Daily Record Financial News &
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 103 • Two Sections
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Welch: One Spark’ s orange army Go with your gut
Ex-GE leader, wife share advice at summit Entrepreneurs, creators and the curious spent much of Tuesday soaking in knowledge and advice from those who had “made it,” at least to a certain level. The headliners of One Spark’s Speaker Summit, though, have made it in a big way — and they were ready to share. Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric, and his wife, Suzy Welch, the popular business journalist, spent an hour under the bright lights of the Florida Theatre tackling questions from the business-minded crowd. Such as, how much does instinct matter? “Gut is a great thing” to recognize patterns, said Suzy Welch, before advising not to use it alone when making decisions. Jack Welch, though, was a little more direct. “The biggest thing is go with it,” he said, gesturing with his hands for emphasis as he answered. Decision makers who look back and say they knew something wasn’t going to work after it failed is Welch “the worst line in the world,” he said. Many of the questions came back to a few themes about leadership, employee retention and profits. Honesty, trust and a positive attitude were chief among the qualities top leaders must have for success. To keep the best employees in today’s market, Jack Welch said it’s important to create a friendly, hospitable environment where people wanted to be. “You’ve got to make your place the place to hang out,” he said. Keeping them engaged is the key, Suzy Welch said. And “raises and praises” for top performers help along those lines, too. Profits, Jack Welch said, come from motivated, happy employees and a satisfied customer base. Without both, there’s a hole. Given that the theme of the week is One Spark, though, the final question was Welch... Cont inued on Page A-3
Photos by Max Marbut
By David Chapman Staff Writer
Volunteers helped attendees check in at the One Spark Speaker Summit at the Florida Theatre. See more One Spark photos on Page A-6.
Volunteers help annual festival run smoothly
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Bobbi Mercer is volunteering for the second consecutive year. A real fan of the festival, Mercer said when she gets married in July, there will be a three-dimensional rendition of the One Spark logo on top of her wedding cake.
More than 500 exhibitors will showcase their art, ideas and inventions this week at One Spark. They are hoping to get exposure for their work and maybe a big financial reward on Sunday at the festival’s closing ceremony. More than 600 people are volunteering this year, donating their time and toil to help make the festival a success. They get an orange T-shirt. Well, there’s more than that to being a One Spark volunteer. For some, it’s an opportunity to make new friends and meet potential business associates. For some, it’s a way to help promote Downtown. For others, it has become a way to better express their own entre-
preneurial spirit. “I fell in love with it when I saw what it does for people and for Jacksonville,” said Bobbi Mercer, who is marking her second year as a volunteer. “One Spark puts feet on these creators. I feel like I’m making a difference.” Mercer was working Tuesday morning with Shana Friar, a firstyear One Spark volunteer. They were registering attendees at the One Spark Speaker Summit at the Florida Theatre. A Florida Blue employee, Friar receives volunteer hours with pay and decided to use some of them to help out with the festival. “I wanted to do it after I heard people talking about volunteering last year,” she said. While the number of festival volunteers is just about the same as last One Spark... Continued on Page A-2
Dream Finders Homes to build corporate HQ
Jacksonville area city and business leaders herald corporate headquarters as a priority catch in economic development. Not only do they recruit them, but they especially want to keep them. And grow them, such as with Dream Finders Homes LLC. Orange Park-based Dream Finders Homes LLC, ranked the area’s second-largest homebuilder last year, filed a permit application to build the shell of a three-story, 47,111-square-foot
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office building. It’s planned at 14701 Philips Highway in Jacksonville’s Bartram area, just north of Nocatee Parkway and Race Track Road. Batey McGraw, vice president of land for Dream Finders Homes, said the site offers convenient access to Interstates 295 and 95, Florida 9B and U.S. 1, which is Philips Highway, as well as to St. Johns County. McGraw said Dream Finders Homes expects to move into the building in early 2016. It employs
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80-85 people. Brasfield & Gorrie LLC is the contractor for the almost $3 million shell building. The interior build-out would be permitted separately. The architect is Rolland, DelValle & Bradley and the civil
engineer is Taylor & White Inc. Dream Finders, through DFH Office LLC, bought the 30.24-acre site July 30 for $750,000. McGraw said the site offers about 12 developable acres. The headquarters site will take about 5 acres. There are no plans for the remaining property. He said Dream Finders Homes was working on the interior plans for the building, which likely will have space for other tenants. The company was formed in 2009 and is led by majority owner
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and President Patrick Zalupski. Dream Finders Homes announced in January it had expanded into two new markets, marking its evolution from a Northeast Florida regional builder to a national presence. It secured land in Savannah, Ga., and in Boulder, Colo. Dream Finders said deals also were in place to expand into Orlando and Austin, Texas. The Metrostudy industry analysis service reported that Dream Mathis... Continued on Page A-2
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