This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition

Jacksonville University College of Law Founding Dean Nick Allard joins Kent Justice to explain how JU built a brand-new downtown law school in just a few years—and why it matters for Jacksonville’s growth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hurricane season is here, and FPL spokesperson Kam Eppinger says preparation is a year-round effort focused on reliability: hardening poles and equipment, aggressive vegetation management, and a data-driven push to underground neighborhood lines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Jacksonville University prepares for a leadership transition, outgoing President Tim Cost joins Kent Justice for a candid conversation about his legacy, the future of higher education, and the university's role as an economic engine for Northeast Florida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kent Justice talks with Dr. Carlton Robinson, Chief Innovation Officer at the Jax Chamber, about how Jacksonville can stay competitive as AI shifts from buzzword to workplace reality. Robinson explains why the Chamber launched its new Center for Applied Infrastructure—framing “human-centered AI” as the next kind of public infrastructure—and why the goal is augmentation, not replacement: identifyin...

Jacksonville entrepreneur Eun Cho shares how he went from Wall Street fund manager to co-founding Haymaker Coffee Company in 2021 - and why the brand is built around hard work, perseverance, and community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s COO Scott SirLouis says Jacksonville is one of the biggest remaining growth opportunities for the 40-year-old, Florida-grown “family sports pub” brand. He explains how Beef’s uses site analytics (cell phone and purchase-pattern modeling) to pinpoint strong neighborhoods, why grocery-anchored centers outperform mall-front real estate for them, and what makes the chain different in...

Workforce expert and former Congressman Dr. Jason Altmire joins Kent Justice on "This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition" to talk about his new book, Trade Up, and why he believes the future of American competitiveness depends on rebuilding the skilled-trades pipeline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Entrepreneur Darien “Jack” Jackson returns to This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition to open his newest downtown venture in the Elbow: Dapper Cheesesteaks downstairs paired with a cigar lounge experience upstairs in the former 11 Ocean space. Jackson walks host Kent Justice through a year of delays—from a slow permitting process and repeated plan revisions to contractor turnover that even led...

Florida now requires a stand-alone personal financial literacy course for high school graduation - but guests on This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition say the real question is whether it changes behavior. Host Kent Justice talks with Dr. Ronetta Wards of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF) and Howard Dale of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville about what “financial literacy” should act...

Kent Justice talks with former Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Akin Ayodele, now Gallagher’s market leader for North Texas, about the Gallagher Partnership Internship Program with the Jaguars—designed to help pro athletes translate what they’ve built in sports (resilience, preparation, competition, leadership) into post-playing careers, especially in consultative sales and risk management. Ayodele...

In this episode, Colin Tarbert, the new CEO of Jacksonville’s Downtown Investment Authority (DIA), outlines the agency’s dual role as both a community redevelopment agency and the city’s economic development arm for downtown, using tax increment financing to drive growth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clayton Pritchard, a Jacksonville-based product marketer with experience at Meta, LinkedIn and Twitter, joins This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition to explain his acquisition of a B2B product marketing agency (Olivine) and why he’s choosing to run it remote-first from Jacksonville Beach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Small businesses are spending more on marketing in 2026, even with inflation worries—but many owners still aren’t confident they’re putting those dollars in the right places. In this episode, Constant Contact’s Dave Charest explains why the most effective “one-two punch” remains social media plus email, and why email delivers more control and more reliable engagement than algorithm-driven social f...

Kent Justice visits the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus in downtown Jacksonville and talks with Artistic Director Darren Dailey about how a youth arts nonprofit became a world-class cultural institution - and why that matters to the region’s growth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kent Justice talks with Jacksonville contractor Fabian Videla about the least glamorous construction bottleneck: permitting. Videla says projects can stall for weeks or months at multiple points - figuring out the right forms for each city/county, collecting signatures and notarizations, waiting through plan review, and then stopping work for inspections. Those delays, he argues, ripple through No...

As Northeast Florida heads into Q2 2026, Bank of America Jacksonville President & Southeast Regional Executive Mark Bennett says local business confidence has shifted toward growth - if owners have the right capital in place to seize opportunities. Bennett shares three priorities he’s hearing most from Jacksonville leaders and also points to continued strength in sectors like advanced manufacturin...

Jacksonville’s rapid growth is putting new pressure on an old bottleneck: permitting. On this episode of This Week in Jacksonville Business Edition, Kent Justice talks with Sabrina Dugan, managing partner of SwiftBuild.ai, about how artificial intelligence is being used to speed up plan review—without removing human oversight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

VyStar Credit Union says its new study pairing regional survey results with TransUnion data shows Jacksonville residents are under significant financial stress and carry more debt than the national average. The credit union is pitching community-wide solutions that go beyond traditional banking. “So we had really four big takeaways from this. The first thing is that finances is a top stressor for...

Lee Smith, executive director of the Players Championship, is the next guest to join Kent Justice on “This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition.” Smith said the tournament is a year-round effort as TPC Sawgrass prepares for tournament week. “Kent, you’re right. This is an exciting time for us. This is a 52-week-a-year job.” Smith said the event team constantly refines the tournament and aims to...

Florida is making meaningful progress in reducing childhood poverty, a key indicator of the state’s long-term economic health. According to new data highlighted by Mark Wilson, president and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the number of children living in poverty statewide has dropped by hundreds of thousands over the past six years. Wilson shared, “There’s about 711,000 kids in Florida in...

Northeast Florida’s housing market is shifting into what builders call a “more normal” year — still strong, but shaped by higher interest rates, local fees, and the push-and-pull over growth. NEFBA President Scott Brannock (Tidewater Homes) joins “This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition” to explain what the Northeast Florida Builders Association does, why workforce development is his biggest 2...

Gateway Jax is leading a major redevelopment effort in downtown Jacksonville, aiming to reshape nearly 30 acres with a mix of residential, retail, and public spaces. Bryan Moll, CEO of Gateway Jax, spoke with This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition about the project’s progress and its potential impact on the region’s economic growth. Moll brings experience from overseeing more than $6 billion...

In this episode of “This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition,” host Kent Justice talks with Revival 250 organizer Chris Widener and Bold City Church pastor Jason Masters about Revival 250—an upcoming faith-focused event scheduled for May 3 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. Widener explains that Revival 250 is timed to align with the United States’ 250th anniversary and is desig...

As Jacksonville grows, the big question isn’t simply how many people move here—it’s what kind of city they arrive to. Victor Dover, a nationally known town planner and urban designer and the keynote speaker at Scenic Jacksonville’s Sixth Annual Great Cities Symposium on Feb. 5, says the communities that win the next era of economic competition will be the ones that deliver a great day-to-day exper...

Dr. Kyle Mikals and Dr. Samantha Mikals, both military veterans and board-certified physicians, have launched Jacksonville Concierge Medicine, a boutique healthcare practice focused on personalized care. Dr. Samantha Mikals credits her military experience for developing creativity and quick decision-making. “In the military, you have to be creative to get projects done, especially overseas,” she s...