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Record & Observer DISCOVERIES Record & Observer DISTILLING The founders of St. Augustine Distillery didn’t know anything about the business when they started. Now they’re producing up to 30,000 cases of spirits a year.
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World Affairs Council
United Airlines Inc. CEO Oscar Munoz speaks to the World Affairs Council of Jacksonville on Wednesday at The River Club.
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United CEO talks Boeing, West Coast flights and time at CSX
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Oscar Munoz speaks to the World Affairs Council. BY MARK BASCH CONTRIBUTING WRITER
who was seeking investors for the distillery. “I said, that’s a terrible idea. I hate the regulated industries. I like the real estate, but introduce me to the guy, I’ll talk him off the ledge on that silly distillery idea and we’ll do something with the real estate,” Diaz said. He met with McDaniel, who showed him charts documenting the growth of the wine and craft beer industries
Oscar Munoz was a longtime Jacksonville resident before becoming CEO of United Airlines Inc. in 2015, so he understands the frustrations of travelers who can’t get direct flights to the West Coast. The last Jacksonville-to-Los Angeles flights were discontinued by Delta Air Lines Inc. in 2007 and during a talk Wednesday to the World Affairs Council of Jacksonville, Munoz did not offer any optimism for local flyers. “There’s a reason they don’t have it any more,” Munoz said. “We need 180 people both ways every single day” to make it economically feasible, he said. Munoz said Jacksonville is not alone in asking for direct flights to Western cities. “There are so many Jacksonvilles around the East Coast,” he said. United is trying to serve Jacksonville residents by offering direct flights to Denver, where
SEE DISTILLERY, PAGE 10
SEE MUNOZ, PAGE 11
Photo by Katie Garwood
Philip McDaniel and Mike Diaz are the founders of St. Augustine Distillery in a former ice plant at 112 Riberia St. This month they launched City Gate Spirits on St. George Street. BY KATIE GARWOOD STAFF WRITER
B
efore Philip McDaniel and Mike Diaz started working to open the St. Augustine Distillery, neither knew a thing about craft distilling. In 2011, McDaniel, retired and working with the St. Johns County Cultural Council and Tourist Development Council, wanted to start a business that would “take St. Augustine to a new level,”
improve the community, and of course, make a living. He saw what his friend Charles Cox, CEO of San Sebastian Winery, had created and thought the same could be done with spirits. Diaz initially wasn’t convinced. He was a retired investor, looking for projects in St. Augustine. He went to his former college roommate, St. Augustine City Manager John Regan, asking about investment opportunities. Regan introduced him to McDaniel,
UNF program would boost health care education PAGE 5 The Basch Report: Landstar hit by ‘weaker conditions’ PAGE 8 Marbut Report: Ray Driver next in line to lead JAX Chamber PAGE 12
THE SAILER REPORT
Plans for 5,000-home project The Trails are withdrawn Development faced community opposition. PAGE 4 VOLUME 2, NO. 22 • ONE SECTION
WHAT’S TRENDING
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
JaxDailyRecord.com
Big news doesn’t break just on Thursday. Here’s a look at some of the top stories published over the past week online at JaxDailyRecord.com and in the Jacksonville Daily Record that you may have missed.
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Publix Super Markets Inc. plans to close its grocery store at 5210 Norwood Ave. in the Gateway Town Center.
GROCERY STORES
Publix plans to close Gateway store Publix Super Markets Inc. plans to close its Gateway Town Center store on Dec. 28. “We’ve been privileged to serve the Gateway community for two decades and are approaching the end of our lease at this location,” Publix spokesman Dwaine Stevens said Oct. 25 in a statement. He said Publix notified the associates and landlord that day. The store is
at 5210 Norwood Ave., east of Interstate 95 in Northside, north of Springfield and Downtown. City officials want to work with the supermarket chain to keep it open. District 7 City Council member Reggie Gaffney, who represents the neighborhoods served by the store, said he asked Mayor Lenny Curry’s administration to explore using city-backed incentives to keep Publix from leaving.
Anabelle Island proposed for Clay County The property is within the Lake Asbury Master Plan Area of Clay County, which requires a variety of lot sizes. Hart said the lots will range from 60 to 100 feet wide. Hart plans to sell the lots to homebuilders. Hart said the property’s existing $2 million lodge on a lake will be converted into an amenity center.
3,500 residential units sought for St. Johns Helow Properties Ltd. is preparing land it owns in Northwest St. Johns County for entitlements up to 3,500 residential units and 2.5 million square feet of nonresidential uses. It calls the property Villages at Town Center. The undeveloped 2,173 acres is what
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REAL ESTATE A Jacksonville-based land developer submitted plans for Anabelle Island, a proposed subdivision of 773 singlefamily homes in Clay County. Curtis Hart, owner of Hart Resources LLC, intends to develop the community on about 364 acres southwest of Sandridge and Russell roads between Asbury Lake and Fleming Island.
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remains of Helow family-owned property in the area. After entitlement approvals, Jacksonville-based Helow Properties anticipates development to start within five years and take place in five- to 10-year phases. Villages at Town Center would be a master-planned community.
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To find more business events or to submit your event to the the business calendar, visit jaxdailyrecord.com/calendar. NOV. 7 Chartrand at PS27 Leadership Week: Gary Chartrand, executive chairman of Acosta Sales & Marketing, will be the keynote speaker at PS27 Leadership Week. Chartrand will speak at the finale at 5-6:30 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Jacksonville Baymeadows, 9300 Baymeadows Road. The finale is free to attend. Information: Visit ps27ventures.com/ leadershipweek or email Shannon LoGiudice at Shannon@ps27ventures. com. NOV. 13 Boyer honored at ULI: Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer will be honored as the 2019 Visionary Leader by the Urban Land Institute North Florida District Council at ULI’s Awards for Excellence program Nov. 13. Awards are given to projects that
demonstrate excellence and best practices in planning, design, construction, management, construction viability and sustainabilty. The program is 5-7:30 p.m. at The Ritz Theatre and Museum at 829 N. Davis St. Registration prices start at $75. For information, visit northflorida.uli.org. JAN. 22 Meacham and Rice at Florida Forum: The Women’s Board of Wolfson Children’s Hospital 2019-20 Florida Forum series will feature author Jon Meacham and Super Bowl champion Jerry Rice. Meacham is scheduled Jan. 22 and Rice concludes the current series Feb. 25. The forum is scheduled at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts. Forum sponsors are Wells Fargo, Florida Blue and Landstar. For information, visit thefloridaforum. com or call (904) 202-2886.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
The Pavilion at Durbin Park adding retailers THE MATHIS REPORT
KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
The first phase of the St. Johns County shopping center is 90% leased. The Pavilion at Durbin Park is filling up as retailers continue signing leases to take space in the northern St. Johns County retail center. The Shopping Center Group retail real estate services company says the first phase of the shopping center, which opened a year ago, is 90% leased. Leasing advisers Kelly Pulignano and Stephanie McCullough said the latest tenants to sign are: n Thrive Infusions, an IV therapy health spa n Ulta Beauty n Sports Clips n Peterbrooke Chocolatier n A Great American Cookies/Marble Slab Creamery combination store n Club Pilates n BonChon, a restaurant chain specializing in Koreanstyle fried chicken Gate Petroleum Co. and Gatlin Development Co. are developing The Pavilion at Durbin Park west of Florida 9B and south of Race Track Road. The location is west of Interstate 95. The 650,000-square-foot first phase is anchored by Walmart, The Home Depot, Ross, Petco, Burlington, a 12-screen Cinemark and other shops and restaurants, Pulignano said. Pulignano said 40 tenants are signed and 25 are open. The group is negotiating to lease more than 20,000 square feet of the remaining almost 42,000 square feet. She said St. Johns County consistently is one of the fastest-growing counties in the country. “A majority of the existing density and sustained growth is occurring in the area immediately surrounding The Pavilion at Durbin Park,” Pulignano said. McCullough, a partner in
Special to Daily Record
The Pavilion at Durbin Park opened Nov. 7 with Walmart as the first tenant. Nearly a year later, the first phase of the shopping center in northern St. Johns County along Race Track Road is 90% leased. For a list of tenants, see this story online at JaxDailyRecord.com
The Shopping Center Group, said the steady population gain and the opening of the Florida 9B intersection, connecting communities in southern Duval and northern St. Johns County to I-95 and I-295, “has played a critical role in creating a new market for retailers to enter.” “The tenant mix and critical mass of the retail at Durbin Park, as well as the strategic positioning along the main thoroughfares serving the area, are significant factors contributing to retailers finding this site to be the dominant location in the market,” she said. They said “quite a few tenants” are completing leases for the remaining space in the first phase. Gate and Gatlin, both based in Jacksonville, hired The Shopping Center Group as the project’s leasing agent. Walmart was the first tenant to open in The Pavilion at Durbin Park on Nov. 7. Durbin Park will be built over about 1,700 acres. In addition to retail stores, the project will include hotels, office space and multifamily residential units. Durbin Park will comprise 2.4 million square feet of retail space, 2.8 million square feet of office space, 999 multifamily units and a 350-room hotel. Gatlin Development’s website says the annual growth rate within a 5-mile radius is 3.54% and the population spends an estimated $510 million annually on retail purchases. Gatlin says about 44,000 residential units are proposed in that 5-mile area.
WaterWalk corporate-stay hotel to Southside The city is reviewing construction permit applications for WaterWalk, two proposed four-story corporate hotel buildings on almost 6.3 acres at 8833 Perimeter Park Blvd. Construction costs total $13 million for the 153-unit all-suites project, applications show. The St. Johns River Water Management District issued a permit Aug. 30 to landowner and applicant WaterWalk RE Development Services LLC of Wichita, Kansas, and Beaver Dam Development LLC of Raleigh, North Carolina. Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. is the civil engineer. Building 1 is a 75-unit, 62,271-square-foot structure at a cost of $6.55 million and Building 2 is a 78-unit, 62,122-square-foot hotel at almost $6.39 million. A $65,000 ancillary building also is planned. The city enacted Ordinance 2019-165-E on May 5 for Beaver Dam Development LLC to rezone 10.67 acres from industrial business park to planned unit development for the WaterWalk. WaterWalk develops extended-stay hotels and corporate lodging. KMATHIS@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM @MATHISKB (904) 356-2466
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ST. JOHNS COUNTY NOTES First Watch at Nocatee: JEA issued a service availability letter for First Watch, A Daytime Café, to open in at Nocatee Town Center in Ponte Vedra Beach. It is expected to open in the summer. Wendy’s to St Augustine: St. Johns County issued a permit for Wendy’s to build a 2,643-square-foot restaurant at 80 Marketplace Drive in St. Augustine at a cost of $550,000.
Peterbrooke to Durbin: St. Johns County issued a permit Oct. 25 for a $150,000 build-out for Peterbrooke Chocolatier at 450 Durbin Pavilion Drive, Suite 104, at The Pavilion at Durbin Park. AutoZone to Bartram Market: St. Johns County is reviewing an application for construction of a 7,400-square-foot AutoZone retail auto parts store on 1.2 acres along Race Track Road at Bartram Market.
RETAIL NOTES Wawa in Arlington: The city is reviewing permit applications for construction of a Wawa gas station and convenience store at 1331 University Blvd. in Arlington. The 6,202-square-foot store and 7,150-square-foot canopy are planned on 1.77 acres at a total construction cost of almost $1.1 million. The site is at northeast University Boulevard and Arlington Road. Baymeadows Park: The Jacksonville Planning and
Development Department Development Services Division approved construction plans Oct. 14 for Baymeadows Park, planned east of Interstate 95 along Baymeadows Road between Baymeadows circles east and west. The proposed 95,000-square-foot, fivebuilding project will comprise a hotel, restaurants, retail and office space. Starbucks Coffee Co. is in review for the site. Joyce Development Group LLC is the developer.
MEDICAL NOTE Ascension ER in Arlington: Ascension St. Vincent’s paid $1.4 million for 1.62 acres at 9820 Hutchinson Park Drive for construction of
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
JaxDailyRecord.com
THE SAILER REPORT
Plans for The Trails now rural residential
SCOTT SAILER STAFF WRITER
Property owners had sought a land-use amendment to allow up to 5,000 homes, but ran into neighborhood opposition. Southwest Jacksonville property owners of 1,915.12 acres known as The Trails withdrew their proposed large scale land-use amendment. The project was opposed by a growing number of residents in the rural neighborhood. The Trails landowners Diamond Timber Investments, Timber Forest Trail Investments, VCP-Real Estate Investments Ltd., Kameron L. Hodges and Duane Hodges sought the amendment to allow up to 5,000 single-family homes and 225,100 square feet of commercial space. The group proposed to change the land-use designations from rural residential, agriculture II, agriculture III, agriculture IV and light industrial to low density residential,
File image
The Trails representative Steve Diebenow, a partner with Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow, explained the process for the development at an informational meeting in May. He said the property owners plan to refile to amend the land use “to rural residential in the next 30 days or so.”
community/general commercial and agriculture-IV. It withdrew the amendment request at the Oct. 8 meeting of City Council, which was considering the project as Ordinance 2019-309. The property generally is located between Normandy Boulevard and the Clay County line and between Solomon and Maxville-Middleburg roads. Steve Diebenow, a real estate, land use, zoning and government law attorney representing The Trails property
owners, said they plan to refile to amend the land use “to rural residential in the next 30 days or so.” The predominant land use will be rural residential with a “couple of tiny pieces of commercial,” said Diebenow, a partner with the Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow firm. There also is going to be a “significant piece of property changed to conservation land on the other side of the street north of Normandy,” he said.
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The rural residential landuse category is intended to provide rural estate residential in the suburban and rural areas of the city with single-family detached housing as the predominant use. Rural residential provides a lower density of residential use, which means fewer homes will be sought due to larger lot requirements than previously requested. Diebenow said the withdrawal of the ordinance was a good move.
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“That’s why we talk to the neighbors and work with the councilman to figure out the best way to plan for the future. It’s a collaborative process,” he said. “Planning is not a one-sided conversation, its a dialogue.” Council member Randy White represents the community in District 12. At a May 20 Citizen Informational Meeting with Jacksonville Planning and Development Department staff, rural Southwest Jacksonville residents began to explain why they opposed the project. “We are not ready for this at all,” said Forest Trail Road resident Jess Knauf, referring to how the development could affect flooding and wildlife. “You’re all fixing to destroy a beautiful area of Westside,” said Douglas Wilson, a resident along Normandy Boulevard. The neighbors also said they questioned the residential density of the project, road capacity and safety, and the potential for crime. The Stop the Trails Development public Facebook group had 717 members as of Wednesday afternoon. The Trails is expected to take 20 years to develop. The Trails’ current plans aren’t the first time the project has been discussed. The city enacted an ordinance in 2004 to rezone most of the property for The Trails Rural Village. SSAILER@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM (904) 356-2466
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KATIE GARWOOD STAFF WRITER
The program would place students in health care jobs and extend to Flagler County. The State University System Board of Governors Strategic Planning Committee approved the University of North Florida’s plan to create a Medical Nexus, or MedNEX, the nation’s first university-based health care network. The committee approved the proposal Oct. 3. Upon approval by the Board of Governors, the Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis would need to sign off on it. The board is the 17-member governing body for the state’s university system. According to the legislative budget request for MedNEX, the program is interdisciplinary and brings together state universities and state colleges with health care organizations. In turn, the collaboration is
designed to place students in jobs within the field and create “a hub of scholarly advancement in healthcare fields for NE Florida and the state.” UNF is requesting $12 million from the state to fund the program. Half of that money recurs annually and will help to pay for faculty and professional teaching staff, scholarships and lab equipment. UNF spokeswoman Amanda Ennis said it would be premature for the university to comment on the project while it’s in the proposal stage. David Szymanski, UNF president, presented the proposal at the Oct. 3 board of governors committee meeting at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He said since opening a medical school at UNF may not be feasible, creating the nexus would be a way for UNF to provide health care education, and fill needs for area health care providers. According to the proposal, 200,000 health care jobs are expected to be created in Florida between 2016 and 2024. There is expected to be a 5.4% decline in freshman attendance at Florida colleges and universities by 2025. Northeast Florida already is a hub for health care. The university can be a “leader and catalyst” in solving the need for health care professionals regionally and state-
ABOUT MEDNEX The Medical Nexus program would create “a hub of scholarly advancement in healthcare fields for NE Florida and the state.”
Source: University of North Florida
wide because UNF has strong programs in disciplines like nursing and rehabilitation. Advent Health, Mayo Clinic and Memorial Hospital supported the concept, according to the proposal. It also noted that none of the organizations UNF approached declined participation. Szymanski told the committee that in addition to those listed in the proposal, the city of Jacksonville, Florida State University and Johns Hopkins University expressed interest in becoming involved in the program. The proposal says the first partnership UNF makes outside of Jacksonville will be with Palm Coast and Flagler County. A partnership between the city of Palm Coast, AdventHealth, Allete Clean
Energy and Flagler County Schools is in development. “This program has the potential to create learning and training opportunities for students, developing the next generation of health care providers, while also fueling economic growth within our communities throughout the region,” said AdventHealth spokeswoman Lindsay Cashio. AdventHealth operates hospitals in Palm Coast, Daytona Beach and across Florida to Orlando and Tampa. Daytona State College also will be involved. That includes the addition of classroom and lab space to accommodate training for Jacksonville and Daytona professionals. MedNEX will provide training and programming to fill each area’s workforce needs.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
For Flagler County, it’s converting students with associate degrees in nursing to registered nurses, and converting registered nurses to doctors of nursing practice and physical therapists. Cashio said the American Association of Colleges of Nursing estimates that by 2030, a million nurses will retire from the workforce. “Programs like the one UNF has proposed seek to answer this urgent need and we look forward to working together to develop the next generation of health care workers,” Cashio said. UNF MedNEX plans to offer programming in nursing, rehabilitation, counseling, nutrition, medical engineering, analytics, psychology and computing, among other courses. More specialized programs in high-need areas include genetic counseling, health informatics, mental health and occupational and physical therapy. Organizations that partner with MedNEX could provide students with scholarship funding, teachers from area hospitals, patient care certifications, clinical rotations and lab space. Full scholarships will be awarded to students in the MedNEX program who agree to work in Florida for a certain time after graduating. There also would be an opportunity for Flagler Palm Coast High School students to dualenroll in the program, which is designed to prepare students for a health care major.
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HEALTH & BUSINESS
UNF seeks $12 million for MedNEX program
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KGARWOOD@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM (904) 356-2466
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
JaxDailyRecord.com
REVIEW & COMMENT
A $15 minimum wage hurts too many
MATT WALSH PUBLISHER
Floridians are likely to vote in 2020 to mandate a 77% increase in Florida’s minimum wage. Don’t be fooled. It would be destructive to all Floridians — lost jobs, less service, higher prices. The 2020 general election is a little more than a year away, and while many of us already are weary of the Democratic Party’s presidential candidates, it is not too early to start raising your awareness of an issue that would be seriously detrimental to millions of Floridians if it were to pass. That’s the voter initiative to raise Florida’s minimum wage 77%, to $15 an hour by 2026. As of Oct. 29, of the 25 potential constitutional amendments filed with the Florida Department of State for the 2020 election, organizers for the minimum wage amendment had obtained 766,058 valid voter signatures. They need 142 more signatures to have the measure reach the threshold for the ballot. The deadline to have 766,200 signatures certified is Feb. 1, 2020. In all likelihood, this measure will be on the statewide ballot. And even though it is not as of now, Florida’s restaurant and hotel owners are fretting over the destructive economic consequences that will occur if the amendment passes. The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association is more than fretting. It says the measure’s passage would be “devastating to the hospitality industry.” Now those who favor a mandated $15 an hour minimum wage might scoff at the restaurant and hotel owners and say their objections are
predictable. Too bad if that higher cost will eat into their profits. They’re just greedy, so say some of the $15-per-hour proponents. But those who favor raising the minimum wage might try to think through the actual consequences to understand and realize this is a terrible idea. Consider: n From a macro perspective, what usually happens when government intervenes in the free-enterprise system? The government becomes a middleman who distorts otherwise peaceful transactions between two individuals. Just look at what has been occurring with President Trump imposing tariffs on foreign goods. Some industries are winning, some are losing. You have to ask yourself: Why should the government be involved in picking market winners and losers? Why should the government be involved at all at imposing wage levels? It shouldn’t. What a business owner pays an individual is a peaceful, negotiated agreement between two people. If employers only offer $5, how likely are they to find the employees they need? If employees accept the $5 an hour, they have freely chosen to do so, which indicates that amount is satisfactory. There truly is no need for government to set wages. The free market is better at that than any know-it-all in Congress or the Legislature. n Here’s another one: As Steve Forbes of Forbes magazine often said, you can make this issue quite simple. Whenever you raise the price of something, you get less of it and fewer buyers of it. Raise the price of labor, and you will get fewer jobs. And as businesses raise prices to offset the higher labor costs, fewer consumers will buy what they sell. n The best explanation of the destructive effects of minimum wage laws comes from Walter Williams, noted economics professor at George Mason University. In the excerpt on this page, Williams uses the illustration of the price of hamburger and sirloin steak to make the point. And his point is this: The people at the lowest ends of the workforce — those who need money the most — will be hurt the most.
The price of meat and the minimum wage Walter Williams, noted economist at George Mason University, often explains the effects of a government mandate to raise the minimum wage to the price of hamburger and sirloin steak. Here is an excerpt from the American Enterprise Institute using Williams’ example: Suppose that hamburger sells for $4 per pound, and sirloin steak sells for $8 per pound. Hamburger is a much lower quality variety of beef compared to sirloin steak but can attract a significant number of buyers who
How many people? Start with Florida’s teenage population: 1.2 million teens between the ages of 15 and 19. As Williams notes, if you raise the price of labor, you will be removing one of their best weapons to get a part-time job — their willingness to start at a low wage. As the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association notes: “Minimum wage jobs are … designed for those entering the workforce, learning the craft, building skills and opening doors for future opportunities.” A $15-an-hour minimum wage will have larger negative ripples throughout Florida’s economy than just with teenage labor. Indeed, it will have tangible negative effects on the 3 million Floridians who work in Florida’s hospitality industry as well. Restaurant and hotel owners will reduce workers’ hours. They will shift more rapidly to automate as much as possible.
Hospitality, retail jobs affected
Statewide % of total employment workforce
Retail trade
1,139,400
12.6%
Hotel, food services
1,017,100
11%
15- to 19-year-olds
1,194,200
6%
Source: Florida Department of Economic Opportunity
— a significantly lower price that compensates for the lower quality. Result? Hamburger sales will suffer due to the minimum beef price law, and sirloin steak sales will increase. Just like in the labor market, a $15 an hour minimum wage will remove the most effective weapon that unskilled workers currently have to compete against skilled workers — the ability to work for a lower wage. Result? Employment opportunities for unskilled and limited-experience workers will contract, while employment opportunities for skilled workers will increase.
Likewise, when the cost of business rises, businesses don’t just eat the increased cost. They pass it on to consumers. All Floridians and tourists will pay more — and in many cases they also will be the recipients of less service. If there are fewer food servers, there will be less service. Here’s one more tangible and tangential effect: In Seattle, the vanguard of all things liberal, including the $15-an-hour minimum wage, child care operators increased tuition prices and cut staff hours. Don’t be fooled. Although you’re likely to hear the proponents of the $15-an-hour minimum wage say no one can live on less than that, a response that often comes to mind is this: If raising the minimum wage is such a great idea, why not go all the way? Raise it to $200, $300, $1,000 an hour!
The proposed amendment Here is the summary language of the proposed amendment that would raise Florida’s minimum wage eventually to $15 an hour: Raises minimum wage to $10 per hour effective Sept. 30, 2021. Each Sept. 30 thereafter, minimum wage shall increase by $1 per hour until the minimum wage reaches $15 per hour Sept. 30, 2026. From that point forward, future minimum wage increases shall revert to being adjusted annually for inflation starting Sept. 30, 2027.
MWALSH@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM
Highest minimum wages $15/hour states
If Floridians adopt a $15 minimum wage, here is the number of jobs in the sectors most likely to be affected, along with the number of teenagers who could be affected as well. While many employees would see their wages increase, the higher cost of labor will force many employers to reduce the number of people they employ or reduce their hours, leading to lost jobs and likely declining service and increased prices for customers.
choose hamburger over the higher quality option for the 50% savings in price. Likewise, many employers may choose lower quality, unskilled workers over higher skilled employees for the significant savings in labor costs. But now suppose the government imposes a “$8 per pound minimum beef price law.” In that case, most shoppers who buy beef will then purchase more sirloin steak and less hamburger because the lower quality meat has lost its main weapon to successfully compete against higher quality sirloin steak
Washington, D.C.
$13.25
California $12.00 Massachusetts $12.00 Washington $12.00 Colorado
$11.10
New York
$11.10
Maine $11.00
25%
The percentage of workers in Florida who could be impacted by the minimum wage increasing to $15.
Vermont $10.78 Oregon $10.75 Rhode Island
$10.50
Virgin Islands
$10.50
The following states have enacted $15/hour minimum wages.
Effective
California 1/2022 Washington, D.C.
7/2020
Illinois 1/2025 Maryland 1/2025 New Jersey
1/2024
New York
1/2026**
Florida 2026?
Connecticut $10.10
*Will increase annually based on the cost of living.
Hawaii $10.10
**Estimated
Maryland $10.10
Source: National Conference of State Legislatures
Florida $8.46*
JACKSONVILLE DAILY RECORD / JACKSONVILLE RECORD & OBSERVER
JaxDailyRecord.com
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7
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
NAIOP QUARTERLY LUNCHEON MEETING
Tenant Relocation: Best Practices, Managing Expectations & Avoiding Pitfalls From site selection, to preparing RFPs, to negotiating terms with landlords, to constructing improvements and then furnishing the space, the tenant improvement process involves many aspects of planning, negotiation, and coordination. Please join us for lunch as several local panelists involved at various stages in the TI process will navigate through understanding the overall process and timing considerations, identifying potential pitfalls, implementing best practices and managing expectations.
Thursday, November 14th
MODERATOR:
11:30 am - Registration & Networking 12:00 pm - Lunch served 12:35 pm - Program begins
Karen Brune Mathis Jacksonville Daily Record
Deerwood Country Club 10239 Country Club Drive Jacksonville, FL 32256
PANELISTS:
Mary Couch Gresham Smith
David Kottmyer Danis
Dan Tatsch Hillwood
Oliver Barakat CBRE
Lawrence C. Gierum Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow
Registration/pay online www.naiopnefl.com/event Registration Deadline: Monday, October 11th at Noon For more information contact Carmel Buchanan, 904/730-8075 or naiopnefl@comcast.net NAIOP Members: $35 | Non-Member/Guest: $50 VIP Table of 8: $350 for NAIOP Members | $500 for Non-Members (Includes table signage and preferred seating) 320096-1
No Cancellations will be accepted or refunds given after Monday, October 11th at Noon.
8
JACKSONVILLE DAILY RECORD /J ACKSONVILLE RECORD & OBSERVER
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
JaxDailyRecord.com
MARK BASCH CONTRIBUTING WRITER File image
Revenue drops 16% at trucking company because of “weaker economic conditions” in U.S. manufacturing. Landstar System Inc. last week reported lower thirdquarter earnings and revenue, as slowing freight volumes impacted the Jacksonvillebased trucking company. Earnings of $1.35 a share were down from $1.63 in the third quarter of 2018 and revenue dropped 16% to $1.012 billion. The lower earnings were not a surprise because CEO Jim Gattoni told investors at a conference last month that results would be below expectations. “Through the first half of 2019, I believe we were in a relatively healthy freight environment,” Gattoni said last week during Landstar’s quarterly conference call with analysts. “More recently though, weaker economic conditions, especially in the U.S. manufacturing sector, appear to have led to seasonal softness in Landstar’s truck volumes,” he said. “We experienced the softness particularly in September and into the first several weeks of October.” Gattoni said Landstar has seen weakness in the automotive, food and metals sectors, which was partially offset by an increase in consumer durable goods shipments. Despite the lower earnings this year, Gattoni sees the company’s performance as strong. “As we anticipated in the beginning of the year, Landstar’s exceptional financial results during 2018 have made for very difficult year-overyear comparisons,” he said. This year’s earnings were the
Landstar said its exceptional performance last year made for difficult year-over-year comparisons.
second-highest third-quarter results in Landstar’s history, behind the 2018 third quarter, he said. With softness continuing into October, Landstar is projecting fourth-quarter earnings to be below last year. Gattoni projected fourthquarter earnings of $1.40 to $1.46 per share on revenue of $970 million to $1.02 billion. Landstar earned $1.68 a share on revenue of $1.182 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018.
One Call Corp. recapitalizes, reduces debt $1B
Jacksonville-based One Call Corp. said Friday it completed a recapitalization that reduced its debt by nearly $1 billion. The transaction included a $375 million investment in the company led by lenders KKR and GSO Capital Partners. One Call said the deal reduces its annual interest expense by $90 million and “substantially strengthened” its liquidity. “As a financially stronger company backed by worldclass investment firms, we are now better positioned to execute on our long-term strategy,” CEO Rone Baldwin said in a news release. One Call, which provides workers’ compensation care management services, is headquartered at 841 Prudential Drive on the Downtown Southbank. When the company moved into that building last year, it employed about 1,500 people at the headquarters.
NextEra mum about its JEA bid A day after NextEra Energy Inc. made the cut of nine remaining bidders that could
buy JEA, NextEra held its quarterly conference call with analysts. However, in response to a direct question from an analyst about JEA and how long the process of a sale might take, NextEra officials were mum. “We’re limited on what comments we may make on it,” said NextEra Chief Financial Officer Rebecca Kujawa. “I’d fall back to the fact that we’ve continued to be interested and of course as you well know, JEA released its list of folks that made it to the next round and of course we were on there,” she said. Juno Beach-based NextEra is the parent of Florida Power & Light Co., which provides power for about 5 million customers covering most of the east coast of Florida outside of Jacksonville. At the beginning of 2019 it acquired Gulf Power Co., which serves about 460,000 customers in eight counties in Northwest Florida. NextEra last week reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.39 a share, 22 cents higher than last year, on revenue of $5.6 billion. Kujawa said the company expects to continue growing earnings per share by 6% to 8% a year through 2022.
St. Augustine work helps Northrop Northrop Grumman Corp. last week reported betterthan-expected third-quarter earnings, as the company announced more contracts for work at its St. Augustine aerospace facility. The Virginia-based aerospace and defense firm reported earnings of $5.49 a share, down from $7.11 in the third quarter of 2018. However, last year’s earnings included special benefits that raised
earnings by $1.48 a share. Although earnings were lower than last year, Northrop’s results beat the consensus forecast of $4.74 a share by analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. Northrop said it received several “significant” new contracts during the third quarter, including a $1.4 billion award to deliver an additional nine E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft and related equipment to Japan. Work on that contract will be done at several Northrop facilities but the largest amount, 29%, will be done in St. Augustine. This is the second new contract for the E-2D announced this year after the U.S. Department of Defense in April announced a $3.2 billion contract to buy 24 aircraft. The E-2D has been a significant program for the St. Augustine facility since Northrop Grumman began building the tactical early warning aircraft in 2003. The first flight of an E-2D took off from St. Augustine in 2007. Northrop is projecting total sales of about $34 billion this year. The company last week upgraded its earnings forecast for the full year from its previous projection of $19.30 to $19.55 a share to a range of $20.10 to $20.35.
Lower beer sales hit Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch InBev’s stock dropped sharply Friday after the global beermaker reported lower third-quarter earnings. The Belgium-based company, which has an Anheuser-Busch brewery in North Jacksonville, reported adjusted earnings of 94 cents a share, down from $1.11 in the third quarter of 2018.
Revenue rose 2.7% to $13.2 billion but total volume of products sold fell by 0.5%. Non-beer volumes rose 4% but beer volume, its biggest business, dropped 0.9%. In its news release, the company said sales of hard seltzer products are growing and it sees that as an opportunity. “We believe that as the hard seltzer category evolves, consumers will demand more choices and that a portfolio approach will be critical to long-term success,” it said. Anheuser-Busch already has hard seltzer brands on the market and said it is launching Bud Light Seltzer, “which we believe will leverage the equity of an established brand in a new category.” Anheuser-Busch’s stock dropped $9.77 to $81.63 in U.S. trading Friday.
Cannabis retailer MedMen triples revenue
MedMen Enterprises Inc., which opened its first Northeast Florida store Oct. 30, tripled its revenue in the fiscal year ended June 29. The cannabis retailer Monday reported $130 million in revenue for the fiscal year. However, the publicly traded company, which is trying to build a nationwide retail presence, recorded a net loss of $277 million, or 75 cents a share. MedMen opened its store at 308 Third St. S. in Jacksonville Beach, one of seven Florida locations opened in the past six months. MedMen also is planning a Jacksonville store at 1059 Park St. at Park and Lomax streets in Five Points. The company said Monday it expects to open five more Florida stores by the end of this year. The California-based company expects Florida to be a significant market. It is licensed for up to 35 stores in the state. “Florida is the third most populous state with a robust medical cannabis program serving over 200,000 qualified patients,” MedMen said in a news release. MedMen also is backing efforts to make cannabis legal for all uses in Florida.
MBASCH@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM
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BY SCOTT SAILER • STAFF WRITER
File image
Hakimian Holdings Inc. paid $11.95 million for the Promenade Shopping Center at 8595 Beach Blvd. That’s an 111% increase over the $5.66 million the shopping center sold for in 2001.
DUVAL
DUVAL
CLAY
DUVAL
ST. JOHNS
$11,950,000
$5,000,000
$4,250,000
$3,870,000
$2,913,930
8595 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville
4317 University Blvd. S., Jacksonville
323 Eldridge Ave., Orange Park
3937 Spring Park Road, Jacksonville
County Road 305, Elkton
Type: Promenade Shopping Center Parcel size: 28.99 acres Building size: 115,835 square feet Buyer: Gates of the Promenade LLC Seller: Promenade Station LLC Previous sale: $5,655,000 in 2001
Type: University Center South shopping center Parcel size: 3.69 acres Building size: Three buildings totaling 44,211 square feet Buyer: BBK Investment LLC Seller: University Bennett LLC Previous sale: $2,992,500 in 2013
Type: Astoria Hotel Suites of Orange Park Parcel size: 3.77 acres Buyer: Pomerol Properties LLC Seller: Astoria Hotel Suites LLC
Type: Taylor Home assisted living facility Parcel size: 11.48 acres Buyer: Taylor Homes II LP Seller: Fannie E. Taylor Home for the Aged Inc.
Type: Timberland Parcel size: 1,278.93 acres Buyer: First Coast FSC Land and Timber LLC Seller: Lewis E. Parrish Trust
DUVAL
DUVAL
CLAY
DUVAL
DUVAL
$2,650,000
$2,570,000
$1,836,000
$1,406,020
$1,400,000
9012 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville
11850 McCormick Road, Jacksonville
17 Blanding Blvd., Orange Park
9820 Hutchinson Park Drive, Jacksonville
14190 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville
Type: Travel Camp Parcel size: 4.06 acres Buyer: FCH Properties LLC Seller: Freedomroads Property Co. LLC Previous sale: $5,400,000 in 2018.
Type: Starbucks Parcel size: 1.18 acres Buyer: Ecorse Restaurant Real Estate Inc., Southgate Restaurant Real Estate Inc., Wyandotte Restaurant Real Estate Inc. Seller: BW McCormick LLC
Type: KFC Parcel size: 0.86 acres Building size: 2,418 square feet Buyer: WST II LLC Seller: SRKFC Holdings LLC Previous sale: $1,636,800 in 2004
Type: Ascension St. Vincent’s emergency center Parcel size: 1.62 acres Building size: 13,446 square feet Buyer: St. Vincent’s Health System Inc. Seller: GL National Inc.
Type: Former Sunoco gas station, proposed Prime Car Wash Parcel size: 1.74 acres Buyer: FLBB LLC Seller: 9200 LLC Previous sale: $800,000 in 2014
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COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
Top commercial sales of the week Here are the top 10 commercial real estate sales in Northeast Florida, comprising Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties. The sales were recorded Oct. 21-25.
9
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
JACKSONVILLE DAILY RECORD /J ACKSONVILLE RECORD & OBSERVER
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
JaxDailyRecord.com
Distillery
PHILIP MCDANIEL
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
throughout the 1970s to the early 2000s. Craft spirits, McDaniel told him, would be the next to experience a surge in popularity, and he wanted to bring that to St. Augustine. Cox told the two that if they could create a great product and persuade the tour trolleys to stop at the distillery, they could be successful. A week later, McDaniel had arranged for the trolleys to stop at the building. Diaz was convinced. They eyed a former downtown ice plant, constructed in 1905, for the distillery. Most recently, it had been home to a movie projector manufacturer. The 8,000-square-foot space was small compared to other craft distillers that have multiple acres for their operations. In 2½ years, with 22 local investors and a $3.5 million initial investment, they bought the plant at 110 and 112 Riberia St., renovated it, crafted recipes, planned tours and opened in 2014. It makes and sells vodka, rum, gin and bourbon. The goal at the beginning was simple: become one of the mustsee destinations in St. Augustine, while giving back to the community that helped create it. “I think we’re there,” McDaniel said. CRAFTING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS
Today, the St. Augustine Distillery employs 50 people and annually produces 25,000 to 30,000 cases of spirits at six bottles each. They wouldn’t disclose the company’s sales. Its products can be found in ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Total Wine & More, Publix Liquors, Winn-Dixie Liquors and in bars and restaurants in Florida and Georgia. In 2018, the Drammie Awards for whiskey-makers named it the best whiskey tour in North America. The distillery also won a gold medal for its Florida Double Cask Bourbon and a platinum for its Port Finished Bourbon from the Spirits International Prestige Awards. Although McDaniel, 62, and Diaz, 57, didn’t know much about distilling when they started, extensive research on other distilleries’ strategies, including visits, helped to teach them. They learned about the regulations that apply to distilleries in Florida. When they first opened, they received an exception to be able to sell customers two bottles
Age: 62 Family: Wife, Wendy; Children: Addi, 34; Kit, 31; Dexter, 29; Zoe, 27. Hometown: Greenwich, Connecticut Education: Bachelor’s in economics, Assumption College, Worcester, Massachusetts Best business advice you’ve received: Find your niche, work as hard as you can to become the best in that industry and you’ll be successful. Photos by Katie Garwood
Trolleys stop at the St. Augustine Distillery at 112 Riberia St., where tourists can get a free tour of the factory and sample mixed drinks featuring the spirits produced there.
per person annually. They then extended it to two per type of liquor per person. Now, they can sell six per person annually. But they can’t ship their products without going through a distributor, even to the Ice Plant restaurant upstairs. McDaniel has been lobbying state and federal government lawmakers to ease those restrictions. “It’s been eye-opening in terms of the amount of work that you have to do,” McDaniel said. “I’ve recognized how complex and difficult it is to get laws passed or changed in Florida.” Diaz and McDaniel wanted to focus on sales, marketing and operations. They knew they needed a distiller and were willing to pay a good price to find one. Former Maker’s Mark master distiller Dave Pickerell and Jake Norris from Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey headed up the distilling operations and created recipes for the liquors. “You don’t just go out and start making great bourbon,” McDaniel said. “It’s like saying I think I’m gonna go build an airplane or jet.” McDaniel and Diaz said they’re big believers in how the distillery’s guest experience contributes to the company’s success. The distillery offers free tours with samples of each of its liquors in mixed-drink form. During the tour, staff members tell the story of how the distillery came to be, how the liquor is made, how the ingredients are sourced within Florida and the U.S., and how the company gives back to the community. McDaniel said it’s important to him that the company helps St. Augustine. In its five years, the St. Augustine Distillery helped to build
Habitat for Humanity houses, donated to local museums and supported cultural events like the Sing Out Loud Festival. “That’s why I think we’ve been successful,” McDaniel said. “We care deeply about what we do here. None of it is fabricated.” “One of the lines we use all the time is we make liquor, but we sell experiences,” Diaz said. OWNING THE LOCAL MARKET
In October, McDaniel and Diaz entered a new segment of the local distillery market. The Ice Plant Bar upstairs from the distillery is separately owned and operated. City Gate Spirits opened at 11 St. George Street on the northern end of the central walkway in downtown St. Augustine lined with shops and restaurants. At peak times, such as weekends or holidays, the street is packed with tourists, which made it an ideal spot for another distillery, McDaniel said. “It was right off of St. George Street. Like my gosh, this could be the spot,” McDaniel said. It sells “easy drinking” liquors, such as an apple pie moonshine, pineapple or spiced orange rum and sweet tea vodka. There’s also a whiskey in development. The products can be found only in its storefront. It employs about 12 people. McDaniel and Diaz thought for years about opening a second distillery. Because there was a possibility for someone else to enter the market, they decided to do it themselves. City Gate is a different segment of the liquor market. While there may not be a place for another high-end product line in St. Augustine, there is room for a
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the craft spirits industry in the city. He said they created it. “I think the most successful companies are the ones that see between the spaces,” McDaniel said. “They look at something and go, there’s an opportunity here. Where can I play within this space that nobody else is doing? And that’s what we’ve done here.” KGARWOOD@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM (904) 356-2466
City Gate Spirits opened in October at 11 St. George St. It offers bottles of spirits starting at $25.
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lower price point, the said. Bottles at City Gate sell for around $25. The distillery starts at $26 for vodka and is up to $200 for The Saint Bourbon. “There’s probably not room for another Ruth’s Chris. But you know what? There might be room for an Outback. It’s a different customer, different price point, different demographic,” McDaniel said. After a customer buys a product from the St. Augustine Distillery, a worker might suggest there’s another great distillery at the end of St. George Street they might like, McDaniel said. “You’re not cannibalizing any business at either place, but it’s complementary,” he said. “That was the other reason why we felt good about having a second facility in town. We could, in a positive way, start pingponging people back-and-forth.” With a second distillery in St. Augustine, McDaniel said he doesn’t think they’ve taken over
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Brands Director. Job req. Bach. Degree in Comm., Marketing, or Business related field and 5 yrs. progressive exp. in the job offered or related role performing rebranding and marketing initiatives in the grocery industry managing a marketing budget of at least $3 million, developing loyalty programs, designing e-commerce marketing campaigns; 5 yrs. of exp. w/ TV, newspaper, and radio advertising production projects; 5 yrs. of exp. conducting and developing consumer and industry analytics, including customer interviews, surveys observations, analyzing heat maps, demographic profiling, conducting customer panels, eye tracking, and customer experiments; and 1 yr, exp. using the Wellcom platform. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. is a Substance-Free Workplace and requires pre-employment drug testing and background check. Apply by sending resumes to AndreaMartin@segrocers.com.
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JaxDailyRecord.com
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
Promotions, hirings and happenings for business people in Northeast Florida. Send items to ssailer@jaxdailyrecord.com
SCHOOL, LIBRARY, OTHER EDUCATIONAL North Florida School of Special Education Inc., 223 Mill Creek Road, contractor is Auld & White Constructors LLC, 1,934 square feet, construct stables, $200,000. SIGNS Meadow Walk, 8103 Meadow Walk Lane, contractor is K&G Construction Co. Inc., monument sign, $30,000. Bay Point, 8126 Echo Springs Road, contractor is K&G Construction Co. Inc., monument sign, $30,000. VyStar Credit Union, 1802 Kernan Blvd. S., contractor is Brown Enterprises, wall sign, $11,000. Thrive Recovery Longevity Wellness, 4888 Town Center Parkway, No. 106, contractor is Harbinger LLC, two permits for wall signs, $6,000. SOBA, 1444 Home St., contractor is Harbinger LLC, wall sign, $5,000. Sunbelt Rentals, Pump Solutions, 2505 Imeson Road, contractor is Shark Signs of NE FL Inc., two permits for wall signs, $2,900.
11
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
DEVELOPMENT TODAY These are the largest commercial building permits by job cost issued Tuesday by the city of Jacksonville.
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Compiled by Scott Sailer Special to the Daily Record
JAX Chamber honors seven leaders
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Munoz CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
they can get easy connections to numerous California cities, he said. During his luncheon talk at The River Club Downtown, Munoz said he tries to be responsive to customer concerns. It’s a lesson he learned during a 12-year career at Jacksonville-based CSX Corp., where he became president of the company in early 2015 before leaving several months later to take over the top spot at Chicago-based United. “You learn so much in the railroad business,” he said. However, he acknowledged transporting people is different from transporting freight by railroad. “Our coal freight business didn’t talk back,” he said. In addition to customers, Munoz said he also tries to be responsive to United’s 100,000 employees around the world. “The most important thing you do in a business is you take care of people,” he said. Munoz said CSX union representatives talked to United union officials when he changed jobs and assured the airline workers that he wasn’t “a real jerk,” which he thought was “really high praise.” “Listening is an easy thing to say. It’s an infinitely harder thing to do,” he said. Munoz has had to face public criticism as head of the airline, particularly in 2017 when a viral video showed a United passenger dragged off a plane after refusing to give up his seat on an overbooked flight. “It was a horrible moment,” Munoz said. Even though it wasn’t United personnel who dragged the passenger away, he felt a need to take responsibility. “I had to take the brunt of it (the criticism),” he said. Munoz took the incident as an opportunity to improve United’s procedures. “We used it as an accelerator to change
JAX Chamber’s Professional Women’s Council recognized seven leaders last week at the second annual Women Connecting Women event at the University of North Florida Adam Herbert University Center. They were honored for their service to the community. Winners are, from left: Paula Liang, board chair, Catalist, Legacy Award for nonprofit leadership. Skye Barber, sergeant, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, First Responder Rising Star. Betzy Santiago, business solutions strategist, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Professional Minority
“The most important thing you do in a business is you take care of people.” OSCAR MUNOZ, UNITED AIRLINES CEO
the culture more rapidly,” he said. “When we break it, we fix it. I learned that at CSX,” he said. Munoz said he is offering the same advice to Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who is under fire for malfunctions of the company’s 737 Max jet. Two crashes of the jet in the past year killed 346 people. “There is no spin. There is no vehicle of communication that will make that less,” Munoz said. But he is confident Muilenburg will take responsibility and that the 737 Max will be safe when it returns to service in United’s fleet. “I’ll be on our first plane,” Munoz said. He also said customers who book flights will be informed that the plane is the 737 Max, and will be given the option of finding another flight if they don’t feel safe. “We’ll be incredibly transparent,” he said. Before Munoz left CSX, he was considered to be next in line to succeed then CEO Michael Ward at the railroad company. As it turned out, Ward left the company in March 2017 as part of a sweeping overhaul at CSX that also saw the departures of most of the executive team who worked with Munoz. After the meeting, Munoz said he didn’t feel comfortable talking about the changes at CSX, but he did say he thinks of his time there fondly. “I have deep personal connections with so many people in that company,” he said. MBASCH@JAXDAILYRECORD.COM
Woman. Tanya Guydos, vice president, IberiaBank, Professional Business Woman of the Year. Maribel Hernandez, president, Jacksonville Women’s Network and Celebrate, Women’s Advocate of the Year Tracey Phillips, owner, Promotional Presence, Woman Business Owner of the Year. Not pictured: Michelle Cook, Chief of Police, Atlantic Beach, Female First Responder Legacy Leader. From staff
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JACKSONVILLE DAILY RECORD /J ACKSONVILLE RECORD & OBSERVER
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
JaxDailyRecord.com
THE MARBUT REPORT
Ray Driver in line to lead JAX Chamber “We’re at the beginning of it. Watching how fast that’s going to happen will be a lot of fun,” Driver said.
New associate at The Bedell Firm MAX MARBUT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Attorney also joined the JTA board. There aren’t many blank spaces on Ray Driver’s appointment calendar. In addition to running the law firm he started with a single partner 19 years ago that has grown to four partners and more than 20 associate attorneys, he’s chair of JAX Chamber’s JAXUSA Partnership economic development division and in line to chair the chamber in 2021. He’s a trustee at Jacksonville University, a charter member of the JU Public Policy Institute board of advisers and past chair of the Community Hospice & Palliative Care Foundation board of directors, among myriad other civic involvements. “I’ve been fortunate. I don’t mind giving back a little time and a little money and this stuff is interesting,” said Driver, with the Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow firm. A member of the chamber for more than 20 years, Driver
Photo provided by JAX Chamber
Attorney and 2021 JAX Chamber board of governors Chair-elect Ray Driver met Monday with 2019 board Chair Debbie Buckland in London during a break between meetings. They are members of the chamber trade mission to the United Kingdom in conjunction with the Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Houston Texans NFL game Sunday at Wembley Stadium.
sees the organization as a way to bring the business community together and “a lot of people who are willing to raise their hands and volunteer.” He has risen through the organization’s leadership ranks and witnessed the city’s business evolution in the 21st century. Driver cites the emergence of Jacksonville as a logistics center and the transformation of the former Navy jet base in West Jacksonville into
Cecil Commerce Center and Cecil Spaceport as milestones, with more advancements in the future, such as the satellite launches scheduled early in 2020. “Now, we’re high-tech rather than low-tech. Jacksonville used to be known for call centers,” Driver said. Priorities include continuing the drive to attract 10,000 residents to the urban core and development of Jacksonville as a center of financial technology.
Driver was appointed in September by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Jacksonville Transportation Authority board of directors, where he’ll help guide Jacksonville into the future of autonomous vehicle technology, said JTA CEO Nathaniel Ford. “It is clear that he shares our enthusiasm for enhancing mobility in Jacksonville and for pursuing innovative solutions for our public transportation network,” Ford said.
Lidija Barauskas joined The Bedell Firm as an associate attorney. Barauskas focuses her practice on matters of criminal Barauskas justice and brings to the firm four years of experience as an assistant state attorney in the 1st and 4th Judicial Circuits. She received an undergraduate degree from Emory University and a J.D. from Florida State University College of Law.
Yoga on the lawn begins Nov. 6 The Jacksonville Bar Association Mental Health & Wellness Committee’s Yoga on the Courthouse Lawn begins at noon Nov. 6 in front of the Duval County Courthouse. The one-hour classes, facilitated by Duval County Judge Eleni Derke, are scheduled the first Wednesday of each month. Visit jaxbar.org to register. MMARBUT@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM (904) 356-2466
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New Freedom Crossing Academy K-8 school within the community now open! Located on Longleaf Pine Pkwy just South of Racetrack Road in St. Johns county (904) 899-5967 • www.drhorton.com/nfl
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Directions: From I-295, take exit 5B/San Jose Blvd South for 4.5 miles and turn left on Race Track Road. Travel 4.1 miles and turn right on Veterans Pkwy, then right on Longleaf Pine Pkwy for approximately 1.3 miles to Aberdeen Sutherland Forest on the left at Shetland Dr.