From City Council to Chamber CEO: Daniel Davis on Building Jacksonville’s Future

Welcome to Hometown Jax, the podcast where hosts Aaron Bacus and Jason Kindler sit down with the boldest minds in business, leadership, and community building across Jacksonville. Each episode captures personal stories, professional journeys, and the wins—and losses—that shape the Northeast Florida business landscape.

In this episode, Aaron sits down with Daniel Davis, President and CEO of the JAX Chamber, to unpack his remarkable journey from local politics to becoming one of Jacksonville’s most influential leaders. Daniel shares how his love for Jacksonville inspired a career rooted in service, economic development, and creating opportunity. From growing up on the city’s west side to championing international business relocation, launching a podcast of his own, and leading with a long-game mindset, Daniel’s story is a deep dive into what makes Jacksonville thrive—and where it’s going next.

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;14;29
Unknown
Where are your hosts, Aaron Backus and Jason Kindler? We like to sit down with our guests to hear their journey, their challenges, and how they impact the local community. So grab a seat. Tune in and let's get inspired by Jacksonville's everyday workforce. Welcome to Hometown Jacks.

00;00;14;29 - 00;00;27;14
Unknown
All right. Daniel Davis, thank you for coming to Hometown Jack's podcast. I appreciate that. I got to tell you, I'm a little nervous because I know you have a podcast, too, so I feel like I'm under the microscope. I don't know, I don't even understand why you would be nervous.

00;00;27;18 - 00;00;45;00
Unknown
It. I think a lot of people are just trying out the the new mode of communication. Yeah for sure. That's exactly what we're doing. As well. And we know where, marketing and communication is headed. Yeah. And so and it's a lot of fun. Yeah. No, it is a lot of fun. You get to talk to great people like you.

00;00;45;00 - 00;01;03;25
Unknown
So really appreciate that. So I want to delve into your past a little bit kind of what you've done, what you're doing now and then I want to talk about your podcast because you had an amazing episode that's going to drop soon, and I want to hear all the details, so I'm excited. So going through your list, I was doing research on you.

00;01;03;28 - 00;01;20;00
Unknown
You have your own Wikipedia page. You must be famous. Well, that's not not the case. And I got to tell you, the problem with your own Wikipedia page is, your sons can go in and mess around with it. So, they had a little bit of fun. Oh. That's fun. History. Well, it's born in South Bend, Indiana.

00;01;20;00 - 00;01;36;09
Unknown
You don't meet a lot of people born in South Bend, Indiana. So were you there very long? No. I was, proud to be, born there. But I grew up in Jackson. Yeah. For sure. Really? The only thing I remember is, my time growing up in the neighborhoods on the West Side. Yeah, yeah. Well, I listened to one of your podcasts.

00;01;36;09 - 00;02;00;19
Unknown
I think it was Frank, and it was all talking about baseball. So you have a deep history playing baseball, but your assistant told me that you got his football scholarship. Is that right? Well, I have I love sports, yeah, I love competition. So that was something that I was heavily involved with as a kid growing up. I was I was the kid that my mom dropped me off on Saturday mornings, and if my game was at 3:00 in the afternoon, I would just stay at the ballpark all day.

00;02;00;19 - 00;02;19;24
Unknown
And so those are some really, really fond memories of mine. I do love the beautiful game of football. Yes. But baseball is my first love. Interesting. Yeah. Interesting because I in that podcast what Frank was doing about resurrecting that field. And then you guys were talking kind of the, the area rivalries back in the day with, with Little League.

00;02;19;24 - 00;02;42;05
Unknown
That's pretty cool. Yeah. It's it's, fun thing to remember, right? Right, right. So Maranatha Baptist, that's where you play. Yeah. I, I played football in high school. I played my freshman year of junior college baseball. Okay. And, wasn't able I, you know, got injured, wasn't able to throw a ball anymore so I could still play sports.

00;02;42;05 - 00;02;59;29
Unknown
And, wasn't a great athlete, but I love the game. And so I ended up at a small school in Wisconsin, which was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me. To get away from the distractions, I think in Florida, not a lot of beaches in Wisconsin. Right. So I, studied a lot.

00;03;00;04 - 00;03;20;11
Unknown
I lifted weights and I ate a lot. I gained a lot of, size. And I love playing the game of football. I met my wife in Wisconsin. Interesting. And there you go. Yeah. Brought her back to Jacksonville. Oh, is that good? That's great. That's great. So was never the first foray into kind of the leadership role.

00;03;20;11 - 00;03;47;29
Unknown
Or was that before the Jax council or was that after. So, I worked briefly for the, chief judge of, the fourth, just the fourth Judicial Circuit in Jacksonville. So you came right out of college? Yes. Okay. And, I had the opportunity to meet a lot of people that were leaders in the community through that time spending, with, judge Don Moran and, I always knew I wanted to run for office at some point.

00;03;47;29 - 00;04;09;11
Unknown
I was heavily involved in the civic community, the civic associations, even as a young kid. And, I told the judge I wanted to run. I was 25 years old at the time. He politely told me I was probably not ready. And, I did it anyway. Yeah. And, did not win the first time I ran for office.

00;04;09;11 - 00;04;32;11
Unknown
And the day after I lost the Northeast Florida Builders Association called. That's right. And they asked if I would be, willing to come over there and work with them, and, and, that really was the opportunity that launched my career, right? Yeah. And were you knowledgeable in all things builder and that business before? Kind of. Absolutely. Yeah.

00;04;32;13 - 00;04;54;22
Unknown
I like most meetings. I fake my way through the media like, I know what I'm doing. We all do, for sure. And so that when I was 25, I did that a lot. Well, I imagine that got you to meet a ton of great people and really got you around around the city for sure. Yeah. The value that I bring to the chamber is the the friends that I was able to share for sure about that time.

00;04;54;22 - 00;05;16;24
Unknown
Well, you know, we're biased here. We have a mortgage company. So we love our builders and we love our our building industry. So it's a lifeblood. So jacks council, state rep, the 13 district state rep of the 15th district, a lot of districts. And then president, CEO of the chamber in 2013. So you've been there a long time.

00;05;16;24 - 00;05;34;24
Unknown
You must be doing a good job. I really well, I mean, they haven't let me go yet. So I think that we're hopefully, going to continue for a while. But, I have really only had two jobs in my career, 14 years at the Builders Association and now 11. Yeah, at the chamber and hopefully many more.

00;05;34;25 - 00;05;56;21
Unknown
Okay. Well that's great. And, we're going to talk about your podcast, speakeasy Jack's. I love that, father for kids. Yeah. Married 29 years. It's. We're about to hit 28. Okay. Sorry. Because you're Facebook doing show to 11, and I'm like, he looks like he. That was not right. I not my team has been after me about fixing on.

00;05;56;22 - 00;06;16;12
Unknown
Yeah. I don't I am not the biggest so that's okay. And so I do need to go clean a lot of that. That's all right. It's all right. It's, probably for your wife. Just make sure. I mean, listen, we we, enjoyed, everything about getting the message out about our family, and you know, the cool things happening in Jacksonville.

00;06;16;12 - 00;06;41;26
Unknown
But I probably need to pay a little more attention. All right, well, we'll give you a pass. So, how many boys and girls? So I have, graduate student at LSU. Oh, cool. She's 25. I got a, senior at Florida who's 22, rising junior at FSU, who's 20, and then, my youngest is heading to FSU with his brother, next year as a freshman.

00;06;41;28 - 00;07;00;19
Unknown
That's cool. Yeah. Just went through graduation for my daughter, who just graduated a week ago. Went through the graduation, and I felt really sorry for the president. That has to shake 2000 people's hands. Where did you go to, for say. Yeah. Yeah. So just graduated, and that was like one of five graduations that he's presiding over.

00;07;00;22 - 00;07;18;08
Unknown
Like, that's a major job. It's pretty awesome, man. I gotta tell you, I've been in the Florida legislature for a little bit. I really gained an appreciation for the state university system in Florida. Sure. We're the number one, public state university system in the country. Everybody wants to be a part of what we have.

00;07;18;08 - 00;07;45;18
Unknown
And, for our children in this community to be able to go, to a state school that, is not 65, $70,000 a year like my kids all got 100% bright futures. I've never paid tuition, and I get to be a part of some of the best. And I love Florida State. I absolutely love it. Rebecca and I are, buying a condo in Tallahassee because we think it's crazy to pay to run.

00;07;45;21 - 00;08;02;06
Unknown
You know, it's just not the thing. And, you need to own a hotel. And. Yeah, that's pretty crazy, man. But, no, she's had a great time. My wife went there. I actually went to Auburn, but she was in the same sorority as my. Had an absolute great time. And she's gone to graduate school at UF, starting last year.

00;08;02;07 - 00;08;22;17
Unknown
That's a big deal. Let me tell you something. Any kid in the state of Florida that is accepted to the University of Florida, they need to understand what a special situation they are going to be a part of because it's widely regarded as, the best university in the country. And, it's very, very difficult to get in the into you have.

00;08;22;17 - 00;08;41;23
Unknown
So kudos to you and your daughter. Well thank you. It's all her. Everything to do with me I got to I went to Auburn man. The standard was low right I got it I, I'm glad my, my wife was really smart because fortunately my kids got those grades right for sure. Ditto for me. So you grew up in Jacksonville, went from Wisconsin?

00;08;41;26 - 00;09;06;25
Unknown
Don't even remember Wisconsin. Or in Indiana. I'm sorry. And then grew up in Jacksonville. So you're Jacksonville guy? Basically, since day one. This is my life. Hopefully. God willing, I'll I'll grow up here, live here and die here. Yeah. Jacksonville, Florida. It's a great place, and it's getting better. Did you know, like, when do you remember the moment you remember, wanted to get in politics when you were a kid?

00;09;06;27 - 00;09;27;16
Unknown
Like, did it just. Was it always a thing or you like. Like I saw that guy. That sounds like something I want to do. Yeah, I actually do. It's a little weird. I was at an event with Mayor Jake Godbold speaking, and, I heard him say, what was your age? If I remember correctly, it was probably around 10 or 12.

00;09;27;19 - 00;09;55;09
Unknown
Okay. And I remember getting in the car and and saying, I'm going to run for office. That's awesome. And most everybody is. Pat you on the head. Yeah. You're good luck. Great. It's a great idea. But I was serious, and I basically lived my entire life preparing to serve Jacksonville one way or the other. Right? Right. So that's pretty neat that, you know that so many people that I interview, I, I like to know when they had that light bulb moment and a lot of people have it very early.

00;09;55;09 - 00;10;14;25
Unknown
So that's awesome. You know exactly what was and it's okay if, kids don't know for sure. Because, you know, you work hard where you are, you are going to be successful and work harder than everybody else around you, and you're going to find yourself advancing. And it's not necessarily that you have to be on missions since you were ten years old.

00;10;14;25 - 00;10;33;09
Unknown
It doesn't mean you're going to be successful or not. But, in my case, I kind of just knew. Right. Well, that's awesome. And I want to get into that too. That's how I'm going to wrap up, because I really feel like you have a lot of knowledge based on what you've seen. You've seen a lot of success business, all of this, like, I really want to pick your brain there.

00;10;33;09 - 00;10;56;04
Unknown
So, president Jack chamber seems like a really cool job. Like, I was doing my research on you, and I'm like, man, what a cool job to go around and talk about Jacksonville. I mean, that's literally your job, right? To go around, promote, tell everybody what's great about what's going on here. I, I smile every day on the way into the office because I absolutely adore my job.

00;10;56;04 - 00;11;17;21
Unknown
And and it's something that fits me perfectly. It's I love my city. I grew up here. My whole job. My whole life has been about Jacksonville and making it better. And now I literally get paid to pitch my city all over the world. Like it's crazy that they, I was in the white House, a couple weeks ago, interviewing one of my friends.

00;11;17;23 - 00;11;36;01
Unknown
And part of our discussion is always, oh, you got a really cool job now. But everybody had that one job that they remember. That was the worst job that they ever had, that they hated. And so that's that's one of the questions we ask. And I said, Susie, you literally have the best job in the world.

00;11;36;03 - 00;11;55;21
Unknown
She goes, oh, you're right. I do. It's like I've had the chance to have a bunch of really cool people on the podcast that I would kill to have half of their job. I mean, it's really cool stuff, like Mark Brunell and the quarterback, room in Detroit or Mark Lamping, you know, running the Jaguars or John Payton running Gate Petroleum.

00;11;55;28 - 00;12;19;06
Unknown
So many cool people in Jacksonville that have great jobs. But I think Susie wins the, the contest. She, skyrocketed up there for sure. Yeah. So that's that's talk about how that looks being the president of the chamber and like, are you are you literally getting calls all the time from people all around the country, all around the world, like, hey, talk to me about Jax.

00;12;19;06 - 00;12;44;27
Unknown
Is that kind of how it works? Or are you proactively searching? Like, who do I need to call today? Who do I need? How does it work? How does your day look? It's both. We have a team at the chamber. And it's called Jax USA partnership. It's, what most communities describe as an economic development organization and the sole purpose of the Ido, or economic development organization, is to attract new companies, new jobs to our community.

00;12;44;27 - 00;13;05;28
Unknown
Because, as you know, in the mortgage business, the way you grow is we bring more people here with money that are moving from new Jersey. And they, you know, so a three, two for $800,000 and they come down here and they're like, are you kidding me? I can buy this for 500 and, have a backyard and, those are the that's what fuels the economy.

00;13;06;00 - 00;13;30;00
Unknown
And so, our team is all over the world. We'll head to the Paris air show in June. And we'll pitch Jacksonville to aviation related companies, probably about 50 different companies over a four day period. During the London trip in October, we'll pitch, fintech companies that are that realize Jacksonville in London have a lot of connections with financial services.

00;13;30;03 - 00;13;54;22
Unknown
And it's a pretty cool gig. Now, we'll also get phone calls like when done in Bradstreet was looking, I received a phone call. It's about two years before we made the announcement about Dunham Street moving to Jacksonville. So that was just a little bit longer of a process. Sometimes they're very, very quick. Right? Right now, we're dealing with, major advanced manufacturers that are looking to move here, probably make announcements later this year.

00;13;54;25 - 00;14;15;17
Unknown
And those are much quicker than, than a two year court courting situation. Sure. But we take them any way they'll contact us, we'll go out and find them. But, our team is pretty good at making sure the best parts of Jacksonville are are understood. Yeah, that's super interesting. Like, what kind of questions are they asking?

00;14;15;17 - 00;14;57;18
Unknown
Like, what are they. What do they want to know about Jacksonville? Like does it get hit by hurricanes every day. Every day. Is that the. Yeah I mean, you know there's there is that unique feature in Jacksonville and our team many years ago coined the phrase the curvature effect. And some people like to laugh about it. But we even have meteorologists agree with it, that, because of the, the inward shape, where the, the most western part of the East coast, when you have hurricanes in the Atlantic, they, they tend to veer and go towards South Carolina, North Carolina, if they're in the, the Gulf, by the time they get

00;14;57;18 - 00;15;15;10
Unknown
to us, they're tropical storms. We do get water events, but we, you know, I've been hit by hurricane, and, on one of these advanced, manufacturing firms, we, clearly there are an international company. And the first thing they thought was, well, we can't go anywhere in Florida. We were able to show them that that's not the case.

00;15;15;10 - 00;15;40;12
Unknown
Interesting. And, you know, I think that's that's one way that we pitch. But most companies are looking for talented workforce, and we have a team that's focused on creating talent. K through 12 and attracting the best talent from the university systems around and then growing a skilled workforce by, vo tech training or apprenticeship programs like the Builders Association.

00;15;40;17 - 00;16;01;05
Unknown
So, we have got to continue providing that crop of talent, so we can continue bringing those companies into town. That's the number one thing they're looking for talent. Interesting. So when you're selling talent, I'm assuming you're talking about the universities like we talked about before, like the proximity and people coming back to Jacksonville. And we've got several in Jacksonville.

00;16;01;05 - 00;16;25;21
Unknown
Is that kind of the the talking point with them? I'm like, yeah, we've got the talent coming out. Yeah. And you also have to understand, we have over 100,000 military professionals that are serving in our area. And they about three that our numbers are rough, but about 3000 a year finish their duty to our country, and we're able to keep about 80 to 85% of them here in Jacksonville.

00;16;25;21 - 00;16;44;02
Unknown
And that's the perfect candidate for a manufacturer that you're coming out of, an organization that knows how to show up on time to work hard, be skilled at what you do. And, those folks don't want to leave Jacksonville when they finish serving. So it's a really good selling point for us to be able to plug that military profession and even think about that.

00;16;44;02 - 00;17;08;09
Unknown
What a great point. That's amazing. So primary mission at Jax Chamber is what like to get companies moving here. What's your what's your primary focus. So if you think about okay, so there's 3000 members of the Jax chamber. And from small mom and pops to fortune 500 companies. And by the way, I think, Joe Hinrichs is the CEO of CSX.

00;17;08;09 - 00;17;26;13
Unknown
He was on the pod, earlier. I think you'll really like to hear what he has to say about Jacksonville and what it means to, to his organization. But, we have every business almost, in Jacksonville, a part of our organization. And the job of the chamber is to create a fertile environment, much like when we were at the Builders Association.

00;17;26;19 - 00;17;51;26
Unknown
Get government out of the way, let builders go to work so you can go sell. And, it's the same thing here on a much bigger scale about creating fertile environments for health care workers, for bio tech, in industries, for fintech industries, for logistics companies to grow their companies here and keep government out of their way. And just let them connect with other people so they can grow their business.

00;17;51;28 - 00;18;26;22
Unknown
So you couple that with growing local businesses to our economic development organization, bringing corporate headquarters here, it just fuels the fire. And I think both of those work really, really well. Yeah. No, that's that's a great point because health care is obviously one of the big positives of Jacksonville. Tons of great resources with that. It's it's like listen there may be 1 or 2 other communities that have what we have from a health care standpoint, the CEOs of the major health care organizations are all members of the chamber on my board.

00;18;26;24 - 00;18;49;04
Unknown
From Mayo to MD Anderson and Baptist to Wolfson. Ascension hca a uf health. You do not have that many located in one community, like we do in Jacksonville. So it's another great selling point whenever we're talking to executives about moving across. Yeah, yeah. What are some things you see for Jacksonville in the next several years.

00;18;49;04 - 00;19;08;01
Unknown
Like what what are some changes coming. Like what what are what are some big things that pop into your mind? I'm assuming, you know, down by the stadium, the redevelopment. Everybody's so excited about that. Yeah. You can't have a great city without a great downtown. I think that the young talent that we're trying to attract want to live in an urban environment.

00;19;08;01 - 00;19;29;23
Unknown
They want to live in suburbs. So we have to really put our foot on the gas there. I think you're going to see about. Well, I know you're going to see about 4 billion in construct take place in downtown. That's in the pipeline permitted right now. And and getting ready to go with UF, moving their camp, moving a campus to downtown.

00;19;29;23 - 00;19;50;11
Unknown
And, that's going to be another big shot in the arm brand. I mean, shard with the luxury hotel. I met with another luxury hotel, flag, two weeks ago. Very, very interested in a spot in downtown. All of those elements, I think, are what we'll probably see the biggest change in Jacksonville is to create that environment.

00;19;50;14 - 00;20;17;00
Unknown
That attracts that young talent, and makes people that live out at the beach say, well, why don't we go downtown tonight? For sure. Right now it's it's fledgling. Fits and starts, beautiful natural resources. But we've got to get that entertainment and retail, that we're seeing in other communities. Yeah. Does that does it have a direct effect on how the Jaguars are playing, like how fast that moves or not really.

00;20;17;00 - 00;20;44;13
Unknown
No. I mean I think that we all want the Jags to win. But that that stuff's happening whether the Jags win or not. But what we have seen and we're taking our leadership trip to Kansas City this year. Winning football teams change the face of of a community. So I don't think if the Jaguars win. Oh I see the right way to say this.

00;20;44;13 - 00;21;03;10
Unknown
If the Jaguars don't win, we're still going to see momentum. Sure. If they start winning which I think there's eternal optimist on that one. Of course. I think it throws fuel on the fire and really, really speeds up that. Yes. And then the new stadium, I mean that's spectacular. Yeah. It's going to be super cool.

00;21;03;10 - 00;21;34;25
Unknown
I mean, how long is that going to take to build three years. Okay. Yeah. So looks like a couple of years we'll be able to do partial attendance at the, stadium. And then the last year, they'll probably split between Orlando and London and Gainesville is going to be under construction too, so they probably won't be. That had to be a huge accomplishment for, assuming your team was involved in that getting that done or I mean, spurring it along, I give, number one shot con.

00;21;34;25 - 00;22;02;10
Unknown
Yes. The top. That big thanks. But Mayor Deegan and Mark Lamping, the president of the Jags, worked very, very hard with City Council to make it a very, very smooth process. When you see in other communities, wailing and gnashing of teeth, failing stadium teams thinking about, I got to go to a stadium that has NFL standards, built in.

00;22;02;12 - 00;22;20;01
Unknown
We are not there right now. And I think everybody realize we can't take a chance of the Jags going somewhere else. Definitely not. So, I was so happy to see that. What? Speaking of Jacksonville, I know you've seen so many things grow. What are your favorite events in Jacksonville? What do you look forward to every year?

00;22;20;01 - 00;22;43;12
Unknown
I mean, I'm assuming the players like, what are some of the things that you really like? I'll tell you, that's a great question. I, I, I love, love jumbo shrimp. What? Ken. Bobby's done, with the stadium down there is truly incredible. And, he's one of the greatest marketing minds I've ever had a chance to come across.

00;22;43;15 - 00;23;03;12
Unknown
They've done such a great job with connecting with the family. Yeah, you know, in a reasonable price. Right. But but he's coming up with these other options, more luxury options that you would see at an NFL stadium. Okay, add the jumbo Shrimp Stadium as well. And so I'm pretty excited about seeing how he can meet the needs of a lot of people.

00;23;03;14 - 00;23;24;08
Unknown
I would say obviously the Jags games, are something that I love. The players, is a great opportunity for us to, showcase Jacksonville to folks that are looking to move their companies here. Honestly, I just love the people of Jacksonville. Anytime we have even a small event. I love being a part of it.

00;23;24;08 - 00;23;42;12
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, it feels like the people of Jacksonville really give back a lot. I've noticed that doing my podcast, some of the amazing charities that are going on, like, I'm sure you've heard of Rethread it. Yeah, yeah. Like we had Kristen Keane on the. But I mean, incredible story. Great. Yeah. So there's so many cool things about that.

00;23;42;14 - 00;24;02;20
Unknown
I'm from up north down here and it's there's just so much variety, you know, from the beach to downtown, to Riverside to San Marco. I think that's what just makes it really cool. It really is. I mean, this is another thing that you're. If you watch this, Suzy, podcast, I asked her what she loved about Jacksonville.

00;24;02;20 - 00;24;28;08
Unknown
And it was the people by far. Yeah. The community and the the amount of big job wins that we've had, just because the CEOs couldn't get over the fact that the community is really they really do pull the rope in the same direction. Competitors will work with each other to, to show other competitors why they should move to Jacksonville.

00;24;28;08 - 00;24;51;09
Unknown
It's really this weird, you know, opportunity that that people dynamic. They it really is that they, they love the city so much. They want everybody else to enjoy it. And they want to see Jacksonville southern city. And it is it really is. Do you have your counterparts from other big cities calling in, like, what are you guys doing so well?

00;24;51;09 - 00;25;18;26
Unknown
They're like, how can I top it? Yeah. I mean, I think that, we're we're seen as, the, the best when it comes to showcasing our community. I, I love I will only be okay with excellence at the chamber. We were the same way when I was at the builders, and I think it sends the right message when you have somebody looking to move here understanding that you are serious about.

00;25;18;26 - 00;25;36;01
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. Why they should be here. Well, you know, you talked about attracting business and you mentioned that when you talked about the builder, but like, how does business drive us forward? Like, you know, the people listening. Like how important is it? Like, you know, some people may be less like, oh man, I don't want another big company traffic.

00;25;36;01 - 00;25;57;12
Unknown
But man, there's so many positives that it brings. Like, what are some things that like you get really excited about what brings business brings obviously jobs. Yeah. I mean if your community is not growing, it's dying. Okay. If people say, I don't want to see more companies come here, that means people are going to move somewhere else that's growing, because that's the only way that you can stay continues to move.

00;25;57;12 - 00;26;17;05
Unknown
So we have got to continue to grow. That means we need to have the right infrastructure in place. And and there are all sorts of things that we are, you know, punching way above our weight to make sure the right road roadways are in place, the right infrastructure, is in place. So I feel like we're doing a really good job keeping up with that.

00;26;17;08 - 00;26;41;06
Unknown
When, for example, you bring a manufacturer to town, and they announce a thousand new jobs, the manufacturing world, all of the suppliers and all the people that want to be a part of that will follow whenever you land a big manufacturer. And it's really seven times the amount of jobs that you you bring. Great point. That is so good for everybody.

00;26;41;06 - 00;27;04;25
Unknown
Whether you sell houses, whether you work at the hardware store, whether you build pools, it doesn't matter as long as we keep fueling the economy and creating opportunities for people to spend money. Right. And what I've seen around the country is, mass migration take place. You do not want to be in a place where the job creators and taxpayers are moving away, right?

00;27;05;01 - 00;27;24;11
Unknown
You want to be in the place where they're all coming to, because that's just going to make your opportunity to thrive even better. Oh, absolutely. What a great point. If you're not growing, you're dying because, you know, I think some people would say, man, I mean, are we good? Like, well, no, you're never good. I mean, you got to keep moving the needle growing advancement jobs and all that.

00;27;24;11 - 00;27;51;23
Unknown
What a great point. Want to get your podcast really quick, but what, like, what's your quick sales pitch of Jacksonville? Like, hey, elevator speech. You know, you just got the president, you know, Tim Cook and elevator for 30s. What would you tell him? I would hopefully talk to one of these CEOs from the Midwest in January and and tell them that I'm getting ready to tee up at 1 p.m. on Friday.

00;27;51;26 - 00;28;11;19
Unknown
And we also have the second hottest economy in the United States of America, according to Wall Street Journal. Last year now, Salt Lake City was number one. Interesting. We're number two. So you can literally say Jacksonville is the hottest economy on the East Coast. Yeah. Good point. We have an unbelievable talent, folks that can fill the jobs that you bring.

00;28;11;21 - 00;28;29;03
Unknown
And instead of sitting on a train for an hour trying to get into the city, you can go surf in the morning before you head into the office. Yeah. Not a bad pitch. Not a bad pitch, but you hit it on the head right there. Got to the floor. I'm ready to sign. We're good. Let's talk about your podcast, because I absolutely love it.

00;28;29;05 - 00;28;49;02
Unknown
You've got super star power on there. We're looking up to what you guys are created. So I don't I don't know much about TJ. I was reading up about him. So I'm assuming you guys are just long time friends. Yeah. Yeah, he's a buddy that, is working at the chamber right now. On behalf of Florida Blue and, is doing an incredible job.

00;28;49;02 - 00;29;07;00
Unknown
We grew up together, played football together. And, when we started talking, I was actually invited on a podcast about to man, about a year and a half ago. First time I'd ever been on one. And I had so much fun. And I was like, wow, that that was really fun. And the time went by so dang fast.

00;29;07;03 - 00;29;26;14
Unknown
And so I walked in my office, went in to the chief operating officer office in, the our marketing person was there and I said, hey, what if we started a podcast? And this was probably six months ago, and, they were like, are you serious? I said, I think I am. I think there's a new way to get the message of the chamber out.

00;29;26;16 - 00;29;41;22
Unknown
And so, we launched it, man. And not knowing if it's going to be any good or not, you know, it's like, hey, I don't want to do things and be safe. I want to always be on the edge, and I want to try new things. And, you know, we'll see if it plays out. It's it's kind of entertaining right now.

00;29;41;22 - 00;30;00;18
Unknown
And, and I think it's a good way for us to get our message about Jackson completely entertaining. Are you is it connected with the chamber or are you. And. Yeah. Yeah, it's everything I do becomes connected with the chamber. But we didn't want to make it chamber. Right. Because chambers sometime can sometimes can have the notation of being stale.

00;30;00;18 - 00;30;18;06
Unknown
Right, right. For sure. You know, just a bunch of old people that work down the skyscrapers and downtown. How did you come up with the name Speakeasy? Jax? We wanted to have fun. Yeah. I mean, and it's kind of like if we were catching up a happy hour and having a drink, and. And we just let everybody else in on our conversation.

00;30;18;06 - 00;30;38;21
Unknown
Would that be fun? And if you added, you know, Joe Hendricks or, you know, gin, baby, or, you know, John Payton, I think that could be interesting for people to hear their story. And then thing if you end up with the chief of staff of the United States in the white House, that would be pretty cool. So yeah, that's an understatement.

00;30;38;21 - 00;30;59;25
Unknown
Yeah. Are you the one that's generally responsible for going to get the guests like, you make the call, you have the connections kind of thing. I mean, they were my friends. Yeah. And, you know, I think I've been very, grateful, for the ones that have participated. Yeah. Because they're giving up an hour of very, very important time.

00;30;59;27 - 00;31;17;11
Unknown
Now they are talking about Jax, and they love their city, and they they see why we're doing it. And, you know, we'll see where it goes. Well, it's interesting that, you know, how many sports, you know, football players end up coming here and then don't leave like. Yeah. I listen to your episode with Mark for now.

00;31;17;11 - 00;31;36;06
Unknown
It was so interesting to hear him grow up on the West Coast, and then they end up coming here and they're still here, but he's out there. You know, that happens all the time. And the other thing that happens is, you know, executives get moved to Jacksonville and then their company needs to move somewhere else. And they leave the company before they leave Jacksonville.

00;31;36;06 - 00;31;54;08
Unknown
Right. And so it truly is, a normal thing that once people get here, they don't ever want to leave. It is a normal thing. I mean, we we, finance homes, and you don't see many people moving, selling their home and moving north. Yeah, it's definitely way. The other way. Yeah. You know, just like I said, you had some star power.

00;31;54;08 - 00;32;17;07
Unknown
I mean, episodes that you've released so far. Tabitha Furyk, John Payton, she was so much fun to is awesome. I mean, I don't know her, but obviously everybody knows the charity work she does. It's pretty incredible. Yeah. And the stories that she told about how she met and and the jobs that she had and, and Jim's path in, on the tour, I mean, it was just super, super cool.

00;32;17;07 - 00;32;46;00
Unknown
Oh, absolutely. Frank. Frank. Mark Burnell. Ari, Ari Jolly is am I pronouncing that right? And then Mark Lamping, I listened to Frank. Frankie. I, I did some advertising with him many years ago, so I'm bothering him to come on the podcast. Franks. Amazing. What? I mean, it's just like salt of the earth. He's Jacksonville through and through, I know, and, he is the perfect example of, you know, a kid that grew up in a modest environment.

00;32;46;03 - 00;33;03;21
Unknown
Never had central heating air in his house when he was growing up. The stories that he tells on the podcast are pretty amazing. It is not to see his success. And I mean, you could call him one of the godfathers to talk radio. Oh, for sure. It's pretty incredible. Yeah. So I, I can't wait to have him on.

00;33;03;24 - 00;33;27;10
Unknown
But. Yeah, check that out. It's an amazing podcast. I really like that. So it's speakeasy Jack's. If everybody doesn't know Speakeasy Jack's. Yeah, it's it's on every platform that, you know Spotify, Apple, YouTube. Anything you'd want to watch? Oh, absolutely. And you guys go on location. I noticed that's kind of some. Yeah. Like we've we have most of them have been on site at manifest, distilling downtown.

00;33;27;12 - 00;33;50;06
Unknown
But we've probably we've, we've shot 15 episodes and probably 5 or 6 of them have been on site. The Ken Barbie. Super cool because we did that in centerfield, at the stadium. So, yeah, it's a pretty cool. Yeah. I would say so, kind of wrapping up. I feel like that you've really seen a lot, you've seen what works and what doesn't work.

00;33;50;08 - 00;34;11;14
Unknown
From your perspective on your experiences, but the amount of perspectives you have of other companies, of other individuals, like you're seeing the stories of what's working. So I want to hit some things like on some advice, like, so number one, someone wants to get into politics. What would you say? Make sure that your family understands what you're getting into.

00;34;11;14 - 00;34;27;08
Unknown
If you have the fire in the belly, nobody can talk you out of it. Serve for the right reasons. I've seen, people serve that could care less what title they have next to their name. And I've seen people that serve that. That's the only thing they care about is having a title next to their name.

00;34;27;10 - 00;34;48;04
Unknown
And I don't want the people representing me that have to hold on to that title, because it gives them some type of self fulfillment. It's interesting you mentioned the word serve several times. So that I would think is the basis of getting it. It's brutal. Yeah. I mean it's a brutal full contact sport. Yeah, yeah. And just make sure your family understands what you're saying.

00;34;48;04 - 00;35;12;28
Unknown
It's very good, very good. Starting a business. I mean, you're dealing with businesses coming here. I'm assuming you're dealing with, new entrepreneurs all of the time. Like, what are some of the things that you've seen that work well and maybe not work so well? Yeah. We have a program called Jack bridges at the chamber that helps entrepreneurs and innovators understand the business model and how that works to make sure that you're not going be out of business in six months.

00;35;12;28 - 00;35;29;01
Unknown
You may be really good at what you do, but you got to make sure you're charging the right amount or that you're not. You're understanding where your dollars are going. So that's pretty critical. But man, there's nothing better than the entrepreneurial story of a hardworking American that puts it all on the line, all on the line, sleepless nights.

00;35;29;04 - 00;35;51;00
Unknown
And then you start to see it come together and take off. And I absolutely thrive on every one of those stories. Absolutely. It does something to your hair. I know that personally. Developing your network, like you have to be the the king of that. Like your network is so important. Like, what do you tell the the kid just graduating or somebody who's ten years into it?

00;35;51;00 - 00;36;14;29
Unknown
It hadn't gone as far as they want to go. Like, how do you develop that network? It's a fine line between persistent and being a pain in the ass, for sure. So it's, something that I have worked very hard to build. My friends, I don't burn bridges every once in a while. You can't in their relationship can't continue.

00;36;14;29 - 00;36;37;01
Unknown
I understand that's a human condition. I always play the long game. Never a short win. I want to have. You want to have in your business a customer for life, not a one hit wonder. And, I have played the. I have tried to play the long game my entire career on how does this affect me ten, ten years down the road?

00;36;37;03 - 00;36;57;25
Unknown
I can get a quick win today, but would it help me ten years down the road? And so far that philosophy is paying off. Wow. That's really I listen to a lot of business podcasts and like it. It's that theme comes up all the time. The long game like. But your goals seem so big. But if you had ten years to do it, would you be able to do it?

00;36;57;25 - 00;37;24;15
Unknown
Like, yeah, yeah, I can accomplish most anything. Yeah. Super interesting. Play the long game. This is a big one. All right I everything else dealing with change like you see change all the time. You see businesses dealing with change. What is your advice for people dealing with change in business and how do you succeed? Well, it's like, you know, we're a nonprofit at the chamber, but we are a business at the same time.

00;37;24;17 - 00;37;48;26
Unknown
And we we don't do anything that loses money without a plan to make money off of it. And we if we have a stale program that people are getting tired of, we jettison that so fast because we want to be on the cutting edge. We are working, right now to be the first chamber to offer AI, training to executives, because there's a lot of executives out there that really don't know what's coming.

00;37;48;28 - 00;38;09;16
Unknown
And we think that we can provide, a real service to our members and to the citizens of Jacksonville. We're always changing our programing to be fresh. And it's we're seeing the benefits of that because there's lots of people that want to join and be a part of something that's new and fresh. So. Oh, absolutely. So we always change, always try to stay ahead of the game.

00;38;09;18 - 00;38;34;16
Unknown
We're talking about AI, and it's definitely the talk of the town, talk of the world. Like the pace of change with that is just rapid. I don't even think we can conceptualize where it's going. We've started implementing it in our business. And, I just think you have to grasp it, you know? Yeah, I mean, I think it takes the talent that you have, in it and it magnifies and multiplies the talent you have.

00;38;34;16 - 00;38;52;10
Unknown
It's not going to replace the talent that you have. And some people need to make sure that we understand that, there would be some exceptions with manufacturing and things on those lines, but I think, your business is always going to be a people business. Now, how do you take AI and make your our project five minutes.

00;38;52;10 - 00;39;13;06
Unknown
Exactly. So you can do a lot more. Yeah, we're doing that. Well, this is amazing, Daniel. Like so tell tell everybody how they get involved with the chamber. So, pretty easy to find, chat chamber.com. You know, we want small business to be a part of it. We want large businesses to be a part of it.

00;39;13;08 - 00;39;34;05
Unknown
I love the real estate and construction industry. It's where I started. That's where I learned how business works in Jacksonville and how important it is to our economy. But now we get to do that across all industries. And I absolutely love the people I get to work with. I love Jacksonville, I love the small businesses I get to help along the way.

00;39;34;07 - 00;39;54;20
Unknown
And, if you're looking for help when it comes to small business or, networking and, Jackson Jax Chambers place to be, it's, you know, everybody knows it. Yeah. For sure. Well, this is great. I wish you absolutely great luck in the podcast. Will be following along on your footsteps and really appreciate the time. I know you're a busy guy, so thank you.

00;39;54;24 - 00;39;56;26
Unknown
Thank you I appreciate it. Good luck to you too.

00;39;56;26 - 00;40;11;02
Unknown
The Hometown Jack's podcast is recorded and produced by First Coast Mortgage Funding. Located in the heart of Jacksonville. Do you want to be our next guest? Visit our website at Hometown Jack's podcast.com. We can't wait to hear your story.