SPOTLIGHT

Med School at JU

Jacksonville University and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) have partnered to establish LECOM at Jacksonville University. LECOM plans to have an inaugural class of about 75 students in 2026 who will work toward a doctor of osteopathic medicine degree. The program plans to grow enrollment to about 150 students within five years.

LECOM’s other Florida location is in Bradenton. It also has campuses in Elmira, N.Y., and Greensburg and Erie, Pa.

LECOM will build its facility as part of the Jacksonville University Medical Mall, an area of campus that includes its health sciences complex, school of orthodontics teaching clinic, its occupational therapy teaching facility and the Dolphin Pointe Health Care skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility.

LECOM filed its accreditation application for the new site in October. The program will work with local health care providers on clinical education, including AdventHealth, Baptist Health and Brooks Rehabilitation.

HEALTH CARE

• A study focused on dementia prevention and funded by the National Institute on Aging will recruit about 350 volunteers ages 65 or older in the Jacksonville area via the University of Florida at Jacksonville. The Preventing Alzheimer’s with Cognitive Training (PACT) study focuses on whether computer-based brain training exercises can lower the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. PACT is recruiting 7,600 volunteers around the Southeast. UF in Gainesville and the University of North Florida also are recruiting for the study.
• Mayo Clinic’s Jacksonville location has awarded more than $198,000 to 26 organizations and programs that will address key community health needs identified in the Northeast Florida Community Health Needs Assessment. Each organization received from $2,500 to $22,000.

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Edward Waters University in Jacksonville and the University of Florida College of Nursing have inked an agreement that allows up to five students from EWU to join the accelerated bachelor’s of science nursing program at the UF College of Nursing, located at the UF Health Jacksonville campus.
• The University of North Florida and Suddath Cos. have launched the UNF Suddath Logistics Information Technology Solutions Lab, designed to assist students in UNF’s transportation and logistics program. Among other features, the lab provides simultaneous live-data feeds across transport systems including air, rail and sea.
• Flagler College has signed an agreement with Bermuda College that allows students earning their associate’s degree at the two-year community college in Bermuda to transfer and earn their bachelor’s degree at Flagler. The agreement is a bachelor’s degree pathway for programs including business, education, hospitality and tourism management, and coastal environmental science.

BANKING

• TIAA is selling its TIAA Bank to a group of investment funds. The bank will remain in Jacksonville and will have a new name once the deal closes. The bank has 1,339 employees, with nearly 700 of them based in Jacksonville. The sale is expected to close this year.

FINANCE

• London-based fintech company Paysafe plans to establish its North American headquarters in Jacksonville, creating 600 local jobs over three years. Paysafe will qualify for $10 million in city incentives and $3 million from Florida’s High Impact Performance Incentive program. Terms of the move were agreed on in late 2022 when Jacksonville business leaders visited London on an annual economic development mission.

INSURANCE

• Title insurance company Fidelity National Financial of Jacksonville has acquired St. Louis Title, Security Title Insurance Agency and Accurate Disbursing and Benchmark Title. The three companies serve the St. Louis area and southern Illinois. Terms were not disclosed. Fidelity also has acquired TitlePoint from Black Knight for $225 million.

RETAIL

• Sunburn Cannabis dispensary made its debut with a location in Jacksonville Beach. The dispensary is operated by Green Sentry Holdings, which acquired the Florida assets for MedMen Enterprises’ former locations. Green Sentry rebranded 11 of the Florida locations to focus exclusively on Sunburn Cannabis products.

CONSTRUCTION

• Commercial construction firm MW Builders has opened a regional office in Jacksonville. Its other locations are in Kansas, City, Austin, Dallas, and Midland, Texas. Coastal Construction Products of Jacksonville has been sold to Beacon Building Products of Herndon, Va. Coastal is a distributor of waterproofing products. Coastal had more than 200 employees at the time of the acquisition announcement.

NON-PROFITS

• First Step Food Bank of Ocala has merged with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida in Orlando. First Step is now the Marion County branch of Second Harvest. First Step distributes an estimated 2 million pounds of food each year to more than 40 agencies.

REAL ESTATE

• Pattillo Industrial Real Estate of Atlanta will develop a 1.5-million- sq.-ft. industrial park in Nassau County’s Wildlight. Wildlight Commerce Park will include 12 buildings to house logistics, offices, light manufacturing and warehousing. The first building is slated to open in spring 2024. Wildlight was established by Rayonier in 2017.
• St. Johns County commissioners have approved plans for Greenbriar Helow, slated to include about 3,500 homes and 2.5 million square feet of non-residential space in northwest St. Johns County.