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JAXUSA Partnership President Jerry Mallot to Retire

Jerry Mallot announced today that he will retire from his roles as President of JAXUSA Partnership and Executive Vice President of JAX Chamber. Mallot’s retirement is effective Sept. 1.

Mallot, 70, joined the Chamber in 1994, recruited to lead a regional economic development organization in Northeast Florida, known at the time as Cornerstone.

“This is truly the best city and region in the country to live and to do business – and that certainly helps when you’re bringing top companies to the region,” Mallot said.

Some of the biggest economic development deals in Mallot’s tenure include recruiting Fidelity National Financial in 2003 to move its headquarters to Jacksonville from California; attracting Deutsche Bank to create 1,000 jobs that have turned into more than 2,000 and luring four different Amazon facilities that will employ more than 5,000 people.

“Our economy is thriving and poised for even more growth because of the work Jerry and his team have done here for the past two decades,” said Jacksonville University President Tim Cost, who serves as chair of JAXUSA Partnership.

“The investment he’s helped attract to our city is remarkable,” said JAX Chamber Chair John Peyton, who served as Jacksonville’s mayor from 2003-11 and worked with Mallot on several high-profile projects. “Jerry is so incredibly skilled at finding ways to get a deal done, it’s been a privilege to work with him over the years.”

A local committee of current and past volunteer leaders of JAX Chamber and JAXUSA Partnership will work with a search firm to vet and interview candidates. Serving on the local committee are:

  • Tim Cost
  • John Peyton, President of GATE Petroleum
  • Daniel Davis, JAX Chamber President and CEO
  • Kelly Madden, Head of Commercial Banking for Florida for Wells Fargo, Past Chair of both JAX Chamber and JAXUSA Partnership
  • Darnell Smith, North Florida Market President for Florida Blue and Past Chair of JAX Chamber

Davis will begin a “Listening Tour” with JAXUSA Partnership investors and regional partners to hear qualities they think are important to the next president.

“You’re not going to be able to really replace a leader like Jerry Mallot – he’s done so much for our community,” Davis said. “We have talented, engaged investors and partners we will lean on as we make this important decision.”

The next JAXUSA President is expected to be hired this summer.

Mallot is regarded as one of the top economic developers in the country and has been named Economic Developer of the Year in both Florida and Kansas, where he worked for 17 years, the last four as president of the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce.

He is a past chair of Leadership Jacksonville and Community Connections of Jacksonville.

“It’s amazing to look around at different projects and see how far we’ve come,” Mallot said. “We have so much momentum here and I look forward to seeing it continue.”