Jacksonville’s transformation looks to advance with the investment of $40 million toward four key projects. William Studebaker joins us to talk about the first fund closed from First Coast Real Estate Partners, and the impact on development. The private equity firm launched the fund with Jacksonville’s Corner Lot to underwrite four projects: The Avion, Corner on Main, Artea at Southbank, and Flagler Crossing Phase II.

Bottom line: downtown Jacksonville is “under construction.” That’s the word from Lori Boyer, CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority. She says that’s also vital to the health and vibrancy of the city as a whole. “We have a really excellent suburban lifestyle that we can sell to a new college graduate or to someone relocating from some other state,” Boyer says. “We have a great beach environment and lifestyle.

Downtown Jacksonville is a key element of growth in the city. Jake Gordon is one of the leaders in the effort to improve and promote downtown for living, working, and playing, and he is our guest on This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition. Broadly speaking, Downtown Vision, Inc. is the non-profit that works with property owners in a three-mile area to “make downtown better.”

Florida isn’t just a leader in the United States of America. Florida‘s economy is on par with Spain, 15th largest in the world. The goal is to grow GDP from $1.6 trillion (last year) to about $2.24 trillion. That would make it 10th in the world. Florida Chamber of Commerce president Mark Wilson is our guest in this episode of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition.

Jacksonville continues advancing as a region full of innovative technology companies. One of those is duos technology group, led by CEO Chuck Ferry. Ferry joins us on our episode this week, along with Doug Recker. Recker has just been appointed president of duos edge. Ferry says duos tech has about 75 employees, and is headquartered in Jacksonville. Ferry says the product sits on a set of railroad tracks, but it's got machine vision cameras, lighting lasers and speed sensors. It takes images topside and bottom of a speeding train at 70 miles an hour plus and then creates those images so they can be viewed on a computer screen.

It took almost a year to come together, but the city of Jacksonville and the Jaguars have an agreement to renovate the football stadium downtown. What happened behind the scenes, and who comes out on the better end of a $1.4 billion deal? Experts with decades of experience answer those questions in this week’s episode. It’s all about the so-called Stadium of the Future, and the financing of the largest public/private partnership in Duval County history.

Incredible talents and skills, and a tricky spot in life. Women veterans are a key to local businesses, and this week we’re focusing on how they make the transition to civilian life. Dee Quaranta is the founder, CEO, president of Northeast Florida Women's Veterans. She also retired after 20 years in the United States Air Force. Her organization honors her colleagues and compatriots during the 10th annual Women Veterans Recognition Week.

Artificial intelligence is the hot topic of the year. The rapid evolution of AI clashes with some assumptions, including the thought that real humans may not be needed for problem-solving. This episode of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition attacked that notion through a conversation with a recognized thought leader in product development and strategy. “I think the big headline for me is that it’s here, it’s time to lean in and start to learn about what artificial intelligence or large language models can actually do for you,” Gib Olander said.

Where do people turn for the next step in employee satisfaction? It may be working for themselves and controlling your assignments. On this edition of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition, we’re discussing the economy of freelance with Shannon Denton of Wripple. “A lot of people, they talk about the gig economy,” Denton said. “Which was about Uber drivers, maybe DoorDashers, consumers that found work where they could very flexible work options, where they could make extra money. And I think the freelance economy, though, is really more white collar.” The Freelance Economy, Denton said, provides people with a specific skill set to leverage those abilities into additional opportunities in corporate America.

Solar energy is cost-effective and less cluttered, according to Florida Power and Light (FPL). On this week’s episode, Marshall Hastings from FPL joins This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition to talk about the latest technical advances in the industry. We’re also exploring a new trend, where utility companies offer customers the chance to participate in solar energy programs without installing solar panels. The voluntary subscription program is called Solar Together. The energy comes from a Florida solar farm. Customers can choose a plan based on how much energy they want and then get credits.

The Phoenix. Greek mythology created it, “a mythical bird known for its ability to be reborn from its ashes, symbolizing immortality and renewal.” Renewal and regeneration are huge when it comes to the efforts Tony Cho is making in the Springfield area community known as the Phoenix Arts and Innovation District. The also project weaves into the vision for the Emerald Trail. Cho explains more of the philosophy for developing during this episode of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition.

Habitat for Humanity has chapters all over the world. This week, the Beaches Habitat hosts the 5th annual Beaches Habitat CEO Build to bring business leaders together in service. CEO and President Steve Gilbert said the event will look a little different than in years past, but the home rebuild they have scheduled will still accomplish the main purpose of the organization: building a better future for people through affordable housing and financial stability. The CEO Build is something Gilbert seems excited about.

A transportation hub on the path to growth and greater significance. That’s Jacksonville in the view of industry experts. The Port of Jacksonville (JAXPORT) is central to the story. Years of planning, dredging, selling and service are paying off. “I think Jacksonville is definitely a transportation hub, but I think Jacksonville has been smart and it’s been trying to be more of that hub for a long time,” Julia Holden Davis says. She is an attorney with Gunster, specializing in transportation and construction.

The headline of the news release: “Major Small Business Announcement." The details include $500,000 in grants becoming available to Northeast Florida entrepreneurs. On This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition, we’re focused on Comcast RISE. “Rise is our Small business grant program,” Michelle Oyola McGovern says. McGovern is Vice President of Government Affairs, Comcast Florida. “We focus on small businesses in the Jacksonville community. It's a grant process where we select 100 grant recipients to receive all kinds of monetary and support services for their small business in order to help them grow and expand. (It) includes things like a commercial, like an ad and some also some training.”

Autonomous vehicles are on the way – with Jacksonville in the spotlight. FSCJ launched a driverless vehicle to shuttle students on campus. The makers of the technology have a local connection – that Kent Justice uncovers during the newest episode of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition. Joy Moye is from a Navy family that served at Mayport and then stayed in town. Now, Moye runs “beep” – the company behind the autonomous vehicles used by JTA.

There seems to finally be momentum with development in downtown Jacksonville. It doesn’t happen overnight, obviously. This week, we’re looking at some of the collaboration between Corner Lot and JWB Real Estate Capital in a conversation with the companies’ CEOs.  Alex Sifakis runs JWB, and Andy Allen oversees Corner Lot. They both say they are leading the cheers, and leading the charge for a vibrant downtown.

MOCA Jacksonville exclaims, “Bringing education, creativity, and community to the heart of downtown Jacksonville.” The Museum of Contemporary Art is also bringing a birthday party to the River City, celebrating 100 years.

In the middle of National Women’s History month, Jacksonville showed its acumen on the topic by hosting a group of female Asian leaders. Two members of the delegation from Armenia join me for this week’s episode of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition.

In our episode of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition, we’re diving into a new effort by Scenic Jacksonville to showcase the potential and opportunity in Arlington. Our guests are Michael Kirwan, board president of Scenic Jacksonville, an advocacy organization dedicated to the improvement of scenic beauty and character of Jacksonville, and Steve Matchett, director of Old Arlington Inc. a neighborhood association focused on Arlington's history, economic development, and neighborhood revitalization.

It’s a Ponte Vedra specialty that impacts so much of Northeast Florida. Golf’s “Fifth Major” is celebrating it’s 50th edition as The Players Championship tees off on Thursday morning. Executive director Lee Smith joins This Week in Jacksonville Business Edition to talk about the tournament.