The Spice & Tea Exchange of St. Augustine began in 2007, sparked by a visit that Amy Freeman, now CEO of the company, made to a small spice shop in St. Augustine during a 40th birthday trip. Fast forward to 2025, and she and president Penny Rehling now have 96 locations around the U.S. with several more opening in the coming months. “What started as a spark quickly grew into a flavorful journey,” Freeman says.
Free time...
Freeman: “I recently became an avid birdwatcher and plant lover. I love to sit in my green room and watch the bird feeders I’ve set up in my back yard.”
Rehling: “Sit outside and watch the sunrise. It’s a morning ritual for me.”
Favorite spice or tea they sell...
Freeman: “I always have a pitcher of our Mango Tango Herbal Tea in my fridge.”
Rehling: “I love our English Roast Rub.”
Business motto for both...
“Creating and sharing the experience of a more flavorful life.” (It’s also their company mission statement.)
JOBS
- The food and beverage company Danone U.S. of White Plains, N.Y., and Louisville, Colo., has opened a $65-million production line in Jacksonville. Danone has been in the area since 1948, and the investment expands the capacity of the company’s 115,025-sq.-ft. facility. Danone also has plans for a new regional distribution center in the Jacksonville area. The additions add 200 direct and indirect jobs.
- An Entrepreneurship Workforce Development Center has opened in the Brentwood neighborhood of Jacksonville, with three similar centers planned throughout the city. The site will offer job placement help, business development workshops and financial literacy education.
PROMOTIONS
- Travis Williams was promoted to president and CEO of the nonprofit group LIFT JAX, which focuses on revitalizating Jacksonville’s Historic Eastside.
HEALTH CARE
- UF Health now has an OB/GYN Mobile Outreach Bus that will serve those facing barriers to OB/GYN care in Alachua and surrounding counties. Staff on the 40-foot-long bus will provide prenatal and postpartum care, breastfeeding and family support, and annual and preventive exams. The bus includes two exam rooms, a waiting area, lab space and a wheelchair lift.
TRANSPORTATION
- A car fire in May in the hourly parking garage at Jacksonville International Airport led to heavy damage that spread to 50 nearby cars and collapsed part of the garage.
BANKING
- Luciano “Lou” Noir-Jones was named Jacksonville market president for Ameris Bank of Atlanta. He will focus on commercial banking to help grow the Jacksonville market. Noir-Jones was previously the bank’s North Florida market executive.
- Scott Daigle is now North Florida region president for Fifth Third Bank. He was previously the North Florida commercial market president for TD Bank.
LAYOFFS
- C&S Wholesale Services has closed its Baldwin distribution center, terminating almost 500 employees. C&S Wholesale has the same leadership as C&S Wholesale Grocers, the company that purchased 170 Winn-Dixie stores from Aldi earlier this year.
- Revlon is closing its manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, leading to the layoff of 127 employees. It has been in Jacksonville since the 1960s.
ACQUISITION
- Infra Pipe Solutions of Mississauga, Ontario, has acquired a 169,000-sq.-ft. Jacksonville-based production facility from Flying W Plastics. This will be Infra Pipe’s sixth manufacturing facility and its only solid-wall high-density polyethylene facility in Florida. The acquisition will help the company serve increasing market demand in the Southeast U.S.
ZOOS
- Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is now Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens, in a nod to its commitment to both animals and plants. The zoo also debuted a new logo to reflect its new name.
PARKS
- Fort Mose Historic State Park in St. Augustine now has a new life-sized fort structure. It cost $3.2 million to build with public and private funds. The original fort was built by the Spanish in the 1700s as the first legally sanctioned community for freed African slaves in what would become the U.S.
- A proposal to swap 600 acres from the Guana River Wildlife Management Area in St. John’s County for 3,000 acres of non-contiguous land located in four Florida counties has been blocked. Rumors about a golf course and resort to be constructed on the land, followed by public outcry, led the group The Upland to withdraw its proposal.
PUBLIC SAFETY
- The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has partnered with ElderSource to launch a public safety initiative called The Pepper Project, aimed to assist in finding missing persons with special needs based on their scent. The project includes the use of scent kits for people living with dementia or intellectual and developmental disabilities. With use of the kits, trained K-9s are better able to find individuals who have wandered.
Jets in Jacksonville
Otto Aviation, based in Fort Worth, Texas, may add a manufacturing and production facility at Cecil Airport in Jacksonville. The company is working on a business jet that can travel farther while also using fuel more efficiently than its competitors. If Jacksonville is selected, Otto would invest more than $430 million and bring its corporate headquarters to Jacksonville. Otto would use a hangar once occupied by Boeing and would construct a plant to make its Phantom 3500 aircraft.
The Jacksonville Aviation Authority approved $34.9 million in incentives for the project, and the City of Jacksonville has approved a $20-million grant to support it.
More Mayo
Mayo Clinic Florida in Jacksonville has added a five-floor, $130.7-million patient tower that includes 166 patient beds within its medical/surgical nursing units and a top-floor indoor and outdoor lounge. Technology included in the rooms allows patients to control their rooms via a phone app and staff can monitor a sleeping patient’s vital signs with fewer interruptions. With the expansion, Mayo Clinic Florida now has 419 licensed beds. Work within the tower is expected to continue through the end of next year.