Northeast Business Briefs - Aug. 2007

CLAY COUNTY —
» Vystar Credit Union is moving its Jacksonville call center and its 300 employees to the vacant AmeriCredit Corp. building on Fleming Island. Vystar has more than 380,000 customers in 15 counties, including more than 60,000 in Clay County.

FERNANDINA BEACH —
» Residents are finishing design plans for a new city park along the Amelia River downtown. The city, along with the state’s Waterfront Florida Partnership Committee, asked citizens for input. The park will be anchored by a public performance area and boat ramp. Also planned: A welcome center and commercial space.

JACKSONVILLE —
» Boeing plans to assemble the military’s next-generation cargo plane, the Joint Cargo Aircraft, at Cecil Field. The $2-billion Defense Department contract, awarded to a consortium that includes Boeing, calls for at least 78 planes over five years.

» Jacksonville-based Omni Community Credit Union merged with the largest credit union in south Florida, Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union. The combined credit union, which will take on Eastern’s name, will have 226,000 customers and 32 branches. Terms were not disclosed.

» St. Vincent’s HealthCare plans to lay off up to 70 in an effort to shore up a projected 20% decline in operating income this year. St. Vincent’s operates a 528-bed hospital on its St. Johns River campus as well as clinics. Last year, it acquired St. Luke’s, Jacksonville’s oldest hospital, from Mayo Clinic.

» PSS World Medical (Nasdaq-PSSI), a medical supplies provider, bought 5% of Massachusetts-based Athenahealth for $22.5 million. Athenahealth provides web-based medical records technology.

PALATKA —
» The St. Johns River Water Management District launched a million-dollar campaign to heighten awareness in Putnam, Clay, St. Johns and Duval counties about the high levels of nutrients that wastewater treatment plants, agriculture, industry and urban development dump into the St. Johns River. The district and Palatka are funding a $4.4-million project to eliminate the city’s wastewater discharges into the river. Over the next decade, the district will spend $150 million to help finance 23 other projects to reduce discharges into the lower basin.

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