Submitted by
Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
During the first part of its budget workshop on July 10, 2012, the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) heard from Steve Rieck, Executive Director of the Nassau County Economic Development Board (NCEDB) on a new initiative entitled Nassau Tomorrow, a 5-year, $2M strategy to create new jobs in Nassau County and expand its economic base while keeping taxes low. The strategy focuses on achieving specific, measurable goals in 5 areas: business recruitment and marketing; business retention and workforce development; government affairs; communications and public relations; and investor relations. The specific goals of this program are to create 2,500 new high wage jobs and 1,300 indirect jobs with an annual total earning of $114M. Rieck, who was assisted in his presentation by Rayonier’s Mike Bell, the project’s campaign chair, asked the city to commit $25,000 to this project, so that the city might be represented in this effort.
Vice Mayor Jeffrey Bunch asked if there has been any progress to date on this effort. Rieck responded that in 2009, a firm named Science First had been attracted to the Tradeplex site from Buffalo, NY. While they started with 12 employees, they have now grown to 20. Also this year a Georgia firm named ALM Technologies moved to Yulee on US 17 with 15 employees, which it plans to grow to 30 employees over 3 years.
Mike Bell talked about the past pattern of development in Nassau County, which basically spread out from the island toward I-95 with one subdivision after another. He cited the need for planned development to take advantage of industrial sites in the county and to mix commercial with residential so that residents can take care of basic needs within their community. Bell said that it was time to step back and focus on a bigger picture, basically to avoid problems of sprawl. Filkoff stressed that many Fernandina Beach residents picture clear-cutting trees and strip malls when the words “economic development” are used. She indicated that the City of Fernandina Beach in crafting the economic development element of its comprehensive plan would spend time explaining what that term does not include, as well as what it does.
City Manager Joe Gerrity said that since most of the initial effort would be concentrated at the airport, he would use money previously dedicated to funding the airport manager position for this effort. Gerrity intends to manage the airport himself for now. Rieck in response to a question from Filkoff said that he is asking all county municipalities to step up their contributions to Nassau Tomorrow. Currently Fernandina Beach only provides $750 annually while Hilliard and Callahan currently contribute more.
Mayor Filkoff asked the commissioners if they saw value to the NCEDB initiative, and they all responded in the affirmative. She then asked if they were agreeable to having the requested funding come from the airport budget, and they again agreed.
The audiovisual presentation did not work properly during the presentation, but it can be viewed on the Nassau Tomorrow website .
July 12, 2012
7:11 a.m.