The University of North Florida is adding an esports arena called The Flight Deck, backed by a $3-million grant from the city of Jacksonville. The arena, which will be on the second floor of the school’s student union, will include 42 high-performance PC gaming stations, a competition stage and a broadcast studio space.
One goal of The Flight Deck will be to draw in more students to pursue STEM careers in science, computing and engineering to help prepare the area’s workforce. It also will allow the school to host competitions that bring economic development to the area.
The arena is expected to be completed by next year.
SPACE
- Star Catcher of Jacksonville and Mission Space of Miami have formed a partnership for real-time space weather monitoring and orbital power solutions. The partnership will combine space weather forecasting tech from Mission Space with the Star Catcher Network, an orbital power grid made to enhance satellite performance by getting rid of power constraints.
EXPANSIONS
- Georgia-Pacific of Atlanta will construct a 400,000-sq.- ft., $83-million warehouse in Palatka and add 20 jobs to its paper products mill there. The mill currently has about 1,000 employees and aims to improve storage and shipping capabilities with the expansion.
- OnePlanet Solar Recycling of Jacksonville will add a second solar panel recycling facility in Green Cove Springs. The $90-million facility should be ready by 2027.
FINTECH
- The investment company L Marks of London will launch JAX Hub later this year, aimed to connect financial firms with scaling startups and entrepreneurs to solve industry challenges and create opportunities. The L Marks venture will be done in collaboration with the city of Jacksonville.
DEVELOPMENT
- Duval County will get its first lagoon-based community, called Diamond Springs. Slated to open this year, it will include 2,700 homes from various builders, including Jacksonville-based Dream Finders Homes. Other community features will including solar streetlights and UltraFi internet.
FOUNDATION
- Amity Schuyler was chosen as the next president and CEO of the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations in Gainesville. She succeeds Mary Chance, who retired after leading the group for 17 years. Schuyler was most recently chief innovation officer for the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce.
HEALTH
- Gabe Bullaro was named CEO of HCA Florida North Florida Hospital in Gainesville. He was most recently CEO of HCA Florida West Hospital in Pensacola.
EDUCATION
- By this fall, Jacksonville University is eliminating some of its less-studied majors, affecting an estimated 100 of the school’s 4,200 students. The school also announced that it will lay off about 40 faculty members. Most current students within those majors will be able to earn their degrees through teach-out plans.
MOSH
- Jacksonville’s Museum of Science & History will close on Sept. 1 to focus on constructing its new location. Groundbreaking on the Northbank site is expected next year and slated to open in 2028.
PORTS
- JAXPORT recently welcomed the maiden voyage of Quetzal, a liquefied natural gas-powered containership that has the capacity for up to 1,400, 20-foot container equivalent units. It is the first of the Jacksonville-based shipping company Crowley’s Avance Class ships that can transport perishable items like food and pharmaceuticals. The Avance Class ships will serve Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic, as well as the United States.
CUMMER MUSEUM
- Andrea Barnwell Brownlee has retired from her role as CEO of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville. Kimberly Noble, who was the museum’s CFO, is now serving as interim director while a CEO search is underway. Brownlee began her role as museum CEO in December 2020.
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
“The takeaway lesson from this study is that many bites can be prevented if humans are aware of their surroundings and minimize risky behaviors such as walking small pets near bodies of water or swimming where alligators are known to be present.” — Frank Mazzotti, University of Florida professor of wildlife ecology. Mazzotti co-authored a study published in the journal Human-Wildlife Interactions that found 96% of alligator bites were preceded by risky human behavior or human inattention.
Adding Capacity
HCA Florida Lake City Hospital has added a $103-million, two-story patient tower and 65 new jobs. The 58,543-sq.-ft. tower doubles the size of the hospital’s surgical services and adds an updated waiting area and recovery room.
The expansion includes 28 intensive care and surgical recovery beds, as well as the potential for 12 future rooms.
The hospital has made $156 million in investments overall since last year, including 18 new patient rooms in its emergency department, upgrades to its MRI and CT scan and surgical robotic technology, and an expanded employee parking lot.
Santa J. Ono, the sole finalist to become president of the University of Florida, was rejected by the Florida Board of Governors in a 10-6 vote in June. He was most recently president of the University of Michigan.