Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Jacksonville held their monthly luncheon Tuesday, May 3rd at Maggiano’s in the Town Center. The event was well attended and highlighted a popular topic for Jacksonville and surrounding area residents. The question of whether or not dredging will occur in time to capture the Panama Canal expansion benefits was posed to a panel of port development experts: Steve Ross, Army Corps of Engineers, Project Manager; George D. Gabel, Jr., Holland & Knight LLP, Partner and Logistics Advisory Group; Nancy Rubin, JAXPORT, Director, Communications and Public Relations; and Yemisi A. Bolumole, Ph.d, CTL, Kip Research Fellow of Logistics, UNF. The panel discussion was moderated by Jody Brooks, Esq. with the Allen Land Group. The panelists quickly took charge of the direction of the discussion affirming strongly that there is no question of IF.
The “when”and “how” are being determined by tests whose results are not yet available. However, JAXPORT doesn’t even consider a back-up plan. It is dredge or nothing. The Army Corps of Engineers is evaluating dredging by the foot - for every foot of depth, they are calculating the economic benefits to the nation and the region. All panelists had a positive outlook on this expansion taking place, though the timeline is placed out into 2015 for an approval.
Utilizing a port in Jacksonville, FL has many benefits. JAXPORT is very lucky to have land that can be developed into terminals. Many ports like Miami are "landlocked" and cannot expand. The infrastructure package is important to the success of the port as well. Without expanded roadways and on-dock rail the port cannot operate efficiently. CSX has allotted $40 million to connecting rail to the ports and Cecil Field provides companies with air freight capabilities. Money has been allocated to fund the Mile Point fix and the first phase of the project should also be complete in early 2012.
The event was covered by the press. To read the story, click on the link:
Daily Record Story
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