Bottom line: downtown Jacksonville is “under construction.” That’s the word from Lori Boyer, CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority. She says that’s also vital to the health and vibrancy of the city as a whole. “We have a really excellent suburban lifestyle that we can sell to a new college graduate or to someone relocating from some other state,” Boyer says. “We have a great beach environment and lifestyle.

Downtown Jacksonville is a key element of growth in the city. Jake Gordon is one of the leaders in the effort to improve and promote downtown for living, working, and playing, and he is our guest on This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition. Broadly speaking, Downtown Vision, Inc. is the non-profit that works with property owners in a three-mile area to “make downtown better.”

Florida isn’t just a leader in the United States of America. Florida‘s economy is on par with Spain, 15th largest in the world. The goal is to grow GDP from $1.6 trillion (last year) to about $2.24 trillion. That would make it 10th in the world. Florida Chamber of Commerce president Mark Wilson is our guest in this episode of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition.

Jacksonville continues advancing as a region full of innovative technology companies. One of those is duos technology group, led by CEO Chuck Ferry. Ferry joins us on our episode this week, along with Doug Recker. Recker has just been appointed president of duos edge. Ferry says duos tech has about 75 employees, and is headquartered in Jacksonville. Ferry says the product sits on a set of railroad tracks, but it's got machine vision cameras, lighting lasers and speed sensors. It takes images topside and bottom of a speeding train at 70 miles an hour plus and then creates those images so they can be viewed on a computer screen.

It took almost a year to come together, but the city of Jacksonville and the Jaguars have an agreement to renovate the football stadium downtown. What happened behind the scenes, and who comes out on the better end of a $1.4 billion deal? Experts with decades of experience answer those questions in this week’s episode. It’s all about the so-called Stadium of the Future, and the financing of the largest public/private partnership in Duval County history.

Incredible talents and skills, and a tricky spot in life. Women veterans are a key to local businesses, and this week we’re focusing on how they make the transition to civilian life. Dee Quaranta is the founder, CEO, president of Northeast Florida Women's Veterans. She also retired after 20 years in the United States Air Force. Her organization honors her colleagues and compatriots during the 10th annual Women Veterans Recognition Week.

Artificial intelligence is the hot topic of the year. The rapid evolution of AI clashes with some assumptions, including the thought that real humans may not be needed for problem-solving. This episode of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition attacked that notion through a conversation with a recognized thought leader in product development and strategy. “I think the big headline for me is that it’s here, it’s time to lean in and start to learn about what artificial intelligence or large language models can actually do for you,” Gib Olander said.

Where do people turn for the next step in employee satisfaction? It may be working for themselves and controlling your assignments. On this edition of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition, we’re discussing the economy of freelance with Shannon Denton of Wripple. “A lot of people, they talk about the gig economy,” Denton said. “Which was about Uber drivers, maybe DoorDashers, consumers that found work where they could very flexible work options, where they could make extra money. And I think the freelance economy, though, is really more white collar.” The Freelance Economy, Denton said, provides people with a specific skill set to leverage those abilities into additional opportunities in corporate America.

Solar energy is cost-effective and less cluttered, according to Florida Power and Light (FPL). On this week’s episode, Marshall Hastings from FPL joins This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition to talk about the latest technical advances in the industry. We’re also exploring a new trend, where utility companies offer customers the chance to participate in solar energy programs without installing solar panels. The voluntary subscription program is called Solar Together. The energy comes from a Florida solar farm. Customers can choose a plan based on how much energy they want and then get credits.

The Phoenix. Greek mythology created it, “a mythical bird known for its ability to be reborn from its ashes, symbolizing immortality and renewal.” Renewal and regeneration are huge when it comes to the efforts Tony Cho is making in the Springfield area community known as the Phoenix Arts and Innovation District. The also project weaves into the vision for the Emerald Trail. Cho explains more of the philosophy for developing during this episode of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition.