Daily Record Financial News &
Monday, March 30, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 096 • Two Sections
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
‘Live your own life’
Merger may mean cuts for Maxwell
Hicks built company while helping build his community
David Hicks is a Massachusetts native who came to Jacksonville when he married his wife, Ann Curry, who is a native of the city. Once here, the Harvard MBA graduate went to work. And work he did. He joined legendary mortgage banker Stockton, Whatley, Davin & Co. and then became a partner in the C&S Services affiliate. That was in 1967. He incorporated it two years later as Computer Power Inc., creating a mortgage software and services giant that he sold 25 years later to Alltel Corp. It processed $1.3 trillion in mortgages, accounting for 43 percent of all U.S. mortgages at the time. The firm was sold in 1992 to Alltel and Hicks retired in 1995. Alltel later was sold to Fidelity National Financial, which moved its headquarters from California to the site along Riverside Avenue where Hicks developed Computer Power. After he retired, Hicks chaired other successful startups, including Alliance Mortgage Co., which became EverBank. His son-in-law, Rob Clements, is the chairman of EverBank. Hicks also is credited for his work in public housing, including the Jacksonville Housing Authority and HabiJax. At the University of North Florida, he and his wife sponsor the Hicks Endowed Scholarships for students from public housing and HabiJax. In 1997, the couple established the Gray Study Abroad Scholarship in honor of Father Neil Gray, an adjunct faculty member who inspired students to reflect on their purpose in life. Ann Curry earned a degree in liberal studies in 1995. Success... Continued Page A-6
Photo by Karen Brune Mathis
By Karen Brune Mathis Managing Editor
David Hicks
First Coast Success: David Hicks
The Daily Record interviewed Hicks for “First Coast Success,” a regular segment on the award-winning 89.9 FM flagship First Coast Connect program, hosted by Melissa Ross. These are edited excerpts from the interview. The interview is scheduled for broadcast this morning and will replay at 8 p.m. on the WJCT Arts Channel or at wjctondemand.org.
Inside • What community leaders who know David Hicks say about his contributions over the years. Pages A-6 and A-7
Last year, Kraft Foods Group Inc. demonstrated its commitment to its Maxwell House coffee plant in Downtown Jacksonville by promising to add 10 new jobs to its 227 employees, in exchange for $425,000 in city incentives. However, Kraft last week announced a mega merger with H.J. Heinz Co. that will put the company in the hands of an operator known for slashing costs, including job cuts and plant closings. Heinz was acquired in 2013 by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital. Under the merger agreement announced Wednesday, the new Kraft Heinz Co. will be a publicly traded company, but Berkshire Hathaway and 3G will Behring own 51 percent and current Kraft shareholders will own the other 49 percent. The company’s management will be led by 3G officials. Alex Behring, managing partner at 3G and chairman of Heinz, will become chairman of Kraft Heinz. Bernardo Hees, a 3G partner who became CEO of Heinz in 2013, will be CEO of Kraft Heinz. Companies run by 3G have a reputation for immediate cost cutting, and not just at the headquarters level. According to Reuters news service, when that group took over Heinz, they cut 7,000 jobs in 18 months and closed down six factories. The Wall Street Journal told the story last month of a Heinz frozen-food plant
• Getting to know Hicks. Page A-7
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DIA may choose Landing redesign firm this week By David Chapman Staff Writer The Landing could have its redesign firm by the end of the week. Three finalists spent Friday afternoon touting their experience and making the case as to why the Downtown Investment Authority should consider them best suited to redesign the Landing to allow a better view of the river and to offer more public access. Fourteen groups submitted proposals, but just three made the cut to interview with DIA CEO
Public
Aundra Wallace, board member Doris Goldstein and members of the city’s procurement department. There were commonalities among all three. Whatever is done to the site, the public will have to be engaged and its ideas incorporated. Budget and site specifics weren’t presented. Each had projects they could pitch as examples of why they’d be the best bet. First up was Cooper Carry, an Atlanta-based full-service architectural firm. It’s being assisted by Denver-based Civitas, a landscape architectural firm that spe-
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cializes in public-oriented design. To their credit were projects like RiverPlace in Greenville, S.C., which incorporated the Reedy River in its development; upscale Mizner Park in Boca Raton; and the historic district in Larimer Square in Denver. Next was New Orleans-based Eskew + Dumez + Ripple, a fullservice architecture firm that is partnering with Hargreaves Associates, a landscape architecture firm. They’re also being assisted by Springfield-based Baker Klein Engineering. The majority of Landing... Continued Page A-2
Photo special to the Daily Record
Three finalists made presentations Friday
The Jacksonville Landing is likely to be redesigned to include a view of the river and offer more public access.
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