Gabel rallying for port, international trade

[fieldafm]

Gabel makes some great points in this article.  One thing disconcerning... more talk about a sales tax increase solely dedicated to port expansion.  I'm sorry, but the state/federal government and private businesses should be funding the majority of international trade infrastructure improvements... not Duval County taxpayers.

I learned some interesting things about the ineptness of the business development apparatus at the Port this week.  It seems clear that now more than ever that a direct report in the Mayor's office is going to be critical for port expansion.

From the Daily Record:
http://jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=532765

Lawyer George Gabel is back, again, to chair the international efforts of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“Again” means his seventh time, and possibly his most important.

“There is going to be tremendous change in the logistics field in Jacksonville and it is going to make Jacksonville much more important in shipping and all the jobs connected with that,” said Gabel.

It’s a critical year for international business in Jacksonville, specifically for the port. In brief, City and industry leaders have said more than $2 billion in port and road improvements are needed to prepare for global shipping after the Panama Canal expansion is completed in 2014, as well as for other opportunities.

That expansion means much larger ships from Asia can travel much more easily to the East Coast through the canal rather than having to dock on the West Coast and ship goods cross-country by train or truck.

Jacksonville already has one major Asian shipping operation, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, operating at the Dames Point Marine Terminal and another, Hanjin, on the way.

However, the Panama Canal expansion also means Jacksonville needs to deepen the St. Johns River, an expensive and time-sensitive endeavor, to accommodate those ships.

“We have an opportunity now that may not be available again to us for another 40 to 50 years, if ever,” said Gabel in a recent interview.

“In the days ahead, it may be there are only a couple of ports on the East Coast and West Coast” that can accommodate the larger ships, he said.

“If we miss out, we might not get our share,” he said.

Jacksonville also wants to fix what’s called the Mile Point problem along the St. Johns River, where it crosses the Intracoastal Waterway, creating tidal issues that limit the times that ships can pass through. That issue is considered close to being solved.

Gabel said his three primary goals this year are to help the Jacksonville Port Authority find funds to deepen the river channel; to help develop a plan for ondock rail and intermodal service at the Dames Point Terminal so that containers can be loaded from ships directly onto rail service for delivery; and to review ideas to improve the road system around the port, especially the new shipping terminals at Dames Point.

“About 1,000 trucks a day are leaving the port now. When they are done, it’s estimated at 8,000 a day,” he said.

In addition to those goals, Gabel wants the chamber to continue working on recruiting international business to Jacksonville, which also ties in with Gabel’s new role as a member of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. Gabel said the mayor appointed him to the JEDC because of his international emphasis.

“When I first started in this position six years ago, about 10 percent of the companies interested in setting up an operation in Jacksonville were international,” said Gabel.

The percentage of qualified international leads is now about 40 percent, he said.

“I think the Super Bowl helped and the Jaguars have helped,” said Gabel of the 2005 Super Bowl game in Jacksonville and the NFL team that started playing in Jacksonville in 1995.

“When people come here, they find a sophisticated business community with Southern hospitality, and people like it when they come to Jacksonville,” he said.

Gabel, a partner with Holland & Knight in Jacksonville, has been working with international advocacy groups to raise awareness and opportunities.

There’s the chamber’s international committee, the North Florida Logistics Advisory Group and the Jacksonville International Business Coalition.

The coalition is an independent international business development effort between the JEDC and the chamber’s Cornerstone Regional Development Partnership.

The 15-person group was created to include the City Council president; the chairs of the chamber and the JEDC; and the executive directors of the JPA, JEDC, Jacksonville Aviation Authority, First Coast Manufacturers Association and Cornerstone. Remaining members are appointed by the mayor and chamber chair. Gabel is a member and helps to set the agenda.

The Logistics Advisory Group, which Gabel organized in 2009 and leads, includes representatives from industries, the military and other groups associated with international trade, as well as City, port and other officials. It also includes decisionmakers from other counties.

Gabel said the international business coalition and the chamber’s international committee each meet quarterly. The Logistics Advisory Group, formed just a year and a half ago, meets six or seven times a year, he said.

“One of my strengths is to get people together,” said Gabel. “People seem to want to work together and make this happen in Jacksonville.”

Funding is a key element in reaching Jacksonville’s international potential, he said. One way to secure federal funding is to have a regional plan.

Gabel said that while individual agencies, departments and authorities have their own plans, there isn’t a comprehensive regional plan.

“When the JPA goes to Washington and asks for money, it’s just the port asking. We need the whole community asking for it,” he said.

To that end, Gabel said the JPA, the City, Cornerstone and the North Florida Regional Transportation Organization are splitting the cost for a comprehensive “North Florida Freight, Logistics and Intermodal Plan.”

A summary from the Logistics Advisory Group’s Nov. 4 meeting shows that Jacksonville-based Reynolds, Smith & Hills was commissioned to develop the plan.

The first phase of the study should be completed this summer. An RS&H executive said freight was one of the most critical elements to link the region to the global economy.

“Our common goal should be to position Northeast Florida as a globally significant freight, logistics and intermodal hub,” said the meeting summary.

“For that purpose, we will need a comprehensive regional plan that provides the essential facts to support our identified capital infrastructure needs and is built upon strong community support.”

Gabel said Jacksonville’s port is competing with Savannah and Charleston and other ports for harbor-deepening funds.

He said that there are other funding sources and assistance, including the federal funds paying for deepening the channel at the mouth of the St. Johns River for Mayport Naval Station to support a nuclear aircraft carrier.

He said the military also might need to dredge into the St. Johns River to clean the slip for the U.S. Marine Corps at Blount Island.

Gabel said he also is hopeful that Gov. Rick Scott “will see the business value of focusing on Jacksonville” as an international port, considering other Florida ports are considered to be regional ports serving their areas rather than, like Jacksonville, serving the Southeast U.S. or beyond. Some of those Florida ports also might be running out of expansion space, he said.

There’s also funding advocacy from the manufacturers association, whose executive director, Lad Daniels, wants to build a case for a tax to support port expansion.

“I would support that,” said Gabel. “For every dollar invested in our port here we would bring in $8 in value in jobs and economic benefit.”

However, he realizes it’s a tough economic time to talk taxes.

“It would be premature to do that now because I don’t think people appreciate the value of what the port brings. A lot more education would be needed,” he said.

But he is encouraged that voters might ultimately support a tax.

Gabel also urges the new mayor, to be elected this spring, to be willing to travel on international economic development trips because they carry weight with foreign officials who might do business with U.S. entities.

“Outside of the country, particularly in the Far East, a government official is very important,” said Gabel.

“It is very important to have a government official (travel on recruitment trips) and our community needs to understand that and appreciate that and encourage that,” he said.

[Coolyfett]

Duval should pay for it, being that it helps Jacksonville the most. I dont see this happening for Jax though. What he said about the Superbowl & Jaguars is interesting.

[fieldafm]

Duval should pay for it, being that it helps Jacksonville the most

Thats very easy to say when you are not the one facing a possible tax increase that benefits a very narrow portion of Jacksonville and does nothing to address much more pressing quality of life issues in the city.

The port took in a little more than 50 million in revenue last year.  Each of the three Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Jacksonville took in more than that in one quarter.  Would you also support a sales tax increase to fund building expansion on the Fidelity campus so they could add 500 jobs to the labor pool here?  I wouldn't.

Goods coming through Jaxport travel on to various end points throughout the country.  The port is an entry point, not a destination.  The economic impact of goods passing through the port go FAR BEYOND Jacksonville.  International trade is not a zero sum game, and as such the state and federal funding apparatus needs to play a tremendous part in port expansion.

Atlanta, where you live, is a major destination of goods coming through the port.  So, should Duval taxpayers be the primary funding mechanism for the economic benefit of Atlanta?

[simms3]

I would be against increasing any taxes just for the port, but Jacksonville has such low property taxes, school taxes, and sales tax that it shows.  We could increase sales tax to 7.5%, property to about 12 mil, school taxes to about 10 mil, and I bet we would see a difference and we would be more able to fund projects such as port expansion (with most of the funding still coming from the feds of course), rail transit projects (with most of the funds still coming from the feds of course), and other needed projects.

Here in Atlanta our sales tax is 8% and our ad valorem taxes add up to 44 mil.  Jacksonville is at about 7% and 16.8547 mil (property and school).  Jacksonville also does not have an state income tax and only has a couple CIDs that levy higher community taxes.  Basically, Jax taxes are soooooooooo low!!!  They could stand to be raised a little to get some stuff done.  One would think that with our low tax rate we would see 30-40% growth per decade (like other, higher taxed areas).  Unfortunately, it's our lack of super high quality of life here and stagnant economy that keeps our growth in check even with our low taxes.  If we increased sales tax to 7.5%, we would still be a full 2.5% cheaper than Birmingham, AL.  If we increased our ad valorem taxes to at least 20 mil, we would still be cheaper than almost anywhere in the country.  Just saying.

[Ocklawaha]

I would say there is a point being missed by both of you.  True the port is a point of entry and it's hard to understand how a 10 container shipment of new Sanyo TV sets for the midwest, does anything for Jacksonville residents, except pay the guy that ties up the boat.

Consider you are Mr. Sanyo, and you HAVE been shipping TV sets through Charleston, New York, Portland, Vancouver, and Long Beach for 30 years. Your shipping expert hears good words about Jacksonville and sends 10 containers across our dock to test the waters. If we have the infrastructure, rail sidings, bulkheads, seawalls, navigation channels and lights, pilots etc. to do this quicker, with less damage, at a better price then our competition IT GETS NOTICED.

Big Deal! right? Wrong! Sanyo opens a warehouse in north Jacksonville that employs 175 people and covers 6 acres under one roof. THERE'S YOUR TAX REFUND ON STEROIDS!

OCKLAWAHA

[simms3]

^^^^Yes.  Exactly.  I believe the Port is responsible in some way for the employment of roughly 65,000 jobs, mostly on the First Coast.  JM Family Enterprises has a huge operation here because of the Port.