SPOTLIGHT
Residents of Moncrief Springs, a historically Black neighborhood in Jacksonville, used to have to travel up to five miles to find fresh produce. Today, fruit and veggies are within closer reach at a farmer’s market operated by Eartha’s Farm & Market, a 10.5-acre urban farm established more than a decade ago by the non-profit Clara White Mission.
Eartha’s Farm & Market, which launched last November, is open every Saturday selling fresh produce, local meat, honey, juice and handcrafted goods. An average of 10 vendors show up each weekend, with that number increasing to 15 or 20 vendors for special events.
The market accepts SNAP EBT and can double those benefits through the USDA-funded Fresh Access Bucks Program. The venue attracts about 120 customers weekly, with 45% of them returning each week. Ju’Coby Pittman, executive director of the Clara White Mission and a Jacksonville city councilwoman, says interest in the market is growing.
Eartha’s also operates an apiary, a community garden and a greenhouse and provides job training through its 15-week culinary arts program. Job training options will expand this summer to help train military veterans to become farmers. Veterans and their families will get stipends to learn farming. Eartha’s will provide them with land to farm after they finish the apprenticeship, Pittman says. The training program is in partnership with the non-profit North-South Institute.
Eartha’s receives funding from the USDA and the city of Jacksonville.
CONSERVATION
- A cave system connected to Manatee Springs State Park in Chiefland is now owned publicly after it was acquired by Alachua Conservation Trust. ACT transferred the 288 acres in Levy County to the state of Florida earlier this year. The acreage includes sinkholes that connect to one of Florida’s largest known cave systems.
HEALTH CARE
- HCA Florida North Florida Hospital of Gainesville has named Mark Amox as its COO. Amox was previously president and CEO at Unity Health in Searcy, Ark. Amox has worked in the past as a hospital administrator with UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital and psychiatric and rehab hospitals in Gainesville.
- Chirag Patel was named chief medical officer for UF Health Jacksonville. The hospitalist has worked at UF Health Jacksonville since 2019 and became assistant chief medical officer in 2020. His predecessor, David Vukich, retired in January.
MUSEUMS
- St. Augustine is now home to a Disease Vector Education Center and Science Museum that includes exhibits on mosquitoes and other pests. It also includes a flight simulator to mimic mosquito control helicopters as well as bug displays. The center, which cost an estimated $4.5 million, is operated by the Anastasia Mosquito Control District.
RETAIL
- Publix is slated to open a 369,780-sq.-ft. frozen foods warehouse in Jacksonville by 2027 that will bring an estimated 150 jobs to the area. It will serve Publix locations in Central and North Florida as well as southern Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
- ALDI has completed its acquisition of Jacksonville’s Southeastern Grocers, which includes Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets. By the end of 2028, ALDI plans to add 800 more stores around the U.S. between store openings and store conversions. An estimated 50 stores will begin the conversion process the latter half of this year, with most of them reopening as ALDI stores by 2025.
BANKING
- VyStar Credit Union of Jacksonville has completed its acquisition of 121 Financial Credit Union, which is now operating as a division of VyStar. In the fall, all 121 Financial accounts will be converted to VyStar accounts. 121 Financial has an estimated 50,000 members and $709 million in assets.
- Boris Ayala was named North Florida retail market president for TD Bank, a position that has him overseeing business development and TD Bank’s 500-plus employees and 72 locations in the region. He was previously a senior vice president in North Florida for Fifth Third Bank.
SPORTS
- The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, a minor league baseball team that feeds the Miami Marlins, plans a $31.8-million renovation of its 121 Financial Ballpark to meet Major League Baseball standards. The renovations will take place over six to 12 months.
- Jacksonville Armada FC will partner with Jacksonville University to use its Southern Oak Stadium for the 2024 National Premier Soccer League and Women’s Premier Soccer League regular season games as it develops a stadium.
RAILROADS
- Norfolk Southern of Atlanta and Florida East Coast Railway of Jacksonville have expanded domestic interline services. Their Florida Express service opens up a two-way transportation option for customers moving goods from South Florida to Charlotte, N.C. Currently used by Crowley of Jacksonville to move textile goods, the Florida Express service will help move produce, poultry and other agricultural commodities in the future.
CRIME
- A pilot was arrested in Marion County for an alleged airplane fuel pricing scam to embezzle an estimated $785,000 from a company owned by actor John Travolta. Jean Paul Lacruz Romero was arrested, while a second pilot, Jorden Coursey, was still at large. Travolta lives in Jumbolair Aviation Estates in Ocala, and his company, Constellation Productions, is also based there.
NATURE
- The City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and Groundwork Jacksonville have received a $147-million federal grant to build five segments of the Emerald Trail, a 30-mile multiuse trail connecting 14 neighborhoods in Jacksonville. It is the largest one-time federal grant ever received by the city. Forty percent of the trail is currently complete or under construction.
NON-PROFITS
- CSX has made a $10-million contribution to the Museum of Science & History under construction in downtown Jacksonville.
- The Community Foundation of Northeast Florida has received a $61-million gift from Jacksonville philanthropist Delores Barr Weaver. It’s the largest gift in the foundation’s 60 years. The funds will be distributed to various non-profits.
TRANSPORTATION
- JAXPORT and Carnival Cruise Line have agreed to continue Carnival’s cruise service in Jacksonville through 2026, with an option to extend it through 2030. The agreement covers the 2,697-passenger Carnival Elation, which sails from JAXPORT’s North Jacksonville Cruise Terminal to the Bahamas.