Room for the Boom

Regional Trends

Innovator (Duval County) Joseph Wise ? Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Joseph Wise took the district's top job in the fall of 2005 with the goal of narrowing the achievement gap between black and white students and creating a "college-going culture." Accomplishments his first year included more than doubling the number of students taking AP courses in the district's 19 high schools and launching an aggressive reading-intervention program. He also has not been shy about criticizing the state's oversight of local districts. In December, the Florida Times-Union published e-mails in which Wise suggested that politics and racism were at play in a state-mandated plan to improve achievement at Ribault High School.Photo: Kelly LaDuke

PORT BOOM: Jacksonville is girding for an explosion of imports when Jaxport's direct shipping lines to Asia open next year.

ROAD CONCERNS: Will already-congested transportation infrastructure be able to handle all the new activity? "It isn't there yet," says David A. Smith, CEO of Jacksonville-based PSS World Medical, a $1.8-billion company that plans to bring some 4,000 40-foot containers into Jacksonville annually within the next two years. ... As business increases, so too will the influx of residents into surrounding counties such as St. Johns and Clay, both with 4% annual population growth, straining the region's highways. All six northeast counties cite transportation infrastructure as a major concern. ... In rural counties such as Baker, concurrency requirements mean developers will have to foot the bill for new roads. ... In built-out areas such as A1A along the region's Atlantic coast, officials are begging for state dollars to help ease the gridlock that hurts local business. "A1A is the artery through which the lifeblood of our business community flows," says Melanie Ferreira, executive director of the Nassau County Economic Development Board. "It's something that we as a region really need to address."

? Race gap
The Jacksonville Community Council has earned nationwide praise for its annual monitoring of the community's most serious challenges, including race relations. Its 2006 Race Relations Progress Report shows progress in some areas but slippage in others. For example, the gap between white and black unemployment rates is widening. In 2005, the unemployment rate for both whites and Hispanics was 4.7% but 11.4% for blacks.

The U.S. Census Bureau only began estimating median household income by race in 2005. In Jacksonville, white median income was $61,168; among blacks it was $37,103.

Jacksonville

ASIAN CONNECTION: The $200-million project by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) that will open direct shipping lines between Jacksonville and Asia is bringing boatloads of economic development to the city: Michaels Stores announced it will relocate its Southeast seasonal distribution center from Savannah, Ga., to Jacksonville as a result of MOL's facility; Bridgestone Firestone cited MOL in its decision to build a $44-million, 1 million-sq.-ft. distribution center on 63 acres at Cecil Commerce Center. The company will import tires from both Asia and Latin America to Jacksonville for retail distribution throughout the Southeast. The center is expected to employ 250 in three years.

Innovator (Jacksonville) Pamela S. Chally ? Pamela S. Chally, dean of the Brooks College of Health at the University of North Florida since 1998, has won broad praise for helping to solve the community's nursing shortage by bringing private-sector competitors together to work on the problem. Every major health organization employing nurses in the region is now part of the First Coast Nurse Leaders Consortium that Chally co-chairs. Just one example of a collaboration that paid off: Six years ago, area hospitals pooled donations, allowing UNF to hire five new nursing faculty. Photo: Kelly LaDuke

HOMEGROWN: Local companies, too, are expanding to take advantage: Caribbean Shipping Services, a logistics firm that ships goods around the Caribbean and Puerto Rico, called off its merger with a competitor, saying the Mitsui line allows it to expand on its own. The company plans a 100,000-sq.-ft. facility near the Mitsui terminal to handle new cargo; PSS World Medical already imports 5% of its supplies from Asia and now expects its Asia business to grow 25% a year. With the Jacksonville shipping line available, PSS plans to bring products destined for the Southeast through Jacksonville, where it is building a 168,500-sq.-ft. redistribution center.

Innovators

? School psychologist Laura L. Bailet, executive director of the Bright Start! Dyslexia Initiative at Nemours Children's Clinic, wants to build the program to screen every pre-K student in Duval County for dyslexia. Bailet, who has worked with dyslexic children and adults for 25 years, is convinced that helping families identify and overcome dyslexia can "help level the academic playing field for young, vulnerable learners."

? Antonio C. Barretto is vice president of finance at Votorantim Cimentos North America, a division of S?o Paulo-based Votorantim Group, one of Brazil's largest corporations. Barretto helped grow Votorantim's North American market, which included acquiring a 50% stake in Suwannee American Cement and control of S&W Materials, a Jacksonville concrete company. He's brought an international mix to Florida's cement operations, along the way helping to boost revenue at Votorantim's North American operation from $70 million to $200 million.

? Jacksonville banker Cleve E. Warren, president of Essential Capital, is new chairman of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, which is designing and building 32 major road projects in partnership with The Better Jacksonville Plan. But he may be most innovative for his philanthropic work. Warren grew up in Jacksonville, earned his degrees at UNF and Jacksonville University and now chairs the Eartha M.M. White Legacy Fund, pushing its mission to advance philanthropy in the African-American community.

St. Augustine / St. Johns County

ACHIEVEMENTS: In 2003, the St. Augustine City Commission brought together hundreds of residents and business owners to tackle a crushing problem: The traffic gridlock that made visiting the city's historic districts more frustrating than fun. Just four years later, their Parking and Traffic Master Plan is easing navigation throughout the city's brick streets and Spanish landmarks. The plan's centerpieces, the 1,170-space Historic Downtown Parking Facility and the remodeled St. Augustine & St. Johns County Visitor Information Center, were completed this past year at a cost of $20 million.

? "We're trying to get ahead of the curve and identify sites (for future industrial development)." -- Melanie Ferreira, Nassau County Economic Development Board

Innovator

? Wayne Robison is president of the Rulon Co., which moved its headquarters in 2004 from Brunswick, Ga., to St. Johns County's World Commerce Center. The company manufactures acoustical wood and wall systems for everything from churches to convention centers. Robison says it will soon be the largest acoustical wood ceiling manufacturer in the nation.

Nassau County

OUT OF SITE: With its 300-acre Yulee International Tradeplex built out, Nassau County leaders are scrambling to find suitable sites for future industrial development. Just north of Duval County, Nassau has drawn significant interest from companies that want access to Mitsui's facility in Jacksonville. "We're trying to get ahead of the curve and identify sites," says Melanie Ferreira, executive director of the Nassau County Economic Development Board. The board is working with partners including TerraPointe, a subsidiary of Rayonier, which is one of the largest landowners in the county, to identify potential sites, most likely west of Interstate 95.

Clay County / Orange Park

CHALLENGE: Clay County has the highest out-migration of its labor force in the region, with 60% of job holders working outside the county.

STRATEGY: Clay's strategic plan aims to create 1,700 high-skilled, high-wage jobs by 2011 to try to keep workers closer to home. One facet: A new international trade program being funded with a $75,000 grant from Enterprise Florida. Priorities include developing international capacity, increasing export sales from existing businesses and attracting foreign direct investment. International trade development "directly contributes to the sales and profits of existing companies, which ultimately results in higher-paying jobs for the local economy," says Ted
McGowan, chairman of the county's chamber of commerce board of directors.

Innovator

? Kurt H. Peterson is president and CEO of Green Cove Springs-based Atlas Hovercraft, a manufacturer of commercial hovercraft. A former port engineer in the Great Lakes region, Peterson hopes to sell one of his $10-million, 150-passenger boats to the Jacksonville Transportation Authority for use on the St. Johns River.

Putnam County

RIVERFRONT: As Florida communities, including Jacksonville, work to redevelop riverfront areas that were industrialized, polluted or overbuilt with structures that block water views, Putnam County residents consider themselves lucky that their riverfront is only now developing. Residents and community leaders are being given a rare chance to help envision what form of development their part of the 300-mile St. Johns River will take. The Trust for Public Land is creating a St. Johns River "Greenprint," a detailed conservation plan that will establish priorities for which sites to save and which are suitable for river-based commercial uses such as marinas, restaurants and hotels. TPL is launching the project in Putnam County and will help identify and pursue funding for community conservation. "The St. Johns is the heart of Putnam County," says Putnam County Commission Chairwoman Linda Myers. "The greenprinting effort is a very important step for our community."

Baker County

URBANIZING: Two large, mixed-use Developments of Regional Impact and a dozen smaller projects proposed for sleepy Baker County on the Florida-Georgia border may triple the county's population within 15 years. As the counties immediately surrounding Jacksonville urbanize, commuters and retirees seeking rural ambiance are turning increasingly to outlying areas such as Baker, about a 25-minute drive from Jacksonville on Interstate 10. At the county center, construction is scheduled to start next year on the 3,240-acre Cedar Creek project, which will include 7,000 homes and 425,000 square feet of commercial space. One year behind it in the pipeline is 3,654-acre Navona Creek, with 8,300 homes, a 1.5-million-sq.-ft. business park and a 330,000-sq.-ft. village center.

Innovator

? New Baker County Manager Joe Cone, 59, is leading the county in an effort to redo its transportation master plan, adopt utility standards and revise zoning rules and regulations to get ahead of the major developments coming to town.

Regional Data