2025 Forecast
- HEALTH CARE
Stephen Motew
President and CEO, UF Health, Gainesville
WORKFORCE: “Attracting and retaining the most talented team members is a top priority. We have recently made several enhancements to our recruitment systems and processes to improve our candidate experience and to reach a much broader, qualified audience. Just as important is our focus on retaining our highly skilled and talented workforce. We know that competitive pay and benefits are essential. We’re also taking advantage of our system size to create opportunities for career mobility, nurture growth across our health system, and foster a culture that allows our employees to do their best work.”
BRIGHT SPOTS: “We continue to provide world-class outcomes by leveraging the strengths of our exceptional academic health system and translating research discoveries into the latest medical advances. With the creation of an integrated One UF Health system of clinical care, we bring excellence in medicine to broader communities across Northeast Florida. Specific highlights include community outreach with the creation of new sites of care, including locations in Ocala, East Gainesville and North Jacksonville, and in new ways — for example, through our UF Health Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit and the newly launched Mobile Cancer Screening Connector.”
CHANGES: “Navigating the complexities of payer (insurer) relationships across our region and industry remains a challenge. We continue to see substantial increases in the cost of supplies, technology, and talent, which strains our health system economics. We are actively focused on improving access to care, as the needs of our communities can exceed our capacity at times.”
TRANSPORTATION/PORTS
Eric Green
CEO, JaxPort, Jacksonville
PIPELINE: “Jacksonville has a strong workforce development pipeline for our industry. From high school and college programs focused on transportation and logistics to trade schools and commercial driving programs, our region provides many opportunities to prepare students for in-demand skills. The city’s military population also provides an additional source of talent. We are incredibly proud to say that about a quarter of JaxPort’s direct employees are military veterans representing all branches of service.”
PROJECTS: “In 2025, two major projects will come online to build on our position as Florida’s largest container port and one of the nation’s largest vehicle-handling ports. The first is Southeast Toyota Distributors’ new auto processing facility, which will provide additional space for Southeast Toyota to accommodate more vehicles. The second is the completion of the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal, which will expand capacity for containers at our deepwater terminal by 200%.”
NEW ALLIANCES: “We will have to adapt to container carrier alliance changes set to take effect in 2025. The musical chairs will result in new partners and new ship rotations. Most of the world’s freight moves on international container shipping lines broken into consortiums called alliances. Two of the industry’s three alliances are going to make changes next year, restructuring to form new alliances or stand-alone services. When the dust settles, JaxPort will have a more robust service network, with the ability to reach more global ports.”
BANKING
Scott Verlander
CEO, Claxton Bank, Jacksonville
WORKFORCE: “We hire for cultural fit first because of our common-sense, relationship-focused approach to banking. ... We seek bright and personable people who have customer service in their DNA.”
DIGITIZED CONVENIENCE: “Four years ago, we focused on digitizing all of our offerings and customer touchpoints. Today, we are looking at how AI and other technology trends impact our business. Despite those developments, our customers’ priorities remain constant. They care about the end benefit of digitization: as much convenience as possible, combined with ... a human touch.”
CHALLENGES: “Despite some recent market stabilization, we expect continued uncertainty around the macroeconomic environment, such as inflation and interest rate volatility, in the short term. These challenges have led individuals and businesses to think more deeply about their banking goals and needs, as well as how much they value a close relationship with their banker. These relationships are increasingly becoming less transactional and more consultative based on two-way communication.”
- CONSTRUCTION
Jim O’Leary
Chairman, CEO, and President, Haskell, Jacksonville
GROWTH: “Haskell has seen historic growth in recent years by adding and developing diverse talent while expanding our service offerings to better support clients. We are very intentional about investing in and nurturing a world-class culture of safety, learning, innovation and operational excellence.”
DIVERSIFICATION: “We have many reasons for optimism in 2025, including the best design and construction professionals in the industry, a strong book of business, solid backlog, a robust pipeline of prospective projects and a clear vision that is shared across the Haskell enterprise. We enjoy the advantages of working across 16 industry markets and dozens of geographies throughout the U.S., Latin America, the Asia-Pacific and Africa. Even as one sector might underperform, other sectors expand, allowing our diversified business to weather economic, political and other factors influencing industry.”
AI: “Technological innovation and the use of AI is making our industry better. Data informs best practices with respect to safety, quality, automation and efficiency. Predictive analytics enable us to mitigate risks and plan for better outcomes. Haskell has a dedicated innovation business unit with a team and budget, and this investment allows the discovery, piloting and implementation of new technologies.”
Business Briefs
ALACHUA COUNTY
- A team at UF Health is using the University of Florida’s HiPerGator supercomputer to create GatorMedImage, the largest medical imaging model of its kind. More than 10 million anonymized medical images are being used to train an AI system that will help physicians to better detect and diagnose conditions. The system will be built on X-ray, ultrasound, CT and other images used in radiology, cardiology, obstetrics and ophthalmology.
BRADFORD COUNTY
- Acorn Dental Clinic celebrated 50 years in 2024. The nonprofit group in Brooker provides dental care to residents in Alachua, Bradford, Union, and 26 surrounding counties in North Central Florida.
CLAY COUNTY
- Voters in Clay County supported the Clay County Land Conservation Referendum in the November election, which will increase property taxes by 0.2 mills to go toward land conservation efforts throughout the county.
COLUMBIA COUNTY
- Florida Gateway College has received a $1-million grant to upgrade and expand its welding technology instructional facilities. The funding comes from the Florida Department of Education’s Workforce Development Capitalization Incentive Program. With the funding, the welding facility will move to a larger on-campus site and get updated equipment. Facility renovations are slated to be ready by Fall 2026.
DUVAL COUNTY
- The University of North Florida broke ground on its $26.3-million Coggin College of Business expansion, adding 21,660 square feet of new space for labs, classrooms, the Crowley Center for Transportation and Logistics, and Coggin’s Graduate and Executive Education program. In total, an estimated 50,000 square feet will be renovated or added. Funding comes from the Public Education Capital Outlay appropriation from the state legislature.
FLAGLER COUNTY
- Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty of Jacksonville acquired Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Palm West Realty and its Palm Coast offices late last year. The merged company will operate under the name Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty. This expands Berkshire Hathaway’s real estate presence in Flagler and Volusia counties.
LEVY COUNTY
- Performance Services of Indianapolis is negotiating with the Williston City Council to provide citywide fiber-optic internet service. If contract negotiations are successful between the city and Performance Services, the fiber-optic project will cost $5.1 million.
MARION COUNTY
- A $22-million, 20-acre animal shelter is under construction in Ocala. Most of the funding for the shelter will come from the county’s 1% sales tax, which is used to fund public projects. The new shelter will expand from the current shelter size of 21,339 feet to more than 37,000 square feet. The facility, slated to be ready at the end of 2025, will have more play areas, more parking, larger kennels, and a surgical suite.
NASSAU COUNTY
- The beacon in the Amelia Island Light — the oldest existing lighthouse in the state — is now restored and once again active. It was not used for 18 months due to a mechanical failure. Although the city of Fernandina Beach owns the grounds for the lighthouse, the U.S. Coast Guard is responsible for maintaining the beacon, which can be seen 16 miles out to sea. The city of Fernandina Beach also has received a $500,000 grant to restore the lighthouse.
PUTNAM COUNTY
- HCA Florida Putnam Hospital of Palatka donated $10,000 to the Epic-Cure food bank to support its continued service to the community. The nonprofit Epic- Cure distributes $1 million to $1.5 million in food to Putnam County residents each month. The food bank has been raising funds to cover a move to a new location as it faces financial constraints.
ST. JOHNS COUNTY
- UF Health St. Johns has opened two urgent care centers in St. Augustine, one on the UF Health Flagler Hospital campus and the other in MuraBella near the World Golf Village.
SUWANEE COUNTY
- A Wawa gas station is slated to come to Live Oak at the corner of U.S. 129 and Northeast 72nd Trace.
UNION COUNTY
- West Fraser Timber of Vancouver, British Columbia, closed its sawmill in Lake Butler late last year due to high fiber costs and soft lumber markets The closure affected 130 employees.
Making Waves
Pending approval, plans are underway for an inland surf park to be located at eTown, a master-planned community under development on the south side of Duval County off State Road 9B.
The PARC Group (which developed eTown) announced that developer Aventuur and other local partners will design the Jacksonville Surf Park to provide surf instruction, waves, fitness training and physical recovery. The surfing lagoon will also have a boutique hotel, beach club, food and beverage offerings, and retail/event space.
If all is approved as planned, construction will begin in 2026, and the facility will open to the public in fourth quarter 2027.
Sky’s the Limit
Northeast Florida has a long-established aerospace and defense-related industry. Growth within the segment is turning the area into a stronger aerospace/defense sector.
“Jacksonville’s Cecil Spaceport was the first licensed horizontal launch commercial spaceport on the East Coast and one of only nine in the country,” says JaxUSA Partnership president Aundra Wallace.
Manufacturers like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Embraer, Kaman Aerospace, Redwire Space, Collins Aerospace and Fleet Readiness Center Southeast have come to the Jacksonville region. A newer addition is Hermeus, a high-tech aviation company in Atlanta that will open a hypersonic engine testing facility at Cecil Airport.
The facility will be Hermeus’ largest and most advanced test site to date and be a national asset for hypersonic testing, Wallace says.
“The historic presence of some of the world’s leading providers and recent additions of innovative, high-tech companies play a critical role in drawing interest and investment to the region,” Wallace says.
The aerospace and defense industry provides 3,700 direct jobs and provides a GDP of $972.2 million in Northeast Florida, according to a report from The Florida Council of 100.
Spicing Things Up
Until recently, the only places shoppers could buy spice blends crafted by Glenn Food Co. of Jacksonville were at boutique retailers and a few hundred Publix locations. A successful pitch to Walmart led to an agreement to sell Glenn Food’s new Merman’s Revenge seafood seasoning product line at 2,500 Walmart locations starting the first quarter of this year.
“With Walmart’s scale, we can offer our craft flavors at an affordable price point,” says Lauren Glenn, owner of Glenn Food Company. She predicts that getting Merman’s Revenge into Walmart will boost the company’s projected annual revenue by at least 500%. The company has added employees and co-manufacturers to ramp up production and is focusing on recipe development and branding. “Our customer loves seafood but doesn’t cook it as much due to not knowing how to season it or how to cook it. Merman’s Revenge will take the guesswork out of seafood,” says Glenn, adding that they are creating videos, tips, and tricks to assist consumers with their cooking.