Daily Record Financial News &
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 194 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Pajcics put Friends over target
Nonprofit will use $75,000 gift as challenge grant By Marilyn Young Editor When Steve Pajcic was a kid, he and his family used to catch a bus to Downtown. It’s where they did everything from Christmas shopping to going to the dentist. Back then, Hemming Park was truly the center of the town. An oasis in the urban core. Pajcic fondly remembers those days and sees the potential for them to return. It’s why he and his wife, Anne,
Pajcic
Budget is hill to climb, not mountain
donated $75,000 to the Friends of Hemming Park this morning. To help the nonprofit continue the work it started nearly a year ago when after receiving a contract from the city to manage the park. The agreement requires the nonprofit to hit staggered fundraising thresholds before receiving city-funded installments from the $1 million contract. When Pajcic learned the Friends didn’t get a scheduled June 1 payment of $150,000 from the city because of a dispute over what revenue should be counted,
he and his wife offered to help. Pajcic said he’s been impressed by the way life has returned to the park just outside City Hall. How the nonprofit has done it without pushing the homeless people out, but instead making it an “inclusive, vibrant place.” “Nobody’s been kicked out, but it’s been cleaned up,” said Pajcic, a prominent Jacksonville attorney. “It has good food offerings without being messy.” Even after the City Council amended the contract Tuesday to allow park revenue and conces-
SunGard buy to be profitable for FIS
Hearings on spending plan begin today
By Mark Basch Contributing Writer
By David Chapman Staff Writer
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Hotel business booming Photo by Max Marbut
Let the marathon begin. City Council begins its annual dive into the budget today, kicking off a series of daylong meetings to pore over Mayor Lenny Curry’s spending plan. It’ll be a first for four of the seven-member Finance Committee led by veteran council member Bill Gulliford. Those new members — Vice Chair Anna Lopez Brosche, Danny Becton, Aaron Bowman and Reggie Gaffney — will have an advantage council members of the past several years didn’t. “It’s balanced,” said Gulliford, with a laugh. “I think it’s a pretty well thoughtout budget in a short period of time.” The past several years haven’t begun as smoothly. Extraordinary lapses, errors and a reliance on borrowing caused the Finance Committee to start in Boyer the budgetary hole, working its way back to balance by cutting millions. This year, the feeling is different. “I really anticipate it’s going to be pretty smooth,” said council member Lori Boyer, who joins Gulliford and John Crescimbeni as the veterans of the committee. “This just seems like it’s a reasonable hill rather than an extraordinary mountain.” Boyer said she has no big objections to Curry’s priorities and mostly everything stayed at least flat from last year. In current fiscal times, “flat is the new up,” said Brosche. The newcomer said she’s gone through “the big book” a few times and wants to understand the process a bit better. For instance, annual increases in various contractual obligations — she’d like an
sions to count toward the fundraising goal, Pajcic’s donation stood. Wayne Wood, president of the Friends board, said Pajcic’s gift is a challenge grant, a way to inspire others to donate. Pajcic’s donation pushed the Friends over its total fundraising requirement of $250,000. But it doesn’t end the nonprofit’s need to raise money. Wood said the group has a daunting task ahead of it, to continue the momentum it’s gained Hemming continued on Page A-3
‘There is a great deal of confidence in Jacksonville’ By Max Marbut Staff Writer “Recharged and ready to inspire” is the message displayed on the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront to promote the complete renovation of the Downtown hotel along the Northbank. Scheduled for completion in October, all 963 guest rooms will be new, including carpet, furniture, fixtures, wall coverings and window treatments. Owners of the Hyatt aren’t the only major players in the hospitality industry
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who are convinced Jacksonville is a growth market. That’s confirmed by the top-to-bottom renovations completed, almost complete or underway at the four Downtown full-service hotels. When the projects are finished, nearly 2,000 guest rooms and suites at the Hyatt, Crowne Plaza Jacksonville-Riverfront, Omni Jacksonville and the Lexington Hotel & Conference Center (formerly the Wyndham) will be new from floor to ceiling. Paul Astleford, president of Visit Jacksonville, the convention and visitors Hotels
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Fidelity National Information Services Inc. and SunGard may seem similar in some ways, as they both provide technology services for financial companies. However, SunGard will enhance the business of Fidelity National Information Services, or FIS, by bringing a “complementary portfolio of products and services,” said FIS President and Chief Executive Gary Norcross. In a conference call with analysts Wednesday following FIS’ announcement of a $9.1 billion agreement to buy SunGard, FIS officials also said the deal will be highly profitable. “We believe SunGard is a perfect fit. This is a natural extension of our strategy and creates significant shareholder value,” Norcross said. While Jacksonvillebased FIS provides its technology services mainly for banking operations, Wayne, Pa.-based SunGard provides technology for capital markets and asset and wealth management services, he said. Norcross “We’ve got a lot of commonality in the financial institution side but what’s nice about that is we’re in different sides of the financial institution specifically,” Norcross said. So while the two companies do business with some of the same large financial firms, the merger will create a wider range of services. The company expects the merger to immediately increase FIS’ earnings per share once it is completed. Chief Financial Officer James Woodall said it will eventually increase earnings per share by about 20 percent once the company completes the integration of SunGard. Woodall said the $9.1 billion purchase price includes the assumption of about $4 billion in SunGard debt. FIS will pay 45 FIS continued on Page A-3
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