scale industrial land development. The city and its partners have performed extensive site due diligence, permitting and more than $180 million in core infrastructure investments to better position Cecil for development opportunities.

“While we have already seen some recent activity at Cecil Commerce Center, working with a private sector developer will allow the city to become a world-class commerce center. This tremendous asset will help complement the multi-modal infrastructure already in place in our community and the growing economic development opportunities that are occurring with JAXPORT,” said Mayor John Peyton. “Our goal is to attract a partner in the development community that can bring high-end users to Cecil particularly in the manufacturing, supply chain logistics and other industrial areas to generate stable, high-wage job opportunities for our residents.”

Cecil Commerce Center has the potential to be the ultimate landside complement to JAXPORT and home to companies dependent on supply chain logistics. Recent activity at Cecil includes: designation of 1,300 acres as a mega-site that certifies its ability to support a major automotive manufacturing facility or activity, expansion of aviation-related industry along the flight line, development of a new FCCJ Westside campus, construction of a one-million square foot Bridgestone Firestone North America distribution center and Alenia North America’s declaration of its intent to build C-27J Spartan cargo planes at Cecil.

In November 2008, the Navy announced its “preferred alternative” was to relocate a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Mayport, citing the strategic importance of having more than one aircraft carrier homeport on the East Coast. The Navy determined that homeporting a carrier at Mayport reduces risks in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack, including risks to aircraft carriers, support facilities and the people that operate and maintain them.

The economic impact on the city will be immeasurable. The carrier will bring approximately 3,200 new jobs to Jacksonville and infrastructure improvements and necessary upgrades will be made to enable Mayport to accommodate a nuclear carrier - an estimated $426 million in construction costs.

Modifications include dredging, infrastructure and wharf improvements which will also make the base more attractive to other ships in the future.

Jacksonville’s Enterprise and Empowerment Zones are geographically designated areas targeted for economic revitalization.  Both offer programs that encourage development by using tax incentives that promote economic growth and job creation.  In 1995, approximately 20 square miles of property in Jacksonville was designated as one of Florida’s Enterprise Zones.  These “by-right” economic incentives are offered to businesses that locate or expand within the Enterprise Zone boundaries in the form of credits and rebates. The program uses exclusively state funds to benefit both Jacksonville businesses and the state’s interest in redeveloping urban areas. Some of the program’s incentives include sales tax refunds for business machinery and equipment, sales tax refunds for building materials, and a credit against sales taxes owed for jobs created and filled by Enterprise Zone residents.  Jacksonville’s Empowerment Zone offers similar tax benefits at the federal level.  

The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission (JEDC) works as the liaison and program administrator between local businesses and the state to facilitate the program’s incentives.  Just last year, the JEDC processed 215 applications from companies located within the Zone.  Those companies, which received tax credits totaling close to $1.5 million, invested nearly $63 million and created 2,084 jobs.