The debate can be fraught: To be or not to be home to a major military installation. At the heart of the discussion lie serious implications for economic development and growth.

The topic has been hotly debated in Jacksonville, Florida, where last year business and civic leaders rammed heads over the fate of its Naval Air Station Cecil Field. For several years, Cornerstone Regional Development Partnerships, the area’s economic development concern, has been marketing the deactivated field as Cecil Commerce Center, with no major nibbles.

Its fate seemed destined to change last year, when the federal government considered closing the Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and moving the facility to a reactivated Cecil Field. But the government scrubbed the idea and Cecil Field finally attracted its first major tenant – Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC, a move that is anticipated to give the industrial park the boost it needed.

The Nashville-based company is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Holding, whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world’s largest tyre and rubber company.

Intermodal hub

Bridgestone chose Jacksonville last summer after nearly locating its 305-square-metre (m2) distribution centre in Savannah, Georgia. In recent years, Savannah has been especially successful at attracting distribution centres to take advantage of its seaport, intermodal and highway connections.

Jacksonville had been courting Bridgestone since late 2004. The company nearly locked in a deal with Savannah until Jacksonville officials made a last-ditch effort to lure the company to Cecil Commerce Center. Bridgestone took the bite, aided by the watershed announcement by shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) that it would open a $200m container facility at the seaport operated by Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport).

When completed in 2007, Mitsui’s facility will cover 158 acres (64 hectares), two 366-metre berths and six post-Panamax container cranes. Bridgestone will make extensive use of Jaxport services, including those of Mitsui OSK Lines and Hamburg-Süd, to supply its retailers throughout the south-east of the US.

Jacksonville mayor John Peyton is quick to highlight the benefits of Jacksonville as a logistics and distribution centre. He points to the vision of Jaxport as a major economic engine for north-east Florida by continuing to be a premier diversified port in the south-east of the US with connections to major trade lanes throughout the world.

“With the Mitsui partnership, Jacksonville has a direct line of commerce to Asia that other south-east cities envy,” says Mr Peyton. The mayor boasts that logistics and distribution are logical industry targets for his city.

But he also emphasises how the Bridgestone project is a sound investment for the city. The city is selling 63.3 acres to the company for $3.2m in what is an incentive-free deal. Florida’s neighbouring states are well known for offering big incentives to lure in companies.

“Since being elected in 2003, I have made it a priority to secure international investment in our city’s deepwater port systems,” Mr Peyton says. “We’re seeing a return on our investment already from the Mitsui announcement from companies such as Bridgestone and now Michaels Stores, which will also expand its Jacksonville presence by relocating its South East Seasonal Distribution Center from Savannah to Jacksonville to a new 91,500m2 space in the port district.”

City government

Mr Peyton, who won his election by 58%, campaigned on the theme of running city government like a business, holding the line on taxes and continuing to grow Jacksonville’s economy with good jobs and new businesses.

Bridgestone has a lot at stake in its new location. From Jacksonville it will supply stores throughout the south-eastern US, stage goods from Latin America for distribution nationwide, and receive products from Asia for distribution east of the Mississippi River.

“With our expanding port and intermodal capabilities, Jacksonville is well suited for supply chain logistics centres like this,” says Cornerstone Regional Development Partnership chairman Michael Shalley.

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