Daily Record Financial News &
Monday, December 4, 2017
Vol. 105, No. 013 • One Section
35¢
www.jaxdailyrecord.com
BUILDING AND BASEBALL
Photo by Max Marbut
Jimerson & Cobb partner Christopher Cobb completed his year as chairman of the state Construction Industry Licensing Board in October.
Attorney Christopher Cobb reflects on his year as chairman of the state Construction Industry Licensing Board — and his dream of being a professional ballplayer.
By Max Marbut Associate Editor
W
ith the exception of two 12-month detours nearly 20 years apart, the track of attorney Christopher Cobb’s career has maintained a steady path. In October, he finished his year as chairman of the state Construction Industry Licensing Board, of which Cobb has been a member since he was appointed in 2012 by Gov. Rick Scott.
The board, a division of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, is responsible for licensing and regulating the construction industry. He said he became interested in serving to set himself apart from the more than 300 board-certified construction law attorneys in Florida. It also allowed him to learn more about the trades side of his specialty practice that he began in 2001. “I gravitated toward the technical side of construction,” Cobb
continued on
Page 2
Harrison: ‘No red carpet’ when I arrived at CSX CEO alludes that Chief Operating Officer James Foote is his likely successor.
A month after CSX Corp. announced a shakeup of its executive suite, CEO Hunter Harrison last week conceded he didn’t get a warm reception when he joined the company in March. “It wasn’t a team. There was no red carpet. It wasn’t ‘come on in, welcome to town.’ So I got my feelings hurt a little bit,” Harrison said at an investor conference held by Credit Suisse. “That’s a difficult way for an
organization to get started.” His predecessor as CEO, Michael Ward, along with CSX PresiHarrison dent Clarence Gooden, retired when Harrison came in. Executive Vice Presidents Cindy Sanborn, Fredrik Eliasson and Ellen Fitzsimmons all left
the company last month when Harrison brought in James Foote as chief operating officer. Foote previously worked with Harrison at Canadian National Railway Co. Harrison, who has a four-year contract at CSX, seemed to confirm that Foote is his likely successor. “One of the steps in the succession was to bring Jim on,” Harrison said at Wednesday’s
conference in Palm Beach, which was broadcast over the internet. Harrison said he didn’t want to “point fingers” at anybody, but he said other executives didn’t agree with his sweeping changes in the railroad’s operations. “When I came on board, the first thing I told people was there’s going to be change, and there’s going to be a lot of change BASCH
continued on
Page 3
The Marbut Report: Judicial candidates lining up Michael Bateh, Gerald Wilkerson first race with Election Day 11 month away. Public
legal notices begin on page
15
Published
for
27,333
Page 4
consecutive business days