Site Selector Newsletter - Fall 2011
Medtronic Expanding Surgical Technologies Division
Medtronic, the City of Jacksonville and the State of Florida finalized an expansion that will add 175 new high-wage jobs and $14 million in capital investment in a new research and development and manufacturing facility. The company is constructing a 75,000 square-foot building to expand R&D and manufacturing for its surgical technologies division, which is headquartered in Jacksonville. As part of the expansion, Medtronic is also building a training lab for physicians to test the new equipment.
Medtronic is a medical technology company that acquired Jacksonville-based Xomed Surgical Products Inc. in 1999 and has since grown to 600 people.
Governor Picks Gray Swoope to Reignite Florida’s Economic Development Efforts
In a win for Florida, Gov. Rick Scott selected Gray Swoope as the new Secretary of Commerce and head of Enterprise Florida. Swoope hit the ground running in early 2011 and has made sure companies, consultants and industry leaders know that the state is open for business. He is committed to aggressively promoting economic development and the retention and expansion of companies across Florida.
Gray has made several key changes in the last few months including streamlined approvals for state incentives, which can now be accomplished within a few weeks. There is also proposed legislation to create a SEED fund, which offers more flexibility by combining economic development programs into one budget that can be used at the discretion of the state.
Stay tuned. There are lots of positive changes happening in our state that will help drive Northeast Florida’s economic efforts in the future.
Jacksonville Announces 2,250 New Jobs This Year, with an Additional 1,000 in the Works
Even though the national economy is still in the early stages of recovery, the Jacksonville regional economy is showing forward momentum. We are seeing a positive impact from the creation of more than 3,000 new jobs this year. This number includes several projects that are pending final approval of state and local incentives. In total there are 16 projects that have created an average of almost 200 jobs per project.
Here is a list of some of the projects that have been announced:
- NorthgateArinso, corporate headquarters – 30 new jobs
- Saft America, corporate headquarters – 7 new jobs
- PLS Logistics Services, IT operations – 100 new jobs
- C2C, IT operations – 55 new jobs
- Kaman Aerospace Corporation, manufacturing – 200 new jobs
- EverBank, financial services – 200 new jobs
- Keystone Port Terminals, logistics – 200 jobs
- Convergys, call center operations – 900 new jobs
- Medtronic, R&D and manufacturing – 175 new jobs
- International Armored Group, manufacturing – 100 new jobs
- Rise Health, insurance services – 70 new jobs
- KCI Aviation, aviation and serospace – 30 new jobs
New Business Rankings
- Bloomberg Business Week ranked Jacksonville 4th in its ranking of Cities With the Biggest Growth in Tech Jobs.
- The Princeton Review named University of North Florida’s Coggin College of Business on its list of the best business schools in the nation for the fifth consecutive year in a row.
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The JAXUSA Partnership is Jacksonville and Northeast Florida's regional economic development initiative. The Partnership works with the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, JEA, the regional county partners — Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns, WorkSource, JAXPORT, the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and almost 200 top private sector investor corporate entities in the Jacksonville area.
Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns Counties
3 Independent Drive • Jacksonville Fl 32202 • 904.366.6639
bizrelo@jacksonvillechamber.org • www.jaxusa.org
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