Daily Record FINANCIAL NEWS &
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 225 • oNe SectioN
www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Multiple Amazon centers common
She has given the gallery — and the entire local art community — countless hours of love, care and respect. She has certainly contributed to Southlight’s success. Michael Dunlap, About Pam Zambetti’s contributions to Southlight Gallery
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Project Velo could benefit Baker, Clay
By Karen Brune Mathis Managing Editor
Southlight Gallery founder Michael Dunlap and Pam Zambetti have worked together since 2009, promoting the Downtown gallery and art in general. She is retiring this month as marketing director.
Getting back to making art
By Max Marbut Staff Writer Fine art painters rarely retire before they are no longer able to put a canvas on their easel and hold a brush. Marketing directors follow different rules. That’s the case with Pam Zambetti, who is stepping away from her post as the marketing force behind Downtown’s Southlight Gallery to concentrate on her new studio and a new series of portraits. Art wasn’t always her focus. In the 1980s, she managed the corporate branch of Wharton Williams Travel Agency before enrolling in the School of Art at Florida State University, where
she graduated in 1991. She began painting and developed a reputation in the decorative arts field, painting murals and architectural elements for nearly 10 years before shifting her focus to representational and abstract fine art. She discovered Southlight in 2009 about six weeks after the gallery opened along Forsyth Street. It was the second location for architect Michael Dunlap and a group of his fellow artists, who founded the gallery as one of the original “Off the Grid” ventures. It was a Downtown Vision Inc. program through which artists occupied on a month-to-month basis for little more than the cost GALLERY CONTINUED ON PAGE A-3
Photos by Max Marbut
Zambetti retiring from marketing job at Southlight Gallery Downtown
Zambetti will concentrate on her new studio.
By any account, a 1 million-square-foot distribution center, or one close to it, is a big deal for just about any company or city. Now try announcing an average of two a month. Seattle-based e-commerce retailer Amazon.com has announced 18 fulfillment centers in 2016 across the country ranging from 600,000 to 1.1 million square feet of space, including one in North Jacksonville. The possibility the company might be the name behind the unidentified “Project Velo” proposed in West Jacksonville isn’t far-fetched considering Amazon.com announced two centers, or a second, in several cities so far this year. Employment for each of the 18 centers ranges from “hundreds and hundreds” to 1,500. In most cases, the company is developing separate fulfillment centers in those areas — one for small goods like toys, electronics, books and the like and another for large items like TVs, sporting goods and furniture. The North Jacksonville center, at a footprint of 855,000 square feet, will employ 1,500 full-time workers to pick, pack and ship small goods. At Cecil Commerce Center in West Jacksonville, Project Velo would hire 1,200 jobs for a 1 million-square-foot center. That fits Amazon.com’s general description for large-goods fulfillment centers. Velo is described in city legislation as a leader in product distribution. Another city document calls it a regional package center for a national company. Should Amazon.com surface as Project Velo, as it ultimately did in July for North Jacksonville’s Project Rex, it could be following a pattern. For example, so far this year Amazon. com has announced second centers in Haslet and Coppell, Texas; Carteret, N.J.; Joliet, Ill.; and Tracy, Calif. It also announced a third facility in San MATHIS
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Startup Rocket part of Rivas’ restart
First offering from One Spark co-founder’s company to help startups By David Chapman Staff Writer Elton Rivas took a much-needed break earlier this year. After the One Spark co-founder transitioned away from the annual crowdfunding festival in January, he did a little backpacking. He spent more time with the bride he married in November. All in all, the time off was a needed respite.
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“I was thankful for the ability to do that,” Rivas said. Within three months, though, he was back in the world of startups. Rivas initially connected with Will Little a few years ago through a discussion in the startup community. Conversations picked back up in the spring and before long, Rivas, Little and several others in April founded Prota Ventures,
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a firm that helps launch projects and invest in early-stage entrepreneurs. There are offices in Chicago, Seattle and Jacksonville. For Rivas, the passion to start new things, new projects was back. Last week, Prota launched Startup Rocket, a web-based service meant to guide entrepreneurs through a plan of ideating, validating, creating, growing and ultimately funding their startup.
Rivas said many startups often don’t have a concise plan or go off schedule, which can lead to frustration. The information is out there, he said. There are business plans, how-to web articles, self-help guides and the like. Startup Rocket, though, has all those elements and provides an operational framework to more smoothly get from an original RIVAS CONTINUED ON PAGE A-3
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