Today, city officials, along with JAXUSA Partnership, laid out details pertaining to a substantial expansion by a financial service company in Jacksonville. The revamp, reported by the Jacksonville Daily Record, is projected to exceed $173 million. At the news conference, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, executives from the involved company, and JAXUSA Partnership President Aundra Wallace were in attendance to share insights about the growth plans.
The economic development package, which was nodded through by the Jacksonville City Council back in November, includes a heavy investment in the region. As detailed by a JAX Daily Record report, the expansion involves a company, initially code-named Project Paper, which aligns with the description of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. This revelation points the way to a bolstering of Jacksonville's position as a significant player in the financial sector.
Revealed as Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the company that goes by the guise of the enigmatic Project Paper, they have committed to a significant investment aimed at fostering the national headquarters for its Mortgage/Technology Division within Jacksonville's municipal embrace. Accorded to the information by the Jacksonville Business Journal, this expansion is set to add 500 jobs to the current workforce of 1,500. Over five years, the capital investments pledged by ICE range between $173 million to a conceivable $216 million on construction, equipment, and improvements to buildings.
Indeed, during the press meeting, Mayor Deegan extolled the economic virtues such an expansion brings: ICE's investment reaffirms Jacksonville's growing reputation "as a national financial center hub," she asserted on News4Jax. Notably, the incentive package includes a vaulting $21 million, with a tax rebate spanning 13 years at a $16 million cap and a directed $5 million industry grant. Despite a minor shuffle in its payment structure to alleviate the general fund's burden, which the city council approved with a commanding 18-1 vote, the entire package preserved its original total value.
