Business Florida 2017 - The Regions
Unique, well-connected
Northeast
DataFox ranked Jacksonville No. 2 on its 2016 list of “Best Cities for Tech (outside California and New York),” citing its median age (35) and affordability.
Four Fortune 1000 and three Fortune 500 company headquarters are located in Florida’s Northeast.
Straddling the St. Johns River on its way to the Atlantic Ocean, Jacksonville is the nation’s largest city by area and boasts a government structure in which city and county work as one to ensure smooth transitions for companies looking to relocate or expand.
INDUSTRY SECTORS
Logistics / Transportation
JACKSONVILLE Online mega-retailer Amazon has announced plans to establish an 800,000-sq.-ft. fulfillment center along I-295 on Jacksonville’s Northside. Slated to open by fall 2017, the project is expected to create 1,500 full-time jobs.
JACKSONVILLE Porsche Cars North America is the latest manufacturer to select JaxPort as its primary port of entry in the southeastern United States, joining such manufacturers as Audi, Bentley, Volkswagen and Toyota, that ship their vehicles into the U.S. through Jacksonville.
JACKSONVILLE BMW of North America will spend $30 million to build a new regional parts distribution center more than twice the size of its current 210,000-sq.-ft. facility; 25 new jobs are expected. The Jacksonville center ships parts to 94 BMW and Mini dealerships in six southeastern states and Puerto Rico.
JACKSONVILLE Crowley Maritime Corp. has garnered a $130-million contract to provide fleet management, staffing, repair and dry-dock maintenance for five U.S. government-owned Military Sealift Command Roll-On/Roll-Off and container ships. Two of the vessels will remain berthed in Jacksonville.
GREEN COVE SPRINGS Calavo Growers has selected Clay County as the site for its new distribution center. The international avocado processing firm will operate out of a leased 208,000-sq.-ft. building and create 262 jobs.
DUVAL COUNTY At Jacksonville International Airport, eight carriers offer nonstop flights to 28 U.S. cities, plus Nassau and Marsh Island in the Bahamas and Toronto.
ST. JOHNS COUNTY Frontier Airlines continues to grow its service at St. Augustine’s Northeast Florida Regional Airport with the addition of nonstop routes to Philadelphia International and Chicago O’Hare airports.
Key Players
Crowley Marine Corp. | Jacksonville
Landstar System | Jacksonville
Volkswagen Group of America | Jacksonville
2015 was good to the Port of Jacksonville: Some 184,000 cruise ship passengers and 8.2 million tons of cargo, including 656,599 automobiles, passed through.
