Jaguares calls on small businesses to help build shipyard development

JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – The Jacksonville Jaguars are moving forward with downtown development outside of EverBank Stadium.

Jacksonville Small and Emerging Businesses (JSEB) members and construction contractors had the opportunity to learn more Thursday about opportunities to participate in Jacksonville Shipyards’ marina support construction and improvement projects for the Jacksonville Jaguars’ office and gym tenant.

Lori Windisch, the Jaguars’ director of construction, said including small businesses in the process is a core value of Jaguars owner Shad Khan.

RELATED: Shad Khan’s project at the Shipyards will include a marina, a garden for events and a riverside promenade

“Shad wants us to include all of the city’s residents in all of our projects,” Windisch said. “We’re going to build all of our projects with contractors who live and work here. So we try to do that on every project. We want everyone to be involved as we change downtown.”

Auld & White is the construction manager for several of the projects at the Shipyards site. Buck Smoak, director of business development for Auld & White, has a long family history in Jacksonville and is honored to be a part of the downtown development.

“It means a lot to this community. It means a lot to Auld & White as a company that was founded in Jacksonville and has been focused on Northeast Florida for 37 years,” Smoak said. “It’s kind of an epitome of who we are and what we’re going to do, and we’ll be there to enjoy it, and our families will be there to enjoy it.”

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Many business owners hope to be part of the Shipyards project in the hopes of being considered for the Stadium of the Future when those contracts open. Telissa Robinson is the executive director of East Coast Striping and Painting.

“I’m hoping that everything works out and we can thrive,” Robinson said. “And East Coast Striping and Painting can get work from the city of Jacksonville and we could, you know, close that gap that we’ve been unfilled.”

While Thursday’s event focused on the shipyards’ projects, Windisch said they plan to hold similar events for the Stadium of the Future.

“We have not set a timeline, but we will certainly have several important events to communicate about the stadium. That timeline will be much longer than this project,” Windisch explained.

Smoak said anyone interested in being part of the Shipyards projects who couldn’t attend Thursday’s meeting can contact Auld & White’s estimating department.