Issue 47, November 20
What an incredible week. Our Tailgate last Sunday was PHENOMENAL!!! Talk about a well-organized event, Brandon Stanko did a great job planning, Scott “Scooter” Schilbrack brought his mixology skills to a new high with the assistance of Irene Trevino joining him behind the bar. Then Anne Urban blew us away with her company’s professional tailgate setup. As a club, we are blessed with resources that allow us to host these annual events, but her equipment out our 30×30 tent to shame. Many thanks to all of you who came out, I think we reset the bar this year for an SBMC tailgate, even though the game was less pleasing.
Wednesday Councilman Danny Becton visited our club, to talk about a recent bill of significance to our history. SBMC was instrumental in the naming of Philips Highway, but unfortunately inconsistencies in spelling have existed for years all over the Southside corridor. His bill rectifies that issue with an ordinance for the correction. The funding isn’t currently available to correct all the city signage, but he hopes for business owners to correct organically and eventually the city signage will be phased in over time.
Jax Chamber CEO Daniel Davis came out to talk about all the growth in Jacksonville. This year’s goal was to bring 3k new jobs, currently they’ve blown that goal out of the water having announced 5,500 jobs and another big announcement is waiting in the wings. He left the bulk of his time open for questions and an open discussion. Ernie Petzrick takes the prize of the best question of a speaker. For years, we’ve seen industries come and go in Jax, Insurance, Banking, and call centers were once focuses for economic development. Upon asking Daniel if there’s any clear direction as to “what we want to be” Daniel gave a very solid answer. He said he doesn’t see us focusing on any one industry as we’re better suited with many. Sure, we have a first-class medical system with Mayo and MD Anderson coming to town. Amazon and Top Golf are great new additions, but Daniel said he also wants us to continue focusing on logistic and manufacturing jobs. As a career banker, I can tell you, one of the first things I look at in a borrower is their client list, and any concentrations of business more than 10% upon which they’re reliant. Should one be lost it could be devastating if too high a concentration.
Consider if the Chamber was strictly focused upon making us the oncology hub of the southeast. Now think about the glorious day someone finds a cure for cancer, and the impact that would mean. Personally, I hope one day it’s something so obvious, like penicillin delivered in an oral or injectable form. As exciting as this will be, circle back to my scenario and think of the economic impact to all the jobs no longer necessary due to a miracle cure (I can only hope and pray).
This week is our “special” annual program where Jeanne Maron will hold a wine tasting at Wednesday’s
meeting! What a great excuse to come see your fellow members and begin your holiday early. On a weekly basis, she and Howard donate bottles of wine to our door prize auction that usually go for at least $15-$20. All the wines will be from her store which are known amongst our group to be great selections. I highly encourage you to bring guests, potential members or not, as this is always a fun and informative program. I’ll be in Pittsburgh for the first time in a few years for the holiday, so our leadership will be in the capable hands of our soon-to-be official 2017 President Julie Clements.
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