Page 10 • Thursday, October 10, 2019
Track CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Drivers can buy a minimum of two 20-minute time slots on the track, which he estimates will cost $79. The two time slots don’t have to be used on the same day. Three 20-minute time slots could cost $99, but the prices and durations for the time slots haven’t been determined. The facility will have opentrack days, teen and adult driving courses, corporate team building, municipal driver training and motorcycle events, according to its website. It won’t be a racetrack, May said. Course marshals and traffic monitors will keep cars spaced safely on the track. “You’re competing against your best time, and maybe your buddy’s best time, but you’re not out there battling for a position on the track,” May said. City Council voted 19-0 Tuesday to approve an $80,000 Northwest Jacksonville Business Infrastructure Grant to offset a portion of stormwater retention and drainage improvement costs for the project. The goals of the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund, which provides the grant, are to create access to jobs for Northwest Jacksonville residents, encourage the creation of new businesses to serve the needs of the community, stimulate new investment in the area that adds to the tax base and encourage redevelopment of vacant space in the area.
Norcross CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
lot of growth and a lot of it’s generated in Jacksonville, Florida,” Norcross said. The Fortune 500 company is “one of the key players in our local financial landscape,” Mayor Lenny Curry said as he introduced Norcross at the luncheon. Gov. Ron DeSantis has been touting Jacksonville as a financial technology center, including the announcement in August that technology companies SoFi and SS&C Technologies are bringing 498 new jobs to the city. “Fintech is a hot topic around the globe but it’s especially important in this region,” JAXUSA Partnership Chairman Ray Driver said. In addition to being a large employer, Norcross said it’s important for FIS to be involved
May said he estimates the total project cost at $4.5 million. He submitted plans to the city Oct. 1. Once approved and construction begins, May said it would take up to six months to complete the project. The idea to build the road course came after May and his wife, Stacy, visited the BMW Performance Center Driving School in South Carolina. “I just had wicked crazy fun doing it,” May said. He said it was one of the most “enjoyable experiences I think I’ve ever had as an adult.” When they returned, May and his wife wanted to find a place where they could practice the skills they learned in South Carolina. The closest place to do so is at the Florida International Rally & Motorsport Park in Starke. “We couldn’t find any place locally that had the capabilities that we were looking for so we said ‘Well why don’t we build a place?’ We did some research, investigated land and it materialized,” May said. Former NASCAR driver Tim Fedewa will work with Driver Performance Center to create performance driving programs and provide instruction. May said several area auto groups are interested. Among them, the Ponte Vedrabased All Florida Safety Institute driving school likely will buy a subscription to use the course for driver training and classes. The school also would offer advanced driver training. Institute owner and President Mark Allen plans to build a driving school at the facility as well.
in community projects in the cities where it maintains “centers of excellence.” It’s not just good for the community but it also helps the company attract and keep talent, he said. “Your retention rates are really high because people love living in the community,” he said. After the luncheon, Norcross would not say if FIS has any targets for employment at its Jacksonville headquarters. “We’d love to continue to grow our employment base here,” he said. Norcross also declined to comment when asked whether FIS is Project Sharp. Project Sharp is the unidentified company that matches FIS. City Council approved its share of $29.9 million in city and state incentives for the deal Sept. 10. The project is a $145 million, 300,000-square-foot headquarters at 323 Riverside Ave. Sharp
Jacksonville Daily Record/Jacksonville Record & Observer
Photo by Katie Garwood
Philip “Tiger” May said the idea for starting the road course came after he attended the BMW Performance Driving School in South Carolina.
The school offers drivers license training classes and education to drivers of all ages and skill levels. It has 12 locations throughout Florida. “When you’re trying to do driver training, your choices are limited to the real road that we drive on every day or mall parking lots, which are typically not the best or safest places to be,” Allen said. “The opportunity to have a place that’s designed for closed course training learning is an absolute opportunity for us to be
Special to the Daily Record
JAX Chamber President and CEO Daniel Davis interviews Fidelity National Information Services CEO Gary Norcross at the quarterly JAXUSA Partnership luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.
would create 500 jobs paying an average $85,000 a year by 2023. As part of an incentives deal with the city and state, Sharp will retain its 1,219 Jacksonville employees, the number in the legislation documents. The bulk of incentives will
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with $1,200 of that from the city. A $3.5 million city closing grant upon completion of the project also is part of the agreement, but the investment from Sharp must be least $130 million. City officials said Wednesday the development agreement between the state, city and Sharp has not been executed. FIS is headquartered at 601 Riverside Ave. Norcross was expected to talk about the project. The JAXUSA notice of the luncheon said Norcross “will address the regional business community on the company’s recent Worldpay acquisition, the growth of the region’s fintech industry and other upcoming announcements.” He did not address “other upcoming announcements.” MMENDENHALL@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM @MIMENDENHALL (904) 356-2466
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come from a $23.4 million Recaptured Enhanced Value Grant from the city. The state has offered $2.4 million in a Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund, while the city will give an additional $600,000. The QTI is worth $6,000 per job,
found Scuba Tiger, a scuba diving business in Orange Park. He sold the company and in 2013 opened On Target Sports in Orange Park, an indoor shooting range and firearms dealer. “We want to be an active and positive participant in the community, and hopefully it will become a destination spot for Northeast Florida,” May said.
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able to advance students more and put them in the correct environment,” he said. As a car enthusiast, Allen owns “a handful” of performance vehicles. He said he and others like him look forward to having a place to drive their vehicles. “Jacksonville is a car enthusiast town,” Allen said. “Personally, I can tell you I’ll be renting a few of the track days myself. There’s no doubt.” May worked as a banker for 12 years until 2001, when he left to