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Oct. 31-Nov. 6, 2019
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JACKSONVILLE
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.
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer
United CEO talks Boeing, West Coast flights and time at CSX
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer
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
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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