Daily Record Financial News &
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 79 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Ernst & Young adding 450 jobs Company is Project Omega, will receive $3.29M in incentives
The “Project Omega” company that’s expanding in Jacksonville and adding 450 jobs is public accounting firm Ernst & Young. The company’s expansion and plans were announced at a news conference at City Hall this morning. Mayor Lenny Curry said Ernst & Young’s decision shows Jacksonville’s continued progress in
economic development and job growth. “This expansion is an extraordinary asset to our city,” he said. The mayor hosted the announcement attended by City Council President Greg Anderson, JAX Chamber Chair Audrey Moran and company officials. Signs started showing Ernst & Young could be the unnamed global firm known as Project Omega soon after the economic development legislation was filed
Feb. 9. The legislation had the company seeking $3.29 million in taxpayer incentives, while investing $6 million in IT, equipment and real estate improvements. In the weeks that followed, job sites like indeed.com and hirepurpose.com listed jobs for various positions as part of a financial services operation in Jacksonville. Ernst & Young handles a range of services, including auditing and risk management. Its head-
quarters are in London. The city and state are providing $3.29 million in taxpayer incentives for the company’s expansion. Of that, the city’s share is $450,000 through a portion of a Qualified Targeted Industry Tax Refund grant offered for creating jobs. The state’s share is $2.84 million, comprising $1.8 million through the job-creation grant along with an additional $1 mil-
Giving a lift to a budding young artist Andreas Zahariadis holds his son Kenyon, 4, as he applies paint to the temporary First Wednesday Art Walk mural outside the Downtown Library on Laura Street. The mural was a way to get families interested in working on the Jax Kids’ Mural Festival in Hemming Park on April 2. See more Art Walk photos on Page A-3.
$12M project tunnels beneath river Replacement of 40-year-old sewer line first of many
By Max Marbut Staff Writer Nearing the end of its service life, one of Jacksonville’s 40-year-old sewer lines needs to be augmented, so JEA is digging a hole. That in itself is not remarkable because the utility completes dozens of projects each month. What’s remarkable about this $12 million job is the hole will be about 4,200 feet long and will be drilled under the St. Johns River bed, between a parking lot at EverBank Field and the Utah Avenue sewage pump station on the Southbank in St. Nicholas. “This is the biggest sewer line project in many years,” said Brian Roche, vice presi-
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dent of water and wastewater operations. The hole will be lined with 42-inch steel casing pipe enclosing a 36-inch plastic pipe that will allow high volumes of wastewater to be pumped underneath the river. The existing pipe serves 50,000 customers and can carry up to 10 million gallons of wastewater each day. When the new line is installed, the daily capacity will be increased to nearly 17 million gallons. Force mains are a critical part of JEA’s sewage collection network, designed to transport high volumes of wastewater from businesses and homes to the utility’s 11 wastewater treatment facilities. The new pipe will be installed using horizontal directional drilling, a method
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lion through a state training grant. The 450 jobs would be in the information technology and financial services area at an average wage of more than $49,000. Where the company will locate hasn’t been announced. The company has an office in the Wells Fargo Center. dchapman@jaxdailyrecord.com @writerchapman (904) 356-2466
BMW to invest $30M in facility
Photo by Fran Ruchalksi
By David Chapman Staff Writer
originally developed in the 1920s for the oil and natural gas industry. The process has been adapted over the past 20 years for water and sewer projects due to lower cost and less disruption compared to traditional trench installation of water and sewer lines. The South Shores force main river crossing project is scheduled to be complete in early August. Sewer and water infrastructure repair and replacement will be a line item in the utility’s budget for the foreseeable future. The city transferred its water and sewer operations to JEA in 1997, three decades after the community-owned electric utility was created when the city and county governments were consolidated. JEA continued on Page A-4
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BMW of North America LLC said Wednesday it will invest more than $30 million to build a 450,000-square-foot Regional Distribution Center in Westside Industrial Park to replace a smaller parts facility there. Kenn Sparks, head of U.S. corporate communications for the German carmaker, said Wednesday that BMW plans to occupy the site in April 2017. It is expected to be fully operational in October 2017. The structure will be developed at 600 Imeson Road. The existing facility for the Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based company along Westside Industrial Drive is 210,000 square feet, he said. “They are a highly prized company and this decision further enhances our auto distribution sector,” said Jerry Mallot, president of the JAXUSA Partnership economic development division of the JAX Chamber. Distribution and logistics fit within the area’s six targeted industries. In 2015, the JAXUSA Partnership announced four logistics projects, behind the five in advanced manufacturing and tied with four in financial services. There also were announcements in the other targeted industries of information technology, professional services, and health and life sciences. In January, Sparks said Jacksonville was a major center for BMW Group and had been for many years, “especially as it serves our growing business in the Southeast.” Sparks was responding then to questions whether BMW was the unidentified Project X, which was described as a 450,000-square-foot distribution center, expanding to 600,000 square feet. That project had been courted by Hillwood Investment Properties for the AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center
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