Daily Record Financial News &
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Vol. 103, No. 008 • Two Sections
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Incentives approved for 550 new jobs
‘Project Revere’ firm still unnamed
Jennifer Jones, executive director of Unity Plaza, sees the nonprofit urban park as a way to showcase Jacksonville’s talents while building the city’s brand. She started the job in May 2013.
Helping the city love itself Jones sees Unity Plaza as a way to build city’s image
By Marilyn Young Editor
Special to the Daily Record
City Council approved two deals Tuesday to add 550 jobs in Jacksonville, but now it’s up to the unnamed information technology company slated for 250 of them to make a decision. The company behind “Project Revere” won’t be disclosed until it determines whether Jacksonville or another southeastern city will be where it expands. If it’s Jacksonville, the firm that already has 120 jobs here would go to the Southbank. The company would receive $1.8 million in taxpayer incentives from city and state sources. The city’s side of the deal would cost $330,000. That includes grants of $250,000 for the added jobs and $80,000 for the increased value on the property after renovations. The state would provide $1 million for the jobs and another $500,000 through a closing fund used by the governor. The new jobs would have an average wage of more than $49,000. The company approved Tuesday that will provide 300 additional jobs is known — well known in Jacksonville, in fact. Fidelity Investments has 800 employees already in Jacksonville on the Southside and wants to add 300 full-time jobs at an average salary of more than $64,000. The financial services giant would add almost 60,000 square feet of space and invest close to $13 million for new space and other needs. Fidelity in return would receive $448,000 from the city, comprising grants of $360,000 for the jobs and $128,000 for the incremental property value increase based on the upgrades. The state would provide $1.4 million for the jobs and $690,000 through a Quick Response Training grant. Both deals passed by unanimous 17-0 votes with no public comment or council discussion. Other council action Tuesday included: • A community redevelopment plan Council continued on Page A-2
Photo by Fran Ruchalski
By David Chapman Staff Writer
The October night the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, led by music director Courtney Lewis, played at the Brooklyn park is when Jones said she first felt success there.
Nearly 21/2 years of work had led Jennifer Jones to this moment in October. As executive director of Unity Plaza, she headed the effort to create the urban park that, in her words, would help Jacksonville begin to see what it was and what it could be — always loving itself along the way. Jones had been part of avantgarde projects before. She was a member of the group that secured a $1 million grant from the city for The Shoppes of Historic Avondale project.
That project took six years from building support to cutting the ribbon. But Unity Plaza was bigger, a concept literally built from the ground up. It was the biggest challenge in Jones’ career. A challenge that tested and taught her in ways she’d never experienced. The night of Oct. 2, Jones was standing in the Brooklyn amphitheater, surrounded by a huge crowd waiting for the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra to perform. “It was warm and wonderful,” Jones said. “A very loving environment.” Jones
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Public radio national talk show host Diane Rehm, left, and First Coast Connect host and producer Melissa Ross in a 2011 interview in Ponte Vedra Beach during a reception and conversation. Ross is scheduled to fill in for Rehm in two weeks in Washington, D.C.
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Special to the Daily Record
Melissa Ross to guest host Diane Rehm Show The opportunity for Melissa Ross started about six months ago, when a friend at NPR forwarded her name to WAMU in Washington, D.C., to be added to the list of potential fill-ins at The Diane Rehm Show. The show’s staff listened to some First Coast Connect shows, but Ross said she didn’t hear back quickly. “Then one day, I got an email out of the blue asking if I’d like to fill in for Diane,” Ross said. That was Sept. 23 from the WAMU general manager. She will head to D.C. in two weeks to host the show Dec. 9-11. Ross is the host and producer
of First Coast Connect, which airs 9-10 a.m. Monday-Friday on WJCT 89.9 FM, the public broadcast station in Jacksonville. Rehm’s show airs daily on 89.9 FM from 10 a.m. to noon. She does her show out of WAMU, a D.C. station affiliated with American University. The show is distributed by NPR to about 200 stations. “It’s pretty exciting,” said Ross,
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who began hosting the First Coast Connect interview and call-in show upon joining WJCT in 2009 with 20 years of experience in broadcasting. Ross met Rehm, now 79, at an event in 2011 at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall. “She was encouraging,” said Ross, and provided “some great advice on how to grow my own program.” The dianerehmshow.org site says Rehm took over as host of WAMU’s midday Kaleidoscope program in 1979. The name was changed to The Diane Rehm Show in 1984. Mathis continued on Page A-2
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