Daily Record Financial News &
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 207 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Focusing on ideas, not votes Changes make crowdfunding a priority at One Spark
Over three years, One Spark grew from a concept into an opportunity for more than 300,000 people to fill the streets of Downtown for five days of food, beverages, live entertainment and getting a look at hundreds of small businesses and big ideas. Dubbed the world’s largest crowdfunding festival, the plan was for attendees to vote for
their favorite exhibits and hopefully contribute a few bucks to the cause. However, the “crowdfunding” part of the festival was lost among the beer tents, food trucks and concerts in the JAX Chamber parking lot after the festival closed each day. “What was going on was people were voting on how to distribute some of Peter Rummell’s money,” said Chris Byers, One Spark chief operating officer since
June. Rummell, a real estate developer and chair of One Spark’s board of directors, said Monday he no longer will continue to cover the festival’s financial shortfall after donating $3 million and loaning an additional $500,000 to the organization since 2013. “One Spark is about startups,” he said Monday when the board announced changes in the festival for 2016. “The fact is One Spark is a startup.”
According to onespark.com, in 2015 the 320,000 attendees cast 117,000 votes for their favorite projects and contributed $93,000 to the 549 entries. That’s about 29 cents per attendee. The prize fund that began at $250,000 in 2013 grew to $310,000 in 2014 and $350,000 this year. It included crowdfunding and contributions from the festival. Another aspect of the festival’s evolution were $15,000 bonuses
Before taking the job as HabiJax ReStore’s deconstruction supervisor, Erik Batsford’s career path included working as an automotive technician and as a Realtor.
Improving lives with garbage Batsford stumbles across fulfilling career
By Kevin Hogencamp Contributing Writer Earlier this year, Erik Batsford was living the dream: He had a successful career, happy marriage and no debt. And, he lives at the beach, for goodness sake. Still, he said, “something was missing in my life.” Figuring his melancholy might be resolved by meaningful community service, Batsford began researching opportunities with HabiJax, Jacksonville’s Habitat for Humanity affiliate. Instead of finding a volunteer gig, Batsford stumbled across an intriguing job posting and landed a new career as HabiJax ReStore’s deconstruction supervisor. Since June, he has directed a program
Public
that converts kitchen demolition projects into revenue for HabiJax, which uses the money to build homes in Jacksonville. “It was just Divine Providence. It’s like the job description was written just for me,” the 43-year-old former Realtor said. “It’s an amazing opportunity to be part of such a good thing.” Batsford worked for a decade as an automotive technician and the last 13 years in sales and marketing, most recently in real estate. His new post merges his interest in construction, fervor for sales and marketing, and his inherent thriftiness. “Today, nothing is missing. I am giving back to the community and using all of my talents and skills. I am whole,” he said. A native of Canada, Batsford’s resolve, HabiJax continued on Page A-3
legal notices begin on page
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paid last year to the entries that received the most votes and who were selected by jurors during the festival. The top winner in 2015, Yoga 4 Change, set a One Spark record for funds earned during the festival. The organization that teaches yoga to underserved groups took home a check for $34,281.67 including the $15,000 top votes and the $15,000 jury selection bonuses. One Spark continued on Page A-2
Baptist to start on emergency center
“It’s just hard for me to comprehend how we’re not busy 24/7. We’re not asking people to pull out their checkbook. We’re not asking people to volunteer their own time. We’re not asking you to run a 5K. We just want your garbage.” Erik Batsford HabiJax ReStore’s deconstruction supervisor
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Photo by Kevin Hogencamp
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Site preparation is underway and construction should start within 60 days on the Baptist Health/Wolfson Children’s Hospital Emergency Center designed to open next summer near St. Johns Town Center. The 17,030-square-foot project is under development on a 1.76-acre site at 11026 UNF Drive near Interstate 295 and Town Center Parkway. The building-permit application shows a project cost of $8.5 million It will house two emergency centers under one roof and will be staffed around the clock by board-certified emergency medicine physicians. It will share a common entrance, but with two distinct sides. One side will have a dedicated waiting area and eight adult emergency beds. The other side will serve Wolfson Children’s Hospital patients and their families, with a separate waiting area and eight children’s emergency beds. Baptist Health said the Children’s Emergency Center will be staffed with a Wolfson team trained to handle the emergency needs of children. It said Wolfson Children’s Hospitaltrained pediatric nurses, respiratory therapists, and radiology technicians will work with pediatric emergency medicine physicians, pediatric radiologists and more than 200 pediatric medical/surgical specialists on staff at Wolfson Children’s Hospital. Baptist said both emergency centers will be supported by a full-service laboratory, CT scanner, and ultrasound imaging services on-site. The contractor is Perry-McCall Construction Inc. and the architect is Gresham Smith and Partners. Baptist Health, citing Health Planning Council statistics, said emergency room visits in general have increased more than 12 percent in Duval County from 2011 to 2014 and more than 14 percent in the region. Darin Roark, administrator for the Baptist Clay Medical Campus and Emergency Mathis continued on Page A-2
26,732
consecutive weekdays