As a result of aggressive economic development efforts by the mayor, in concert with the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce and the restructured Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, in the past two years, local business expansion and corporate relocations have yielded more than 7,100 new jobs for Jacksonville.

Jacksonville Economic Development Commission
A restructured Jacksonville Economic Development Commission has helped attract nearly $500 million in private capital investment. Changes at the JEDC include a new public investment policy that mandates greater accountability when spending tax dollars to support business projects. JEDC has also eliminated subjectivity in evaluating such projects and uses fact-based criteria to determine funding eligibility.

Major businesses entering or planning to establish a presence in Jacksonville:

CIT Group Inc., a New York-based provider of commercial and consumer finance solutions, opened its Jacksonville office in December 2006. The operation employs approximately 350 individuals who service CIT clients' assets in IT, office products, healthcare, and diversified industry. (CIT Group press release)

Fidelity Investments, based in Boston, will open a customer contact center in early 2007 that will employ 1,200 over the next four years. (Fidelity Investments press release)

Financial Stored Value Payment Systems, Inc. (FSV) is locating a centralized operations center in Jacksonville. FSV offers electronic payment services to large employers and financial institutions. The expansion will create 50 jobs and should be complete by April 2007. (F S V press release)

Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC. The world's largest tire and rubber company is opening a distribution and logistics center at Cecil Commerce Center, creating about 250 new jobs with an expected annual payroll of nearly $10 million. (Bridgestone Firestone press release)

Cecil Commerce Center is also the choice for a joint venture among aviation manufacturers to produce the military C-27J multi-mission cargo aircraft, creating high-skilled, high-wage jobs. (Cecil Commerce Center press release)

Small Businesses
Mayor Peyton launched the Jacksonville Small and Emerging Business program in 2004. JSEB helps small businesses grow by

• Leveling the playing field to apply for city contracts
• Providing additional access to capital and bonding capacity
• Pairing large businesses with small businesses in mentoring relationships

Since its creation, the program has resulted in the certification of 324 companies, 283 of which are minority owned, to do business with the city; provided more than $600,000 in access to capital loans to JSEBs, and $100 million in JSEB contracts and expenditures.  In 2006, nearly $40 million in formal and informal contracts were awarded to JSEBs.

Military Support

In addition to the 33,000 active duty personnel that call Jacksonville home, our local military presence includes civilian affiliations. Together, they translate into a regional economic impact of $8.6 billion and nearly 136,000 jobs. And, our military numbers are growing.

Jacksonville recently gained 2,700 military personnel through the Base Realignment and Closure process – more than any other U.S. city.

The mayor has urged Navy officials to assign more surface ships to Mayport and to gain funding to make it nuclear-capable port.

Active-duty military personnel living in Duval County are eligible for a property tax rebate through the City of Jacksonville.