We currently sit on the precipice of a burgeoning entrepreneurial-driven industry. The question we now face is will we take that next leap? Will Jacksonville allow an environment that is less hostile towards mobile food trucks?
Food trucks represent the type of innovation our community needs to rise above the Great Recession. Food trucks have shown us how business owners can adapt to changing times. Will our laws now change with them? In my opinion our economy and our downtown need them.
Our city needs more jobs. It's no secret that small businesses must lead the way for an economic recovery to take place. ?Small business accounts for roughly half of U.S. labor markets employment. Furthermore, small businesses typically fill niches in the labor market that are underserved and traditionally have high rates of unemployment.
Many food truck operators are disenfranchised former employees who have been laid off due to the crushing economic forces of the Great Recession. Food trucks offer an affordable way to open a small business. More so, they have proven to be incubators for larger expansions of small businesses. In the restaurant industry, nearly half of new businesses will fail. Food trucks offer less risk than a traditional restaurant as the start-up and operating costs are much less than traditional brick-and-mortar locations. There is still inherent risk ?just ask a food truck operator how a week of inclement weather will affect their bottom line. However, the risk of opening these types of businesses is mitigated by the cost structure and flexibility of scheduling. I grew up in a family that was in the restaurant industry and spent many long hours working in kitchens. I?ll never forget being told by former partners that the food industry is somewhere that ?takes money in order to make money?. That kind of advice is daunting to a would-be entrepreneur.
Riverside's Pele's is an example of a brick & mortar business that started as a mobile vendor.
Shouldn't we encourage a level playing field in which someone can open an affordable business and stake out their own pursuit of the American dream? These would-be entrepreneurs deserve an opportunity to forge their own economic destiny. These economic engines don?t require large public subsidies to expand. They don?t even require taxpayer-guaranteed loans. The city simply needs to get out of the way and let these creative and innovative entrepreneurs do what they do best.
Downtown Jacksonville is currently underserved. This will be especially true with the addition of Everbank employees downtown and the opening of the new courthouse. Food trucks can provide temporary uses for the multiple empty lots that currently litter our downtown landscape. Whereas an empty lot is unwelcoming, food trucks stimulate pedestrian activity by activating unused spaces. By improving walkability, you make downtown more desirable both as a residential neighborhood and a place where more companies will want to do business.
In a recent study, 58% of business owners in downtown Portland found food vendors increase foot traffic. More foot traffic adds to the vibrancy of nearby retail stores. It?s no surprise then that big box retailers across the country host food truck events in their parking lots. These enterprising stores have figured out that sales increase commensurate with the increase in foot traffic these mobile vendors bring.
While unproven fears of harming brick and mortar restaurants has created a hostile public agency outlook towards this industry in Jacksonville, cities with downtowns that have achieved a level of vibrancy that we can only dream of locally designate locations for this industry in their cores. ?As a result, more foot traffic is created, opening additional retail and dining opportunities where vacant buildings once stood.
Cities like Boston and Vancouver have designated locations and shifts in which food trucks can operate. ?Licensing designated spots in Hemming Plaza and the open space in front of the new courthouse would not only provide needed revenue, but would also serve to make these public spaces destinations and not pass-throughs.
It will take leadership to modify rules to make this viable for Jacksonville. Strong leaders such as Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Atlanta City Councilpersons Kwanza Hall and Natalyn Archibons have recently led the charge in their own cities to adapt rules to allow for mobile food vendors to operate. Mayor Bob Buckhorn of Tampa even hosts a monthly food truck event downtown. Even a small city like Sanford, FL recently started to host a food truck bazaar. Are we that far behind Sanford?
While hundreds of foodies enjoy unique local dishes from some of our newest small businesses, Hemming Plaza will continue to sit empty as a redevelopment committee struggles to find solutions that will increase its usage.
City leaders need to see the benefits these pioneering entrepreneurs can contribute to our community. ?This is why Jax Truckies was formed. ?In a city that fashions itself as being business-friendly, why stifle the creativity of entrepreneurs? ?By allowing a favorable environment for food trucks we can allow the kind of innovation that contributes to the sustainable fabric of our entrepreneurial economy. Maybe then we can begin to live up to our moniker: The Bold New City of the South.
Editorial by Mike Field
Share this article?? 
Must Read from around the web
Jacksonville City Council blocks efforts to give Prime Osborn land to JTA jacksonville.com - The Jacksonville Transportation Authority may still end up getting 14 parcels of city land around the Prime Osborn Convention Center. But getting it passed this month is looking difficult.
Concerns raised over lack of names for Mayor-elect Alvin Brown's team jacksonville.com - The offices on the fourth floor of Jacksonville City Hall are slowly emptying, with workers beginning to prep them for the new administration.
JEA goes Greenland jaxdailyrecord.com - The Greenland Energy Center is the first new power plant built south and east of the St. Johns River in about 50 years.
Study raises concerns about public transit for Jacksonville seniors jacksonville.com - Last week, a new study from Transportation for America, a Washington-based advocacy group, said about 55 percent of the country's seniors over age 65 - about 15.5 million - will?
Finally, a sensible development fee jacksonville.com - City government has been studying this issue for several years. A special City Council committee held meetings for nearly a year over the flawed fair share system, but intransigence at?
Renovated Friendship Fountain will reopen Saturday jacksonville.com - Saturday, the fountain and surrounding park will officially reopen, having undergone a $3.1 million restoration project.
Port official sees partial fix to Mile Point, Estimated at $3.5 million jaxdailyrecord.com - A top Jacksonville Port Authority executive told a community think tank Wednesday that the Mile Point navigational impediment could be partially fixed by early next year.
Jacksonville Historical Society asking city for $250,000 to buy buildings jacksonville.com - The Jacksonville Historical Society is asking for $250,000 from the city to help pay the estimated $1.25 million cost of purchasing and renovating two 19th century buildings located next to?
Digital billboards signal battle on Jacksonville regulations jacksonville.com - The possible arrival of digital billboards in Jacksonville is opening a new battle in how the city regulates billboards.
Streetcars: Part of Downtown's past, may be part of the future jaxdailyrecord.com - If you live or work Downtown or in the surrounding historic neighborhoods, there might be a new mode of mass transportation in your future.
chipper jones mickael pietrus george zimmerman heart transplant the international preppers geraldo
big ten tournament 2012 dennis quaid bruce weber fired notorious big biggie smalls lyrics azores emmylou harris
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.