Daily Record Financial News &
Monday, August 31, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 206 • Two Sections
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Changes planned for One Spark Officials scaling down creators, cutting festival to three days
One Spark 2016 will debut a format intended to change the experience for attendees and participants, as well a business plan that will affect what goes on behind the scenes of Jacksonville’s crowdfunding festival. Scheduled April 7-9, the fourth edition of One Spark will occupy a smaller footprint Downtown,
with exhibitors grouped by category in “creator districts.” Categories are arts and culture, education, lifestyle, health and wellness, social good and technology and engineering. Peter Rummell, One Spark board chairman, said the change will help make the festival easier to navigate and “allow likeminded creators to present in a more conducive environment.” Those wishing to showcase
ideas, products and services will present their projects to a jury of experts, sponsors and investors who will choose up to 50 exhibitors per category to participate in the festival. Those creators will begin monthlong crowdfunding campaigns March 15 that will allow them to build momentum before the festival begins and capitalize on publicity for nearly a week after the event closes.
The financial side of One Spark also has evolved. Creator cash awards will be based primarily on attendee financial contributions, a change from the first three years when a prize fund and bonuses based on votes from attendees determined exhibitors’ rewards. Rummell was the single greatest source of contributions for the $6.1 million that funded the first three festivals.
Parvez Ahmed joined the University of North Florida in 2002. He is a professor of finance, and a community leader on civil discourse.
Social responsibility is part of Parvez Ahmed’s faith
By Karen Brune Mathis Managing Editor
Parvez Ahmed is well-known in Jacksonville. He is a University of North Florida Coggin College of Business professor of finance, a former U.S. Fulbright Scholar and a community leader on civil discourse. Ahmed gained a higher profile as a twoterm member of the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission and a frequent writer and speaker about Islam and the American Muslim experience. Last year, OneJax awarded him the Humanitarian silver medal for his work toward overcoming bias, bigotry and racism in Jacksonville. What brought you to Jacksonville? Beautiful weather and the great water-
Public
First Coast Success: Parvez Ahmed
The Daily Record interviewed Ahmed 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. fronts. Jacksonville was not a well-known city, and the university was not on my radar until one of my friends gave me a call and said that there’s a position opening
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He provided 58.3 percent of the festival’s revenue: $3 million in cash donations and two loans totaling $500,000 to the organization — a situation described in a news release as an “unsustainable business model.” One Spark’s board is advocating for a “broader mix of cash sponsorship, local government support including in-kind contributions and widening the overall One Spark
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Worst possible timing for ADS Waste
Photo by Bobby King
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
here. The only thing that I’d heard about Jacksonville prior to that call was the Jacksonville Jaguars. Everything looked pretty interesting and inviting. The University of North Florida is smaller and you can make a bigger difference. You’ve taken a highly visible role in Jacksonville. What motivates you to do so? As members of the human race, we do have an obligation toward each other, regardless of what racial background we belong to, regardless of what national identity we identify with or our religion. We all have an obligation toward each other and it becomes more so in a globalized village like today. I was raised in a family where having a social responsibility was important and it’s part of my faith. All of that Success continued on Page A-6
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Timing is everything in the IPO market, and the timing could not have been worse for ADS Waste Holdings Inc.’s filing for an initial public offering. The parent company of Advanced Disposal filed its IPO plan Friday afternoon, Aug. 21, as the stock market was in the midst of its biggest meltdown in four years. Even before this so-called market correction, 2015 had been a sluggish year for IPOs. According to IPO market research firm Renaissance Capital, the number of IPO filings so far this year is 32 percent below last year’s pace, and the number of IPOs that have been priced is down 31 percent. Very few industrial companies have gone public this year. The health care sector has dominated the IPO market with 58 of the 131 stocks to get priced, Renaissance said. The stock market’s recovery later last week doesn’t necessarily help the IPO outlook, because volatility isn’t good either. A stable market is the best environment to bring a new stock to Wall Street. ADS has a very stable business, as the company said in its IPO filing. Its waste management operations have “historically generated consistent revenue growth across economic cycles.” Unfortunately, ADS can’t do anything about stock market cycles, so it will be interesting to see if the company will be able to bring its IPO to the market in the coming months. The filing lists a large group of wellknown underwriters for the IPO, led by
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