Ernst & Young creating a Jacksonville financial services center and 450 jobs is a reality, but not one that came easy.
It was “dying on the vine” as Mayor Lenny Curry described it during the news conference Thursday that detailed the company’s expansion.
Kirk Wendland, the city’s chief economic development official, told a City Council committee weeks ago that when he arrived in August, the deal had died a second time.
Despite the “hiccups” as Curry called them — obstacles no one would elaborate on — it ended up getting done by bringing the right people to the forefront.
That included Curry’s team, JAX Chamber and JAXUSA Partnership officials and Ernst & Young representatives.
“This is a real success story,” Curry said as he led off the announcement.
It’s one that means an almost $6 million private investment from the London-based global services firm and new jobs with a $49,000 average annual wage.
Curry has a background in financial services and remembers the call from Mike Middleton, Ernst & Young’s partner of assurance services, discussing the deal and its struggles.
That past relationship was a “critical” component of deal and Curry was a “catalyst” for helping see it through, said Mike Brennan, Ernst & Young North Florida managing partner.
Brennan and Middleton said the obstacles were things that happen with traditional negotiations for a deal this big.
Ernst & Young is receiving $3.29 million in taxpayer incentives for the deal. Of that, $450,000 will come from the city with the remaining $2.8 million provided by the state.
The company employs 212,000 people in more than 700 offices in 150 countries.
That includes about 100 people in Downtown Jacksonville, where it has space in the Wells Fargo Center.
The delivery center will be a separate operation, but company officials said a location hasn’t been determined.
Temporary space will be solidified in 30-60 days while permanent space will be selected within several months.
The company already had about 30 resumes by the time the announcement was made. In the past several weeks, Ernst & Young has been posting available jobs.
They refer to financial services risk management, which focuses on regulatory, quantitative technology and operations, and IT advisory services, which provide strategic technology, information management and other services.
“These are highly-skilled information technology and financial services jobs — the types of jobs we have positioned our community to be able to attract,” said JAX Chamber President Daniel Davis in a news release.
As JAX Chamber Chair Audrey Moran said during the announcement, the partnership is one that will be beneficial to both parties. It wasn’t one area leaders would let “die on the vine.”
Instead with more work after several attempts, they were able to harvest it.
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