Recession Recovery and Beyond
Study Committee Meeting October 26, 2010 Clanzenetta “Mickee” Brown JCCI Study Planner mickee@jcci.org
In attendance: Meeting Attendees: Elaine Brown (Chair), Don Anderson, Bob Hawkins, Conrad Markle, Ed Randall, Don Hughes, Mary Marcus, Nick Sacia, Lake Ray, Larry Williams, Susan H. Steger, Ron Flick, Walter Fufidio, Patty Fentriss, Lisa Broward, Cathy Hagan, Shari Graham, Aaron Bell, David Smith, Barry Holloway, Marianna McIntyre, Michael Stokes, Bob Spaeth, John Stack, Pat Keogh, Melvin Usery, Sharyl Wood, Muriel Creamer, Charlene Kingsnorth, Jim Mayo, Mike Mullin, Mike Sanchez, Mike Mickler, Mike Cole, Noelle Perry, Steve Rieck Ronnie Stoots, David Johnson, and Joe Whitaker [If your name does not appear, but you were in attendance, please let us know.] Staff Members: Mickee Brown and Skip Cramer Meeting Time: 3:00-5:00 PM Discussion: Shari Graham, Chair of the Nassau County Economic Development Board (NCEDB) thanked the attendees for their participation and gave a brief overview of JCCI, mentioning that the organization got its start in Nassau County in1974 at the Amelia Island Planning Conference. Shari introduced study chair Elaine Brown, sharing with the attendees her many roles in the community including being a former member of the Jacksonville City Council and the new chair of the Regional Council of Northeast Florida. Elaine thanked those in attendance and touched on a key economic development engine shared by both Nassau and Duval Counties – transportation and logistics. Elaine asked Representative Lake Ray to spend a moment talking about the importance of this industry in Northeast Florida. Representative Ray shared the following key points with the group: Ports in Florida support 575,000 jobs. The average salary for those jobs is $50,000 annually. Sixty-two percent of the goods consumed in Florida come from ports in other states. Increasing the number of goods shipped directly into Florida ports would mean as many as 350 jobs in Nassau County. At Elaine’s request JCCI Director, Skip Cramer provided background information on the Recession Recovery study. Skip shared with the group that JCCI has completed previous regional studies that including meetings in the counties to encourage a diverse group of participants from throughout the region. He added that JCCI’s role is to synthesize these diverse inputs in order to find common ground. In addition to including the work that’s already been completed by the Regional Council and others, Skip added that JCCI is also seeking information about best practices with regard to jobs, employment, and economic competitiveness from this group and the groups that follow. After the group completed the self-introductions, Elaine asked Nassau County Economic Development Board Executive Director Steve Rieck to begin his presentation addressing regarding Recession Recovery and Beyond in Nassau County.