Reviewing the scope of work, timeline and budget for the design phase of Project Frontier at City Hall are L-R: Jacksonville Councilman Bob Warden and Transportation Services Director Anthony Prinz; Mark Sutherland, JOED; Jason Huston, Tidewater Engineering; and Jacksonville Interim City Manager Ron Massey

Since it will yield industrial sites and the construction of speculative industrial space on New Frontier Way in Jacksonville Business Park, Project Frontier is appropriately named. But we would be remiss if we didn’t congratulate our community (and enjoy the play on words) for forging a new frontier in public/private partnerships for specific economic development projects. This is a big step!

You may recall previous articles on the collaboration between the City of Jacksonville, a private developer, and JOED. JOED’s contribution to the partnership has been to apply for grant funding to finance design and construction of the project.

To date, grant funds totaling $1.29 have been awarded for Project Frontier:  

  • $1M from GoldenLEAF Foundation (clearing, grading)
  • $262K from NC’s Southeast (design, grading, stormwater)
  • $30K from JOEMC (site design & engineering)