Daily Record FINANCIAL NEWS &
FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 105 • oNe SectioN
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
‘I’ve never seen anything like it’
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
ters Downtown along East Adams Street. Second-place winner B&G Educational Innovation from Indian Head, Md., also will receive one year of BizSpark Plus. The company develops animated training systems for nurses. The one year of BizSpark Plus also was awarded to Jacksonvillebased Tenant Tag, which finished third. Greg Dyer is developing computer software and a mobile app for property managers. Brisimitzis said after experiencing Spark Walk on Wednesday, followed by Spark Tank and the daylong One Spark Innovation Day conference at the Hyatt SPARK TANK
CONTINUED ON
PAGE A-2
Staramba USA partners Adam Dukes, left, and Bryce Pfanenstiel, right, with Jim Brisimitzis, general manager of Microsoft USA’s Startup Program, after Thursday’s Spark Tank.
$30M BMW center appears in process
Photo by Wes Lester / City of Jacksonville
The reviews are in and One Spark 2.0 was a resounding success. One of the most glowing assessments came from someone who has attended myriad technology events, including South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, which is considered the gold standard for tech festivals. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Jim Brisimitzis, general manager of Microsoft USA’s Startup Program. “And I never expected to see it in Jacksonville.” He was here to present the awards following “Spark Tank,”
a competition among 10 selected One Spark exhibitors patterned after the “Shark Tank” television program. Jacksonville-based Staramba USA won the top prize of the Microsoft BizSpark Plus award, which is access to one year of business and tech support from Microsoft, valued at $120,000. It also will receive business accelerator services from PS27 Ventures, a Jacksonville-based company that consults with small businesses and entrepreneurs. Staramba partners Adam Dukes and Bryce Pfanenstiel will use the assistance to develop improvements in 3-D modeling and printing technology at their headquar-
Photo by Max Marbut
Microsoft executive impressed by rebooted One Spark
Mayor Lenny Curry and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy led a walk Thursday with hundreds of students as part of the Journey to One initiative to improve the city’s health.
Steps to a healthier city
Efforts include ‘mayorthon’ and push for area to lose 1M pounds By David Chapman Staff Writer Mayor Lenny Curry runs almost daily to keep in shape, but it was a walk Thursday that symbolized a desire for all of Jacksonville to be healthier. He wore a suit, not workout clothes, when he and hundreds of schoolchildren made the 20-minute or so stroll from the Prime Osborn Convention Center to Hemming Park. They had a special guest: U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who took part in an earlier breakfast and town hall meeting on health issues. It was part of the buildup to Curry announcing the Journey to One initiative,
Public
which will use existing programs and partnerships to improve the city’s quality health outcomes — an area where Jacksonville is lacking. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently ranked Duval County 48th of Florida’s 67 counties in that area. Health-related factors include smoking and obesity rates, while rates of children in poverty and violent crime numbers weigh down social and economic categories. “It’s unacceptable,” said Curry, who added his goal is to be No. 1 — a spot held by St. Johns County. The Journey to One initiative won’t be bolstered by city funding, but instead will rely on residents maximizing existing efforts.
legal NoticeS begiN oN Page
a-11
Those include the Jacksonville Journey and city parks, which will be used to host monthly “mayorthons” to promote healthy living and the city’s natural assets. As part of the “mayorthon” effort, Curry is encouraging everyone to walk or run 26.2 miles a month. The multipronged initiative also will address health disparities in ways like the Farm to Faith initiative that brings fresh produce to churches in some of Jacksonville’s most isolated areas, mostly in Health Zone 1. It’s an area predominantly in Northwest Jacksonville that for some time has been a “food desert” — an area where it’s not easy for residents to buy fresh produce. HEALTH CONTINUED ON PAGE A-3
PubliShed
for
What appears to be BMW of North America LLC’s proposed $30 million distribution center, along with a separate speculative warehouse, is taking shape in West Jacksonville — at least on paper. Atlanta-based Stone Mountain Industrial Park Inc., owner of Westside Industrial Park, is requesting city concurrency review for the 115 acres it bought in November along Imeson Road, adjacent to the established park at Imeson and Pritchard roads. The filing includes not only the site that matches the proposed BMW center and the spec warehouse, but also outlines two more warehouses for the property. All of the buildings feature truck courts. All total, those four buildings would add 1.3 million square feet of distribution space to West Jacksonville, the largest industrial market in the area. The site is west of Imeson Road, with Moncrief Road to the north and Forshee Drive to the south. Building No. 4 fits the details for the proposed BMW center, designed as 448,043 square feet and expandable by 166,730 square feet. That takes it to more than 600,000 square feet on almost 28 acres. The initial speculative warehouse, Building 1, is shown as 189,750 square feet on 15.02 acres. Future buildings comprise a 356,400-square-foot warehouse next to Building 4 and a second 189,750-squarefoot warehouse next to the first. BMW of North America said in March it would invest more than $30 million to build a 450,000-square-foot Regional Distribution Center at 600 Imeson Road in the park to replace a smaller parts facility there. BMW leases about 213,000 square feet in the park for a parts distribution center. It
26,905
MATHIS
CONTINUED ON
PAGE A-4
coNSecutiVe weekdayS