Bank of America director Rodrigo Serrano took about 400 JAXUSA Partnership members on what he called a “road trip” April 17.
Serrano, director and senior investment strategist for the Bank of America Corp. Chief Investment Office, was the keynote speaker at the JAXUSA Partnership Luncheon at the Florida Blue Conference Center in South Jacksonville.
JAXUSA is the economic development division of JAX Chamber.
“A road trip is an adventure that evokes many types of emotions, from excitement to anticipation as well as intrigue and yes even anxiety if things aren’t going very well,” Serrano said.
“Currently we are on a bumpy road and you can tell that’s reflected in the way the stock market has been gyrating.”
But he said, “the Chief Investment Office believes that the destination of this trip, this journey, continues to be a positive one.”
Serrano’s 21-minute speech compared the world economy with three road trip elements – the car; the driving style; and the external variables.
The “cars” are the economies of the U.S., Europe, China and others economies.
The “driving styles” and maneuvers are economic policies, such as those considered decisive, which could be interpreted as aggressive, and cautious, which could be seen as impatient.
Maneuvers could be seen as evasive or otherwise.
The “external variables,” like the weather for drivers, are the geopolitical climate factors.
As Serrano took listeners on a tour of the economy, including the “cruising” U.S. economy, he referenced factors like growth, inflation and other elements.
He also talked about the longer-term opportunities of investment into strategic minerals and “hard hat” infrastructure as more regions see the need to manage their owns supply chains to manufacture domestically.
Serrano concluded his speech with an economic summary.
“It’s a bumpy path,” Serrano said.
“The long-term destination remains positive. We are in a period going into this bumpy path. The U.S. economy has had good momentum and better balance,” he said.
“Some have increasingly worried over the type of driving style and evasive maneuvers that have taken place in order to accommodate some of those foreign folks.”
Serrano also sees a “geopolitical storm cloud that has come over, but we see pockets of visibility in terms of hard assets and hard hats.”
He said the longer-term perspective was an environment characterized by higher productivity “supported by the administration going in on artificial intelligence, deregulation, tax reform, including potentially lowering the corporate tax rate, as well as trade acting as a friendly stick to help corporations reshore back into the economy.”
Before his presentation, JAXUSA President Aundra Wallace and Mayor Donna Deegan, who introduced Serrano, told JAXUSA members that the city continues to add jobs and industries.
In introducing Wallace, JAXUSA Chair Abel Harding said the 24 project announcements in 2024 pledged more than 2,000 new direct jobs and almost $1 billion in capital investment.
“These investments reflect the confidence that companies have in Northeast Florida’s workforce, strategic location and business-friendly environment, and our collective success in 2024 only heightens our anticipation for the remainder of 2025,” said Harding, executive vice president and Jacksonville market president for First Horizon Bank.
Wallace said that JAXUSA has announced three projects in 2025 generating almost 500 jobs and $62 million in capital investment.
Those include Eckart Supply, with 45 jobs and a $1 million investment; and BAE Systems, 200 jobs and a $200 million investment.
Wallace and Deegan both referred to the University of Florida’s announcement of its Semiconductor Institute and graduate campus planned in Downtown Jacksonville.
They also noted that projects held openings April 17 that included the Jacksonville Transportation Authority Downtown Autonomous Innovation Center, whose Ultimate Urban Circulator will use self-driving EVs made by German manufacturer Holon in North Jacksonville; and the Sam’s Club distribution center, also in North Jacksonville.