Michael Cavendish, a shareholder in Gunster’s Jacksonville law office, wrote a commentary about the launch of the area’s new Downtown Investment Authority, the result of a joint effort by Mayor Alvin Brown and the Jacksonville City Council. The commentary was published in the Jacksonville Business Journal on September 7.
Cavendish speaks of locals reclaiming economic development in the area, rather than relying on misguided federal efforts that, say, focus on industry over the specific needs of a particular region. As he says:
“Every community has natural business builders. They are people with a knack for placing an idea in the right place at the right time. Within Jacksonville, they are many in number and run along a wide continuum of industries — think Michael Ward of CSX or Matt Kenyon of Dana B. Kenyon Co. or restauranteurs such as Matthew Medure.
In contrast, across America, there are scores of folks in charge who for some reason never happen upon ideas that work. And sometimes these ill-starred influencers offer advice that fails to positively influence local economies.”
Read the entire commentary, Viewpoint: New DIA will make Northeast Florida go (Jacksonville Business Journal, September 7, 2012)
