Jon Cantrell, President, Clay County Chamber of Commerce

The Clay County Chamber of Commerce’s growth is a good indicator of the economy in the North Florida region. “We have a strong economy. We probably have 30 to 40 businesses a month that are joining or renewing, “says Jon Cantrell, president of the Chamber. 

What do you think is the most important job of the Chamber? 

We’re a small Chamber. We have over 500 members. But what we’ve done is we’ve expanded it to all their employees. So, the old chamber used to only include each number as that business was a member.  

Now with our Trustee membership levels, all employees are included on our mailings and can attend events, which expands our reach considerably. 

We’re well into the several thousand people we consider Chamber members. We do that because we’re all about networking. If somebody is looking at opening a new business or coming to Florida and looking at our community, we can help connect them.

If they’re looking for a developer to build a business or build a new neighborhood, we’ve got several. We have thousands of homes being built and multiple neighborhoods under construction in our county.  

We’re a connector for whatever they need. Many people call us the concierge of Clay County. If somebody needs anything from a plumber to a developer to a teacher to a realtor, that’s what we do. We are about networking opportunities, and it’s all to allow people to find what they need.  

What is your perspective on the most significant business opportunities available in the county? 

The guidelines have changed in the health industry. In the last few years, we’ve had two new major hospitals open. St. Vincent’s Clay recently opened, and so did Baptist Clay Hospital from the Jacksonville market. Health Care of America (HCA) is our long-standing hospital with a Trama Center for the region at their site. Recent ACCA guidelines in the state restricting how many beds you could open have changed. The medical industry, not only in all of Florida but in Clay County, has grown. The medical market is healthy and growing. 

Also, we’re looking to attract industries. We have a $300 million facility for roofing that is coming into our county. Water is a big industry in Florida because water is a hot commodity. And we have a new bottling water company which recently opened a big factory here. We’re seeing a lot of manufacturing move to North Florida from the East Coast, the Northern and East Coast. Some of the northern areas in the United States are moving to Florida, but they don’t want to be in South Florida. They want to be in North Florida. They get the benefits of good schools and good education, but they’re also close if they’re going to drive or fly back to family or business operations along the north coast and Midwest. In that area, they’re closer, allowing convenient travel. 

What are the key services and resources that the chamber offers? 

Everything we do is related to people integrating. We are currently launching our first digital directory in addition to our website. Many businesses that became focused on digital networking after COVID, and we worked hard to continue building personal relationships still focusing on face-to-face relationships.  

We have six or seven major signature events. We have a trip to Tallahassee, our capital, where this year we had 190 businesses attend. We then have an event after the session where we talk to legislators about business needs in our county and funding for major projects. After the session ends, we have a legislative wrap-up with our House Representatives and Senator Leadership that speak here in our community. We have a state of the county with all our mayors and our county constitutional officers that meet and greet. We also have monthly luncheon meetings.  Our biggest is a weekly morning event called Finally Friday. We have about 80 people that meet every Friday morning, and that’s our starting place for new businesses that come to our market to find out who we are and how to get involved.  

What are the initiatives or programs that you have in place to support new businesses that are looking to establish themselves in the county? 

For a new member that comes in, we have an extensive phone call with them while they are in the process of moving here. Once they arrive, we do a quarterly new member breakfast. We network at that meeting and go through some slide shows and help them create their business platform within our digital directory.  We call this Chamber 101.  

They meet everyone on our team, and they go through a video that shows them how to utilize our directory. Every member has a portal in which they can load everything about their business, videos, and click links through employment opportunities for their business. We also have a lot of social media opportunities for members to be a part of. We use LinkedIn and Facebook primarily to market these new businesses. They all get a great deal of exposure.  

The last thing is we’ve developed a partnership with four media groups. The local newspaper; The Clay Today; a glossy magazine called The Mint magazine, and another glossy magazine called Money Pages, which are both direct mail papers; and then a Jacksonville-based paper called The Daily Record. When someone becomes a new chamber member, they get a free advertisement to showcase their business.  

Most of the time, the business is pleased with their advertising results and continues with the relationship with the new member, thus forming a new partnership. 

How is the region coping with the growth in recent years? 

We have a strong economy. We have many new businesses a month joining. We can see an influx of people moving here. They are looking for a connection point to the community. Our county administration and municipalities are working ahead of the growth curve to provide infrastructure that allows Clay County to grow smart, be safe and enjoy an amazing lifestyle in Clay County. 

What are the advocacy efforts that the Chamber is supporting to help businesses continue to thrive? 

Our effort is to support the growing number of nonprofits. Our primary goal is to help businesses grow and thrive. As they thrive, they can help meet the needs of the less fortunate by partnering with a good local nonprofit. 

We’ve jumped in with another group called Impact Clay. There are many businesspeople willing to financially support the nonprofits to help the needy. There’s that balance in our world on earning money and providing for charity. Our community wants to see people work, but they also want to help individuals or families in need, including a wide range of specific needs. The Chamber fully supports investing and supporting Chamber 501c3 members and groups to help people. There are a lot of financial resources available in the state of Florida to help with that effort. 

What are your long-term goals for the Chamber and your top priorities in the next 2-3 years? 

We work hand in hand with our county and with our economic development corporation on where we’re going in our future. Our transportation is our biggest priority because our county borders the St. Johns River. We have a river running down the side of our county, and it has bound us with bridges to be able to drive into Jacksonville. 

We’re landlocked, and transportation is a problem we are investing in and delivering to our residence. We are trying to get beyond that with this major bypass that’s being built right now. This will be completed in 2030. The First Coast Expressway will help us with our day-to-day transportation. Directing these businesses to land availability for purchase and growth and new neighborhoods is a big part of what we do today. Our leaders are properly managing our growth with the county. Permitting is a big deal; getting permits, and how fast these businesses get permits. That’s our approach and we will continue to work with small businesses and help them grow in any way we can.