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.
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Steve Rieck’s Presentation The NCEDB was founded in 1995 to attract new business, create jobs, help grow existing businesses, attract new capital investment, and expand the tax base. Nassau County is strategically located within the western hemisphere, making it easy to do business in North, Central, and South America. Due its location – within an eight-hour drive of 45 million people and its eastern seaboard location – Nassau County is important in terms of logistics and transportation. Among the seven regional counties, Nassau is the second least populous at 72,409 people. The average age of Nassau County residents is 41.3 years. Residents of Fernandina Beach skew those numbers with an average age of 46.1 years, while the remaining county residents have an average age of 37.2 years. The Median Household income in Nassau County is $58,211, third after Clay and St. Johns Counties respectively. Per Capita income is $28,988, second behind St. Johns County. Nassau County has an “A” rated school district. Of the schools that serve fourth grade and above (12 of 16) – 10 received an “A”, 2 received a “C” based on FCAT performance. Having access to 22 colleges and universities in the Jacksonville MSA and the whole of North Florida west to Tallahassee - is a positive for Nassau County. The county is home to a wide range of businesses that include long standing companies like Publix Smurfit-Stone, Rayonier, and Baptist Health as well as newer companies such as Caribbean Breeze and Science First. The targeted industries in Nassau County are Advanced Manufacturing, Aviation & Aerospace, Clean Energy, Distribution & Logistics, Finance, Insurance & Real Estate, Information Technology, Life Sciences, and Corporate Headquarters. The largest jobs sectors in the county are Leisure and Hospitality (22 percent) and Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (24 percent).The average weekly wage is $712 in Nassau County. Those Trade, Transportation, and Utility jobs pay slightly more at $798 per week, while the Leisure and Hospitality jobs pay significantly less at $367 weekly. The “sweet spot” for job recruitment is jobs that pay 115 percent or more above the county average. While Nassau County is a part of the Northeast Florida region, the county is home to people who work in Camden County Georgia. Many Georgia residents also work in Nassau County: The St. Mary’s River is not a barrier to work. Within a 60 minute driving radius of Yulee – North to Brunswick, West to Macclenny, and South to St. Augustine Beach there are 693,570 workers. Still, as of end-September 2010 the unemployment rate in Nassau County was 11.2 percent, which is fourth in the region behind Flagler (16.3%), Putnam (14%), and Duval (12%). Nassau County has much to offer businesses seeking relocation: A strong, flexible, and loyal workforce. The low number of unionized employees. Florida is a Right-to-Work state. Job sanctuaries all over Nassau County primed for industrial development. A logistics friendly metropolitan area with 3 interstates, 3 major deep water ports, 4 marine terminals, and a growing international airport. A high quality of life offering varied amenities and lifestyles.
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Questions and Answers Q. Do the Northeast Florida ports compete for the same dollars? Rieck: The state has one source of money for all 14 ports in Florida. Those funds are distributed noncompetitively. Q. How are the target industries chosen? Rieck: Enterprise Florida – the state’s economic development agency - has a list of targeted industries for all of Florida. The Nassau County list is based on that list and is approved by NCEDB Directors. Recently Enterprise Florida added Clean Energy to its list, which Nassau County has adopted as well. The list is a moving target that can be changed when necessary. Q. What was unemployment like before the Great Recession? Rieck: Before the recession, the unemployment rate in Nassau County was 3.5 percent. Some sectors, like education and health care, have grown, while others have fallen. Prior to the recession 25 percent of the workforce worked in Leisure and Hospitality, today that number has dropped to 22 percent. Group discussion The chair asked the group to respond to the following questions: What are the challenges in Nassau County regarding job growth and economic recovery? Terrible drop in the real estate market Competition with other NE FL counties Too little workforce training causes graduates to leave the county Lack of lending to big and small business Impact fees
Lack of existing buildings and infrastructure Lack of natural gas Concurrency in the State of Florida Keeping economic activity local – to benefit local residents
What are the opportunities in Nassau County for getting people back to work and becoming more economically competitive? Logistical amenities High quality of life Decreased land values Low taxes Decreased labor costs Branding – Nassau is the county where Florida “really begins” Ability to assemble large land sites Tourism and recreation (i.e. good golf courses) Good climate Convenient air transportation Great public school system
Growing health care system and good hospitals Untapped talented retirees – CEOs and business people – who relocated to Nassau County Proximity to Jacksonville and its cultural amenities Nassau-based cultural amenities and history Low crime rate No traffic problems
Are economic development efforts, including job creation efforts, truly regional in nature 2434 Atlantic Boulevard
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or is each of the seven counties working for its own ends? Examples? Where businesses are located affects the flow of tax dollars into a community – competition is to be expected. Businesses are looking for the most economical place to locate; labor is the most important concern, not taxes. A prospect’s business decisions are based on individual county assets. Cornerstone does a good job of promoting each county equally. The partner counties do not work to take business from each other. In the end, it is better if the prospect chooses one of the seven counties, rather than move to Georgia. Location decisions are prospect driven. The goal is to stay on their list. Of course, Duval County has more buildings inventory, so Nassau and the other counties can not always compete, but that will change in the future. Once the prospect chooses a location, which is the primary driver, then it is up to the EDO to put together a plan that works for that prospect. That plan might necessarily include highlighting the
assets (education, labor, transportation, land, etc.) of multiple counties. The goal in Nassau County is to get the site visit. The NCEDB works closely with the Ritz Carlton and Amelia Island to make a great impression. The perception of economic development is different than the reality. Behind the scenes the agencies work well together – even when it looks differently politically. The agencies in Florida have no tools to retain businesses. This requires a state legislative fix. All agencies recruit. In Nassau County, once the prospect makes a site visit the county sells itself. Each county has a recruiting profile – Nassau County focuses on small to medium sized companies.
Results from the small group discussion The chair asked the group to break into four discussion groups. Each group started with one of the following questions. Attendees were also asked to provide their thoughts regarding the questions below. After 30 minutes of discussion an appointed group reporter provided the feedback for each group. Individual comments are also recorded below. What is happening currently in Nassau County to attract, retain, and create jobs? What more, if anything, needs to happen either locally, regionally, or beyond? Group response: The Nassau County comprehensive plan has been updated and the LDC review has been revised to improve the “jobs to houses” balance. The county has suspended impact fees to encourage development. Changes at the state level are needed to encourage a more business friendly environment. Other comments from attendees Keeping businesses in Nassau County is difficult. Current retention efforts are strong but difficult to monitor. The business permitting process in Nassau County has been improved. Beneficial emphasis has been placed on road improvements. The growth of the port and the health care system are positives. 2434 Atlantic Boulevard
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Public and private entities in Nassau County are working together more closely than ever to attract, retain, and create jobs. State Representative Janet Adkins is working on legislation to enhance small business lending. The dual enrollment program at FSCJ helps keep talent local – high school students are able to enroll in college courses at FSCJ for free. Nassau County would benefit from greater national/international exposure. A multi-language website that targets prospects in China, Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and Korean would aid international business. Extending natural gas service to Nassau County – pipeline construction creates jobs in the short-term and in the long term makes the area more attractive for business expansion and relocation. Market the community to vacationers via the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). Businesses, large, small, and start-up, need greater access to capital and credit. Businesses that create jobs should be exempt from concurrency requirements. Greater supervision of impact fees – suspended for more than two years on new development – would encourage development. The community needs retraining incentives to keep talented people in the community. Nassau County could use more speculative industrial buildings (spec space) for immediate leasing. Residents should vote against Amendment 4. In an effort to get people back to work in the short term and increase economic competitiveness in the long term for greater recession resiliency, where should Nassau County focus its efforts? Jobs for people at all levels OR focus on high wage/high skill jobs High wage jobs, living wage jobs, or family wage jobs Target industries only OR any industry that brings dollars to the community Attract large business OR grow strong small businesses Group response: While recruiting companies that offer high wage/ high skill jobs is important as a long term goal, in the short term it is important to focus on getting people with all skill levels back to work. Nassau County is open to all businesses with the exception of dirty industries like mining. A focus on drawing big businesses to the area will create ancillary and support companies. Recruiting targeted industries gives structure to recruiting efforts and is a good longterm strategy. To help existing businesses a public private partnership or bond issue is needed to raise capital for infrastructure improvements (not strip malls) - it will take political courage to make this happen. Other comments from attendees Nassau County should emphasize recruiting and strengthening small business – ten businesses with ten employees is better than one business with 100 jobs. Focus on recruiting clean industries. This is not the time to be selective; all jobs at any wage levels are needed now. What are the targets now, 1 year from now, and three years from now? Identify how the seven northeast Florida counties can work even more effectively as a region to attract, retain, and create jobs (i.e. incentives, workforce development, research, branding, education, business partnerships, etc.). 2434 Atlantic Boulevard
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Group response: Update the regional database and develop retention systems to keep businesses in Northeast Florida. When companies leave the area, having an exit survey process to determine why they left is important. Branding the region is important as well. Other comments from attendees Develop regional education partnerships. Analyze and develop a plan for long term public transportation for all seven counties (rail, bus, and boat). Need greater national recognition as a region. Focus on intermodal transportation beyond the county line. Build on the capabilities of the deep water ports in Nassau and Duval Counties to bring jobs to the region. Need model of tax policy and incentives to increase non-tourism industries. Create a database of all counties to promote the region nationally. Focus efforts on international commerce and foreign investment dollars. Cornerstone needs a better commercial property database. All EDOs should work through Cornerstone. Increase funds to retrain workers. Give incentives to students to stay local after completing their education. Elaine asked the committee to complete the Group Process Check form, invited the group to attend the Baker County meeting on 11.3.2010, and adjourned the meeting at 4:50 PM.
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