As a refresher for myself, I’m hitting the replay button on TIGER, burning bright (July 22nd) for a moment —  JaxPort CEO Paul Anderson said, “the port authority has not finalized details for its application but it will likely involve funding of an on-dock rail connection for Dames Point.” [Florida Times-Union]  As noted in The SunRail Effect (July 12th), CSX Corp. committed $40 million for a rail link to the port subject to the construction of an Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF).”

Fast Forward to this past Monday:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 31, 2011 – PRNewswire-USNewswire – Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) today announced its application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for $25 million from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant for the construction of a $45 million Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) at the Dames Point Marine Terminal. The balance of the funding – $20 million – would come from the State of Florida.

The U.S. DOT plans to award the TIGER Grants in early 2012. The JAXPORT ICTF has a target completion date at the end of 2014, contingent upon the awarding of funds.

Proposed area map, David Bauerlein, Graphic by Kyle Bentle FTU

BASICALLY, what’s transpiring here was neatly summarized yesterday by the Florida Times-Union.  Thank you very much, David Bauerlein. 

The Jacksonville Port Authority said Monday it reeled off another record-setting year for cargo containers, breaking through the 900,000 container mark. The TraPac terminal that opened in 2009 near the Dames Point bridge helped drive the record-setting year by accounting for about 150,000 containers.

However, TraPac is operating at just 15 percent of its capacity of 1 million containers per year, leaving the port far short of its potential while it falls farther behind Savannah, Ga., the busiest port in the Southeast. To help gain more business, JaxPort is joining forces with Mayor Alvin Brown, state lawmakers and CSX in pursuing a $25 million grant for a hub where cargo containers would be transferred between freight trains and ships.

Officials said the state has agreed to put $20 million toward the railroad yard, which would complete the financing needed for construction of the railroad yard, known as an intermodal container transfer facility.

TraPac Container Terminal - March 2009 image JaxPort

Meanwhile:

Mayor Alvin Brown was appointed chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Metro Exports and Ports Task Force on Oct. 4th. The task force gives Mayor Brown a national voice regarding port development and global trade. The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more.

He has met with a number of high-ranking officials, including U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the Congressional Delegation – Rep. Corrine Brown, Rep. Ander Crenshaw, Rep. John Mica, Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, as well as Gov. Rick Scott and the Duval Legislative Delegation, to discuss ways to enhance the port’s potential.

 Rep. Mica said, ”Being appointed to chair the Metro Exports and Ports Task Force, Mayor Alvin Brown will bring a great perspective to the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ economic development efforts. The mayor is well suited to lead this panel with Jacksonville’s leading position on exports and ports,”  in a City of Jacksonville press release.

From left: Ted Henderson, CEVA Logistics; Kathy Wilkins, Alliance Operating Services; Deborah Lofberg, JaxPort ; Donnie Barnes, Barnes Consulting, Scott Taylor, Miller and Co.; Steve Boecking, Hillwood Properties. Photo via Jaxport

At the risk of being called a ‘name-dropper’, I’ll list the experts on the agenda and their presentation topic:

• Scott Taylor, Esq.,  Miller and Co. (Kansas City, Mo.)  FTZ Overview: Legal Definitions; Federal Regulations; Compliance and Oversight; Alternative Site Framework

• Kathy Wilkins, V.P., Alliance Operating Services (Southlake, Texas) FTZ Benefits: Cost-Benefits Analysis

• Ted Henderson, Senior V.P., CEVA Logistics (Houston, Texas) FTZ in the Logistics Industry.

• Donnie Barnes, V.P. & CEO, Barnes Consulting LLC (Moore, S.C.) FTZ Case Study: Manufacturing in FTZ’s.

• Steve Boecking, V.P., Hillwood Properties (Forth Worth, Texas) FTZ as Regional Economic Drivers

Raul Alfonso [JaxPort's Sr. Director, Marketing and Global Trade] opened the workshop with a welcome and JaxPort overview.  He presented the “Regional Strategy for Jacksonville’s Global Gateway” building on JaxPort as the anchor for the newly designated nine-county FTZ customs district of NorthEast Florida.

Norfolk Southern, Jacksonville Drawbridge PHOTO: Echlok Aug 3rd, 2011

The “Global Gateway”  is a diversified cargo distribution network well-positioned to compete with the ports at Savannah and Charleston.  Let’s start with …

• Truck transit: 60 percent of the U.S. population can be reached from Jacksonville (America’s Logistics Center) within 24-hours.  

• Intermodal: Over 36 daily trains connect JaxPort to the U.S. market via CSX, Norfolk Southern Rail and Florida East Coast.

• Expanding distribution centers: There is abundant square footage available for company expansion in the region’s many industrial parks.

Each of the counties in the FTZ customs region will establish a “magnet”  site.  AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center, has the designation for Duval county.

Steve Boecking  of Hillwood Properties gave an overview of AllianceTexas.  The “economic engine to North Texas” is huge. Over 22 years after the property began development, it now employs 30,000 on 17,000 acres with a $38.5 billion economic impact. Over 50 Fortune 500 (and such) companies have invested $7.3 billion in AllianceTexas.

And this wraps up the FTZ workshop. The Global Gateway is on track to becoming an economic engine in Northeast Florida!

Alliance Florida at Cecil Commerce Ctr.

A selling point for Jacksonville and Northeast Florida is its inter-modal logistics capabilities. For the city of Jacksonville specifically, the 17,000-acre multi-use Cecil Commerce Center property is its primary long-term economic development asset. Within it, the Jacksonville Airport Authority owns 6,000 acres with the third longest runway in Florida.  Hillwood Investment Properties is the master developer for 4,475 (industrial and commercial-zoned) acres named Alliance Florida at Cecil Commerce Center.  

As noted in the 2010 overview, A Farnborough International Airshow landing, Boeing (already a Cecil tenant) had considered Cecil as an assembly location for its 787 Dreamliner, but the company’s final choice was North Charleston, S.C.

[This is a bit of editorializing on my own part, but I approve of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's investigation into the National Labor Relation Board's decision-making process in its lawsuit against Boeing for choosing a right-to-work state to set up shop.  I'm not going any further with this other than to wonder what would have happened if Boeing chose Cecil instead.]

Foreign Trade Zone

In Florida Trend magazine’s July issue was a great piece, Streamlining the Foreign Trade Zone Program, on JaxPort’s Free Trade Zone updated status as of May.  Alliance Florida now has the added feature of FTZ designation in its marketing portfolio.

JaxPort, which previously administered an FTZ that covered 1,400 acres at its terminals, worked with the U.S. Department of Commerce to create the new FTZ for its entire customs district, which includes Duval, Nassau, St. Johns, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Union, Columbia and a slice of Putnam County.

AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center has been named magnet site for Duval. Developer Hillwood Investment Properties already offered the incentive at its AllianceTexas and AllianceCalifornia projects; the former has become the top FTZ in the United States in the value of foreign goods.

Saft America 

Beyond the Foreign Trade Zone at Alliance Florida, are the 20 or so companies considering Jacksonville and Northeast Florida for business operations. At the 2009 International Paris Air Show, the city of Jacksonville met with the Saft Group, who ultimately chose Cecil Commerce Center for its lithium-ion batteries manufacturing plant this past March.  Saft is the world’s leading designer, developer and manufacturer of advanced technology batteries for industrial and defence applications. Saft America’s corporate headquarters is in Valdosta, Ga. Its parent company is based  just outside the city limits of Paris, France.

This is a  (kind of cool) off-the-cuff video of Saft Group CEO John Searle at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon explaining why the company chose Jacksonville for its plant:  John Searle Saft Group.

Production began in July September 16th is the grand opening for the $200 million facility.  According to the Dept. of Energy, “Saft was awarded $95.5 million in Recovery Act funds and $20.2 million in financial incentives from Jacksonville and the state.”

Workers check the production of lithium ion automotive batteries in the Johnson Controls - Saft Advanced Power Solutions' factory in Nersac, southwestern France.

I’m not sure which companies were approached at the 2011 show, but I am sure I won’t be told for competitive reasons. I have to follow-up on Farnborough, and there’s still much more at Cecil Commerce in need of exploration.

US DOT Secretary LaHood and Jacksonville Mayor Brown met the media at the TraPac Container Terminal at JAXPORT's Dames Point Marine Terminal. photo courtesy JaxPort

……………………………………………

Florida Governor Rick Scott and Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown celebrated the grand opening of the Keystone Port Terminals off Talleyrand today.  Its the latest addition to increase Jacksonville’s presence as “America’s Logistic Center.”

The brand new 100-million dollar, 110-acre Keystone Terminal off Talleyrand is expected to generate 200 jobs.  Coal, scrap metal, wood pellets and other bulk materials will be handled here from ships at three births.

“There will be manufacturing plants of biomass or wood pellets that will be out in the areas.  Each one of those plants will create so many jobs at the line plant.  In turn, those pellets and other materials will be shipped of of the Keystone terminal,” says Keystone CEO Tom Scholl.

Mayor Alvin Brown, (center) Gov. Rick Scott (right) at Keystone Terminal grand opening. Photo: City of Jacksonville

………………………………………………….

AUGUST 12 UPDATE: Army Corps of Engineers finishes draft report on Mile Point project in St. Johns River [Florida Times-Union]

 

 

Next on deck:  The Foreign Trade Zone at JaxPort

That said, Mica’s long sought after SunRail commuter rail system for Central Florida was approved on July 1st by Gov. Rick Scott for full funding ($1.2 billion) from the Federal Transit Administration. This set off a  chain of events  to positively effect both Jaxport and Jacksonville-based CSX Corp.

The New York Times published an uncomplimentary piece, though, on the SunRail project a few days before Gov. Scott approved the funding, labeling it a “boondoggle” for Rep. Mica.

But skeptics question whether Mr. Mica’s real goal is to give a taxpayer-financed gift to CSX, the freight rail giant and a generous Mica campaign donor, which would get $432 million for its tracks and for upgrades to tracks it owns elsewhere in the state. Other Florida businesses close to Mr. Mica also stand to benefit if the project is built.  – Eric Lipton, NYT

The NYT was kind enough, however, to include a 26-page overview on the scope of the commuter rail project: John L. Mica: Working the Railroad. It documents an FTA  letter of support (page 22) for the commuter rail project:

The Obama administration, which is more supportive of commuter rail, had become a supporter of the project as well, as the letter from Peter M. Rogoff, head of the Federal Transit Administration, shows. — NYT

A rail line through Orlando, Fla., would be used for the SunRail commuter train "championed" by Rep. John L. Mica. Photo: Todd Anderson for NYT

What will happen, in actuality, is that the state of Florida purchases the 61-miles of track for SunRail from CSX for $432 million. CSX moves its freight terminal operations out of Orlando inland to a 318-acre intermodal terminal it plans to build in Winter Haven. CSX will also upgrade its track infrastructure within the state. The company has also committed $40 million to Jaxport to build a new railroad link in Nassau County which would reduce the heavy port-related truck traffic on Heckscher Drive (to Interstate freeway access.)

“CSX has committed to invest up to $40 million of the proceeds from SunRail in rail infrastructure connecting to the Port of Jacksonville, subject to an on-dock rail facility being constructed by Jaxport and intermodal cargo sufficient to fill two trains per day,” CSX company spokesman Gary Sease said. [Orlando Business Journal]

The Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) is a priority for the port to accommodate the significant volume increase expected within the next few years, said Nancy Rubin, director of communications at Jaxport.

We are committed to an ICTF and are in the initial stages of development. — Rubin

(Updates as updates arrive …)