Daily Record Financial News &
Friday, July 3, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 165 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Group to suggest matrix for incentives
Transition panel also has marketing ideas
Mayor Lenny Curry can expect that some of the top recommendations for his economic-development priorities will be the need to score incentives deals for the best results and to improve the city’s marketing efforts. A third but much less defined observation may be that the city needs to decide whether and how to proceed with a new Downtown convention center. The difficult-to-define aspect is how to pay for a $200 million to $500 million project. “We’ll see where we’ll land on the convention center,” said former Mayor John Delaney on Thursday after the economicdevelopment transition subcommittee he leads completed the sixth of eight meetings. Facing a Thursday deadline to complete the work, Delaney said he will pull together over the weekend a couple of dozen observations and recommendations voiced at the meetings. He Delaney said he would confer with Curry and Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa. Curry appointed 18 members to the subcommittee, which was briefed on several facets of the city’s economic-development efforts by those in charge of them. Delaney said after the Thursday meeting that economic development worked well during the administrations of mayors Alvin Brown, who was defeated by Curry, and John Peyton, who preceded Brown. Delaney served from 1995-2003, during an era of general economic growth, before Peyton’s two terms from 2003-11. Peyton’s tenure included the economic peaks of the mid-2000s followed by the Transition continued on Page A-2
Photo from City of Jacksonville
By Karen Brune Mathis Managing Editor
Former Mayor Alvin Brown left office Tuesday after a contentious election against Mayor Lenny Curry, who assumed office Wednesday.
Brown’ s future uncertain
HOW WILL FORMER MAYOR BE REMEMBERED? “I kept all my promises.” Former Mayor Alvin Brown
“Did Alvin Brown marry himself to the mayor of Jacksonville or was it just a friendly relationship? He liked it. But I never saw him completely engaged in the city.” Marcella Washington Florida State College at Jacksonville political science professor
“He cared. I respect him. He worked hard for the city.” Tim Cost Jacksonville University president
By David Chapman, Staff Writer At this time four years ago, the Alvin Brown era was just beginning for Jacksonville. Swept into office by a narrow margin, the underdog Brown made history becoming the city’s first black mayor. Optimism was high as the nation and Jacksonville alike were still in the throes of an economic recession. Brown ran on a platform of job creation and closing opportunity gaps. Since he was elected, unemployment rates have declined and the city helped create more than 3,900 jobs with companies that received incentives. The foundation of public safety pension reform was approved, which proponents say will save future city budgets. The funding source still needs to be determined. He didn’t raise taxes, although critics cry “semantics” on the issue. Downtown was made a priority. Brown continued on Page A-4
No July slowdown for group tourism in Duval
By Max Marbut Staff Writer In the national hospitality and lodging industry, July is considered to be one of the slowest months for group business, taking into account school breaks, summer vacations and historic industry trends. In Duval County in 2015, that’s not the case. According to Visit Jacksonville, the convention and visitors bureau for Jacksonville and the Beaches, 20 groups booked this month will account for more than 34,500 room nights and a pro-
Public
jected direct economic impact of nearly $30 million. By comparison, 14,851 group room nights were booked last July. From 2005-14, the average number of room nights booked in July is 15,779. While the local destination sales team books on average about 400 groups each year, the above-average July is a project that began in 2009. Katie Mitura, Visit Jacksonville’s director of marketing and product development, said large organizations and corporations often plan their annual
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and national meetings years in advance. The groups checking in this month have been on the sales staff’s radar for quite some time. “Over the past six years, we have focused on July-December being a value season. These groups have been years in the making,” she said. According to the destination marketing organization, the local tourism industry has an annual economic impact of more than $2 billion and supports 22,000 jobs. “This month really shines a light on the importance the meetings and conventions industry Convention continued on Page A-3
File photo by Bobby King
Jehovah’s Witnesses convention, track meets top events
A Jehovah’s Witnesses convention filled Veterans Memorial Arena over two weekends last year.
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