Daily Record Financial News &
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 073 • Three Sections
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Council delays Keane decision Sunshine lawsuit likely to be filed
By David Chapman Staff Writer City Council members could have approved a settlement for former Police and Fire Pension Fund administrator John Keane’s retirement Tuesday. They could have pushed to further lower his proposed $228,000-a-year settlement. They could have rejected it outright, sending a signal the deal wasn’t right and deserved an answer in court over whether Keane’s specially created plan was unauthorized. They could have done any of those. Instead, they did none of them. Council by a 14-4 vote decided to indefinitely postpone action on the Keane settlement. It didn’t come easy and only after an hour-plus of debate that saw widely varied opinions. Without a settlement, Keane and his spouse would collect an expected $2.6 million over the rest of their lives. The proposed settlement trims a little more than 2 percent off that or lowers it to $2.3 million. And the thought of spending $1 million or more in a prolonged legal battle didn’t sit well with some. “We lose either way,” said Reggie Brown. In his viewpoint, it was better to get out early. Others felt the complete opposite. Al Ferraro said he couldn’t support any settleCouncil
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Dennis Kelly is regional vice president and general manager for Trapac, JaxPort’s first Asian shipping terminal.
TraPac’s Dennis Kelly is the man who brought
Asia to Jacksonville By Carole Hawkins, Staff Writer
As trucks enter TraPac’s inbound gate, cameras scan the container number and chassis number. A printer prints a gate pass with instructions on which bay to take the shipment to.
Trade between Asia and the West was so important in ancient times, it had a name: The Silk Road. The East-West trade that connects the world’s major population centers today is no less important. Before 2005, Jacksonville wasn’t even a waypoint on those trade routes. That changed when TraPac opened the first Asian container terminal at the Port of Jacksonville. The man who led the operation is Dennis Kelly, TraPac regional vice president and general manager of the company’s terminal at JaxPort. Kelly is the face of global shipping in
RP Funding building out in Baymeadows
New season shows symphony’s growth More shows, better options By Marilyn Young Editor In their short time together, Robert Massey and Courtney Lewis have been in lockstep about how to grow the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, on stage and off. That is clear as they talk about the orchestra’s 2016-17 season, announced this morning. More challenging music, stronger guest artists and conductors and restructured ticket packages for a longer season are among the highlights. Massey became president and CEO in January 2015. Lewis was named music direc-
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tor the year before, but didn’t assume the role full-time until the 2015-16 season. Some of the changes for next season are built on those made for the current one. There will be four “Symphony in 60” concerts, which are hour-long 6 p.m. weekday shows followed by drinks and hors d’oeuvres with Lewis. And the orchestra will perform five Masterworks Series Sunday matinees, an option successfully resurrected last year with better packaging and promotion. Massey said the Masterworks Series will increase from 10 to 12 shows, featuring works from Mozart, Brahms and Tchai-
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Lewis kovsky. The Pop Series goes from eight performances to 12, with shows ranging from The Eagles to Ella Fitzgerald to the Second City comedy show. The series also includes three Symphony
Jacksonville. Literally. When the port talks of dredging its shipping channel to 47 feet, Kelly is always there, adding his voice to the call. He began his career nearly 48 years ago as a shipping clerk for Dole Fresh Fruit Co. in Gulfport, Miss. His uncle was a ship’s captain and Kelly had always been intrigued by the industry. Kelly worked with Dole for 35 years, eventually rising to vice president of the company’s six ports in North America, a position that gained him wide respect in the industry. Dole managed every part of its fruit business — growing, harvesting, shipping and distributing fruit from Central and South America to the U.S. Workspace continued on Page A-7
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At least $400,000 in renovations are proposed at the Prominence office park in Baymeadows for RP Funding, which intends to open a servicing center that will expand to 150-175 employees. CFO Jon Woods said RP Funding expects a further $100,000 investment in furniture and equipment. He anticipates a midMay opening. Woods said previously the company would lease 26,500 square feet of office space and he expected the center to reach 175 jobs in a year to 18 months. Marand Builders Inc. is the contractor for build-out at 8381 Dix Ellis Trail, which is Building 500 at the Baymeadows office center. Maitland-based RP Funding is hiring mortgage loan processors and closers for the Jacksonville office. Woods said the company
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has about 35 employees working in temporary space at the park. RP Funding Direct Mortgage Lender is a full-service lender that underwrites, closes and funds its loans. The Jacksonville office will service, process, underwrite and close loans. Robert Palmer started the company in 2008. In addition to its Maitland offices, it opened an operations center in Lakeland, Palmer’s hometown. Scott Henley of Newmark Grubb Phoenix Realty Group represented RP Funding in the lease Mathis continued on Page A-2
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