Proposed Cecil Commerce Center Distribution Center Could Bring 1,200 More Jobs to the Region

September 23, 2016     0    51

The company is expected to make a decision where it would locate the center later this year. Since the city entered into a contract in 2010 with Dallas-based Hillwood Investment Properties for commercial development of 4,475 acres of the 17,224-acre site, companies such as GE Oil & Gas, Bridge-stone Tire, Saft Battery and FedEx Ground have set up shop, bringing more than 1,200 jobs, said City Councilman Doyle Carter, who represents the district that includes Cecil Airport. With site work for a 400,000-square-foot spec building by Ross Perot Jr.’s Hillwood now under way for a yet-to-be-determined tenant, and the prospect of the new distribution center on a separate 86-acre tract along 103rd Street, “development is getting better at the site,” Carter said. Under terms of the city’s contract with Hillwood, the company must have at least the new 400,000 square-foot addition completed by September 2017. Despite a slow start that earlier had frustrated Carter and other city officials, the progress in the past three or four years has been “encouraging,” Carter said. “They have started moving dirt,” he said of the spec building ...

2016 Commissioner's Business Recognition Award Presented to Brian Knight of Pragmatic Works

September 19, 2016     0    84

Brian Knight is the owner and founder of Pragmatic Works and is a serial entrepreneur, starting up other companies throughout his prolific career.  Brian is a contributing columnist at several technical magazines and does regular webcasts. He is the author of more than fifteen technical books. Brian has spoken at dozens of conferences like PASS, SQL Connections and TechEd and many Code Camps. He has received a number of awards from the state, governor and press including the Business Ambassador Award (Governor) and Top CEO (Jacksonville Magazine). He also serves on the Clay Florida Economic Development Corporation and Clay County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.  We are very grateful for his dedication and service to our community and so proud of his many accomplishments.   To learn more about Pragmatic Works, click here.  

Jacksonville's Office Market Benefited from a Strengthening Economy as Job Creation Continued

September 9, 2016     0    117

Office market tightens, spec building at bay Jacksonville’s office market benefited from a strengthening economy as job creation continued, unemployment declined and companies relocated both into and within the area. However, new speculative construction remained constrained, although there are some spec buildings in the pipeline. Vacancy rates dropped, averaging 9.4 percent to 15.8 percent, while average asking lease rates rose to between $18 and a little higher than $19 a square foot. Downtown and suburban vacancy rates closed the gap in several of the reports. For example, Cushman & Wakefield found the overall metro vacancy rate was 15.4 percent, its lowest since the Great Recession. While the suburban rate was 15.6 percent, the Central Business District was 14.9 percent, thanks to tightness on the Southbank. Among the reports, the Beaches area had the lowest vacancy rate, while Arlington and North Jacksonville posted the highest. Similarly, the highest rental rates were found at the Beaches and East Butler and the lowest in Arlington and North Jacksonville. CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Colliers, Avison Young and JLL all issued second-quarter office reports. Major activity included the Southeastern Grocers move to Baymeadows and ...

Jacksonville's Tech Coast Conference Planted a Stake in the Ground

August 31, 2016     0    100

“We’ve got a long way to go,” JAX Chamber President Daniel Davis said of Jacksonville’s place in the technology industry. “… Technology is at the forefront of [most] industries. “We’re here and we’re serious and we want to see those industries grow and we want to provide opportunities for those industries,” Davis said of the purpose of the conference. Davis said the tangible impact of that conference wasn’t just that it drew the largest crowd in its three-year history, it’s the kind of crowd that came. Most notably, the attendees at the conference held at the Prime Osborn Convention Center downtown were diverse in terms of business interests, ranging from startup operations to veteran corporate executives, Davis said. The age range was equally diverse, bringing in millennials and advanced career chief technology officers. Mike Nolan, president of the chamber’s Information Technology Council, headed up the organization of the Tech Coast Conference. While he said turnout and interaction were better than he expected this year, establishing connections between businesses — mostly local — was likely the top achievement. “We had a lot of feedback where ...

Co-work Space Comes to Clay

August 25, 2016     0    106

Dubbed the Fleming Island Conference Center, the virtual office will only be the starting point for Knight. If the trial run for the co-work space goes well during the first quarter, then he hopes to expand the operation into the vacant office next-door and transform it into a fully fleshed out headquarters for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses. “We want to grow these businesses in Clay County so they stay in Clay County,” Knight said. “The goal of that is to help you grow your business to a point where you’ve passed a one-man shop, passed a first-tier business and onto a second-tier business. Our main goal is to get you up the ladder much faster.” Co-work spaces work because they give entrepreneurs all of the essentials for a successful small business – a desk, a coffee pot and the ability to network with other entrepreneurs without fear of direct competition. Co-work spaces are an outgrowth of the tech. industry where they have helped budding companies grow in such tech. hubs as Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Atlanta. Naturally, Knight wants to see his ...